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[0:00] 1 Corinthians 2, verse 3.

[0:10] Isaiah 26, verse 3. It says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.

[0:23] Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Perfect peace.

[0:34] Perfect peace. Isn't that something worth searching for and finding? Perfect peace. It's in the Hebrew, shalom, shalom.

[0:46] It's, I understand, a greeting and a farewell. It's a bye-bye or a hello. Shalom, shalom. Perfect peace. Perfect peace.

[0:58] It speaks to us of deep peace, of total peace, of complete peace. This word peace, it means safe, sound, healthy, perfect, complete.

[1:11] There's much truth to this simple word of peace. It contains the idea of wholeness, of completeness, of well-being.

[1:23] And how many people are looking for peace today? Really, I suppose, as many through Eastern philosophies and vain philosophies of men.

[1:33] It's an elusive thing. It's something that's missing in many people's lives. Some people search for peace through the bottle or through drugs and such like.

[1:45] Elusive and missing. Peace. Peace. God says, peace is possible. Peace is possible. Perfect peace. Perfect peace.

[1:55] But we see for many it's missing, such as the folk described in Isaiah 57. It tells us of them, but the wicked are like the troubled seed, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

[2:11] There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. It's a saying, isn't it?

[2:21] A famous saying. We would often say, there's no rest for the wicked. There are people who might be run off their feet. And in this world, where people are Christless, they lack this perfect peace.

[2:34] It's something conspicuously absent. So, what of this perfect peace? What does this verse tell us about this perfect peace that God ordains for man?

[2:47] Perfect peace. Number one, it's peace forever. It's peace forever. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.

[2:57] This peace has keeping power. It's got staying power. This perfect peace, it comes and it stays. It's not some passing fancy, some passing sense of peace and then a hangover the next day as drink would give you.

[3:15] This peace is a peace that comes from God and he will keep this one in perfect peace. He will keep us in perfect peace.

[3:28] When God does a saving work, he does it forever. When God saves, he saves forever. Forever and ever and ever.

[3:41] When he saves, it's for keeps. It's for keeps when you're saved. Our security is in the omnipotent God.

[3:51] The almighty God. The almighty is almighty. He keeps us. He keeps us. His divine keeping is another source of peace for us.

[4:06] It's not that the salvation that we have comes and goes as we feel like it or as we might be apparently deserving of it by some works that we do or don't do as some would imagine.

[4:18] But this salvation is for keeps because we are kept by his hand. We are kept in his security. His divine keeping is a sure source for us of true security.

[4:34] Of absolute watertight guaranteed security. Of a confidence that we can know that our perfect peace is perfect because it's forever.

[4:45] It's in his keeping. His keeping guarantees the peace that we can know. His keeping is guaranteed by his word. In Psalm 46 we read that God is our refuge and strength.

[5:01] A very present help in trouble. Isn't that good to know?

[5:28] Who knows that today? God is our refuge and strength. He's an ever present help in trouble.

[5:41] There's a story of an old saintly man who wanted something written on his gravestone. A one word. Kept. He wanted the word kept on his gravestone.

[5:55] And that one word told the whole history of his life. And for you believer today, if you know him, you are kept. You are kept by his keeping power.

[6:08] God keeps us. He keeps us in perfect peace. God keeps watch over us as we read in Psalm 121. Verse 1 through 5.

[6:20] The Lord is thy keeper.

[6:44] The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. It is God who keeps us.

[6:55] It is God who keeps us. God alone who can keep us in perfect peace. Friends today, if you're feeling like you've got a salvation that is not secure, maybe you don't know this one who is our keeper.

[7:11] The Lord God Almighty. God keeps his own in perfect peace. And there's nothing that can be more secure than his guaranteed promise.

[7:24] We have exceeding great and precious promises in this book. And one of them is, the Lord is thy keeper. Psalm 121 verse 5.

[7:36] Our trust can never be more secure, more sure when it leans upon him. And friends today, God alone is eternal.

[7:47] The same yesterday, today and forever. The Lord Jesus Christ. We can rest and be assured and trust in his sure promise of peace, of perfect peace.

[7:58] A peace that cannot be disturbed. A peace that doesn't rest on the circumstances, upon the happenstance of life, upon how we might feel, or the emotion that we might be going through.

[8:11] The peace of God is beyond that. It transcends all that. It goes beyond our understanding. We can't really express it.

[8:22] God's own peace. It guards us. It keeps us. I think of, as it were, the sentries that stand around an army camp, or the royal soldiers holding sentry duty around the palace gates.

[8:39] There's that sense where God mounts a guard over us. We know that it's impenetrable, that defence that he guards us with.

[8:50] He keeps us. Friends today, if you're a believer, you are in his safekeeping. Isn't that good grounds for peace? Isn't that something that makes you have perfect peace?

[9:03] To know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved. Isn't that so? Do you know that perfect peace today? That he is your keeper.

[9:14] To Timothy 1, we read that Paul writes, And the context is talking of suffering. For the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed.

[9:25] For I know, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

[9:39] I know whom I have believed. I know he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. It's forever. It's forever.

[9:49] Salvation is eternal life. It's eternal. It's forever life. And sometimes I think we miss that thought of it.

[10:00] The thought of how eternal this faith we have is. This is not something that is a passing idea of time of men.

[10:11] It's eternal. It's eternity. As Jonathan Edwards prayed over and over and over again, he said, Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.

[10:24] Stamp eternity on my eyeballs. That I might have that sense of the eternal. That the people that I brush shoulders with, the people that I come into contact with, are eternal, ever-living, immortal souls.

[10:40] And everyone is an eternal being. And these truths are eternal. Salvation is eternal.

[10:50] It's forever. And he keeps us in perfect peace. The God with whom we have to deal is forever, and his keeping power is forever. If we would know him, if we would but know him, we would know that peace.

[11:05] Perfect peace. Peace that is forever. Peace that is eternal. Peace that is evermore. Peace that comes from the presence of God. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus is our peace.

[11:19] Ephesians 2, 14. He is our peace. And God is the giver of peace. In 2 Thessalonians 3, 16, it says, Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always, by all means.

[11:35] The Lord be with you all. The Lord of peace. It's one of his names. The Prince of Peace. He's called the Lord of peace. And he keeps us in perfect peace always.

[11:46] Always. Even when, as we know, some of our brothers and sisters in other lands face the reality of much more to challenge them than we do. And even in a world of strife, friends today, you can know the one who gives perfect peace.

[12:03] And it is peace forever. He keeps us. Secondly, we see this perfect peace is a peace of mind. A peace of mind.

[12:13] Now people are vainly searching for peace of mind. Now some of them go to some gurus or to some pilgrimages or holy sites or so-called holy places to vainly search for this peace.

[12:31] You know, some people, they climb on steps of stone with their bare knees and they're crawling on their hands and knees or in some countries they go for miles climbing, walking on their hands and knees as if it's somehow making them more holy or saying certain prayers over and over and over again.

[12:56] Vain repetitions, as the Bible says, thinking that somehow they can find peace in that. Peace of mind is possible. How is it possible? The word says here in Isaiah 26, for that one whose mind is stayed on thee.

[13:13] Peace comes to the one whose mind is stayed on God. Now some people say in Christianity, well Christianity is switching your brain off and it's stopping being an intellectual and it's just kind of accepting everything by some mystical way.

[13:33] But the word says in Isaiah 1, come now, let us reason together. God says this is a reasonable thing. This is something that our mind can be engaged with, not switched off from.

[13:50] And God's word is something that we can use our mind to search the scriptures, to investigate, to use that analytical thinking and to see it does measure up.

[14:04] It does stack up. As much as atheists and skeptics have tried to tear this book to bits, when they've intelligently searched it, many have come to realise it's absolutely 100% true.

[14:24] So love the scriptures. Love the Lord. Use your mind to meditate upon it. As we read in Psalm 119, 165, Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.

[14:41] There's great peace for those who love God's law and nothing shall cause them to stumble, shall offend them. And the Lord purifies the thought life. There is peace of mind when our thought life is cleansed.

[14:54] The Bible speaks of a purifying of hearts by faith. In Acts 15, verse 9, when the Gentiles were saved, Peter witnessed that. And he said, God has done a work in them.

[15:06] He's purified their hearts by faith. Thank God the Gentiles are allowed into the kingdom of heaven. By faith. By faith. By faith. Even though we're not from a Jewish line.

[15:20] That God in his mercy has widened the gates. He's opened his arms. He's extended the invitation that whosoever may come. And so he engages us in our mind and our thinking.

[15:33] And he gives us peace. A peace that is an intelligent and a reasonable thing. Peace of mind. The Bible says he's the God of peace. In Romans 15, 33.

[15:45] It's one of his names. And if our thoughts dwell upon him, we will know his peace. Notice it says, whose mind is stayed on thee.

[15:57] And the sense here of stayed, it's got the sense of like a nail. A nail fastened into a secure position. It's got that sense of fastened, fastened, of fixed, of grounded, of something that's firm.

[16:14] If our mind is stayed upon God, it says that we can have that peace of mind, that perfect peace. And we can know, as Paul said, for I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[16:43] There's a perfect peace that we can know, that assured knowledge, that our peace comes from him. And even though Paul faced much trouble, and he was imprisoned, beaten with rods, and shipwrecked, suffered much persecution, hunted by the powers of darkness of his day, yet he could still know, perfect peace.

[17:08] And you can know that today. Friends, you can know that, as your mind is stayed on him. Peter describes the people of 2 Peter 3 verse 1 as having a pure mind.

[17:20] God can cleanse our mind. And he can rule in our hearts. In Colossians 3 verse 15, it says, the peace of God rules in your hearts.

[17:31] Someone has said this, they said, peace floods the soul when Christ rules the heart. Peace floods the soul when Christ rules the heart.

[17:43] Friends, if you lack peace today, if you don't know that perfect peace, let Christ rule your heart. Colossians 3 verse 15, let the peace of God rule in your hearts.

[17:57] It's a state of mind, of knowing him. It's a relationship. Stay your mind on him. We can all question, how are my thoughts? What is it that I dwell on?

[18:09] Is it on the things of the world or is it on the things of God? There's a well-known man, we know Webster's Dictionary, the man who started at Daniel Webster.

[18:19] He was complimented one day. He said, he was told, you have a colossal mind. Daniel Webster, the Webster's Dictionary, writes it. He was told, you have a colossal mind.

[18:31] What is the greatest thought that you have ever had? He said, I've thought about many things, but the most awesome, the most terrifying, the most shattering thought I have ever had is my personal accountability to God.

[18:48] My personal accountability to God. Now God says, let us reason together. Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool.

[19:00] They shall be cleansed as white as snow. My personal accountability to God. God reasons with us. He sees our state. He realises that. And you realise that, I trust.

[19:12] If you realise that, come to that conviction of your soul's condition and put your thinking upon Him. Place your thoughts upon Him. And you can find that peace that He grants to the soul that seeks Him.

[19:27] Philippians 4, we read, be careful for nothing. In other words, don't be full of care for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, which means to ask God to supply prayer and supplication when you make requests in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

[19:44] 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.

[19:56] Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things, those things which you have both learned and heard and received and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you.

[20:24] Set your mind to pray. Paul said, let your requests be made known. God shall keep your hearts and minds. The God of peace shall be with you. So, friends, this peace, perfect peace, is peace forever.

[20:39] He keeps those who trust him. Secondly, it's a peace of mind. It says, whose mind is stayed on thee. Peace of mind.

[20:50] And thirdly, it's peace by faith. How do we obtain this perfect peace? This perfect peace comes for those who trust in him.

[21:00] A man can have perfect peace because he trusteth in thee. Faith makes it all possible. Faith brings inner peace, soul peace.

[21:11] It comes by faith in the Lord, by his grace and faith. Without faith, we're like the people spoken of in Ephesians 2 verse 12.

[21:22] Without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world. If you're outside of Christ today, the Bible says that you are without hope, without God in the world.

[21:37] that's a dangerous place to be. A dangerous place to be. Where is your trust today? Where is your hope?

[21:48] Where is that peace? It's in Christ. It's in him. Where is your trust today? Let it be in him. In him. Because he trusteth in thee, he can have perfect peace.

[22:04] He blesses us with it. There's a traditional blessing that the priests used of the people. I said, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.

[22:18] The Lord lift up his countenance or his face upon thee and give thee peace. God wants to bless his people with peace. And peace is not circumstantial.

[22:31] It's not based on the circumstances. It's by faith. You could have the perfect peace today if you're in a prison camp awaiting execution the following morning.

[22:44] You could have perfect peace today even as someone is lashing your back nailing your hands to a cross as is happening in some countries even this very time in which we live.

[23:01] You could have perfect peace. it doesn't depend upon the state of your bank account. Perfect peace doesn't get measured by the affluence or the sense of success that you might enjoy or not.

[23:19] Perfect peace is not based on your status in society or what others think of you. Perfect peace comes by faith. It's by faith.

[23:30] By faith. By faith. It's by trusting him. We can know peace in the midst of the storm. Even if you're going through what you might even describe as hell on earth.

[23:43] You can know perfect peace today. Even in the torment of the circumstance. You can know perfect peace today while the storms rage all around you.

[23:55] When there's confusion all about you. don't know which way to turn. You can know perfect peace today. Here and now. Not based on any of that.

[24:06] It's not as some TV preachers would say that you lack faith or you're outside of God's will if you don't have the latest and greatest and you're not in the peak of health.

[24:18] It's garbage. Perfect peace is not related to any of that. God sometimes calms the storms at other times he lets the storms rage and calms your heart.

[24:35] Sometimes he lets the storms rage and calms your heart. I know there's people here are going through some difficult times. Incomes insecure, there's things that are not going exactly how they would like them to.

[24:50] There's people here with poor health. You can know perfect peace no matter what, no matter any of that. It's irrelevant. He will give perfect peace to you.

[25:03] The one who says his first words when he walked in to the disciples after his death, his words were peace be unto you.

[25:14] John 20 verse 19 peace be unto you. Would it be lovely just to hear those words from his lips?

[25:25] Would it be lovely if you could by faith just hear those words falling out of the saviour's lips and spoken to you. Peace be unto you.

[25:37] What a transformation that made as the disciples so confused and fearful hiding behind locked doors saw the saviour saying peace be with you.

[25:50] He imparting peace to them. His presence brings peace. His presence brings peace. They saw him and they were comforted. If you are not at peace with God you can never be truly at peace.

[26:08] Sin robs us from peace with God and peace in life. You cannot have the peace of God until you know the God of peace.

[26:19] peace. They will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.

[26:38] You cannot have the peace of God until you know the God of peace. 2 Thessalonians 3 16 it says now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord be with you all.

[26:56]  Let us pray.