If you have a look there in Philippians chapter four, verse number seven,
Philippians chapter four verse seven, it says and the peace of God
which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. The title of the sermon
tonight is the peace of God and this is the fruit of the spirit
part three. Okay we're going through the fruits of the spirit. I'll just
quickly read to you from Galatians 5 22.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
we've gone through that. Now peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. So we're looking at the fruit
of peace tonight. Okay the peace of God
is what's important. Now we're going to come back to Philippians chapter four
later on in the sermon but I really want you guys to turn
right now to John chapter 14 with me please.
John chapter 14. Please turn there.
Now peace is called the fruit of the spirit
for a reason. Okay for a real reason. This is one fruit of the spirit
that you just consistently see in the word of God
that the only way you can attain this peace from God is through the holy
spirit. The only way you can attain it is by
walking in the spirit. So we're going to be doing a bit of a Bible study
today and we're just going to see the consistency
that we see in the scriptures first of all. But John chapter 14 verse 25,
John chapter 14 verse 25, Christ speaking about him
leaving his disciples and what did he promise is going to, who's going to
come when he leaves? That was going to be the holy ghost.
It's going to be the holy spirit. Look at verse 25 there, John 14 25.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you,
but the comforter. Who is the comforter?
Jesus tells us which is the holy ghost. Now look if the holy ghost is given the
title of comforter, what do you think is going to do to
our lives? It's going to provide comfort. All right
and wouldn't you say if you've been given comfort
then you are at peace. Okay you're given
the peace of God. Let's keep reading there verse 26, but the comforter which
is the holy ghost whom the father will send in my name
he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance
whatsoever I have said unto you. And verse 27 look
Jesus says peace I leave with you at my peace I give unto you
not as the world giveth give I unto you
let not your heart be troubled neither let it be
afraid. Now verse 27 is awesome because he tells us
the peace that that peace does not come from the world.
You know if you're truly seeking peace in life you're not going to find it in
this this world in this sinful world no.
Okay this sinful world like it says in verse 27 will
give you troubles the sinful world will make you afraid
and the peace that Jesus Christ wants to give us
is going to comfort us in trouble.
It's going to alleviate those fears that we go through life in. Okay
and he says look I leave you peace. Why is he leaving them peace?
Because he's telling them look when I leave the comforter is coming
he's going to give you that peace he's going to give you that confidence in
my peace I give unto you. Okay and that once
again is the comforter if you leave it within the
context of what he's been speaking there spoken there.
So the peace of Christ is the fact that the Holy Spirit would come
indwell our lives and and develop these fruits in the spirit
so long as we walk in the spirit. Okay but if we're seeking peace in this
world we're going to be left with the troubles with the fears that the world
gives us. So I just want to show you there the
consistency that we see in the Bible. Turn to John chapter 16 now just two
chapters over. John 16 verse 33. John 16 verse
33
and this is again consistent with what we saw in John 14 but it says here
these things I have spoken unto you that ye
might have peace. Jesus Christ wants us to live lives
where we have peace okay peace in him peace in this world but look it says
here in the world ye shall have
tribulation. Hey you're going to have problems in
this world there's going to be persecutions
quite often when Christ speaks of tribulations it's not just the troubles
of this world but quite often it's the persecution
that comes by being someone that's a follower of Christ
okay but you say well Jesus you just told us you give us peace you'll you
want us to be peaceful now you're guaranteeing us tribulation
what in the world hey look we can have peace
even in the face of tribulation because look what it says there
but be of good cheer I have overcome
the world so even if we're going through troubles the struggles of life
God wants us to be of good cheer hey that's that's fruit of the
spirit number two joy cheer I told you some of these
things overlap you cannot have joy in life unless you
first have got the peace of God in your life
okay you truly can't have joy until you have peace
all right so these things a lot of these fruits do come together
but Jesus is telling us look even in the face of tribulation you will have
tribulation some people think that peace will
come if I don't have problems no Jesus says even in the face of
problems you can still have the peace of God
okay so now go to uh where can I get to turn to next go to
Galatians please Galatians chapter 6 go to Galatians
chapter 6 for me and I'm going to read to you from
Romans 14 17 you guys go to Galatians 6 I'm going
to read to you from Romans 14 17 Jesus said for the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink pay attention to that
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink all right so if you remember
when I taught about the kingdom of God
how it comes in three phases if it's not meat and drink
it's not talk it's not a literal kingdom
okay it's not a physical kingdom because we know in the millennium and
in the new heavens and the new earth we are going to be eating
and drinking and feasting and celebrating with the Lord
okay so it's not meat and drink meaning that it's the first
phase of that kingdom you know the spiritual kingdom as it were
that we enter by salvation okay so the kingdom of God is not meat and drink
it's salvation but then it says but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost it says
okay the only way you're going to have that peace
is in the Holy Ghost the only way someone can have peace
is to be saved to have that spiritual kingdom in them
but it doesn't just say peace it says but righteousness
and that's uh if you look at the fruits of the spirit one of them is
goodness that's very similar to righteousness
okay and peace that's another fruit and joy it's another fruit
in the Holy Ghost I just want to show you how consistent the Bible is
the only way you're going to develop these fruits in your life the only
way you're going to be that happy joyful person
that person with love that person with peace is if you maintain
a walk in the spirit maintain a walk in the Holy Ghost
you guys are in Galatians 6 look at verse 15
Galatians 6 verse 15 for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
avail of anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature
hey look the the uh circumcised represents the Jew
the uncircumcised there represents the Gentile but this is talking about
the physical flesh it's talking about that old man
that we we unfortunately have to deal with okay but notice that in Christ
Jesus what's important is the new creature
okay that's the new man that's the spirit
all right and then look at verse 16 but
and as many as walk according to this rule
what rule according to what rule according to the rule of the new
creature this is just another way of saying
walk in the spirit you know walk according to the rule of the new
creature but as many as walk according to this
rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the
Israel of God you see peace can only come
by walking in the spirit this is why you know the Bible
yeah this is you know it's it's it's just said over and over and over
the only way you're going to get this virtue of peace is by being in
the spirit and uh just one more verse if you
guys can turn to Romans 8 please Romans 8 Romans 8
Romans 8 verse 5 Romans 8 Romans 8 verse 5
for they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit
the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death
but to be spiritually minded look at this
is life and peace all right if you seek to walk in the
flesh to walk according to the flesh or
those that do not have the spirit of God
their life will lead them to death you know for the wages of sin
is death you know the only thing you can get out of this flesh
without salvation without the spirit of God is a sinful
life that will lead you to death but God wants us to have
life and and a life that is abundance
okay and part of that is to have the peace
life and peace look at verse seven because the carnal mind
is enmity against God hey you know what your flesh
your carnal mind is an enemy of God you know it's a war against God it
wants you to sin it doesn't want you in church it
doesn't want you reading the bible it doesn't want you developing the
fruits of the spirit it's an enmity against God and since
for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed
can be if you want peace in your life guys
it's not going to come walking after the flesh
it's not going to be seeking the carnal things of this world
it's going to come by walking in the spirit by being
led of the spirit you know so please you know
that's just a core teaching of the bible
you're never going to have peace in the flesh
now what i'll get you guys to do please is turn to
let's see turn to the book of daniel please daniel chapter 10 i've got a
lot of verses obviously a bit of a bible study today
got a lot of verses but i won't get to turn to all of them but you guys
go to daniel chapter 10
you see when people think about peace what's the opposite of peace
a lot of people think and rightly so that the opposite of peace is war
okay and we just saw there that the carnal mind is at enmity against God
it's at war against God so that's true in a sense
okay you know and when people when there are nations at war
you know it people are seeking to make peace agreements
to bring peace into the world and that's a reality of life
but you know you yourself you're not necessarily going to be at war at
you know all the time you know necessarily against
against the world against the forces of wickedness at all time
but peace another opposite of peace is fear is being afraid and if you're
someone that is afraid of certain things
that means you're missing out on the peace that God wants to give us
okay i'm not talking about the fear of God that's righteous we also have a
fear of God we have a fear of God that's going to
help us overcome the fear of man okay but we also need the peace that
comes by fearing God all right so i just want you to
notice this well i'll read to you from judges 622 very quickly
because quite often in the bible you'll have events
when people are faced with an angel of God
all right and and what do they feel quite often they're afraid aren't they
they're fearful i'll just read to you from judges 622
this is about Gideon it says and when Gideon perceived
that he was an angel of the Lord Gideon said alas O Lord God
for because i have seen an angel of the Lord face to face
and the Lord said unto him peace be unto thee
fear not thou shalt not die what's the opposite of fear in that
context it's peace God wants to give Gideon
peace yes you've seen an angel of the Lord
but don't be afraid you know i come here bringing you peace
you guys are in daniel chapter 10 verse 18 daniel chapter 10
verse 18 now this is daniel it says then they came again and touched me
one like the appearance of a man and he strengthened me this is an angel
that daniel saw that had an appearance of a man there
in verse 19 and said o man greatly beloved fear not
peace be unto thee you see there again the the
the comparison between fearing and peace peace be unto thee be strong
yea be strong and when he had spoken unto me i was strengthened and said
let my Lord speak for thou hast strengthened me
you see peace will give you spiritual strength
peace will help you overcome fear that you can face in this life
and i'll just quickly read to you from john chapter 20 verse 19
and this is when after Christ's resurrection remember when
the disciples were gathered together it says in john 2019
then the same day and evening being the first day of the week
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled
for fear of the Jews you see the disciples were gathered together
they stayed inside the house because they were afraid of what the Jews
would do to them after they had seen they had crucified their Lord God
then it says came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them
peace be unto you see Jesus comes in the in the face of these disciples
fear in the Jews he says look i come and bring you peace
you don't need to be afraid all right now
you see fear this is a a feeling that we all
have in our lives we're all going to go through through fears in our lives
you know when you're a child you know you might feel the darkness
you know my kids quite a few of them don't want to go to sleep with all
the lights off we usually leave a light on somewhere in the house you know
because you know there's a fear of the darkness usually that's something when
they're young and then they grow out of it when
they get older you know but you know a child has
certain fears and then as adults we have other types of fears you know as
men we might fear that we don't have the
ability to provide for our own home you know what if our family go without
food or and the things that they need you know or maybe we have fears of
raising our children you know to to not be not to love the Lord
fears that they might go into the world and things like that we all we all you
know throughout life you're always going to face
different types of fears you know and unfortunately for the unbelieving world
they have a fear of death now we shouldn't fear death
okay we know we we got we die we're just with the Lord forever
we're gonna we're gonna be more alive than we've ever been before you
know we don't need to be afraid of that
but fear is a part of life fear is something that we're going to go
through you see fear stops you from
accomplishing things that otherwise you know you would be able to do
you know a lot of people don't go soul winning for example
because they have a fear of what you know you know
what people will do at the door i'll give you you know one quick example
uh you know one of the men that's in my church in sydney he was
attending another church and the pastor he was writing the gospel
he was solid on it but he never did any door to door
soul winning you know and and this man was trying
to get his pastor to go out there and he told me the pastor was afraid
it was like saying but don't people attack you don't people yell at you
don't they tell you it's like yeah sometimes but you see
this pastor you know this is supposed to supposed to be a leader in his
church was too afraid you know fear was
stopping him from going out and preaching the
gospel which is the first works you know one of the basic things and
and um you know sometimes it might not be
the fear of rejection but it might be the fear of not being
able to answer questions well one of the first things that prevented me from
going out soul winning you know in my christian life was afraid
that i'll be asked questions that i don't know of
you know i was like man i've got to make sure i give i can give an answer
to the atheists i've got to make sure i can give an
answer to the muslims i've got to make sure i can give an answer
to the roman catholics and etc etc etc and you start thinking i've got to have
all this knowledge before i go out there in case i get asked the question
and you know there was a fear of that fear of not having an answer
and that stopped me from going soul winning earlier in my life you know
only to find that was a fear that wasn't
grounded in anything you barely get those kinds of questions that come your
way and you know what when those
questions come you learn at the door you know you love this question came
you do your research next time you're better prepared so
what you're there to preach the gospel
you know the gospel you can go out there preach it they ask you a
question you don't know say well look how about we tackle that question
afterwards let me finish the presentation of the
gospel and then usually you won't even get to that question anyway
right if you can get through the gospel but you know fear will stop
you achieving things that god wants you to do there's the
fear of failure i'll just quickly read to you from
proverbs 24 16 it says for a just man what's a just man
a righteous man someone that's in the lord someone that's walking in the lord
for a just man fall off seven times and rise up up again but the wicked shall
fall into mischief hey look we shouldn't be afraid of
failure okay if we have no fear if we're
seeking to serve the lord we may fail sometimes we may fall a
few times okay but the just man gets up again
seven times okay failing once is not going to get
you down you're going to just get back up again
and continue on okay but that that you need
you know the fear to be removed in order for you to be able to do that
okay we shouldn't fear failure you know if we fail we just need to make
sure we get you know why should we should fear
is that when we fail we don't get up again that's that's what the wicked
do you know the wicked shall fall into
mischief and they won't get out of that
but the righteous man the just man will get back up again when he fails
all right now i'll get you guys to turn to philippians 4 please
philippians chapter 4 where we where we started reading from
philippians chapter 4 you say pastor kevin yep i understand now
i know what the source of peace is you know it's in christ it's in god
it's a fruit of the spirit if i walk in the spirit then i know
you know that that uh that fruit is available to me peace
but how do i get it you know how do i get that piece i know where it's i
know where the source is but how do i get it well it's covered
here in philippians chapter 4 philippians chapter 4 verse 6
philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and actually
before i read verse 6 i'll just read to you um
the end of verse 5 there it says the lord is at hand the lord
is at hand what does that mean i've heard pre-tribulation teachers say
well this proves a pre-tribulation rapture
the lord is at hand you can come at any moment
no no that's not what it's about keep it within the context the lord is at hand
meaning he's close why you know if you need the lord he's
available to you he's close he's not far you know if you need him he's
close he's at hand you can reach out and touch him as
it were but look he's at hand why verse 6 be careful
now when the context of careful here
is to be full of care full of worries full of fears
so let's have a look at it with that mindset it says um
be careful for nothing hey don't be full of care don't be full of fear
all right be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known unto god how do you overcome
a life full of cares and and fears you go
to the lord in prayer just a very basic truth
you take your supplications you you you bring your needs before the lord
but you go with thanksgiving as well for the things that god has given you
remind yourself how god has blessed you you know the great gifts that is
given you take those things to god in prayer
that's how you overcome fear that's how you overcome the cares of life
is you go to god and you leave it in god's hands
let's keep reading there in verse number seven
look at this so once you've taken your prayer request to god
and leave them there please leave them with god i've said it before
and i make the same mistake i pray to god about it
and then i pick him back up again and i put him back on me and i'm still
worried i'm still carrying out full of care no that's the wrong way
you you take it to the lord you leave it you know for god to take care of for
you look and then verse number seven and the
peace of god that's what we want we want the peace of god and the
peace of god which passeth all understanding shall keep it's like
god you know to protect shall keep your hearts
and minds through christ jesus what a promise
and if we take our cares our worries to the lord that he
will give us his peace okay this is how you know that you've left
your worries and your cares with the lord
when you finish praying do you have peace
and if we're honest say sometimes no i take it to the lord and i'm still
worried i'm still concerned then you you haven't received the
peace of god meaning you've not left those worries and concerns in the lord's
hands but there's been other times you know
and usually these are the times i remember the most is when i'm worried
you know i may have even you know shed tears
for some concern or something and then i take it to the lord and i
and now i feel like this huge burdens of my back like it's in god's hands
god's in control he's going to take care of it and that's when you have
the peace of god you realize god knows he's got in his
controllers you know that's the peace of god that you need to be searching
for now make sure when you pray you leave
it in god's hands and you receive the peace that only
god can give but you know what we need to maintain
that peace once we have it we need to make
sure we maintain that peace in our lives and let's
keep reading there verse number eight this is so important okay so
important to find peace in your life it says
finally brethren whatsoever things are true
whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just
whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things
are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise
think on these things hey don't don't think on
don't be full of cares don't be full of worries
don't keep thinking about how wicked and how evil and this
how this world is you know there's a reason why i don't turn on the news
okay i don't care anymore because you turn on the news
and all you see is the crimes and the and just how
bad people are the murders the rapes the kidnappings
the disasters you know and when you're watching the news day in day out for
half an hour whatever you do you know you're bringing on the fears
of the world but look god says the things that are just pure true lovely
good report think on these things you know it's good to go out and and
enjoy the nature that god has created you know we've got
some beautiful beaches here we have some beautiful
rainforest you know just just go out and see the things that are lovely
it's going to give you peace you know there was a time in my life when i
was really into conspiracy theories you know and i still kind of am a little
bit but you know back then i'd look and i really want to know
you know it'd be like this rabbit hole that you'd go down and
and you'd see the wickedness of this world and it was really interesting
like you know you do that it's really interesting to see just how
wicked this world is and it shouldn't surprise us because god
tells us you know you know that that there are conspiracies in this world
but what i found when i when i dug in too deep
when i went when when mentally i was just thinking on the wickedness of
this world i realized i was losing the peace of god
you know it was taking up my mind i started to get depressed and i used to
get i got you know anxious and
and uh you know worried you know am i being
you know spied on you know uh people maybe maybe i am
but who cares you know christ said here over he's overcome
the world okay there's going to be tribulation yes but god wants us to
have peace even knowing we ought to we
already know the world is wicked we already know that satan is the prince
of this world as it were okay so we don't we don't
need to spend all our day all our time
looking at the wickedness of this world and you know just be aware of it
it's good but seek the things that are good
and lovely fuel your mind these things
that's how you're going to have the peace of god let's keep reading there in
verse number nine those things which you have both
learned and received and heard and seen me do
and the god of peace shall be with you okay so how do we have how do we
attain peace our cares and worries in prayer
we leave it in god's hands we have the peace of god now what do we do
we think on things that are lovely things that are true the things that
are righteous we think of the things of god
you know and uh that will maintain you know the fellowship with god
who's the god of peace in you that's how you're gonna have a peaceful life
okay turn to uh let's have a look turn to
ephesians chapter 2 please ephesians chapter 2
how else can we have peace
you guys turn to ephesians 2 which is not really at this point that i'm
looking at here but how else can we have peace you
you know in my experience believers christians
we don't pray generally speaking we don't pray for our government
we don't pray for our politicians generally speaking
you know because we don't like them we don't really want to pray for them
you know because especially you know when we see them bringing in laws
that are contrary to the word of god you know if anything maybe you're
praying for the destruction i mean maybe that's how far you go okay but
look i'll just read to you from first timothy chapter 2 verse 1
it says i exhort therefore that first of all
supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all
men for kings for all and for all that
are in authority say no way i don't want to pray for
them says that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty you want peace
god says pray for the authorities pray for the kings
pray for the politicians pray for the government
all right say what are we praying for we're praying for
peace is what we're praying for okay well what i mean by that is
we're not praying for their peace we're not praying that they succeed
and have a great political career no we're praying that
they would maintain you know religious freedom in this earth
in this nation so we can continue coming to church
we can continue reading our bibles we can continue going out door to door
preaching the gospel you know that the things that god commands of us
would not become unlawful would not become crimes
because here's the thing where if the government made
the commands of god unlawful let's say it was a crime to go soul winning
do we listen to the government or do we listen to the lord we've got to listen
to the lord don't we but if we listen to the lord you
know you're going to face persecution in that environment
you know and you might be arrested you know you that might all happen
and so you you lose the peace that you have in this nation
hey you want to maintain religious freedoms you know to serve the lord
we ought to be praying that these politicians would have a fear of god
okay when they pass laws it would not be contrary to the laws of god
you know so we can serve him in righteousness
so please keep that in mind we've got to pray for our politicians
okay and it's not how you think of it but
that we would be able to live peaceful lives serving the lord
now you guys are in effusions 214 let's talk about jesus and one of
his names one of his titles is the prince of peace isn't it the
prince of peace
jesus christ came and brought peace in effusions 214
speaking about the differences between the old testament jews
you know israel of the old testament and the gentiles the he the nations
whose god was not the god of israel we'll just pick it up from verse 14
it says for he speaking of jesus for he is our peace who have made
both one and have broken down the middle wall of partition between us
hey we can be numbered amongst the old testament saints
amongst abraham isaac you know moses and king david all the great men
of god that middle wall partition has been
broken because christ has come and brought peace
between the jews and the gentiles in christ in christ
all right 15 verse 15 having abolished his flesh the enmity
even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances ordinances
for to make in himself of twain one new man look so making
peace okay you want to make you want to have peace
between you know israel and the gentiles it's only found
in one new man okay in christ jesus as it were
all right in in that one body of christ now this is what frustrates me about
my fellow brethren my fellow independent
baptists that believe in dispensationalism
to the point where they say the jews are some other group of people of the
lord okay you know and they're trying to
to uh love the jews as it were you know to to heighten their standard
in the world you know thinking they're doing a righteous thing
but what they're doing is breaking or or re
recreate and rebuilding that middle war partition
say well god has two peoples why when christ has taken down that wall
and he's brought peace so making peace by doing that
meaning when you build that war wall up again and you say there are two
peoples of god what are you doing you're removing the
peace that christ has brought in you're bringing in enmity you're making
enemies you know because of your racist remarks and yes it is racism
when you favor one nation or one people above another
okay verse 16 ephesians 2 16 and that he might reconcile both unto
god in one body by the cross having slain the enmity thereby and
came and preached peace to you which were far off and to
them that were nigh for through him we both have access by
one spirit unto the father now therefore ye are no more strangers
and foreigners but fellow citizens i love it we're the
saints and of the household of god hey we're
fellow citizens with the old testament saints with
every believer of every nation you know god came and brought jesus christ
came and brought peace between the jews and the
gentiles okay and it can only be found in christ jesus that's where the
peace is found all right now i'll get you guys to
turn to let's have a look turn to colossians chapter 1 please
colossians chapter 1
colossians chapter 1 and uh this isn't i i've made it a separate point
but it's kind of the same point okay but
god obviously jesus christ came and brought peace between god and man
between god and man what an amazing thing
because we already saw that the carnal mind we really saw that the flesh
is that enmity against god is that war against god
okay and um let's uh you guys turn to colossians one
and i'm just going to read to you from romans 10 15
it's a familiar passage to many of you it says and how shall they preach
except they be sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things
it's a beautiful thing that the gospel we preach is known also as the
gospel of peace and the reason why it's known
as the gospel of peace is because it brings peace between god
and man okay you believe the gospel you now
have peace with god you find peace with god you guys are
in colossians 1 look at verse 19 for he pleased the father that in
him in jesus should all fullness dwell and having made
peace how through the blood of his cross
so you know it's just the amazing thought just
you know thinking of christ on the cross the torture
the shedding of blood that he went through the pain and suffering
that he went through but he does that for peace
you know something so vile something you know i probably wouldn't even be
able to look and see a man crucified on the cross now
let alone jesus who was whipped and the crown of thorns and all that you
know but it was for the peace it says by
him in verse 20 by him to reconcile all things unto himself
by him i say whether they they be things in earth or things in heaven
and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works yet now have you reconciled
hey we were enemies of god and he's reconciled us through his blood
verse 22 in the body of his flesh through death
to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sights
wow what a peace that god has given us that we would be
wholly unblameable unreproveable faultless as it were to stand before
god in the righteousness of christ
so christ has come and brought peace between god and man and
i do want to finish up on on a on one key thought here though
please turn to james chapter three james chapter three
because i think we all want peace you know we all want life that
we're without fear we're without you know hardships and
and and fightings and warfares
so
but just like anything with the fruits of the spirit like when we spoke about
love that's not to say we shouldn't have
hatred all right and just when we spoke about joy
you know it's not to say that you know we should rejoice in the things of
this world or rejoice in things that are sinful
there's always something to go with these fruits that you need to also
have into consideration because one thing you need to
understand is that we shouldn't strive for peace at all costs
okay we shouldn't strive for peace at all
costs okay let me let's look at this in james chapter three verse 14
james chapter three verse 14
now we'll start off here but it says but if you have bitter
envy and strife in your heart so if you have bitter envy and strife
you're obviously lacking peace right you're lacking the peace of god there
it says glory not and lie not against the truth
this wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish
okay but look at this for where envy and strife is
there is confusion in every evil work actually it's verse 17 here it says but
the wisdom that is from above is first pure
look at this pay attention to these words please but the wisdom that is from
above god's wisdom is first pure
then peaceable there is something that is more important that's a higher
priority in god's eyes than peace what is that purity
things that are pure okay the righteousness
of the truth of the word of god the pure
words of god come first before peace okay i'll read i'll read the rest of you
later but i just want to explain this to you
okay because a lot of pastors a lot of churches
in the effort to find peace amongst all men
will not preach certain passages in the bible
okay because they know if i preach this if i even
read this it's going to cause people to leave my church
it's going to cause people to have arguments it's going to cause people to
be confused or whatever okay but no something more important
than finding peace amongst men is that we have the purity that comes
from the wisdom above okay purity righteousness that what is
true must come first first pure
then peaceable all right so let's take you know the homosexuals
all right a good example of that all right so
if i you know a lot of pastors they want to have peace amongst the members
they want to allow the homeless to come into the church they're just going to
hide the truth they're not going to preach what's
pure what's true and what's right okay but no god says what's pure
must come first you preach what you must preach
okay if that causes division so be it
if it causes problems so be it pureness
purity has a higher priority in god's eyes
than peace so teach what's pure teach the whole counsel of god
then worry about the peace all right find peace afterwards
but don't neglect what's pure and what's true
okay so always these things these truths of the spirit
must always be put in the right areas of life okay
and we see here in this verse here in verse 17 we'll keep reading
but the wisdom that is from above is first pure then
peaceable gentle and easy to be entreated
full of mercy and good fruits without partiality without hypocrisy
and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
of them that make peace so we have another sort of a
another kind of list of the fruits of the spirit there okay
but what's pure what's right must come first
okay it's not peace at all costs okay not at the cost of purity
okay you know another example maybe just uh
you know day-to-day example you know you might have mates that are unsaved
work colleagues that are unsaved you know they might tell the dirty joke
or whatever or they might invite you out for a you know to the
bar you know to have have some alcohol
with them or something to have a beer you know and you might say you know
what to find peace with these people i'm just gonna laugh at their dirty
jokes i'm just gonna go to the bar i won't even drink i'll just i'll just
go there you know i'll find peace with these
people no first purity please okay keep yourself
pure first if that means there's no peace then
so be it you know you have the right priorities in place
you know so yeah please just have that as your mindset
you know when i'm finding peace am i first being pure
am i being true to the word of god first
and this is why jesus says in matthew 1034 he says
think not that i am come to send peace on earth i am come not to send
peace but a sword right because what's pure
and what's right will cause divisions and the context
of that is even divisions within your own family okay when you
stand for the truth of god's word it's going to cause problems you know
you tell people in your own family show them
passages of the death penalty you show them passages
about the reprobate you show them passages where god darkens
the hearts heart of the hearts of people and blinds the eyes of people
that they cannot believe you know they cannot receive it because
they're trying to find peace with everybody but no what what's pure
must come first okay don't neglect the word of god
just to find peace even in your own family
let's uh let's turn to genesis 15 please genesis 15
i'm near the end now guys but i just want to show you the first mention of
the word peace in the bible i think it's relevant the first
mention here it's in genesis 15 verse 13
like many things that are first mentioned i found in the book of genesis
this is god prophesying about abraham always telling abraham about his future
as it were but in genesis 15 verse 13
it says genesis 15 13 and he said unto abram
no vashurati that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs
and shall serve them and they shall flick them 400 years
god prophesized about their that israel the children of israel will be
taken in bondage in egypt and then it says in verse 14
and also that nation whom they shall serve will i judge
and afterwards shall they come out with great substance
but look it says and thou shall go to thy fathers
in peace but thou shall be buried in a good
old age and you know what one of the things i think we all kind of want in
life is to get to our old age to get to
the time we know we're going to pass on
and we pass on with peace you know and part of that is knowing
where we're going of course you know i mean i've heard
stories of people that have seen their loved
ones die they've seen literally the ghost leave
the body as it were not physically you know but you know they've seen
that point of death and those that are without christ
those that don't know eternity a lot of the stories i hear
is that there's a fear in them there's a fear in their eyes
you know i've even heard stories and i don't know if these are true but
there's so many of them where people start screaming in fear
it's almost like they're ready they're already there they're really looking at
hell and they know where their eternal
destination is you know because they're missing out
on the peace that comes from god now i want to get to the end of life
and have peace not just peace of where i'm going i know that i have that
peace already that peace that i've lived my life for the lord that i've
served him faithfully you know that i'm going to when i
stand before god is not going to deny me you know he's going to to praise me
thou good and faithful servant that's what i want to see in my life
and we see god you know tells abraham here yeah you can have peace
into your last days into your old age you're going to have that peace
you know and uh peace at death i think that's something
we all kind of really want to strive for and i'll just read to you from
psalm 37 37 it says mark that perfect man
doesn't mean to be perfect it needs to be righteous made whole
someone that is saved and says and behold the upright
for the end of that man is peace hey we should be people that even in
the face of tribulation maybe even at the point of of uh of
death as it were you know we should be
people that are known to go into eternity with peace okay the
peace that comes from god please turn to first peter
chapter three first peter chapter three i want to
finish on this first peter chapter three verse eight
first peter chapter three verse eight
i think it's a good passage to end on it says
first peter chapter three verse eight says finally
be ye all of one mind having compassion one of another love as
brethren be pitiful be courteous not
rendering evil for evil or railing for railing
but contrarized blessing knowing that you're caught
there unto cord that you should inherit a blessing
hey we should strive to have peace amongst the church
be of one mind have the mind of christ you know
if someone rails against you don't render rail for railing evil for evil
you know seek to be have peace in the church verse number 10
for he that will love life and see good days
let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile
let him eschew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensure
okay seek peace and ensue it now that word ensure if you're not
that familiar with it's it's very similar to the word
pursue okay when you pursue something what are you doing you're chasing
after it okay you're chasing after that thing
but usually when you talk about pursuing something usually you're chasing
after it uh for a harmful reason usually when
you're pursuing something you know when the police is pursuing
you it's because they want to uh you know give you that ticket or
whatever it is right something something that's harmful but the
word ensue and sewer is to follow after you know to attain
you know seek to attain seek to hold on to this thing
verse number 11 let's look at it again let him assure evil
hey get away from the harm you know cast it away do good
let him seek peace god wants us to seek the peace the fruit of the spirit
that comes by walking after him and ensure he wants us to take it
hold on to it follow after it this is a key thing
in our lives you know that god seeks for us to do
but again brethren just one more time you're not going to find peace in the
pleasures of this world it's not there okay all this world's
going to give you our troubles it's always going to give you your
fears if you've got fears in your life right now
you know you can overcome those fears you can have the peace of god
you know if you walk in the spirit and you ask this god to please
you know take those things take those thoughts please
you know look after those fears that i have
you know uh just right now we're looking for a house you guys know
we're looking for a larger house for our family there's a few available
but we put our offer in i think i give a good offer
i give i put in more than they ask you know i sell paving
three months in advance you know and then
as soon as they see the 10 kids as soon as they hear about it it's like
your application has been rejected all right and sometimes you look at a
house and we've gone with christina we looked at some and we set our hearts on
it's like oh man this would be so cool
you know and then when you get rejected it's like a crush it's like oh
man you know but you know what it even
through this process and this isn't a big issue but
there's peace you know i know the lord's going to provide for us
you know and the reason for that you know when i moved up here to start
this church in queensland if you guys remember
we got our house a week before the church started
a week before the church started you know i mean i could have been afraid i
could have been fearful say god where am i going to rest my
head you know what's going to happen are we going to move
ready got everything organized everything's packed where are we going
to go lord but for some reason during the you
know we had a peace we just knew that god was going to
sort it out because i knew god wanted me here i knew god wanted this church
to exist you know so i knew if he's going to
you know if this is a work that god wants then he's going to provide that
house it's going to work out now i don't know if we'll ever get the
house that we're looking for right now the bigger house
nevertheless we have the one we've got if that's what we're left with
we have peace in our family you know we're comfortable we have the peace of
god but if god has something else in mind
for us then so be it that's what it means to be at peace
you know even when you can't attain the things that you're trying to
attain you just know that god's in charge
god's taking care of her you know i don't have to worry about it
i'll focus on the things that are lovely the things that are true you know
i'll focus on those things i'll let god deal with that with the trials in
life because he's already overcome the world
all right let's pray