Getting To Know God - Part 6 - The God of Peace
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
Jude 1:24-25
“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) …
Philippians 4:6-7
“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 …
Psalm 4:8
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”””
Isaiah 26:3
“You (O, LORD) will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
“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.”
OK. Do you have that picture in your mind? Now, just imagine going into Solomon’s presence and you are standing at the foot of the six golden steps to the throne and he says to you, “Hey, do you want to hang out sometime? Maybe we could be friends.”
Yeah, right! I don’t think so …
It could be possible that Solomon was the leading expert on friendlessness who has ever lived. It is certainly possible that he did not have any friends, at least not what we would call real friends. As far as I can recall I do not remember reading of him having any close friends.
Doesn’t that make you want to pity him? What a sad and lonely life!
Recently I have had this cold and it has really been giving me trouble with sleeping. One night I was coughing all night long and it kept Karenlee awake all night, too. Every time I had a coughing fit it would wake both of us up. There was no peaceful rest.
The next night I took some NyQuil and I slept a little better but Karenlee told me that my snoring sounded like someone blowing on a trumpet.
There was no peaceful rest.
But, it’s not just colds that keep many of us awake.
A lack of peace can keep anyone awake.
Have you ever had something on your mind that just won’t go away?
You try to go to sleep and you can’t.
If you do get to sleep it’s the first thing on your mind when you do wake up.
And then, all through the day it just keeps coming back at you and you have no peace.
Peace. How do we find peace that the God of Peace wants to give us?
Now, remember, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (Unto to us a Child is born …)
In God’s Word Jesus also told us that we would experience suffering, trials, persecution, tribulation, affliction, and death … That doesn’t sound like peace, does it?
But Jesus also says in John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The first step to the peace that the God of Peace wants to give us is found in Romans 8:28
“ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
The steps to finding true and eternal peace:
1) complete self-abandoned love for God
Take a few moments and make a mental checklist of the things in your life.
Actually, when you go home, take an hour or two and make an actual list if things in your life.
Look at that list. Is there ANYTHING on that list that you would not remove from your life if it was a stumbling block to God’s supremacy in your life?
What about people? Is there anyone in your life who is causing your love for God to be less than it should be? Is there someone who is drawing you away from God into sin? Are you willing to separate your life from them for God? This in itself can be a witness for the Lord.
No, the LORD is NOT going to ask you to get rid of your spouse or kids.
He may however ask you to leave your unsaved boyfriend or girlfriend if you are unmarried.
He may ask you to get out of the kind of business you are in if it is not what He has called you to do or if it is sinful.
He may ask you to make major changes in the way you handle the resources He gives you to live on.
The second step to peace that the God of Peace wants to give you is also found in Romans 8:28
“ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
The steps to finding true and eternal peace:
1) complete self-abandoned love for God
2) seek the Lord’s purpose for your life
The Lord has called us all to be participants in His Kingdom on earth.
God’s purpose for our salvation is not just so we can avoid hell. That is just a side benefit!
We are called to be workers in the Kingdom of God.
Can you imagine getting hired in a large company and never asking the bosses what they want you to do? Imagine if you just wandered around the place until you found something interesting to do and did that? What would happen when they found you? It wouldn’t be a time of peace, that’s for sure.
Seeking the Lord’s purpose for your life goes hand-in-hand with a complete self-abandoned love for God.
Imagine Saul the Pharisee who was rising among the ranks of the Jewish leadership. He had all the perks. People would show him respect in the market place. People would stop to listen to him teach or pray. But his life was filled with jealousy of his peers and torment and hatred toward Christians until he abandoned his position of worldly status and became the humble apostle of Christ.
Our self-abandoned love for God will cause us to seek His purpose for our lives and we will be well on our way to finding God’s peace for our lives.
The third step to the peace that The God of Peace wants to give you is found in Romans 8:29
“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
The steps to finding true and eternal peace:
1) complete self-abandoned love for God
2) seek the Lord’s purpose for your life
3) be conformed to the image of Jesus
Now, it’s obvious that being conformed to the image of Jesus is not talking looking like Him.
So, what does that image look like?
We can find out by looking into the Scriptures …
Jesus was the perfect example of selfless sacrifice for those who do not deserve His grace.
Study the description of selfless love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and ask the Holy Spirit to:
- Show you where you fall short
- Enable you to grow into Christ-likeness where you need help
Study the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 and ask the Holy Spirit to:
- Show you where you fall short
- Enable you to grow into Christ-likeness where you need help
And this will be a lifelong journey.
It is so easy to talk about or preach about the peace that the God of Peace wants to give us and it is another thing to live it out.
Perhaps you are in a place of no peace.
I know for years I lived in turmoil in my spirit without peace but if you saw me in church you would think I was filled with peace and joy when I was actually filled with anger.
Is there the peace of God in your heart today?
There was a man named Thomas Dorsey, not, Tommy Dorsey, although they were both in the music business.
Thomas Dorsey as a black blues musician, singer and song writer. Later on he became known as the Father of Gospel Music.
Thomas Dorsey was born into the family of a Baptist minister. When hard times hit the church had to let his dad go and the family drifted away from church.
Tomas had a talent for music and as an adult he became widely known for his ability on the piano, as a singer and a composer of secular blues music.
Many of the songs he wrote and performed had strong sexual messages and this gave him a certain reputation.
All the time he was doing this there was an internal struggle between the worldly music he was playing and the memories of the lessons he had learned under his father’s preaching.
Eventually, he had two nervous breakdowns and retired from music.
He was in so much misery that he seriously considered suicide.
Thomas’ sister’s pastor visited him and told him that the Lord had too much work for him to do to let him die.
Thomas turned back to Jesus and started writing Gospel music and organizing Gospel Choirs.
In 1932 while he was in Chicago organizing a choir and singing in a revival service he received the news that his wife had died giving child birth. He never got to say goodbye to her and two days later the child also died.
Out of these horrific experiences came his most famous song, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
You know, when you are broken down and defeated, when circumstances in your life seem to be crushing the breath out of you, that is a good song to sing. And, if you don’t have the breath to sing it you can you can whisper it.
Precious Lord, take my hand; lead me on, let me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night; lead me on, to the light.
Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home. (Thomas Dorsey - public domain)
(Invitation to prayer)
(Singing Precious Lord, Take My Hand as an invitation song)
Benediction and dismissal
