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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You You You Good morning and welcome. Let's find our seats take our song books to 263 Song number two six three Verily verily 263 on the first You 263 on the second You Oh 263 on the last You Good morning, we want to welcome you to very Baptist Church this morning. We're glad you're with us Let's go ahead and begin the service with the word of prayer and let's bow our heads together Heavenly Father Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today Lord We pray that you would bless everything that's happens today here in the service Lord We pray that you bless the music the preaching that we would draw closer to you as a result of what we hear today in Jesus name we pray amen Turn to start 422 For to to Thou didst leave thy throne 422 on the first You On the second Oh Oh Oh Let's sing it out on the last Oh Amen all right well Let's take our bulletins this morning And we'll look at some announcements if you did not receive a bulletin on your way in just raise your hand and one of our Ostrus can get one for you If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we will get one for you the verse this week Proverbs 12 and verse 20 Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil but to the counselors of peace is joy That's a good verse that we like that if you open up your bulletin You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m And we are glad that you are here of course on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m We'd love to for you to join us tonight for the evening service The evening service is different than the morning service different songs that are sung different sermon That's preached just one more opportunity in God's house with God's people Under the preaching of the Word of God and then of course our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m We'd love for you to join us on Wednesday night If you look at our soul winning times our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m And then we have additional sewing times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m As well and we'd love for you to join us for any of these soul winning times soul winning Of course is when we go out in the community We knock doors We invite people to church and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested If you're a first-time guest if it's your first time here at ready Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us We have a gift We'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building This morning if you go out our main foyer if you've got our secondary foyer You'll see a little table set up and on that table. You'll see these little gift bags Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have The one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made it's called being Baptist. It's very well made very interesting We think you'll like it and we want to give this to you as a gift So, please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out And if you are a guest we ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card Which is inserted in your bulletin If you need a pen just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. And we'd like to have a record of your attendance We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that So, please take a moment to fill the card out when we're done with the announcements We're gonna sing a song when we're done singing We're gonna receive the offering and as the often play goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate or you can hand It to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out If you look at our bulletin there, we of course are a family integrated church What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the church service We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service So if you need some privacy We would encourage you to use the mother baby rooms and the daddy rooms all of the rooms have comfortable seating You have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it If you're not sure where the mother baby rooms are You can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of our church building It'll show you where the mother baby rooms are where the daddy room is. I'll show you where the restrooms are So, please make sure you use those rooms as needed If you have a child that's being distracting during the service or if you need some privacy if you need to be baptized Please let us know we'd love to baptize you on your communication card You can check off that you would like information about baptism and we will follow up with you and talk to you about that If you look at the announcements and upcoming events We are continuing this morning our series We started last Sunday morning called the Christmas spirit and we're learning about how to get into the Christmas spirit last Sunday We learned about joy. And today we're going to continue that Series on Sunday mornings and then of course, we want to let you know about our cookies and hot chocolate Chocolate Event is on you're invited to the cookies and hot chocolate and in our fellowship call on Wednesday evening December 21st after the evening service so not this Wednesday, but next Wednesday There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer. So if you could bring cookies or dessert for the cookie fellowship That is on Wednesday, December 21st. We'll have a good time a fellowship after the midweek service So we encourage you to be here for that and then of course, we have our New Year's Eve service coming up on Saturday, December 31st at 7 p.m. and This is something we do every year. We'll have a potluck and so it'll be a good time a fellowship We'll also watch a film together and we'll pray in the New Year If you stay till midnight, if you make it till midnight, we'll pray in the New Year So we'll have popcorn and a popcorn machine. We'll watch a movie have a potluck It'll be a fun time if you're looking for something Clean to do Christian to do on New Year's Eve We encourage you to be with us for that And and of course if you're just gonna go to bed earlier than do that too That's fine Nine chapters a day challenge is coming up and we hope that you are getting ready for the nine chapters a day challenge Every year in January. We call January our Bible month here at Verity Baptist Church and every year We challenge our church family to read nine chapters a day Every day in the month of January now if you take the challenge if you accomplish the challenge What you will do is you will read the entire New Testament in the month of January and we've got plaques in our foyer If you take a look at our foyer We've got plaques for every year Our church has done this every January since we started and you'll see that Every year the people that meet the tasks that accomplish the goal they get their name put on a nice plaque So in your bulletin, you've got the nine chapters a day Chart there and we want you to just start Psyching yourself up for this. All right, making sure that you're ready to do this now on the chart there There's a two there's a couple different ways. You can read through the nine chapters You can go you can do the straight through reading Which means you read nine chapters every day just in order Matthew 1 through 9 Matthew 10 through 18 and so forth Or you can do the split up reading which is still nine chapters every day but it's split up between The front of the New Testament and the end of the New Testament because the chapters at the end are shorter than the ones at The beginning so sometimes it's a more balanced reading where the straight one is a little harder at first But that's okay because it's January 1st You're motivated and then at the end it gets easier which so whichever way you want to do. It doesn't make a difference We just want you to read the Bible and want you to read the New Testament the month of January You'll notice that there's two grace period days there for you that you can use during the month But we hope that a lot of you will decide to take the nine chapters a day challenge and in your communication card There's a place for you to check off that you are accepting the challenge And we want to know that you are planning on reading nine chapters a day So, please make sure you check that off There's choir practice today at 5 p.m For the adults here in the auditorium and for the children at 515 in the playroom and we want you to be aware of the Holiday schedule the last Sunday of the month and the first Sunday of the year are Sunday our Sunday December 25th Which means that it's Christmas Day on a Sunday and then also New Year's Day not New Year's Eve But New Year's Day on a Sunday and we have a special holiday schedule. So our service is going to begin at 11 a.m We're gonna begin half an hour later on both of those days just to give you a little more time in the morning Of course on Christmas Day so you can open gifts and do whatever you need to do on Christmas Day and then on New Year's Day since you'll probably be up late the night before so we'll start a little later and then we're also going to have an earlier Afternoon service. So instead of having our evening service at 6 p.m. We're gonna have an afternoon service at 115 It's gonna be a short service Our goal is to be out of here by 2 p.m And we want to be able to give you the evening off especially on Christmas Day to have Christmas dinner or do whatever you need To do we will be providing a quick lunch for those of you staying for the second service in the fellowship hall on Both days and we're not putting on some Christmas meal for you. Okay, it's just gonna be sandwiches just to hold you over You do your Christmas meal at home We're just trying to hold you over for the church service and we don't want to cancel church You never want to cancel church. All right, and we definitely don't want to cancel church to celebrate the birth of Christ That's never made any sense to me at all, but we are trying to help you with that schedule So if you're staying for the second service Then we'll have lunch for you in the fellowship hall and the key word there is if you're staying All right, if you're not staying for the second service, then you can go get your own sandwich So upcoming cleaning crew you can check for your name there other things there for you to look at Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off replace them on silent during the service Not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of December Today is miss Victoria Nell Tesco's birthday December 11th So happy birthday to her and then tomorrow is brother Victor's Uniga's birthday December 12th brother Aldo's birthdays on December 13th and Miss Kim Borrello and Checho Pompa and Levi Taylor All have a birthday on December 17th and brother Scott and miss Lisa Sweet and have an anniversary on December 17th as well Praise report money matters. All those things are there for you to look at and don't forget about the Christmas gifts for Jesus There's an insert in your bulletin if you would like to as you're out and about Purchasing gifts for the holidays if you'd like to purchase something for the church There's a list here of things that we use on a regular basis There is a drop-off in the main foyer a Christmas gift for Jesus table there So, please make sure if you'd like to participate to purchase something off the list and you can drop it off in the foyer For the church, I think that's it for all the announcements So let's go ahead and take the chorus of the week, which is the other insert in your bulletin and we'll sing born to die upon Calvary Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first Oh Boy Good sing it out on the second in your course of the week on the second stanza Oh Oh Oh Oh On the last Oh Oh Oh Amen good singing we'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today Lord We pray that you bless the offering the gift and the giver We ask that you would meet with us as we take time to open up your word and study scripture together in Jesus name We pray amen You You You You You Turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 9 Isaiah chapter 9 If you do not have a Bible raise your hand international bring you one Isaiah chapter 9 we will read the entire chapter as their custom Isaiah chapter 9 just keep your hands up international bring you a Bible Isaiah chapter 9 the Bible reads Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of neptali and Afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea Beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them had the light shined Thou has multiplied the nation and not increased the joy They joy before thee according to the joy and harvest and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil For thou has broken the yoke of his burden and a staff of his shoulder The rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian for every battle the warrior is with confused noise and garments Rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor the mighty God the everlasting father the prince of peace of The increase of his government and peace there shall be no end Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this The Lord sent a word into Jacob and it hath lighted upon Israel and all the people shall know even a for him and the inhabitant of Samaria That say in the pride and stoutness of heart the bricks are falling down, but we will build with hewn stones The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of resin against him and join his enemies together The Syrians before and the Philistines behind and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still But the people turneth not unto him that smite at them neither. Do they seek the Lord of hosts therefore The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in one day The ancient and the honorable he is the head and the prophet that teacheth lies He is the tail for the leaders of this people cause them to err and they that are led of them are destroyed Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men neither shall he have mercy on the fatherless and widows for everyone is a hypocrite and an evil door and Every mouth speaketh folly for all this his anger is not turned away But his hand is stretched out still For wickedness burneth as a fire it shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest And they shall mounts up like the lifting up of smoke Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the Lord darkened and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire No, man shall spare his brother and he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry and he shall eat on the left hand And they shall not be satisfied. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm Manasseh Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh and they together shall be against Judah for all this his anger is not turned away But his hand is stretched out still let us pray Lord God Almighty. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to come together Please bless pastor bless the message. Let it bring glory and honor to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray amen Amen Alright, we're there in Isaiah chapter number nine And of course we are going through a brand new series We started last Sunday morning called the Christmas spirit and we are learning about the spirit of Christmas and how to get into the spirit of Christmas and we started Last week with this idea that as you think about Christmas and about the spirit of Christmas you Realize that there are some recurring themes when you think about Christmas or the attitude of Christmas and of course Oftentimes when you're looking at Christmas decorations or putting up Christmas decorations a lot of these themes Are displayed in those decorations things like joy. Peace. Hope goodwill. These are words that come up a lot regarding Christmas and the spirit of Christmas and what we are doing is we are studying from the Bible these different Attitudes regarding Christmas, of course We're in the Christmas season and we're learning about how to get into the Christmas spirit You're there in Isaiah chapter number nine and in verses number six and seven you find a passage of Scripture That's often referred to during the Christmas season because of the fact that it is a prophetic reference to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 9 and verse 6 the Bible says this for unto us a child is born unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor the mighty God the everlasting father I want you to notice this little phrase at the end of verse number six the Prince of Peace the Prince of Peace and this morning I want to preach to you on the subject of the spirit of peace and I want to speak on peace and the subject of peace from the Bible because peace is Something that is often referred to when we reference Christmas and we talk about the Christmas spirit here one of the most famous Christmas passages is Talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and of course it tells us that he will be called it gives us all these great titles Wonderful counselor the mighty God and of course that is a reference to deity the everlasting father And then we see this phrase the Prince of Peace. I want you to notice that the Bible calls Jesus the Prince of Peace and When you see that word Prince in the Bible it is often when you and I think of the word Prince we think of it as a title of Some sort of like a royal title and the Bible definitely uses the word in that capacity But oftentimes the word Prince is simply used as a positional phrase Meaning that it is the principle or the primary the first and here though. Jesus is the Prince of Peace I mean, we know that he's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords He's the Prince of Peace, but the word Prince there is actually a reference to the fact that he is the principle or the First or the source or the beginning of peace if you want peace you must begin with the principle or Principality or the Prince of Peace which is the Lord Jesus Christ notice there in verse number seven the Bible says of the increase of his government and this is of course a reference to the millennial reign and The the not only in verse six we have the first coming of Christ the first advent in verse seven There's a reference to the second coming or the second advent of the increase of his government notice the words and peace There shall be no end Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth Even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this and I want you to understand that when it comes to peace There is a connection between the Lord Jesus Christ and peace He is the Prince of Peace which is why peace is a theme for the Christmas story because it's connected to Christ and to the birth of Christ now you're there in Isaiah 9 I'd like you to go with me to the New Testament book of Luke Luke chapter 2 if you would in the New Testament you have Matthew then Mark then Luke Luke chapter number 2 and look down at verse number 10 Of course Luke chapter 2 is the most famous Passage regarding Christmas in the Bible it is the most Specific or detailed account of the birth of Christ Luke chapter 2 and verse 10 Matthew Mark Luke Luke 2 10 the Bible says and the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people remember we talked about joy last Sunday verse 11 Notice what he says notice how much this sounds like Isaiah 9 6 for unto you is born this day Isaiah 9 6 begins for unto us a child is born here the angel says to the shepherds for unto you the prophet said unto us a child is born because the prophet is speaking as part of the people unto whom Jesus is coming to for unto us a child is born the angel is Speaking to human beings and saying for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior Which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts Praising God and saying glory to God in the highest notice the words and on earth peace Goodwill toward men notice the emphasis on peace Why because of the fact that Jesus is the prince of peace the word peace is defined as a state of tranquility Freedom from conflict freedom from fighting freedom from war freedom from disturbance freedom from disquieting or Oppression when we talk about peace we are talking about a state in which we are not in Conflict with others, and we are not in conflict with anyone now You're there there in Luke go with me if you would to the book of Romans Romans chapter number 15 If you're there in Luke you're gonna go past the book of John into the book of Acts and then into the book of Romans Romans chapter 15 And when it comes to peace there are different things that you need to understand regarding the biblical teaching on peace and this morning is Going to be really a Bible study on the subject of peace and the theology of peace what the Bible teaches about peace and there Are different headings in which you need to understand peace and I'd like to give you three thoughts or three points this morning Three different headings regarding the subject of peace and if you can write these down I think that would be beneficial on the back of your course of the week There's a place for you to write some things down and let's begin this morning with talking about the accepting of peace The accepting of peace before because in order to have peace you first must accept peace is what the Bible says now When it comes to and we've already talked about this a little bit when it comes to peace you must understand that there is no Peace aside from the God of peace You're there in Romans chapter 15 Romans chapter 15 look at verse 33 notice the Bible says now the God of peace Be with you all Amen the reason that there is no peace in this world and isn't our world Just absorbed with this idea of peace. I mean when it comes to political leaders What is the number one thing that they're always talking about peace? Peace in the Middle East, but let me tell you something there will never be peace aside from God And aside from the Lord Jesus Christ and by the way when you can get the entire world together all working together to get peace And they can't have peace. It's because of the fact that they're missing the source of peace which is God The Bible says that he is the God of peace now the God of peace be with you all amen You're there in Romans 15 go to Romans chapter 16 just flip over one chapter Romans 16 look at verse 20 notice again, and we could look at a lot of passages like this I'm not gonna take the time to do that. I'm just gonna show you a couple of here Romans 16 verse 20 Notice the phrase again and the God of peace and The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you Amen, so I want you to notice that there is no peace aside from the God of peace peace comes from God He is the source of peace Jesus is God. He is the prince of peace the The Bible says there in Isaiah 9 6 the mighty God the everlasting father the prince of peace Now you're there in Romans 16 flip over to Romans chapter 10 Romans 10 When it comes to this idea of accepting peace we need to begin with the realization that God is a source of peace There is no peace aside from the God of peace But let me also say this there is no real peace aside from the gospel of peace the Bible Refers to the gospel as the gospel of peace are you there in Romans 10 look at verse 15? Romans 10 15 and how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written How beautiful are the feet of them that preach notice the words the gospel of peace? This is not the only place in which the gospel is referred to as the gospel of peace. There's many other places I'm not gonna take the time to go to them because I've got other stuff I want to cover but I want you to notice that the reference is the gospel of peace and bringing glad tidings of good things It's the God of peace and it is the gospel of peace There is no peace aside from the God of peace There is no peace aside from the gospel of peace go to Romans chapter number five Romans five We're gonna look at a lot of passages here in Romans Romans talks a lot about this idea of peace Especially the idea of us accepting peace You say why well because of the fact that in Romans 5 and verse 10 the Bible says this I want you to notice the words Romans 5 10 for if notice these words when we were enemies Now the word enemy is a word opposite of the word peace if you've had enemies you don't have peace The whole point of having peace is that you don't have any enemies is that you don't have any conflict is that there is no battles There's no war. There's no there's no fighting going on here The Bible says for if when we were enemies see what you need to understand is that before salvation and I'm hoping you're saved this morning Before salvation and for anyone out there who's not saved before salvation. They were the enemies of God They were at odds with God The Bible says that the world is the enemy and is in enmity with God The Bible says here for if we for if when we were enemies notice what the Bible says we were Reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled We shall be saved by his life go to Romans 5 and verse 8 there in verse 10 Just look up a couple of verses verse 8 very famous verse in the Bible Romans 5 8 but God Commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us You say why is the gospel referred to as the gospel of peace? It's referred to the gospel of peace because it is the gospel that makes peace between You and God between me and God before salvation we were at odds with God We were enemies with God But because of salvation because of the fact that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us now We can have peace with God Look at verse 1 same chapter Romans 5 verse 1 notice how the chapter begins Romans chapter 5 verse 1 therefore Notice what he says therefore being justified by faith, that's the gospel That's the death bring on resurrection of Jesus Christ faith in Jesus Christ therefore being justified by faith notice the words We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ When you begin to talk about the subject of peace you must begin with this idea of accepting peace You cannot have peace without God and you cannot have peace without the gospel of God the gospel of peace And you have to know this morning, and I hope you know this morning that you have peace with God That you're not the enemy of God that you're not at odds with God that you have accepted the gospel You've believed you're justified by faith and as a result we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ So do you see why the world has no peace you got a bunch of unsaved people? Who are enemies? Literally enemies with the source of peace God himself So we have to begin and I know it's simple, and I don't want to dwell on it too much We have to begin with the gospel Say I want peace well then get saved I want peace and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ Accept the gift of the Prince of Peace because there is no peace aside from the God of peace And there is no peace aside from the gospel of peace and you have to be able to say this that you have peace with God That you're not the enemy of God That you have been reconciled unto God And by the way, that's why the Bible says that our job is soul winners our job is to go out and be soul winners It's called the ministry of Reconciliation Why because there is a world out there that is at odds with God against God and our job is to bring the gospel of peace and Reconcile them unto God that they might be able to say that they have peace with God So we see this idea of the accepting of peace Then I want you to notice secondly this morning There in Romans go with me to 2nd Corinthians if you would you're gonna go past 1st Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians I've got three thoughts for you this morning and I will spend the majority of my time on the second thought or the second point The first point I hope is easy to understand you must accept peace You must accept the Prince of Peace There is no peace aside from the God of peace. There is no peace aside from the gospel of peace We must be reconciled unto God that we might be able to say that we have peace with God But I want you to notice secondly this morning Not only the accepting of peace But I'd like you to notice the extending of peace The Bible teaches that we should endeavor to keep peace Are you there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 you were in Romans past 1st Corinthians into 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 I want you to notice these verses look at verse 11 finally brethren farewell Be perfect. I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul is saying here Because This might seem like it's just a Greeting or a farewell That he's giving here and there's just flop here. But please understand there's there's nothing there. Nothing in the Bible is just flop Everything that's in the Bible is in there for a reason And here Paul. Yes. He is giving a farewell. He says finally brethren farewell He says be perfect And I've taught you this before and we talked a lot about it because it comes up a lot in the Bible the word perfect In your King James Bible does not mean what you and I think of when we think of the word perfect We think of something being flawless or being Without error, but that's not the word perfect. That's one definition of the word perfect There's another definition for the word perfect Which is the one that's primarily used in our King James Bible and still used today in different circumstances And the word perfect means to be complete When something is perfected it is completed. It has become a whole and Here Paul says be perfect He's looking at these Corinthian churches and he says I want you to be whole I want you to be complete The idea when it comes to growth is that I want you to be mature When someone is a baby Physically, they are not yet perfect. They have not yet completed their development when they become a mature Grown adult now they are mature now. They are complete now They are perfect here. He says be perfect be of good comfort then notice these words be of one mind one mind whenever the Apostle Paul uses this idea of one mind it is an idea of unity in Philippians he famously said that we should be striving together He talked about being of one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel He says I want you to be perfect. I want you to be mature I want you to be of good comfort be of one mind unity and then notice the words these words and here's the point That I'm making and I'm gonna make the point these words are not just being randomly thrown in by the Apostle Paul Oh, yeah, that sounds good unity Comfort perfect though those sound like spiritual words. He's using these words for a reason He says be perfect be complete be mature be of good comfort be of one mind unity then he says this live in peace And knows what he says live in peace and the God of Love and peace and notice we just saw it in Romans. He's the God of peace He's the God of love the Bible says that God is love Meaning he's the source of love But he's also the God of peace meaning he's the source of peace the God of love and peace shall be With you notice that Paul is telling us here that we should endeavor to keep the peace He says live in peace and the God of peace shall be with don't you think that the God of peace would want? We we as Christians to live in peace Go to Ephesians Keep your place. Do me a favor. Keep your place in second Corinthians if you would we're gonna come back to no I'm sorry, not second with this go to Ephesians and keep your place in Ephesians. That's what I meant to say Ephesians chapter 4 You're there in 2nd Corinthians You're gonna go past Galatians into the book of Ephesians and then keep your place put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there in Ephesians because we're gonna leave It and we're gonna come back to it Ephesians chapter 4 notice these words Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 3 Notice the word endeavoring Endeavoring or endeavor that word means to attempt to try to put in the effort To do everything possible. He says endeavoring notice the words to keep the unity That's what he said in second Corinthians 13 11 when he says one mind he's referring to unity Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit notice the words. They're not just thrown in here randomly They're here for a reason in the bond of peace He says I want you to endeavor to keep you say keep what keep unity I want you to endeavor to keep what keep what peace Notice peace should be something that bonds us together the Bible says Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace now I want you to keep your place there in Ephesians if you would and go with me to the book of Matthew the first book In the New Testament keep your place right there in Ephesians We're gonna come back to it and go to the very very first book in the Bible the book of Matthew Here's the thing about peace. There's so many verses in the Bible Regarding peace. I can't even preach them all in one sermon. I in preparation for this sermon I went through and read every verse in the Bible that uses or has the word peace Hundreds of verses hundreds of times in the Bible is the word peace being used and I couldn't even use them all in fact in this sermon I had to just Primarily force myself to focus primarily on the New Testament There's a couple of Old Testament verses We're looking at but primarily on New Testament because the Bible talks so much about this idea of peace now I want you to go to Matthew 5 and While you go there Let me just read to you some verses that I'm not I'm just gonna read them to you because I can't even Have you take the time to turn there because there's just so many You go to Matthew chapter 5. Let me read to you from Hebrews 12 14 now Please listen to this as I want you to hear it Hebrews 12 14 Notice what the Bible says with this idea because we've accepted peace, right? We're saved Lord willing. Hopefully you're saying you're not safe Please don't leave here this morning without letting somebody show you from the Bible how you can know for sure that you're on your way To heaven so that you can have peace with God. We want you to have that We've accepted peace, but then the Bible says that once we've accepted peace we must extend peace You ever heard the phrase extend the olive branch. It's an idea of peace The olive branch is a picture of peace represents peace. We must extend peace The Bible says that we should endeavor to keep peace you go to Matthew 5. Let me read to you from Hebrews 12 14 Here's what the Bible says follow peace with all men Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord The Bible says that you must follow peace with all men and holiness Without which no man shall see the Lord now Sometimes people get this and they say well, you're not gonna see the Lord without having without having peace Is that some sort of work salvation? That is not the idea here when the Bible says to see the Lord It's the idea to know the Lord The Bible says that the the pure in heart shall see the Lord Saying you want to see God? You want to know God you want to see God and have God be real in your life there's requirements You must follow peace with all men and holiness The Bible says that without which no man shall see the Lord James 3 18 and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace So I want the fruit of righteousness in my life Okay, well here's how you have the fruit fruit means what you produce the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace Notice the words you're not there, but just I want you to notice them as I read them of them that make peace 1st Peter 3 11 the Bible says let him eschew Evil the word eschew means to avoid or abstain let him eschew evil and do good. Let him see I love this phrase I love this just this little phrase. I just love the Bible how the Bible is worded. It's beautiful Let him eschew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue it The Bible is telling you and I that we should eschew evil We should avoid or abstain from evil from that which will hurt us from that which is wrong we should do good, and then it says that we should seek peace and ensue it the word ensue means to follow as a result or as the consequence of here's what the Bible is saying as a Result of your life and as a result of my life as we mature and grow in our Christian life What should result as a result of our lives is peace? what we should we should seek peace and ensue it the idea is this that you and I eschew evil we do good we seek peace and then as a result Everywhere we go we ensue peace the result of our Influence there is the fact that there's peace. Let me ask you something is the result of your influence peace or conflict Is the result of your presence in your home your presence at your job your presence at church? Your presence with your family with your friend is the result of your presence peace or is it conflict? Because the Bible says that we should seek peace and then we should ensue it but to ensue it It's not something we do we don't ensue peace. It is the outflow it is the production It is the result of our lives is peace You've got to ask yourself the question are you there in Matthew 5 look at verse 9 Matthew chapter 5 and verse 9 notice what Jesus said blessed are The peacemakers Blessed are the peacemakers Say, why does he say that he wants us to be peacemakers because if you? eschew evil Do good and seek peace you will ensue it You will make it You will produce it See what we're learning in this Christmas spirit series. I hope this becomes very clear Is that these things in our lives are not things that just happen People think oh, I'll have joy in my life if everything goes well I'll have joy the Bible does not teach that you don't happen upon joy you create it You make it you say what about peace you make it You make peace in your life if you have no peace in your life You have nobody to blame, but yourself Because Peace is something that should be ensued by us we should be peacemakers blessed are the peacemakers notice what the Bible says for they shall be called the children of God and Again people will take this out of context and say see you can't be saved without being a peacemaker That's not what Jesus is teaching what Jesus is teaching is this that when you are a peacemaker When you eschew evil and do good when you seek peace and ensue it people will look at you and say there's a child of God There's someone that's not bringing conflict not bringing anger not bringing problems not bringing gossip, but bringing peace When you and I live in such a way that we make peace others will notice and say that's a child of God Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God They live in such a way that people recognize them or acknowledge them as the children of God see it's one thing for you And please understand this Or let me say it this way. Please don't misunderstand this I don't believe in lifestyle evangelism as a mode for reaching the world The Bible teaches that the way that you and I are to reach the world with the gospel of peace is to go confront them to go out and minister to them and Reconcile them unto God all right so our job is not to just live in such a way that people will look at us And ask the question what must I do to be said no no our job is to go When it comes to the gospel the word that comes up over and over and over again is go go go ye therefore So I don't believe in lifestyle evangelism as a mode for reaching or accomplishing the Great Commission But please know this I do believe in lifestyle evangelism I believe that your lifestyle should match your evangelism and The point that I'm making is this that you can live your life look there is power you can go to work and tell people I'm a Christian and Then you go and get drunk on Friday night with all your co-workers I Go to very Baptist Church and Then you're listening in and laughing with all the dirty jokes around the water cooler You can tell people you're a Christian all day long, and I hope you do tell people I hope that if you tell people you're also having a life that matches that testimony But you know what's more powerful than telling somebody That you're a Christian. I think we should tell people we're Christians I think we should come from people with the gospel, but you know what's more powerful is when people can watch you And just say there's a Christian I Don't even know him he works in another department. I just but what I've seen of him I can tell you I don't know anything about right though something about that guy something different about that gal Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God We should endeavor to make peace now, please I want you to get this and I'm gonna spend some time on this cuz I want to Make sure that I'm clear regarding this teaching Jesus taught that we should be peacemakers. We should ensue it He taught it primarily here in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 these three chapters are known as the Sermon on the Mount famous sermon that Jesus gave on the Mount I I often tell people the Sermon on the Mount is the Sermon on spiritual maturity He begins we're seeing here this Beatitudes with his introduction one of his introductory points is blessed are the peacemakers For they shall be called the children of God Jesus taught that we should be peacemakers on the Sermon on the Mount Why here's why because the Sermon on the Mount is the sermon of spiritual maturity Please understand that You want you want to get into real Christianity I'm talking about I'm not talking about salvation salvation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ I'm talking about discipleship living the Christian life study Matthew chapter 5 6 & 7 and that's where the rubber hits the road Oftentimes people think as we teach and I believe this we teach and tell people you need to go to church Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night You need to read your Bible every day. You need to pray every day You need to be a soul winner you need to give and people think okay Well, if I hit those things then that makes me a good Christian no, no, that's the starting point That's where we begin We need you in church Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night soul winning read your Bible every day pray every day and and giving Just to get your heart to the place where we can actually begin to deal with real Christianity Which is what you find in Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter 7 So if you've been patting yourself on the back because you show up to all three services and go so many Hey, I'm thankful for that as a pastor, but please realize according to God we're unprofitable servants We have only done that which is required of us We have done our duty Jesus taught that we should be peacemakers in the Sermon on the Mount which is a sermon on spiritual maturity. Why? Go back to Ephesians Here's why? Because the measure of Christian maturity I Should say one of the measures but one that is emphasized a lot in the Bible One of the measures of Christian maturity is How well do you get along with others Please don't miss that You said I'd like to measure how mature my Christianity is Well, if you can't even show up to church consistently don't even ask the question because you're not gonna like the answer But Your church attendance and your Bible reading and your prayer and and all of that is not a measurement of your maturity Say pastor, why are you trying to get us to read nine chapters a day in the month of January? It's not some magical formula if you can check these things off your life will be better I'm just hoping that while you're reading the nine chapters a day to check them off to meet a goal something hits you You learn something the Holy Spirit of God helps you like whoa. I didn't Matthew 5. That's amazing Matthew 6 that's amazing. Matthew 7. I don't know God caught these things The measure of a Christian's maturity Is measured by their conflict level? with others Is there any Ephesians 4 wait verse 11? And I'll be honest with you I'm gonna expound to you right now versus 11 12 13 14 and 15 But I just I'm just gonna say this to you because I'm afraid I'm gonna the wrong thing will come out and if it comes Out I just want you to understand the context these five verses 11 12 13 14 and 15 have haunted me These verses have haunted me As a pastor in ministry The Bible says and he gave some this is a reference to you and he gave some apostles he didn't give you one of those and some prophets you can make the argument maybe but the office of the prophets is gone and Some evangelists some people have evangelists you don't have one and some pastors. That's what you do have Bible says that he gave some pastors and teachers you have you actually have both of those I mean, I like to think that I'm a pastor and a teacher And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers why Why has God given you a pastor a? Spiritual leader Ordained leadership. Why? Notice what he says verse 12 for here's the reason here's the reason I'm here Here's the reason I exist the reason my position exists the reason that this task this job the responsibility I have as a pastor ready Baptist Church exists why verse 12 for the perfecting of the Saints Perfecting remember the completing the maturing the making whole of You say what is the job of the pastor the job of the pastor is to help you become mature That's why I try to get you to show up to Sunday night church That's why I try to get you to show up to Wednesday night church You say you just try to get us to show up so there could be a crowd for you to preach to to an extent That's true But not for the reason that you're thinking I need a crowd to preach to because if I can get you to show up to Two services or three services. I've got two more chances or three more chances to maybe help you mature For the perfecting of the Saints notice for the work of the ministry my job look I'm look I'm just gonna give you all my secrets my job What I'm trying to accomplish here is to help you mature become a complete whole Christian and then put you to work For the work of the ministry Why we have work appreciation Sundays and all the different volunteer opportunities and soul-winning all these things why and we're we want you to Help us with the mailers help us with this and why because my job is to help you mature and then put you to work For the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry notice for the edifying of the body of Christ My job is to build up the body of Christ And here's what I believe if I can perfect the Saints and put them to work the edifying of the body of Christ We'll take care of itself Notice the emphasis verse 13 Till how long am I supposed to do this till? When am I done? Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God Please please don't miss it. These are not just words that are being thrown in here by the Apostle Paul randomly He's saying pastor your job is to perfect the Saints to put them to work for the edifying of the body of Christ How long do I do that till Paul till we all come in the unity of the faith? And on the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man. Here's what he's saying until We are all united until we've all grown in the knowledge of the Son of God until We are come unto a perfect complete mature man And when I read that I think to myself I'm gonna be doing this for a while Until notice notice notice the emphasis unto the measure of the stature of the Fullness of Christ, what are these words referring to maturity? He's using words that we would use regarding a physical maturity People often say recently about my son man. They've grown there. My sons have grown a lot. Praise God for it They're both taller than I am which doesn't take much but praise God Wow, they've grown so much Someone was after they see him and they haven't seen him for six months man. They've really shot up What are they talking about? They're growing they're maturing Paul saying till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of The fullness of unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. He's talking about maturity Spiritual maturity verse 14 that we henceforth notice again the emphasis What is the what will happen when you come unto a perfect man unto the measure of the statue the forms of Christ? Here's what will happen. We will henceforth be no more children the emphasis spiritual maturity Tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and the cunning crafted is whereby they lie In wait to deceive but speaking the truth and love notice again Just the emphasis notice it may grow up in him in all things which is the head even of Christ now Here's what Paul says Paul says that we need to have the unity and he says the only way to have unity Is for you to grow spiritually Is to mature Because the measure of Christian maturity is How well you get along with others? This is why Jesus said don't turn there. Let me just read this for you Look, you can't get away from this. You cannot get away from this. You're gonna argue with me and fight with me Which is weird because I'm preaching about peace, but whatever But you can't get away from this thought John 13 35 Here's what Jesus said by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another No by this shall all men know that you have that you are my disciples based off my Instagram post that's not what he said Based off my Facebook post that's not what he said Based off the shirt that I wear that says something about God That's not what he said I'm not against all those things. I mean I'm against some of those things But he said by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have loved one for another Here's what John said first John 4 20 if a man say I love God and hated this brother. He is a liar For he that love is not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen? Here's all I'm telling you Christian maturity is based off. It's measured off your Conflict or really lack of conflict with others Is there any features go to 1st Corinthians 3? 1st Corinthians 3 You say pastor why do you say that this has haunted you Because you would be surprised In a church like this, I mean this morning, I think we have 199 people here in church or something almost 200 people Got a lot of people sick and out of town, whatever You'd be surprised in a church this size how much conflict there is in a church like this And I don't mean that and please understand this I I don't think that our church is any worse than any other church There's conflict in every church To be honest with you I probably there's there's less conflict in our church than most churches from my experience and what I've seen But what I will tell you is that there's enough conflict around here to really depress a pastor There's enough fighting between church members around here to really discourage a pastor I'll be honest with you. Sometimes I don't feel like showing up Sometimes I want to just give my resignation and say I'm done because sometimes I think to myself have I so failed as a pastor To teach people to have Christian maturity That there's so much. I mean you look at grown people and you think yourself you've been saved for so long You're so old. You're so you're can this really be that grown adults would treat themselves each other like this It's something I think myself is a joke, right? Things happen and people say things to me and when things are brought to my attention, I'm thinking this is a joke, right? There's a hidden camera somewhere You're gonna be like I just kidding cuz I think myself those words didn't actually come out of an adult. Did they? That thought didn't actually come out of an adult did it? Can it be I mean sometimes I want to ask people and I don't Because I'm trying to be mature and I'm trying to make peace and ensue it But sometimes I want to ask people how did you make it so far in life? How are you not dead? I? Mean I want to strangle you How can it be that you've made it this far in life acting this way thinking this way being this way It's enough to make you want to quit It's Enough to make you wonder what am I doing? First Corinthians 3 look at verse 1 First Corinthians 3 and verse 1 and I brethren Sometimes that makes me feel better when pause struggling to Because I think well if he's struggling then a good night, of course I will Here's what Paul said to his? conflict driven church members And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. That's how I feel Sometimes I think myself I can't I cannot speak to this person right now like a mature Christian because they're not and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto don't miss it But as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ, I have fed you with milk and not with meat There are some times that my wife and I have to withhold we think to ourselves I would have said this this is what I think they need, but they can't even handle it. I Can't even those words can't even come out of my mouth yet because their heads would just blow up. I Brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto you were not able to bear it And before you think that I'm proud and arrogant by talking that way. I'm just that's what Paul is saying You were not able to bear it Neither yet now are ye able and you still can't Verse three for ye are yet carnal for whereas there is among you Now notice what Paul says he says you're carnal for whereas there is among you and being and strife and Divisions and ye are not carnal or excuse me. He says are ye not carnal and walk as men Notice what Paul says define you say am I a carnal Christian? Well, is there strife and divisions? among you in your life in your marriage with your children with your fellow church members with your neighbors With your are you just the type of person just constantly in conflict with somebody in the Greek. It says drama mama. I Mean, are you a drama? I mean some people I think myself they just like this. I mean they must like this, right? This is the only comfort like it's something that got messed up in their childhood They're the only come they're only in comfort when they're in conflict. There's something wrong with that For ye are yet carnal for whereas there is among you and being and Stripe the word strike means fighting and divisions. That's one against the other are ye not carnal and walk as men And you would be surprised And I'll just be honest with you I'm actually ashamed and embarrassed sometimes How much fighting and contention You find in a ministry that has been given to me as a responsibility And I wonder have I just failed to teach these things Because he gave some pastors for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ for the work of the ministry Till we all come in the unity of the faith And of the knowledge of the Son of God until perfect man Under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ See the reason that many Christians cannot make peace or be peacemakers Is because most Christians are just not spiritually mature They're just not ready to handle it And sometimes people ask me advice should I talk to this person about this? Should I and I think myself you can't you can but they're not ready for that They're just not there First Corinthians 1 look at verse 11 You know the Bible says only by pride cometh contention If you are in conflict with somebody listen to me very carefully if you're fighting with someone I don't care who it is Your wife your husband your mom your dad your siblings your pastor If you're fighting with someone whenever there's conflict Pride is involved now. I did not say that everyone involved is dealing with pride I will say this ninety nine point nine percent of the time everyone involved is dealing with pride You're not job Sorry to burst your bubble But there's pride somewhere Because if there was no pride there'd be no contention only by pride cometh contention First Corinthians 1 11 for it had been declared unto me Here's Paul for it had been declared unto me of you my brethren by them Which are of the house of Chloe that there are contentions among you And that I could just I could just quote that verse to you as it had been declared unto me That there are contentions among you go to Romans 8 you're there in 1st Corinthians flip back Romans 8 Look you don't have to like me. It's fine You don't have to like what I'm saying. I still love you, and I'm still gonna ensue peace But you can't argue this Romans 8 verse 6 for to be carnally minded is death Carnality brings death death to relationships death to potential death to ministries For to be carnally minded is death notice, but to be spiritually minded is life Don't miss it life and peace Go to Romans 12 Romans 12 Jesus taught on the subject of making peace In the Sermon on the Mount which is a sermon on spiritual maturity Because let's just be honest the average Christian cannot have peace most Christians many Christians Maybe I should say it that way cannot have peace because they're just not spiritually mature And and and that's not an excuse That's not I hope you don't okay. Well great. Thank you pastor now. I got the verbiage. I can't do it cuz I'm carnal That's not the point the point is get spiritual The spiritually mature person I Am gonna say unfortunately and I don't really mean that but I just I mean that for me and my wife is really what I mean that The spiritually mature person side no unfortunately When you're the pastor and you're the pastor's wife Will always be the one who reaches down to the less spiritual person Romans 12 16 don't miss it Be of the same mind one towards another I Hope you're getting it. It's unity Mind not hide things notice these words, but condescend to men of lowest state The word condescend or condescending in our modern vernacular is a negative term usually when someone says they're condescending It means they're talking down to you But that is not how this term is being used and that's not how it can be used when Paul says but condescend to men Of lowest date he is saying to reach down to not reach out to that's a different thing He says you sometimes have to reach down to notice the wording men of low estate And then he says this be not wise in your own conceit Here's the point that he's making don't miss it Because that is the context in which he says Recompense to no man evil for evil provide things honest in the sight of all men verse 18 if it be possible as Much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men and the unfortunate lesson that I have learned over the last 12 years of ministry is that it's going to usually require the more spiritually mature individual to Condescend to men of low estate to reach down to those that are less spiritual To try to reconcile To try to take responsibility for their part To try to make things right you say why is that unfortunate? Here's why it's unfortunate It would not be unfortunate if everybody was spiritual It wouldn't be unfortunate if everybody was spiritual because everybody is spiritual that everybody would be saying well Here's my here's what I did wrong, and here's where I'm willing to take responsibility and the other priority would say well Here's what I did wrong, and here's where I'm willing to take responsibility, and then they would Apologize and move on It's unfortunate because of the fact that some people are so spiritually deficient That in order for you to have peace in a church the more spiritual one has to say well I really didn't do anything but I'm gonna steam others better than myself I Want to turn the other cheek I? Mean you think it's you think I'm joking, but I've literally over the years have sat in counseling office I mean I've sat with married couples who are just unwilling to take responsibility Just like look I'm not saying that you're 100% at fault I'm not even saying you're 50% fault, but but no one is you're not you're not the Lord Jesus Christ I mean, what are you willing to take responsible? I mean sometimes. I'm telling people look. Let's say that 99% of your marriage problems are my fault 99% of your marriage problems are me. I failed you somehow. Okay. I'm willing to take that. What are you not nothing? I've done nothing wrong There's no way it's not my fault in any way shape and I think myself can grow people really talk like this Do adults really think this way I Have I so failed you as a pastor To literally have people in a church, but I think to themselves I must be the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ cuz I'm It's enough to make you want to quit It's enough to make you want to Submit a resignation later and let her and say find somebody else to do this good. I'm not good at it Be of the same mind one toward another Mind not hide things But condescend to men of low estate Be not wise in your own conceits Recompense to no man evil poor evil provide things honest in the sight of all men if it be possible As much as lies in you live peaceably with all men I Was talking with my wife she gave me a great quote She said sometimes I don't think people understand that you will never have peace in your life until you make peace with others It's funny because I often hear my wife say this. I often hear my wife say this to our children We've got six children. Our four youngest are girls and they sometimes quarrel And I'll hear my wife say to the girls Okay, let's say I'm sorry and start over Okay All right, it happened. Okay, it shouldn't happen you Apologize for what you did wrong you say sorry for what you did. Okay, let's say I'm sorry and let's start over Sometimes I literally want to just bring a grown-up dolt into my office and say, okay. Let's say I'm sorry and start over You take responsibility for what you did and you take responsibility for you did and look at each other okay hug, okay Okay, let's say I'm sorry you start over Because what I'm doing is obviously not working Look at verse 19 Dearly beloved avenge not yourselves But rather give place unto wrath For it is written This is this is spiritual maturity Well, they did no no it is written vengeance is mine. I will repay saith the Lord You know what a spiritual mature person says when they are wrong You know what a spiritual mature person says when someone does them wrong treats them wrong. They say the Lord knows God knows I'm going to seek peace make peace ensue peace for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord Therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirsts give him drink for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head My job is not to mistreat those that mistreat me only spiritually mature people Can think that way And by the way, this is why Jesus said I mean This is pretty much a quote from the Sermon on the Mount the Sermon on spiritual maturity Matthew 5 44 But I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them They hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you You Romans 12 21 be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good Romans 14 19 let us therefore follow after Romans 14 19 just a couple pages over let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and The things wherewith one may edify one another You say how do we make peace here's how you make peace You take the step to reconcile And you don't show up saying hey, you know when you did this, you know you say hey I'm I'm going I want to reconcile this and there was wrong on both parts. Here's what I'm willing to take responsibility for I'm sorry about that. You're genuine And you don't give these disclaimers and you go you'll give these a little but this and but that no no It's just here. I'm just that's it. That's it. There's nothing else to add There's no other words to play. It's just here's what I did wrong, and I'm sorry And Hopefully hopefully the other person is mature enough to say Here's what I did wrong, and I'm sorry Let's start over Maybe they had a mother that taught them that when they were little Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify one another Go To Philippians if you would Philippians chapter 4 you're there in Romans go past for a second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Sometimes people tell me should I go apologize and I'm like no because your apologies are more offensive than what you did The way you apologize goodnight, it's a leave you leave it alone You Know when we apologize we should not make excuses and not minimize Just say here's what I did Here's I'm well and look and that doesn't mean that you sometimes can't confront somebody say you offended me when you did X Y & Z But you should be able to do that in a spirit of reconciliation. You offended me when you did X Y & Z Here's my part. Here's the part I played. Here's what I did different could have done different. Here's what I did wrong, and I'm sorry So Well, what if they don't? Say it back Well, then hopefully you are mature enough to say I will esteem you don't think that happens. I mean, it's the most awkward thing in the world You go to somebody that you would honestly think like 90% of the problem is you 10% problem is me I'm gonna go ahead and initiate this thing. I'm sorry. I mean just Whoa, you're crazy. I Mean they don't say anything You don't think that happens I preached a sermon years ago things your parents should have taught you to say one of the things was I'm sorry because grown adults What did they don't have the ability it can't come out of their mouth and I think to myself, how are you alive? That the words can't even come out of your mouth you can't even lie You can't make yourself say I accept your policy Let's start over it's crazy. It's crazy. I don't know what to do about it Here's the truth our love for Jesus may separate us from the world Don't you know that? Luke 1251 you have to turn there you go to Philippians suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth I tell you an a but rather division. I Understand that our love for Jesus our stance for Jesus might cause the world to hate us I get that But there's no reason in the world why Christian people believers church members cannot get along No reason other than pride and carnality period Psalm 133 one behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity We talked about the accepting of peace We talked about the extending of peace Let me just real quickly if you don't mind Talk about the experience of peace The Bible says that there is a peace that the world cannot understand Philippians 4 7 I want you to notice this phrase and the peace of God The peace of God We saw earlier that he was the God of peace and we saw earlier that we can have peace with God But here he says the peace of God, please understand this There is a difference between having peace with God and having the peace of God. Those are two different things and the peace of God which passeth all understanding Shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ The Bible says that there is a peace that you can have a peace of God Where can you have it in your heart and mind and it's a peace which passeth all understanding Go to Colossians 3 you're there in Philippians Colossians chapter 3 and the peace of God which passes all understanding Shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Colossians 3 15 and let the peace of God Colossians 3 15 and let the peace of God rule in your heart To the which also ye are called in one body and be ye thankful Let the peace of God rule in your heart Bible says the peace of God should rule in your heart There's this peace of God which passes all understanding which will keep your hearts and your minds It's this internal peace and there is this peace that you can have that the world does not understand this peace that when everything is falling apart around you when the world is chaotic and everything is crazy and all the church members are fighting You can have this peace inside at least That comes from God As I was studying for the sermon I told you I read every single verse in the Bible that has the word peace I think it was almost 400 verses or something like that One verse that I came across that I thought was interesting you have to turn I'll just read this for you Isaiah 66 12 I'd never noticed as I read the Bible of course scores of times, but I'd never noticed this verse until I was Reading it in the context of peace I'll just read you the first part of the verse Isaiah 66 12 for thus saith the Lord behold I will extend peace to her like a river For thus saith the Lord behold I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream and When I read that some of you know where I'm going to go nice It immediately made me think of a hymn For thus saith the Lord behold I will extend peace to her like a river There is a famous Hymn that uses this terminology, and I did not realize that it came from Isaiah 66 12 I will extend peace to her like a river, but the interesting thing You go to John real quickly John The interesting thing is that this is about Experiencing peace in your heart and in your mind. There is a peace that the world cannot understand and that peace comes from God Let me just read to you real quickly. I know it's already. I've already been going for an hour Let me just read this quickly what we've done in a couple minutes We're not talking about peace with God, I hope you have that We're talking about the peace of God and by the way you cannot have the peace of God without having peace with others That's just that I've taught I've taught that a lot your relationship to God Vertically it's connected to your relationship with others horizontally you cannot get away from that Your Peace with others will determine the peace that you have in your heart you cannot have peace until you learn to have peace with others and You have to learn to get peace because life is difficult Horatio G Spafford lived in 1828 to 1888 Had established a very successful legal practice as a young businessman in Chicago He was a very devout Christian Spafford's fortune evaporated in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 Having invested heavily in real estate along Lake Michigan's shoreline. He lost everything overnight In a saga reminiscent of Job his son died a short time before his financial disaster But the worst was yet to come Desiring arrest for his wife and four daughters as well as wishing to take part in evangelistic campaigns in Great Britain Spafford planned a European trip for his family in 1873 In November of that year due to an unexpected last-minute business development He had to remain in Chicago, but sent his wife and four daughters on ahead as scheduled on the SS Bill doe Harvey He expected to follow in a few days On November 22nd. The ship was struck by the lock Hearn an English vessel and saying in 12 minutes Several days later the survivors were finally landed at Cardiff Wales and miss Spafford cabled her husband these words saved alone Spafford left immediately to join his wife As he was traveling by ship. It was announced that they would be passing over the area where the SS Bill D Harvey Was thought to have sunk It is said that Horatio Spafford sat down and took out something to write as he passed by the watery grave of his four daughters He penned these words when peace like a river attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot That has taught me to say it is well It is well with my soul. I Hope you have peace with God You know, what I really hope is that you have the peace of God Because there is a peace that passeth all understanding a Peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace the Lord Jesus Christ Here's what Jesus said John 16 33 These things have I spoken unto you That in me you might have peace In the world you shall have tribulation But be of good cheer I have overcome the world John 1427 peace I leave with you My peace I give unto you Not as the world give it Give I unto you Let not your heart be troubled Neither. Let it be afraid. I Hope you have peace with God but I really hope you have the peace of God and realize That you can never have peace If you don't learn to make peace with those around you that's about our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father Thank you Lord for your word Thank you for the Bible Lord I know it's not my job to make people force people to grow spiritually. I know that But sometimes when it's clear that your job is to help people mature And there's just this realization that people is not they're not as far along as you would hope they would do It can be hard But thank you Thank you for always giving us peace and heart Help us to work harder Help us to dig into the Bible Help us to learn the Bible read what it says apply it to our lives and grow And I think we'll be shocked how much peace we can have in our lives We love you In the matchless name of Christ we pray Amen We're gonna have for the Mac come up and lead us in a final song Just let me give you a couple of reminders if you would not mind first of all I always want to remind you to invite someone to church with you next week. We're gonna continue our Spirit of Christmas sermons and we'll be learning we learned about joy. We learned about peace We'll continue learning about the spirit of Christmas. I do want to let you know that tonight I'm gonna be preaching out of Luke 21 We're gonna be in our gospel of Luke series and we're gonna be learning about Jesus is teaching on end times Tribulation on the end times tribulation period which is interesting because the end times tribulation period is the world's attempt at peace And it doesn't work. So we want to encourage you if you're interested in Bible prophecy I'll be preaching tonight on Jesus is teaching on the end times tribulation period and Just want to remind you of a couple of things in the foyer There is a sign-up sheet for the Christmas cookies and hot chocolate fellowship if you'd like to sign up to bring cookies or dessert, we appreciate you stopping by and Filling something out there and then if you're able to pick something up for the Christmas gifts for Jesus table That would be great as well. If there's anything we can do for you, please. Let us know We'll have brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song Song 425 No room in the end 225 on the first Oh 25 on the second Oh Oh Oh Oh Amen good scene before we leave here if anybody has questions about salvation church membership or baptism pastor will be at the door He'd love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to talk about that ask brother Adam Would you close a prayer for us? a Ah You