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We are really going through the book of Matthew, you know the Bible has the Old Testament, the New Testament and the first book in the New Testament, is the book Matthew and we have journeyed quite a bit, we come now to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9.

But let me start with a simple story. Two kids wanted to buy a present for their mommy. They've always been hearing mommy say, “Oh, kids, I'm so, so tired, I really wish you guys would just give me a break, I need to have peace, I need to have some rest.” So the kids felt bad and they went to buy a stalk of rose for their mommy and they passed the rose to mom and mom took a look at the rose and she was very pleased, she was very happy, but at the same time she saw a note, a ribbon that was stuck to the rose and the note read like this, "Dear mom, we love you, please rest in peace."

This morning we're going to talk about peace, because that's what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5 and verse 9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” The word peacemakers may not be a very familiar word. Some of you may say, I'm more familiar with pacemaker than peacemaker. What in the world is a peacemaker? Well it has something to do with peace, but the first image that we may have, is that of a counselor, that of a mediator who comes between two quarreling individuals. Maybe we think of a counselor, a mediator who comes between a husband and a wife or someone who is coming in between two quarreling, arguing neighbors or two colleagues at work who are at loggerheads or even someone who comes in between, settling differences between two church members, that's our idea.

Now that may be true here, but I don't really think that is the main thrust, that is the main intent of Jesus Christ when He said these words, because I think the peacemaker here is not mediating peace between men, I think He is mediating peace between God and man.

So this peacemaker is not just trying to bring two people together. This peacemaker is going about bringing God and man together. So it's not just a horizontal peace we are talking about, it's a vertical one I think primarily in mind in this verse. You say, why do you think so? Well several reasons, number 1 if you look at this verse, Jesus is linking peacemaker with the sons of God. In other words, these peacemakers are the sons of God. They are the people who know God, they are the children of God, they are the people of the kingdom, they are Christians.

So this peacemaking is unique for the Christian. Now I think virtually anyone today can play the role of a mediator in the world. My son, for example, can be a mediator between two quarreling classmates, doesn't take a Christian to do that. But you need to be a Christian in order to bring about peace between God and man. So I think this is unique, unique for the kingdom of heaven, the people of the kingdom of heaven.

Number 2, if you look on in verse 10, we see that there is a persecution for that righteousness. So these people who are peacemakers will also and should also expect to be persecuted for righteousness sake, for living that righteous life, for speaking of that righteous life, for preaching the message of righteousness. So this peacemaker bringing in peace between God and man expects to be persecuted. So I think this is a relationship between God and man again. So I want to encourage you, when you read the Bible, have this pair of lenses that says, when I read the Bible I want to see God.
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You see, the Bible is primarily about God. We live in such a society that thinks everything revolves around me. So this peace must be about me and my friends, me and others, it's about man, but no, the Bible is supremely about God, yes, it's a book written to man for man, but it is really about God. So this peace is about peace with God.

And this is a major teaching in the Bible. You know, when you read the Bible, you ask what is the Bible about? Some people say the Bible is a love letter from God to us, it's a, it's a message of love, I think that's true. Some people say the Bible is a message about the coming kingdom of God. I think that's true, the kingdom motif is very clear.

But another way, another theme, another perspective of the Bible, is that the Bible is a message of peace, it's a story of peace, namely peace with God. There are more than 400 references of peace with God in the Bible, so it is a major element that you need to understand.

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So this morning I want to do something, I want to share with you a story, alright. The story of the entire Bible and it's a story of peace with God. In order to do that, I have a gotten a whiteboard and for those at the back, I know you can't see, I hope the projection here may help you, understand this story of peace with God.

Now, I'm not very good at drawing, but you just have to make do, okay, so let's, let's look at this story of peace. What does the Bible teach about peace with God. The story of peace.

Every story has a beginning, chapter 1, let's go to chapter 1. Chapter 1, about Sweetness of this peace or sweet peace, if you want, alright, the Sweetness of this peace. How did it begin, it begins in the Garden of Eden. God is with man, in perfect peace and joy. So in the Garden of Eden, we are told, God made man and they live in perfect peace. There is no conflict, no disagreement, no war, no battle, just perfect bliss. Now, I want you to know that the idea of peace in the Bible is not just the absence of conflict, but the idea of peace in the Bible includes the presence of favor and goodwill and goodness.

The word shalom in the Hebrew encapsulates all that, or captures all that, it’s not just that there is no fighting, but there is blessing. There is goodwill, there is favor and, and you certainly see that in the Garden of Eden, God and man lives in peace and God is favorably disposed towards man. God is giving to man, God is supplying man, God is providing for man, everything, all food, all nature, all creatures, everything he needs for a happy, satisfied, blissful life, God provides, God is with man in the Garden of Eden. So that's the idea of peace, not just the absence of conflict but the presence of blessing.

Now, I think you can be very clear about that. For example, if you go to Lim Chu Kang and you go to the cemetery, you go there at night, there is no conflict. But you may not feel very much at peace, because there is not much goodwill you sense out of that, but real peace is the presence of favor and blessing and goodness from God.
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The idea I think you can see in Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you,” favorably disposed towards you, “and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” So the story of peace really begins with a very sweet note, beautiful, God and man in blissful living. God receiving the praise of man, man receiving the beautiful provisions of God, wonderful. It would be nice if the story ends at chapter 1.

But in with every good story I suppose, there is a tension that is built up. And then we read in chapter 2 the emergence of the Sabotager. There is someone who didn't like this, someone who was upset that God and man are living in peace. He's angry that man should be so blessed, he's angry that man should so praise God, he wanted to break this all up, he wanted to bring everyone into misery and grief. He wanted this peace to be broken up and disrupted. You say who is this man or not man, sorry, who is this person, he is? Oh, thank you very much, because first service I got to ask like 10 times, before they were willing to say. Well you're right, absolutely right the sabotager is none other than Satan.

Now, how am I going to draw Satan? Now, this is a tough part and it's not biblical, alright, this picture is not biblical but I think you get the idea. Satan, the Bible didn't say he has horns, but I draw just for you to, he's upset, he's not happy and maybe if it helps you. So the sabotager comes along, he's Satan alright. That's why the Bible calls him the adversary, the enemy, the evil one, the tempter.

The way he's going to disrupt this peace, is to cause a rift between God and man, he's going to cause, he wants to lure, to tempt men to rebel against God, to fight against God, to go against God and so he comes along and tempts Adam and Eve to go against the clear prohibition from God, the only prohibition from God. Don't take of the fruit of this tree, everything you can have, but just not this tree and the sabotager knew that and came along and says, “Hey, are you sure God said that? Maybe He doesn't love you. He doesn't want you to be like Him, because He knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like Him. He doesn't really love you.” Adam and Eve, thought for a while and they got sucked into this trap and so we go to chapter 3. Oh the sabotager has sabotaged my space, sorry. The third chapter is that of Severance. The peace that man enjoyed is now severed, is now disrupted, is now cut off, it's now broken because of sin. And so immediately, when you read the Bible, you see Adam begin to hide himself from God.

I mean he, he was in fellowship with God, sweet bliss, no shame, he was naked and not ashamed, but now he's, he's hiding from God. God says, “Where are you Adam?” But he wouldn't come. Why, because everything has now changed. No more peace, but the Bible tells us, enemies, because of our disobedience, because of Adam's sin against God, the whole world today inheriting this sin nature from Adam, we are now all enemies of God. No one is born today, none of us here we are born today a Christian. No one is born today a friend of God. No one is born today a righteous one. No, why, because we are all sinners, who will rebel against God. In Adam all are cut off.

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So the Bible now tells us, because of sin, there is no peace. “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22) Sin has ruined it all. Now what happens after chapter 3 severance is a sad story now. Would you want to help me with the next S? Separation will be severance, yup or separation, that's fine.

Excellent, Suffering. So the Bible moves and tells us in this story of peace that there is now great suffering. The suffering is very clear, that forfeiture, that giving up, that losing of blessing and goodness from God is seen when Adam was chased out, no entry sign alright, when Adam was chased out of the Garden of Eden. That's a message, that's a picture from God saying you're out of the blessings of this blessed communion with Me. So, there are two angels keeping flaming swords at the garden, no entry sign, you are out because of your sin, you're out, there is no peace, there is no, there's no real blissful blessed living as it was before.

Not only that, the world is now cursed, the whole earth is cursed because of sin. And so the earth, the ground is cursed with all kinds of thorns and weeds and now man would have to work very hard. By the way, work is not a bad thing, work is a good thing, but know man will have to toil, they have to work very hard, a lot of futile work, painful work, because the Bible says on the sweat of thy brow you shall eat your bread, it's going to be terrible. Now, the reason you work so hard today is because of the curse, because of sin.

Well what else did man suffer? Well, God did say to Adam, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17b) So suffering involved death. Man dies, and before you die you get sick, you get old, you decay, your knees don't work very well, eyesight is terrible, you get “lau hua yen” (presbyopia), you, you've pimples, you have, whatever, all these things are the result of sin. And so now man is grieved, he's sad, he sheds tears, that's what he will look like.

Not only that, if you read on to Genesis 4, the sad reality is because of us being cut off from God, losing peace with God, we lose peace in our heart, we lose a sense of identity, we become envious, jealous, selfish and murderous. And you will see that Cain would take a, not sword lah, but Cain would slay his own brother, Abel. That is the picture of man, when we lose peace with God, suffering.

Well, if the story of peace ends at that chapter 4, it will be sad. I think there's nothing for us to talk about this morning. If the story ends here I think you might as well go home, don't waste your time, go play, do whatever you want. But the good news of the Bible is this, the story doesn't end here.

The good news of the Bible is chapter 5, would you like to venture what that word would be? Excellent. The Bible tells us the story of peace goes on to a glorious chapter 5, when Jesus comes there is Salvation. No matter how messed up your life is, no matter how messed up this world is, no matter how deep sin has run, God provides an amazing salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

That's why the Bible tells us this is why He came, so that He may destroy the works of the devil. Whatever the devil has caused, whatever mess he has created, the Son will come and bring not just restoration, but you will see, that what He does and what He accomplishes is far greater, the glory will be far greater then when it began long time ago.

That's why the Bible calls Jesus Christ, the ‘Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b). Jesus is the Prince of Peace. You see, the Bible is a, is an amazing multifaceted story of love, of kingdom theology and also of peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He's going to bring peace to humanity, He's going to bring about reconciliation of man with God. You say how is He going to do that? Well, He's going to do that by fulfilling justice. Sin has to be paid for. You know, God is so righteous that He wouldn't say, “I want peace with man, so whatever they have done wrong, just forget it, I'll just forget it.” No, God then would not be righteous, God then would not be just; how can evil just be let off like that or ignored like that? No, it must be satisfied, evil must be paid for, justice must be satisfied and that's why Jesus, the Prince of Peace will go about restoring man to God through His own sacrifice. He will pay. He will pay it all, He will shed His blood, He will give His life.

You say why is the Christian message about Jesus' sacrifice? Very simple, Jesus sacrifice Himself so that God can forgive sinful man, because if there is no payment, God will be unrighteous to forgive sinful man. So Jesus gives forth His life, sheds His blood on the cross and He Himself is now our peace.

You see, men and women can come back to God, not because we are good, not because I am good, not because I, I've done good stuff in my life, there's is no good I can do that is acceptable before God. But I can come to God because He is our peace, His work on the cross is credited to my account. What an amazing gift that when I repent and believe in Jesus, He takes my sins, I get that forgiveness.

So this is a main teaching in the Bible, Colossians 1:20 says the same – “making peace by the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:20b) Why, He's reconciling to Himself all things, God is bringing the work of reversing this severance. Romans 5:1, I think, this could be very clear, it can't be clearer – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
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Some of you come from different religious backgrounds, you may have thought to be have peace with God, to be reconciled with God, to be saved, you need to be a goody two shoes, you need to be a good boy, you need to be religious person, you need to do this, do that, do this, do that, let me tell you, the Bible says it's not about what you do, it's about what Jesus has done and you are justified not by works but by faith, by relying on the finished work of Christ.

Now let me say, if you really repent and believe in Jesus Christ, He changes your heart and then now you would really start to do good works. But you don't do good works to earn your salvation, but you do it because you just love God. And man is saved by faith without the deeds of the law, that's the amazing message of the Bible, Jesus alone is our peace, so this is a tremendous story of salvation. Now, if it ends here, it is not so exciting.

So let me go to chapter 6. In chapter 6 it tells us, now some of you may say, yah, OK, I believe in Jesus, but, it doesn't look that great, I'm still suffering in this world, I am still having to struggle through a lot of things. Let me tell you, the real joy of this blissful living with God again is not going to be seen here. This is a little foretaste, very much mixed with sorrow and pain.

But one day, you're going to see the full splendor of peace with God. Splendor would be chapter 6 and so I'm going to erase all that because splendor means everything is new. In Christ everything is going to be new and so the picture of peace, from that of suffering and agony and grief and sorrow will now be one of delight and in simple diagram, I'm just going to draw this, God with man, many of us, across the nations, across the generations, all who believe in the promised Savior Jesus Christ, we will be beautifully united in Him, that will be the splendor of bliss.

I don't think I can draw that splendor, I think the Bible speaks of that splendor and so, let's read it. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.” Well, it's never been like this, since the days of the garden. But now in the time that is to come, we do not when this is going to take place, maybe next week, maybe 10 years, maybe a thousand years from now, I do not know when, but one day it will happen. On that day, “the dwelling place of God will be with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3,4) There is eternal bliss between God and man.

I don't even know what it's going to be like, I don't know what it's going to feel like, look like, smell like, sound like, I don't know. The Bible tells me no one knows, eye have not seen, neither ear heard, neither entered into the hearts of men, the things God has prepared for those who love Him. I've no clue, but I tell you it's going to be absolutely, spectacular, magnificent, splendid. So we all, in the story of peace, look forward to the end.

You know, it's like a good movie, when you watch a movie you, you, you're looking forward to the nice ending. I'm looking forward to chapter 6. So today, where do you live? If you are someone who believes in Jesus Christ, if you're someone who follows Christ, you live somewhere between Salvation and Splendor. You know, you, you want to flip the page, salvation, eagggh, you're going to flip to Chapter 6, but not yet lah, we're still there, in between.

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So I want to say the last chapter of this story, is that whilst we long for this state of splendor, God has left us here for a purpose. This story of peace requires an understanding of God's Sending of His people. God has saved us out of this world, to remain in this war-torn, peaceless world, that we may tell the world the story of peace. That's why you're here, between salvation and splendor is a distance and God has left you here, God has left me here because we have a story to tell to the nations, a story of peace and light.

You know the world today is a war-torn world. Singapore is a war-torn nation, you say no, where got war, Singapore so peaceful. Well, external peace, yes, human peace, yes, national peace, yes, but spiritual peace, no.

The world today is still in rebellion or Singapore today, many people in Singapore today are living in rebellion against God. It's war, we are enemies and so we’re left on this earth for a peace mission, to send the message of peace to those who need it.

John Stott, he says, “It is the devil who is the troublemaker;” you see, it's all the devil's in a sense, creation, he did it, he tempted Adam and Eve, of course, our fault is there, but he started that, he is the father of lies, he's a troublemaker, but “it is God who loves reconciliation and who now through his children, as formerly through His only begotten Son, is bent on making peace.” As so God sent His Son so that man can have peace with God and at the very same time, God sends His children, the Church, so that man could have peace with God.

This morning I want to say, let me be a peacemaker today, because some of you right here, maybe hearing this for the very first time, you ask what is the Bible about? I tell you the Bible is a good news. It's a good news of love, it's a good news about peace, not just that peace when you go to Phuket, not just that peace you go high up in the mountain, but a real peace, you can have with God and I tell you this peace is available to you.

You say, but I'm a sinner, I'm a terrible, wicked man, I have done many wrong things in my life. That's right, God knows that and that's why God gave His Son to die for you on the cross. So God today commands you, to repent of your sins, commands you to stop rebelling against Him, He commands you to say, come and believe in My Son, He has done it all for you, believe in Him and you can have everlasting life. This is an amazing good news don't you realize, we who are sinners, we who are people who will face the fierce wrath of God, we who might face hell forever, God says I'm willing to save you, I'm willing to have you back, I want to be reconciled with you, I want to have peace with you, if only you will repent and believe in My Son.

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And my friends, there's no other way. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6) I am the only way, I am the Prince of Peace. I'm the only One who shed that blood on the cross, sufficient and capable of washing away all your sins. So this morning, let me be a peacemaker. Would you today, repent, come before the Lord in humility and believe in His Son? That's the story I'm sent to give.
But that's not just the story I'm sent to give. This is a story, every one of you who is a child of God, we are sent to give. That's why Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. This is such an urgent and important message. You know it's so sad when in comfortable Singapore, we have all kinds of things that become our priority.

Let me ask you, what are the top five priorities in your life right now? If I were to ask you, what are the top five priorities are now, what would register in your mind straight away? Career, bills, kids, family, but where is that missional understanding? Where is that appreciation that we who are destined for splendor, are sent on a mission and we must be faithful to that mission?

But the Bible says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:18a) You can give this message, because you know this message. You have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. You have understood what it means to believe in Him, your life have been, has been changed. You see the fruit of God in your life, you have been so transformed and say, God is in me, I have been reconciled with God, then go and fulfill the ministry of reconciliation, go tell others about Jesus, that is what He's saying.

Now I know some of you may not want to tell that story, you may not want to evangelize, you don't want to tell others because you don't like to be labeled as a troublemaker. You know people who share the Gospel, the world generally sees Christians as troublemakers, “Aah, they want to tell me about my sin, about Jesus again, they're so troubling, they are so irritating, I don't like to hear that message.”

But let me remind you, now of course, if you are very rude and very, very disrespectful, then you deserve to be scolded. But if you are respectful and you are considerate and you give a factual honest representation of the story of peace, I want to say, you cannot be called a troublemaker. Why, because the original troublemaker is Satan, he is the troublemaker, not us, we are doing the work of reconciliation.

I suppose, it's like this - I have two boys, sometimes I bring them to see the doctor and I don't think they really like to see the doctor. They say to doctor, I don't want, I don't want, especially the younger one, I, I don't like the doctor. Why, well because his experience with the doctors is that maybe he takes the cold stethoscope and puts it all over his chest, very uncomfortable. He remembers the doctors or the nurses will take a needle and poke him, take blood, he remembers maybe the vaccination, poke his backside, eeyah and so his association with doctors is a negative experience, they are bad.

But is it really the doctor’s fault? Are you, are you troubled by this question? I mean, is it really the doctor’s fault, no, of course not. The trouble is with the disease! What the doctor is doing is good, it's reconciling me or reconciling Matthias to good health. The problem is not the doctor, the problem is the disease. But what the doctor does in order to get me well, can be sometimes very uncomfortable and painful, but it is still good.

See, when I was a doctor, I never have a problem poking babies. Please don't imagine I'm a sadistic doctor, but I look at it reasonably, but I'm not like rough with the kid poke, poke, poke, no, I am not doing that, I understand that I have to be gentle and I, I try to be gentle, nice to the kids but I know that with this poke, I know it's not nice, but it's good for him. And even if the baby cries and he hates me forever, so be it, I'm here to help you.

You know Christians, you are given the ministry of reconciliation, now the message you bring, is going to hurt people, because you are telling them that they are sinners. You are telling them that for their sins they will be damned in eternal hell fire forever. You are telling them that they are so hopeless, they cannot save themselves. You are telling them to bow before Jesus and to believe and to belong and to follow Jesus. That's hard, that's uncomfortable, truth hurts, but it's for their good.

And so whilst the world may not appreciate it, the messengers of peace understand the need for it and the messengers of peace gave forth this message uncompromisingly. We don't back down, we don't try to reduce the standard, we don't try to reduce the requirements of the Gospel to repent, to die to yourself and to follow Jesus, no we don't, we don't minimize that. We give a clear message. Why, because that's the message from the King.

I like what Tozer said, AW Tozer he says, “We are not diplomats,” in other words, we are not here trying to be political, nice, win everybody, no we are not diplomats but we are “prophets, our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.”

The Gospel is an ultimatum, I told you that the Bible can be looked at in different angles, one of which is that of a king, issuing a message of repentance. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is coming near. His point is, when that kingdom is going to be ushered in, those who are rebels will be judged, so repent, it's an ultimatum. There's no compromise, there's no negotiation, it's clear.

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I think the idea is that of ancient peacemakers. In ancient times, ambassadors will be sent forth by the king to rebel states and call them to come back to the king, put down your arms, repent and the king will forgive, that's the job of the peacemaker, uncompromising.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the rebel state would may just grab the ambassador and chop off his head and you know that's what being a peacemaker entails. That's what it said in verse 10, when you are being an ambassador for God don't expect success all the time, don't expect people to embrace you all the time, it's not going to happen.

Sometimes it's going to be wonderful, people would repent, like when Jonah preached, the whole city of Nineveh repented, wonderful, but there are times where like Paul, he is hunted and harassed like an animal, he's persecuted for righteousness sake. But the man on the mission understands that. He is sent to a war-torn world anyway and his eyes are fixed on the heavenly splendors that are to come.

My friends we have an unmatched message to tell the world, there's no message like ours, there's no message like that from the Bible. Yesterday was SAF day right and it was NS50, it was a celebration of our national service, celebration of the Singapore Armed Forces, and I think, we, we, we are thankful as a nation for the good job the military has done. Given us many peaceful days and years, but let me tell you something SAF would never be able to do, SAF or NS would never be able to bring about real peace with God. SAF and NS will never bring about peace that lasts forever. Praise God for generals, for defense ministers whatever, but I think the child of God has a superb message that outstrips all those. Now, please I'm not running it down, but I am saying how valuable, how precious is that mission, God has sent us on. And some of us are craving to be somebody in society, somebody and we forget that we are ambassadors of the heavenly King! Wow! And this message of peace is so powerful, it does not just heal our relationship with God, you know this message of peace can bring nations together, bring people together, it's so powerful.

Ephesians 2:14, the Bible says, “He Himself is our peace,” Christ is our peace, ”who has made us both one.” What Paul is saying here is, made both the Jews and the Gentiles one family, one body, a more intimate picture. Jews and Gentiles, they hate each other, they don't like each other, but because of Christ, historical deep rooted animosity is melted away and the people become one in the love of God, because we are united through Christ to the Father, we are now brothers and sisters in Christ, that's amazing.

That's what SAF, that's what our ambassadors, that's what our politicians would never be able to achieve. That's the message God gives to you to share, to give to your neighbors, to give to your loved ones, to give to the people all across the world, unmatched message.

So no wonder, Isaiah exclaims, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”” (Isaiah 52:7) This is a picture of a man who is on a, on a mission, he's like a ambassador from a far, far away land, he runs, he makes his way all the way across the lands, across the seas, climbs the mountains, and from a distance, people could see him coming to us, this is how wonderful the King has sent a message of peace, we who have been hiding from our King, we who are living in misery in our own devices, we now can get back to our King, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

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Christians must have such beautiful feet, I'm not asking you to go pedicure, but I asking you to shod yourselves or arm yourselves with the Gospel and go where God wants you to go, to tell people - good news, there is peace. Now, some people may throw eggs at you, that's fine, they don't appreciate that good news but one day it will be all so clear. But you go, go tell people, go tell people a great story today.

I think this is the verse, I think these are the teachings that inspire missionaries across the ages to go across the globe. They leave their families, they leave their careers, by the way, I'm not talking fairytale. I know that when I hear people talk about oh, missionaries leave their homes, leave their careers, I almost think fairytale, in Hokkien we say “how siao”, ridiculous one, where got such thing.

Well I, I think it's true throughout church history, even right up to today, there are people who leave everything because they are bringing good news to people all across the world. You see, they are very clear. They're very clear that they have been beautifully saved, they're very clear that they are living for a splendor up there and not for comfort right now and therefore they know they are sent. This is very clear that they will devote their whole life to fulfilling this mission.

Maybe some of you today, God is speaking to you to be sent somewhere, to go where no one has gone with the Gospel. Now, when you do that people around you will says surely he is a son of God, no one would have done that.

But maybe for us many of us this is a step too far. Then I say take little steps for now. Take little steps to be sending the message of the good news to your neighbor, your friends, your colleagues, tell them about Jesus. Tell them about the peace that they have lost, tell them about the peace that they can have, tell them about this peace that will transform everything.

Maybe some of you say, yah I really want to share the Gospel, but I don't know how to, I'm glad you asked. Advertisement time, please join us for Xpress training in October and I say it's funny in a sense, but I am dead serious about it. You know, one thing I really wish all of us would at least have is to be equipped in sharing the Gospel. Now some of you are already very comfortable in sharing your faith, fantastic, then I say, that's fine, you don't really need to come for training unless you feel that you may want to learn another tool, pick up another way of sharing the Gospel. But I'm speaking to many who may not really know how to even start a conversation to share the Gospel. I'm talking to people who feel scared about taking that first step.
Then I say to you would you at least do yourself a favor to be trained. I think Gospel Light will be a very different church if you, I'm talking about you, alright, I'm not talking about him or her, I'm talking about you. If you are equipped to be able to share this story of peace, this Gospel to others, this church will be very different. I guarantee, within a year, it will be very different, if every single one of us, realize we are being sent, this church will be different, but I say to you, advertisement time, come join us in October.

I really hope that our church would equip you, or at least that's our responsibility, we provide the training and if you come, that's great, if you don't come, the blood is on the head. So we hope to run this at least twice a year, God willing, but it’s so important for us to be equipped to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Well, this is what makes us identifiable when we are going about the work of peacemaking, the Bible says, “they shall be called the sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9b) Now the word sons is the word Greek word “huios” which, there are different words for the word “children” or “sons” in the Bible but the word “huios” leans more towards that of a offspring, it leans more towards the idea that this person has taken on the characteristic, the likeness of God. In other words when we are going about peacemaking, you are easily identified as being a child of God, it's recognizable through your life. And I suppose that's why people will persecute you when you are so identifiable.

So my friends, your life can be about this peace. What would you want to have on your tomb when you die? A man who has been rich, successful, 10 cars, five condos? Think about your legacy, think about what you are living for.

I end with this story of this man named Alfred, lived some time ago. One day he was in France, Paris, he was reading the newspaper and he came to the obituary section and to his surprise, he saw his own name. Someone has written that he has died, he was horrified, he says no I didn't die, well, actually what happened is that, his brother Ludwig had died. But the editor of the papers got it wrong and thought it was him, Alfred who died and so he read the obituary with these words, ‘The merchant of death is dead.”

You see, Alfred is known as the merchant of death because he was the inventor of dynamite. He was the one who people say, have given us weapons to kill many at one go, he's called the merchant of death. He has factories that manufacture dynamite and when he read it, he was horrified. It went on to say, “Doctor Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” To his horror, he said, is this the legacy I would leave behind. Now whether this story was real or not, I really cannot verify, some says real, some say not, but it's a good story alright. But he said, I don't want to be remembered this way and that is how the Nobel peace prize came about, someone had a check on his life and decided to change direction.

I wish today, Christians would have this wisdom to learn from Alfred Nobel. It's easy to rush along life, not knowing where we are going, but today, take stock. We are a people saved from the sufferings of sin, we are a people heading for a place of splendor, of eternal bliss. Hey, let's be faithful living this mission of giving the story of peace.

I thought about how to end the sermon and I thought one of the best ways is to give you a song, not that I'll sing it, but to remind you of this song we, we have sung this song like 18, 19, 20 years ago in Gospel Light. I have not heard this song since then. Anybody knows what the song would be? I actually hinted at just now. Okay, never mind I took a long time to think about, anyway, the song is appropriate. It's called “We've a story to tell to the nations” Look at the lyrics, “We've a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light. We've a song to be sung to the nations, that shall lift their hearts to the Lord, a song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword.” No more wars, what a message. “We've a message to give to the nations, that the Lord who reigneth above hath sent us His Son to save us, and show us that God is love. We've a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow hath trod,” He had gone that suffering way, so “that all of the world's great peoples might come to the truth of God. We've a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn the hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light.” That's the story of the Bible.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. I just want to give you this time to think and reflect, because I tell, I've told you a story of peace and I pray this morning, some of you right here will seriously consider this message, this ultimatum from the Father, from God the King. He commands men everywhere to repent. Would you do so before the King. Would you rely and believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This morning, it might be the day of you coming to experience this peace in your heart. So I pray you'll repent, you'll believe in Christ, who is the Prince of Peace.

I want to speak today also to Christians because you may be here and you're happy and going about life as usual and you know the danger of Gospel Light Christian Church is that we can easily become Gospel Light Christian club. Comfortable, cozy, air-conditioned, nice chairs, neat and clean faith, just come on Sunday, hear a sermon, go back, go about my own business, this is life. That is not life, that's an abuse of life, because God has given you this life, sent you here for a mission, to be shod with these beautiful feet, to be using your beautiful feet to go all across, maybe your office, your school, your neighborhood and to herald the Gospel of peace. Would you do that, because you know you are saved, you have been reconciled, because you know you're destined for glory to come. So what's there to lose because you know Christ is with you as you go about making disciples. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.

Father, thank You for this story we can tell to the nations. I pray people here today would receive this message well and I pray Gospel Light will really be the light, to bring this message of peace, this message of light to all around us. God spare us from being a comfortable, mundane, selfish people, but make us missional, make us peacemakers, work in our hearts this day, we pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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