Peace Incarnate

Introduction:

We must start looking at what we discussed last week.

So many aspects of the bible are intertwined. You cannot separate them.

Jenga tower.

As we look through these themes of advent and as we look at all of the aspects of following Christ, let us keep this in mind and seek to have a wholistic faith.

Philippians 4:6–7 CSB

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Do Not Worry

We are called not to worry, or some translations say, do not by anxious.

We are called not to worry about anything echoes what Christ says in Matthew 6:25:

Matthew 6:25 CSB

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

What does it mean to worry?

Anxiety or worry is the fear or dread of future events.

What "Do Not Worry” Does Not Mean:

A Lack of Prudence

Being aware of something and having a level of concern is not worrying. Deciding that you shouldn’t do something exceedingly dangerous is not because you are worried, but rather because God has blessed us with discernment.

You Will Never Face Problems

The call not to worry does not mean that we won’t face worrisome circumstances, but that our reaction should be not to worry.

The circumstances you face do not say much about your faith in God. But your reaction to those circumstances do.

The question that we have… Why do we worry?

The Anatomy of Anxiety

Anxiety or worry is the fear or dread of future events.

It has various forms:

Defense Mechanism: When you have an anxious reaction when there is immediate danger.

Self-Preservation: Worrying about what will be that is necessary for survival. Food, clothing, shelter etc.

Superficial Things: What do people think about me?

Everything Else:

Current Headlines of the Day:

Abortion will or will not be upheld

Michigan shooting

New coronavirus pandemic

Vaccine Mandates

Global Warming is Going to Destroy the World

Addiction and Overdose Issues

These things are the source of great worry among the people of the world.

Paul tells us in this passage not to worry...

About Anything!

How do we overcome worry in our life?

Ultimately, worry and anxiety can be managed by having a proper perspective.

There are many things that could cause worry on a daily basis that we do not worry about.

Driving.

Choking while eating

Worry sinks in when we feel that the thing we fear, might actually come to pass.

When we have a feeling that the thing we are fearing might come to pass, we make adjustments to mitigate the risk. This changes our perspective and keeps us from worrying.

Our home and its lockless doors. Installing locks.

Having a perspective based upon a solid hope allows us not to worry about things.

Some people are better at this than others.

If we want to live into this idea of “be anxious in nothing” we must find a way to majorly shift our perspective.

To do this Paul tells us instead to...

Pray About Everything

The prescription to change our perspective is to pray about everything.

“But in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

This reminds me of the words to the hymn,

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a Friend we have in Jesus,   All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry   Everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit,   O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry   Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?   Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged,   Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful   Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness,   Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,   Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge—   Take it to the Lord in prayer; Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?   Take it to the Lord in prayer;

Our solution to worry is a healthy prayer life. Praying to God in faith is an act of trusting and giving it over to Him.

A 18th Century pastor

J.A. Bengel said,

“anxiety and prayer are more opposed to each other than fire and water”

In Everything, through Prayer and Petition

Through Christ we are boldly able and encouraged to approach the throne of God!

How wonderful is it to know that we are able to go to the Father with every request that we might have.

There is nothing that is too insignificant, nothing that is too small.

When I was in 5th grade a teacher had a poster that said, “There are no stupid questions.”

My friends and I took that as a challenge.

She ended up taking the poster down.

No matter what we might ask God, we can rest assured that He desires that we take it to him.

Consider 1 Peter 5:7

1 Peter 5:7 CSB

casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.

All that we face. Everything that might cause us to worry or fret must be taken to the Lord in prayer. It is what he calls us to do.

There is also humility in going to the Lord in prayer.

It is an act of humility to ask for help.

Refusing to go to the Lord in prayer is asserting that we are not in need of His help.

We live in a culture that celebrates strength and being a self-starter. These are positive things in certain environments.

However, it is clear that those who most faithfully follow God are those who are most dependent upon God for the sustenance of their whole being.

With Thanksgiving

We are called to be thankful in our praying to and petitioning of the Lord.

To remember and celebrate all that He has done for us.

This does two things for us.

It keeps us from acting as spoiled children.

There are all sorts of shows surrounding the children of the ultra-wealthy. Often when they turn 16, they get a car that they have no business driving, and almost every time, there is something wrong. “Not that car!” “Not that color!”

We must not forget or neglect the wonderful things that God has done for us. He gives them freely, but we should not take them for granted. We must remember his goodness.

It aligns us with a perspective that is focused on what God has already done

When we remember all that God has already done, it encourages us and helps us be confident of what He will do in the future.

I think for many, a lack of peace does not reflect unwillingness to trust God, but rather an incomplete view of who He is.

There are many videos of “underdogs” doing things and amazing the people who are watching.

Uncle Drew

It is not as though God disguises or hides Himself.

But rather, we are not any different than all of the people who have come before us.

We are often no different than the people of Israel being led out of Egypt and to the promised land.

We quite literally are like them.

Brought out of the bondage of slavery (them to Pharoah | Us to sin)

Led through a difficult place, looking forward to the promised land.

How quickly we forget what God has done for us. For the Israelites He:

Set them free from Israel.

He parted the Red Sea.

He sustained them in the desert.

Instead they:

turn to idols.

allow thoughts of “my life was better before”

When facing the task in front of them, they cowered saying it was too big.

Too often we do the same things.

We turn to idols

We question if following God is worth it.

We cower when we face the task in front of us

This same God who did all of the things we see in Scripture loves you, died for you, and wants a relationship with you.

He tells you to take all of your worries and cares to Him in prayer.

Our posture toward the difficulties we face must be one of trusting God, to taking them before Him in prayer, even when it does not make sense.

If we do this, verse seven promises the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The Peace of God

And the Peace of God

What is peace?

Types of Peace

External Peace

Lack of conflict between people

Hippies

World Peace

Inner Peace

Promoted by the spiritual people. A form of enlightenment.

Characterized by a lack of worry or anxiety.

False Peace

The idea that everything is alright. That there are no issues, when just around the corner trouble waits.

The Peace of God

A combination of both external and internal peace, but primarily internal peace.

We are called not to be in conflict with others, though others will certainly have conflict with us.

Romans 12:18 CSB

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

We should have a peace within ourselves, because we know that Christ has redeemed us.

Comes from Him.

It is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Comes from confidence in God being the one doing the working.

Surpasses all Understanding

A reference to Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 26:3 CSB

You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.

If we are honest with ourselves, trusting God, does not always make sense.

But the reality is that all that God has done, can do, and will do doesn’t make sense to us either.

Just as he is higher than we are, his peace surpasses anything that we can attain on our own.

The greater our awareness is of who He is, the easier it is to trust Him.

This is characterized by those who go through unspeakable things.

The stoning of Stephen.

Acts 7:59–60 CSB

While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.

The peace that Stephen knew surpassed all understanding. In the face of death, indeed his very last breath was asking for the forgiveness of those who killed him.

His focus was on the eternal, and thus, the current did not worry Him.

Not only did Stephen face death with dignity, he showed the power of God’s peace in action a peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In his last moment of anguish He went to the Lord in prayer.

The next thing we see is that this peace…

Will Guard your hearts and minds

This idea of guarding is not simply standing in the way.

It invokes the idea of a well-garrisoned stronghold

This is the same word used in 1 Peter 1:5

1 Peter 1:5 CSB

You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The guarding of our hearts and minds is the same way with which our salvation is guarded.

It is sure and can be trusted.

In Christ Jesus

Peace With God

The only way to achieve this peace is to have peace with God.

Romans 5:10 tells us that we are enemies with God.

Romans 5:10 CSB

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

The only way to have the peace of God is to have peace with God.

Jesus the Prince of Peace came to make a way for the enmity between man and God to be reconciled.

This whole idea of “reconciliation” is the idea of peace coming to a place where there is strife.

Jesus is our advocate, our peacemaker.

Through Him, we have the opportunity to have peace with God, and because of that we have can have true peace.