Gateway Church's Podcast
The Battleground of Peace
A Gateway Sermon
If you're turning your rivals to Luke 21 and I do want to talk to you this morning about peace, the peace of God that is our birthright as believers that we need to be living in the peace of God that is available to us and especially in the world that we live in the world that we live in is obviously a very Shaking world as Marcus was saying and let's read the scripture and as we read the scripture This is actually a prophecy from Jesus that was given in Luke 21 and as we read this prophecy Remember it was 2000 years ago, but also as we're reading this I just want you to be kind of looking at this in light of the world that we're living in Jesus says this is beginning in verse 25 In Luke chapter 21. There will be signs in the sun and the moon in the stars and On the earth the stress of nations with perplexity now Let's just talk right there Jesus says that when the end of time comes and that's what he's cross-saying about He says the nations will be in distress with perplexity and perplexity This means they can't figure out what the answer is related to Israel related to Palestine related to Iraq related to all these issues And he says the sea in the waves roaring That talks about weather phenomena men's hearts failing them from fear and The expectation of those things which are coming on the earth Let's just offer up right there the surgeon general this week in the United States released a report saying that Anxiety over the post 9/11 attack and also just the the war in Iraq in the atmosphere of Terror in the threat of terror in America today is the number one mental health problem International that was this week that the surgeon general reported that many people are experiencing anxiety disorder sleeping problems Physical problems and people's hearts are literally Failing them from anxiety and people are experiencing a lot of physical problems from this So the word there when it says men's hearts failing them from fear That is the word phobos where we get our word phobia and it means anxiety It also means terror that when you understand that 20 or 30 or 40 years ago We could not understand global terror But when Jesus prophesied 2,000 years ago, he said there will be distress among the nations with perplexity They will not be able to figure out what's going on and it will be so terrible that men's hearts will be stopping because of terror and The expectation see ladies and gentlemen, it's not just what's happening. It's the next shoe. That's about to drop It's the anxiety over is there a dirty bomb is there a nuclear weapon? Who's the next crazy dictator that's going to rise up? What's the next disaster that is going to happen in America? What's the next 9-1-1 or whatever? It's that expectation Jesus is talking about it very clearly for the powers of the heavens will be shaken Then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory Now when these things begin to happen look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near Well, I believe that we're living in this world. I don't just believe we're living in the end times I personally believe we're living in the end of the end times I believe when Jesus is prophesying here by the way when he describes the world that we're living in He says when you see these things happen look up your redemption draws near they're gonna see the son of man coming in power So I really do believe that we're living in this world that we're about to see the coming of Christ But in the meantime, we're living in a world of more fear and more terror and more anxiety Globally than I guess any any world before us and it's a very very difficult world living and many believers are Experiencing a lot of anxiety. Well, this morning. I want to talk about peace I want to tell you what the Bible tells about peace and also I want to tell you how you can live in the abiding peace of Jesus Christ Regardless of what world that you're living in. Let me just go through some scriptures real quickly Romans 14 17 says the kingdom of God Is not eating and drinking but its righteousness and peace Enjoying the Holy Spirit wherever the kingdom of God is and Jesus said the kingdom is in your midst It's here this morning Jesus told us to pray every day. Let's your kingdom come and so when the kingdom is present peace is present Romans 15 13 now made a God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may have bound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit of course Galatians 5 22 says the fruit of the Holy Spirit is Love joy peace wherever the Holy Spirit is present there is peace and Isaiah 9 6 Jesus is called The Prince of peace and Isaiah 53 says that the chastisement for our peace was upon him one of the primary reasons Why Jesus was crucified is so that we could have the peace of God and it's the word Shalom in the Hebrew and it means total well being a sense of total well being if we do not walk in the peace of God Then we are literally giving up one of the major benefits of the cross in the atonement and why Christ died It's one of the main benefits that we have as believers. I want to say some other good news this morning It's free and you can have any time you want it. It's absolutely free. It's a gift of God You don't you don't earn it. You don't deserve it. You can just receive it from God I Hebrew 620 Jesus. It says that Jesus has become high priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek He is a priest according to order of Melchizedek the name Melchizedek means king of Peace and so Jesus all through the scriptures peace is just one of these major issues now That we see is a part of God's kingdom and a part of the benefit of walking with God and being a believer And here's what Jesus said in John 14 verse 27. He says peace. I leave with you My peace I give to you Not as the world gives do I give to you let not your heart be troubled neither Let it be afraid you have heard me say to you I am going away and coming back to you if you loved me you would rejoice because I said I'm going to the father for my father Is greater than I Jesus says I'm going to go away. I'm telling you right now I'm going to go away, but I'm going to come back and get you But as I leave I am going to give you a special gift that is going to equip you in my absence I'm going to give you my peace. Let me tell you something about the piece of Jesus the piece of the world He says I'm not giving you peace like the world gives peace the world's pieces a very Circumstantial piece everything has to be just right in a worldly sense for you to get any peace And it's real fragile. Just the least little thing can happen and it ruins that piece the piece of Jesus is a Trans circumstantial piece you can be on a crashing airplane and have that piece you'd be in a foxhole in Iraq and have that piece You'd be living through the worst day in your life and have that piece you can be going through the most difficult financial Circumstance you've ever been through and have that piece it is a trans circumstantial abiding piece It does not leave easily it stays like he stays and he says I am leaving But I am going to equip you I'm going to give you something that is going to give you the ability to overcome Until I return and it's my piece. It's unique to me. It's unique to Christianity No other religion on earth can offer that piece no other so-called savior can offer that piece only as believers Can we receive that piece and it's something very important that Jesus has given according to his own words Well, let me tell you how important it is Let me tell you four reasons why walking in the peace of God is so important for us And while we simply cannot afford to live an anxiety in fear We simply cannot afford to allow the circumstances and world events around us and it may just be personal circumstances This morning it may not just be the war in Iraq or terrorism in America It might be something you're personally going through. We just can't afford to lose our peace number one reason is peace is how God guides us It's has one of the primary ways that the Lord leads us in our lives Colossians 3 15 says let the peace of God rule in your hearts To which you were also called in one body and be thankful let the peace of God rule in your hearts The word rule there is the Greek word it's bravuo It means to umpire literally to act is an agent of telling you what's right wrong Just like an umpire behind the plate in baseball calling balls and strikes and calling the rules of the game It says let the peace of God in your heart tell you what the difference between right and wrong is now We all know that the primary source that God leads us by is the Bible. This is universal It's for every person and it's objective. There's nothing subjective. It doesn't matter if you like it or don't like it It's true, and we all need to follow it And so the Holy Spirit the peace of God would never tell you something different than the Bible will tell you And so if we have the Bible then why do we also need God's peace because here's what I want to say to you ladies and gentlemen You know a lot of the decisions the very very important decisions that we make in life They're not the difference between right and wrong. They're the difference between right and right for example Do I marry this Christian or this Christian? Do I take this job or this job or this job? Do I go to this school or this school do I go to this good church or this good church? So I buy this nice house or this nice house. I can afford it It's within the moral parameters of what the Bible allows many of the decisions that we make in our lives They're not there. It's not a decision between right and wrong because if it is you do the right thing You do with the word of God says you always follow the word of God But for 30 years now, I've been serving the Lord and I'm just telling you I have made thousands of decisions based on the peace of God and I'll say this to you I've never made a decision based on God's peace and later regret it that the peace of God has led me in The ministry it has led me in life and the peace of God is a reliable Guidance system in our lives. In fact, it's one of the major ways that God leads us in life Let me give you an Old Testament example of this in number 27 and Nehemiah 7 and other places in the Old Testament The Urim and the Tumim of the Tumim are referred to and it's kind of odd You know, you're reading in the Old Testament and it says the priests consulted the Urim and the Tumim At certain times the kings of Israel would come to the priest the high priest and they would say consult the Urim and the Tumim And see if we're supposed to go to war against the Philistines see if we're supposed to do this because it wasn't written in the bible Whether they were supposed to go to war with the Philistines. It could have been right. It could have been wrong It was a circumstantial issue, but they needed the guidance of God So the priest had a breastplate on and it had 12 stones on it precious stones that represented 12 tribes of Israel but behind the priest the Breastplate there was a pouch and the pouch hung behind the breastplate between its clothing and the breastplate And it hung directly over his heart and in that in that little pouch was the Urim and the Tumim Urim means fire Or light and Tumim means uprightness integrity and standard of perfection And so there were rocks in this jewels or or some kind of sticks or rocks in this pouch The Urim and the Tumim and the priest would go on behalf of the king or whoever and he would consult of God And he would go ask God and he would say Lord do we go up against the Philistines and he would just feel what was happening over his heart And if he felt fire And something standing up over his heart. He knew that God was saying yes if he felt no response He knew that God was saying no That was the Old Testament piece of God that guided them in the Old Testament in the New Testament We're the temple of the holy spirit and everybody's got it The Urim and the Tumim the fire of God and the standard of perfection is the holy spirit living in your life And you can ask the lord lord do you want me to take this job or this job? Do you want me to do this or this? Where do we send our kids to school is it here or here or do we homeschool or what do we do the piece of God will lead you And if you don't have the piece of God you're missing It's like an airplane that has one of the instruments knocked out of the panel You're if you don't have the piece of God in your life. You're missing one of the most important guidance Navigation elements in your life. Let me just give you an example of what happens john f Kennedy jr You know if this was hard for that family because they've had so many tragedies He he died tragically A piloting his own plane from the mainland out to an island off the off the coast of the mainland there He was not instrument rated he was flying at night There's really a foolish thing he was doing because what happened was he probably assumed that he would always have lights Around him that he would be able to navigate by but he lost the lights evidently That's what they believe because there was no mechanical problem and he flew his airplane directly into the ocean Well, what happens when you get out into a situation like that you're not instrument rated is you get vertigo And vertigo means you can't tell what's up and down you literally can't as crazy as that seems To all of us in here when a pilot is flying in clouds or in darkness and they're not instrument rated They can be flying directly down and they don't know it and he didn't know it. He crashed his plane just like that Let me say this ladies and gentlemen. You're living in a world of darkness There are many confusing voices that are that are You know talking to us in the world today And many of the decisions that we're making in life Many of them are here in the bible many of the things that we do every day are clearly in the bible And we need to heed what the bible has to say But many of the decisions that we make every day It's not a matter of right and wrong. It's a matter of right and right when I say right and right I mean both things are both things are there and both things are legal and both things are moral But you know something. God isn't saying both those things God has a specific direction for our lives And he wants us to take a specific job. He wants us to live in a specific house He wants us to go to a specific church He wants us to guide our children in a specific way and when you don't have the peace of God You don't know that and you get vertigo. You don't know the difference between right and wrong and you live in confusion And that's what the enemy does he comes to bring confusion into your life So you're chasing your tail and not making any progress, but God brings peace so you can get where he wants you to go Somebody say man See that's the peace is an important element in our lives number two thing that peace does It's peace protects our minds and hearts against fear and anxiety. It's a protective force now. Listen to flippings for Be anxious for nothing for not one single thing But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your request be made known to god and the peace of god Which surpasses all understanding will guard Your hearts in minds through Jesus Christ your intellect and your emotions. These are the two things That create these are the the fortresses of anxiety and fear In many people's lives satan attacks your emotions and your intellect That's what keeps people from being able to sleep and rest It's what keeps people from being able to go about their business as usual And these are the signs of stress and anxiety in our society right now And it says that if we will not be anxious, but we will pray That the peace of god which passes all comprehension You shouldn't be that peaceful that you are because it's a divine peace Will guard your hearts in minds the word guard there is a greek word It means to protect by a military guard to prevent a hostile invasion The peace of god is a military force That god sends into your life that keeps satan from invading into your life. He just ruined your life I believe in my opinion the number one spirit that attacks christians is a spirit of fear The fear of death the fear of poverty the fear of rejection the fear of failure the fear of your kids Being hurt the the fear of the future There are all kinds of fears that we have in our lives And it says here that if we will not be anxious and live in fear, but instead will turn to god and pray It says the peace of god will set a military force Around our lives against the enemy pretty pretty good promise Number three reason that we ought to walk in peace peace is the preparation and platform of our witness Peace is the preparation And platform of our witness for christ if he's in 615 is talking about putting on the full armor of god And paul says having shawd your feet With the preparation of the gospel of peace shawd your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace He's talking about a roman soldier paul is going through every element now of a of a roman soldiers equipment and his his weaponry and he says shawd your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace now i want to tell you just couple things You know one thing jesus would return right now if it were not for all the unbelievers in the world right now Jesus said this gospel will be preached into all the world and then the end will come you understand that that everything we do here on earth We could do better in heaven you get better preaching in heaven. I can promise you that We can i tell you something there's only one thing we can't do in heaven. That's when a person of christ And we are here on this earth to win people to jesus christ And it says that the way that we do that is that we prepare our witness by putting on the the shoes of the gospel of peace Let me tell you how peace comes to your witness Number one if you're not walking in peace you're not thinking about witnessing anybody else you're all torn up And worried about yourself You know not until we're okay. Can we think about somebody else's benefit When i'm walking in anxiety and fear and all torn up the only thing i'm thinking about is my survival and taking care of my own needs We're all the same one But when i'm walking in peace when I have the peace that passes understanding And I know that i'm okay all of a sudden I look over you and I start worrying about you Let me tell you another thing about the peace of god No one's going to listen to what you have to say until you have peace You think that unbelievers want to hear a bunch of neurotic christians telling them how to live their lives What are we supposed to do swap prescriptions with them? Peace prepares us to witness for christ and without that peace we have no witness We cannot effectively witness let me tell you something else about those shoes The roman the roman guard had cleats on the bottom of their shoes And the reason that they had those cleats is because they could advance on an army going up hill I mean they were totally prepared and so when they were advancing on an army and they were going up hill like that They didn't worry because their shoes gave them the ability to advance up hill The church will never advance on our society with the gospel until we have something they don't have And until we have something that they want and today a person full of peace is a precious commodity in the united states of america Somebody on your block. I'm not talking about this goofy religious peace. I'm talking about the real peace of jesus When someone sees that peace on you, do you know how attractive that makes you spiritual? Do you know how unique that makes you in the society that we're living in by the way? We live in the most drug addicted alcohol addicted food addicted and sex addicted society in the history of the world We're the most obese society in the history of the world and it's getting worse and worse According to all the statistics and research and let me tell you why this is ladies and gentlemen We live in the most stressful and anxious culture in the history of the world in america We are the hardest working society on earth with all of our problems americans have the longest work week in the world We're a very industrious society, but we're driven also Not only do we have our own personal goals and drive which there are many good things about the american culture in that respect We have all the stresses in life and most people are dealing with those through Sex food alcohol gambling drugs some kind of nonsense You know what the bible says don't be drunk with wine to be fulfilled the holy spirit The way that we are supposed to deal with the pressures of our lives Is by turning those pressures to the holy spirit and getting his peace which you can't don't get in the bible That you cannot get through any kind of physical pleasure somebody saying that And so it's the platform of our witness number four. It's the purpose of our ministry and our lives Peace is our purpose Listen this matthew five nine. Jesus says blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the sons of god This is uh, so, you know, we're blessed to four peacemakers because we're that's what god's called us to be is why can't? This is loop ten. This is a fascinating scripture Loop can go your way behold i send you out his lambs among wolves carrying either money bag maps at More sandals and greet no one along the road But whatever house you enter first say peace to this house And if the son of peace is there your peace will rest on it if not it will return to you Isn't this a fascinating thing you realize the greeting of jesus was peace when jesus came in and greeted his disciples He would say peace to them first thing would say in every epistle that i've looked at and i believe this is true Every epistle that paul wrote begins and ends with a greeting of peace In the new testament church. This was something that they understood they had the right Of peace in other words jesus said whenever you walk into a house You are a person of peace. You're you're my ambassador And when you walk into that house as an emissary of peace You have the divine right of speaking peace into that house And when you speak it it will come upon that house And if the house is worthy that peace will remain there and what jesus is hung that is if they receive me If they receive the gospel the peace of god will remain on that house If the house isn't worthy take your peace back and leave with it What a phenomenal thing jesus is saying that's what they understood now in the early church Let me read the scripture to you real quickly and to illustrate what i'm trying to say here Mark for on the same day when evening had come he said to them let us cross over the other side When they had left the multitude they took him along in the boats as he was And other little boats were also with him and a great windstorm arose in the ways beat into the boat So that it was already filling but he was in the stern asleep on a pillow And they awoke him and said to him teacher do you not care that we are perishing Then he arose and reviewed the wind and said to the see peace be still And the wind ceased and there was a great calm But he said to them why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said to one another who can this be that even the wind in the cell bay You know that the cycles had a problem with fear I mean a major problem with fear until the day of pentecost They had a problem with fear the first thing that jesus said to the cycles when he rose again Is don't fear is that they were constantly full of fear and now they're they're terrified Because this this storm has arisen on the sea of galley They think they're going to perish they wake jesus up he comes and speaks the word to the waves And the waves completely stopped then they became more fearful of him Because the way this they were immense and so understand this there are two two morals to this story One is you're going to give away what you have And the reason that the disciples couldn't speak peace To the storm is because they didn't have it on the inside of you see on the inside of the disciples They look like a troubled seed On the inside of jesus. He looked like a calm sea Let me take the second moral to the story Your environment will always take on your inner nature Some people are peacemakers and some people are troublemakers Some people can walk into a peaceful environment and it becomes trouble in five minutes And some people can walk into a trouble environment and because peace won't five minutes You can only give away what you have you can only give your spouse what you have You can only give your children what you have You can only give your friends what you have you can only give the people around you what you have Jesus was full of peace And wherever he went he spoke peace and peace broke out and he said blessed are you If you go and make peace because I will call you my children You're my sons and you're my daughters Our mission is to be peacemakers on this earth And to go in the name of jesus and not to cause trouble and to cause division And to say and do the same things that people in the world are doing that's creating the problems that we see today But our mission is to go into distribute and to spread the peace of jesus That's that's our mission. Jesus says you're blessed if you become a peacemaker because i'm going to call you my children Let me tell you how to get this piece real quickly four four ways that you get this piece number one submission to the lord chip of price Isaiah nine for unto us a child is born unto us the sun is given And the government will be upon his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end The peace of god and the government of god are always in direct proportion If your life is five percent in the will of god you have five percent of god's peace If your life is 50 in the will of god you have 50 of the peace of the increase of his government And of peace there will be no end they go directly together always correlated to one another And so understand if today you want the total peace of god totally submit your life to jesus christ And when you have totally surrendered your life to him you have the absolute peace of god In your life number two diligent faith bill prayer The second way that you get peace in your life i'm talking about this trans circumstantial peace That you can have any time any place in any circumstance Is diligent faith bill prayer flippings for six the scripture that we read earlier Be anxious for nothing, but in everything where parents application with thanksgiving Let your request be made known to god and the peace of god which passes all understanding Will guard your hearts and minds for jesus christ i want to say something now and that is i did this for years and it didn't work And uh, i i prayed this here i've i've prayed for many years and for many years i was a nervous prayer I mean i prayed a lot, but i was a nervous prayer. I was nervous before i prayed. I was nervous while i was praying i was nervous after i prayed And i never could figure it out. I mean, you know, you would think that the peace of god would come and it came sometimes but a lot of times i just I was i was a very spiritual warrior I didn't say warrior I said warrior and some you know what i'm talking about Well in this little phrase here It says anxious for nothing, but in everything with parents application with thanksgiving Let your request be made known to god. Let me tell you what changed the nature of my faith and the nature of my prayers Until i did break through and found this peace and that is i thought when it said with thanksgiving let your request to no no Made known god. I thought what that meant was Thanking god for what he had done for you and i believe that obviously we're always thanking god for what he's done What this means is you're praying thanking god that he's going to answer your prayer Lord we have a financial need and i'm coming to you with this financial need and i thank you that you're going to meet this need Our children are going through this right here and i thank you that you're going to answer this prayer You're not just thanking god for what he did you're thanking him for what he's going to do in advance That's what you call faith faith is thanking god for something he hadn't done yet because you know he's about to do it And when you pray and you're you're anxious for nothing, but you pray with supplication that just means more prayer With thanksgiving thanking god for what he's about to do the peace of god this ends up on your life And that's what changed my prayers from worry prayers to peaceful prayers is knowing that my god Was going to come through for me number three thing that creates peace Is a godward mindset is setting your mind on the things of god? Isaiah 26 three You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is state on you Because he trusts in you perfect peace for a person who has their mind set on god roman's eight for those who live According to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh Those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carly minded is death But to be spiritually minded is life in peace. It's called a mindset those who set their minds It's it's a mindset. You totally choose your mindset. That's why Jesus said, you know, don't let your heart be troubled Don't let it be afraid You have an absolute choice over whether you live in fear or whatever because you set your mind You you decide what you're going to think about no one else decides what you think about and here's what Jesus said When you see these things begin to happen look up lift up your head your redemption draws near You know ladies and gentlemen, Jesus didn't say focus on all the negative things that are going on in the world Grab your blankie and you know, you know, cover your head and you know, just get ready for the worst That's not what Jesus said. Jesus said look up Your redemption draws near you know something ladies and gentlemen for all of us who are believers I do believe that we're living just prior to the return of Christ. You know something you're about to see your loved ones who died in Christ You're you're about to see your friends who died of cancer and heart disease and traffic accidents and All of our all of our dear relatives who died in Christ. You know something. Do you think about anything you want to think about? But when Jesus comes you're about to be reunited with all your loved ones There'll be no more death. No more pain. No more sickness. No more sorrow. No more war. No more crime In your life where every tears may be I think about that With all the pain and problems that we experience in this life we're about to meet our reward because Jesus said my reward is with me And that means you're about to enter into an eternity walking on streets of gold living in a body that will not die Sitting down at the banquet table of God and eating for 10 years and never gaining an ounce I should have gotten a name in Thank you. Thank you. And so I'm telling you like it's we that's what's about to happen in Jesus said when you see these things begin to happen look up Don't set your mind on all this nonsense down here Set your mind on the things of God and I say 26 says he'll keep him in perfect peace who sets his mind on God And it's not religious denial. It's setting our mind on the ultimate reality understanding what's going on here But understanding that our God is in control of it all And our destination is him not all this nonsense down here Number four daily dependence on the holy sphere The furthest spirit is peace walking with the dependence upon the holy spirit emotionally holy spirit. I need you He loves that weakness The holy spirit loves our weakness his his power is made perfect In our weakness is what second Corinthians 12 says and I'll just close with this comment And that's this God will never let you become dependent upon circumstances ever And for some of us we say if I just get this much money I'll have peace If I can just get my kids in this place if if I can just get to this place in my business Well, then I'll really have peace if I can just get this much money in my 401k boy I can just retire and live in peace. God will never let you become Peaceful in circumstances. There's only one thing that God will ever allow you to be peaceful in and that's him Today regardless of where your finances are regardless of where the you are personally Don't you follow that lie that tells you that you can chase the horizon and get there someday? It's a lie And many people have wasted their own lives and their families and their health trying to get to this place that doesn't exist This place of peace that literally Satan has promised I want you to know you can have the peace of God before you leave here today It doesn't matter what you've done in your past. You don't have to do anything to earn it or deserve it He is with you. He is your peace And that peace is your birthright as a believer And you should not live your life without it. You should you should war you should fight You should buy in your life