Aren't you thankful for the peace of God? The powerful, wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is able to calm us, fill us, heal us and allow us to live life in such a precious way.
This morning I want to begin a 2 part series about the peace of God. This week I'll be speaking on the 4 dimensions of peace and next week I'll be talking about enemies of peace. I believe that one of the things God wants his people to know more than anything is that His desire and purpose for our life is that we would be able to live in peace. We get into such a way sometimes that we think peace means that someone is almost asleep or somehow comatose and just skates through life. Aren't you thankful that the depth that God brings is so much better than what the world tries to define?
If you haven't looked at the monthly Harvest Seed I want to encourage you to get this. I want you to begin to pray that God would allow those things to happen in your life and to pray that over the life of each family in our church. There is a battle, the enemy has waged a war so that the people of God will not have peace but God desires it for us.
John 14:27 says this, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid". Heavenly Father, thank you that you're here this morning. As we come to receive your word, we receive it like food, food that will nourish and strengthen us and equip us to live the life that you have called us to live, to live a life that lines up with your word. Spirit of God, may we decrease and may you increase in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen.
John chapter 14 is one of those very rich chapters in the word of God. As I was preparing this message I began to look through some powerful things that are in this one chapter alone. First it says, "Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. In verse 6, Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me". Verse 12 tells us, "Most assuredly I say unto you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father". Verse 14, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it".
Verse 21 says, "He who keeps my commandments is he who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him". Verse 26, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you". Verse 27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid".
The word peace in the Hebrew is the word Shalom, it means wholeness, prosperity, quietness and rest. We look at a lot of these things as Pentecostals and we quote the verses, "Ask and it shall be given to you" and "greater things shall you do than what Christ did", "I am the way, the truth and the life". Many times in this chapter we pass over real quick that He leaves us His peace. Jesus said, "I am going to give you peace, not as the world gives". Worldly peace is based on our situations and the events that take place in our lives depending on how relationships are going. God's peace in our life has the foundation of His character, it stems from who He is and who He is in us. It is the source that comes from God that allows us to lead a dependable, quiet and whole life.
I want you to listen to me because a lot of Christians today are wanting God's power, they're wanting to walk in His spirit, they're wanting to walk in His fullness but how many of us have met people who aren't living in His peace? I would venture to say that even in this room today that many people who have a wonderful relationship with the Lord and love Him have not yet received the peace that God has for them. Peace is a part of God's covenant, It is not something that we achieve as believers, it is something we receive. Listen to me again, Peace is not something we achieve, it's something we receive.
Something I wrote in this Harvest Seed that I really liked, that God had given me and I wanted to say this. It says in all other religions peace is about a higher level of attainment and enlightenment. Peace is the end state. For the Christian it is the beginning of a life that is lived securely because God has made us complete and the result of peace is a life that is well lived. The difference between Christianity and everything else is that in other religions you have to somehow reach a certain level in your
spiritual life to be able to live at peace. It is something to be achieved or attained or something you have to do. With God the only thing we have to do is receive Him as our Savior and receive His peace, not achieve His peace. It's part of God's character. I believe that peace eludes so many Christians because they're trying to earn something that God just wants them to reach out and take. All your life will be lived right and you'll feel that peace from your work, you will have confidence in a life well lived but that confidence is so much sweeter when you are living in the peace that God has given to us. It's in that relationship with God that we can have peace in all four dimensions of our life. Listen, the peace of God is not dependent on natural appearances but in our spiritual condition.
The four dimensions of peace that we're going to look at this morning I could take and go on for weeks on each of them but we're going to just cover them very quickly. Those four dimensions of peace are simply this: Peace with God, Peace with ourselves, Peace with others and Peace with our situations. These are four dimensions of peace that God wants us to be able to live in. I believe that as we look at these this morning, that in this place many of us are going to be able to receive that life that God wants us to have in Him.
The first dimension of peace is "Peace with God". Peace with God doesn't come automatically. I wonder if there's anyone in this room who's discovered that? It just doesn't happen. All of us have sinned, all of us deserve to be eternally separated from God. I'm so thankful that God made a way for us to have peace through His son, Jesus Christ. It is impossible to have peace in every other area of our life unless we have made our peace with Him. It's interesting because so many people will do that just before they die, at the very last minute they have to make peace with God. I want to encourage you today, don't wait until your time comes to make peace with God. Make peace with Him today. It's so important that we understand that because you cannot have peace with God when you are under judgment. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ".
Without the forgiveness of sins life will always be unsettled. Listen to me, some of you in this room are living an unsettled life and the reason for that unsettledness is because you are not at peace with God.
There is sin that is evident, you are striving and working and when you have a life that is not pleasing to the Lord you will not have peace with Him until you get right with Him. It's so important for the world to know this. Jesus' death on the cross was not just a sin offering, it was a peace offering. He came so we could have peace with God. Though who are not at peace with God are under judgment, they're not under blessing.
Jesus paid the guilt and the shame of our sin. Jesus became our peace. I remember when I was a kid we used to sing this song, "He is our peace who has broken down every wall, He is our peace, He is my peace". He is the reason we can have peace with God. Let me ask you this morning, have you made your peace with Him today? You cannot live at peace if in your spirit there is a sense of impending judgment. Receiving right relationship through His blood is important for having peace with the Lord. Colossians 1:19-20 says, "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself having made peace through the blood of His cross".
People really don't like to talk about judgment today but the reason Jesus came was to pass judgment over sin so that we could be justified by His sacrifice on the cross. Listen to me, it is impossible to have peace with God if you know that one day you're going to be standing before a judge and be found guilty. I remember when I was growing up, the first time I got a ticket. How many of you remember your first ticket? I had been going through this park just a little too fast for whatever reason. How many of you understand that 17 year olds have a lead foot? How many of you in this room still have a lead foot? I remember when I got the ticket I thought I'd be able to hide it but I was just not at peace with my mom because I knew I was guilty of something she had no idea that I had done but she was going to find out when she got the ticket in the mail.
She always got to the mailbox long before I did because I was in school.
I knew there would not be peace until I paid the fine and until I made things right and actually confessed to my mother. For days I was uneasy, our relationship was not going well. I wouldn't go near her, I'd come home from school and go to work and I'd come home from work and say I had homework to do whether I had it or not. I'd go to my room because I knew I couldn't have peace. Finally I just couldn't take it anymore and told my mom. She said, "I knew something was up because you weren't talking to me". How many of you know God knows something is up when you're not talking to Him? I had to tell her what was going to happen and of course I lost my driving privileges for a few week. How many of you believe that was wise on her part? Things went back to a good place when I came out and I made things right. I want to encourage you this morning, let that unsettledness go. Quit holding on to that sin, that thing that you know you've got. Sometimes life will feel like it's ok because you forget about it for a little while but inside of you there is that unsettledness that something needs to be made right. Today is the day to make your peace with Jesus.
The second dimension of peace is "Peace with ourselves". When you violate God's word and His ways we violate us. Many people struggle today with self esteem issues, they want inner peace. The world today will talk about inner peace in the new age movement and has made a big deal out of it. Listen, inner peace is simply knowing that inside you are ok with yourself but that will come because you know you're ok with God. Self esteem, we want to build people up and tell them they can do anything they want, do anything they want, go anywhere they want and they're going to be ok with themselves and we try to make them feel better. How many of you have ever had someone pat you on the back when you haven't been doing well and it still didn't help? Inner peace is the result of a right relationship with God and it is the by product of righteous living. I want to say something so deep it will just grab you, "You won't feel right if you know that you're living wrong". Inside though when you live for Jesus, to have peace with yourself, something powerful takes place.
Turn with me to 1st John 3:21-24. It's interesting because sometimes Christians will come to church and they say they need some big deep revelation from God. They say they need to hear something they haven't heard before and to get goose bumps like they never had goose bumps before. How many of you know that the Word of God is very simple and very powerful? 1 John 3: 21-24 says, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence towards God and whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him and by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us".
God's Spirit never leaves us guessing, it lets us know that we are in Him. People say, "How do I know that I have peace with God? How do I know that I'm living for Jesus, How do I know that I can have peace in my life? Because His Spirit will let you know that you are right with Him and that encouragement will help us be right with ourselves. It's that powerful and it's that simple.
The world today comes up with so many different answers but the Word of God and God himself is what changes our life. We lose our peace when we begin to allow the enemy to steal our peace, when we become discontented with God's provision. Listen, the result of right living, when you live right, not only will you feel at peace with yourself, but we will also understand that peace becomes a fruit of our life and we walk out that peace. When we are at peace with God, we are at peace with ourselves because we walk in the favor of God. People want to feel contented. They want to know that they are making it in life, they want to feel good about themselves and they want to feel good about what they're doing but that goodness comes when we walk in the favor of the Lord. How many of you believe that you want to walk in the favor of God? Psalms 85:10-13 say this, "Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed". That means they go well together.
How many of you know righteousness and peace love each other? "Truth shall spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and shall make his footsteps our pathway". Isaiah 22:17 says, "The work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever".
I want you to look at me for just a minute. So many people, somehow the enemy has inflicted them and you can see it in schools, the world has tried to attack this in a worldly way in saying that many people today, especially kids are feeling low about themselves, disconnected from others, and they don't feel good inside. How many of you have ever met someone that you've needed to minister to in that way, even in the last year?
The Bible says, "The result of a righteous life is quietness and peace". The enemy will lie to you and say that you've been living for God, you've been doing this and that, and everything else is falling apart,
and He'll say it's no good and it wasn't even right. How many of you understand that bad things happen to good people? The Bible doesn't say that you won't have trouble but what He did say is that in the midst of it you will have peace. Listen, our character and who we are is not dependent on what is happening to us but what God is doing in us and through us. That is how we get peace with ourselves is by having that favor of God in our life. "The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever". The Bible says that we can have a quiet mind and a quiet heart. So many people will lie awake at night and their minds will just constantly go and be troubled. Listen, I want to tell you as your pastor that I've experienced that too in my life. How many of you recognize the attack of the enemy when you see it now? Sometimes people will come to take your peace. Peace is not accidental, it is something that you receive from the Lord and sometimes someone will want to take that from you. In my home, if someone decides that they're going to break in and rob me of peace, how many of you understand that I'm going to take that back. I'll give them a piece of this, I'll give them a piece of my mind and I've got a 9 millimeter piece in the closet. How many of you know what I'm talking about? But I have the peace of the Lord to protect. You laugh but the truth is you know you guard your peace.
The truth is this, God says that quietness and assurance belong to us. There's times in the night that I will feel disturbed and my dreams will be like that. How many of you have ever experienced that before? How many have ever had their peace stolen at night? There's times when we have to determine that we're just not going to take it. So I'm lying there in bed and taking it and the enemy is beating me up and trying to make me not feel good about myself or the situations in my life. I'll get up and I'll get with the Lord in prayer.
Listen, the Bible told us that He'll give us a helper, the Holy Spirit. Aren't you thankful that He doesn't just help us when we're going through major things but even when the enemy is playing with our mind? So I get up and tell the Lord, "I'm not supposed to be having this, your Word says that the result of a righteous life is quietness and assurance. Right now I'm not feeling real assured. God says, "No problem, that's part of my covenant with you, what do you need?" And he shows up right there. It's amazing how if I will just take that time to make sure I receive that peace from the Lord. All we have to do is reach out and take it.
So many times we'll put up with the lack of peace, we'll let the enemy beat on us and make us feel like we're nothing and that we're not accomplishing things and we're not making it and that somehow we're a failure. Listen, the enemy is a liar. Someone say a good amen. The truth is this, if he has grounds for that when we are living in sin then he's just telling the truth but he doesn't have any truth on you when you're living a righteous life. Listen, there have been times when I've been thinking right, living right and I just needed to repent and as soon as I did, the peace came back because I received it back. I exchanged what the enemy has for what God has. I want to tell you that some of you need to make an exchange, some of you need to go back, some of you need to give the devil back what he gave you and take from Jesus what is rightfully yours. How many of you know it's that easy? Don't even tell the devil to leave it on layaway, you'll come pick it up when you want it again. How many of you know you don't want to have a lack of peace anymore?
The third dimension of peace is peace with others. Hebrews 12:14 says, "Pursue peace with all people". I love this part, "with all people". How many of you would like that to say, "pursue peace with some people". Listen, peace with others takes effort and sometimes it takes more effort with some people than others. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men". The truth is this, the last time you lost some sleep, the last time you had a bad day, it probably had to do with a relationship in your life, more than it did some situation that was taking place.
One indicator that Christ is truly working in our lives and that we are yielded to him, it is reflected in our attitude of our relationship toward other people. It is a powerful indicator of the peace of God in your life. Listen to me, when you are at peace with God, it is possible to be at peace with everyone. That doesn't mean you're going to hang out with everybody but it is possible to be at peace with everyone. We have peace with others when we treat them with dignity, honest and respect, when we truly care for other people, without making distinction of their financial situation, their mental capacity or their station in life. We treat everyone with a great deal of respect.
Listen to me, I want to challenge every parent in this place. Raise up your young men to make sure that they treat others with respect. It starts at home, the way they see us as parents treat others, is the way they're going to treat us and the way they're going to treat others in their life. We must instill this in them. We live in a very disrespectful society, how many of you know what I'm talking about? There is a lot of peace and unrest in our country. The way we overcome it as believers is understanding that the covenant we have with Jesus not only includes salvation and not only His peace for us but that we bring His peace to others. What a great privilege it is to bring the peace of God to others lives. The truth is that when we look around, there are a lot of others not living in peace. You and I become the ones that can impart that peace to them simply by our attitude.
Listen, if there are problems, how many of you realize if you're going to have peace with others you're going to have to deal with some problems? Some of you this morning may be sitting next to your spouse saying, "You want to talk about problems, we're not having peace now, we're just sitting here with a little smile on our face, looking like everything is ok but if you knew what we were like on the way over here in the car". One of the great privileges we have in my family is that we have 2 cars. The one reason I'm telling you this is that I love my wife and I love my kids but I'm telling you that the reason you usually don't see me up here on Sunday mornings with a long face is that we take 2 cars to church, I get here early. My wife and I get along fine, I promise. Some of you took 2 cars today not because you came at different times but because you didn't want to be with that person today. Listen, the Bible says that in order to have peace with others, you have to deal with things. The biggest lie of the enemy is that if we just ignore it, it will go away. How many of you know that it doesn't go away? I have found that the more I find myself at odds with someone, many times they don't even realize it and if I just go to them and say I'm sorry and do it no matter how awkward it feels, usually if there was something there makes a big difference.
The Bible says in Matthew 18, that if you're having issues with someone, to go to them and talk to your brother and if you can't deal with that, take someone else with you after you've gone to them first otherwise it will seem like a gang up. Take care of the issues, what's important is that there's unity. Listen, peace is not just the absence of conflict and strife, it is the presence of genuine goodwill and understanding even when there is conflict and strife. Some of you this morning have had some conflict go on this week and in the midst of it, if you will be at peace with God, the Lord will give you the wisdom to be at peace with that person that you need to work with.
Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God". A peace maker does something, they make peace, they don't just hope it shows up. If you serve the God of peace and He is living through you, how many of you know that not only have you made your peace with God but you can make peace with others? Blessed are the peace makers, happy are the peace makers. Have you ever watched someone who's got an issue with somebody but they haven't dealt with that issue with that somebody, they're never at peace.
They walk around thinking, "I can't believe that person said that to me and I'm not going to talk to them". That person that they're mad at doesn't even listen to them anymore, they're gone. The person who's mad is not happy and they're living with a lack of peace. God says, "If you want to be happy, be a peace maker for they shall be called sons of God".
I want you to look at me very clearly this morning. God has called every one of us to be a peace maker, to deal with issues and work with people, to genuinely care and love them. We are going to have issues with people. If you fight with the person that you married and the children that you bore, what makes you think that you're not going to have trouble with people who don't have any real investment in your life? So what's going to happen? Listen, the reason God sent Jesus was to be a peace maker and when we make that peace with others and love them, we become like Jesus. Now God is a reasonable God because it says, "If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men". The Lord knows that there are some people who insist on being difficult. How many of you have ever met someone just like that? it's interesting because sometimes we'll walk away and we'll lose our peace over someone who insists on being unpeaceable. God says to do your part and then sometimes peace means agreeing not to be together anymore.
There are some people that you will try to bring peace to their life and you will try to minister to and then keep beating themselves over the head because someone doesn't like them and you've done everything to help them be in right relationship with you. I remember one time there was this one person who I really wanted to be friends with and it just seemed that everytime I kept going back and time after time, no matter how much I tried to be at peace wit that person, something would rise up. Then finally it hit me because I was reading that scripture, "as much as it depends on you". When I've done all I can and there's not peace, then I'm going to remove myself from that situation. Christians, that's not necessarily Biblical. Don't some of you who came in separate cars this morning, go home and say because you didn't have peace with your husband or wife you're going to go divorce them. I'm not talking about that this morning. Someone say a good amen.
Listen, Proverbs 16:7 says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him". That's not a truce, that's called reconciliation. "Even his enemies will be at peace with him". That's powerful and that's an act of maturity. I want to tell you that there were people that used to be my enemies and I have experienced this a couple times in my life and it took a real hard time to swallow my pride to make sure I obeyed the Word of God. How many of you have ever had anyone just dog you and yell at you and treat you like dirt before? Now the natural reaction is to push that person away, give them a peace of your mind and let them have your peace and a piece of this and a piece of that.
I remember one time so clearly, we had helped this family and it just seemed like nothing we did would ever please them. After we had done what we thought was a good thing, helping and helping, they came out and told us what to do, where to go and how to get there. How many of you have ever had someone do that? I drew a boundary, right there I told them that's enough. They came to my house, I opened my door and let them out. How many of you know you don't have to keep letting them beat on you? Amen. After a few days, I needed to go back and talk to them and I want to tell you they were an enemy, I didn't like them one bit but I came back and I began to share with them my heart and talk to them about the ways of God. I didn't preach to them but the Lord specifically said to me, "Go, When your ways please me, I will even make your enemies be at peace with you". Our relationship has gotten so good now, his birthday is on April 1st, he was born on April Fools Day. I thought he was a fool when we were angry with each other, I thought he was born on the appropriate day. Now I call him up every April Fools day and say, "Happy Birthday, buddy". Listen, the Lord will make even your enemies be at peace with you.
The 4th dimension of peace is peace with our situations. Psalms 55:22 says, "Cast your burden on the Lord and he shall sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved". That means you can have peace. All of us have been in hurtful situations, hurt by family, hurt by friends and I think it would be safe to say that everyone of us in this room have faced storms in life. Listen to me, I want to speak this deeply because the Lord gave this to me just a couple of weeks ago. It was a great revelation because I saw it happening in my life and it spoke deeply to me. It is possible to be at peace and to still hurt. Peace is not the absence of pain or trouble, peace is the comfort and the wholeness and the security of the Lord despite the pain and despite the trouble.
There may be a time when you're on your hospital bed sick but you could still be at peace. There may be a time when your marriage is going through a hard time and it hurts but you can still be at peace. You can be going through so many different situations financially and still have peace. Sometimes peace is the calm in the midst of the storm and not the calming of the storm. One of the greatest testimonies that a Christian can ever have is to say, "it is well with my soul", when everything else around them seems to be falling apart. You see, the truth is this, when we know that we are secure in Jesus we can still live at peace. God never promised that you would have a pain free life or a trouble free life but He did promise that in the midst of the trouble or the pain that He would be an ever present help. This is where sometimes the enemy gets Christians off track and begins to rob them of the thing that God came to give them because in the midst of the storm the devil will say, "You now what, you're living for God, you shouldn't have a storm, or "You're a Christian so all your relationships should all be peachy".
The truth is that they're not all going to be that way. The Lord never promised that. He said in His Word as a matter of fact, "In this world you will have trouble but I have overcome the world". We still live in this world but that peace of God helps us to live as overcomers despite what life has given us. Life happens. Listen, there is a difference between our emotions and our condition in the midst of a situation. Our emotions may hurt but God can give you peace.
God's desire is that we live at peace in all 4 dimensions. It's part of His covenant for your life and my life. How many of you believe we can receive that from the Lord today? Amen
I want to ask you this question this morning, are you living at peace in those areas in your lives? Do you have peace with God, peace with yourself, peace with others and peace in your situations? What I want to do is very simple, I want to make sure that you will receive it from the Lord. Is there one of those areas that you would say, "Pastor, today I'm not living in peace and I know that God is here to help me, I know that God's will is that I know His presence and know His comfort and purpose for my life".
If you'd like prayer this morning, would you just lift your hand. In a minute I'm going to pray and I want to tell you that as I do I believe so clearly that in this year that God is strengthening the things that remain, the thing that needs to remain in us is His peace. God says, "Those who have His peace will not be shaken and will not be moved". I'm here to tell you today, some of you have been moving, you've been shaken but today you're going to be movers and shakers for Jesus instead of getting tossed by the things of the world.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your Word. Thank you Father that it is faithful and that it is true. Thank you Lord that it is powerful in all its simplicity, it is there for us. Some of us this morning know what was preached today but Lord it is spoken freshly into our hearts and to our minds. I thank you that the enemy is defeated but Jesus you have overcome the world and have reconciled us to yourself so that we can be at peace with you and out of that relationship with you every area of life begins to fall into place. Thank you Lord that despite the storms, despite the hurt, that Father there is peace and security.
I thank you Lord that there is that peace and that assurance and rest that helps us to know that even if we're riding a turbulent sea, usually the panic is what's going to happen if this things overtakes me and I thank you Lord that the peace knows that we will not be overtaken because we are covered by you.
So Lord, I pray for each of those who lifted their hands. Father, right now in the name of Jesus, you see each one and father, as those hands are outstretched to you, saying, "Lord we need you, God we desire you". Father I pray that each hand as it comes down would even in the natural look like its grasping the spiritual concept of that peace and we receive it now in Jesus name. Father, I pray that implanted peace of your Word would be so deep that those who have had sleepless nights, those who are struggling with themselves, today would know the lovely peace of God.
