Title: Knowing True Peace With God
Text: Matt 5:9
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Introduction:
- What is the essence of peace?
- What does it mean to be a peacemaker?
- In order for you and I this morning to be a true peacemaker, we need to know true peace in our lives.
- True peace means more then just being absent from war and conflict, it means harmony, wholeness, soundness, well being and success in all areas of life.
- Let me give you a story of what I am trying to say and where we are going with this message this morning.
- It shows a person who knows true peace and trying to be a peacemaker at the same time.
Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Ceasar, we die for Ceasar" and he thought, "this isn’t right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through." A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ forbear." A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.
- If we are not living with true peace, our relationships and our lives will experience no peace and we will not pursue being a peacemaker.
- The very thing we are looking for, if we do not have it, we can not give it.
- We can only give what we have. If we have bitterness, that’s all we can give to our relationships and people.
- If we have true peace, we will experience it in our relationships and want other people to have peace like us.
- So we need to strive to have true peace. How do we have true peace?
- Our world is looking for true peace, where is it found? Before I answer that like me give you this true statistic:
Society of International Law, in London, states that during the last 4,000 years there have been only 268 years of peace in spite of good peace treaties. In the last 3 centuries there have been 286 wars on the continent of Europe alone.
- So true peace is not found in human effort or treaties, but rather only in Jesus Christ.
- In order for us to have peace we must believe and receive into our lives 2 truths about Jesus Christ:
1. Christ was offered on the cross to bear our sins. (Humility)
2. He was buried and in the tomb 3 days and nights and rose again (Restoration)
- The world or the unregenerate society cannot have true peace. They may say they are content in life, but deep inside of every person there is a longing for true peace.
- Money cannot give true peace, relationships cannot give true peace, only Jesus Christ and believing on Him will give you true peace.
- Believing that money, people, family etc will give you true peace will only produce false peace.
- Our world is full of people who are living will false peace and security.
- And because they have no peace inside the Bible says, they cannot be a peacemaker and see God. So that does that produce?
- It leads to depression, unhappiness, loneliness, stress, and anxiety which our world is full of today.
- Statistics say that Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness. (Duke University)
- They show confidence on the outside but on the inside they are not happy. Why? Because they don’t have the peace of God.
- Now we no that to have the peace of God we need a relationship with God.
- To show we have peace with God by believing the death and resurrection will produce fruit.
- They go with the points that I gave earlier and I will use the 2 points again and explain further what they mean.
Point 1: By Believing Christ Was Offered On The Cross To Bear Our Sins Will show that we chose Humility.
- What do I mean? Christ soul purpose for coming to earth was to die on the Cross for the world. But in order for Him to do that, He needed to humble Himself and come to earth.
Phil 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and become obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.”
- So in order for us to have the peace of God, the world must humble themselves before God and accept what He did on the cross.
- So the fruit of a peaceful person is humility.
- What is humility? Listen to this story that explains humility:
Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool. Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, “If Stanton said I’m a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I’ll see for myself.” As the two men talked, the President quickly realized that his decision was a serious mistake, and without hesitation he withdrew it.
- A humble person does not think less of himself, nor does it mean having a low opinion of yourself. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.”
- A humble person thinks of others first
- Jesus thought of us first and never Himself.
- I know when someone has peace when they show the fruit of humility. And Jesus showed true peace when He humbled Himself to die for us. He thought of us first not Himself.
- We all need to strive in that area of our lives. When we choose the humble road, we choose to believe that Christ came and died on the Christ for our lives.
Point 2: By Believing He Was Buried And In The Tomb 3 Days And Nights And Rose Again Will Produce Restoration
- Jesus death and resurrection shows that Jesus is in the restoration business.
- By His death and resurrection He has defeated the devil and stripped Him of all power.
- The devil wanted to destroy Jesus and the world, but because of Christ’s death and resurrection He brings to people restoration.
- Listen to this story that helps define what I am talking about:
A few years ago, an angry man rushed through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt’s famous painting “Nightwatch.” Then he took out a knife and slashed it repeatedly before he could be stopped. A short time later, a distraught, hostile man slipped into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and began to smash Michelangelo’s beautiful sculpture The Pieta. Two cherished works of art were severely damaged. But what did officials do? Throw them out and forget about them? Absolutely not! Using the best experts, who worked with the utmost care and precision, they made every effort to restore the treasures.
I Cor 15:12-19 says, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrections of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; your are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”
- So if we have believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ then we are going to have the attitude of restoration in our lives.
- And if we have been restored by God because we believed and applied, then we are going to have the attitude of restoration. Meaning we will want to be restored by God.
- We will seek God for forgiveness and restoration. Our relationships will be that of restoration not bitterness.
- The second area that shows peace in the believers life is restoration.
- If there is no attitude of restoration is someone who is not living in peace or striving to live in peace in this area.
Conclusion:
- In conclusion this morning let me say this, you can’t be a peace with God and at war with God at the same time.
- If you are here and have accepted Jesus into your heart you then have believed 3 things: And they are:
a. The Cross
b. Death
c. Resurrection
- And with those 2 truths that go with salvation, two attitudes will be present and they are:
a. Humility
b. Restoration
- We humbled ourselves before God and accepted Him into our hearts
- And we are restored.
- Now because we did that, we have the peace of God
- And because we have the peace of God, we want to be peacemakers and when we are peacemakers we will see God.
- Here’s the challenge, do you have the peace of God? Are you humble? Do you like to be restored? Do you like to restore relationships?
- If you don’t maybe you are not living with true peace.
- And if you are not living with true peace, how can you be a peacemaker and thus see God.
Lets Pray!!!
