plain words of the
Master, they would bring their united influence to bear against that
demon of war, and that pinchbeck, spurious glory which is connected with
it. 'Blessed are the peacemakers': let us try to earn the benediction.

III. Lastly, note the issue of this peacemaking.

'They shall be called the sons of God.' Called? By whom? Christ does not
say, but it should not be difficult to ascertain. It seems to me that to
suppose that it is by men degrades this promise, instead of making it
the climax of the whole series. Besides, it is not true that if a
Christian man lives as I have been trying to describe, protesting
against certain evils, trying to diffuse an atmosphere of peace round
about him; and, above all, seeking to make known the Name of the great
Peacemaker, men will generally call him a 'son of God.' The next verse
but one tells us what they will call him. 'Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you
falsely for My sake.' They are a great deal more likely to have stones
and rotten eggs flung at them than to be pelted with bouquets of scented
roses of popular approval. No! no! it is not man's judgment that is
meant here. It matters very little what men call us. It matters
everything what God calls us. It is He who will call them 'sons of God.'
So the Apostle John thought that Christ meant, for he very beautifully
and touchingly quotes this passage when he says, 'Beloved! behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God.'

God's calling is a recognition of men for what they are. God owns the
man that lives in the fashion that we have been trying to outline--God
owns him for His child; manifestly a son, because he has the Father's
likeness. 'Be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children, and
walk in love.' God in Christ is the first Peacemaker, and they who go
about the world proclaiming His peace and making peace, bear the image
of the heavenly, and are owned by God as His sons.

What does that owning mean? Well, it means a great deal which has yet to
be disclosed, but it means this, too, that the whisper of the Voice
which owns us for children will be heard by ourselves. The Spirit which
cries, 'Abba, Father!' will open our ears to hear Him say, 'Thou art My
beloved Son.' Or, to put it into plain English, there is no surer way by
which we can come to the calm, happy, continual consciousne