Peace
What is the peace Jesus spoke of and how can we find it?
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PERFECT PEACE
“Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3
1. Only God Can Give Perfect Peace
2. Peace Is the Offspring of Trust
3. Perfect Peace Takes Place in Spite of External Conflicts
Intro
Prayer
Sermon
Peace With God
Peace Of God
God Of Peace
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THREE FACETS OF PEACE
TEXT: “Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee” (Isa. 26:3).
INTRODUCTION: The search for peace is universal. Billboards, radio, and television have advertised ways to get “peace of mind.”
I suggest three facets of Christian peace.
It is peace with God.
It is the peace of God.
It is the God of peace.
I. Peace with God. “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
A. The sinner is at war with God (see Rom. 3:10–20; Isa. 57:21).
B. When the sinner is justified by faith in Jesus Christ the war is ended (see Rom. 3:24–25).
C. The justified sinner is at peace with God. No longer does he fight against God.
II. The peace of God (see Phil. 4:6–7).
A. We need not have anxiety about anything (see Phil. 4:6).
B. There is a path to follow if we are to attain this peace (see Phil. 4:6).
1. “Make your requests known unto God.”
2. “In everything.”
3. “By prayer and supplication.”
4. “With thanksgiving.”
C. There will be blessed results.
“The peace of God” will be yours (see Phil. 4:7).
“Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love.”
“My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
III. The God of Peace.
A. We have peace with God. We have the peace of God. And the God of peace will be with us.
B. “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).
C. “Trust and obey—There is no other way to be happy in Jesus”—to have peace.
CONCLUSION: “Great peace have those who love thy law; nothing can make them stumble” (Ps. 119:165).
Peace with God!
The God of Peace!
The Peace of God!
“What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace.” (from the hymn, “Wonderful Peace”)
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Peace with Others
Philippians 4:1–5
I. The Exhortation to Steadfastness (v. 1).
II. The Exhortation to Oneness (v. 2).
III. The Exhortation to Helpfulness (v. 3).
IV. The Exhortation to Joyfulness (v. 4).
V. The Exhortation to Gentleness (v. 5).
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Peace with Self
Philippians 4:6, 7
I. A Three-fold Prescription (v. 6).
A. Anxious for nothing.
B. Prayerful for everything.
C. Thankful for anything.
II. A Promised Peace (v. 7).
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Peace Through Christ
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
I. Christ Made Peace
“And having made peace through the blood of his cross …” (Col. 1:20).
A. Everyone wants peace—world leaders, church leaders, parents, children. People strive for peace through every conceivable means.
B. Christ made peace by His death on the cross. All who accept Him by repentance and faith may receive His peace.
II. Christ Preached Peace
“And came and preached peace to you …” (Eph. 2:17).
A. Christ’s message was given to the Jew first, but also to the Gentile.
B. The peace of God is available to all—black and white, young and old, rich and poor. No one need be left out (Eph. 2:19).
C. Those who hear the Word, accept and believe it, may receive the peace of God.
III. Christ Gives Peace
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27).
A. The peace the world gives isn’t real or lasting. It fails to satisfy the longing of the soul.
B. The peace that Christ gives is what the world needs. It can solve world problems, church problems, family and home problems. It is a real and a lasting peace.
C. This peace is not earned; it cannot be purchased. This peace is given to those who love God.
IV. Christ Is Our Peace
“For he is our peace …” (Eph. 2:14).
A. To have true peace we must have Christ, for He is our peace.
B. If we are to have His peace, He must have us. We must give all to Him—our hopes, our plans, our will, our future.
Peace on Earth? How?
Romans 5:1–11
Introduction
How in the world can there ever be peace? It’s a world where planes are bombed and judges assassinated. Children are molested. Police are ambushed. Gangs control the streets. Drug lords corrupt whole neighborhoods. It’s a world of Serbs and Croat and Muslims, of Iran, of Palestine and Israel. Three years ago it was other wars. Next year it will be someone else.
In the realm of subtler warfare watch the employer and the employee, each protecting his back. Watch the husband and the wife, each unwilling to lose the advantage. Hear, “Just leave me alone. Don’t get in the way of what I want.”
What peace? We identify with the line in the Christmas song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” “And in despair I bowed my head; there is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”
I. There is peace on earth for those who accept the cure and the rule of the One who brings peace.
A. We have peace with God and are justified through faith in Christ. We stand by grace. We have hope. Over and over Paul inserts, in chapters five through eight, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. It is no less true in 1996. “One way to peace, through the power of the cross.”
B. The peace comes from God Himself.
1. It is an unparalleled expression of love.
2. It let justice be carried out and upheld the honor of the law.
3. It was an amazing, shocking love. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
II. There is peace on earth for those who adopt the way, the manner, the style of the One who brings peace. We are equipped with personal reconciliation and we mirror God’s reconciling character.
A. Suffering turns to perseverance.
B. Perseverance is followed by proven character.
C. And that character strengthens hope.
D. Add to that 2 Corinthians 5:18, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
1. We are peacemakers who present the reconciler.
2. We are peacemakers who represent the reconciler. We serve on his behalf with divided people.
Conclusion
There is a gap between us and God, caused by sin. We have been enemies of other people because of the same thing. Christ fills the gap. Reconciliation through Christ has a divine result. You and I are joined back with God. And it has a human result. You and I are rejoined with each other.
Is there another Christian from whom you must not stay separated? Is reconciliation a word that cries out its importance to you? Do you affirm Christ Jesus as Lord—God’s way to reconciliation?
