The Power of Peace // Jimmy Evans

hello everyone it is great to see you and good to see in church this weekend all the services and campuses we just welcome you all so if you have your Bibles there if you'll turn to John 14 this is Palm Sunday weekend very very special weekend and you know there are two very special holidays or holy days in the Christian faith and it's Christmas and Easter a lot of people are traveling the ones seeing family on Christmas but Easter is a very special time because a lot of people are thinking about God that are not otherwise most 70 percent of people in church are in church because someone invited them and so the most powerful way to get someone in church a friend a family member someone you work with someone you go to school with is just to say hey you know it's if you don't have a church family you know would you come to church with us on Easter and so I want everyone I want you to be thinking and praying in this next week you know because wheat sometimes we take for granted that we have a church and we take for granted that you know we're going to get up and go to church on Easter weekend but that we and I'm going to talk in just a minute on the peace of God you know there are some people who are in desperate circumstances that might not be alive this time next year or they're really living in a very difficult circumstance in just a simple invitation to church could save their life save their marriage and their eternity and so be thinking and praying about who you can invite to church next weekend and so all different campuses have different service times but it's a very special weekend coming up with Easter weekend and I also want to say for the we are one conference the Women's Conference that's coming up exactly the same thing these are gathering events that we have as a church and we have these kinds of events to bless you for in reach you know to bless you to feed you to encourage you but we also have these events so that you can have an opportunity to invite women that you know to come with you to this one whose event pastor Kim does such a fantastic job in all of her team did such a fantastic job they're fantastic did you know I snuck in one year right up there and during the Women's Conference and that no one knew I was up there but I was standing right up there and you know I tell you what when women get together it's happening did you know that what's happening when women get together is spiritual so we want you to come be a part of we are ones can be great turn John 14 and your Bibles there I think I already told you that this message is called the power of peace I love this message that this is something that I hope you will never forget because this is one of those things and we're again talking about Palm Sunday weekend why Jesus came and one of the reasons that Jesus came is to bring peace on the earth and into our lives and I'll you know to establish that through the scriptures but stay in John 14 I'll be there in just a minute I want to read a few scriptures and I want to begin with Luke 21 because these are the days that we're living in we're watching this happening now all around us Luke 21 Jesus said there will be signs in the Sun Moon and stars that's already happened where we've already had signs in the Sun Moon and stars and on earth distress of Nations is there distress of nations on the earth right now okay it says worth perplexity the word perplexity means there's no answer the nation's are in distress you look at any continent on the earth there is distress of nations without answers it says the sea and the waves roaring men's hearts failing them from fear the word fear there is the word Phobos where we get our word phobia in the Greek it means terror Jesus here prophesies worldwide terrorism where people's hearts are literally failing them from fear listen and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth the terror attacks it is the expectation of what's about to happen and the you know Isis and all the the terrorist groups out there are constantly making threats constantly you know trying to ruin our lives and they're vowed to destroy us and to make sure that we're all you know worshiping their God under their Rohan but it says they will see the son of mint then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory when you see these things begin to happen look up and lift up your heads your Redemption draws near and we're living this week there was an attack on Syria there should have been an attack on Syria for what those people did those poor little kids and you know the chemical warfare against a little kids but Syria Iran Russia what's happening right now in the Middle East is Ezekiel 38 and 39 unfolding right before our very eyes we are watching the end times in front of us and worldwide terrorism and all these things that are happening this is the end times coming true before eyes which means Jesus is coming he said when you see these things start happening lift up your head your redemption is drawing near so I believe these are the most exciting days in world history that we are going to see the second coming of Jesus Christ somebody say Amen okay but in the midst of this the devil wants to rob our peace and peace is a very precious gift that God has given us this is an interesting thing because I'm going to talk about now the peace of God that is that is an important gift and birthright of every Christian the World Health Organization has declared depression as the number one health risk in the world worldwide do you think about that Europe Asia Africa the United States South America worldwide people are struggling with depression like never before isn't that an incredible contrast to the peace of God because God's kingdom is a kingdom of peace and Jesus has promised peace to every single one of us and that's why he came to the earth Romans 14:17 they say there if you would in John 14 the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit so Paul is saying there the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit's one of the ways that you know the kingdom of God is present or is manifested Romans 15 now may the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22 the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace the when you're full of the Holy Spirit you should be experiencing the peace of God Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus the Prince of Peace Hebrews 6:10 Jesus calls the book of Hebrews called Jesus a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek and the named Melchizedek means king of Peace so Jesus ministers by peace I want you listen to me as much as you know the presence of God by peace you know the presence of the devil through fear or anxiety God ministers in an atmosphere of peace he is the Prince of Peace he is the high priest of peace the devil is a devil of fear and anxiety and terror and all those kinds of things so this is John 14 where I asked you to turn there listen listen to the promise of Jesus peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let your heart not be troubled neither let it be afraid you have heard me say to you I am going away and I'm 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 so what Jesus is saying here is when I leave I'm leaving my peace with you until I return this is the birthright of every believer and so if you're not living in peace if you're living in anxiety or fear or depression or something like that I'm saying you're being robbed and I did it now I'm saying so I understand as a believer what it's like to live that way but I'm saying you're being robbed of a great gift a very important gift that Jesus has for you now jesus said my peace I give to you not as the world gives so what is the difference between Jesus peace and the world's peace Jesus peace is an abiding internal trance or compete it's easy to get and hard to lose so with Jesus peace I don't have peace because everything's going right it's not this external fragile piece that's the world's piece by the way it's a fragile elusive and circumstantial piece that's hard to get and easy to lose it's exactly the opposite of what Jesus offers you don't honestly a lot of people that are addicts and a lot of people who are you know just in sin they're just looking for peace they're looking for a few minutes where they can just get some sense of peace but everything the world has to offer is a cheap substitute for the peace of God so I want to talk about the importance of walking in the peace of God because when I talk about the peace of God I want this to be tangible to you understandable to you and something that you begin experiencing right now if you haven't been experiencing it before here's the importance of walking in the peace of God number one peace is how God guides us this is such a critical point is Colossians 3:15 let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body and to be thankful let the peace of God rule your heart well what does that mean well the word rule there is the Greek word Bravo and it means umpire you know an umpire behind the plate in a ballgame you know there's balls and strikes and they're behind the plate and they're calling balls and strikes in other words every time something happens the umpire there is telling you what's happening okay that's what the peace of God does let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which you recall well in the Old Testament the Book of Numbers the book of Deuteronomy refers to the green and the to mean now they're not talking about a lot and there's a lot of discussion about exactly what they meant but the high priest the high priest wore an effort a breastplate and on this breastplate were twelve precious stones all representing the tribes of Israel and behind the press plate over the heart of the high priest was a pouch and in the pouch were the room and the to me and so when they consulted God the high priest would go before the Lord an schema question you say war do we attack the Philistines Lord do we do this or do we do this the word marine means light the word to meme means perfection marine and to me means lights and perfections so the high priest had the light and perfection over his heart in a pouch behind the effort and he would go into the presence of God and say lord do we do this and then he would just wait and if God were saying yes the room would heat up and the to meme would stand up and he could feel it over his heart and he would say yes the Lord is saying yes if nothing happened he would say the Lord saying no now once listen to me the peace of God is tangible and it's one of the most important navigational instruments in your life and you say why because there are many many questions the Bible doesn't answer there are many things that we do in life that are not a matter of right and wrong they're a matter of right and right you say well what job do I take what major what major do I choose in college you know who do I marry you know what what church do I go to there are every single day there are many decisions that all of us make that they're just a matter of right and right concerning us and concerning our children listen to me do you know that God is always with you guiding in he's always with us guiding us now the peace of God we'll never disagree with the Bible the peace of God will always agree with the Bible but I want you listen to me in my Karen's in my marriage for 44 years we probably learned about this maybe six or seven years into our marriage ok and when we started making decisions based on peace listen to me we've never made a bad decision we've never made a bad decision based on peace and there will be times that we're praying about something and I'll say to Karen have you been praying about that and she'll say I just don't feel peace about it and I've learned not to try to talk the sister into having peace you know because that's that's a disaster and so what I've learned to respect it is listen to me the peace of God is tangible you feel it it's not it's not super spiritual it's not ethereal it is it is an abiding remember light and perfection you just feel a heat and you feel something in your heart saying I think this is right and and it doesn't make sense and I'll read the scripture just a minute talks about that it's not that it makes sense don't so listen to me we have made decisions Karen and I have made decisions many hundreds of decisions it looked like the right thing but we didn't have peace and we didn't do it we have made many other decisions that didn't make any sense but God gave us peace and we did it and we have never made a mistake making a decision like that it's a hundred percent full now both of you have to have peace okay not one of you can have peace if you're a married couple you make your decisions together and so you both have peace and sometimes God might not give me peace today but six months from now he might give me peace because it's not a matter of him saying no it's a matter of him saying not yet because there's the timing of God on some things but listen to me one of the reasons that the devil wants to rob your peace as he wants to knock out a navigational instrument of you getting to the promised land let the peace of God rule your hearts and so whenever you're praying and you're seeking God and you have a decision in front of you and you're saying you know something I just where do we send our kids to school do we make this investment or this investment you know do we move over here do we move over here and you're praying and you it's not in the Bible it's not in there the principles are there but the specific is not there God wants to lead you in every single decision you make for the rest of your life so that you're never wandering and you never make a mistake sometimes the anxiety that we go through in life is just wondering am I making mistakes am I just doing everything wrong the peace of God is it's tangible it's for everyone everyone can walk in the peace of God when you're walking in the peace of god you're walking in the will of God so when Jesus says hey I'm gonna go away but I'm gonna lead my piece one of the things he means by that is I'm not going to be walking with you anymore guys but my piece will be so you you need and I need the peace of God to umpire in our lives to help us understand circumstantially what God wants us to do there have literally been days in my life as a leader that I have made 30 or 40 decisions in one day based on the peace of God and never made the mistake as long as it was based on peace number two reason that peace is so important peace is how God protects our minds and hearts against Satan's attacks of fear and anxiety and this is a massive this is massive and this goes to the issue of understanding Philippians 4:6 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 which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus well this is massive and so I remember early I remember growing up I worried all the time I lived I lived as an anxious child I had stomach aches I had skin problems because now anxious I was and so I remember when I became a Christian you know and just I was still worried as a young Christian I still worried and I had you know issues related to just anxiety listen to me the Bible says be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God listen to me anxiety is not a condition it's a choice God would never tell us not to be anxious if we didn't have that choice did you know that every single time in our lives when we're anxious it's because we chose to be be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be no man let God listen your worry list is your prayer list why are you anxious it's because you're not praying the the Saints of old had a saying and the Saints of old a hundred years ago they had a thing called praying through and here's what praying through men I'm gonna pray until I get peace I know I've prayed enough because then I get peace I have prayed this issue through so don't be anxious for anything but in every single thing with prayer and supplication and supplication means fasting supplication but means some other way that you're just you know supplicating your prayers well let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God listen the peace of God that passes all comprehension what does that mean it means you really don't understand why you're such peace it's not it's not an understanding type of thing God doesn't explain things to you it's not as though he gives you a big explanation to all the things you're going through all of a sudden you get a piece that you don't even understand listen that guards your heart in your mind the word guard in the Greek language is the word through Rayo it means a military guard that protects against enemy invasion so listen when you don't pray the penalty that you're going to pay is you have no guard against demon spirits of anxiety and fear and they are demon spirits and their desire is to wear you out and to drive you into anxiety fear and depression because fear many times is just we're so anxious we're I mean I'm Zhang Zaida it's just because we're so anxious with us we're ourselves out and depression is your emotions just like they just go flat and so whenever you pray there's something that you're worried it's bigger than you you have an issue an illness a family problem a financial problem it's bigger than you but it's not bigger than your God and when you decide not to pray what you're deciding to do is to take that thing on against yourself and you are no match for it I'm no match for it but whenever we go to God and we say every morning you wake up and just write down everything you're worried about that's your prayer list it's easy to come up with your prayer list is not religious it's real it's practical here are the things that I'm praying about and Lord I'm gonna pray about these things so I get peace I'm gonna talk about that more in just a minute listen your mont your thoughts your thoughts the when you pray the peace of God will guard so that the devil cannot introduce thoughts into your mind let's listen so one Zion I was fasting and I was praying and I said to the Lord at the beginning of the fast what do you want me to fast Lord and he said worry well then I started worrying about how the fast worry you know I mean he said it immediately started going well you know what well how do you fast worrying and start worried about it listen to me so that was like a 21-day fast listen for 21 days I could not worry I tried I tried the sin I tried I would sit and I would think you know something I just need to I just I'm gonna try I can't even remember was like to worry I'm gonna try to worry and I would sit there I couldn't find anything to worry about you know why because there wasn't one thought in my mind that was worrisome because the peace of God was protecting my mind and your heart your emotions being strips for nothing but in everything with prayer supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God that passes all understanding will set a military guard on your emotions and your thoughts that the devil can't penetrate somebody say Amen that's what happens the peace of God it's protected without that peace we're open we're open to enemy invasion why because we chose not to trust God we chose to try to deal with our problems on our own number three reason that peace is so important is peace is the preparation and platform of our witness in Kay Ephesians 6:15 talks about putting on the full armor of God and part of the armor of God is having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace okay what was that mean first of all the Gospels are gospel of peace that Jesus came to die for our sins so that we can have peace with God but here's another thing that it means if you're not at peace you're not worried about other people you're worried about yourself and let me say another way if we're not at peace we're not attractive to other people if Christians are full of fear and anxiety like everybody else we're just like everybody else there's nothing unique about our faith but when we have a piece about us it is very unique to the people in the world the reason that we're here and this is the fourth reason it's the purpose of our ministry and influence this piece here's what Jesus said blessed Matthew 5:9 blessed are the peacemakers they shall be called the sons of God blessed are the peacemakers Luke 10 go your way behold I send you out as lambs among wolves carrying either money bag knapsack nor sandals and greet no long no one long the what the road well whatever house you enter first say peace to this house and if the son of Peace rests there your peace will rest on it if not it will return to you now isn't that an interesting scripture that first of all were word listen we're not supposed to be troublemakers we're supposed to be peacemakers and we literally by the anointing that God puts on us as believers we have the ability to walk up if there's a if it's a house of peace and say peace to this house and literally a spirit of peace comes on that house so jesus said but listen this story this is marked forth on the same day when evening had come he said to them let us cross over to the other side now when they had left the multitude they took him along in the boats as he was and other little boats were also with him a great windstorm rose in the waves beating into the boat so that was already filling but he was in the stern asleep on a pillow and that woke him has said to him teacher do you not care that we are perishing and then he arose and rebuked the wind and said peace be still and the wind ceased and there was great calm but they said to him why are you so that 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 and the sea obey Him now listen to me so we're people at peace we're peacemakers we're people who were supposed to speak peace wherever we go listen so the disciples were screaming like a bunch of little girls on the deck of the boat yes screaming just having a little hissy fit and Jesus wakes up and he comes to the deck of the boat and he said peace and everything went to peace listen to me do you know why Jesus could do that because he was full of peace they weren't did you know why the disciples couldn't make the sea peaceful because the sea look like their hearts you can only give away what you have if you're full of fear if you're full of anxiety your surrounding is going to take the nature of your heart if you're full of anxiety full of fear full of doubt your marriage your children your finances your relationships your life in general is gonna look like your heart Jesus was full of peace and when he stood up he spoke and the sea took on the nature of his heart you can only give away what you have so we need to be people walking in peace so that we can give it away wherever we go listen I'm gonna say one more thing Christians shouldn't be troublemakers we should be peacemakers wherever we go peace should break out and that should be a distinguishing characteristic of our lives here are the four essential foundations of peace and I want to pray for you here's how to get peace number one submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ this is Isaiah 9:6 for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end you know when you get saved getting saved is kind of like you get married you know we do our our conferences all over and at the end of our conferences we do a vow renewal and and it's a very special time of our conference you know why we do the vow renewal because when you get married the first time you really don't know what you're saying you're just so scared nervous you don't remember it doesn't mean anything but after you've been married for a while you say your vow renewals kind of like yeah yeah I you know I remember that when you get saved and you say Jesus I'll make you Lord of my life you mean it I mean it's a meaningful thing but then it has to be made real in every area of our lives we have to come to the place of saying Jesus I make you Lord in my mouth that's kind of a big step in it I make you Lord of my friendships I make you Lord of my marriage I make you Lord of my finances and every area comes under the lordship of Jesus as you know something every time his lordship expands peace expense of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end the government will rest upon his shoulders you know something when the government of your life is resting on your shoulder you'll never have a moment's peace it because it's hard to be it's hard being God it's a 24 hour day job being God is a tough job but when you come to the point of saying I am not qualified to rule my own life and Jesus I want to make you the Lord of every area of my life when the government is resting on his shoulder we get peace I mean they say man that's pretty good preaching a decent preaching up here now I'm telling you preach it's better than a min and I can tell you that right now amen in level just terrible ok number 2 submission to the lordship of Jesus is the number one way we get peace number two diligent faithful prayer let me read this scripture again be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with things with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ to me did you know you can pray and just be just as nervous at the end of praying as you were before in fact sometimes when you pray you just want to get God as upset as you are this is called nagging in the spirit are you hey I don't want you resting up there while I'm down here miserable a be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving remember Jesus was praying one day and he's talked right in the middle of this prayer and he said father I thank you that you're my prayer you know with Thanksgiving means the term with Thanksgiving it can mean historically that we're looking back and saying lord thank you for all the wonderful things you've done but that's that's not what gives you peace listen what gives you peace is to pray and say I thank you that I have a father listening to me right now I thank you that you are in control of the entire universe in every situation I'm thinking I thank you lord you're bigger than my Giants you're bigger than my mountains you're bigger you're bigger than all of us and I thank you lord I think this listen if you're not thankful if you really don't believe that God cares for you 1st Peter 5 says cast all your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you prayer is a transference of burden you're my provider you're my protector you're my healer and I'm coming to you and I'm putting the burden of all this over on you why because you care for me and I was never designed to bear this burden I can't bear this burden I'm a sheep I can't bear burdens and so I'm coming to you with Thanksgiving and the peace of God the peace of God and I can be troubled and I can be upset and I go to the Lord in prayer and I say the Lord this I'm doing what you told me to do and I'm trusting you with this and literally I'm trusting you with this Lord and what that means is I'm not caring anymore now if there's something you want me to do if there's something that I need to do to be obedient you tell me what that is but in the meantime I am trusting you with this and the other thing too is you know Jesus talked about the widow and the unjust judge prank praying again it's not a sign of unbelief it's a sign of faith and Jesus said the the widow went to the unjust judge and he did not give her what she wanted because she was right she he gave her what she wanted because she was wearing him out and he said therefore when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth and what that means you pray and you pray and you pray until you get what you're looking for you believe in God don't carry that burden yourself and you get peace number three is a God weird mindset this is this causes peace Isaiah 26:3 you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you you know a lot of our anxiety just it's just where we're looking we're focused on ourselves we're focused on our circumstances we're not focused on God when you put your eyes on God everything takes it's right perspective everything in regarding depression there's different reasons for depression I'm creating a new resource that's called 21 day total freedom journey that will be out in July and I talk about being free from depression and there's different reasons from depression but some people are depressed because they're enable gazers they're just sitting around all day thinking about themselves and when you sit around all day thinking about yourself the world closes in on you you know I'm saying and your mountains get bigger the 10 spies went into the Promised Land and they came out and they compared themselves to the Giants and they said we were like insects Joshua when Caleb went into the Promised Land they came out and they said they will be our prey because our God is able they compared the Giants to God he will Candy's ax said when you see these things begin to happen look up don't look around don't sit in front of the news all day long listen the bad news you'll get depressed you look up because your redemption is drawing near number 4 way that we receive peace is a daily dependence on the Holy Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace it is a benefit it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit I remember when I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I was a nervous person I was an anxious person and we Karen and I were praying to receive the baptism I think I received the baptism Holy Spirit when I was about 23 years old and we were at home and it was like hot oil was being poured over my head from the top of my head or the tips of my toes and and for the first time in my life I felt perfect peace that was the first time in my life I felt perfect peace I wanna say something I walk in peace I walk in peace every day and is that peace ever upset sure it is there are things that happen that upset my peace when my pieces upset I go to the Lord when my pieces upset I make sure that Jesus is Lord of this area I make sure that I'm trusting in him I make sure that you know I'm full of the Holy Spirit I make sure that my mind is on God and I don't have my mind on my problems and I'm saying to you you may be suffering physical problems emotional problems mental problems relational problems simply because of fear and anxiety worry depression whatever it might be and those are common and I've experienced that most of us have but the birthright that we have in Jesus is peace I say to you his peace he's given to you not as the world gives he's given you his peace and that peace will protect you it will guide you and it will lead you into the Blessed wonderful life that Jesus died for you to have I want you to bow your head please and let me let me pray for you and I really really want you to believe this prayer we bind a spirit of fear and anxiety and worry and depression in the name of Jesus Lord your word says in Isaiah 61 that you've given us a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness lord I believe that as we put our eyes on you that a spirit of heaviness has to leave I bind a spirit of depression and suicide in the name of Jesus you lying demon that have come to rob us of our joy i bind you in the name of Jesus I command you to no longer minister to the people of God you demon spirits of fear and anxiety that have attacked our minds and hearts we bind you in the name of Jesus Lord we make you the Lord of every area of our lives everything and we trust you Lord we trust you we thank you that we have a father we thank you that we have a God caring and listening for everything in our lives and we choose not to live in anxiety we choose not to worry we choose to trust you and Lord right now as we begin to trust you with the issues that we've been carrying we pray for the peace of God to pectus protect us against every enemy attack and give us the peace that passes understanding as we put our eyes on you right now and ask you Holy Spirit fill us up from the top of our head to the tips of our toes and fill us with the supernatural peace of God and we thank you for that Lord

Channel: Revived Life

Views: 86,524

Rating: 4.8157897 out of 5

Keywords: jimmy evans, book, bible, god, sermon, message, tfc, fellowship, gateway, robert morris, Luke 21, Romans 14:17, Romans 15:13, Galatians 5:22, Hebrews 6:20, John 14:27-28, world peace, Jesus, guidance, Colossians 3:15, anxiety, fear, depression, mind, heart, peacemakers, submission, Isaiah 9:6-7, prayer, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 26:3, Romans 8:5-6, Luke 21:28, Holy Spirit

Id: j-wNkDs6Ay0

Length: 35min 48sec (2148 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 01 2017