How to have Inner Peace | Doug Batchelor

and in one year we've just got a really good group and want to thank uh michelle and eugene and the others all the folks who've practiced so hard and i don't know how you felt but i thought that mrs batchelor was the best voice in the choir i don't know if you noticed that or not but and nathan he did okay too but i'm not biased well this morning we're going to talk about a theme that is sometimes addressed during this time of year when people are thinking about the first coming of the lord you know we are we're excited about the second coming of the lord and we can learn some things about the second coming by looking at the first coming and we remember the story where when the first coming of the lord was announced you read in luke about those angels that saw it and they had a message of peace our message today is dealing with the subject of how can we have inner peace who wants true spiritual inner peace i thought i'd give it a very simple title because i want to share with you what the word of god says on how you can have that peace i suspect that a lot of people that go to church a lot of people that have the name of jesus do not have the peace of christ just based on the statistics so many people that go to the hospital are there because of stress and anxiety most of the medication that is sold is dealing with stress and anxiety anxiety of course being the opposite of that peace and jesus tells us over and over again he longs for us to have that peace well we first read when jesus came the first time about this heavenly message of peace when the angels appeared to the shepherds and it says in luke chapter 2 verse 13 and suddenly there was with the angel this one angel gives the message and all of a sudden the skies peel back and there's a whole choir of angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising and saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards men and many in the world love to recite these words and talk about how jesus came to bring peace on earth and this is often misunderstood we'll get to that in just a moment but what's being offered to us when it tells us that god is wanting us to have this peace it is true god wants us to have peace on earth but there will never be peace on earth until there is peace in us one of the big problems with the world today is that people do not have peace and that that then leads to all kinds of problems and anxiety and stress and war and death first we must have peace in us what is peace what is peace well you've got the bible word in hebrew you find the word shalom now the word shalom is a it's a very broad encompassing word it's kind of like if you go to hawaii and they say aloha they say aloha hello and aloha goodbye and aloha means love but in hebrew the word shalom means peace safe well happy healthy prosperity or favor it basically means anything good that god has to offer i wish that upon you and today it's even a common greeting among jews they see each other shalom shalom and you find jesus often saying that you find the word peace in the bible about 429 times now there's small differences if you're reading some versions they may choose another word but it's it's a very common word in the bible peace now that's the old testament shalom new testament it's the word irene and if your name is irene your name is peace i don't know if you knew that any irene's here today it's not as common as it used to be or mildred's got a mildred out there well those used to be popular winifred got to win a friend so yeah but if i were to say aaron any aarons out there no yeah yeah see it's it's they're more common but so that's what the word irene is the greek word for peace and it means similar peace prosperity one quietness rest to set it one the dictionary definition of peace freedom from disturbance tranquility a quiet in a calm state of mind it is the opposite of anxiety fear turmoil and anger i think we all want that freedom from anxiety that peace that calm state of mind we're going to talk this is a three-point sermon i don't often do this i usually have like 30 points but i've got some sub points in these three points but there's really three points we're going to talk about the wrong piece the wrong kind of piece we're going to talk about the right kind of peace and then we're going to talk about the road to peace and so um first what peace is not when the angels were saying peace on earth they were not saying that they are hoping that the united nations is going to find a solution this is not the peace that the bible is talking about when we think about peace on earth it's not that look at what jesus says about the last days he does not predict peace and there'll be signs luke chapter 21 verse 25 there'll be signs in the sun in the moon and in the stars and on earth distress of nations with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring it's talking about storm men's hearts failing them from fear does that sound like peace to you and the expectation of those that are coming on the world that says the world's leaders will have perplexity they can't solve the problems they're anxious their hearts are failing with fear the prophecies do not foretell a world in a state of bliss prior to the second coming jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars right up to the end that's not the piece the angels were talking about jesus said in john 14 27 peace i leave with you my peace i give to you and notice what he says not as the world gives do i give to you he said it's not the kind of peace the world gives that i'm offering you do not let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid and then christ says in in matthew chapter 10 do not think that i came to bring peace on earth now wait a second pastor doug don't think that i came to bring peace i thought jesus the prince of peace came to bring peace he didn't come to bring global peace among the nations matter of fact he said don't think i came to bring peace i did not come to bring peace but a sword this is not the peace that jesus is offering it's interesting jerusalem has called the city of peace and it's been destroyed by war and rebuilt 27 times city of peace herbert hoover said peace is not made at council tables or by treaties but in the heart of men i always thought it's interesting that the peace prize was developed by the man who invented dynamite albert nobel or alfred nobel so when we talk about the wrong kind of peace the peace that jesus is offering is not physical peace we think if i just could have relief from my physical suffering then i'd have peace well it would certainly feel better to have that kind of tranquility but paul had a thorn in his flesh and god said i'm not taking it away regardless of your faith because it's through that you're staying humble i remember going to the hospital when i lived in new mexico you've probably heard of la vida mission how many of you have heard of la vida mission we worked with them in the navajo reservation for some time and it was founded by a lady named vida shoulder a lot of people don't know that who went to work among the navajos a long time ago we knew her later in life she lived in a trailer right outside of our our mission compound very sweet godly lady was a nurse spent her life doing ministry among the navajo people when she got old she was dying in the hospital from congestive heart failure and i guess she had a lot of pain struggling to breathe a lot of vagina pain and i went to see her and i could see her wincing and i was not trained in hospital visits i'm not really good at it because i'll always say something like how are you you know and i got all these tubes and machines and things and i don't know what to say and and she said i said vida how are you and she said a god is so good i'm so thankful he's been so good to me i can't wait to see jesus and i thought you know i she was clear that she was suffering physically but she had this inner peace that was not at all connected with her physical health so when the bible talks about peace on earth that's not talking about peace in your body though we all hope for that we all hope that there's peace among nations it's not even talking about domestic peace no i pray that you've got peace in your family and martin luther said to have peace and love in a marriage is a gift that is next to knowledge of the gospel it is right up there with the the knowledge of christ and the gospel is to have domestic peace or peace in your family but jesus did not offer that peace he said i've come to set a father against his daughter and a daughter against her mother-in-law husband against wife children against parents uh unless everybody in the family's got jesus in the heart you're probably not gonna have a lot of domestic peace some of you even have jesus in your heart you don't have domestic peace so it's not talking principally about that though i think we should strive for and pray for peace in our families amen that's not the peace that the angels were talking about it's not financial peace we all think you know if we could just get the unemployment down and it's down now and inflation under control keep interest rates low have economic prosperity we'd be at peace and for some of us it's not just that the country would have economic prosperity you would like to know that you've got plenty of money in the bank and you'd sleep better at night a lot of people are anxious about finances well i've got news for you that if all your financial problems were taken care of that would not bring you the peace the bible is talking about it's not a financial piece a lot of wrong ideas about what this piece is it's a lot of false concepts of peace ezekiel 13 10 because indeed they've seduced my people saying peace when there is no peace we think just having you know a lack of strife means that you've got spiritual biblical peace if your idea of peace is based on world conditions you'll lose it when you turn on the news if your idea of peace is based on finances then when the stock market goes down your peace goes down if your peace is based on domestic bliss then any argument in the family will rob your peace true peace is not based upon external circumstances but an internal relationship with the lord some people try to escape their anxiety and they get an illusion of peace because they're on medication now i'm not saying that there's some people who need to be on medication and we're not recommending that you go off your medication and come here try that somewhere else so we're not talking about that but you let's face it some people are medicated with drugs and alcohol and i think yeah i feel pretty good it's there's a lot of people on their way to hell and they they've got an illusion of peace like peter sleeping on death row a lot of people the the devil does he basically inoculates some people or he injects people with this false sense of peace i know a few people who are atheists and they seem very comfortable with it i'm thinking how can you have comfort with no purpose in life first thessalonians 5 3 for men say peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains is not very comfortable upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape john bunyan said if we have not quiet in our minds outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gowdy foot he's got a way of doing things he's saying things so there's this wrong worldly concept of what is going to bring peace now without keeping you in suspense i think everyone knows what the right kind of peace is it comes from god psalm 29 verse 11 the lord will bless his people with peace someone said peace is one of those things like happiness which we're sure to miss if we aim at it directly we find peace when we find god it's like people say i want happiness and they strive after happiness instead of striving after god and holiness and the way to find happiness is not by aiming at happiness but aiming at holiness then you'll find the happiness the way to find peace is not by looking for peace but by looking for god you will find peace did that make sense and people often are aiming at the wrong thing if your focus is on having god and having god inside that will then result in peace for you job 22 verse 21 this is a great verse that really says it all acquaint yourself now with him and be at peace as you are acquainted with god that'll bring peace into your life god is the essence and the source of peace matter of fact seven times in the new testament god is identified as the god of peace the god of peace the god of peace the god of peace i think it says the lord of peace once and it says the king of peace once but so seven times god identifies himself as his very nature is peace i know we like to say god is love and that is true but don't forget he's also peace think about it the worries in the world and the troubles in the world and the problems with sin and the wars and the sickness and the death don't think too much about it it's depressing but when you think about all these things that might make us anxious now picture god god is on the throne he's the sovereign of the universe is god worried about the future why would he worry about the future does he know the future does he have power over all things he's all-powerful can you in your mind ever conjure a picture where god is ringing his hands perspiration dripping from his forehead his brow was furrowed he's pacing the floor because he's wondering how it's going to turn out i mean when you think about it it's really absurd to picture god as worried so the closer you draw to christ and christ is god the more you become like christ the more peace you enjoy because you become christ-likes and the bible says let this mind be in you which was also in christ when you've got the mind of christ and the mind of god you're at perfect peace because you know that he's in control of all things that he loves you and he has your best interest in mind and whatever's happening as long as you're doing your part to walk in his will you have nothing to worry about that's a wonderful liberating experience when you don't have to be afraid god is the essence of peace you read in romans 15 33 now the god of peace be with you all amen first thessalonians 5 23 now may the god of peace himself sanctify you god does not bite his nails he does not piece the floor he is the essence that the very definition of peace and the lord even told his priests he said i want you to put my blessing on the people and this is how you do it now may the lord bless you this is number six verse 24. the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you shalom the peace god's blessing is what his peace what could we want i mean the capital city we're going to live in through eternity is called what the new jerusalem city of peace the destiny of all believers is peace blessed are the meek they will inherit the earth and it will be a kingdom of peace peace does not consist in the absence of danger but the presence of god now god does not want us to be anxious uh two reasons it's bad for you and it's bad for others your anxiety is not only bad for you your anxiety is bad for others first it's bad for you god wants you to have peace he loves you anxiety in the heart weighs a man down is what solomon said in proverbs 25 are you aware that heart disease asthma obesity diabetes headaches depression panic disorders gastrointestinal problems and accidents are all stress related i think the first five categories of disease that kill the most people are connected with anxiety and stress most of the medication that is purchased as i mentioned is stress related people are longing for peace the entertainment industry the whole idea of being diverted diverted from what diverted from worries people are looking for diversions because they have no peace inside and so they go on these trips and they they take the drugs and they sit and they're entertained for hours with binge watching to forget the anxiety because they're looking for peace peace is what god wants you to have anxiety is not good for you in this confused world some people have peace while others go to pieces peace has six enemies fear greed ambition envy anger and pride in fact i was wondering if i'd remember to mention this yeah duke university did a study on peace of mind now i'm not suggesting we get our peace of mind from the findings of duke university but this is what they came up with some factors they felt that contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are the absence of suspicion and resentment nursing a grudge is a major factor in unhappiness well the bible says forgive people not living in the past an unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and regrets and failures leads to depression a lot of people have no peace because of all their regrets and they're living in the past paul said forgetting those things that are behind amen not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change cooperate with life instead of trying to run away from it some of you remember that old tranquility prayer lord give me the the wisdom to oh no it says give me the courage to change the things i am the serenity to accept the things i cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference something like that right right there's some things you can't change you just you gotta you know if you don't like that you don't have curly hair don't go through life regretting it you know you spend all your time permanent all the time trying to get that curly hair and people just they don't like the way they've been made some things you may not be able to change so just be happy with it oh wait i lost my list force yourself to stay involved with living in the real world some people are anxious and they withdraw refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal there's problems that everybody encounters and there's misfortune that comes to all don't just continue to recycle your sorrow about those things cultivate the old-fashioned virtues interesting duke university's saying this cultivate the old-fashioned virtues of love humor compassion and loyalty do not expect too much of yourself when there's too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet those goals you will feel anxious and a sense of inadequacy find something bigger than yourself to believe in that's what the bible says self-centeredness egotistical people score the lowest for measuring peace and happiness that's interesting so anxiety is bad for you not only is a lack of peace bad for you a lack of peace is bad for those sitting next to you your lack of peace is bad for others jesus has called us to be peacemakers he wants us to be witnesses if we have no peace inside then how are we going to witness the others if you say to someone yeah i'd like you to come to my church and be a christian and you are the most fretting person in the neighborhood they're going to say if i go to your church will i be like you but if you're a person and you've got peace and you've got a serenity and you've got a joy and they know there's something inside you where you're you're centered in god they're gonna want what you have and so by being anxious and fretful it's actually just a bad witness it's bad for you and it's bad for others and the solution of course is by coming to god blessed are the peacemakers they will be called the children or the sons of god all right i talked about what peace isn't false peace and we talked about what is peace peace comes through god now what's the road to peace how do you find that inner peace philippians chapter 4 verse 6 be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god you can't have the peace without god the peace that the angel sang about is a peace that comes from god you don't get it without god the peace of god then which surpasses all understanding the world does not understand this peace it is not the peace of the world the peace of god that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through jesus christ so what is the road to peace it's praying stain obeying this is a subcategory underneath the road a peaceful christian is a powerful witness what we need is peace what we need is a peace conference with a prince of peace the world is centered in self which is misery to have one's world centered in god is peace isaiah 26 3 you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you the meditation of the world is very different from the meditation of god a lot of people in the world and heard about a friend who went to the doctor and he had a skin rash that persisted and he expected the the doctor to you know give some medication and they said that the skin rash is actually caused from anxiety and he should think about taking up meditation and some people take up meditation yoga and they're looking for peace well i used to be in that world long before i was a christian and it is very different from biblical meditation the meditation of the world is you basically self hypnotize yourself you you find some mantra or some word and you keep repeating this word until it does has no meaning and your mind becomes filled with a sort of a numb emptiness and you get this illusion of peace through just you know and then pretty soon it's like oh i think i feel much better now well you've not dealt with the issues of life it's just sort of like a self-induced hypnosis where you've got a peace because you've just become numb to the realities of life that's the world's idea of meditation you just refuse to worry about anything god's meditation is not emptying yourself but filling yourself with god when the tranquility of god's spirit enters you that gives you a real and a lasting peace when a christian stays his mind upon christ he develops a wonderful complex a complex you got that just wondering romans 8 verse 5 for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death to be spiritually minded is life and peace there was a sign in front of a church that said if life is a puzzle look here for the missing peace so when we talk about having peace with god it's not just talking about a peace that you experience inside it also begins with a transaction that takes place outside we basically are at war with god before we're converted you've heard about countries that decide to enter into a peace treaty before you converted you are the enemy of god now let me give you scripture because i know that that's not a happy feeling romans 8 verse 5 i'm sorry rather romans 5 verse 10 for when we were enemies we were reconciled to god through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life so before we come to christ we have no peace because we're also god's enemy so before you can have the peace of god within you you need to make peace with god how do we find peace with god through christ christ offers himself as the sacrifice and the mediator that gives us this peace with god psalms 34 14 seek peace and pursue it seeking after peace is actually seeking after god here it is in ephesians this explains the transaction ephesians 4 2 14. for he himself is our peace he's made both one we were separated from god and he's broken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself a new man from the two thus making peace that he might reconcile them both to god in one body through the cross thereby putting to death the enmity and he came and he preached peace you notice so far three times peace peace peace through christ and his sacrifice and he preached peace to you who are far off and those who are near i remember seeing a bumper sticker one time and this doesn't translate well if somebody's translating the sermon but in english it said no god n-o god n-o peace then it says k-n-o-w no god k-n-o-w no peace no god no peace no god you know peace understand that and we're to stay our hearts on the word i told you it's through the word of god it's sustained praying and obeying stay your heart on the word of god jesus said these things i've spoken to john 16 33 these things i've spoken to you that you might have peace through things that jesus says we find peace so if you want peace read what jesus said and it'll give you peace some people have no peace and they don't read the word there's so many times that christ said peace peace peace and you read the story in the bible about jesus it's on the sea of galilee in a terrible storm and it's dark and they're cold and the water's coming in they're going to sink and they're going to drown they're going to die and they're they're so anxious and they're so afraid and they wake up jesus and jesus says peace now in the greek translations peace be still jesus probably just said shalom one word and the storm stopped and then he said to the disciples why were you so afraid what is the lord telling us here he wants us to have his peace where you could have peace through a storm you've probably heard the story of how the methodist church started with john wesley and how john wesley was converted was in a storm he had been doing mission work in north america but he wasn't really converted and on the boat back to england after a dismal failure as a missionary on the boat back to england they encountered a terrible storm that threatened the whole ship and water's coming in and the sail ripped and and everybody's up on deck and they're seasick and crying out for fear and there was a group of moravian christians there's like primitive baptists from germany and they were up on deck and the deck is swaying back and forth and the waves are washing over and slapping the whole family in the face and they're singing and wesley said aren't you afraid i said we're not afraid he said aren't your wives and your children afraid we're not afraid we're in god's hands we have peace in the storm and seeing that changed him he realized that he was missing that missing piece you read in the bible about jesus and his peace in the storm and those words inspire us well lord that gives me peace i don't have to worry about the storm i'm going through right now god is going to see me through if i trust him you put it into practice acts chapter 10 verse 36 the word that god sent to the children of israel preaching peace through jesus christ it's through the proclamation of the word we learn something about peace i hope you get some of that today psalm 119 verse 165 great peace have they which love thy law nothing will offend them when it says love the law it doesn't just mean the ten commandments this was called the law and the prophets great peace have those that love the word nothing will offend them there's peace that comes from the word some of us the answer we think it's in the medicine chest and it's really on the bible on your shelf the peace that you're looking for comes through the word romans 10 15 how beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace who bring glad tidings of good things see the angels were talking about peace through the gospel it's through the words of the gospel we have peace with god and that gives us peace in our hearts so it's through praying it's through staying our hearts upon the word and it's through obeying the gospel has a message it's a message of trust and some people have no peace because they know they're living in disobedience now i'm not going to pray that you have peace in disobedience god loves you too much for you to be comfortable on your way to destruction he wants you to feel conviction if you're living in disobedience amen you don't want to be happy if you're lost do you yeah that's not good for you it's like having a doctor that tells you that your skin cancer is just poison ivy he's not helping you we want to obey philippians 4 verse 9 the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do and the god of peace will be with you notice do the things that i've told you and the god of peace will be with you isaiah 57 21 there is no peace says the lord god for the wicked god doesn't promise peace to the wicked psalm 37 37 mark the blameless man and observe the upright man for the future of that man what do you think is peace those who live an upright life you have peace in your heart isaiah 48 verse 18 oh that you had heeded my commandments then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea the peace of god would just wash over us it's like a river he said if you had heeded my commandments why does god want us to obey him because he's bigger than us or because he knows that that's the source of real inner peace isaiah 32 17 and the work of righteousness will be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance you want that quietness you want that assurance you want that peace is there some area in your life that you've not surrendered to the lord you don't trust him and you're still in disobedience and you're wondering why you still don't have peace if you're walking in deliberate disobedience that doesn't mean we don't slip and fall the way to re-establish peace as soon as you sin repent renew the covenant he'll give you that peace again right away believe in that but if you're living in constant disobedience to god and you don't have peace that's the that's the the source of the problem erwin lutzer said emotional peace and calm come after doing god's will and not before jesus is the prince of peace his name will be called the wonderful counselor the mighty god the everlasting father the prince of peace and if he reigns in your heart then his peace will reign in your heart romans 5 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ so if you've made mistakes if you've sinned and you want to restore that peace believe see i i talked about praying and staying no bain but it's also faith you need to believe that god forgives you some people they have surrendered they're trying to obey god but they just they can't forgive themselves they need to believe his promise believe that he forgives you john 20 verse 19 that same day and evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews they're still afraid jesus came and stood in the midst of them now what do you think he said peace unto you so the very beginning the angels introduce jesus in the gospel story they say peace after the resurrection jesus appears to the disciples and what does he say peace from beginning to end his message was he want he wants us to have peace peace again he said to them peace unto you you go to verse 26 i'm still in john 20 verse 26 jesus came to the door the doors being shut and he stood in the midst of them said peace you so here you go three times peace be unto you peace be unto you peace be unto you now if jesus says peace be unto you is there creative power in his word so when he says it can it become a reality the peace that jesus offers is not subject to political change or domestic bliss he had an internal peace in spite of the fact that he knew he was going to the cross inner peace comes from the holy spirit what are the fruits of the spirit the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace so if you say i want the peace of god what you're really saying is i want the spirit of god because if you are baptized in the holy spirit you will have peace you can't have one without the other when the spirit of god comes within you he gives you that peace romans 5 1. i'm sorry i read that one already romans 14 verse 17 for the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit notice holy spirit peace acts 9 31 then the churches throughout judea galilee and samaria had peace and they were edified walking in the fear of the lord in the comfort of the holy spirit they were multiplied peace holy spirit john 14 26 jesus said but the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that i have said peace i leave with you my peace i give to you isn't that incredible that jesus is talking about peace john 14. when does that happen last supper in john 13 he's washing the disciples feet right that's true take my word for it what's gonna happen to jesus the next day he's gonna be well that night he'd be betrayed and he'd be you know beaten and he'd be tried and the next day he's gonna be crucified and yet he's able to tell the disciples peace i'm leaving you peace you know one reason he could offer us that peace is because he took all our turmoil wouldn't it be sad for jesus to take all of your anxiety and you take it also the lord says i will bear your burdens cast your burdens upon me why would you want him to bear them and you're burying them also it's like carrying the same load twice let him bear your burdens the holy spirit brings that peace peace i leave with you peace rules the day when christ rules the mind you know i i remember reading about this ship a submarine went out and you know when they first build one of these nuclear submarines they take it on its trials and they run it through a series of tests to make sure it's going to stand up in case it's ever in uh engaged in some war activity and so that takes it on trial well submarines you know they actually go underwater and the nuclear subs they can stay under water for months if they've got the food they recycle they purify their own water they purify their own air they get nuclear power they're never short on power and heard about this submarine that went out and it's going through trials they're out of communication when they're down deep enough they don't run an antenna yep they don't get internet below c you know that there's no connection down there and so after going through the trials the submarine comes back up and it goes to port and they said how did you guys manage through the hurricane you know what the submarine said what hurricane oh it's that hurricane that sank the navy no it didn't sink a navy but you know a hurricane category five can sink a navy and it won't hurt the submarine why does it not hurt the submarine because the submarine's already sunk isn't that right and if you are crucified with christ then what can the devil do that takes away your peace the bible says that you can't really hurt a person that has surrendered to the lord that has been crucified with christ jesus said do not fear him who destroys your body so you don't have anything to be afraid of he can't touch your soul i remember reading about a one of the great reformers his name was nicholas ridley and he was ultimately burnt at the stake there in england latimer and ridley uh they were protestant reformers great theologians actually bishops of the church but when mary came into power she was of the catholic persuasion and she burnt all of the protestant sympathizers especially the leaders and there's a lot of a lot of executions matter of fact i've been to oxford in england they still have a plaque on the ground there on the street and it'll say this is where latimer and ridley were executed they were burnt alive for their faith well the night before nicholas was going to be executed one of his family members came and he said i've come to sit with you through the night he said i really hope you won't he said i was hoping to get a good night's sleep someone said a clear conscience makes a soft pillow it's 1555 when uh ridley and latimer were burned ridley said to latimer he said i believe that we're going to light a fire in england that's going to change the course of history or something that and they prayed together you've heard about the many of the martyrs who sang you probably heard about the martyrs that were killed by the lions or gladiators in the coliseum and they had absolute peace and instead of the emperor diocletian exterminating christianity when he would publicly execute the christians the people watching the executions were so troubled by their peace they would then go find a christian and say tell me what is it you believe so the peace of the christians actually spread the gospel they weren't afraid god is offering us a peace that the world cannot take away it's not a domestic piece the bible is talking about a lot of times we have problems in our family because we're just not happy in our hearts we don't know how much god has blessed us we're just never satisfied i heard about this man in india he lived in a hut with his wife several children and his parents-in-law and the turmoil and the commotion just stressed it was so much he couldn't take it anymore there was a very wise guru in his village and someone said talk to the guru whatever he says to do you do it he's got answers for everything so this man went to the guru and he said i just can't take the turmoil in my family just living in that house with all this ruckus and all the confusion he said this is driving me crazy he said do you have a rooster he said i do have a rooster said bring the rooster into the house with you and then come see me in a week so he brought the rooster into the house and he came to see him in a week he said this hasn't helped at all so the rooster is right there he's making a mess and he's waking us up early in the morning and he said he said huh we're not done yet said you have a cow yeah i have a cow he's afraid and he said you need to bring the cow into the house with you for one week and then come and see me and he said this has made it worse than anything he said i want to describe what's going on in the house right now this happened over several weeks until he had the goat and the pig and several other animals in the house with him and finally he got exasperated and said i'm not going to that teacher anymore and he kicked out all of these critters all of a sudden he felt pretty peaceful he just didn't know how to count his blessings so sometimes peace is going to come from just having a spirit of thankfulness for what we do have trusting god with what our lot in life is you know ultimately the lord is offering us an eternal peace in a minute we're going to be singing about that piece i just want to give you a heads up there's a beautiful hymn 466 if you've got a hymnal you want to reach for that now this will also give our musicians time to come up far away in the depths of this of my spirit how many of you want to be in eternity do you know how god describes eternity it's a place of peace the bible tells us in psalm 37 verse 11 but the meek will inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace isaiah 11 verse 6 the wolf also will dwell with the lamb and a leopard will lie down with a young goat and a calf and a young lion and a fatling together and a little child will lead them in ezekiel 28 26 and they will dwell safely there build houses plant vineyards yes they will dwell safely and secure god is promising us in eternity of peace living in the new jerusalem but if you're going to have the peace there then you must first experience that peace here now if you're waiting for peace in the world if you think the politicians are going to bring us peace or the economists are going to bring us peace or the counselors of the world are going to bring us peace you're never going to feel that tranquility that jesus is offering you that real peace is only going to come as you invite the prince of peace to be the lord of your life you accept the forgiveness the covenant of peace that he's made with us and you'll enjoy that peace we're going to sing about that now and oh we do have some singers here why don't we stand together we're going to sing 466 i think the words will be on the screen as well that wonderful piece far away in the depths of my spirit tonight [Music] in peace [Music] forever i pray [Applause] [Music] what a treasure i have in this wonderful [Music] [Music] please [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] of love [Music] [Music] i shall see [Music] that one strain of the sun reach the ransom will sing in that heavenly kingdom [Music] peace [Music] [Music] foreign is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] of these [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] amen amen i feel more peaceful already don't you you should all join the choir you sound pretty good the lord wants you to have that peace he doesn't want you to have anxiety it's bad for you it's bad for others and the peace of heaven he wants you to experience now and you invite the gift of heaven jesus into your heart the angel sang peace on earth that's really talking about peace in us is what they're singing about that jesus came to bring you can have that by inviting him into your heart right now and i pray that's your desire let me pray with you [Music] father in heaven we're so thankful for the message of peace that jesus brought into our world from beginning to end it was about reconciling us by breaking down that barrier of partition and restoring us to communion with yourself lord i pray the holy spirit will enter every heart and mind and just give us that peace in spite of what happens in the world lord we know that we can have peace that is not subject to circumstances through jesus we're praying for that now in christ's name amen god bless you friends remember on your way out you're going to have our young pathfinders will be at the door they're going to be giving you the special envelope we have a special year-end offering that we receive uh you may not be here next week our ushers will be here for to receive your tithe and offerings at the door as well god bless you you have a happy sabbath and we'll see you next week and don't forget the concert tonight seven o'clock

Channel: Doug Batchelor

Views: 91,979

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Id: cTRIuAjQJRQ

Length: 53min 40sec (3220 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2021