Well, it is after midnight and I decided to write an entry in the blog. I suppose I have been on a "blog hiatus" for the past couple of months. Recently, I was given the task of completing the current Sunday Morning Series in church while the Pastor is out of town. I have been preparing for the message already, and have put quite a buit of thought into it. It is an assigned topic, so I am having a little more difficulty preparing than normal. The series is on The Beatitudes from Matthew 5: 1-12

1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. My assigned topic is on the Peacemakers . . .

After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that being a peacemaker is against our natural, human nature -- and that's why it is so difficult for us to be peacemakers. Afterall in 4,000 years of recorded history, there are only 300 years of peace and they are not consecutive. It's difficult for us to be peacemakers at home, at work, and at church. Somewhere, we are always making war with each other. In current news is the conflict with Russia and Georgia -- not to mention the Middle East.

The word for 'peace' is the word 'Shalom'. It's more than simply the absence of war or strife. It's not just a negative thing, that there's no fighting or no bickering, but it's a positive thing. It means not just the absence of war, but the presence of something special, a wholeness, a feeling and an attitude of absolute well-being. When you look at the state of man, is there not a need for this? Is there not? Peace for broken, tormented minds. Peace for terrible, ripped apart homes. Peace for reputations that have been destroyed through lust and degradation. Peace for lands that have been ripped by ethnic cleansing, and sectarianism, and murder, and rape. Peace for a world that is dying! Oh, sure, we need it more than ever!

But ever since man's declaration of independence from God, the word of God says that he has been God's enemy. There's been no peace between God and man since Adam took of that fruit in the garden - and the book of Romans testifies to it, that the carnal mind is enmity against God. But it's worse than that, because not only have we declared ourselves the enemies of God, but God declared Himself the enemy of man. That's the truth, that our sins and our iniquities have separated between us and our God, we have become - through the garden of Eden, through our forefather - the object of divine anger, divine wrath, divine hostility. And we, as we sit as a sinner unsaved, we're totally depraved in every area and every facet of our lives. Every area is not depraved as it might be, but every area is tainted by sin. Do you know what Jonathan Edwards said? He said: 'The unconverted man would kill God if he could get his hands on him' - isn't that right?

The problem of the heart is the problem of peace. The Gospel, the good news, the glorious message of a Redeemer, of a Saviour, is the wondrous solution to a heart that is beyond remedy, to the heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, to the heart that has the enmity and the wrath of God abiding upon it - the Gospel is the only answer! This is the message, what a problem we are all in until we realize, like the man going to the doctor, that there's something wrong - he finds a lump, or he has a sore head, or he has a limp, or he has a pain in his chest - until he feels that and he knows something is wrong he can't go for the remedy. But God says in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19: 'To wit', to know, 'that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation' - can you see it? This is amazing: we are the enemies of God, and because of our sin God has become our enemy, but because the love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell, because it stretches to the highest heaven and reaches to the depths of hell, God - now grasp this - God our enemy was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. He came in the form of flesh, that we're remembering at the moment, He clothed Himself in the likeness of sinful flesh, and came to humanity to die - not imputing your sins to you, or my sins to me, but imputing the sins of a rebellious world at enmity with Him unto His beloved Son.

Thats the only way that we can have peace. This is the only way that the world will ever know peace. Well, I'm done preaching -- now I can go to sleep.