THE FRUIT OF PEACE

fruit salad tree or fruit cocktail tree. stone fruit tree - peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, & peach-cots. citrus tree - lemons, limes, mandarin oranges, tangelos, pamelos, grapefruits, lemonades. apples tree - various types of apples. They all are grafted on to the same root-stock. So they all grow on the same tree and have the same root. As we are studying the fruit of the spirit we notice that the fruit is singular. they all come from the same root which is by walking according to the spirit. We exhibit these fruit by living each day controlled and guided by the H.S. by allowing the words of Christ to be on our minds constantly, which allows the love of Christ to oversee our actions daily, & that allows the power Christ to destroy the desires of the flesh so that we can say Gal. 2:20 ““I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” The tree of our life ought to display the fruit of the spirit: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, & self control. But this only happens if we belong to Christ. Gal 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The fruit we are looking at today is the FRUIT OF PEACE. Peace - the condition of freedom from disturbance whether external or internal. Not freedom of disturbance but free from being overcome or distraught by disturbance. Like all fruit peace flows and originates from God. This is found only through God and belief in his promises and faithfulness so that we are content, confident in hope, and in a state of being at rest in God. Rom. 15:33 “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” 1 Cor. 14:33 “for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” 2 Cor. 13:11 “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” 1 Thess. 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God is the God of peace even Jesus is considered the prince of peace Isa. 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

God gives us three types of peace.

spiritual peace - peace with God,

peace within - or peace with self.

relational peace - peace with others.

You may ask yourself why do I need God to give me this peace. The reason is that sin has destroyed or affected all 3 dimensions of peace. Think about it, in the garden they had peace with God, peace with himself and peace with others. But because of sin they lost their peace with God, peace withing themselves and peace with others, enmity would persist. The message of all of God’s Word says that only God can restore peace. Jesus came to do that very thing.

Ephesians 2:14–17 NASB95

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;

the cost for our peace was Isa. 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” well -being = shalom = peace. Rom. 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” For peace we must possess the peace giver and that starts when we believe that Jesus the is the Son of God the Christ. Confess Him as our Lord and Savior, Repent of our sins. Baptized in to Christ and we receive the H.S. and as we allow Jesus and His spirit to dwell in us every single, we will walk by the spirit and the fruit of peace will dwell in us. You know Paul prayed that the church of Colossi for this very thing.

Col. 1:9-11 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously”

Why is that peace so often alludes us?

Our flesh

James 4:1-4 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” We still want to be friends of the world/ We don’t really want to crucify the flesh. We still want it to reign and rule over us. We allow the devil to blind us and deceive us into following the flesh. 2 Cor. 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” You must be careful who you listen to 2 Cor. 11:13-15 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” Listen to God and his word.

we don’t pursue peace

1 Pet. 3:11 ““He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it.” Peace doesn’t just happen. It takes work, desire, patience, it takes commitment and drive to be at peace. It takes sacrifice. isn’ that what we learn from Abraham and Lot? Gen. 13:8-9 “So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”” He sacrificed the best land for peace. In that moment he trusted God that he would take care of Him and keep His promise and for the sake of peace he let Lot choose.

We don’t seek God for it

Rom. 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Phil. 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

And when we have peace with God and peace with ourselves then we can have peace with others Rom. 12:18. We can be…Mt. 5:9 ““Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Why is peace so valuable and important in today's world? because peace is seen as strange and almost alien in today's world. The world needs peace. And the further away our world gets from God the less peace there is. because of sin there is a lack of peace with God and in our world today there is inner conflict and people souls are not at peace and are not at rest in fact they are restless and distraught. And because we are not at peace with God and ourselves it is only natural to not be at peace with men. Hate and anger reigns and rules in our society. That is why Christians should lead the way. We should know the prince of peace and exhibit that peace in our lives so that world may see and glorify God.

How can we show peace to others?

Learn to peace at peace in all situations of life, in all circumstances of life. Be calm and content by being as close to God as possible.

Allow others to finish speaking instead of interrupting them.

Don’t allow yourself to be in heated arguments. Drop conversations that are argumentative.

Be a person where your differences with others are settled with patience and not fits of rage

show compassion to others even when they don’t deserve it.

Edify and build up instead of arguing and fighting.

Am I full of the fruit of peace?

self-examination

When conflict comes, do I strive to make peace or do I add fuel to the fire? why?

What areas of my life or actions demonstrate that I am a peace maker?

Do I know the difference between Godly peace and the worlds peace? How do I know?

Jn. 14:27 ““Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

consider specific interactions with others, ask: did my email/phone call/text/Facebook post/ conversation/behavior promote peace or strife?

Peace is found in God and through his Son Jesus only (B, C, R, B, F). Seek Jesus daily, walk in the Spirit daily and you will have peace with God, with self, and with others as you exhibit the fruit of peace in your life. Please come this morning if we can help you to have peace, while we stand and sing.