Peace – The Way of God

Intro: Our world is full of violence, and our daily lives are marred by conflict, turmoil and a lack of peace. But God promises His people a peace that surpasses all understanding. God’s way is always the way of peace because He is a God of peace. (Romans 15:33)

I. Peace is a gift from Jesus. (John 14:27)(NLT)  “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

  a.The peace Jesus offers his disciples isn’t like the peace the world gives. The peace Jesus is speaking of enables believers to remain calm in the most wildly fearful circumstances. It enables them to hush a cry, still a riot, rejoice in pain and trial, and sing in the middle of suffering as did Paul and Silas while they were in prison. This peace is never by circumstances, but instead affects and even overrules them. It is his peace, the peace he modeled every day of his life. Jesus’ peace did not flee conflict, pain, or death. In fact, the more intense the difficulties, the more apparent Jesus’ peace became. Jesus derived his peace from his relationship with the Father and by being the sacrifice for our sins. He has put us in a relationship with the Father that brings us our peace. We are to let the peace of Christ judge, decide, govern, and rule in our hearts like an umpire. We allow the peace of Christ to make all the calls for the actions and attitudes in our lives. (Colossians 3:15)

II. Peace with God. Romans 5:1 (NLT) Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

 a. Peace has been made with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, which fact is demonstrated by God’s justification of us. A believer is not responsible for having peace in the sense of making it but in the sense of enjoying it. Ephesians 2:14a (NKJV)  For  (Christ) Himself is our peace.  We now can approach God at any time because we are no longer His enemy, but His children having been born again by the Spirit of God, baptized into the body of Christ. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings; it comes from knowing that God is in control. Believers are given peace with God when they believe. Nothing on this earth can bring you true peace, it will always leave you empty.

   

III. Peace of God should rule our actions. How do we let the peace of God rule in our lives?

      Philippians 4:6-9 (NKJV) ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

 a. When the exhortations of verse 6 are heeded, the peace of God in (v. 7) will flood one’s troubled soul. Eph. 2:14 Says The Lord Jesus Christ is a believer’s peace, and every child of God has peace with God through justification by faith in Jesus as stated in Rom. 5:1. But the peace of (or from) God relates to the inner tranquility of a believer’s close walk with God. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings; it comes from thinking on godly things as described in verse 8. True peace is knowing that God is in control. Believers are given peace with God when they believe, and we have the inner quietness of the peace of God as we daily walk with him. This peace of God transcends all understanding, that is, it is beyond man’s ability to comprehend. This peace guards the believers. Guard translates a military term which means “to protect or garrison by guarding.” Like soldiers assigned to watch over a certain area, God’s peace garrisons (protects) the heart and mind, that is, the emotions and thoughts, of His children. Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT) You (God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! ⁴ Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

   Invitation: Do you have peace with God through the forgiveness of your sins? If not now is the time to confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you of your sins against God and give you a home in Heaven. No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace!

Grace - The Way of God

Scripture Text Ephesians 1:3-14

Intro: God always works by the way of grace in His dealings with mankind. Grace by definition means the undeserved and unmerited favor and blessings of God. No other word so expresses the depth and richness of the heart and mind of God.  He works this way so that He will be in debt to no man. None deserve the grace of God; it is freely given to all who believe in Jesus.

1. God’s grace has blessed us with all heavenly blessings. Ephesians 1:3 (NLT) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

  a. In His glorious grace, God has not left out any spiritual blessings for His children. How rich!

      We simply accept them and apply them to our lives. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now and will enjoy them for eternity.

2. God by His grace has chosen us to be holy and blameless. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT) Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

  a. That God chose (handpicked) us in Christ is the basis of the doctrine of election—defined as God’s choice of an individual for salvation and a heavenly destiny. The doctrine of election teaches that we are saved only because of God’s grace and mercy; as believers we are not saved by our own merit. It focuses on God’s purpose or will, not on ours. God does not save us because we deserve it but because he graciously and freely gives salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. God did this so we could be holy and blameless in His eyes in the Day of Judgment.

 

3.  God by His grace has adopted us as children. Ephesians 1:5-6 (NLT) ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶ So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

  a. Predestined. God chose us before He made the world because It Was His will to do so. (v.5a)

  b. He brought us to Himself through Jesus Christ because He wanted to and it gave Him great pleasure. God seeks an intimate relationship with His children to bless them by His grace.

  c. So we praise Him for His glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to Jesus. (v.6)

4 God by His rich kindness and grace has redeemed us. Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

  a. We have been liberated, set free, and delivered from the penalty of Hell. God purchased us through Christ's blood, forgave all our sin, saved us for Heaven. What a gracious God we serve.

5 God by His grace has showered His kindness on us and has given us wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:8-10 (NLT) ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. ¹⁰ And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

God has showered us with compassion, sympathy and benevolence.

  a. God has chosen to reveal to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ.

  b.  His purpose was to fulfill His own good pleasure in regards to mankind and to reveal His plan to gather all things together in heaven and earth and to put everything under Christ at the right time.

6. God by His grace has given us an inheritance: He has made us the heritage of God.

     Ephesians 1:11-13 (NLT) ¹¹ Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. ¹² God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. ¹³ And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.

  a.  God Predetermined to give His inheritance to both the Jews and Gentiles who belong to Him in Christ so that we should exist eternally to bring praise and glory to Him for His rich grace.

  b. God in His grace tells us How to receive His inheritance, a birthright to live with Him forever. When we hear the word about Christ, confess our sins, believe in Him as our Savior, and receive His forgiveness, God identifies us as His own by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in us.

  

7. God by His grace has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:14 (NLT) The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

  a. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that God will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us as His own.  He did this so we would praise and glorify Him for all of His wonderful grace toward us.

Conclusion:  John 1:14  Says Jesus, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:16-17 ¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Invitation: Have you received the grace and truth that comes through Jesus Christ the Son of God?

If you have not, now is the time to receive Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. Confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and invite Him into your life to take charge of you. 

Love – The Way of God

Scripture Text 1 John 4:9-18

Intro: God’s word has much to say about true love. In the King James Version of the bible, love is mentioned 310 times, 131 times in the Old Testament and 179 times in the New Testament.

I. God’s definition of love. 1 John 4:9-12 (NKJV) ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

 a. Real love is God sending His Son to be a sacrifice to take away our sins. God is love personified and you can only know the full expression of love by receiving God’s love through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ and sharing it with others. When a person believes in the love of God, that God loves them so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins, God is perfectly pleased, for God loves His Son with a perfect love. So when a person honors God's Son by believing in Him, God puts His Spirit into the person. God actually implants His divine love, through the Holy Spirit, into the life of the believer.  In verse 12, When we love each other it is proof that God lives in us and His love is then brought to full expression. (Poem entitled Love isn't Love..) A bell is not a bell until someone rings it, a song is not a song until someone sings it. Love wasn't put in the heart to stay, for love isn't love until you give it away. Oscar Hammerstein II

II. We Christians have put our trust in God’s love.  1 John 4:16-18 (NKJV) ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

 a. As we trust in His love and live in it day by day, we come to understand that God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. It is one thing to know and believe in God’s love; it is quite another to actually appropriate God’s love into our lives so that we “live in love” by sharing it with others.  In verse 16, because God is love, his people ought to be experiencing his transcendent and glorious love on a daily basis because he “lives” in them.

 b. As we live in God our love grows more perfect or mature. (V:17)

     This perfect, mature love working in us will produce believers who will not be afraid on the Day of Judgment. On that day, God will require all people to account for their lives. Those who have lived in His love will live with Him forever. Then we don’t have to wait until that day to find out if we “made it.” We will have that confidence now because we share Jesus’ love in this world.

  III. Perfect mature love casts out all fear.  1 John 4:18 (NKJV)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  a. Because we believers are becoming like God, we certainly need not fear his judgment. To be fearful is to lack confidence; to lack confidence is to show that God’s love has not been perfected in that person. As Believers we ought not to be afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, because of His love.  We know that God loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38-39). We can resolve any fears first by focusing on God’s immeasurable love and then by allowing Him to love others through us. The assurance of God’s love will quiet fears and give us confidence.

b. A Believers’ love, whether for God or for others, is always based on God’s love for them. God’s love is the source, the initiator. People cannot love this way on their own; it happens as a result of God’s loving people first. God’s love is far above all human love. Because we believers abide in God and thus abide in love, God’s love fills us and overflows from us. Living Water flows!

Conclusion: John concludes this passage on love in verses 20-21! God says you and I can’t say we love Him and hate our Christian brothers and sisters because we would be lying. God says if we love Him we must also love our Christian brothers and sisters.

   Invitation: If you have never experienced God’s full expression of love through His Son Jesus and the forgiveness and salvation He brings, now would be the perfect time. If you have experienced His full expression of love through Christ, then God says you are to share it with those around you wherever you go. We are to imitate His love by serving others.

Trust - The Way of God

Scripture Text Proverbs 3:5-6

     Intro: We have been talking in previous messages about the ways of God. Today we look at another way by which God works. It is the way of trust in Him through all life’s situations. 

 I.  We are to trust God. Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  Trust in means to have full reliance and dependence in God.

  a. Lean on – rely in God for support, stability.

  b. Confident - strong belief, full assurance in God that He will do all He has promised in His word.

 c. We are to lean on, trust and be confident in God with all our heart- (our inner most being, our    spirit man.)  The heart determines what a person does, his behavior in all circumstances. The Mind is - the seat of reasoning, understanding, intention, purpose and attitude. It determines our true character, personality. We are to reason, make decisions based on God’s view of whatever we are facing at the time.  We think about His perspective of the situation.                                                        

       d. Trials, temptations, sicknesses, and situations in life are to be conquered by our confident belief in God.  We do not see God, but we lean on, trust and have confidence Him. These words are in the present continuous tense. It is continuous action, continuous trust—a trust that continues on and on. It is belief in and never ceasing to be confident, always leaning on God at all times. When we continue to have this assurance, confidence and trust in God, then we are fully relying on Him. We are doing what He says and He will bless us accordingly. We are standing firm in His presence and power to conquer and to carry us through all trials. We do not rely, or look for support and stability in ourselves or someone else. We are not to rely on our own insight, comprehension, understanding or discernment. We don’t have full knowledge of all the facts surrounding the things we have to face in life.

    II. In all our ways we are to acknowledge God. Proverbs 3:6 (NKJV)  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

     a. Know (the value of God and be acquainted with Him.) We are to know He is the    all-powerful One to do whatever needs to be done in every area of our lives.

      He is well able to handle and take care of whatever the problem might be.

      Know He is everywhere at one time. He is always aware of what is going on      concerning us.

      b. Recognize (identify - determine) God as in control of everything in this world.

      c. Acknowledge (confess) the presence of God in our lives at all times. He will never leave us. Psalms 46:1 (NKJV) God is our refuge (our shelter from the storm) and strength, (He is our power by reason of influence, authority, resources,) A very present (available) help in trouble.

   d. He shall direct your paths. God will regulate the course of our daily path and control our every step. He will make plain the way we are to go. The Lord will guide you to the final goal of life. God gives wisdom and with it the task of making wise decisions; these are the two aspects of guidance in wisdom teaching. There is no hint of guidance that bypasses the duty of making decisions. The first decision is to seek God’s wisdom. Second decision is to be obedient to what God is saying.

 But thank God, human decisions do not overrule the protection of God’s providence.

Invitation: Father, help us to trust You more each day we have left on this earth. May we learn to completely trust You know matter the situation or circumstance we may face in this life. Forgive our sin of not always fully trusting You. If there is one reading this message today who has not trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, may this be the day that they fully trust in Jesus as their Savior!