Dr. Charles Stanley:
Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you:
not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." And He spoke those words to
His disciples the night before He was going to be crucified,
and of course, they didn't quite understand
what all this was about. They had an idea that something
really tough was getting ready to happen, but He said,
"My peace I give unto you." And if I should ask you
this morning, do you have peace in your heart? I mean do you have a settled
sense of satisfaction? Not that everything's right,
but that you have a relationship with God whereby
you're convinced and persuaded or whatever you face in life
it's going to be okay, because you have Him the assurance
that He is living within you. Your name is written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. One of these days whether
you die or He comes first, you know that you're going
to heaven and all of this mess is going to be over with
and things are going to be right like He promised. Do you have that sense
in your own heart? Well, we don't live in a very
peaceful age, that's for sure. People do not have peace about
their job, about their marriage, about their children,
about the circumstances in which they live, or where they live,
or how they have to live. And so, when Jesus comes along
and He says, "My peace I give unto you,
not as the world gives." That is, the world can't give
the kind of peace that Jesus offers. So I would ask you, "Do you have
that kind of peace?" Can you honestly say,
"I have this sense of peace?" Now, the Greek word is "eirene"
which means to put something together. That is, to bind it together. That is, when a person has
genuine peace, we sense this togetherness in our heart. We sense this oneness and
without strife and without consternation and all the things
that go on. The peace that Jesus Christ
offers is peace that comes through a relationship with Him. That's the only true source
of lasting peace. Everything else in the world's
counterfeit. You may have all the money in
the world you want, go anywhere you choose, do most anything you
want to do, have most anybody you want to have, but if you
don't have Jesus, you do not have peace. Always struggling for something. And when I think about the days
which Jesus lived, Rome was doing their best to keep
the peace. But how were they trying to
keep it? Two ways: power and pain. And that's the way they kept
everybody in subjection. How does God want us to
enjoy peace? A relationship. Think about this. A relationship with one person
can bring about peace in your life. But if that relationship is not
with the right person, it's not going to be peace. And you can have a pretty good
relationship with lots of, lots of different people in life,
but until there's a relationship with Jesus, you're not going
to have peace. And here's the reason. Something's always going to be
missing. I was talking to a doctor,
a friend of mine, this week. And he knew what I was going
to preach on, so he said, "I want to tell you something. When I look at all of my
patients and look down through the years of how they've
responded to things," he says, "I think I could say honestly
that most of them ultimately, when we get down to the bottom
line of what's going on in their life, they're anxious about
something. They don't have any peace. They can't sleep. They find themselves being very
negligent about things and oftentimes looking where they
shouldn't look," and on and on he goes about people who don't
have any peace. And if I should ask you this
morning, "Do you really and truly have peace in your life? Is there a sense of quietness
and calmness and completeness and fullness?" You don't have to have anything
else and you don't have to have anybody else to have peace. Jesus said, "My peace
I give to you." Why did He say that? Because that's the only source
of true genuine peace, is a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ. So, and you think about the
things that Jesus said and the way He said them, "He said we're
the children of God." And this God is a God of peace. That's who we are. And when you trusted Christ as
your Savior, you took on a whole new relationship, the most
important relationship in life. The only relationship that's
going to last beyond this life, and that's a relationship
with Christ. He said, for example,
we are to be followers of the Prince of Peace. Who's the Prince of Peace? Jesus. He's the avenue,
He's the prince. And He said
in the Sermon on the Mount we're to be called peacemakers. I wonder how many of you
consider yourself a peacemaker. Now some of you would have
to say, "Well, not with the situation I live in,
I'm not a peacemaker. Well, Jesus didn't say,
"Except, if, and, but." We're to be peacemakers. Watch this. There is to be something within
us that so connects with someone else and helps them
to be connected to the real true peacemaker,
that things begin to change. When their relationship
with Jesus Christ gets right, then you have the foundation
of true genuine peace. Until that happens,
it's not going to be there. And if you ask the majority
of people, "Do you have peace?" They'd have to say. "Well, sometimes, maybe
and ultimately not really." And when I think about
all the things that Jesus said, He said we've been given
the gift of peace. It isn't, that is, it isn't
something we work up to. It's a gift that He gives us. What is that gift? Watch this. It's the gift of Himself. When Christ comes into
your life, watch this carefully. He satisfies the longings
of your heart. He promises to do it. He satisfies those hungers
and thirsts in our life that really and truly satisfy. The world has all kinds
of counterfeits, but there's one narrow path that leads
to peace and it's not the world's approach. They offer many counterfeits:
One single narrow road to peace. And most people will die
never having found it. And I would ask you
if you know what that peace is. Do you know how to walk
that path? Or, are you like the rest of the
world, sort of trying to get all of this and all of that and
go here and do this and do the other, trying to find
something to satisfy the gnawing in your heart? One thing for certain, you can't
counterfeit peace, not really. Peace is a precious,
precious gift from One person, and that's Jesus. And nowhere in the Bible does it
say there's any other source. But I would just ask you
if you have it. Doesn't mean that you have
everything in the world you want, but you, watch this,
you can have absolute, awesome, complete,
continuous fulfillment of the peace of God in your life
and not have a lot of things. And when I think about Jesus and
the apostles, He said, "My peace I give unto you, not as the
world gives, give I unto you." Why did He say that? Because He's saying to them,
the world can't satisfy the longing in your heart. "My peace," Jesus said,
"My peace I give unto you, not as the world tries its best
to give." So, when I think about that and
I think about, came across this verse of Scripture that I don't
know how in the world I missed it all these years, and I was
sort of ashamed of myself when I realized I'd missed it. I had to ask God to forgive me. And so, if you turn to the tenth
chapter of Luke, you're going to have to--you're going to have
to ask Him to forgive you also. But let's look at this,
if you will. Luke, chapter ten. When Jesus was sending His
disciples out, well He, He was instructing them what to do
and how to do it. And He said in the ninth chapter
of Luke, and I'm coming to the tenth chapter, and as you go,
for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that
city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against
them. And then He comes on over to the
tenth chapter, and here's what He says in verse five. Now think about this and apply
this to yourself. Think, don't think about it
being in the New Testament. Think about right now, "Whatever
house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.'" Do you see what that says? Whatever house you enter,
first say, "Peace be to this house." And I got to thinking,
"Lord, how many, how many houses have I been in my life
and I never said that. Jesus said, "Whatever house
you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.'" So, I had to ask the Lord
to forgive me. I thought, "Lord,
that's not what I've done." You say,
"Oh, Jesus didn't mean you." Yes He did. And so, Jesus meant what He
said, because what He was saying is, "Pray, pray for this home. Pray, pray for the people
who are living here." What kind of troubles
are they having? Are they having marriage
troubles, troubles with the kids, financial troubles,
disappointments, and all the things that happen
within a house. Drive down the block
you live in, and as you look at each house and think, "Wonder
what's going on in there. Wonder if the peace of God
is in there. Wonder what are they
troubled about? Are they suffering
from heartache and hardship and difficulties and trials and
needs, sickness and maybe there's somebody close to death? Jesus always had a purpose
for every single thing He said. And so, this is what He said
to them. Whenever you go, wherever you
go, you bless that house before you enter it. Now, there are some things that
steal our peace in our life, so I want us to think about it. For example,
He's promised to give us peace. And we do have peace with Him
when our heart is right. We've been saved by the grace
of God. Doesn't mean you never sin, but
you ask Him to forgive you and your walk is a walk of peace. But there are some thoughts,
there's some ideas that steal our peace. So, remember we said peace is
a narrow path. That is, if you are walking in
peace, there are a lot of things that are not going to be in
that pathway. So let's think about some peace
stealers for a moment. One of them is lustful thoughts. You cannot have lustful thoughts
and have peace, because the Spirit of God in a Christian,
for example is going to cause you to feel, not just peace but
a sense of conviction. When a person looks at something
or someone with a lustful thought, the Spirit of God isn't
saying bless you. The Spirit of God is
convicting you shouldn't look, shouldn't see, shouldn't think,
shouldn't desire, shouldn't lust after it. The narrow road of peace
eliminates a lot of things. Lustful thoughts create not
peace, but chaos in a person's heart, in a person's soul. And we live in a society that's
full of it. So that's one thought. Then, for example, feelings
of guilt. If you feel guilt over sin in
your life, guilt over something you didn't do, should have done,
guilt over something you said, you should not have said, you
can't have, you can't have peace. Watch this. Peace--you listening, say amen. Peace is fragile. feelings of guilt will
absolutely destroy your peace. I think about people who are
getting a divorce. By the millions and millions
and millions. There's no peace in that
relationship. I think about parents who do not
know where their children are. There's no peace in that
mother's heart or father's heart. I think about friends, I think
about people who know that what they're doing is, they're living
in sin, all kinds of sexuality and drunkenness and all the--
and drugs and all the rest. Find somebody who is living
in adultery who has peace in their heart. Or someone who is lying
to keep their job. On and on and on it goes. The path of peace is very
narrow, and that is thoughts that are guilty thoughts
destroy peace. Or anger, you can't be angry and
be at peace, can't be. God talks about anger, doesn't
belong in our hearts. You can't be angry toward
somebody and have peace in your heart at the same time. You say, "Well, but if you know
what they did to you, you've got a right to be angry. No you don't. How can you have peace in your
heart if something inside of you is gnawing away, and getting
more and more bitter every day? You cannot. Peace is a narrow pathway. I think about people,
for example, who are very, very bitter about something
that's happened in their past, they can't get over it. The way they've been treated,
what they feel may be true. And nowhere in the Bible
does it say, you have a right to be angry and bitter
if somebody does thus and so. No. I'll tell you what settled that. When Jesus went to the cross,
if anybody had a right to be bitter and angry
and resentful, He did. But He did not. And so, by example, He says it,
and by word He teaches us not to be bitter and angry
no matter what happens. And there are a lot of people
who are miserable today because they're bitter toward someone
for something they've done. Maybe they cheated you in some
fashion, maybe they made a promise they broke. And I think about how many
people made promises to each other about marriage and break
those promises. You can't be living a double
life and have peace. No matter how fine your
automobile is, how big your bank account, what position you have,
you may be number one in whatever situation you're in,
you don't have peace with God if you're not obedient to God. You cannot. The world doesn't believe that. They're trying to deaden their
conscience and deaden their feelings because what's going on
within them that's wrong is doing--destroying them. Our thought life, you cannot
escape what you think by taking a pill or having a drink. Think about this. How foolish, when you can have
the peace of a loving Heavenly Father, and you decide no, this
is the route I'm going. And then, people who seemingly
are pretty good, if you look at them, self-centeredness,
very self-centered. It's all about me. It's all about what I want. It's all about what I deserve. It's all about what I think. It's all about what
I want to do. Listen. You can have no peace if you're
all wrapped up in yourself. That self-centeredness,
it's selfish, it says pride. Can't have any peace like that. Then I think about people who
doubt, people who live in doubt. They doubt the Word of God. They doubt that God
will answer their prayer. They doubt that going to church
will make any difference in the world. They doubt their friendships,
their relationships. They live,
they're skeptics at heart. There's no peace in that. In fact,
if you'll think about it, it's a very, very, very narrow
path to genuine peace, because we have a lot of things
around us that will steal our peace, if we allow it. Can you live peacefully and have
peace and enjoy peace in a world that is confused and mixed up
and as wrong as ours is? Yes, you can. Watch this. It isn't relationship plus. It's relationship period. You ought to write that down. It's not relationship plus,
it's relationship period. It's Jesus in you. He is the source of peace. He is the provider of peace. He and He alone, and all you
have to do is look around, talk to your friends or your enemies
or the people you work with. Find out how many, find out how
many people you talk to that you can tell by their conversation
whether they have peace or not. Because watch this. A person who does not have peace
cannot hide it. And people think if they get
enough money, they'll have peace. How much money is enough? It's never enough. There's only one source
of true genuine peace. That is having a sense
of oneness with God, a sense of unity. That's the source of all genuine
peace, no matter what happens. This is why we meet people once
in a while who are going through situations and circumstances,
we think, "How do they handle that?" And every once in a while,
I've met someone whom-- And I'd walk away and think,
"Oh God, I hope I could have the kind of peace they have
going through what they're going through." Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus is the source of true genuine lasting peace. Anything else and everything
else is a substitute. I think also people
who are living in doubt about the things of God. I think about people, for
example, who just are not believers. And I can tell you this. And I've lived long enough
to know this. I've never met a person who is
not a Christian, who gave me any true genuine evidence that they
were really happy. Little fluff on the outside,
lot of that, sounded good, but the more I listen and the more
I watched and the more what I didn't see and didn't hear,
that's not peace. Let me tell you something. When you have Jesus
in your heart, you can't keep it to yourself. And it's not that you have
to act out, you don't have to act anything. You just allow Him to express
who He is through your conversation, watch this,
your conversation, your conduct and your character. And I think, for example, people
who are living in unbelief, they're miserable. No matter what they say to you,
they're miserable. If you don't--if you don't have
Jesus in your life, let me ask you a question. What do you have that you can
really and truly depend upon? Jesus is the source, the narrow
road to peace is a relationship with Jesus. And I think about people,
for example, who get jealous. They think they've got
everything just right and somebody else comes along
and they get jealous about this and jealous about that
and jealous about somebody and that's not peace. Peace is a gift of God that
comes through the presence of Christ in our life,
that's the source of peace. And this is why some people can
go through the most terrible horrible circumstances and
situations of loss and suffering, heartache and pain in
their life and have this awesome sense of unshakeable peace. Because they have one
relationship that's right. Now, how do we experience
this peace? I want you to write them down,
and the first one says this. We must believe that He is in
control of our life and our circumstances. If I don't believe that, I'm not
going to have any peace. Otherwise we will attempt to be
in control, and there is no peace in that struggle. But do I believe that He
is in absolute control? He is. Just because I get out of
control doesn't mean He's out of control and doesn't mean that He
does not control everything. So ask yourself the question,
"Do I believe that He is in control of my life?" I didn't say feel like it. Do you believe that He's
in control? The second statement is this. We must believe that His offer
of peace is real and be willing to accept His offer of peace
in spite of our feelings. Can't go by feelings. His offer, "My peace I give unto
you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled." He--what I'm giving you, He
says, not like the world's got to offer, because it doesn't
satisfy anything. And then, in order to have peace
we must fully surrender our total life, mind, will, and
emotion to Jesus as Lord. We must fully surrender our
total life, mind, will, and emotion to Jesus as Lord. That is my character,
my conversation and my conduct, I must surrender to Him. Peace is this awesome
eternal relationship, this oneness with Jesus. Does that mean that
you'll never have any trouble? No. Does it mean that
you'll never get sick? No. Does it mean that
you'll never have fear? No. But here's what happens. Whenever and whatever comes
your way, you can respond with this absolute certainty. The Lord Jesus who is in me
will see me through this. He will be adequate no matter
what's going on in my life. So I would ask you
a simple question, "Do you have peace in your life? Were you sitting here this
morning when you first came in and you were worried
about something, concerned about something?" Maybe you were feeling jealousy. Maybe you were feeling lustful. Maybe you were feeling
just distraught about the way that you've been treated. Maybe you were concerned about
what's going to happen tomorrow on your job. Or that person that you
just don't like being around. You see, you can go to church
and be in terrible shape by time you get out. Unless you're willing
to surrender your life to Jesus and say, "Lord, here I am. Here's my life. I'm going to trust You,
not for how people are going to treat me, what I'm going
to receive or not receive. I'm going to trust You to be
in me what only You can be. And I'm going to trust that
You have absolute control and that You're going to make it
all come out in such a fashion, it's going to be a blessing
to You, Lord, and a blessing to me." Sometimes the most trying
painful circumstances in life turn out to be a seed-bed, just
a seed-bed of awesome peace that God sends to your life. Now listen. You've heard all of this and
every single one of us knows in our heart right now
if we have peace or not. You don't have to ask
anybody else. You know whether you have peace
or not. Watch this carefully. You can have it. No matter what you're going
through, you can have it. The invitation to peace is
always there from Jesus. So what does it require of me? Surrender my life to Him. "Okay, Jesus, I've messed it up. I'm just surrendering myself
to You. Whatever You choose,
I'm going with it. I'm going to believe that You,
the source of my peace, is my peace and You will see me
through whatever I'm facing. And You'll see me through it,
knowing in my heart You are the source of my peace." I ask you one last question,
if Jesus is not the source of your peace,
now be honest, if Jesus is not the source
of your peace, what is? I love that verse,
"My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither be afraid." And maybe you have been
listening or watching and you're thinking, "Okay, you just don't
know my circumstances." He does. He knows all about
your circumstances. And you know
what He's willing to do? Forgive you of your sin,
cleanse you, but it's a matter of surrender
and a matter of faith. Am I willing to believe
that He can clean up this horrible mess I've made,
if I surrender my life to Him? Let me ask you a question. Is any mess too big for God? Then He's got your number,
hasn't He? He's waiting for you
to deal with it. He's waiting for you to bring it
to Him to say, "Lord, I've messed these things up
in my life. I've hurt other people. I've cheated,"
or whatever done--whatever you've done in your life,
"I'm giving it all to You. I'm surrendering my life
to You." What will He do? Forgive you--
watch this, and forget it. And give you a new start. And that's my prayer for you. And Father, thank You that You
didn't list twenty things for us to do, to change,
in order to have Your peace. You said, "Trust Me. Trust Me. Trust Me." Thank You for loving us enough
to make it so simple and plain. Thank You for loving us enough
to forgive and forget and give us a new start. In Jesus's name, amen.
