[0:00] Galatians chapter 5. Over the last few weeks again, we have been talking about walking in the Spirit.
[0:21] Those works of the flesh are all things that we don't want to be involved in.
[0:36] But then you come to verse 22. And verse 22 says, But the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.
[0:51] The works of the flesh, there's laws against some of those. He says against the fruit of the Spirit, no laws. Against those. If you want to show love, if you want to show joy, you want to show peace, he says no laws against that.
[1:07] So today we're looking at walking in peace. We've looked at walking in love, having the love of God residing in you and showing that love to others. We've talked about walking in joy.
[1:19] The fact that the joy of Christ, the joy of the Lord is our strength. The Bible says in Nehemiah, having that joy of the Lord just filling us.
[1:30] And oozing out and showing it to the people we come in contact with. Today, walking in peace. Walking in peace. You know, the world is longing for peace.
[1:41] You watch the news, we talk about finding a solution to Russia and Ukraine. We want to find a solution to Israel and Hamas. We want to find a solution to other areas.
[1:54] As they mentioned, even in Africa, there are things taking place there. Within countries, Congo is in the midst of a civil war. There's different things. We want peace in our world.
[2:06] And people are looking for it. How are we going to accomplish peace? Even in our own selves. We want peace of mind. We want inner peace.
[2:17] How can I have that just peace within myself? How can I do that? You know, we hear about it every day. And a lot of people try to find peace through bottles.
[2:32] Bottles of alcohol. Bottles with pills in them. Drugs and alcohol and different things. And we try to find peace that way. And we find it doesn't give us peace. It gives us more problems.
[2:44] We need to find peace in some other way. You know, it's interesting. This word peace. In the Old Testament, they use the word shalom. You've heard Jewish people greet one another.
[2:56] Shalom. What does shalom mean? Shalom means a desire or a prayer that all is well with you. All is well. I say shalom.
[3:08] That's what I'm saying to you. I'm saying I hope you have peace. I'm hoping that you have, that everything is going all right. That everything is going well with you. The New Testament word for peace means to bind together.
[3:23] To bring together in unity. To bind together. So, I hope everything is going well with you as we bind together in unity. See, peace isn't merely the absence of war.
[3:39] Peace is living in the presence of Jesus Christ. Having him reside within me. Having peace and harmony because of the presence of the Lord.
[3:51] Having oneness with him where we're trying to fulfill his purposes and do what he has for us. So, this morning we're going to look at some things about peace. Let's have a word of prayer first.
[4:02] Father, I pray this morning that you would help us. As we look at peace. Lord, peace comes from you. Peace comes when we know you. Peace comes when we trust you.
[4:14] Peace comes when we allow you to work in our hearts and lives. Lord, I pray this morning for those that are here. Lord, I pray that they would be understanding the peace of God.
[4:27] Letting it rule in their hearts. Having peace with you to watch you work in our hearts and lives and make something special happen as we have that trust, that reliance, that rest in you.
[4:42] Lord, I pray that you would just help any who may be listening to this later today or sometime this week. Help them to understand the peace of God can rule in their lives if they will surrender themselves to you.
[4:56] Lord, help us today to understand peace and what it's all about. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. First of all, in order to have peace, we have to know where it comes from.
[5:09] And peace comes from above. Peace comes from above. Jesus desired for all of us to have peace in our lives. There is so much going on in this world, so many things that happen, and so many things that happen in our everyday individual lives that sometimes it's hard to have peace.
[5:27] But when we know Jesus, it makes all the difference in the world. John 14, 27. Red doesn't show up on here as well. I wish I could do the red for the words of Jesus for you.
[5:41] But this is Jesus speaking. It says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
[5:53] He says, I'm going to give you peace. I'm going to leave peace with you. I'm going to give you my peace. And you think about the peace of Jesus. Jesus encountered many hard times.
[6:06] He encountered many times where the Pharisees and the scribes and all those others were coming at him and going after him. Jesus had peace about it all. He didn't get upset and he didn't get, you know, he knew what he was here for.
[6:20] He knew what he was going to do. He knew what God had a plan. He knew everything about it. He got ready to go to the cross. Where does he go?
[6:32] He goes to Gethsemane to pray. And yes, he says, Father, if there's any way this will pass from me, you know, but if not, thy will be done. He had a peace about him.
[6:42] And he says, I'm going to leave my peace with you. When we have Jesus in our heart and life, the peace that comes from that. See, the peace of Christ is a gift to us that he has left for us.
[6:55] John chapter 16, verse 33, says this, These things have I spoken unto you that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
[7:07] I have overcome the world. He says, be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Don't have to worry about things that are taking place. So what does that tell us as we look at those two verses?
[7:18] First of all, peace with God is available. We can have peace with God. It's available to us. Romans 5.1 Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:34] Being justified by faith, being made just as if I'd never sinned by the faith I have in Jesus Christ, I can have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:49] Which brings us to the second thing. Peace is available through Jesus Christ. How do we have peace? How do we get peace? We get it through Jesus Christ. Why is it so necessary to come through him?
[8:01] Because first of all, sin separated us from God. Sin separated us from God. It created a conflict. When Adam and Eve sinned, it created a conflict in this world.
[8:16] God cannot have sin in his presence. God is a holy God. And it caused a problem for us. Romans 5.12 says this, Wherefore, as by one man sin ended into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for they all have sinned.
[8:35] He says, by one man. When Adam sinned, sin came into the world. And everyone born after Adam and Eve sinned, had a sin nature in them.
[8:45] What hope did we have? Well, second thing is, Jesus came to make peace. Jesus came to make peace.
[8:56] Colossians 1.20, And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.
[9:09] He says, look, peace was made through the blood of his cross. When Jesus went on that cross and gave himself, Easter's coming up in a few weeks, when he went on that cross and gave of himself, he was giving a way for us to have peace with him again.
[9:27] He was having a way to take care of the sin that was there. And he says, and by him to be reconciled, to reconcile all things unto himself. He gave us a way to be reconciled to God.
[9:39] He gave us a way to be reconciled unto himself. And by him, whether things in heaven or things in earth. He says, by him, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me, Christ said in John 14.6.
[9:56] What causes so much lack of peace in our lives? Why is it we have such trouble finding peace? Usually it's because of guilt. We feel guilt over the sin that we have done.
[10:10] We feel guilt over the neglect of Christ. We feel guilt because of how we handle things and the way we say things and how we treat people. And our answer to that is, I need religion.
[10:24] Religion just adds to the guilt. See, I want religion. Most religions are what? rules, rituals, sacraments.
[10:38] And if we don't do them or we miss them or we do, oh, I didn't do it. I'm such a right person. I'm so bad. I so, oh, I didn't do what I was supposed to do.
[10:49] That's one of the great things about Christianity. It's not about doing. It's about it's already been done. Jesus took care of it by himself. See, we feel guilty because of sin and we feel guilty because of missing things and we feel guilty because of whatever.
[11:06] And he says, no, no, no, don't feel guilty. Jesus paid the price. Jesus took it upon himself. Jesus has the answer for you.
[11:17] So, he says, look, be careful. Remember, peace comes from above. We don't make it up ourselves. It comes from him. But, when it does come from him, when we ask Jesus to come into our life, when we ask him to be our savior, he says, his peace comes into us, which gives us the second thing.
[11:40] The peace is for within. They're not necessarily going to have peace every time, you know, everything happens in this world, but he says, there's going to be a peace within. I have the peace of God in my heart.
[11:53] You know, we should all have the peace of God in our heart. We don't always. One of my favorite comics over the years growing up was Peanuts.
[12:07] And, Charlie Brown and Lucy and Linus and the gang. And there was one, one time, Lucy's talking to Charlie Brown and she says, I hate everything.
[12:20] I hate everybody. I hate the whole world. Charlie Brown says, I thought you had inner peace. I do have inner peace, but I still have outer obnoxiousness.
[12:37] And that's the way a lot of us live. You know, it's like, we need to let the peace that's in there shine out through us. See, the peace that we get is a peace that is a grace of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
[12:53] A grace of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. We ask Jesus to come into our life. We ask Him to be our Savior. When He comes into our life, He brings peace with Him when He comes. That Spirit of God always brings peace.
[13:05] Romans chapter 15, verse 13 says this, Now the God of hope, I love that, the God of hope. God brings hope when He comes into our life.
[13:17] Jesus brings hope. Last week at the end of the service, we sang, My hope is Jesus. He brings hope to our lives. He says, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
[13:32] I've been talking with some people lately. I said to them the other day, one of them, You know, if I told you to go do 40 hours of work for the Salvation Army ringing a bell, and then I told you to go do 40 hours of work, at a soup kitchen, helping people, and then I told you to go do 40 hours of work at a food cupboard type thing, and if you did that 120 hours, at the end, you would be saved.
[14:00] You'd say, No problem. I can do that. But when you say, you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
[14:14] Man, we have problems with that, don't we? Because I need to earn it. I need to do something. I can just believe that's it. Notice what this verse says. He says, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
[14:31] He says, You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You ask him to come into your life to be your Savior, that he paid for your sins. You have a home in heaven because of him, and I'm trusting that.
[14:44] He says, You have a joy. You have peace. We've talked about joy last week. He says, You can have all of that, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.
[14:57] You can abound in hope. We get so discouraged, so frustrated, so... He says, No, no, no, no. Let the peace of God come in and ruin your heart.
[15:11] Let the peace of God give you that hope. And that peace of God that we have is beyond description. That peace of God is beyond description. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 and 7.
[15:24] Being careful for nothing. What does that mean? I'm going to go jump off a cliff? I'm going to be careful for nothing. I'm going to go out and play in traffic? No.
[15:36] When he says that, be careful for nothing, he's saying, don't worry. Don't worry about things. Why? But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
[15:49] Pray, ask God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You trust in Christ.
[16:00] You follow Christ. And he says, in the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. I don't understand how people go through some things and have the peace that they do. There's a, I don't have time this morning, but there's a lady, a friend of mine that I've known for all my life.
[16:19] She sends things. There's a lady whose son was injured four years ago. He was outdoors playing, and a tree branch fell off and hit him in the head.
[16:33] He has traumatic brain injury because of that. And this woman writes the most unbelievable updates on her son.
[16:45] It's been four years. He still has traumatic brain injury. He still has a lot of problems and things, but he's making progress slowly, slowly, slowly. But she writes about the love of God in their life.
[16:57] She writes about the joy that they can have. She writes about the peace that they have. She just, it's amazing when you read these things that somebody who's going through this and watching their childhood, they just, you know what?
[17:11] God loves us. God's taking care of us. God is meeting our needs. And her husband has cancer now, too. And she's still, God has got it.
[17:25] God has taken care of it. God has got me. God has taken care of me. It is just amazing to read. You know, it's interesting. The word worry, you know where we get the word worry from?
[17:38] It comes from a German word, worgen. W-E-R-G-E-N. You know what it means? To choke. And isn't that what worry does?
[17:50] When we allow worry into our life, it chokes us. You know, somebody's got their hand around your neck and going, you're not thinking about all these things, you're thinking about that.
[18:01] And he's just choking. Takes my mind off of God. Takes my mind off of the help that's right near me. Takes my mind off, I'm only concentrating on what this thing right here. And it chokes the joy and the love and the peace out of us.
[18:17] There's a group of Korean Christians. They were going through some hard times of persecution. And somebody asked them one time, they said, how can you be so faithful to God in the midst of all of this persecution?
[18:33] Here was their answer. We are just like nails. The harder you drive us, the deeper you drive us. The deeper you drive us, the more peaceful it becomes.
[18:49] Whack! Goes down into the wood. Whack! Goes further into the wood. And when you get down inside the wood there, you may hear the whack up here, but this down here is protected.
[19:03] It's covered. And it says, you're taken care of. We are taken care of. We're like nails. How does that peace come to us?
[19:14] First of all, God's peace is sustained by God's word. God's peace is sustained by God's word. Isaiah 26.3 Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.
[19:30] Do you trust God? No matter what's going on in your life, do you trust God? Do you keep your focus there? He says, you keep your focus on him that will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.
[19:45] Psalm 119 verse 165. Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.
[19:57] You find somebody who loves the word of God, somebody who reads the word of God, studies the word of God, takes it in as part of their life and he says and nothing is going to offend them. It doesn't matter what people do, doesn't matter what people say, he says they're going to follow God because of their love for his word.
[20:20] God's peace will also rule in your heart. God's love will also rule in your heart. There's a man, I have his name up there, I'm not too sure about who he is, but his quote is this, confidence is the courage to be at ease.
[20:40] Confidence is the courage to be at ease. Colossians 3.15 says this, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also you're called in one body and be thankful.
[20:54] See, when I trust God, when I put my faith in him and allow his peace to rule in my heart, I have confidence. I'm at ease.
[21:06] I have his confidence. I'm at ease. I have his power resting on me, in his presence with me. Third thing, I have peace comes from above, peace that dwells within, and peace that goes all around.
[21:26] I have a peace that goes all around. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14, follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
[21:39] So I have to have peace, I have to have holiness? Yes and no. I have to have Jesus. When I have Jesus, I have peace.
[21:52] When I have Jesus, I have confidence. I have holiness. I see, when I have Jesus, I have everything I need. He says, you want to see God? Remember, again, Jesus said, without me, you can't see the Father.
[22:07] You have to come through me. Do you ever stop and think most of your problems in life come from where? People.
[22:20] Most of the problems in life are people problems. people. It's not, oh, this has happened in the world and that's happened in the world. It comes down to personally, it's people problems.
[22:33] And even the problems in the world are people problems. People want power. They want prestige. They want this. They want that. People want. God says, look, you want peace in your life?
[22:46] Follow me. You want peace in your life? Watch me. Keep your eyes on me. Romans chapter 12 verse 18. If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men.
[23:01] What are you doing to help the situation? What are you doing to take care of the situation? He says, as much as possible, live peaceably with all men. Well, what is he talking about? Where are we going to do this?
[23:12] First of all, we're going to do it in our homes. Our homes today can be a real problem sometimes. Now, that's not here, not you guys, you guys. But other people's homes can be a real problem, right?
[23:28] Other people's homes, they can have all kinds of turmoil and things going on in those homes and stuff. A lot of it has to do because we're selfish. Us guys can sometimes be selfish.
[23:47] husband was talking to his wife. It was probably middle, end of August. And he turns to her and he says, the first football game of the year is coming on.
[24:01] Is there anything you want to say before the season starts? Because what did he just say? August, September, October, November, December, January, February, I've checked out.
[24:13] I've got one thing I'm focused on. See, we need to be working together. Colossians 3.15 says, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you're called in one body and be thankful.
[24:30] God has called you together. God's called you and says you're one body in your marriage. You're together. So he says, look, you're one body, be thankful for what God has given to you.
[24:41] women, I can't leave them out. It's not just the men, women. One woman, she comes home after a big old shopping spree and she walks through the door, all of these different packages and stuff, and the husband meets her at the door and he says, what did you buy?
[25:02] With prices as high as they are, you spent a fortune. I think, I hate to think what you did to our nest egg. And she says, I'll tell you what happened to your nest egg.
[25:13] He said, the old hen got tired of sitting on it. We're supposed to work together. We're supposed to be one in the things that we do.
[25:24] How about in our church? Our homes? Our homes, if we can get that one taken care of, it will help with a whole lot of situations. But what about in our churches too? 1 Corinthians 14 33 says this, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
[25:44] God's not the author of confusion, but of peace. When we follow him, keep our eyes on him, go with him, do what he asks us to do, he said there will be peace. And we need to keep our eyes on Christ and what he has told us to do.
[25:59] Romans 16 17, now I beseech you, brethren, mark them, which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. You know, sometimes we don't like to talk about doctrine and stuff, but he says, look, mark those that weren't contrary to the doctrine that you've been taught and avoid them.
[26:21] Ephesians 4, 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. He says, keep the unity, keep that, remember we talked about part of peace is to bind together, keep that unity in the bond of peace.
[26:40] How about in our world? In our world? Well, we can help learn about the peace and have peace around us in our world, first of all, by preaching Jesus Christ. Preaching Christ and living for Christ.
[26:54] Romans 3, 17 and 18, and the way of peace have they not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes. The world doesn't know peace because the world doesn't care about God.
[27:06] The world doesn't know peace because there is no fear of God, there is no respect of God, there is no reverence of God, there is no, you know, we don't hold God up to a standard, we look at and say, that's what I need to be, that's what I want to be, that's how I want to live.
[27:27] We don't care. Ephesians 6, 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We put on the armor of God, take the sword, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
[27:51] You want to go the right way, do the right thing, be in the place that God wants you to be, he says, have your feet shod with the gospel of peace. Know God, follow God, trust God, stay with him.
[28:06] He says another way to do that, by praying for our leaders. Now, I didn't write all these verses out on the thing, I gave you the reference so you can write it down because it's a little bit longer. Praying for our leaders, 1 Timothy 2, 1-4, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks, be made for all men.
[28:27] He says pray. pray specifically, verse 2, for kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
[28:44] Pray for those that are in authority. Pray for those that are ruling over us. Pray for them. And he says to be praying for them because as we pray for them, it will help us to walk a quiet and peaceable life.
[28:59] Verse 3, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. He says God's pleased with that when we can pray. Verse 4, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth?
[29:15] God's desire that everybody is saved. Everybody comes to the knowledge of the truth. Everybody when they do that is going to know the peace of God in their life.
[29:27] And then thirdly, he says by expecting the return of our Lord. Expecting the return of our Lord. Are you looking forward to Jesus coming?
[29:38] Are you looking forward to the day that he comes back? See, again, our world leaders, they're trying and hoping that somehow they're going to be able to do the right things that are going to bring peace.
[29:52] Throughout history, that has failed miserably. When we try to come up with the ideas of our own, they seem to just never get anywhere.
[30:05] Only Christ can offer eternal, everlasting peace. 1 Thessalonians 5, 1-4 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
[30:19] For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
[30:38] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness. Ye, that day, may overtake you as a thief. He says, look, there's coming a day when Christ is going to return.
[30:50] And it's a day that most people don't know. We don't know what it is. He says, it's going to come like a woman having a child. We can watch a woman and we can see her grow along her months and then she's getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
[31:05] And they're saying, man, she must be getting close to having that child. But we don't know the day or the hour. She must be getting close. No, not today. No, not today.
[31:17] Then all of a sudden one day, oh, I think we need to go to the hospital. He says, Jesus is going to come like that. Be ready for it.
[31:29] You want to have the peace of God in your life? It doesn't matter what's going on in this world. He says, look, you be ready. You be ready for Jesus to come again.
[31:41] That will give you peace. I don't care what's going on in the world. Jesus is coming. He says, be ready for that. You know, when we walk in the spirit, we will have peace from above.
[31:56] We'll have peace within. We'll have peace all around us. When unbelievers see the peace and joy in a believer's life, it has an impact on them.
[32:09] When they see the joy and the peace and the love that we have because of having Jesus Christ, they understand there's something different going on.
[32:22] Do we show them that? Do we live that? You know, when they see Christians fighting, arguing, worried, all upset, what difference is that in their life?
[32:36] But when they see Jesus Christ being lived out, and I'm thinking maybe I'll change my ending him, but I saw Jesus in you. when they see Jesus in us, no, I'm not going to.
[32:54] When they see Jesus in us, what a difference it makes in their life. Are we showing them the Lord Jesus Christ?
[33:04] Are we showing them the fruit of the spirit that God has brought to us? Love, joy, and peace.
[33:17] You know, when I can do that, when I can show them those things, no matter what's happening in my life, I can show them the greatness of God.
[33:31] I can show them that it is well with my soul, because I have the Lord Jesus Christ living within me. Page 478.
[33:43] Page 400. the