The title of the sermon this morning is a formula for peace, and if you want to keep
something there in Colossians 3, we'll come right back, but just go ahead and turn over
to Philippians 4.
We're going to be in Philippians 4, I know I preached a sermon a few weeks back out of
Philippians 4, but it's just a great passage there and I think there's a lot we can get
out of it.
So go to Philippians 4, we'll be coming back to Colossians 3.
Now I think everyone in the room this morning would probably say that they desire that the
God of peace would be with them.
And if we go through the Bible, we'll see that term used a lot, the God of peace, or
the peace of God.
So God isn't God of peace, God is somebody who can give us peace.
I don't think there's anyone in the room that would say, you know, peace is not something
I'm interested in, that they want a life of strife and turmoil and anxiety and all these
things.
Everyone in the world, anyone with the right mind is going to say they want peace.
And what we need to understand this morning is that true peace comes from God.
That we are given peace from God, not as the world gives, but as He gives it to us.
That's the source of true peace, is that it comes from God.
But I also want us to notice that God doesn't just dole out peace with no prerequisites,
that there's a formula or there's some prerequisites, there's some things that we have to do on
our part in order to receive peace from God.
Now if you look there in Philippians 4 you'll see, it says, be careful for nothing but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God.
Look at verse 7, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
So he's saying these are the things that will happen.
Now look at verse 9, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and
seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you.
So keep something there in Philippians chapter 4, because we'll be coming back there and
go over to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3.
We're going to start seeing that every time the peace of God or the God of peace is mentioned,
it usually follows a list of things that we are supposed to be doing.
Look at Colossians chapter 3 verse 12, it says, put on therefore the elect of God, holy
and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are also called in one body, and
be thankful.
So we see that there's a lot of things that we have to do in order to have that peace
of God to rule in our hearts.
It says that we are to put on therefore, we are to forbear, we are to forgive, and again
we are to put on charity.
You think about that act of putting something on.
No one decides to get up in the morning and take their shower and get dressed and say
I'm going to put my clothes on, and just kind of stands there and waits for the clothes
to jump on, right?
It takes effort, you know, you have to pick out the clothes you're going to wear and put
them on.
So what I'm trying to get across this morning is that yeah, if we want the peace of God
to rule in our hearts, we have to put on.
We have to be willing to forbear and forgive.
There's things that we have to do.
Turn over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we'll see the same thing.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning in verse 14, 1 Thessalonians 5, 14, the Bible reads,
Now we exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the few behind it, support
the weak, be patient toward all men, see that none render evil for evil unto any, but
ever follow that which is good both among yourselves and to all men.
Verse 16, Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing in everything, give thanks, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is
good, abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.
That God of peace, the peace of God, comes at the end, again, of this list of things
that we are going to be doing, warning, comforting, supporting, being patient, following that
which is good, rejoicing, praying, not quenching the Spirit, despising not prophesying, proving
all things, holding fast that which is good, abstaining from all appearance of evil.
So there's a lot of things that we need to do in the Christian life in order to receive
the peace of God.
Now if you're there in Philippians 4, you might just turn back to Philippians 4.
Keep something there I'll warn you, we'll be in Philippians 4.
What was the prerequisites, what were the things that were required for us to receive
the peace of God or the God of peace that we saw in Philippians 4?
It says in verse 9, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and
seen in me do.
There are things that we need to learn and to receive and to hear and to see and at the
end of all that, then do, that we might have the God of peace to be with us.
That's the formula there, learn and receive, hear and see, and then last of all, do.
And I just kind of want to look at some of these things and make application here as
we go.
Now the first part of that formula is learn and receive.
We are to learn and to receive.
We need to learn from the examples that we see around us in our lives.
We need to learn from other Christians, we need to learn from our pastors, from spiritual
leaders, we need to even learn from our parents, from all the children in the room.
There is a great deal of things that kids need to learn from their parents.
We need to learn from our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We should never get so proud and haughty to think that we can't even learn something from
the unsaved, perhaps.
I mean, think about out in your jobs and where you work, you know, I've had several different
jobs over the years and if it was a new trade or a new skill that I was coming into, you
know, there was a time where I had to learn from somebody else, saved or unsaved.
So we need to learn from other people, we need to be willing to do that, to learn from
supervisors and co-workers, from our parents, from other Christians, from pastors, and from
folks that have just, you know, good examples that are around us.
Not only that, another great place to learn, or something to learn from, is to learn from
bad examples.
You know, I did this a lot early on in my Christian life, you know, shortly after I
got saved and I started to take a hard look at the crowd I was running with, a hard look
at the people that I would call my friends at that time, and I started to notice they
had a lot of problems.
I started to notice they had a lot of things going on in their life that I didn't want
anything to go wrong with me.
I said, man, I don't want to have to deal with what they're dealing with.
I learned from that.
I learned from some bad examples too.
You know, I think that's a great reason why we should take our kids' soul wedding when
opportunity allows.
They can learn from some bad examples out of soul wedding, can't they?
We take them out on these res trips and they get to see the beer cans piled up by the door.
They get to see people living in places you'd say there's nobody living in there.
No, there's a whole family living in there.
People living in poverty and squalor.
People that are suffering from sin.
We see that even here just going around these neighborhoods, taking our kids with us and
show them, look, we're living this way.
We're living after God.
We're trying to do the things that God has commanded us to do.
These people are not, and our kids with our own eyes, without us having to even say anything
can see the difference.
And they learn.
They learn from bad examples just as well as they do good examples.
Now, in order to learn, it's going to require some discernment, it's going to require some
judgment on our part, you know, we'll have to be honest about ourselves.
What areas are we lacking in?
What is it that we need to learn?
What is it where we need to grow?
I know that for me, one place that was a bad example that I was able to learn from, you
know, I say don't say it as with any disrespect, is but for my own home, my own upbringing.
Less than ideal, and I'll leave it at that.
I learned, hey, that's not what I want for my family.
That's not the kind of dad I want to be.
That's not the kind of parent I want to be.
I'm not saying there was never anything good that came of that, that my parents didn't
take care of me and love me and do the best they could, but they were unsaved, they were
lost people.
So that's another example that we can learn from.
If we're going to learn from bad examples, we're going to have to have some discernment.
Now it says there the first part of that formula is that we need to learn.
That's the first part, and we should never be willing to learn from others.
I mean, who else are you going to learn from?
Learning is something that you always have to receive from an outside source.
It's not something that's innate within us.
If you're learning something, it's because you're lacking somewhere, which leads us to
the second part of that formula.
It says, learn and receive.
We should receive instruction.
We have to receive learning.
Now here's the thing, if you want to keep in Philippians, but turn over to Proverbs
chapter 1, and when you get to Proverbs chapter 1, go ahead and put something in Proverbs
chapter 1.
Keep something in Philippians 4, and then for the rest of the sermon, for the entire
sermon, just keep something in Proverbs chapter 1 as well.
So Philippians 4 and Proverbs 1, because we're going to spend some time in Proverbs coming
in and out of it.
You see, learning and knowing something is not enough.
It's not enough just to learn something.
It's not enough to just say, I have this knowledge of something, I know what this is, and that's
not enough.
Knowledge, learning, is something that has to be assimilated.
It's something that has to be incorporated into your life.
It's something that has to be absorbed into who you are.
It has to be part of who you are.
You can think of it like this.
If you were to learn how to read music, right, if you were to sit down, pick up the piano
book or the hymnal, and tell us the key signatures and what the time was and what scales were,
you could play all, you could read all the notes in a scale.
You could read music, but you never actually used it to play an instrument.
What good is that knowledge if it's not something that you're going to use, if it's not something
you're going to make a part of what you do?
This is a point that's emphasized in scripture.
If you're there in Proverbs chapter 1, look at verse 1.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1, chapter 1 verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David,
King of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to
receive instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity, to give subtlety to
the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Notice there it's not enough to just know, to learn.
It says there to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding.
That's the first part of that formula.
We can know something, we can perceive something, we can discern something, we can recognize
it, we can become aware of it, we can be conscious of it, we can grasp it, we can understand
it, we can identify it, we can comprehend it, it can be something that we figure out,
we deduce, we conclude, we can see it, and know it, and still not benefit from it.
Another good illustration would be the fact that anyone who drives a car knows that a
red light means stop, and if you don't know that, it's been nice knowing you, but we all
know that, right?
You think some people, the way they drive, they don't know that, but everyone knows that,
you're taught that.
Red means stop.
If the light's red, it's too late.
We all know yellow means hurry up, it's about to turn red.
No, kids, that's not right, it means slow down, get ready to stop.
You'll see how it really works in the real world, but red light means stop, right?
We know that, we understand that, we grasp it, we get it, we have that knowledge, but
it won't do us any good if we don't put our foot on the brake.
If we don't receive it, we don't say, okay, I know this, now I'm gonna receive it, I'm
gonna make it part of who I am, it's gonna be something that is part of my nature.
When I see that red light, I hit the brake.
We also must receive, it's not enough to just know something, you have to receive it.
That's why it says in verse three, to receive the instruction, not to just know it, but
to, not just to perceive it, but to receive the instruction.
That's what's going to benefit us.
Turn over to Proverbs chapter 19, you see, if we take the time to not only learn something,
not only to perceive it, but also to receive it and make it a part of who we are and say,
I'm not just gonna understand this, but I'm actually going to put it into practice in
my life, I'm going to receive the knowledge and instruction that has been given to me,
we are going to be the ones that benefit, it's going to benefit us.
It says there in Proverbs chapter 19, look at verse 20, hear counsel, it's good to hear
it, it's good to know it, it's good to learn, it goes on and says, and receive instruction,
that thou mayest be wise in thy laddering.
You want to be wise, you want to grow up and have some knowledge, it's not enough to just
learn something, you have to receive that instruction as well.
And you know, conversely, refusing instruction will harm us.
If we reject it, if we refuse it, Proverbs chapter 1, Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 24
it says, because I have called and you have refused, I have stretched out my hand and
no man regarded, verse 25, but you have said it not on my counsel and with none of my reproof,
I also will laugh when your fear cometh, I will laugh at your mock calamity, I will mock
when your fear cometh, verse 27, when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call
upon me, but I will not answer.
They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for they hated knowledge, they did
not choose the fear of the Lord, but they would none of my counsel, they despised all
my reproof, therefore they will eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices, for the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools
shall destroy them, but whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet
from fear of evil.
That sounds like peace, it took somebody who had to learn it and receive it, they had to
learn the instruction, they had to receive the instruction, if we're going to receive,
if we're going to learn, then we're going to have to be taught, we're going to have
to go to where instruction is being given.
If you've still got something in Philippians 4, again, keep something in progress, but
turn back to Philippians 4, we understand that we not only need to learn, we also need
to receive, and when we do that, we are the ones that benefit from it, and if we refuse
to do it, we're the ones that are going to be harmed, we say, okay, I want the God of
peace to be with me, I want to learn, I want to receive, then you need to go where instruction
is being given, you need to find a source of knowledge.
It says in Philippians chapter 4 verse 9, those things which ye have both learned and
received and heard and seen, he said those things that you hear and the things that you
see, of who, he said in me, the things that you've heard and seen in me, that's what Paul's
saying, well saying hey, Philippians, the things that you've heard and seen in me, those
are the things that he wants you to do, those are the things, he is the source that you
should have learned from and received from, they heard and saw Paul, where at, it wasn't
at the night club, it wasn't at the comedy store, it wasn't out on the lake, it wasn't
on the golf course, where did they hear and see Paul, in church, they saw him in church,
that's where they heard and learned and received, that's where they saw him, in church, they
saw him in the synagogue, they saw him when he was preaching the lost in the synagogue,
they saw him when he was preaching the lost, house to house, they even saw him in jail,
there were things that they could see Paul go through, they learned and heard and saw
in him, when he was in jail, I mean this isn't Philippians right, wasn't there a guy that
was from Philippians that Paul saw in jail, Philippian jailer, I wonder if he's a part
of this church, I know Paul, I've seen Paul, I've heard Paul, I've learned a few things
from Paul, I remember when I met Paul, he was in jail, and not because he was running
red lights, because he was preaching the word of God, in order to learn and receive, you
must see and hear, you must see and hear from an instructor, the student comes to the teacher
and not vice versa, I'll read to you from Proverbs chapter, actually you know what,
I'll turn over to Proverbs chapter 20, Proverbs chapter 20, you have to go to the source if
you're going to learn, it says in Proverbs chapter 20 verse 5, Proverbs 20 verse 5, counsel
in the heart of man is like deep water, there's a man out there, he's got counsel, but it's
like it's in his heart, the bible says it's like deep water, you ever try to get something
that's down deep, you ever go to the deep end of the pool, the diving pools, and you
know you throw the little sticks down there and stuff, you know the older I've gotten
and the more buoyant I've become, the more difficult that is, you know, I remember as
a kid I could just boom, real easy, get down to the deep end, you think about guys that
want to go down and find some treasure that's deep in the bottom of the ocean, the things
that they have to go through, these guys that go out, you know the bottoms of the Atlantic
and work on these lines that lay on the floor, I mean they have to go to these compression
chambers for weeks on end, it's very dangerous, they basically live under these high pressures
at all times just so they can go do this work, it's not easy to get to some of these things
that are considered valuable, the bible says here that counsel in the heart of man is like
deep water, it's not always easy to get out of him, it's not always easy, he's not just
you know some vending machine, he can pop a few nickels in and get some wisdom out of
him, because he knows not to speak in the ears of a fool, because not everyone's going
to learn what he has to say, it says counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but
a man of understanding, somebody who's learned, somebody who's ready to receive will draw
it out, they will draw it out, that takes effort, see no one gets water out of a well
without lowering a bucket right, if you think of the old wells that had the bucket on the
rope and you had to lower it down, or even the ones that we have maybe today where you
have to put the arm on it and you got to sit there and pump that thing and prime it and
get that to come out, it takes effort, you got to lower the bucket, you have to go to
the source of knowledge if you're going to learn, you have to go to the source of knowledge
if you're going to receive, no one gets a diploma, no one gets a degree without taking
some classes or passing some tests, if you want to receive knowledge, then you must go
to the source of it, and we're talking about receiving things from Paul, but what about
where did Paul learn it all from, from Christ, from his words, that's the greatest source
knowledge any of us have right here, all the wisdom and instruction and counsel that we
need is right here in this book, but don't expect to get anything out of the Bible, don't
expect to get to that knowledge by, if you don't read it, you know you don't just hold
it on your head and hopefully it just seeps in there, this isn't how you get the knowledge
out of the word of God, just use it as a pillow at night and maybe it'll just kind of work
its way in right, or try to wad it up and shove it in your ear, it doesn't work like
that, you got to open it up and drag your eyes across the page and think about what
it's saying, and the more we do that, the more you'll want to do it, Bible reading
will become a delight, and sometimes you know we just got to read it out of character, out
of habit, and make ourselves do it, and often when we do that, we'll say man I just don't
feel like reading, you get a few minutes into it, you'll say man I'm sure glad I'm reading
this, and there's dry spells in the Bible, no doubt there's some things that are harder
to read, but you know it's something that we need to do, and I preach other sermons
about Bible reading, I'm not going to go off on that, but this is the source of wisdom,
this is the source of instruction and learning, these are the things that we need to learn
if we want the God of peace to be with us, this is part of that formula, if we neglect
it then we're not going to receive the instruction that we need, there are things that you will
miss out on if you neglect the preaching of God's word, I mean let me say this very clearly,
there's nothing you can't learn just reading on your own, there's nothing that I'm going
to preach or some other man's going to preach across the pulpit that you can't learn on
your own, but it just will take a lot longer, I mean there's so many things that I learned
just from preaching that yeah I could have figured it out eventually, but boy having
somebody else who's already done the study, somebody else who's already read the Bible
a multitude of times, somebody else who's already received the instruction, feeling
willing to impart that knowledge, that accelerates our learning, that accelerates our ability
to receive the knowledge that's in the word of God, somebody else who's already lowered
the bucket down on the well and they've got a bucket full of them, you just need to hold
your cup out, let them put a little in, put a little in, here a little, there a little,
you see Paul wanted these people to learn and receive and hear for one purpose, we want
the God of peace with them to be with us and the God of peace will be with us, but there's
some prerequisites and Paul said I want you to learn those things that you have learned,
those things that you have received, those things that you have seen, those things that
you have heard, what did he say at the end, do, there was something that he expected them
to do, it's not enough to just know and receive and have all this knowledge, go ahead and
turn over to Philippians chapter 3, Philippians chapter 3, the purpose of receiving, the purpose
of learning, the purpose of getting in your Bible and seeing and hearing, the purpose
of coming to church, for the preaching of the word of God, for seeing and hearing the
word of God is so that you would do, so that you would do something with it, you're going
over to Philippians 3, I'll read from 1st Corinthians 4, I write out these things to
shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you, for though you have ten thousand instructors
in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through
the gospel, wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me, and he wants people to see
him, to hear him, so that they would learn to do, he said be followers of me even also
as I also am of Christ, look at Philippians chapter 3, verse 13, brethren I count on myself
to have apprehended with this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and preaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, it says in verse 15, let us therefore
as many as be perfect be thus minded, and if anything be otherwise minded, God shall
reveal even this unto you, nevertheless whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the
same rule, let us mind the same thing, brethren be followers together of me and mark them
which walk so as ye have us for an example, see Paul in these passages that we read, he's
often imploring other people to follow his lead, to follow his example as he follows
Christ, he's not breaking the mold, he's following in the footsteps that have already gone on
before him, he's following Christ and he's asking these people to follow him, they're
seeing and hearing, he's setting an example, notice there in Philippians it said in verse
15, let us, he's including himself in that, he says it again there in verse 16, nevertheless
whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same
thing, he wants people to follow his example, he's including himself, you see our children,
this is a good lesson for parents, is that our children should not only learn and receive
our instruction, I mean we should take the time to teach our kids and they should have,
they should take the time to learn and to receive, they should pay attention when they're
being instructed and parents should be teaching and instructing their children, I mean I think
my wife was talking about it I believe just last night about how we're teaching our kids
and it's just, I mean think about it, you have to teach your kids everything, I mean
there's very few things that they don't need to learn, she's telling me how to read a measuring
tape, how to read a ruler, we take that for granted as adults, we forget there was somebody
who took the time to go, this is an inch, this is a quarter of an inch, well what's
a quarter?
Then you gotta start explaining portions, I mean you can just see how it turns into
this bigger subject because kids, if they have a desire to learn and receive, they're
gonna start asking more questions, so it's important that we teach them, but they should
also see and hear us, not just what we tell them, but they should see and hear us do,
not just what we say, not just what we tell them, not enough to just see what we do, they
should see what we do, not just hear what we say, if you're in Proverbs chapter 1, you
still there, you got something there, Proverbs chapter 1, the Bible says in Proverbs chapter
1 verse 5, a wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding
shall attain unto wise counsels.
If we do, I like what it says here that he shall attain unto wise counsels.
We think when I read this verse, sometimes we think that means that he will be around
other people who are wise, but that's not what it means, to attain means to achieve,
that he himself will become a wise counsel, that's what it's saying, a wise man will
appear and increase learning, a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.
If we do, if we do all these things, if we take the time to learn, if we take the time
to receive, if we take the time to see and hear from the source of instruction, if we
take the time to do these things, then in time we ourselves will become wise counsels
and we will be seen and heard of others who will also learn and receive.
This is process of learning and teaching, it's perpetual, it just keeps repeating
itself, it's a perpetual system.
And if you want to turn over to 2 Timothy 2, we'll see this where there's just this
perpetual system of learning, there's just this concept where we see, hear, and do, we
become wise.
Then others begin to see, hear, and do what we do, they become wise.
And isn't that what we want for our kids?
I mean if that's not enough reason for us to get in church and to hear the preaching
the word of God and to teach the word of God in our homes, that they would learn to
be wise and to be able to attain a wise counsel themselves, to not grow up and be fools.
It says there in 2 Timothy 2, thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus and the things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit
thou to faithful men, why, who shall be able to teach others also.
You see that process there?
It was the things that Timothy heard from Paul, the things that he learned, that he
was to commit to faithful men, that he was going to teach others also.
Timothy heard Paul, he saw Paul, he attained unto wise counsel, and now he's committing
it to faithful men, so that those faithful men can go and teach others also.
The process of learning and teaching is perpetual.
It says there in the end of where we were, you don't have to turn there in Philippians
chapter 4, you know what it says by now, those things which you have seen and heard, do.
It says do, now do is a verb, right, it's an action, it's synonymous with perform.
Do it.
Here in Proverbs chapter 2, Proverbs chapter 2, look at Proverbs chapter 2 verse 1, we'll
see how the do is carried out, it says my son if thou wilt receive my words, I'm glad
you're learning, I'm glad you're receiving it, I'm glad you're seeing and hearing, I'm
glad you're receiving these things, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments
with me, so that thou would incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding,
if thou cryest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest
her as silver, and searches for her as hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the
fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
If we're going to learn, if we're going to receive, and we're going to do, it means we're
going to have to apply, it's going to require effort, I mean doesn't this sound like a lot
of effort here?
I mean you think about these old, you know, like back in the day, you know the gold rush,
when men were just traveling, dragging their families across countries to go find gold
in California, I mean they didn't have the technology that they had then, they're just
you know pickaxes and dynamite and wheelbarrows and buckets, I mean hauling rock out, digging
tunnels into the earth just trying to find gold, the effort that goes into that, even
today these mines that just go down miles into the earth, and just the millions of dollars
that are spent to try and find precious metals, that's a lot of effort, but that's what God's
saying here that we need to cry after knowledge and lift up thy voice for understanding, if
we need to seek her as silver and search for her as hid treasures, you know if we're
not even cracking the Bible open once a day, can we really say we're seeking after knowledge
and understanding like a hid treasure, that we're really wanting to know and receive instruction
if we don't even have enough effort to just read a proverb, read for 15 minutes, if we
can't get out to church at least once a week, are we really seeking after those things,
and I understand that people get sick and sometimes we can't be here for health reasons
and other reasons, but that should be the only reason, amen?
Amen.
If we're going to learn and receive, it means we have to apply, it's going to require effort,
you have to do, and it will not always be easy to do these things, I'll remind us of
what it said there in 2 Timothy 2 where he said, you know, the things which thou hast
heard of me, commit thou to a faithful man who shall be able to teach others also, and
then it goes on in verse 3 and says this, therefore endure hardness as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ, it's not always going to be easy, the things that you learn and hear
and see and if you're going to do and carry it out, it's going to require effort and it's
not always going to be easy, the question is, how bad do you really want it, do you
want it as bad as that, you know, that claim jumper in 49, the guy who was out there at
the pickaxe and, you know, metal pans squatting down the river trying to find gold somewhere,
do you want it bad as least as he wants his gold, are we going to cry after it, are we
going to lift up our voice, are we going to seek it as hid treasures, I mean we know one
thing and if you were to turn over to Philippians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, I mean God's
got the treasure, God's got the gold, God's got the silver, God's got the knowledge, the
wisdom, the counsel, the understanding, he's ready to give it to whoever wants it, who's
ever willing to put the effort to receive, to learn, to see, to hear, and to do, God's
got it, he's going to keep up his end of the bargain, look at Philippians chapter 1
verse 3, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for
you all, making requests with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day
until now, being confident of this very thing, I mean Paul had no doubt about this, he was
confident about it, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it, I mean
the God, the work that God's begun in you, he's going to carry it out until the day of
Jesus Christ, until the day of redemption, God's not going to fall short on his end of
the bargain, the question is are we going to hold up ours, God wants us to grow in grace
and knowledge of Jesus Christ, God wants us to become the perfect man and one day, you
know, God will make us new in him completely, not just in the spirit, we will have the mind
of Christ, the Bible says, but let me tell you something, you already have the mind of
Christ when you have this in your name, and sure enough, whether we take the time to go
after the mind of Christ now or not, one day God will bring us, he'll draw out the slack,
he'll make up the difference, well we came up short, but why wait, why should we wait,
why not just go ahead and get after it now, why don't we just do now, and get the mind
of Christ now as much as we can, I mean people want to rule and reign in Christ's kingdom
but what do you think you're going to be teaching, if you're ruling and reigning over all these
cities like the Bible says, if you're going to be ruling and reigning with Christ, he's
not writing a new book, it's going to be this one, this is going to be the instruction manual
for the millennium, you might as well learn it now, you might as well receive the knowledge
and instruction now, that's going to require effort, we're going to have to do, and if
we do all these things as it says there, and the God of peace shall be with you, as I started
out saying this morning, everybody wants the peace, everyone wants God's peace, but
we saw the prerequisites that we have to learn, that we have to receive, that we have to do
the things that God has instructed us to do to receive it, you know Paul set us an example
by the things we have heard and seen in him, we can look to Paul, we can see the example
that we see in scripture, but it's up to us to learn and to receive these things, that
we might do them, and when we do them, then we have the God of peace with us, go ahead
and turn to John chapter 13 and we'll close there, John chapter 13, see we have to learn,
we're the ones that have to receive, we're the ones that have to do, but we have a great
promise that Paul gave us, that if we will learn, that if we will receive, that if we
will do these things, the God of peace would be with us, and that's a great promise.
Bible says in John 13, look at verse 15, for I have given you an example that ye should
do as I have done to you, this is Christ speaking, he says verily, verily I say unto you, the
servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent
him.
If ye know these things, right, if ye know these things, you're happy, you know, it says
if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
It's one thing to know, it's one thing to know the Bible, it's one thing to know what's
in here, it's another thing to do it.
If we want peace, if we want the happiness, then we must do what we have learned and received
and heard and seen.
Let's pray.