Please open with me in your Bibles to Philippians 4 once more. For the last few months, as you know, we've been looking at the Word of God to see what God himself says about himself. We've been studying the beautiful attributes of God, and they tell us more about who God is. Now, it's a series on God. And yet, in an unusual way, you can also learn about not only us, but about the devil by looking at God. What do I mean? Satan is not the equal opposite of God because nobody is equal to God, but he is the opposite of God. So when we look at these attributes of God, just think, what is the opposite of it? And that's the devil. For example, when we look at the holiness of God, that tells us the devil is very unholy. He is evil. When we look at the beauty of God, we know that the devil is ugly. When we look at the truth of God, we know that Satan is, as Jesus said, he is the father of lies. Now, one thing I suppose that God and the devil have in common is that they're both spiritual. They don't have a physical body. And they're both personal, except that God is tripersonal, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today, we look at one attribute of God, and you can suspect what the opposite is that belongs to the devil. Today, we look at the peace of God, something the devil hates. The devil is not a lover of peace, but of strife, war, and everything that is opposed to true peace. The message can be summed up in this one sentence. The Lord is the God of peace, and he shares his peace with those that are at peace with him through the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God. Now, peace is an often used, but generally misunderstood word. You probably all heard it in a variety of contexts. We just want peace. There's the peace process and so forth. Well, we have to go to the Bible to see what is true peace and what does the word itself mean. Now, as you know, the Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word is Shalom. You've heard the word Shalom. In the Greek New Testament, the Greek word is Irenae, from which some women get their name Irene. And the word Aaron basically is the same as shalom and meaning. And one thing that they both have in common is they can both be used as a greeting or as a goodbye in the letters of Paul. He often opens up with a word of peace and then he ends with a word of peace. What does this word shalom mean? Well, it's a very friendly word in Hebrew and everybody loves it in Hebrew. It even sounds lovely. Shalom. Very similar to the Arabic word, Salaam. And maybe you'll hear people on TV talk about that. The greeting among Arabs would be Salaam. Interesting because it's similar to another word in Hebrew, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the place of Shalom. And then there was a king named Solomon. The man of peace, Shalom man, as it were. But what does the word mean? Well, one of the meanings for Shalom is it's an absence of war. For example, one verse says they are for war, but I am for peace. The Bible says there is a time for war, but there is also a time for peace. But shalom to the biblical way of thinking is more than simply absence of war, it's the presence of something else. When I learned Hebrew at seminary back in the mid-1970s, I still remember in Hebrew class, the teacher came in rather upset because it had just been announced that South Vietnam had fallen to the communists. And this man was a loyal patriot. And he said, well, I guess the peace people are very pleased because the war is over. And he says, but if you think there is shalom in Vietnam, you've got another thing coming. He says there is never shalom under communism. And he was right, because within months, Vietnamese were getting on boats to get out of there. So shalom is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of a true peace. Now, what does shalom mean? Well, it means peace, but it also means words like health, life, healing, wholeness. well-being, prosperity, and not just financial prosperity, harmony, unity, order. That is what the Jewish idea of shalom is, not just the absence of war, but the presence of health and all these things. For example, Jeremiah 8.15 says, we look for peace, but no good came, and we look for a time of health. Jeremiah 33, 6 says, Behold, this is God speaking, I will bring it health and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. So in the Bible, peace means health, growth, something that is good for us. And the opposite of that would be obviously war, but also crime and disorder. Now, over the years, various psychologists and sociologists will say, well, we need peace. And they say we lack peace because instead we have alienation and disintegration. Now those words have a degree of truth in them because alienation means you no longer have reconciliation and harmony with someone else. You're alienated from them. And disintegration means things are falling apart. Or as we would say, they're out of whack. It's like a car that doesn't have all the cylinders kicking in or a breakdown of a system or a relationship. So where there is alienation and disintegration, they need shalom. They need peace in order for harmony, for things to work together and not fall apart. Now, that's basically what the word means. Now, let's see how it applies to God. And from God, we can have the peace of God. I want to point out two very interesting phrases here in Philippians chapter four for the first of several verses we'll look at this morning. Look at chapter four, verse seven. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And then skip down to verse nine. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do and the God of peace will be with you. Did you notice the two phrases, the peace of God and the God of peace? So let's start with the peace of God. The God who is peace. The Bible several times calls him the God of peace. And that is one of his names, as a matter of fact. Back in the book of Judges, Gideon built an altar and he named it after God and he called it Jehovah Shalom. God, or the Lord, is our peace. Isaiah 45, 7, God says, I make peace. And as we've seen week by week in these studies, all these good and great things come from within God himself. God is the God of peace. He has true peace, true shalom within himself. He has no disturbances, no alienation, no conflict within himself. And more than that, God himself is the source of all life, health, harmony, goodness. and everything harmonious. He has life and health within himself and nothing disharmony within himself. There's no rivalry within God. And within God, there is father, son and Holy Spirit. And within the one Godhead, the persons of the Trinity match. They fit. They were in perfect harmony within the Trinity. And if there is such a thing as a divine music of a trio of the Father, Son, and the Spirit singing, they would sing in perfect three-part harmony. There is order within God. There is no disintegration, no alienation. Now, the word shalom does mean order as well. God is a God of peace. He is a God of order. 1 Corinthians 14.33 says God is not a God of confusion, but of peace because God loves order because God is a God of order and of peace. Now God created the universe as a peaceful world of order and harmony in order that he can now live in it and show his health and harmony And that's how it was. Now, on day one, when God first created, you know that it was chaos. It was like a lump of clay and then God molded it and the chaos became a cosmos. Now, I'm choosing the words very distinctly there because cosmos and chaos are Greek words. Cosmos means order. And God created the universe as a universe of order. But when Adam sinned, it became a chaos. Now, if I can So in a little pun to help you to remember the difference between those two words from the word cosmos, we get words like cosmetology and cosmetics. In other words, things that beautify a person. And as one person said, it's the job of a beautician to turn chaos into cosmos. In other words, hair shooting out in every direction and you comb it and you make it orderly and beautiful. Now, my point is this. God created the universe as a cosmos, and it was beautiful because it was all orderly and showed God's health and God's beauty. But then when Adam and Eve sinned, they brought in disorder, disaster, disease. Now, look at those words, disorder, dis-ease, the very opposite of cosmos and shalom. And so everything would became out of whack. Now, we still see some order in the universe because this is still God's universe and he keeps it running in behind the scenes. He knows that it's still running exactly the way he wants to. But we live in the world and we see chaos. There's no peace with animals, for example, like there was in the Garden of Eden. Now there are wild animals and beasts. And the worst animal, as it were, in the universe is man. We are wild. And we commit war and crime, but it's still God's world. It's no longer the Garden of Eden where we live at peace with God. And because we're not at peace with God, we're not at peace with each other. or within ourself. We're not in the peaceful garden of Eden anymore. We're outside the garden. And because we have inherited the sin of Adam and Eve, and we carry it on every day of our lives, we do not enjoy the peace of God anymore. Listen to these two verses. It's repeated twice in the book of Isaiah. God says, there is no peace for the wicked. Elsewhere, he says, the wicked world of humanity is like waves of the sea that are never at peace. God says, I will not share my peace with those that are at enmity with me. He says there is no peace for the wicked. That means there is no inner peace nor their peace in our relationships. We have internal turmoil, psychological problems. Adam and Eve didn't have that before they sinned. They were at perfect peace with God and in their relationship with each other and with the environment. And Adam and Eve had perfect internal peace. But when we're not at peace with God, God takes away that peace as a form of judgment. And so we have internal turmoil and internal disintegration and breakdown of relationships. There's alienation between nations, races, genders and in the cities because of war or crime. All of this gets back to the fact that we are not at peace with God. Therefore, we won't be at peace with each other or even with ourselves. Everybody wants peace. Everybody says, oh, I want peace so much. Oh, if I can just get five minutes of peace and some people get desperate and so they go to drink or to drugs just for a little temporary peace. But it's only temporary, and the results bring even more lack of peace. And the point is, because we are at war with God, we don't have his peace in our hearts. If we want true peace, we should turn to God. But sin doesn't want to turn to God. We're enemies with God, so we need to be reconciled. And because we don't have peace with God, we lack internal peace. We lack external peace with other people around us. And that's the source of war and crime and the breakdown of families. Romans 3 talks about sin and it says, the way of peace they have not known. Why? Because we don't know God. And so we run through this world as it were, running through the jungle and everywhere we go, there's a lack of true peace. We're enemies of God, and we're at war with God. You see, our relationship with God is not one of shalom, but of enmity. We're at war with God, and it's a two-way war. We're at war with God, and we are now God's enemies, because God is a holy God, and He will not give His peace to His enemies. So what's the answer? Well, there are psychologists and sociologists and those in education that say, well, we've got the answer because there's the breakdown of family and everything. The answer is more education. No, you give more education to a sinner, he's simply a smarter sinner. And other people will say, well, it's finances. Now that's the root of Marxism. It says all the problems of mankind can be traced back to class struggle and alienation between the wicked capitalists and the workers. So if everybody becomes equal, equally poor, there will be worldwide peace. It never worked. Because there are poor people that have true peace and rich people that don't have true peace. So it's not to be found in the banks or in the pocketbooks. Where is the answer to be found? The search for true peace can only come from God, who is the God of peace. The problem is in us, not in God. The answer is in God, not in us. And God has provided the answer. through Jesus Christ. Again, it's not in the principle, either psychological or in finances. The answer is to be found in a person named Jesus Christ. Now for our second scripture reading, turn with me to the book of Isaiah. Pray for children that need peace. Isaiah chapter nine, there are two verses here. Then we usually hear sometime around Christmas, but I want you to notice God's promise of peace. Isaiah, chapter nine, starting at verse six. For unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder. And I can tell this is talking about the coming of Jesus. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. And then it continues of the increase of his government and peace. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it. Notice the word order that shalom and to establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This is God's answer to the problem of the lack of peace. We need peace. God says, I've got it. I will give it. through the Prince of Peace, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. So when He came into the world, He was the embodiment of true peace. When He was born, the angels sang and announced, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Another prophecy promised in Micah 5 too, that this Messiah would come and even pinpointed where He would be born. And the prophecy continued in verse 5 and said, and this one, this person shall be peace. All true peace comes from God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and outside of him there is no true peace. Hebrews 7, 2 gives him the title, the King of Peace. So through the Lord Jesus Christ there is true peace, and outside of him there is no true peace. But friends, it's not just in his person, it's in his work. Jesus didn't just come up and say, I am Mr. Peace, shake my hand, you will be at peace. Jesus had to do something to bring in peace. Now, remember, the problem is we were at enmity with God. Jesus came to solve the sin problem so that we can be reconciled to God and be made at peace with God. Now, a third scripture reading explains this. Turn back to the New Testament, to the book of Ephesians. Again, there are two verses that shed much light on the peace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 2. This wonderful chapter tells us about salvation, because by the way, here's a little footnote while you're turning to Ephesians 2. The word shalom can also be translated as salvation. Now we're going to quote one of those verses later in this message. OK, Ephesians 2, starting at verse 14, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He himself is our peace. How? He has made both one and is broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace." And then he goes on to say how the Jew and Gentile are reconciled to each other, and man can be reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says here, He is our peace. He made our peace for us. Now occasionally you hear about someone, for example, a preacher or a priest comes to a dying man and says, you need to make your peace with God. Well, the sentiments might be correct, but the words are expressed wrong. We do not make our peace with God. Nobody can. The Bible says Jesus makes the peace for us. So people try to make peace with God. They say, I try to atone. I try to suffer to do some big thing, and therefore I can be at peace with God. That's not going to work with God. That's not the terms of God's peace treaty. The only way that peace can be made with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He made our peace for us. Isaiah 53 5 says the chastisement for our peace was upon him. How does it work? How is Jesus the greatest great peacemaker between us and God? It gets back to the nature of sin and the holiness of God, because God is holy and we're unholy. We need to be reconciled. We are not at peace with God. We're at enmity with him. We're at war with God. There has to be a punishment that has to be given. That's why it says the chastisement or the punishment for our peace was upon him. Jesus took the punishment that our sin crimes deserved. Crime deserves punishment. Sin deserves punishment. Jesus took that punishment so that now God could be, listen closely, He could be appeased. Do you see the word peace in that? God had to be appeased. A sacrifice had to be made so that God said, I am satisfied, and now God is at peace with us. The peace offering has been made. Numbers 7 in Leviticus 7 talks about a series of various peace offerings that were to be made. But of course, all those were pictures of the one great offering. Jesus was the final peace offering, and when He offered Himself on the cross, God was satisfied. He was atoned. God now is reconciled. He has been satisfied on behalf of His people. But it doesn't end there. You see, we are still enemies of God until the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus and reconciles us through Him. He calls upon us now to receive this salvation and to be reconciled with God. Now, what are the terms of this peace treaty? God has been appeased through the cross, but we are still His enemies. What are the terms of the peace treaty? What do we have to do as it were to be at peace with God? We can't do anything to earn it. God says you must repent and believe. Now look at the word repent. Word repent means you change your mind. You surrender to God or to put it in military terms. You surrender. The terms of God's peace treaty is you surrender. You come out with your hands up, as it were. You stack arms and you say, I give up. It's unconditional surrender. And friends, unless we give up, we are still at war with God. That's why God says stack arms. So imagine someone coming out and saying, I surrender. And he's got a machine gun in his hand. You say you have never surrendered. God says we must repent of our sins, we must give up and submit to his terms of surrender. And when we truly repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are reconciled, we are saved, we are now put at peace with God. Turn to our next scripture reading in the book of Romans. And this tells us the result of reconciliation, with God. Romans chapter 5. Wonderful chapter that has all the beautiful terms of love and atonement and reconciliation. But look at chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God to our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. Notice it's a present possession. We have it now. When? When we are justified by faith. The moment a sinner repents and believes he is put at peace with God, now he can enjoy peace with God. You know, I still remember when I was a little boy growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, I'd crawl around and you know how little kids are, they get into things and they get curious and they put it in their mouth and they throw it away or something like that. I remember I was old enough to go over to where my mother kept a few books and I can still remember learning to read and I pulled one of them down and I was a little afraid to read it because the title was called Peace with God. And it was written in the early fifties by a young up and coming preacher named Billy Graham. And I still remember looking at the title, and as I'd grow up, I'd still occasionally go and take the book off and say, Peace with God. I wonder what that means. And though I grew up going to Sunday school and church, I never experienced peace with God until I was converted at age 20. And lo and behold, when I became a Christian at age 20, I went and got the book and I read it and I said, He's right. I now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what about you, friends? I've just explained salvation and our need for peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have it? Are you at peace with God? Or are you still enemies of God? If you're still enemies with God, God calls to you and says, come, surrender, repent and believe. Be at peace with God by being reconciled to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's peace treaty. It's also what the Bible calls his covenant of peace. In Malachi 2, it's called his covenant of life and peace. Now, once we are at peace with the God of peace, Then God will give us his peace into our hearts, that peace that we need and that we lack. And without that peace, we have no internal peace. We don't have true peace with other people. So now let's look at God's gift of peace in our hearts. Turn with me next to the Gospel of John, where our Lord Jesus Christ promised to give us this peace. John chapter 14 just records the words of Jesus on the The night before, Jesus made our peace for us at the cross. And he gathered his apostles around here and he gives them words of encouragement and promise. And then in verse 27, this wonderful promise that some of you have cherished for years. Verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So Jesus promises to give true peace here. But notice what he says, he just doesn't say, I give you peace in general. He says, I give you my peace, not the peace of the world, because there is no peace in the world. And he knew it, but he says, my very own peace I give to you. Now, let's explore the nature of this peace that we can receive through the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, it comes from God, so it's the peace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, I said earlier, this shalom is from within the Trinity, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father gives it through Jesus, so it's the Father's peace. It's the peace of Jesus. It's also the peace of the Holy Spirit. When God reconciles us, he puts the Holy Spirit within us. And then the Holy Spirit produces a personal peace within us. It's spiritual peace. Galatians 5.22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. The Holy Spirit grows His peace within our hearts. So it comes from the Father through the Son and is planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Friends, the point is this. True peace can only come from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't know Jesus, you don't know true peace. If you do know the Lord Jesus Christ, it's as it were the door has been opened where peace can come to you and keep coming to you and flowing through you. The peace of God. Now let's also say some more about the nature of this true peace. One of the misunderstandings that people have of peace is that it's simply a feeling, and that's all it is, and it becomes a kind of a negative feeling that, for example, Buddhist peace, where you meditate, you get this dreamy feeling, and according to Buddhism, you're somehow absorbed into the all, and you lose your personal identity. You know, that's what Buddhism teaches. They say that's the way of peace, is you abstain from all desire and you're absorbed into everything. That's true peace. That's not true peace. Losing your personal identity. According to the Bible, true peace comes when you are now united with the true God. And it's not losing your identity, it's finding your true identity, being related to God as your father. And yet it does include a certain quietness of heart, a certain tranquility that we experience. Last week, we ended our message on the joy of God by quoting Zephaniah 317. Let me quote you a part of that verse again. God promises that he will quiet you with his love. Now, we know what that's like. There are times that we have emotional turmoil and we want an inner peace that we can't produce by ourself. And so we try hugging ourself or we try weeping it out and it doesn't work. We need that peace and reassurance from someone else. Now, we all learn this even as a little child, just like a little baby that cries. And we've heard a little of that this morning already. We know it. That's like a little baby doesn't know how to say, Mommy, I need a hug or I need a change. He cries it out and sometimes because that child is hurting. But you know, we never really outgrow that. There are times we need more than just a hug. We need reassurance from God that He is our Father, that truly loves us. And so, as it says here, He quiets us with His love. Just like a mother will hold a crying baby, hold it up to her heart, pat it on the back and rock it a little bit. The little child feels at peace with its mother. We need to feel at peace with our Heavenly Father. And God gives that. Remember, Jesus calmed the storms and said, Peace, be still, Mark 4, verse 39. But there still is something else. He just doesn't calm the storms. He gives us a peace in the midst of the storm. Turn two chapters over to the Gospel of John, chapter 16. Jesus again promises a certain kind of peace in the midst of the storm. You see, when we're going through the storms of life, we'll say, Lord, stop the storm and give me peace. God has a purpose for this storm, and so he gives us a peace in the midst of this storm. And it takes a Christian to realize this crucial point. Look at 1633, Jesus said, These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He's saying, I'm sending you back out in the world. Am I taking you to heaven immediately? In the world you're going to have tribulations, storms, hurricanes. But he says, in me you will have a peace as it were like the eye of a hurricane. Now, you Yankees up here have probably never been through a hurricane, but I'm a southern boy that survived several hurricanes down in New Orleans. Now, you've heard that in the middle of a hurricane, there's the eye of the storm. It's an eerie thing. Because for days and weeks, you feel the winds getting stronger and stronger. And then the rain comes and all this. And sometimes they say, evacuate, get out while you can. The storm is getting more tumultuous and tumultuous. And then it's right over you and you have to batten down the hatches and hunker down. And then the eye passes over and it's spooky. For days you've been preparing with all these winds and all of a sudden it's quiet and the birds start chirping. And it is so quiet you can drop a feather and no wind will blow it. It's peaceful in the midst of the storm. That's the peace the Lord Jesus Christ gives to His people. In the midst of the storms of life, we can experience an internal peace. We've got a secret that the world does not know. Years ago, a newspaper in London ran a contest, and the first prize would be given to the one that sent in a picture that best displayed peace. So one picture showed enemies shaking hands at peace. Another one showed a beautiful, peaceful scene of a book and a meadow and flowers and birds chirping. The one that won first prize was a picture of a storm. And in the middle of a storm, they showed a tree. And if you look closely, you would see a bird's nest and the mother had its little chicks underneath its wings. And the little birds were at peace in the midst of the storm. Dear brethren, that's the peace we can enjoy in the midst of the trials of life. The world doesn't know that there is no peace for the wicked. They're in the storms of life. But we can have a peace with God. The Bible says we can enjoy peace under God's own wings. Philippians 4, 7 again says the peace of God passes all understanding because it's not just in our minds, it's a peace of heart that we can experience deep within us. And something else, friends, peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of conscience. You see, when we are at enmity with God, God touches our conscience and our conscience accuses us. And sometimes we can't even sleep at night because of a guilty conscience. We feel like someone's chasing us, like a policeman with a gun. We've got a guilty conscience. When we become a true Christian, God not only gives us peace of mind and peace of heart, He does something in our consciences. The book of Hebrews says He cleanses our conscience with the blood of Christ. So our conscience no longer accuses us and says, you're lost and guilty on your way to hell. Now our consciences, as it were, echo God's promise. We have peace of conscience. The Holy Spirit no longer condemns us. but encourages us with true peace. Notice I keep saying the Holy Spirit. Romans 14.7 says the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 8.6 says to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now let me share just very briefly a few miscellaneous verses on how God gives peace and continues to give peace to those that are at peace with him. Here's one, Isaiah 66, 12. God says, I will extend peace to her like a river. In other words, it's not just a small amount. It's like an ever flowing river. And friends, we need that because as we go through the world, sometimes our supply of peace runs short, come back to the river and dip the cup of your heart as it were and say, Lord, I need more peace. God is the source of all true peace. Later in Isaiah, chapter 26-3, God says, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts in you. Psalm 119-165, great peace have those who love your law. Psalm 29-11, the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 85, 8, he will speak peace to his people and to his saints. Now, there are many, many more verses like this where God promises to supply peace to his people that are at peace with him. Let me give you one more benefit here. Bible says there's no peace for the wicked. Sometimes they don't even have peace in their sleep. They have nightmares. And also when I counsel some people, I can tell they're not at peace. They haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time. And I say, what's going on? They say, I can't even get peace in my sleep. And I said, what's it like? They said, I wake up in tears or nightmares. I can't even sleep right. God promises to give peaceful sleep to his people. Psalm 4, 8. David says, I will both lie down in peace and safety for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. So you see, wherever we go and whatever we go through, dear friends, we can enjoy the peace of God, no matter what, throughout our lives and to the end of our lives. Here's another precious promise. Jeremiah 34, 5 says, you shall die in peace. Old John Wesley used to say, they make fun of us, but our people die well. A Christian can lay his head on the pillow, not just at night, but he can lay his head on the pillow of death. He can die in peace knowing he's going to be with His heavenly father. We have an example of this in Luke 2, 29, old Simeon. And God has said, Simeon, you're not going to die until you see the Messiah. And then when Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought him into the temple and they hand to Simeon and the old man held him in his arms. Can't you see the old man looking at him? And he looks up to God and says, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. He knew he could die because he had met the Messiah. No person is prepared to die in peace until he's met Christ as his Savior. But every true child of God knows that he can finally die in peace because he knows God as his Father. Briefly, let me share with you some practical lessons from the peace of God. We should enjoy the peace of God every day, but God has provided one day in particular when we can enjoy the peace of God in particular. The Lord's Day. You know, they have a greeting over in Jerusalem, if you've ever been over there, go there on a Friday evening, right after the sun goes down and they're beginning Shabbat. That's the Sabbath. They still celebrate Saturday and it begins on Friday evening. You know what the greeting is? Shabbat Shalom. The peace of the Sabbath. Oh, that Christians would also enjoy God's peace on the day of peace that he has provided the Lord's day. Rest, spend time with God and God's people and your families and set aside anything that would cause unnecessary unrest. The day of peace. Secondly, we should strive and work for true peace. Wherever there is disharmony. Now, unfortunately, there's still war and conflict in the wars, but I'm not advocating pacifism, pacifism in the peace movement is in utter confusion about what true peace is. They work for peace. They fight for peace. There is no true peace. Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. How are we to work for true peace by getting back to the Bible? The Bible is God's, as it were, peace manual. It's not only his peace treaty, it tells us how to achieve true peace with God and within ourself, within our families, within racial disharmony, within the nations. Oh, that we'd go back to doing it God's way. Take, for example, the family. J.R. has been teaching us in Sunday School about how God's way truly works. Right, J.R.? If we do it God's way, it works. Why are families falling apart? Because they're not doing it God's way. If husbands and wives did what God tells them to do, and if parents raise their children and children follow their parents in the right way, it works and there will be peace in the family. God's way works. If you don't do it God's way, there will not be But we should strive for peaceful relationships in all of our relationships at work, for example, and in with in-laws so that they don't become outlaws. Mark 9, 50, Jesus said, have peace with one another. Romans 14, 19, let us pursue the things which make for peace. Hebrews 12, 14, pursue peace with all people. And Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. We should try to share this peace and show it how it can be achieved God's way. James 3, 18. Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Now, there are various ways that we should strive for peace. We've talked about peace between nations, peace and families, also peace in churches. If you've ever been through a church split, It is very disharmonious. There is no shalom. I remember when I went through one many years ago in a previous church, a woman came up to me and she says, now you know what a divorce is like when a church falls apart. Oh, the churches would enjoy true peace God's way. It says in Ephesians 4, 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. God's way works within a church just like it does in a family and everywhere else. We should strive for peace and protect it zealously within a local church. That's our second lesson. Let's get number three now. Brethren, we should share the gospel of peace with those that need it. It's called the gospel of peace in Romans 10, 15 and Ephesians 6, 15. What does this mean? It means we tell people how they can be first be at peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 10, 36 says preaching peace through Jesus Christ. In other words, when we tell them the gospel, we're telling them how they can no longer be enemies, but friends of God. They can be made at peace with God through the cross, how Jesus made our peace from us. And then they can enjoy the peace of God in their hearts and in their lives. We need to share the gospel of peace. Fourthly and lastly, brethren, we should look forward to perfect peace in heaven one day. There's no lasting peace on earth until Christ comes again. Now we should work for peace. We should strive for peace. We should support true, just peace efforts. But friends, we know it will never last forever in this life. until Jesus returns. You know, Jesus said when He came the first time, He said, I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword. He knew that He could bring peace with God and internal peace, but He knew that there would still be families that would fall apart and there would be war in the nations until His second coming. And at the second coming, the Prince of Peace, as it were, will set up His kingdom on earth, and then there will be finally peace on earth. And then that will be a prelude to eternal peace in heaven. What is heaven? Heaven is a place of peace. Heaven is a home of shalom. There is no disintegration. There is no alienation. There is no war, strife, or any of these other things in heaven. Heaven is perfect peace, spiritual peace, spiritual health and harmony. Revelation 21 too calls heaven the new Jerusalem. the new place of shalom. Well, brethren, these are some of the lessons we can learn about God, the God of peace, and how we can enjoy it in our hearts, in our relationships. I'll leave you with one last word of counsel from Job 22. And we are told, acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace. True peace comes from the God of peace. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that you have made peace on our behalf through the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. We thank you that we are now at peace with you through him, and we thank you, Father, that you have put your peace in our hearts. We pray that you would help us to be peacemakers in places that need it. Help us to share the gospel of peace with those that need Christ. And Father, we thank you that we have enjoyed peace in our hearts and we know that we will enjoy perfect peace with you forever. In heaven. Thank you, Father. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.