Well, it's very good to be with you this evening, and I bring you greetings from Trinity West
! Church. They will be gathering about now and praying for us here, praying for you. So it's great to be able to express our partnership in the gospel in this way.
We're going to be in Galatians 5, the passage that was read earlier, and I think, I don't think it's controversial to say that we desperately, desperately need to hear the message
of the passage this evening. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, peace.
Well, in the developed world, we've never had so much at our disposal, and yet we've never been so restless. We're anxious.
Many of the traditional causes of anxiety, it's true to say, are in decline. Poverty, poor health, those kinds of things. But there are new triggers of fear and frustration all over the place.
Our culture's obsession with particular kind of success has created real problems. I read about a medical study recently. It was published in the 1990s,
and it said that it found that people who, quote, pursued money, looks, and status were more likely to be anxious and depressed.
The pursuit of money, looks, and status are the reasons that people in London get up in the morning.
And these things lead to anxiety. And they lead to anxiety because they're so fragile.
We get some and we're anxious for more. We lose some and we start to wobble.
We place our hopes in those things. Those things come and they go.
And so, well, that leads to skyrocketing of anti-anxiety medication, that kind of thing.
Over the last 30 years, it's gone through the roof, and the age that people are being medicated has gone down and down and down.
We're anxious. We're also angry. We've seen this on a large scale, haven't we, over the last while with the amount of protesting that there's been.
It seems that there's a protest in central London all the time.
And the news people are down there, and they say, why are you protesting?
And they say, injustice. Leadership that's really bad.
Where is this? Everywhere.
Why are you protesting? I don't know. I'm just really angry.
The general language in the media feels like it's desperately trying to stir up more conflict, doesn't it?
Politics has never been known for its kindness.
But the current tone, I think, in lots of places seems to have more spite now than ever before.
And then, of course, social media.
Well, social media doesn't just enable that spiteful and angry communication to be more widespread more quickly,
but there's something also about the format that seems to encourage it.
Maybe it's easier to say things on a keyboard that you wouldn't say to somebody face to face.
Look at chapter 5, verse 20. Galatians 5, verse 20.
I think Twitter's tagline.
Twitter's tagline.
You know, if it happens, it happens on Twitter.
Something like that. That was their tagline certainly a while ago.
But you could say, enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions.
When it happens, it happens on Twitter.
Of course, we see it on the small scale as well, don't we?
On the roads, in our homes, in our relationships.
Tempers are short.
Offense is taken easily.
Lots of us, it seems, are living life on the edge a lot of the time.
Then, just for good measure, throw in a pandemic.
And I think it seems things have gone to a completely new level.
We're anxious about our health,
and we're angry with people who don't wear masks.
We're anxious about our freedom,
and we're angry with people who do wear masks.
We're anxious about the future,
angry about the government's handling of everything,
anxious about everything, angry with everyone.
Anxiety and anger,
they've just gone to a new level, haven't they,
over the last couple of years in our culture.
If ever there was a time that we needed
the peace that the Spirit gives,
inner contentment and rest,
it's now.
And here it is.
A bit of context.
Remember,
John chapter 15,
Jesus calls His disciples to go and bear fruit.
He wants them to live lives that are fruitful.
And the call for fruitfulness comes just after He has promised to send the Holy Spirit.
So this frames what He means.
The sending of the Spirit is the means by which they will be enabled to live fruitful lives.
So Jesus is going to go to the cross.
He's going to die for the sin of the world.
Three days later, He's going to rise again to vindicate Himself as God's Son.
Death could not hold the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so as He is put to death, He then defeats death, puts death to death.
And then having completed His work, He says He's going to go back to the Father.
He's going to go back to heaven.
But when He does that, He doesn't just leave His people to fend for themselves.
We're not down here fending for ourselves.
He sends a Spirit who will live in us and enable us to be fruitful as He's called us to be.
The fruitful life flows from the work of His Spirit in us.
And in Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul outlines what it looks like.
The fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
It is a beautiful list of qualities.
Whatever you believe about the world, whether you're a Christian or whether you're not,
these are qualities that you admire.
They're qualities that you admire in others,
and they are qualities that you wish you had more of in your own life.
I don't care what you say.
We, all of us, whatever we believe, wish that we embody these things more than we do.
And they're available to us in Christ.
And as we think about peace this evening,
I chose that because I just think it's particularly relevant.
Of course, they're all relevant, these elements,
these aspects of the one fruit of the Spirit's work in our lives,
but is it not true that peace is just particularly pressing on us?
And when we think about it, we know that we can't create it in our own strength.
The sales of Valium show that.
But Paul tells us, he says that when the Spirit of God is at work in your life,
peace is something you should expect to see.
So how is it possible?
Well, let's begin.
It starts by him creating peace with God.
Point number one, peace with God.
The human heart is naturally at war with God.
Now, you might say to yourself, that sounds a bit extreme.
Don't be daft.
I'm not at war with God.
I just don't bother with Him that much.
Maybe you're not a Christian, and you say to yourself,
all right, I'm looking into this Christian thing,
but I'm not at war with God.
I just don't have time for Him in my life.
He doesn't fit there.
But it doesn't work like that.
It doesn't work like that because of who God is.
The God of the Bible is Lord.
He is King of the cosmos.
He holds the whole world in His hands.
He controls it, and He owns all of us,
and He owns the right to our devotion and worship.
And so it is right that we acknowledge Him as that.
As those He has made, He owns us.
So when we don't acknowledge Him,
when we don't give Him the devotion that He deserves,
however politely we refuse to do that,
however passive our rejection of Him is,
we put ourselves at odds with Him.
This is how we're born.
We don't need to choose to do it.
We do it by birth.
And so the Bible uses words to describe the relationship
that we have with God by definition of being born
or our relationship to Him.
It's not a relationship we have.
Our relationship to Him,
words like alienation,
words like hostility.
And all of our problems start here.
It's like the builder getting the foundation wrong
on the structure that he's building,
even slightly off.
The problem is at the source.
And when the problem is at the source,
it means that the whole thing then that is built on that
is out of kilter.
That's us when it comes to living lives marked by peace.
Discord at source means discord in other areas of life
is inevitable.
One ancient theologian says this,
we are not at peace with others
because we are not at peace with ourselves.
And we are not at peace with ourselves
because we're not at peace with God.
So we need to get the foundation right.
How do you get the foundation right?
Well, it only comes about through faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5 verse 1,
therefore, since you have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we put our faith in Jesus,
when we hand over the control of our lives to Him,
all of the hostility between us and our Maker ceases.
It works like this.
All of the anger God feels, quite rightly,
at the way that we have lived in His world on our terms.
And all of the penalty that our sin requires,
that anger and the penalty,
it all falls on Jesus at the cross.
When we see Him being nailed up in our place for us,
even though He had done nothing wrong,
we see a man going there, as I say, for us.
He's doing that for us.
And when He does that,
justice is done.
All of God's anger
that needed to be poured out on sin
because God is perfectly holy,
it needed to go somewhere
and it went on Him in our place.
So justice is done
and God's anger is turned away.
You put your faith in Jesus Christ.
What that means is
that your punishment was taken in Him.
Your penalty was paid in Him.
And so hostilities between you and God cease.
The cup of God's anger
that we rightly deserved
was drained to the dregs by Jesus.
And so there is now none left for us.
It is the wonder of the gospel.
We are reconciled
and we have peace.
Peace with God.
What that means,
instead of Him being opposed to us,
He is now for us.
It's not just that in creating that peace
that there's this sort of neutral situation.
He's just no longer annoyed with us.
It's not like that at all.
It's not just that.
It's that He is for us.
He is positively toward us in Christ.
Instead of Him leaving us
to make the best of life that we can,
His Spirit now lives in us and helps us.
And so we're not doing it on our own.
Instead of seeing the struggles of this life
as meaningless,
He is working even those for our good.
And instead of uncertainty about the future,
God is keeping us for glory.
You can see why peace with God
is the foundation from which
all other peace will flow.
When you know that the King of the cosmos
is on your side,
whatever is going on in your life,
knowing that He's on your side,
it changes how you view your circumstances.
You no longer receive the struggles of life
as the outcome of some faceless force
that's just working its situation out in life.
The world is just sort of spinning away
and it's all a bit meaningless.
You no longer see it like that.
You see it as the God of all the earth
working out His purposes
even when you can't see what's going on,
but you know that He's for you.
You know that ultimately He is for you.
And so those circumstances
take on a new situation
when the King of kings
calls you His friend.
And He does that for all of us in Christ.
Changes how you experience
absolutely everything.
The Holy Spirit
brings Christ to us
and He gives us peace with God.
That's the point, the first point.
But from here,
He then creates what we might call
the peace of God.
Having given us peace with God,
He gives us peace of God.
You see, before He returned to the Father,
Jesus promised to send His Spirit.
And in that section in John 14,
He says this to His disciples.
He says,
Peace I give you.
My peace I leave with you.
So the same peace
that characterized Jesus' earthly life
is what the Spirit gives
to those who trust Him.
Just as Jesus' inner life
was one of contentment
and confidence in His Father,
you can't read the Gospels
but not be drawn to the fact
that Jesus seems to meet
all of the adversity of His life
with an acceptance and a peace.
Even the hardest experience in the garden,
He can submit Himself
to the Father's will.
Just as He only brought conflict
with others
when it was right
and good to do so.
And He managed to do that
without sin
in dependence on the Spirit.
So this peace,
that composure,
that poise
is what the Spirit creates
in the life of the believer.
Can you believe this?
Does this describe your experience?
In the last few days,
does that describe your life
in the last few days?
If you're anything like me,
it doesn't.
We struggle with inner conflict
and turmoil.
And when those things take hold of us,
when the inner conflict
and turmoil take hold,
it always overflows
into our relationships with others
and creates turmoil
and conflict there.
So we need to pursue
what makes for peace.
So how do we do that?
Let's start within ourselves.
Well,
when we get this peace
that the Spirit gives,
we need to remind ourselves
of what God has done for us.
And we need to pray
and trust ourselves
to His fatherly care.
There you go.
Easy, right?
Say your prayers.
Trust God.
Do that,
you just glide through life unmoved.
Easy peasy.
Trust God.
You never miss a beat.
No, that's not how it works, is it?
It's never that simple.
Life is hard.
The battle to trust God
in that hard life
is real.
It's interesting.
When I think about this,
I'm always surprised
by how things often go down.
You see,
when a big crisis hits,
and the big things come,
that's actually
when I expect people
to get scared
and kind of fall apart
a little bit.
But actually,
that's often
when they turn to the Lord
and they find
and experience
His grace
and their lives
are marked by peace.
It's very often the case
in the big crises
that people's lives
tend to display
a peace that you think,
my goodness,
how can that work
with such hardship going on
and yet your life
is much more together?
Because it's actually
the fairly trivial
or the mundane things
that seem to unsettle us,
like the never-ending
to-do list
or something
that someone said
or did
that we chew over
in our mind
that gets under our skin
and into our hearts
and unsettles us
and robs us of peace.
The big things come,
and it's as if we think,
I can't do anything else
but turn to the Lord
and depend on Him
and He brings this peace
that He promises.
It's when
that little thing
just gets in
and niggles us.
Most likely,
it's in that situation
that we get upset
and our peace vanishes.
Maybe someone has wronged you
and you allow resentment
to fester.
Or maybe they haven't wronged you
but you just think
that they're getting
a better deal in life
and so you're envious.
You just can't seem
to let that grudge
with that person go.
Say,
it's the principle.
This is a matter
of right and wrong.
And all of that anger,
there's just no peace.
Peace evaporates.
Might be true
that it's a principle.
Might be true
that it's an issue
of right and wrong.
Not suggesting
that we overlook injustice.
I'm not suggesting
that for a moment.
But when we think
like that,
it steals our peace.
We're restless,
anxious,
or angry
because we don't believe
that our Heavenly Father
cares for us
and we don't trust
that He can take
care of things.
See,
we can affirm
the right theology.
Yes,
God loves me.
Jesus died
to reconcile me
to Him.
The Spirit lives in me.
He is working
all of the circumstances
of life together
for good.
I am secure
in His hand
and I'm absolutely
rock-solid certain
that He will get me
safely to glory.
I will sign up
to that statement
of faith in blood.
But,
and it's that but,
that's where our unbelief
slips in
and creates the discord.
The same God
who knows
the number of hairs
on your head,
who holds the whole world
in His hands,
knows what He's doing
in your life.
And it's when you trust Him,
and I mean trust Him
with your life
and your struggles,
your temptations,
your doubts and fears,
your sin,
when you thank Him
for your blessings
and His kindness
in your life.
and you trust Him.
So,
you trust Him
with the reality
of your experience,
not just bringing
some bland
and generic prayers
that you think
in the moment
sound Christian.
Oh,
Father God,
thank You
for everything
that I have
and all of life
and all that stuff,
etc.
Amen.
No,
going over
all of the reality
of your experience
with Him,
it is when you do that,
when you submit
those things
to Him,
that your heart
and your mind
will experience
the peace
that the Spirit brings.
That's what the Apostle Paul
tells us
in Philippians 4,
isn't it?
Rejoice in the Lord always.
He's in prison.
Rejoice.
I say it again,
rejoice.
People are making
his life miserable
down the road.
People who are supposed
to be his brothers
in the Lord,
fellow gospel partners,
they're stirring up
difficulty for him.
And I say it again,
rejoice.
Let your reason
must be known
to everyone.
The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious
about anything,
but in everything,
by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
let your requests
be made known to God
and the peace of God,
which surpasses
all understanding.
Your life is a real struggle,
really difficult,
and yet there is this peace,
this settled inner contentment
that God is on his throne
and he knows what he's doing.
That surpasses understanding.
You can't work that out
according to the flesh.
You can't explain that
in human terms.
The peace of God
that surpasses
all understanding
will guard your hearts
and minds
in Christ Jesus.
Do you notice Paul
doesn't say,
go and be at peace?
Peace is the fruit
of other things.
So he says,
pursue joy,
trust the Lord,
bring everything,
everything to Him
in prayer,
and thankful,
be thankful.
So there you go.
Pursue joy,
trust the Lord,
bring everything to Him
in prayer,
and be thankful,
and peace will follow.
Jerry Bridges,
in his little book,
The Fruitful Life,
says this,
the great antidote
to anxiety
is to come to God
in prayer.
We are to pray
about everything.
Nothing is too big
for Him to handle
and nothing is too small
to escape His attention.
So you only say that
if you know
the God
who holds your life
in His hands.
Because if you know Him,
you know
that nothing is too big
for Him to handle
and you know
that nothing is too small
to escape His attention.
He is the God
of the big things
and He is the God
of the intimately
personal things.
The thing that is promised
when we trust ourselves
to God in prayer,
especially in times
of trouble,
isn't an end
to those trials,
but peace in the midst.
You say,
oh, it sounds great.
Easy for you to say.
It's not like that for me.
I have actually been praying
about X situation
for years
and I'm still agitated,
I'm still anxious
and I'm still angry.
Well,
remember that we're talking
about the fruit of the Spirit.
He's the one
who works it
in our lives.
So ask Him directly,
Lord, please,
give me this peace.
Please.
Make it possible
for me to get through
the day today
without worrying
or getting angry
or whatever
the situation is
that you're worried about
and push on in prayer
until He answers.
Well, that's peace
with ourselves.
How does this work out
in our relationships
with others?
Secondly,
we have strife
in our relationships
for all the same reasons.
When we don't get
what we want,
whether that's respect
or love
or appreciation,
when other people
don't treat us
the way that we want
to be treated,
we get anxious or angry,
we just get bent out of shape
in some way
and peace seems
to evaporate.
But if you know
that that person,
that relational difficulty
that you have
and the way that person
is treating you
and making you feel,
if you know
that whatever they think
of you,
God loves you,
that the Lord
of all the earth
is for you,
that He has shown this
by sending His precious Son
to die for you,
what does the opinion
of someone else matter?
If that person
is treating you badly,
if that person
is making your life difficult,
when you know
that God has given you
His Spirit
to help you endure
and He is working
this suffering
for some good end,
you can trust Him.
You can.
I think sometimes
we think,
oh no,
I can't do that
and you're right,
you can't do it
in your own strength.
But in the power
of the Spirit,
you can trust Him.
Even when that person
has sinned against you
in some way,
in the gospel,
you have the resources
to forgive
and not retaliate.
and to rest
in the goodness of God.
Because that is what
Jesus did
when He was so badly treated.
Remember,
Jesus is the man
of the Spirit,
the same Spirit
who is at work in you.
Jesus loved His enemies,
prayed for His persecutors
and do you remember,
quoted from John 14 earlier,
He says,
Peace I give you,
my peace I leave with you.
So even in conflict,
even in struggles,
even in relational tension,
you can know
the peace of Christ.
Of course,
we should see this play out
in,
well,
most of all
in the context
of the church.
Churches can get
into conflict.
This happens anywhere
where sinners
are brought together.
That's why Paul says
in Romans 12,
as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone.
Romans 14,
he says,
make every effort
to do what leads to peace.
And the reason
that he can say this
is because of
the Spirit's work.
When you appreciate
that in Christ
you have been adopted
into the same family,
share the same Heavenly Father,
and participate
in the same Spirit,
you can be wronged.
You can forgive
because love covers
a multitude of sins.
And you can even admit
that you were wrong.
The church of Jesus Christ
is the one place
on earth
where discord
can be meaningfully dealt with
and where relational peace
can be a real thing.
So,
don't withdraw.
Peace isn't the same thing
as indifference
or coolness
or distance.
Those things are often
a cover.
Our hearts are churned up,
full of resentment,
but we can put on a front
of coolness
or detachment.
judgment.
Peace is what follows
forgiveness
and reconciliation.
So,
the fruit
of the Spirit
in your life
will be seen
when you pursue
peace in relationships
with others.
If there is discord
between you
and someone else,
especially in the church,
take the initiative
to put things right.
Whether you have
been the one
who is wronged
or the one
who was wronging
the other person,
it doesn't matter.
Pursue peace.
Unresolved conflict
is toxic.
It's like cancer
and just like cancer,
the longer it is left
untreated,
the worse it gets.
The best time
to pursue peace
with others
is now.
Friends,
our world
is anxious
and angry
and we often
follow their lead
if we're honest.
What Galatians 5
tells us
is that we don't
need to.
A while ago
down in
Shepherd's Bush,
I was walking
along Uxbridge Road
down there
and there was a gentleman
coming the other way
wearing a t-shirt
that said on it,
no Jesus,
no peace.
peace.
K-N-O-W.
You know Jesus,
you'll know peace.
That's the message
this evening.
If you know Jesus,
His Spirit
brings us peace
with God
and He gives us
the peace
of God.
But the genius,
the absolute genius
who designed
this garment
had more to say.
In a simple
but very clever move,
the designer
of this t-shirt,
he doubled his message.
You see,
the N-O
in both words,
K-N-O-W.
The N-O
in both words
was a different color.
Clever boy.
What that meant
was that at the same time
as holding out
the hope of peace
in Christ,
if you know Christ,
you know peace,
he held out the warning.
Know Christ,
know peace.
Absolute genius.
Jesus really is
the answer.
The Spirit
at work
in our lives
offers you
peace.
He gives it to you
as a gift in Christ.
He really is the answer.
Let's pray.