Peace in the Valley
Dale carter Sr.
Harvest Fellowship Community Church
September 29, 2019
Col 3:8-16
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Intro: I found the following story on the internet and I’d like to share it with you: Peace: A sermon by Steven Simala Grant on May 10, 2007
“There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains that were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.
The King chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
1 Tim 1:2. Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!
Matt 5:9. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Who are the peace makers?
Let’s look at Luke chapter 10. Beginning at verse 30 the Lord is giving an answer to a lawyer concerning, “Who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:30-37
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. KJV
The question here is “Who showed mercy?” Of course it was the Good Samaritan. But how did the Good Samaritan bring peace to this man. What is showing mercy? To sum it up would be to say binding up wounds and bruises. As this certain man was mugged robbed and wounded imagine how you would feel if the same thing happened to you. I imagine that it would bring peace to you if someone was binding up your wounds and stopping the bleeding. We could say that the Good Samaritan was bringing external peace to a broken and bleeding body.
However, there are more dangerous wounds than those inflicted upon the body. I’m referring to bruises and wounds of the spirit. Let’s look at Genesis 39:20-21
20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. KJV
What had mercy to do with Joseph in prison? There are more dangerous wounds than those of the body or flesh so to say. Wounds of the spirit can be more damaging and longer-lasting than those of the body.
The vast majority of internal wounds are not self-inflected. They are inflected by another person. Though the initial wound hurts and sometimes goes very deep. But being wounded in this matter is not the real danger, it’s the scar tissue that is the danger and sometimes causes irreversible damages. External scar tissue will affect only the person that carries it. But internal scar tissue allowed to grow will affect those around you, even those you love and that had no part of the initial wound. Internal scar tissue will have the greatest effect on the person that was wounded.
A doctor can remove the external scar tissue with a scalpel but it could come back. Most of the time you can remove the internal scar tissue by forgiveness. Forgiveness is the tool, the renewing of your mind is the cure. A life filled with greater joy, peace and deeper love is the results, plus all those around you will experience the results also. Un-forgiveness is a strange bedfellow. Sometimes it hides under the cover. It may be hidden from sight but it will always there. When Paul prayed that our eyes of understanding be opened he was referring to King David’s prayer of “Search me O’Lord” Opening our eyes of understanding means to take a look at our own heart or take a look at what is hidden under the cover. Possibly it something that just pops up to our amazement but it’s been there all the time and we just don’t want to face it. Facing it may mean that we need to mentally just take it out and take a good look at what really happened. The event may have taken place years ago. Sometimes we can’t even remember what really happen but we know something happened. Haven’t spoken to Mother, Father, Brother or Sister for years, can’t remember exactly why but it must have been something bad. When we cry out as David, search my heart, God will send the Holy Ghost to expose the whatever it is but He will also bring the oil and the wine. The kind that restoreth my soul. God knows that un-forgiveness will cause bleeding and dying. A person can never have that Peace, Wonderful Peace sent down from the Father above until the un-forgiveness is purged out and the heart is made pure. To forgive someone for hurting you is the utmost in forgiving.
An incident occurred in a revival meeting at the church I presently pastor. There were two former pastors of a different denomination were present. I don’t think that they knew that the other one was there. They sat on opposite sides of the sanctuary. But at the end of the service, one discovered the other and made a “B” line toward the other. There were some pretty loud and harsh words exchanged one of them left the church with his afterburner kicked in. It was embarrassing to the whole congregation. I found out that the wounds had been inflicted many years ago. Both have passed on now. I pray that they made everything right before they met the Lord. This is an example of what happens when un-forgiveness is under the cover. The following is a true story that occurred in my church also but shows the traits of a pure and forgiving heart created by God.
Another incident occurred at a meeting in my church a couple of years ago. The quest preacher used the "N" word. He said it so fast that it surprised him more than those that heard it. I personally didn’t hear it, some that did were very offended. The next day the preacher who is a nationally known minister and singer was so troubled in his spirit that he wanted me to drive him to the residents of some that were hurt so he could make a face to face apology. Which I was more than happy to do.
The first resident was the home of a lady that hadn't been saved very long. When we were invited in, the preacher started to express his embarrassment and trying to apologize the sister cut him off and to my amazement, the lady started to cry. Through her broken voice, she said, and I'll never forget, "I am the one that needs to apologize to you, I judged you and Christians aren't supposed to do that." She asked the one that had offended her to forgive her for allowing the hurt to cause her to judge. WOW!! I will be forever impressed and thanked God that such a precious woman calls me, "Pastor."
The story of Joseph is a great example of the innocent forgiving the guilty without being asked. Joseph's reputation had been destroyed in the eyes of many. He had been condemned and cast into prison for something he did not do. Actually, he was cast into prison for being righteous and filled with honesty and integrity, and for standing for moral values. His spirit was bruised and bleeding. A Good Samaritan paid Joseph a house call. He did not come riding on a donkey. The locked doors and the walls of stone did not stop Him. The gates were guarded, the lack of a window did not stop Him. He came to minister comfort and consolation to the stressed one, Joseph. The Lord’s servants frequently require the Lord’s gracious GOOD SAMARITAN ministry.
Reaching out to those in need can bring peace to the one reaching. While we are reaching out to others we may find it hard to our problem on our mind. When we are the peace-maker for others it will bring peace to us. Reach out to someone in your church that is having problems. If you are afraid that you won’t know what to say, just be a good listener. Sometimes venting will release the pressure that stress creates. I believe that everyone needs someone to vent at, on, to or whatever you may want to label it. Someone that you can just let it go to.
Plant the fruit of the Spirit in your heart. (Gal. 5:22, 23). But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. KJV If you cultivate what is planted it will grow and produce a harvest then share your harvest and the peace of God will abound in and from you even in the presence of adversity and turmoil. Memorize these verses and when Satan tries to disrupt your peace, look him in the eye and say out loud and with authority, “Satan it is Written” Go a little farther and quote him (Isa 54:17) No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. KJV
I might add: See that little three letter word just to the left of peace, JOY, that’s what you’ll bring into your life and those around you, for the Joy of the Lord is my strength!! No matter how deep the valley, how dark the night, how fierce the storm the Lord will do a house call and bring peace to your heart and spirit. (Matt 5:8). Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. KJV “Understand Satan? Get back under my heel where you belong.”
