A PBS Special covering the events that led up to the "Battle of the Bulge" in WWII revealed some interesting insights. It was the autumn of 1944, and Germany had been beaten back behind its borders. The Nazi war-machine was in tatters, and repeated bombing raids by the Allies all but assured that Hitler’s forces would never rise again. Around the perimeter of Germany’s borders, the Allies spread a thin line of forces that one person observed was so scattered that a man could slip between its lines without being observed. All across Europe, there was celebration: parties, dances, speeches, all rejoicing in Germany’s defeat. The war was effectively over. The only problem was that somebody forgot to tell Germany. Even as his forces were being shattered and driven back, Hitler was devising a plan for one last onslaught. Underground factories churned out more weapons, armament and ammunition; more of Germany’s young and old men were conscripted and trained for war, and as Europe rejoiced, Hitler planned. His goal was not to drive back the Allies as much as it was to divide the British to the North and Americans to the South, and so demoralize them that they would sue for peace on his terms. Hundreds of men died because somebody forgot that the enemy still lived, and that the war was not over.
We are going to talk about peace this morning and cover many truths. You might be able to take them all in and I hope you will one or two things that you say that is what I need in my life and I will put it in my life starting today.
ENJOYING PEACE IN ALL OF LIFE Gal 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
Mk 9: 50 Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." RM 15: 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace 1Co 14: 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. Rev. 1:4-6 Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father, to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
The question I put before you today is “How would you describe having peace of mind?” Would you say: “no problems, no worries, no cranky people, being on vacation with all expenses paid, having a non-stressful job, the weather always pleasant, not being overweight, always looking good, everything paid for, no family problems.” In reality most of us know that life is not stress free. I like that the word Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Who is not under stress? I ran across a fact that tranquilizers are being sold at an all time high rate. We know that too much stress deteriorates the body. What do many do when under stress? They use alcohol, smoking, gambling, cheating and lying as ways to alleviate stress. PR. 14:30 “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but craving the rottenness of the bones.” Pr 3:7-8 “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
I want us to know that the Bible deals with stress and talks about three kinds of peace we need. #1 We need Spiritual peace. This does not mean chanting, deep meditation, dreaming or going through ritual. Spiritual peace is being at peace with God. PH 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God made everything and was before all things and it is by Him we have our being. He is holy and we are sinners controlled by Satan. It is a great wonder that God is able or even interested in setting us free. JN 14:6 “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I am the way To God. Jesus is not one way among many, but the way. JN 1:4 life is one of the great concepts of this Gospel. The term is found 36 times in John, while no other NT book uses it more than 17 times. Life is Christ’s gift and he, in fact, is "the life".
Spiritual life is peace with God and next we have #2 emotional peace or the peace of God. COL 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” The word for rule here means to umpire. What does an umpire do but keep peace when a game is going on. There may be disagreements but he is the one whom makes sure everything is right. He keeps the peace. Now think with me that God is the umpire of the universe and it is He you can turn to for peace even when the world seems to be falling apart. We might have heard even this week, “I need to get away,” “I need my space.” I am sure that there has been a time in your life that you have crawled into your bed with your body being really tired but your mind was racing so sleep does not come. Only Gods’ peace can give us the rest we need.
The #3 peace we have in the Bible is relational peace or peace with others. RM 12:17-21 “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord. Instead, do what the Scriptures say: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.” We all deal with the three “C’s” of life which are Conflict, Competition and Criticism. All of these rob us of peace that comes with knowing God. JN 14: 27 PEACE I leave with you; my peace I give you. Jesus said these words the night before He went to the cross for our sins. Peace is a gift from God. We cannot earn it. We cannot buy it. We can try hard to get it but fail. This peace does not come from this world. It has been said that in the last 3,500 years we have only had 286 that there were not wars gong on. I want us to know that God’s peace is not controlled by circumstances.
We will discover 5 ways to God’s perfect peace for our lives.
I. We find peace when we choose to obey Gods’ Word. Psalm 119:165 “Those who love your law have great peace and do not stumble. 167 I have obeyed your decrees, and I love them very much.” When we do what God wants us to do we have peace that passes understanding. I wonder is peace lacking in your life because you had said “NO” to God. When we buy a machine it comes with an owner’s manual. If we do what it says than there is peace and things go well. God’s owner’s manual for us is His Word. When we obey it life goes as it should. Is your life running good? Do you need to re read the owner’s manual?
II. We find peace with God as we accept His complete pardon of our sins. When He pardons us we are released from the wrath of God. It is our guilt, our past and sinful lives that block us from enjoying life as God intends for us to have. God is willingly eager to pardon all our sin and has provided that way through Jesus Christ. It is God’s nature to forgive. He is able to clear our life of all its dirty past and make us blameless before Him in love.
III. We find peace when we realize we live in God’s presence. IS 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.” PS 112:6-8 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. IS 25:8-9 The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD; we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." Why would one choose to keep their minds on the problems rather than on God who has solutions to all the problems of life? Darkness comes as we dwell on this world. Depression comes as we think on our selves. Peace comes as we look at Christ and know God is with us. God is always present. When you are tense or stressed out it is because you are focusing on your problem or circumstance and not on God being with you. The next time you get stressed out or have a big problem think of it in this way that God is getting your attention to turn your eyes back on Him. PS 46:1-10 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come; behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth.” This was written by Hezekiah when whew asunder attack by the Assyrians. He was surrounded by a n army the numbered 185,000. He prayed this prayer and at 11:55 AM he went out to find the army dead in one act by God. Do you have 185,000 problems? They were saved because they looked for God for help. The PS says that God is our strength and help and no matter how over whelming our circumstances or problems we need to be still and know God. This means to let go or ease up. Many problems can be solved if we would just learn to be still and let God. Our hurriness and business leads to the death of prayer and dependence on God. We are to Know that I am God. Philip. 4:4-7 rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
IV. We find peace when we trust God’s purpose for our life. Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Notice four verbs here: Trust, Fear, Lean, and Direct. We see three commands and then a promise. How do we trust? He is in charge of our lives and we do not need to figure it all out. How many do you know that when they come to the end of life have it all figured out? Two common things people worry about is sickness and death. God wants us to trust Him that He knows all about everything. Peace comes to those who place their trust in him. All your questions will not be answered in this life time and when you get to heaven life will be all you wanted. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding was written by one who was the wisest one who ever lived. Acknowledge him for He is in control of not just you little life but all the world all the universe which He created. He is in control and makes no mistakes. He does not say “Oops or Oh No.” All that happens in your life is part of His plan and purpose of you life. All the good things develop your character. He promises to direct your life. Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I recall a story about Jesus that in the midst of storm was sleeping. He knew God was in control. Peter was asleep in prison the night before he was to be killed because he knew God was in control. How are you sleeping?
V. We find peace when we ask God for His peace.
We find peace when we take time to pray. Prayer is the cause and peace is the result. “Why worry when you can pray?
Trust Jesus He’ll lead the way. Don’t be a doubting Thomas, rest fully on His promise. Why worry, worry, worry,
worry, when you can pray?” Worry is useless emotion. It is a waste of time. worry come from a word that means to be
chocked in LK 8:14. In Peter and John we are told to turn our cares into prayers. Peace is not living a trouble free life but
having calmness n the midst of life’s storms.
If you life is being robbed of peace and being calm seek God to forgive and give you peace.
To be at peace and have peace we need to choose to obey Gods’ Word,
accept His complete pardon of our
sins,
realize we live in God’s presence,
trust God’s purpose for our life,
ask God for His peace.
