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The order in which the text follows the blessing upon the pure suggests the doctrine of James concerning the "wisdom that is from above," which is "first pure, then peaceable" (James 3:17). Christ is himself that Wisdom. Those in vital union with him are pure towards God, peaceable towards men.

I. THE CHRISTIAN SURVEYS A WORLD IN STRIFE.

1. Every man's nature is convulsed.

(1) Irregular imaginations disorder the passions. For good or evil, the passions are moved by the fancy. It should be especially guarded.

(2) Insurgent passion dethrones reason. The passions are then in anarchy.

(3) The anarchy of the soul is propagated into the life. Under passion, as in drunkenness, men will commit crimes, which, when Reason recovers her seat, fill them with horror and shame.

(4) What a scene of turbulence is presented in the aggregate mind of unregenerate humanity!

2. Society writhes in contentions.

(1) A community of convulsed natures. Selfishness and waywardness will be prolific in jealousies and envies, in knaveries and vituperations, in resentments and violences.

(2) Hence a political economy which cannot regenerate must be based upon the counterbalancing of vices. The peace so produced is artificial and imperfect. The effort to produce it often begets new strifes.

(3) The selfishness and ambition of nations provoke fierce wars. The arts of civilization are pressed into this barbaric service.

(4) What voices arise from the battle-fields of the world!

3. Heaven and earth are in antagonism.

(1) Men are in rebellion against God. Some openly - the infidel, the libertine. Some covertly - the hypocrite, the ungodly. Passive resistance.

(2) God is angry against men. Hence the anger of the elements. His retributions come in blights, pestilences, famines, wars, and in deaths in various frightful forms.

(3) This contest does not cease in death. The rebel carries his nature with him into the spiritual world. There he meets the God of judgment. There he encounters the "wrath to come."

II. HE ENDEAVOURS TO COMPOSE THE STRIFE.

1. By an example of peaceableness.

(1) The disposition of the Christian is peace-loving. He is considerate. He is longsuffering. He is forgiving.

(2) His conversation is peaceable. He is conciliatory and yielding. He will sacrifice himself - anything but truth and righteousness.

(3) Peace. doing is included in the idea of peacemaking. A doer of peace is one whose actions are good and useful. The Hebrew greeting, "Peace be unto thee," expressed the desire to promote welfare in general

2. By mediatory exertions.

(1) While others, as incendiaries, blow up the tires of discord and contention, the peacemaker finds the greatest pleasure in allaying animosities, quenching the flames of malignity, and promoting unity and concord among men.

(2) The work of the peacemaker requires courage. For he has to take blows from both sides.

3. By seeking the salvation of souls. In this the root of the mischief is reached.

(1) Thereby the strife with Heaven is ended. It is the reconciliation of the sinner to God.

(2) Thereby the civil war in the soul is ended. It is the reconciliation of the conscience and the will. It is the reconciliation of the reason and the passions.

(3) Thereby the conflict between man and his fellow is ended. It is the reconciliation of human interests.

III. HE REAPS A BLESSED REWARD.

1. He is recognized as the child of God.

(1) For he partakes of the nature of his Father. The God of the Bible is "the God of peace." Contrast with Mars. All the greater forces of nature are peaceful. There is rattle in the thunderstorm; but the force of that storm is not comparable to the silent power of the light, which covers the earth with verdure. How noiselessly do the worlds perform their stupendous revolutions! The earth rotates on its axis without friction at the rate of a thousand miles an hour. Her wings make no noise by which she is carried through space at the rate of a thousand miles a minute.

(2) He partakes of the nature of the Son. The Prince of Peace. How silently, without observation, does the kingdom of Christ come to the soul! In his millennial kingdom "his rest shall be glorious."

(3) He partakes of the nature of the Spirit. "The Spirit of peace. Bringing peace, he is the Comforter.

2. He inherits his Father's love.

(1) This idea is included in the blessedness of the peacemaker. The Father will love the child that bears his image. The Son of his love is the express Image of his substance.

(2) Love implies solicitude. What resources are behind that solicitude! For guidance. For support. For defence. - J.A.M.

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

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