PHILEMON: A STORY OF GRACE SUN AM AUGUST 25, 2024 CBCKING
You Need This! [2]
Philemon 1-3
Introduction:
Look: v.3 – circle 2 words: “Grace and peace” - two treasures that only God has that everyone needs!
v.3 – usual greeting you find in Paul’s epistles… yet it’s different.
Note: “To” = Philemon you need a fresh dose of God’s grace… doesn’t stop there… “and peace.”
Philemon = You need this!
Peace = most elusive treasure on earth – always searching for it but never really finding it.
Illust: Charles Schulz – comic strip – “The Peanuts”
A frazzled Lucy… comes up to Charlie Brown and says, “I hate everything! I hate everybody! I hate the whole wide world!
Charlie Brown puzzled replies, “But I thought you had inner peace?”
Lucy shoots back – “I do have inner peace, but I still have outer obnoxiousness.”
Truth is that most of us like Lucy are frazzled more than we would like to admit – descriptive words like tension, stress, anxiety, and turmoil often define our lives rather than peace.
The Peace Test:
See if you can complete each of these sentences
I am ready to throw in the…. [towel].
I am at the end of my…. [rope]
I am just a bundle of … [nerves]
I feel like resigning from the human … [race]
I feel like I am in over my… [head]
How did you do??? Feel like Lucy??? Frazzled, upset, vexed,
Definitions:
Merriam-Webster’s Dict. = defines ‘peace’ - a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from disturbance or agitation. It is often associated with calmness, wholeness, harmony, and rest.
Strongs Concordance = a state of being whole or complete.
Peace = a state of freedom from war or conflict…
• Bet Nations = live in a world rocked by war, violence, murder
Quote: Cynic – “Peace is the brief, glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.”
• Bet People = at war with others.
• Self = conflict is within, we are at war with ourselves and are desperately searching for peace.
God = doesn’t just want you to experience His grace… He wants you to know His peace!
Look: Phil. 3
We need…
1. Grace for the Struggles of Life!
2. Peace for the Upsets of Life!
Note: v.3 – peace = “from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
True peace is not found in the stuff we accumulate, the places we travel, the person we don’t have, or the prestige we can attain. It is found in the God we can know.
Quote: C.S. Lewis – “God cannot give happiness and peace apart from Himself. There is no such thing as peace without God.”
People = are at war with themselves because ultimately, they are at war with God.
Whether they realize it or not they are at war with God… the hostilities are always on our part – not God’s – God is not at war with men… men at war with God.
Root cause of this war is sin!
Rom. 5:10 – enemies of God
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Isa 59:2 – “… your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you.”
Isa. 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
53:5 – “But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.”
Col. 1:20 – “… made peace through the blood of his cross.”
Moment, we throw up the white flag of surrender… place our faith in Jesus alone the war is over… peace with God!
Rom. 5:1 – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Isa. 32:17 – “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.”
Sins are forgiven! Guilt is gone! Future is secure! Lay head down at night with assurance everything is alright!
A. Receive the Gift of Peace!
B. Rest in the God in Peace!
Learned that God is a God of peace… His Son, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
God of peace = 6x’s in the NT.
“Jehovah-Shalom” = OT name for God – the Lord our peace!
John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Yet if we are honest there are times that our heart is troubled… we do become afraid… heart churning inside… soul is noisy… filled with fear, anxiety, stress, tension, burden, guilt, etc…
Christian = that is not what your Heavenly Father desires for your life!
God = doesn’t want you to live on a roller coaster of ups and downs… heart in a constant tug of war between legitimate thoughts/feelings and illegitimate thoughts and feelings.
Need = to capture our thoughts, sanctify our feelings, and take everything to God in prayer!
Phil. 4:6,7 – “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Quote: “Anti-worry verses.”
**God’s Peace insulates our heart against the outward disturbances life.
1Pet. 5:7 – “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.”
God’s Word is a pillow for a tired heart!
Isa. 26:3 – “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Quote: “When I look at the world, I get distressed. When I look at myself, I get depressed. But, when I look at Jesus, I am at rest.” – Corrie Ten Boom
Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Jesus.
“I rest beneath the Almighty’s shade,
My griefs expire, my troubles cease;
Thou, Lord, on whom my soul is stayed,
Wilt keep me in perfect peace.”
God’s peace is perfect, precious, priceless and passes all understanding!
C. Respond with the Grace of Peace!
Cf. peace is not just a gift, it is a grace, and should be the goal for how we live our lives as Christians:
Heb. 12:14 – “follow peace with all men.”
Rom. 12:18 – “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
Matt. 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
In every home, church, family, business, factory, school, organization there are two kinds of people: Peacemakers and Peace-takers!
Gal. 5:20 – strife/contention is a work of the flesh.
Gal. 5:22 – “peace is a fruit of the Spirit – grace that is developed in our lives by yielding ourselves to the God of peace!
Peace = flows out of our lives into the lives of others!
Peace-taker:
Hard heart
Accusing heart
Harboring heart
Imprisoned heart
Peacemaker:
Tender Heart
Forgiving heart
Forbearing heart
Liberated heart
The choice is ours!!!
Conclusion:
