Fruit of the Spirit - Peace
Galatians 5:22-23
April 22, 2018
When things aren’t going your way. When you’ve had a bad day, or something bad happens, or you are a little nervous about something, how do you help yourself to feel better? I believe one of the best methods is to eat desert. Maybe it’s a piece of pie, or cake, maybe throw some ice cream on top, have some chocolate and coffee . . . and now you’re talking!!
Sometimes you need something to settle yourself down. More than anything, we want God’s peace, but we settle for a piece of pie or cake, or ice cream . . . or maybe it’s another drink, or we hit the Internet for a few hours, or we sit mind numbed in front of the television.
We’re wanting to experience the peace of God, but that’s not always easy. So we find it easier to absorb ourselves into things other than God, and grieve the fact we can’t figure out where God is in the midst of our struggles.
Most of us are busy. Whether you’re in school, retired, working, or anything in between, there’s always something to do. Something needs to be fixed, someone needs to be taken care of. And sometimes we want a break, to chance to rest.
But more than rest, we’re really seeking peace. Yet, peace isn’t something we can easily grab a hold of. It’s not tangible, it’s not like a piece of pie.
We’re now entering week 3 of our look at the Fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5, after listing a number of sins, Paul tells us ~
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
None of the 9 virtues are tangible, yet we’re called to make them a tangible reality in our lives, so others can experience the power of Christ, through the way we live our lives.
Peace can be very allusive. At the end of a long day you want a few minutes of peace and quiet. That’s easier said than done when the phone rings, the kids won’t settle down. Your mind won’t turn off once you get into bed. Or you wake up in the middle of the night and your mind kicks into high gear?
What about when you need to have that difficult conversation with someone. Where’s peace? The fear and anxiety of going to the doctor. Preparing for surgery or treatment. Decisions that need to be made, where’s peace? A piece of pie sounds good, but it’s not going to help.
How do we experience peace when our spouse, parents, children or grandchildren, our siblings - - aren’t handling life well and you’re taking on the burden.
Add to that the world of sin which surrounds us - - gossip, abuse, terrorism, senseless killings, drug use. It can cause us to feel anxious.
OK . . . let’s get to some good news!!!
Let’s set the stage - - - The Passover dinner is over. Judas is gone. . . Jesus is going to be betrayed and arrested - - beaten, humiliated and hung on a cross. Jesus looks at His disciples and made this astounding statement ~
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 hearts be troubled, neither let your hearts be afraid. – John 14:27
Aren’t those great words from Jesus? Notice Jesus is really clear about where peace comes from. It comes from Him. From a relationship with Christ. Jesus’ peace is not the same as the world’s peace. That’s a huge point for us to remember. We can’t replace or substitute the world’s peace for the peace of Savior of the world.
When we embrace the worlds peace, we end up with a distorted view of peace. We buy more, we sin more, we do things we normally wouldn’t do, because we’re following the world’s plan, not God’s plan. Jesus tells us to embrace His peace
You see, the peace of God is not temporary. Last week we spoke about joy and joy is not temporary either. None of the Fruits are temporary. They come from our connectedness to Christ.
While still in the Upper Room, after their dinner, Jesus told the disciples ~
33 I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. – John 16:33
The disciples knew tribulation. Tribulation means “pressing together, or pressure.” You know what that’s like when you feel pressure, when you feel the world is pressing in on you. It’s like you’re in a vice, and it’s turning and turning and squeezing the life out of you. We all know that type of pressure.
But Jesus tells us the great news, I have overcome the world. My peace is real. It will be there for you, but we must trust that His peace is real and available. Yet, it didn’t look like it, did it? Jesus was about to be brutally beaten, killed and put into a tomb. YET, in 3 days, the world would be forever changed!
So, take heart! Jesus has overcome the world. He has defeated the evil one.
Consider the words of the Apostle Paul who told the Roman church ~
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:1
Because of the faith we have in Jesus, we are forgiven. That’s great news. And one of the gifts we receive because of our faith is peace with God.
This passage is so crucial to understand. At one time we were deemed guilty - - . lost in sin, we didn’t have a relationship with God. There was no way out, someone had to pay the price for our sinfulness. That was Jesus!!
Because Jesus paid the price, God now declares us NOT GUILTY!! Not because of what we’ve done . . . but because of what Jesus did for us. Because of His death, God now looks at us as forgiven, clean, pure, whiter than snow. It’s only because of the work of the Son, that the Father can declare you not guilty.
The Peace of God comes from knowing God loves and forgives you. We don’t need to live in fear that our sin, guilt and shame will be exposed and we will be condemned.
Why else did Christ die? Did He die so you could still be declared guilty? Did He die so you would always fear you haven’t done enough?
NO WAY!! Paul proclaims more good news in Romans 8:1, proclaiming ~
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. – Romans 8:1
We don’t have to be afraid that an angry God will condemn us. Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. We are forgiven. The only one who is trying to condemn you is satan. But trust in the end of the story . . . satan already lost the war and we win!! That’s part of the great news. There’s no one in heaven who will condemn you, nobody will bring any charges against you. Because we’re forgiven by God, and our relationship with Him has been restored.
Again Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 ~
8 God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
While we were still in sin, Christ died for us!! John 3:16 is a great verse - -
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life - - - -
But John 3:17 holds everything together ~
17 For God DID NOT send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. – John 3:17
Do you see that?! God does not want to condemn you. There should be no fear in His love. Because perfect love always casts our fear.
Because we have the Peace of God, we can live at peace with God, with others and even with ourselves. The peace we have with God takes care of the past, our sins are forgiven. We don’t have to be afraid to talk to God. We have 24/7 access to God and can bring our prayers, praise and concerns to Him. And we have the promise of living in God’s peace forever.
Because we have the Peace of God, we can also work to restore peace with the people in our lives. We are called to seek reconciliation with people. Paul reminds us in Romans 12 ~ 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
I love that last line . . . if possible, live peaceably with others. So far as it depends on you. If you do your work, and I do my work, then inspite of differences, we should still be able to have peace. It’s looking for the good, not the bad in others. We have a way of looking for what’s wrong, what we don’t like about others, instead of looking for what is good and honoring.
God’s peace should change the way we look at others. Just as God took steps to restore peace with us, we may have to take the initiative to restore peace with others.
I am thankful for our church. We are imperfect, sinful people. Nobody here has their act totally together. We wish we did, sometimes we pretend we do, but when we do that we’re trying to show the worlds peace, not God’s. Yet, in spite of our imperfection, we seek to share the faith and live the faith as one body. We have unity. We have one God, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit.
Because we have that, when something goes wrong, we’re there for one another. We’re there to help and care for one another. That’s great news and something we always need to cultivate.
Ultimately we can learn to live at Peace with ourselves. Since God loves and forgives us, we can love and forgive ourselves. We can receive God’s peace when we accept His invitation to turn to Him for help in the storms of life. The storms will come. But peace comes when we know and trust the Lord is with us.
Not everything was rosy in the early church. There were arguments and dissensions. Look at the list of sins in Galatians 5, just before the Fruit of the Spirit, Paul lists sin after sin. There were disagreements, adultery, gossiping, laziness, pride and more. Those sins continue today!
So, Paul tells the people to reconcile with one another. There were storms in Philippi. He told the people in Philippians 2 ~
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. {UNITY}
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:2-4
This should bring peace to the people in their relationships, but there was still the issue of peace within yourself. We need to experience that peace. So, later in Phillipians 4, Paul says ~
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is to help us experience the peace of God. Firstly, Paul commands us to rejoice. How often are we to REJOICE? Paul says rejoice in the Lord - - - ALWAYS!! Have joy, in fact, he believes it’s so important, he says, let me say it again . . . REJOICE. And while you’re at it, let people see your gentleness,
Now, listen to what he said - -
The Lord is at hand; SLIDE6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
We need to put the end of verse 5 with verse 6. Don’t be anxious about anything! HA! Paul doesn’t know what I’m really going through! Oh yes he does. He’s been there and through it. But this is what Paul is getting at . . .
We don’t have to be anxious about anything . . . WHY? Because the Lord is at hand. I believe that means since Jesus is near, we don’t have to be anxious, because He has sent His Spirit for us.
Ultimately, in everything we do, through prayer, through our requests, we are to make our requests know to God . . . doing it with thanksgiving.
Some of you may not think it’s OK to pray for yourself. That’s wrong! And at times because you don’t pray for yourself, could be a reason why you don’t experience God’s peace. Now, I’m not saying to pray to hit the lottery and so on.
I’m talking about our deep needs, our fears and our concerns in life. We always have access to God . . . in good and not so good times. So, when we’re troubled, talk to God, yell out, cry out to God. We’re reminded that Jesus and the Spirit intercede for us! So, talk to God, it’s what He wants you to do. It’s called prayer.
And when we do that - - Paul tells us . . . when we come to God’s throne room in our prayers and petitions . . .
7 the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7
That’s what we’re looking for!! How many times have you experienced this peace and you can’t explain it away. You just know it’s there. It’s that feeling of peace and calm in the midst of the storm. And that word GUARD is Greek for a military guard. That’s God sending one of His soldiers / angels to bring you peace in the midst of the storm. Storms will come. Jesus said so. Experience agrees. And when they do and when we supernaturally experience that peace of Jesus which surpasses all understanding, we need to give thanks, we need to praise God. We need to mark that day on our calendars. Why? Because that should give us strength and courage and power to continue in our journeys. We need to remember those days! Because future days of trouble will come as well, and this gives us confidence and hope we can overcome anything . . . through Christ!
Remember, peace does not panic. Peace trusts and believes. Peace prays. We need to pray. In this world we will have tribulation.
? Peace is not the absence of storms.
? Peace is experiencing the promise of God’s presence in the midst of the storm.
? God meets us in the midst of the mess of the storm.
Jesus is our shelter. He may not stop the storm. But He will be with you in the storm; and He will deliver you.
