Northside Church - Sydney
Guest Speaker: Edwina Blair
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. If you're watching television, reading newspapers, surfing the web at all at the moment and have any interest in global affairs, you know that there is conflict going on in the world, in particular in North Korea and if you believe what all the commentators say, tomorrow is going to be significant in North Korea and who knows what is going to happen. We're kind of at the whim of a young man and you could be forgiven for thinking that's the only thing going on in the world when it comes to peace around the globe that the only conflict that could possibly erupt is this thing going on between North and South Korea. But thanks to Google and all these wonderful things you can find out on the internet, there's a whole website that exists purely to track conflict across the world and every day it is updated and if you're interested it's quite fascinating in a terrible way. But I haven't checked it today but yesterday 60 countries were at war with other countries and within those 60 countries there were 395, you know if a country wasn't at war then there are 395 militia guerrilla separatist groups that were at war with governments or other things going on and so to me that is staggering that there is so little peace on the globe and we can often think that peace is this big thing, it's this massive thing but peace is also a very private and a personal thing and so this morning I want us to unpack and to explore what peace is and often peace is missing in our life and so this morning I hope that God will prompt us about the peace that should be in our life and the peace that needs to be in our life if we're going to live transformed and powerful lives as followers of Jesus. But you know peace is one of those things that can often be a little bit difficult to define in our life and we often think that peace is the absence or the lack of something and we may not know and I was talking to a lady after the service and we can't actually say when we have it but we absolutely know and we don't, when we have that feeling within us that we don't have peace, we may not be able to put our finger on it but we know that that's the case and too often we think that that peace is the absence of strife, peace is the absence of any kind of conflict or any kind of violence or stress and these things can be the result of a lack of peace but it is so much more than that and they're not the definition of peace and so this morning I want to show you my definition of peace. This is not something you'll find in a book anywhere, this is Ed's definition. Peace to me is the unshakeable reassurance, unshakeable reassurance that God can help us face it, whatever it may be that He is going to strengthen us for whatever is ahead of us and it's that phrase unshakeable reassurance that I cling on to because hand up here this morning who wants unshakeable reassurance? It just sounds good doesn't it? I want unshakeable reassurance that God is for me, that He is with me, that He is going to strengthen me not only for today whatever the rest of today holds for me but also tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow's as they go through anything that life is going to throw at me but the thing is that understanding this peace, understanding the gift of peace and what it looks like is important for us and I want to spend my time exploring that this morning because peace has two sides to it, peace has two parts to it and often we don't kind of pick that up when we read scripture but it's important for us to understand that but before we go into that I want us to go right to the very beginning of peace. Peace originated somewhere and anyone who isn't Jewish the only word that we may know in the Hebrew dictionary is the word shalom and we may not be able to define it, we may not be able to explain it to anyone but we hear it and we kind of understand what it means and it basically means well-being but that's not a word that we use overly much in the English language and so when they define shalom they use a whole lot of different English words to help us understand really the essence of what this Hebrew word means and they use words like this health and prosperity and security and friendship and salvation and if you wrapped all that up together shalom basically means wholeness and well-being and in the very beginning there is only one person who had peace and that was God. God was the God of peace and wherever God was, peace or shalom was as well and that's why when we read the Old Testament and we read the story of the people of Israel we see how very important it was that God was with them that they had a sense that he was right beside them because then they had unshakable reassurance because if they had the God of peace with them then everything was going to be okay that's why we see the way in which the holy of holies was used because God dwelt there he was with them they had a tangible representation of that when the Israelites were in the desert for 40 years there was a time in that where they had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and again representations of God right here with us and that gave them unshakable reassurance that he was not only with them but strengthening them for everything that they were going to have to face after that God sent his son and unfortunately it's only a Christmas time that we refer to Jesus as the Prince of Peace I don't know why we only over trot out that scripture in Isaiah that refers to him as the Prince of Peace but that's what he was God the God of peace sent his son the Prince of Peace and we all know we've just celebrated Easter that what that required God's peace plan there was always in place from the very beginning involved his son dying on the cross for us but before he did that Jesus tried to explain to his disciples that really didn't quite get it and and they couldn't hope there was no possible way they were going to just what was going to happen as Jesus left them what he was going to leave with them and in John chapter 14 if you've got your Bibles with you in John chapter 14 Jesus actually tells his disciples what it is that is going to happen near and it's kind of rounding up the rest of his teaching and he says this in verse 25 he says all of this I have spoken while still with you but the advocate the holy spirit whom the Father will send in my name he will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you peace I leave with you my peace I give you do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid and a little later he goes on to say in John 16 he says I have told you these things so that in me you will have peace in this world you will have trouble but take heart because I have overcome the world now I'm sure you've had many messages on the holy spirit and you understand the person of the holy spirit and the fact that he came in the place of Jesus and that we got as a gift one of the many many gifts that the holy spirit gives us he gives us the gift of peace but too often we kind of narrow what peace is we think that peace is is all about you and I being calm and tranquil and you know full of of just harmonious feelings toward other people and there's some people that are just like that and other people that just aren't and we think that that's what peace is but it's not it is so much more than that and there's nothing wrong with calm and tranquil and harmonious that's all good but that's not what the gift of peace is all about that's not the full extent to it the gift of peace is much more powerful than just how you feel and one of the best ways for me to describe it is is to kind of describe what happened at Christmas for us last year and and Taylor thought she knew everything because that's what you do when you're 11 you know all things hello she's up there now crossing her arms up in the parents room up there she went away to her nannas and right before Christmas and of course that's when we took the opportunity to do a little bit of shopping and there's something that I've discovered about an only child and only child thinks they are across everything that is going on in the house and particularly when it comes to presence because you go with a parent all the time so when dad goes shopping for mum she's there so she knows what dad's getting mum for Christmas she knows what mum's getting dad for Christmas she knows what mum and dad are getting everyone else for Christmas so anything left over under the tree has to be hers logic don't you think except we don't put labels on things which frustrates the living daylights out of her and so she gets back from nannas and under the tree our two massive boxes they would have been like this big and they were both under the tree took up our whole lounge room and she had no idea what they were and what was even more stressful for her is again at 11 she thought inks that if you get right a Christmas list and present it to your parents they will just go shopping and it didn't match anything on her Christmas list so she had great concerns about what was in these boxes it was actually something she thought she was getting except she just didn't recognize it it was a trampoline and of course we went overboard and bought the biggest trampoline you can get which came into massive boxes but it was one present one thing that came in two parts and these two parts were both necessary these two parts were both part of this they couldn't be separated one without the other didn't really work and it's exactly the same way when it comes to peace the gift of peace that you and i are given looks like this two parts of the one thing we are given the gift of peace with god and we are given the gift of peace of god and there's some very important things for us to realize about this both of these are given to us both of these are necessary for you and i to have unshakable reassurance but part one has to come before part two and that's what i want to spend the rest of our time this morning on we can't have the peace of god until we have peace with god and peace with god is the greatest gift that we have ever been able to receive and it is available to every single one of us and the apostle paul describes it like this in romans five he says therefore since we have been made right in god's sight by faith we have peace with god because of what jesus christ our lord has done for us because of our faith christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing god's glory that is the gift of peace there is nothing greater than that gift it is an undeserved gift and i'm sure you've heard the analogy before of the courtroom and that you and i are standing there and there is no question of our guilt whatsoever and we should be sentenced accordingly yet we are declared innocent of all charges that is a gift of peace that is what paul refers to when he says that in that moment we are bought into a place of undeserved privilege that is what is available to every one of us that is peace with god and if you have not accepted that gift of peace with god this morning then i want to ask you why not because it is key and it is given to you and it is so vital except the thing is that many of us don't actually embrace that gift if i came up to you and i asked you are you a christian most of you if you're a christian would say yes but if i rephrased the question and if i said to you are you at peace with god some of you would hesitate because phrasing it in that way raises some issues with us and they're not issues we talk about very often because we can call ourselves a christian and our salvation can be secure but sometimes we have this passive aggressive relationship with god don't we we go through periods where we just don't talk we go through periods where we're estranged we go through periods where we think that you know he's angry with us or we're actually angry with him we go through periods where there's this distance that you feel like for some reason he has given off on us or he doesn't hear us anymore or we have given up on him we still call ourselves a christian but there's something not right there we are not at peace in our relationship and the thing is that if that is you this morning if that describes you this morning you have to deal with that because without peace with god we cannot as i said have part two and have the peace of god in our life and so we have to pause and do something about it we have to pause and do business with god because without it we will not have the unshakable reassurance that we need that's why the apostle Paul this time in Philippians says this don't worry about anything instead pray about everything tell god what you need and thank him for all he have done then you will experience god's peace this is part two the peace of god he then goes on to say it exceeds anything we can understand in his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in christ Jesus again this is a representation of that unshakable reassurance that we talked about earlier and i don't know about you but we absolutely need this i need this in my life you and i live lives that have the potential to be so riddled with fear and anxiety there is so much that goes on in our world so much uncertainty in our individual life end on the world stages we just talked about and so when we go through our lives in the reality that we live in without the peace of god there is no way in the natural we could have peace because of everything that is going on and with fear and anxiety and worry and troubles and devastation and loss and hopelessness all these things the only thing we can do is pray and as Leslie so beautifully you know unpacked for us in communion but it's not just about prayer Paul also says pray but also thank god for everything that he has done when we do that our perspective changes and you know this you've had plenty of messages on prayer but the thing is the very next thing Paul says that little word with four letters he says then then when you pray when you thank god for everything then you'll experience god's peace then you will experience the unshakable reassurance that god is going to strengthen you and help you through whatever it is and when we have that unshakable reassurance it tells us that when we lose our job we have an unshakable reassurance that god has another one planned and that he has everything you know it's sorted out when we get that bad diagnosis from the doctor we have an unshakable reassurance that god is bigger than any diagnosis when we get offended or attacked in any way we have an unshakable reassurance that god will defend us when we become estranged in relationships with other people we have an unshakable reassurance that god will reconcile us and when our life is an absolute mess we have an unshakable reassurance that somehow some way god is going to take the threads of our messed up life and bring them together and make a masterpiece out of them that is what the piece of god does but it's not just so that we will feel better because unshakable reassurance is more than that it's so that we have what is in that last sentence of that passage in Philippians it is so that we have the piece of god guarding our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus now in the original language that this was written in this word about guarding actually has a visual picture associated with it and the closest thing I can kind of give you to show that is this it's a garrison a garrison is a permanent military installation and the piece of god is that in our life the piece of god is a permanent protection over our hearts and minds whenever scripture talks about our heart and mind it means our emotions our thought life our self beliefs our choices all those different things that go on inside the core of who we are such a fragile part of who we are to and unless it is guarded with the peace of god then the enemy has an absolute field day with us because there is nothing protecting it nothing protecting it and without it we're in a world of trouble this is our unshakable reassurance this is the thing and that's why in one peter five we are reminded that we are to be alert and of sober mind because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone devout to devour looking for someone who is unguarded looking for someone who doesn't have the peace of god and when that happens we are not living our lives the way god intended we are not living our lives with the transformation and the freedom that christ died for without the peace of god guarding our hearts and minds when we do lose that job we freak out and we panic and we don't stop to discern what god is doing we don't stop to ask him what to do next we just jump in our wisdom when we do get that bad report from the doctor without the protection over our hearts and our minds we absolutely believe the whispers of the enemy that says this is going to be so much worse than it's going to be when we do find that we are attacked or offended by someone we retaliate and we open up the door for strife when we are estranged from different people we react out of fear and we make things worse and when our lives are an absolute mess we believe the lives of the enemy because we are unprotected we believe the lives of the enemy that says we don't deserve any better we don't deserve our life to know but not be a mess and that we may as well give up trying to live our lives any differently than we already are and when that happens we begin a vicious cycle without prayer there is no peace and without any peace our hearts and our minds are left unguarded we make bad decisions we don't discern what god wants us to do and it just gets worse and worse and it becomes this downward spiral until we feel as if we will never ever have the peace of god and you realize i'm sure that it's not just about us we live with other people if our life is spiraling out of control if we are reacting and panicking and thinking the worse and our life is unguarded by the peace of god it affects our families it affects our workplaces it affects our church it affects anything where there is other people and that's why i love this this quote from one of my favorite writers Thomas Merton he says we are not at peace with other people because we are not at peace with ourselves and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with god he has wrapped up so beautifully both parts of peace both parts that too often are missing in our life they are interconnected we need both and we can't have one without the other and i know here this morning as i come to an end of this i i know here this morning that there are people who need the peace of god there are people here this morning that need not only to ensure that they have peace with god but they absolutely need the peace of god and it is available to us it needs to be activated in our life and so i want to pray for all of you right now so just bow your heads where you are god knows where you're up to with this god knows if you need to do business with him god knows which of these two is most critical for you and i believe that the holy spirit as we've been sitting here this morning has already highlighted for you which part of this you needed to hear today