Sermon Central
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Getting To Know God - Part 6 - The God Of Peace Series
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Oct 19, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Jehovah-Shalom; God is Peace. Do we have God's kind of peace in our lives or are we settling for something less? God's peace is bestowed not earned. The saying, "No Jesus, No Peace; Know Jesus, Know Peace" may seem like a bumper sticker slogan but there is truth in it!
Getting To Know God - Part 6 - The God of Peace
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
“To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy –
“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Please open your Bibles to Romans 8:18-30
Four weeks ago we started taking a look into WHO God is.
It is difficult to love someone you know nothing about.
So, what do we know about God so far?
- His name is YHWY – Yahweh or Jehovah
- YHWH describes Himself as “ I AM WHO I AM”
o He is immutable, unchanging
- YHWH-Rapha – the God Who Heals
- He is Jehovah-Jireh or YHWH-Yireh … The God Who Provides
- He is God The Encourager
- And last week we saw that He is The God Who Forgives
Before we look into the Scripture reading for today, let’s look at a couple of verses on the PowerPoint …
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”””
“You (O, LORD) will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”
“May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”
So, what aspect of our Great God do you think we will be talking about today? Peace! He is the God of Peace!!!
With that in mind let's read … Romans 8:18-30
(Prayer for help …)
Now, we'll be going back to that Scripture later and even though it does not speak directly to peace the path ot peace can be found in it!
We serve Jehovah-Shalom, the God of Peace
Peace. We all want peace, don’t we?
Where can we find peace? Can we find peace in possessions, intellect and relationships?
King Solomon declared that everything is meaningless.
Pleasures are meaningless
Wisdom and folly are meaningless
Toil is meaningless
Oppression, toil and friendlessness are meaningless
Advancement is meaningless
Riches are meaningless
We may have pleasures in our lives such as a warm home and good food and companionship but if you try to find the source of peace in any one of them the home will become just a house, the food will become bland and your companions will become enemies. They were not created to be your source of peace. They are a gift to point you to the Prince of Peace.
It is interesting that Solomon joins wisdom and folly together as a path to meaninglessness. Neither were meant to be your source of peace.
Toil in itself is not a way to peace. Choosing a vocation because it will produce the most money is a sure way to find the meaninglessness of toil. Work is beneficial but it was not created to be your source of peace.
Anything of this earth that you set up to produce peace on its own will invariably let you down.
I think the saddest thing in the list from Ecclesiastes is friendlessness.
Just try to put yourself in Solomon’s place; the richest man on the face of the planet. You are the man on whom the LORD bestowed great wisdom …
But, just listen to 1 Kings 10:18-22 while looking at this depiction of Solomon’s throne …
“Then the king (Solomon) made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years (the fleet) returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory.”
