THE PEACE OF THE DEVIL & THE PEACE OF GOD
Jer. 6:14; John 14:27
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A bus full of ugly people had a head-on collision with a truck. When they died, God granted all of them one wish. The first person said, "I want to be gorgeous. God said, “Granted” and it happened. The second person said, “Handsome,” and God made him handsome.
2. This turned out to be the request of the entire group. They were all very happy with their new condition. The last man in line was snickering. When his turn came, he said, "For my one wish, I ask that you make us all ugly again!"
3. Some people not only want bad for themselves, but for others too! They don’t want others doing better than them. What spite! If Satan has to go to hell, he wants others to have to go there too. He wants companions in suffering. Pitiful!
B. DEFINITION OF PEACE & TITLE
1. There are many definitions of peace: a state of tranquility; freedom from civil disturbance; a state of security; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relations, etc.
2. However, in an eternal sense, there are only two types of peace – the false peace of the devil and the true peace won by Jesus Christ.
3. The devil knows that our separation from God produces an innate knowledge that something is wrong in our lives; we are not complete; everything is not right. This lack of inner peace causes us to seek the reason for it, and will lead us to God.
4. So the devil seeks to cover over this spiritual disquiet, to explain it away, or to overrun the physical senses with pleasure or distractions so that the inner cry of the spirit is drowned out. These are his strategies for deceiving us.
5. To summarize, the devil uses these means to produce a counterfeit peace – something that mimics the peace of God which comes from being right with God. So my purpose here is to throw light on the false peace and then on the true peace from God.
6. The title is “The Peace of the Devil and the Peace of God.”
I. THE DEVIL'S PEACE
“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace” Jer. 6:14; 8:11).
A. GREAT EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE PEACE
1. Thousands of people each year visit the Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California. This massive structure was built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the gun company owner. For thirty-eight years, from 1884 until her death in 1922, the house was under constant construction. Teams of carpenters, masons and other workers were employed around the clock.
2. Various theories have been told about her reasons for this unusual practice. Most center on Mrs. Winchester’s belief that she either was haunted or would be haunted by the ghosts of those killed by her husband’s weapons unless she kept building her house. Others claim that she thought she would not die as long as building continued. Whatever the reason, she continued ordering more renovations and construction as long as she lived.
3. There are more than 10,000 windows in the Winchester Mansion, doorways and stairs that lead to blank walls, and some 160 rooms in total. It is estimated that she spent more than $70,000,000 in today’s money on largely pointless construction—all in a desperate search for peace that was ultimately doomed to fail.
4. Many people today are seeking peace through equally fruitless means. They turn to pleasure, drugs, alcohol, immorality, wealth and other dead end avenues. Like the staircases that lead nowhere in the Winchester Mansion, pursuing such paths will never bring peace.
5. Instead we find peace when we follow Christ. When we do, we’ll find that peace comes as a side effect that we receive from Him. [The History of Winchester Firearms, Dean Boorman]
B. DIFFERENT FORMS OF FALSE PEACE
1. DRUGS. Today in developed countries, many who have stress or fears resort to tranquilizers, mood altering drugs, and recreational drugs or alcohol to calm themselves. Don’t ever imagine that a drug-induced peace is equivalent to the supernatural peace given by God.
2. FALSE PEACE BY NOISE & ACTIVITY. Many people are like the boy going through the cemetery who is afraid of ghosts, so he whistles loudly to drown out his fears and keep his courage up. People intentionally keep radios and TVs blaring so they can’t hear the whispers of their consciences. But this absence of conviction is a false peace.
3. BY IGNORING GOD. Unbelievers often apply the arguments of atheism to prove to their reason that God doesn’t exist. Then they order their thoughts to resist any dealings of the Holy Spirit, devising strategies to silence Him. Then they say to themselves, "If there is a god, I am at peace with him."
4. FALSE PEACE OF GUARANTEED PROVISION. Many in the developed world have every need met: food, clothing, homes, jobs, health, vacations, retirement, and a planned decease. Because we have everything taken care of, we don’t need to worry. We tell ourselves we DO have peace because, how can we not have peace? But this is a false peace.
5. PEACE BY FALSE RELIGION. Many flock to religious systems which tell them what they want to hear – that God is only love and that there will be no punishment for wrong, nor any Hell. That’s like choosing a doctor who will never be honest about your life-threatening condition. Who wants a lie when your life is at stake? I’d rather have the truth!
6. PEACE THROUGH COMPANIONSHIP. Many people are co-dependent. They substitute relationship with God by a relationship with a human. They make that person the center of their life and activities. They affirm to each other that no one else is needed to make them happy. But they forget that one day death will break this juggernaut and their false peace will evaporate.
7. PEACE BY DENIAL OF AFTERLIFE. A rapidly increasing segment are those people who claim to have no religion and simply deny there’s an afterlife. For them this disposes of any accountability for how they live their lives. They think that when they die they will cease to exist, so they no longer need to worry about anything post-death. The truth is that we are immortal spirits living in fleshly bodies. Our bodies will die, but our spirits and consciousnesses will live on in Heaven or Hell forever. But by the time they realize the truth it will be too late.
8. THESE ‘CARD HOUSES’ WILL ALL FALL! It’s not going to end well. Beware of insensibility to the Holy Spirit! In freezing climates, when men/women feel sleepiness stealing over them, it’s a warning that death by freezing is taking hold. Their friends will buffet them, rub them, force them to get up and walk around – anything to keep them from slumber; for to sleep is to wake no more!
II. THE LORD'S PEACE
A. THE ORIGINS OF TRUE PEACE
1. THE PRINCE OF PEACE. Why is Jesus called the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6)? Because He reconciled God and man when He died on the cross. He struck at the eye of the storm of sin.
2. Paul said; Rom. 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. 2:14, “For He is our peace….” Col. 1:20, “Having made peace through the blood of His cross…to reconcile all things to Himself….”
3. An old Chinese proverb says, “If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” [Walter Knight’s New Illus., p. 467, “How to have peace.”]
4. They rightly observed that peace must begin within the human heart by being made right with God! So the Cross of Jesus is the key to worldwide peace.
5. Only where Jesus rules will there be peace. Ps. 29:11, “The Lord will bless HIS PEOPLE with peace.” Ps. 119:165, “Great peace have they that LOVE YOUR LAW and nothing shall offend them.” As we let Christ rule on the throne of our life, we will experience the peace and victory He purchased for us.
B. PEACE EVEN IN LIFE’S STORMS; ILLUS.: “HIS SMILE”
1. Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction.
2. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house (bridge) and saw the Pilot himself, lashed tightly to a post near the wheel -- unwaveringly, inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled.
3. Then, the daring passenger went below and told the passengers the great news: "I’ve seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well."
4. When we look up to the face of Jesus, He is smiling! We can say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." We can feel the movings of the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance! We can feel our Heavenly Father near us and hear His voice speaking into our ears, “I am yours & you are Mine!”
5. In spiritual storms that voice is our comfort; and after the tempests are over, the Lord speaks a sweet hush to the hearts of His children. He allays our fears, while He whispers, "It is I; be not afraid."
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATIONS: When the Wind Blows
1. Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
2. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
3. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
4. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"
5. The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows." Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.
6. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.
7. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew. MORAL: We can be secure in life against the storms of life by being right with God through faith in Jesus and memorizing the promises of the Word of God. We don't alays understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the midst of the storms. Sleep well. [Nathan Starr]
B. THE CALL
1. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” John 14:27.
2. How many of you need the peace of God tonight? Let’s go to Him in prayer. Repentance from sin; faith in Jesus as your Savior. Trust in Him as our Deliverer & lover of our souls.
[This is a rewrite of a Charles Spurgeon sermon of the same title.]
