Let's turn in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 2. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 2. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you. We praise you, Lord, for these moments that we have to come apart from the world and to gather around your word and allow your Holy Spirit to teach us and instruct us. And Lord, we pray that you would drill these truths deeper and deeper into our minds and hearts. We pray in Jesus name. We're looking at the salutation that begins the book of Philippians. We saw last week Paul was wishing grace unto the congregation. And this morning, we want to look at the fact that Paul is also wishing peace be unto them from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As I was preparing the message this week and studying on the peace of God, and I always start the Sunday morning message bright and early Monday morning and came over and was busily studying the peace of God in the heart of the believer, preparing a message And as I was preparing the message, the Lord was preparing the messenger. So as I studied the scriptures, I noticed that my tools weren't working all that well. My computer wasn't working all that well. And then I got a phone call. I had just dropped my generator off at the repair shop to be repaired. And I got a call saying my new generator had a seized engine and it was a piece of junk. Please get rid of it. So I said, oh, things break, I guess. Get back to studying the peace of God. And and I discovered that more and more the things in my computer was slowing down and things weren't working. And and I needed my computer because I had to study peace and and nothing was working. So I brought it to Staples to get repaired. And there it stood for a few days. And then I got a Another note, my boiler broke and that had to get repaired. And here I am with no tools and I'm trying to study peace. And so I went down to Staples and they said it was all ready and everything was all worked out. And I thought, well, the Lord was just testing me. And I went down there and they said, who told you it was ready? This isn't ready. This has got some real serious issues. So I went home and I was waiting again and did as much as I could without my computer. And by the way, all my books are in my computer now. They're all electronic. All my Bible study helps are in my computer and I'm doing the best I can with, remember, paper and pencil and pen and all that. But I had to study peace. And then I called again, and they said, OK, it's all ready. Come down and get it. And I came down to the Staples to pick it up, and they said, sorry, but this is not ready. This has got some serious issues. And oh, by the way, all your files are gone. Now, maybe this doesn't mean much to you if you have some other occupation, but all my life's work is in that computer. So my heart sunk. So then I waited and waited and had to go back and study some more on the peace of God in the heart. And so I went back to what I called Staples up again and they said, well, come on in. We double checked. It's already ready to go. Everything's all cleared up. So I went down to Staples. It was not all cleared up. They were still working on it. And it's still there today, which is why, by the way, you don't have any bulletins this week. Nothing was working properly. I saw a little bit of God's humor in all of this as I tried to do my best to study what it meant, peace be unto you. And that was the backdrop to this study. So let's look at what Paul was actually saying to the Philippians and also to me and maybe to you as well. Paul was wishing in verse two, God's peace unto the congregation at Philippi. And you know, I thought everybody wants peace. The Jews and the Palestinians want peace. And the Indians and the Pakistanis want peace. And the Georgians and the Russians want peace. Everybody wants peace, but peace doesn't ever come apart from God. Not true in lasting peace anyways. At the birth of Christ, the angels shouted, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. And yet we haven't seen any lasting peace on earth or much goodwill towards men since that time. It's been postponed. And while everybody wants peace, yet the world is rejecting God, the source of peace. And so we have a very sad picture presented in the scripture. On the one hand, we have God, the source of all peace, holding out His arms, His hands outstretched to all mankind, offering them peace, offering them reconciliation, offering what mankind desperately needs and longs for in their hearts. And yet the world is saying, we want your peace, but we don't want you. And that's a pitiful picture. Because true peace is the result of a relationship to the God of peace. And there isn't any other way to have, to possess, to experience true peace. And so we have a world filled of miserable men who are tortured inwardly, desperately in need of God's peace and yet refusing the gracious offer because they don't like God. So turn to Romans chapter 5. Paul speaks of peace in Romans chapter 5. There is one kind of peace, and that is peace with God. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 10, Paul says, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Here, the apostle speaks about the condition of all of mankind, apart from saving faith in Christ. All of mankind, and you and I, before we came to know the Lord as our Savior, men are enemies of God. Every sinner is an enemy of God. And there is a spiritual warfare going on between God on the one hand, and Satan and his fallen angels, and the whole world of unbelieving men and women on the other hand. And there is a war taking place. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide reconciliation between a holy God and sinful, rebellious men. And look in the same chapter, Romans 5 and verse 1. Paul says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace, and notice this little preposition, with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Here Paul speaks about through faith, The believing sinner can have peace with God. We had been at war with God. And then when because of the cross of Calvary, when the sinner puts his faith in the Lord Jesus, the war is over for that person. God has provided no longer war, but reconciliation, peace between God and the believing sinner at the moment of saving faith. And it's by faith that we experience this peace with God. So that believing sinner is no longer an enemy of God. Now he's a friend of God. Now he's a son of God. Turn to the Gospel of John in chapter 20. The Gospel of John in chapter 20. Here we see the Lord Jesus said words to his disciples, almost identical to what we read in the salutation of most of Paul's epistles. John chapter 20, beginning in verse 18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. Here the Lord Jesus said to his disciples the same thing Paul was sharing with his disciples in the church at Philippi. Mary had come and told the disciples that she saw the Lord Jesus after his resurrection, that he died, but he was now alive. She saw the risen, glorified Savior. And now the Lord is. Appears to them right in the midst, and he says to the disciples, peace be unto you. And notice the very next thing that is stated. Verse twenty, when he had said, when he had so said, he showed them his hands in his side. And when the disciples, when they saw that they were glad. Now, think about this here, the Lord Jesus says to his disciples, they were discouraged. Their savior died. They were wondering what was going to happen to the kingdom that he promised. And they gathered together. They didn't know quite what to do. And the risen Lord Jesus appeared to them. And he says peace. He wanted them to have peace. They had troubled hearts. He wanted them not to have troubled hearts, but to have peace. But notice that he didn't lay his hands on them. They weren't supernaturally infused with peace. That's not how peace works. God's peace isn't like that at all. It doesn't descend on us from on high like mist out of the clouds. Rather, God's peace is connected to knowledge, to facts, to the truth. And so the Lord Jesus said, Peace be unto you. And then He showed them His wounded hands and sighed as the evidence that peace had been provided for, as the basis of reconciliation. The wounded hands inside were a sign of His finished work on the cross, where these served to demonstrate to the disciples as marks of a conquering Savior, one who had defeated Satan and the powers of darkness, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them. He conquered sin and death. He removed the sting of death and that He rose from the dead. And so the Lord Jesus, by demonstrating to them the evidence of the cross, of His finished work, demonstrated that atonement, forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption had all been provided for. Now there can be peace between God and man. And we read in our responsive reading The Lord Jesus made peace in a most remarkable way through the blood of His cross. It was because of His pierced hands inside that the blood was shed, and because of that, that righteous foundation, that basis, because of that, the disciples could experience God's peace. It's knowing those facts. that settles the heart, knowing that peace has genuinely been provided for through the cross of Calvary, that the Father has been satisfied, that the payment for my sin has been paid in full, and because of that, if I know it, I believe it, I can rest in that, and it settles everything. My eternity has been secured because of the finished work of my Savior. Now in the book of Philippians, Paul wishes peace to the Philippians, but they were no longer enemies of God. He wasn't wishing them peace with God. They had already experienced peace with God. The war was over. They were no longer enemies of God. Now they were his sons. Now they were his friends. And just like we saw last week when Paul wished them grace, it wasn't saving grace he was wishing for them. They already had that. What they did need, however, was sanctifying grace, the grace needed for daily living. And the same was true with God's peace that he wished for them. They didn't need peace with God or justification. They already had that. But turn to Philippians chapter four, and here's what they did need. Philippians 4 and verse 6, Paul says, be careful or anxious for nothing, regardless of what's going on around you that fills your hearts with anxiety. Don't allow anxiety to fill our hearts, but take that to the Lord in prayer and supplication and thank Him for it. Let your requests be made known unto God. Leave the burden with the Lord and then the peace of God. This is not peace with God, this is the peace of God. This is God's peace. This is the kind of peace we need for daily living, moment by moment. And when we bring our burdens to the Lord and leave them there and trust in God, then God's peace that is beyond all logic and comprehension will keep us and guard us and protect our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This is the kind of internal peace that Paul wishes for the Philippian believers, not positional peace that was based on their union with Christ the moment they were justified by faith and had peace with God. That's the kind of peace that is unchangeable. That kind of peace is eternal. It's based upon our eternal union with the Lord by virtue of our saving faith. That's God's work. The believer is eternally reconciled unto the father because he trusted in Christ and peace with God is our eternal, unchangeable, immutable possession. And every believer possesses that peace. The war is over. But that's not the kind of peace Paul was wishing for the Philippian believers, not their positional peace. Rather, he was wishing upon them conditional peace. not connected to their union with Christ, but rather their moment by moment communion with the Lord Jesus, their fellowship with Him. And this is the peace of God in the heart. This is experiencing God's peace. And while every believer possesses peace with God, not every believer experiences the peace of God. And sometimes we allow the cares of this life to disturb our peace. Sometimes the busyness of life causes our peace to be choked out. Sometimes the problems of everyday life, broken machinery, broken computers, they can cause the peace of our heart to just shrivel up and go away. We worry about things. We allow anxiety to fill our hearts, whether it's financial struggles or health issues or family problems, problem with the kids or anything. can destroy that peace in the heart. And Satan would like nothing more than to rob us of that peace of God in our hearts. It ought to be the norm. It's what God desires for every child of God to have every day. But unfortunately, oftentimes it seems like a rare treat to experience this peace. And it really isn't all that far away. It's one of our spiritual blessings, and we've already been blessed with it. We have access to it. It's one of our spiritual riches in Christ, and the pitiful thing is that as born again believers, the moment we're saved, we are rich beyond measure. And yet we walk around life as if we were spiritual beggars. Because we don't avail ourselves by faith of that which is our possession in Christ Jesus, namely, peace. We don't appropriate it by faith. And there's no good reason for any believer to walk around life miserable and not experience God's peace. And if we're not, it's because we've allowed something out there to distract us. So when Paul opens the epistle to the Philippians and says, Grace and peace be unto you from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he was writing to those who are already saved. Who already had God's saving grace, they already had peace with God or justification, but once saved, we still need God's peace. Because it changes with the wind. Sometimes it changes with our experiences. It changes with circumstances. And so we're not always walking by faith and appropriating the peace of God that God wants us to have. But in spite of the fact that we don't always appropriate it, we do desperately need it. You can't live the Christian life if the heart is torn. by issues and problems that rob us of that peace with God. That's why Paul wishes peace to the Philippians, because he knew they needed it. Peace with God isn't something extra like gravy. It's our daily need. And without it, we will be torn apart by worries and fears and troubles and anxieties. The troubles of this world will rob us And this world is not our friend. In fact, the whole world system is designed to destroy our relationship to Christ. Who is our peace? Turn to John, chapter 16, Gospel of John, chapter 16. In verse 33. These things have I spoken unto you, Jesus said, that in me, in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Here the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples in the previous chapters. He spoke to his disciples and now he says, the things that I told you were designed so that you might experience peace in me. Look back in verse 28. I came forth from the father and have come into the world and again, I leave the world and go to the father. What was Jesus communicating to his disciples? He was about to go to his father by way of the cross. He was going to leave them alone physically. And look in verse 32, And behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and ye shall leave me alone. So the Lord told His disciples that He was going to be with His Father and that that would cause such anxiety and worry and fear in their hearts that they would run for their lives. They would be scattered. and they would walk away from the Lord. They would leave Him alone. Now turn back to chapter 14, John chapter 14 and verse 23. Jesus had already told them. Jesus answered and said unto him, If any man love Me, he will keep My words. And My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and will make our abode with Him." So notice what the Lord Jesus promised His disciples. He's preparing them for His departure. He's leaving to go to be with His Father. He's going to be crucified and ascended to heaven. But He wanted them to know that even though He wouldn't be there physically, in some other way, in a spiritual way, He would make His abode with them. He would never leave them alone. He would never abandon them. as they departed from him. Look in verse twenty seven. Peace, I leave with you my peace, I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Here, the Lord Jesus told his disciples he's leaving them, but he's not leaving them. Physically, he won't be here. He'll be at the father's right hand, but spiritually, he will make his abode with them and he's leaving peace. The fact that he will spiritually dwell with them meant that they could experience the peace that they needed for day to day living. So while he's gone physically, They would begin to experience a new spiritual resurrection, a new spiritual relationship to the resurrected Savior. And look in chapter 15 and verse one. Now he illustrates this new spiritual relationship to the risen Savior. He says, I am the vine. My father is the husbandman. And he speaks about the believers as branches in him. Even though he was leaving them in this world, he was not leaving them alone. They would be united to him in a new kind of relationship, a spiritual relationship. And as a result of that relationship to him, they could have peace. In a world full of tribulation, they could experience peace in their hearts. And this peace was not based upon earthly circumstances. It's not based upon earthly things. It's not based on earthly relationships. Rather, this kind of peace is based on a spiritual relationship to Christ. Remember what he said in John 16, the next chapter, he said, in the world, you shall have tribulation, but in me, you can have peace. As we focus on Christ, as we abide in Christ, we experience his peace. As we focus on earthly things and circumstances, we will have trouble and worry and fear and anxiety and will be torn apart. Now, turn back to Philippians, chapter one. Paul is wishing for the Philippian believers peace. The peace. Of God ruling in their hearts. And notice he explains where it's going to come from. Grace be unto you and peace from God, our father in the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's very clear in this passage and the seven other epistles where Paul uses the very same formula where this piece comes from, it comes from the father and it comes from the son. In fact, in the New Testament, God, the father, is referred to as the God of peace. At least five times. And the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace. In 2 Thessalonians, he's called the Lord of Peace. And so we might think of it like this. God the Father is the source of all peace. And God the Son is the conduit that brings it to us. He's the mediator between God and man. And so we read in Philippians 4 and verse 7, The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Through our relationship to him, we experience what God wants us to have, peace for daily living. Now turn to 2 Thessalonians 3. Paul makes an interesting statement not made elsewhere in the New Testament. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 16. Now the Lord of Peace himself give you peace always and notice this next expression by all means. God is the Lord of Peace. Our Savior is the Lord of Peace and he gives it to us. He's not stingy. He's holding out peace 24-7. He wants every one of us to experience it, and He wants us to experience it always, it says. And notice that last expression, I love that, by all means. In other words, God has many ways to communicate peace to His people. God has many ways to accomplish peace in our hearts. God has unlimited resources of peace available to us and he can use all kinds of means to accomplish that. And sometimes God's means of accomplishing peace are very surprising. Whoever would have thought that God would have provided peace to the death of his son. But he did. So the first thing we want to note here is that regardless of the means used, God is always the source. God is always the source of peace, and God is always the one who's to be praised for whatever degree or level of peace we're experiencing. So what is God's main means of peace? Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians, chapter two, in verse fourteen, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ in the previous verse and section. Now, Paul says in verse fourteen of Jesus, he says, for he is our peace. Notice this peace comes to us through a person, not a program, not therapy. not pills or alcohol or even favorable circumstances. That's not how this true and lasting peace comes to us. It comes to us through a person. And Jesus Christ, in this context, is our positional peace. He brought reconciliation. He ended the war through the blood of his Christ, through the blood of the cross. And now, because we have peace with God, that means that the peace of God is now available to us. Just as Jesus said, in the world you shall have tribulation, but in me, peace through a person, through a relationship to Christ. As the branch abides in the vine, all that the vine is and has becomes the possession, the experience of the branch. And thus, as we abide in Christ and walk by faith and trust Him, His peace is our peace. And we discover that Christ is not only life, but Christ is peace. But not every believer experiences that, because it requires something on our part. It requires faith. Turn to Isaiah, chapter 26. Isaiah, chapter 26. is the passage we're all familiar with Isaiah 26 and let's read verses 3 and 4 and let's make a connection between verse 3 and 4 thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee trust ye in the Lord forever For in the Lord, Jehovah is everlasting strength. Now, notice in verse three, there are a lot of there are some italicized words, which means they were not in the original. And here, Isaiah is speaking about a mind that is stayed. And that word stayed means upheld, supported, sustained. And here, Isaiah speaks about peace that we experience as related to the mind. In a sense, peace is a state of mind. And it comes from a mind that is supported, a mind that is sustained, a mind that is held up by the Lord Himself. In Psalm 37, David wrote about the godly man, though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. And that word uphold is the word stayed. God holds him up. He supports him and sustains him. And here the idea is that that's what our minds need. That's where the devil attacks, right here. And here we discover in verse 3, that God keeps in perfect peace a mind that he sustains, a mind that is upheld and supported by him. And when our mind, our imagination, our thoughts, are sustained by God, then the soul experiences peace. There's a direct connection between God upholding our minds and our thoughts and our imaginations and where we allow our mind to travel. When God is in charge, then we experience peace in the heart. And so we all need, we desperately need, a mind that is sustained and supported and upheld by God. Or as Paul writes in the book of Philippians, the mind of Christ. It implies that we don't have the ability to sustain our minds in difficult times, and it's very humbling. The mind is a very fragile thing, and maybe we can sustain things when everything's going well, but what happens when things begin to crash around us? We discover how fragile our mind and peace really is. We need that support, that inner strength being strengthened in the inner man and in our mind. By God. And so in this verse, what's our responsibility? The staying, the upholding, the sustaining, that's God's responsibility. And what's our responsibility? To trust, to believe. And once again, we discover that faith is the victory. As we trust God through all kinds of circumstances and situations that seem to tear us apart on the inside, as we trust God, we discover that he keeps his word. He will sustain our mind, he will hold our mind in his hand. And he upholds our steps. And I think this is illustrated well by Peter walking on the water. As Peter trusted what God said. Remember, he was in the boat and the Lord Jesus said to Peter, come and by faith, Peter stepped on the water. And guess what happened when his eyes were on the Lord and he was trusting God. He wasn't filled with worry and fear and trepidation about the storm and the waves. He stepped on the water. And guess what happened? The Lord held him up. But as Peter began to doubt and he took his eyes off the Lord, he began to sink. God didn't hold him up. God holds us up. God holds our minds up. God sustains our minds as we walk by faith and trust in Him. And this leaves us at the absolute mercy of God. Right where God wants us to be. No confidence in the flesh. Absolute confidence in God and His mercy and His goodness. And as the believer is focused on Christ, And as we are abiding in Him, guess what happens? The Holy Spirit produces fruit in us. And that branch that's abiding in the vine, the fruit of the Spirit is produced by the Holy Spirit in us. The love, the joy, and the peace. A peace that's indescribable. Not a manufactured kind of a peace that we conjure up on our own. It's the kind of peace that is ours as a result of a person. Christ, who is our peace? And an abiding relationship to Christ is what results in our hearts, our psyche, experiencing the peace of God. And as we abide in the vine, all that Christ is, including he is our peace, becomes ours. And as we trust in the Lord, God upholds us and he keeps us in that perfect peace, that peace upon peace that Isaiah describes. Therefore, after describing this perfect peace that's ours by faith, Isaiah repeats our responsibility, he commands his readers, trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. And what kind of strength? Inward strength. Strength of mind. He holds our mind together so it isn't torn in different directions. It doesn't come crashing down. He gives us a sound mind, strength of mind. He strengthens us with His might in the inner man, by His Spirit, and it's ours by faith. But did you know faith all by itself is nothing? Faith needs a foundation to rest on. Faith all by itself is just some ethereal entity that doesn't really do anything. And yet we have promises in God's word, fabulous promises in God's word that I had to go through this week. And God blessed me richly in them. And yet these promises, they're there in the Bible. Whether we experience the peace of them or not, they're there. They're promises. They're valid. And so here's the funny thing. As believers, we all say we have faith. We all believe in God. We've all trusted him in the past and we all know that the promises are and the promises are valid and real and true when rightly divided and applied to us. But the promise doesn't produce peace in us all by itself. And the faith doesn't produce peace just because we believe in God. But here's the powerful combination. When our faith rests upon what God said. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And while the tempest may be raging about us, we have that promise that we can rest in. And what really matters Christ is in us. He'll never leave us. What really matters is settled forever. And that has a settling effect on the heart. Isaiah wrote, Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee. I will help thee. I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness. Do you believe that? God says there's no temptation, no testing, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will never suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Do you believe that? The promise is valid. And we may believe God, but what God wants us to do moment by moment And whatever we're facing at the present is to put the two together, our faith in God and the promises of God. And when we rest in that, then that has a settling effect on the heart and an indescribable peace shoves out the worry and anxiety and fear. We can trust God. God said to Paul. In a time in his life when he needed to learn the same lesson, the Lord said, My grace is sufficient for thee. God's grace was sufficient for what Paul was going through at that moment. And the promise was valid. It only became Paul's through faith. Do you believe that God's grace is sufficient for what you're dealing with right now? We all have burdens, we all have issues that we have to deal with. God wants us to walk by faith and put faith in his word together. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus, we may be facing financial difficulties, but do we believe God's promise? And I love what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, as they face something we'll probably never face. They were facing being cast alive into a burning, fiery furnace. And they could escape it just like that by recanting. But they wouldn't. And their words were, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of his hand, thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto the king that we will not serve thy gods. We're going to be faithful to the Lord, even if it means death. For the believer, that's even far better. The worst thing circumstances can do to us in life, the worst thing the world can throw at us is persecute us unto death. And that only ushers us into the presence of Almighty God. We need to look at God's promises. All things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose. We know the promise. Are we resting in it and what we're going through right now? Or as we'll see later on in the book of Philippians, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, Thank God for the trial. Let your request be made known unto God. Take your burden unto the Lord. Cast your care upon him for he care for you and leave it there. Trusting that God knows the answer, God knows the end and the end result of that is the peace of God. That defies logic, that baffles the world. It's without understanding. It passes human understanding. That peace will keep and strengthen us. An abiding faith rests in God's Word. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. What a powerful combination God has given to us. Promises, valid promises, backed by omnipotence. in our fleeting faith that sometimes splits around and doesn't land anywhere. But when it lands on God's promise, we experience something that is an abiding faith, like that branch abiding in the vine, resting there, trusting And just as Daniel's friends faced that fiery trial, didn't matter what the end was, they were going to trust God no matter what. And God brought them right through that trial, safely on the other side, in a way that they never could have imagined. Peter was safe and secure walking on the water, even when his eyes were off the Lord, and he began to sink. All he had to do was look and live. And so faith really is the victory. And that's why Paul wrote to the Colossians. We saw this some time ago, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus, the Lord. So walking in him, how did we receive the Lord by faith, trusting in what he said, trusting in the gospel. So how are we to live? How are we to walk by faith? trusting in what God said. It's no surprise that the Psalmist writes, great peace have they that love thy law. Learn God's word, trust in it, put your faith upon it, believe it. And by faith, we can experience what God wants every one of us to have, something we desperately need for daily living, the peace of God. Let it rule in our hearts. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for the wonderful promise of peace. Lord, help each one of us to experience it by faith that you might receive glory from our daily lives. And we'll thank and praise you for this. In Jesus' name, amen.