Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86028/finding-peace/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] How we need peace in such troubled and perilous times as we live today. In Mark 4, 35-41, we read how peace is possible.

[0:17] ! Mark 4, 35, it says, And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

[0:38] And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

[0:57] And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

[1:09] And he said unto them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Peace, be still.

[1:32] Peace means an outlook of inner rest and harmony, freedom from anxiety, and that state of being undisturbed. We see that peace is possible. Peace comes in the storm. We live in a stormy world. The disciples faced this furious sea. Loud, violent, howling winds tearing about them. Waves crashing and raging around them. Their vessel was waterlogged and in danger.

[2:04] How do we respond to life's storms? How did the Lord, he was resting asleep? Seeing his peace. Do we trust in God, our Heavenly Father? Do we experience panic or peace?

[2:23] To peace. Do we desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde of faith. Being in the boat with Jesus doesn't always mean plain sailing. It can mean a great storm, winds and waves, a rough and rocky ride, and our boat overwhelmed. We feel overcome, and even feel like God is uncaring, yet the Lord Jesus is there with us, right there, right there, right there, in the struggling, in the striving, in the turmoil, in the wariness.

[3:29] Our Lord is with us, he's in the boat. There was two painters who were asked to paint a picture of peace, and one painted a tropical island with palm trees and sunshine, a blue lagoon, not a ripple on the surface of the waters. The other painter produced a very different picture, a picture of a rocky crag, with this dark clouds and lightning all around, but on the rocky crag was perched an eagle. And in the midst of the storm, this eagle is a picture of peace. That is the picture the Bible paints of a peace we can know in the world today, here and now. Peace means God as a refuge in our storm. God our refuge, our protection, our strength, our power. Our God alone is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The way to cope with difficulty is to meet Jesus in the storm of your life.

[4:38] As a Christian, be assured storms will hit your life. Is your boat getting rocked? Maybe it is. We all face storms, don't we? It could be a storm of feeling abandoned, of family conflicts, of dramas for the present, of fears for the future, health concerns, unemployment, sorrow, anxiety, loneliness, anxiety, loneliness, depression, despair. Is your boat getting rocked? The real peace of God does not depend upon our circumstances. You may be ridiculed for your faith. You may undergo stormy relationships. The whirlwinds of grief may wreak havoc and sadness. You may encounter trying times of grave stress. Thank God he gives you peace in the storm. Yes, there is peace in the storm. Right there in the storm. Hans Lelger was a German minister. After Hitler came to power, Lelger opposed the Nazi regime. On August 19, 1944, Lelger was arrested by the Gestapo and he was imprisoned. At first he was upbeat. But in his autobiography, the family of the shadow, the shadow, Lelger writes about that first night in prison. Then fear and panic began to creep over me like an evil beast creeping out of its den. I began to see myself and my situation very clearly. The next morning, it was a Sunday, his 45th birthday, and Lelger wrote, suddenly, from a window, in an other wing, I heard someone whistling the first line of a familiar hymn. I was electrified, sprang to the window, and as soon as my unknown companion ceased whistling, I answered with, oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. Hans Lelger was able to enjoy the peace of God in the darkest of situations. The peace of God, it does not depend upon upon your circumstances, brother, sister, it does not depend on that. It comes directly from our Lord. And he gives it in our hearts. The peace of God. Storms are those circumstances that are out of our control. That's why they are frightening. Yes, they may be out of our control, but they are not out of his control.

[7:32] The Lord Jesus rules over and above our storm. And at times we feel like those disciples did, who cried out, don't you care? If we would just turn to the Lord, we will find that he is already in our boat.

[7:56] And he hears us. He does care. Of course he cares. He speaks peace in our storms. We can trust him. Where is your faith? Do you place your faith in your boat? In your circumstances? In the weather? In your job? In your home? In your bank account? In your insurance policies? In your superannuation?

[8:22] Is the storm greater than our Lord Jesus who is in your boat? If you are with Jesus, the boat will not sink and the storm will not last forever.

[8:36] The Lord Jesus can bring peace and calm to the troubled waters, to the troubled and turbulent areas of our own lives. He overcomes the stresses of our lives.

[8:50] Do you need the peace of God? Don't all of us? Look to the Lord in prayer. Look to him. Sing a song of praise from your heart. Know that Christ will guard your heart and your mind in him. There is truly peace in the storm. The peace of God. There is peace that is truly found there in the storm.

[9:13] And secondly, it's found in the surrender. There is a way of deliverance from sin, from hell. There is a great relief, a calm assurance we can know deep, deep down.

[9:26] That certainty of being assured of his reconciliation, of being reconciled, brought back together with God, of the peace with God that we can know.

[9:38] Yes, we can know. Yes, we can know it. The peace of sin is forgiven. Yes, you can have it. Surrender, that's how. Let go and let God. Call out unto him. The Lord Jesus comes and he intervenes.

[9:52] Will we allow him to do his work in our heart? Or will we hinder the Holy Spirit? The only source of peace and fulfilment is the Lord.

[10:06] And surrender to God. And surrender to him. To be reconciled with God, we need to give way to him. To depend upon him. The place of perfect peace. You can know that. True peace. Heart peace.

[10:22] The peace of God, the peace of God, is a peace from God and comes from being in God and knowing God is in you.

[10:34] There is truly peace in the storm. Yes, in the storm. And there is peace in the surrender, giving way to God. And the peace is, thirdly, in the Saviour.

[10:51] True peace and happiness comes from only that personal relationship with the one true God. In his will is our peace. Ephesians 2.14, it says, he is our peace.

[11:06] So many people have troubled minds and hearts. The Bible says there is no peace. No peace. Saith the Lord unto the wicked. Yet we know it tells us, Isaiah 26, verse 3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.

[11:31] Trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Put your mind at ease. How?

[11:41] By staying your mind upon him. By setting your mind upon the Lord. Without God's pardon, we can know no real peace. The guilty soul needs the peace of God.

[11:56] Peace with God. The peace that is found peace in Christ. It's in Christ, the Prince of Peace. It transcends all human understanding.

[12:07] Nothing can match it or exceed it. When the Lord commands it, there is perfect peace and calm. The great storm of verse 37 becomes the great calm of verse 39.

[12:24] Someone has written this, Quiet rest. There is a place of quiet rest, of joy and love and peace, deep within the Father's heart, where all my terrors cease.

[12:37] At will I humbly throw myself into his welcoming arms. Sheltered there within his love, I'm safe from evil's harms.

[12:51] If you have nowhere else to go when troubles follow you, seek and find your rest in him. His name is faithful.

[13:03] True. The only way for us to find peace with God is by salvation by Christ. He who took that lonely, cruel cross for you.

[13:17] Late one December night on the cancer ward, the halls were quiet and solemn. The patients were asleep. The nurses were gathered about the nurses station, preparing for a shift change.

[13:32] Sarah, one of the nurses, was especially tired, having worked seven straight, 12-hour days. The kids had needs. Her husband had been laid off.

[13:42] And the house payment was due. What kept her going was that in January, she was going to find a new job. After 10 years of answering call lights and working short-staffed and putting up with constant admin changes, she had decided that it was not worth the effort anymore.

[14:03] Ping, ping, ping. Ping, ping, ping. Sarah angrily looked at the call light. Oh, no. The patient was a 70-year-old woman. Sarah had been to her room at the end of the hall at least 15 times.

[14:17] Angrily, she started down the hall. On her way, she suddenly stopped. She stood motionless as a soft voice, wafted out of room 235.

[14:28] And then one day, I'll cross the river. I'll fight life's final war with pain. Then as death gives way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know he lives.

[14:42] Tears welled up in her eyes as she listened and thought about that young woman in that room, a 35-year-old mother of two with cancer, with only a week to live, perhaps days.

[14:53] Sarah stood there with tears in her eyes and remembering how this young terminal woman had such peace, such peace. The patient would speak to everyone who came into her room and she would smile, even in her pain, and took the time to share her faith and let people know the reason for her peace was her faith in God.

[15:18] All the nurses who had been around her commented on her strength and how they had felt peace and calm after talking with this exceptional young woman.

[15:29] Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know who holds the future. And life is worth the living just because I know he lives.

[15:44] Unstoppable tears flowed as Sarah stood a few moments more, but the tears had taken on a newness. No longer were there tears of sadness for this young woman, but tears of renewal that washed away the disappointment and disillusionment of her job and the fear about the future.

[16:02] Sarah started down the hall to answer that call light, but she was no longer going to check on some pestering woman. She was going to the room of a patient, a person, a fellow human in need.

[16:15] And Sarah no longer looked to January so she could quit. She looked to her next shift as to how she would be able to have the opportunity to serve her fellow man.

[16:26] Sarah left work with a new outlook on life. She had a rekindling of the spirit of service that had motivated her to become a nurse. And those fires had almost died, but for a young terminal woman who had the desire to be of service to her fellow man, even unto death.

[16:46] The Lord Jesus says in John 14, 27, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

[16:59] What comfort! What calm! What contentment! What rest! What stillness! What peace! Peace! Revolutionary peace! This peace is not like that which the world gives.

[17:12] It is different. It is a person. That one person whom the Bible calls the Prince of Peace. And what does this peace mean? To have nothing to fear in life or death.

[17:26] To have God as our Father, Christ for our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit for our Comforter, death our friend, heaven our home, and a happy eternity before us of peace and joy.

[17:40] There is peace. Peace is possible. Peace even in the storm. Yes, peace in the storm. Peace in the surrender.

[17:50] As you give your heart to Christ, there's peace found there. Peace in the Saviour. Do you know this peace? The Bible says in Philippians 4 verse 6, Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

[18:08] Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

[18:20] Do you know this peace? Before we can enjoy the peace of God, we must know the God of peace. Come to know him. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that you are our source of peace.

[18:33] You are the answer for our storm. Lord, we pray we'd have that same calm assurance that you displayed, Lord, as you rested in the boat, Lord, and as then as you calmed the storm by your word.

[18:46] Lord, we know that your word has power still today and you can calm the troubled souls that are hearing this time together. Lord, we pray that we would find the peace of God, that we'd find peace with God if we've yet to.

[19:01] And Lord, that we would know that peace that passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We bless you, our precious Saviour. Amen.

[19:13] Be encouraged in faith. Go forward in faith. Hold back. Nothing. Press on. Regardless, press on. Press forward.

[19:24] Press toward the mark, the prize of the prize of the high calling that God has given to you. Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.

[19:35] Be stirred in your faith, stirred to action, stirred to greater faith, knowing that greater peace, that peace that can fill your soul. I pray if you've yet to trust him, that you won't delay another day, but you'll put your heart's trust entirely in his saving and you can know that peace, that deep soul, eternal peace with God.

[19:57]  Bless you.