Everybody wants a peace of mind. Everybody wants to have security. Everybody wants to have that peace, that settledness in their life. It's a precious and needed commodity today. Because there's a lot of anxiety, there's a lot of worry, there's a lot of up -in -the -air stuff, things that are going on in the future, and so we have unsettled hearts. We don't have a peace.
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The world seeks peace, not just externally, but internally too. People want to have a peace of mind. They want a peaceful spot. So I want to share with you three experiences that we have with peace. First of all, number one, circumstantial peace.
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But what's wrong with those circumstantial pieces is that they're temporary. You know, we seek it but they're temporary they just don't stay that long the world changes right peace of mind gone and then we seek more of a peace of mind gone you know and then there's the inward peace of mind that Carl Jung talks about and he says that you just need to have peace of mind because you need to know exactly how you are and that you know that all these problems and things you're dealing with you just need to have a different viewpoint so that you can have a peace of mind.
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But all of this is coming from within you. Okay? Not about you, but I would have trouble. I would have all kinds of trouble. And if I'm trying to conjure up peace inside of me, it's going to be temporary. It's going to be misleading. It also could be just very subjective. Because here today, gone tomorrow. Right? Now that's inner peace. That's what some people would seek after.
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We may find a peaceful place, but it will not remain that way. Do you know that this is what's going to happen in the tribulation? I have some folks that are going through Revelation with me on Wednesday night. And we got to the sixth chapter of Revelation. We're talking about the four horsemen. And the first horseman is dressed in, he's on a white horse. He's got a bow and a crown. And it's not Jesus, but it's the Antichrist. Because when the beginning of the tribulation starts, there is peace. And he makes a covenant of peace with Israel and all the world. And everybody is just enamored with it. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5 .3 says, For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.
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We have peace of mind, and we don't have peace of mind. We have a peaceful place, and then it's not so peaceful. It's all circumstantial. It's very hard, very difficult peace. That's the peace of the world. But it's not the peace that Jesus gives.
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You say, well, what is the peace that Jesus can give? Well, this peace that Jesus gives doesn't come from within us. Thank you, Lord. And it doesn't come from the world, whether it's calm or quiet. But this peace comes from God.
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That is, we need to make peace with God before we can have the peace of God. Does that all make sense? You can't just have the peace of God and expect that unless you have made peace with God.
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When Jesus offers peace, he's offering peace for us to be restored and joined again to God. But there's a lot of people who don't know Jesus and his work. Isaiah 57, 19 through 21, it says, May they have abundant peace, both near and far, says the Lord, who heals them. See, he's bringing back something that was broken. But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked, says my God.
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This is a picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us. The Savior took the hand of a sinful, hateful humanity, and he's placed it into the loving, holy hand of God. Jesus reconciled us to God. Just as this little girl's dying to bring her parents together, Jesus was dying to bring God and us together. And he's taking care of our sin problem, because we couldn't stand before a righteous God. That's why he paid the penalty for our sin on the cross, and now all those who come to Christ would be given his righteousness.
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Romans 5 .10 says, For if when we were enemies with God, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So this conciliatory work of Christ on the cross has two dimensions. First of all, it's vertical. And secondly, it's horizontal. First of all, vertically, we have peace with God. Peace with God.
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When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, he...whose blood has been shed and body broken, reconciles you back to God, and you are made peace with God. I love Romans 5 .1. Romans 5 .1 says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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But not only vertically, but we also have it horizontally. And we have peace with men. We can have peace with men. The Gentiles were enemies of the Jews. There was a separation that was even in the laws of Moses, forbidding any association or fellowship with the Gentiles. But when Jesus died, he fulfilled the law and its requirements and could join the two, the Jew and the Gentile, together as one man.
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Now we have made peace with God. Now we have access to the peace of God. You can't get it without having a relationship with Jesus Christ. So we call this last one called the character of peace. This is the peace of God that you can have.
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And he's talking to them about peace. I don't know about you, but I'd be talking about escape. You know, like getting out of there. But he's talking about a peace. In the midst of this incredible storm that's coming. And he says, I want to give you peace. Well, I think you should keep the peace, Jesus, because you're going to need it more than... No, I want to give you peace. Because I have this peace. I want you to have it. It's a peace that is permanent. That will not change on you. Regardless of what's going on in your heart. Or in the place or the world of things. This peace will be with you.
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There are two things about his peace that I want you to know about. Letter A. It does not prevent adversity. Oh, I have the...peace of Jesus. All of a sudden you get that phone call or something happens, your hot water heater breaks or some type of trial or a relationship or financial thing happens. And that circumstantial peace, you don't want to go after that. That's the way we operate. I need to have a peace of mind. But what we need to do is we need to anchor ourselves in the peace of God. And so when the peace of God is in us, it does not prevent adversity.
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Jesus never promised that we would not have trials. But what he did promise is that his peace that he gives to us would let her be provide an anchor. We need something solid, rooted down, foundational that will not move even when our life, in our mind, or even in the places is chaotic and is moving.
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Are you building your life on top of the waves? Or is your platform built on firm ground? You need the peace of God. If you do not have the peace of God, then you need to make peace with God. Because all you got left is your circumstantial peace. And that comes and goes. But what God's trying to give you is a permanent peace.
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Jesus was, in fact, he was so secure in his peace, he says to his disciples, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world, that's Satan, he's coming, and he has nothing in me. Or, the NIV puts it, he has no claim on me. The NLT says, he has no power over me. And the ESV says that he has no hold on me. Maybe you're experiencing that. Maybe you're experiencing Satan who has got a hold on you. And you have no peace. Jesus says, he has nothing on me. He has no hold, no claim. And it's the same way when we have the peace of Christ.
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Folks, I don't know about you, but it's very transforming when this peace grabs hold of your heart. This peace in us guards us from anxiety, worry, lack of confidence, and we'll call the shots. Even though it is storming outside or storming inside, we have peace. Because it's not coming from within us or coming from some person or place, but it's coming from above him, and it's in us.
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Philippians 4, 6 and 7, what does it say? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Do we let the peace of God rule in your hearts? peace of God rule in our heart. You know that word rule? It means to umpire. Let him call the shots. I'm just gonna rest in you regardless of what's going around me. I have this peace.
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The rich man explained, the first painting was beautiful, peaceful, but it didn't tell the truth of where peace can be found. Anyone could feel peaceful upon a crystal clear lake with white clouds drifting across the sky and barely a breeze blowing across the water. Yeah, it's peaceful. Then he pointed out something in the second painting which everyone else had overlooked. If you peered closely into the mountains of the second, there was a waterfall and tucked into the crevice of that mountain. Near the waterfall was a small nest.on which a mother sat upon tiny blue eggs. The man spoke, This second painting is a picture of true, perfect peace. Because it's within the storms of life we find real peace tucked into the side of God, knowing his presence will guard and protect us even in the midst of this world's storms.
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Isaiah 26 .3 says this, You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts you. Do you trust him? As believers, you know all about him, but have you taken that step of faith to say, okay, I can't conjure up my own peace, I can't find a place of peace, I don't have money to bring peace, but I'm going to trust you, God. I need your peace, a peace that is satisfying, passes all understanding, and it guards my mind from worry and anxiety.
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