Peace!

It is a very great honour to be given the privilege to present God's word for you here today. It has been with much anticipation and prayer that I stand before you now. I do not come with cleverness of speech nor might of words. I do come before you now with what God has laid on my heart for this congregation on this wonderful day.

The world since Cain killed Abel has sought after one thing--Peace. The world of men has tried to produce peace for thousands of years. Ever since that fateful day when one man decided his way was best and in anger struck out against another to prove it was true, man has needed peace. From the days of Adam and Eve to the days of you and me, man has sought peace. How is it that the world is so pre-occupied with peace? How is it that the quest for peace breaks all barriers? It doesn't matter what the barriers are, people will cross them for peace. We seek military peace, political peace, religious peace, social peace, spiritual peace. We seek peace. Today it seems we have what we have desired. When the Berlin Wall went down, there should have been peace. When the USSR was absolved, there should have been peace. There isn't!

The sad state of affairs, in all his seeking man has never really found what he has been after. Today people will tell you we have peace. They will tell you that the Berlin Wall fell and the USSR crumbled and Cuba is on its way out as a communistic foothold, and these bring peace; and we begin to believe we have peace.

We hold peace conferences in Geneva to bring peace to the political world, we hold ecumenical meetings to bring peace to the church, we hold peace rallies to bring peace to the society, we hold peace marches to bring peace between the races; all to no avail. As one writer stated: There will be no peace, the wars won't cease.

Although communism is falling, the wars in the world have increased as Jesus said they would in Matthew 25. We can count at least 57 wars that continue today throughout the world (most political analysts we tell you it is more like 100 wars). The ecumenical meetings have done nothing to foster peace in Ireland where the Protestants and the Catholics are killing each other in the name of God. We have seen evidence that peace rallies and marches could not deter the war that was waged in Los Angeles a few months back. The writer continued to write: There will be no peace, the wars won't cease; until He returns.

We cannot have lasting nor true peace without having the Prince of Peace in control. This is true, even in our own families. In some families, trying to do what's best for the kids or the parents, a quiet war is waged, even though peace is the ultimate goal.

In spite of all this overwhelming bad news there is the Gospel, the Good News. We can have peace today. Not the peace that the world has to offer, for it is a false peace. The world says we have peace in what once was the USSR, but look at all the strife that occupies that land today. The country of the Unified Germany is a political hotbed of intensity and they call that peace. We have, according to the world, peace in Los Angeles. But how many of us would dare walk through South Central Los Angeles tonight? Dare I say, few if any. Yet, people say there is peace there.

I have some very bad news for this world that is seeking peace at all cost, it won't happen the way we think it should. Think about what was just said as I read John 14.27: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be trouble, nor let it be fearful."

The Good News of the Gospel is that we can have a greater peace than what the world desires to give us. The offer does not come through some head of state, but from the King of kings; it does not come from some wishful thinking politician, but from the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ

There are three areas of peace that I would like to look at today, these are: Peace with God, Peace of God, and Peace on earth.

Jesus' statement in John 14.27 intrigued me. He states that true peace can come only by way of Him, the world cannot give it.This appears to be the proper place to receive peace, by means of the Prince of Peace Himself.

I asked myself the question: If peace can only come through Jesus, how can I get peace? This is when I turned to Romans 5. Let's turn there for a few minutes.

Romans 5.8-11 says that peace, reconciliation, a cessation of the war man has waged against God and God against man, is available only in a relationship with Jesus Christ who died for our sins. The Good News is that God has proposed a peace treaty that will never be broken. A peace treaty that He signed with His blood at the Cross. The way to obtain this peace then is to accept the conditions that God has laid for the treaty.

In Romans 1-4 we begin to understand our failures and futility and frustrations in seeking peace of any kind. We find ourselves to be sinners, the first condition of the treaty. The second condition is to accept God's free gift of His Son for our sins. It seems that Paul is telling the Romans and us that the only way to true peace (Romans 5.1) is to come to God through Christ's death, burial and resurrection for our sins.

Let's take this idea of how to obtain peace a little further. When need Jesus Christ as we have seen from John 14 and Romans 5 so we may obtain peace with God first and foremost.

Ephesians 2.14 expresses this truth clearly. Not only do we need a relationship with Jesus to have peace, He Himself is our Peace. Remember, He is the Prince of Peace. We will never find peace from man. A sad reality is if you were to evaluate the men who have achieved the Nobel Peace Prize you will begin to see that most of them were men of war or inventors of devices of destruction. But Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

An exciting thing to realize is that no matter what may happen on a daily basis, if we are Christians, we have an eternal peace with God, He is no longer at war with us. This is the first stage of true peace.

This brings us to another area of peace. We have seen that in order to have true peace we must begin with peace with God. He then provides us with His perfect peace. Philippians 4.7 describes this peace as peace which passes all understanding; it is the peace of God.

In brief, this peace is similar to what God has in His own being. He grants to all who would give to Him all that concerns them serenity and confidence.

a.given all anxieties and worries to God through prayer--Philippians 4.6-7; Romans 15.13

Every time I think of this peace, this confident serenity, I think of Wendy and Mary. -----------------And in the midst of all this confusion, these two Christian young ladies brought relaxation in the midst of frustration, rest to a wearied soul, a shelter from the heat. We are to live like that in this world of confusion, frustration and weariness. The Good News of the Gospel is that we can! The bad news of reality is that we often don't.

For many of us worry and frustration are a common lot during the course of the day. We fret over failures while biting our fingernails. We weep of wayward sons or daughters. We worry about things that might have been. We become anxious over academia. In short, we become anxious. We are more like the birds that try to fly low through a wind storm only to be blown away by every gust, or like the bird that hides whenever a storm comes; when God has called us to be like the eagle. When the storm comes, he flies higher and higher catching the top of the storm he sails and is not affected by the storm. The storms and wars of life do not touch him for he is above them resting on the wind not overcome by it.

The war with God is over and as part of the treaty He offers us a daily peace while the world still wages war on each other and the storms of life continue. Allow me one more illustration of this peace in the midst of turmoil. Several years ago a submarine was being tested and had to remain submerged for many hours. When it returned to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!" The submarine had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea." Although the ocean may be whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never stirred.

The Christian's mind will be protected against the distracting waves of worry if it is resting completely in the good providence of God. There, sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Holy Spirit, the believer can find the perfect tranquility that only Christ can provide. Do you have this peace, peace the world cannot offer (nor would if it could)?

Do you have this peace which God offers to His children? Or, are you still worried over life, anxious about things to come; looking at tomorrow while never really living today?

The sad state of affairs is that while God has created a way for peace between us and Him, we still wage war on Him. The passage read to us earlier points this out. He brought peace to us through the blood of Jesus and it is ours eternally. He also brings a daily peace of soul throughout the days of our existence on earth, if we continue in the hope of the Gospel. Part of which is laying our burdens on Jesus. Remember His words in Matthew: Come unto Me all you who are heavy burden and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy and My burden is light, and you shall find rest for your souls. I believe this is what man craves, peace and rest; confidence assurance that all is well in Christ.

I recently heard a phrase that caught my attention. That phrase was, "You look thirsty?" This world is clamouring with so many people wanting to offer you a drink to quench your thirst for peace. They are crying out for your attention. We see it in the advertizing that surrounds us, the music that fills our ears, the books that occupy our eyes and mind. All these want to offer a drink to quench that thirst, but they only offer vinegar. As Christ was upon the Cross whispering, "I thirst," and was only offered vinegar, so are we in this world. We need the Thirst-Quencher Himself not the vinegar the world seeks to give us.

Today I believe God wants to offer some thirst quenching water for this weary and tired world, you and me included.

We have discussed that God signed a peace treaty with mankind and we need to respond to that treaty but acknowledging our sinfulness and accepting His offer of peace through the death of His Son, a death that paid for our sins. We have seen that we can have peace in the midst of turmoil and storms and wars, only in Christ.

One last aspect of peace before we close. The world is seeking to offer us peace and we have already heard that there will be no peace until Christ returns.

There are many verses that tell us that peace on earth will be when Jesus comes to restore order in this broken and fallen world. We hear phrases like: Universal peace is only available during the millennium and do not seek peace on earth because we can never obtain it!

Allow me one verse of Scripture: Romans 14.17. What is the kingdom of God--the kissing of righteousness, peace, and joy. This kingdom is today and in the millennium. It began at the cross and is present now and will come when Christ physically returns.

In the Colossians passage a phrase sticks out: the hope of the Gospel, that you have heard, and has been proclaimed throughout all creation.

The Great News of the Gospel is that Jesus has returned, not in bodily form but, in His Holy Spirit Who dwells within all believers. We can offer the world peace, as the Prince of peace gave us we can offer to others.

We can offer peace to our family, our next door neighbour, our co-workers, our friends. When we offer the Gospel of Peace the Prince of peace comes with the treaty of peace. In this way peace can truly come to the world--one person at a time.

I would like to offer this peace to all of us. There are some here who are children of God who have never really experienced His peace. You are being wiped out by the storm that the world creates, missing the peace of God. Your family life is in turmoil and your children don't seem to care, this burden is causing you grief. Cast your cares upon Christ and receive His peace.

There are some people here who are anxious about tomorrow, not being sure what it will bring, who are never really living today to the extent that God desires. God asks you to throw your cares upon Him and receive His peace. Relinquish the hold you have on the cares and burdens of today, throwing them upon Him, and then take action to pursue the life He has for you today.

There are some here today who desire closeness with God but you have allowed sin to keep you from a close relationship with God. There is no peace in your soul. Today Jesus asks you to confess that sin, that habit, and allow His righteousness to give you peace and joy.

There are even some here today who have never known the Prince of Peace. You have never accepted the signed treaty of salvation that God offered at the Cross. He asks you to confess that you are a sinner in need of His salvation. The salvation that He offers because of His death on the cross and burial. The salvation He can give because of His resurrection.

There are even some here who have known His peace and have become satisfied with their relationship in Christ. To you He reminds, My peace surpasses all that you can imagine. He calls you to dive deeper into His peace by becoming more intimate with Him on a daily basis.

Every aspect of peace comes through prayer and confession. When you realize your need confess it to God in prayer and He will come to bring you peace. The peace you need He will bring.

God, our Father and provider of Peace, we come to you now with our needs, frustrations, worries, and restlessness. We lay these at Your Cross and ask for Your Peace, the peace that only You can provide.

[If there are people here today with a specific need to be prayed for come forward for prayer. If your need is salvation please come forward and we will pray with you; if it is anxiousness or worry or stress and you need God's peace, come forward and we will pray specifically for your need. One of our members will pray privately with you up front. Come now as we pray and allow God to minister to your soul.]

Father, takes the cares of our hearts and guide them to You. Bring joy where lack of peace produced bitterness. Bring righteousness where there is impurity. Bring Your Holy Spirit to minister to the needs of Your people. Bring Your Spirit to open the hears to of those in need of salvation. Minister Your peace to us today Father, in Christ's power and for His glory we pray: Amen.

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