ISAIAH 26:3-4
WARREN SCOTT- GOD’S MAN OF PEACE
There is much that could be said of Warren Scott. Warren Scott was a man of God, a man of great integrity, and a humble man of peace. He possessed a deep abiding peace so uncommon in our hectic stress filled world today. It was not peace because of circumstances, but a peace in all circumstances. He had peace when things were going his way, and he had peace when things were seemingly all against Him. Even in those times of great difficultly and intense pain he had peace, a peace that surpassed all understanding which he shared with us. This peace guarded his heart and his mind. He had an eternal calm which lived far too deep in his praying trusting soul to be reached by any external disturbance.
How could Warren have such peace in such painful, difficult circumstances which lasted for so long? Isaiah 26 reveals to us the secret of the peace which Warren Scott found and shared with us. Warren believed, no, he knew, that God would keep His word to him. Commitment to understanding that God will keep His Word develops peace, and eventually perfect peace.
Verse three begins to set forth the certain ground of hope for God’s people. The steadfast mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee. [ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. KJV]
The person who finds peace has cast himself upon God with out any reservations. The double-mined man is unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:6-8; Mt. 6:24). A fixed disposition of trust in God is required to experience the security of God.
The mind that is steadfast has its thoughts, purposes, and intentions focused. Focused on what? On the Lord God. How do we focus our mind on God? We focus our mind on God through meditation on His word. Daily Warren Scott spent time focusing his life before God by meditating on His Word. God therefore kept Warren in His peace. Over the years of fellowship together with His maker this peace eventual grew to become perfect peace. (Actually the Hebrew is a double repetition of the word shalom, shalom, shalom. Peace is therefore emphatic.) People who continue to trust in the Lord enjoy perfect (complete, genuine) peace. Wholeness and fullness of well-being, true repose in the sunshine of God’s favor, belong to those whom God keeps. The result of a mind stayed on God is a disposition of peace.
The person who steadfastly looks to God can know an inner oneness which makes possible a confident out look even in the darkest hours. In exchange for our mortality, short-sightedness and weakness, faith receives God’s perspective, immortality, strength, and presence. That is security far, far beyond anything this world offers.
The promises God keeps with us are intended to create confidence in His Word and faithfulness to Him. Those who abide in His Word and cultivate faithfulness, find peace, a deep, restful constant assurance that God cannot forsake His Word nor His promises. For those whose mind is fixed upon the promises of God, the outcome of all events is peace. These faithful few will know the peace that God alone is able to give.
Warren was one of those few. Warren began his pursuit of peace when he trusted JC. Warren had the peace of God because he had made peace with God. How had Warren made his peace with God? He had trusted Jesus Christ as his own personal Lord and Savior. Jesus provided salvation through the cross. Jesus made peace with God for us by the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of our sin. Yes, Warren made His peace with God many years ago by deciding to follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Because Warren made peace with God he could receive the peace of God. Warren develop a deep abiding relationship with his God. He choose to place his mind on God and make the purpose of his life a walk with God. Through this growing personal relationship Warren developed deeper and fuller trust which gave peace, eventually perfect peace in whatever life brought his way. He learn to let the peace of God rule in his heart by focusing life upon Christ Jesus (Col. 3:15).
It is a characteristic of every truly good man that he trusts God by placing himself under God’s guidance and leadership, and living in dependence upon Him. Those that trust in God have their minds stayed upon Him, trust Him at all times, and under all events firmly and faithfully cleave to Him. These find satisfaction in God and God keeps them in perpetual peace.
The human heart by nature is not stable. Our mind is prone to waver and change with every shifting wind of doctrine if it has no firm foundation upon which to rest. When it reposes upon the Lord, however, it abides firm and constant, preserved in His perfect peace, for it is set not upon the changing sands of human opinion, but upon God, the Rock Eternal and unchangeable.
Verse 4 is the logical assertion of the truth of verse 3. Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
If it is true that trust in God results in a steadfast mind which is kept in peace, then all persons should be urged to trust in the Lord. The issue of trust is always the key. In whom or what are you trusting? The reality, extent, and depth of your peace should tell you.
The cry of the redeemed is for all men to place their trust in the One with whom redemption is found. Trust involves a renouncing of confidence in oneself or in any other man and placing reliance upon Yahweh alone. All that desire hope in this life and the true peace that God alone can give them, must place their confidence in God. They cannot obtain peace on their own for their own minds are unstable and rest upon nothing solid, nothing eternal. People must trust in the Lord, for He alone is able to give them peace, yes, even perfect peace.
The stated reason to trust God is because He is the Rock of Ages. The Lord God is the rock who endures forever. He is the eternal One. He is the only Rock upon which eternal life can be built. All the assaults and aberrations of time itself cannot change or alter Him. He alone stands sure and enduring. The mind, therefore which rest upon Him, the person who takes refuge in Him, likewise is secure. God is the firm and tested foundation upon which the life of man may rest. In an uncertain world, confidence that the Everlasting Rock is there for you is a priceless possession.
Peace can be found only in the Eternal God who has revealed Himself in the Bible. So trust in Him who was, who is, and is to come. He is the Rock of Ages, a firm and lasting foundation for faith and hope upon Whom to build your life. The house built on that rock will stand in a storm. Those that trust in God not only find in Him, but receive from Him, everlasting strength. This strength that carries them through life also will carry them into everlasting life, into that blessedness which is forever and ever. Therefore let us trust God every day and never cast away nor loss our confidence.
CONCLUSION
Warren has found eternal peace in Heaven with his God of peace. Will you? You will only if you come to God and make your peace with Him here and now. For those who do, God offers a relationship that develops your faith in Him, which leads to experiencing more and more of the peace of God in the here and now of your daily life.
God is aware of your circumstances, but He calls you to live above not beneath your circumstances. He calls you to steadfast confidence in God and in His Word.
I do not know your circumstances tonight, but I serve a God whose strength is as limitless as His love, and Who has purposed to bless all those who will commit themselves to Him. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."
The living example God developed in His servant Warren can be developed in you too. Will you focus your mind and your life on God and trust Him? If you do the peace of God which surpassed all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus also.
"Rock of Ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
These for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.
While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds un-know, And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee." - Toplady
