starting in verse six and seven. And we'll have these up on the board here. So, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Father, I thank you for this day that you have given each of us. Lord, For all of us in here, I believe, or for most of us in here, we know you as our Savior and Lord. We've experienced the peace that that brings. And Lord, I just ask right now that you would give me your words, what you want this congregation to know about your peace. And may we bring you glory and honor and praise as we do this this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, peace. How many of you are seeking peace? Every day, amen. Every day. And the world is no different, right? The world is constantly talking about peace. And individuals, people, individual people want peace. And we're always talking about it. And in the world, and in people's lives, There may be momentary times of peace, but there's no lasting peace. Why? Because their peace is based on circumstance. And we all know that circumstances change, amen? And they can change very, very quickly. We don't know really what's gonna happen from one moment to the next. So, As far as the world looking for peace, I found this, I thought this was very interesting, and I think we've probably heard this before, that out of the last 3,500 years, there has only been approximately 300 years of peace. That means 3,200 years of wars, conflicts, things going on in our world. In the last 5,500 years, there have been more than 8,000 peace treaties made that have all been broken. We see it even today with Israel and Hamas and terrorists. They'll enter into a time of peace, and within days, that peace treaty has been broken. Over that 5,500 years, there's been 4,000, greater than 14,000 wars in this world. And out of that, more than four billion casualties. Four billion people have been killed in these wars, ongoing wars. So is there peace in the world? No. No, not at all. Even though they talk about it, even though we Yeah, even though we hear people talk about it all the time, individuals. People want peace in their lives. They want relief from the relentless pressures and problems, amen? We all know that, even within our own Christian lives, we have that, we want relief from those things. And the good news for you and I is that there is relief for those. The bad news for the world is there is no relief, there is no peace for those things. Again, there may be momentary peace, but nothing that is lasting. How many of you look for peace and quiet? If I could just get some peace and quiet, I'd be fine. We know how long that lasts, especially if you have children, right? People tell us that you need to make peace with your past. If things have troubled you, you've had a problem life, depending on where you grew up and under who your parents were and the environment that you're in. People tell us that we need to make peace with our past. Talking to psychologists and psychiatrists, they're one of the ones that want us to go back. Go back and look at our lives and blame our mom. Blame our parents, blame the environment. And they want us to make peace with that. How many of you want law enforcement? Where's Mike, where's Ryan? Law enforcement, what do we want from them? We want them to keep the peace. We want them to bring order in our environment that we live in. That's why they're there. And they're constantly challenged to keep that peace. Also, how many times have you heard this? May they rest in peace. We've heard it so often that it becomes a synonym for death, right? Rest in peace. But you and I know that if you're not a believer, you are not resting in peace. Amen? Unbelievers, people that don't know Jesus Christ, have no idea how to find true peace. When we know that true peace only comes from having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If you are not a believer here this morning or listening to this on YouTube or wherever you may hear it, I want you to hear what I'm about to say and hear it clearly. People who don't have that relationship with Jesus, with God, don't know, don't realize they are actually enemies of God. They, in reality, hate God. And they think because they have no feelings of hatred, of being an enemy of God, they can only be at best neutral about God. and they have no understanding. If you are an unbeliever, you have no understanding of what it means to be an enemy of God, to be under His wrath, to be under His condemnation. And hopefully you will hear this morning that whether you believe that or not, that is the truth. And the sooner we wake up to that, the better that our lives will be. The mind of every unbeliever is at peace with things of the flesh. And that flesh is hostile to God. We're in it for self-indulgence. We're looking only to ourselves. We have no thoughts of God. To the point that he even doesn't exist. And they, unbelievers, are enemies of God. And what they don't realize is that God is an enemy of theirs. If we look at Psalm 711, close, 711, Psalm. Very good. All right. Psalm 711 says that God is a just judge. And God is angry with the wicked every day. God is a just judge. There is judgment that is coming for an unbeliever. There He has proven this over and over throughout history that he is one who judges sin, who has judged sin and will judge sin. We know that the flood came and wiped out the world and everyone that was in it and everything that breathed except for eight people. He's judged the sin of the nation of Israel, taking them into captivity. Even 10 tribes have been lost. But believe it or not, they have been found. There's a remnant of those 10 tribes that are living today that God is going to bring back together and bring them back to Israel at some time here in the near future. And the end of that being under God's wrath, being under his condemnation is an eternity of torment. An eternity of in hell and ultimately in the lake of fire. And they don't know that. It's like being on a road where there's, you know, the bridge is out, and they're just cruising along, and on their merry way, and all of a sudden they get to the end, and off they go, and it's over. And we're standing before that bridge, and we're trying to get their attention any way that they can. Don't go on, go here. Don't go past here. There's nothing but trouble. There's nothing but death after this point. And yet they will hear us and they will continue on because they really don't think that God exists or two, that he will judge those that are not believers. He's proven it again, over and over again. If we go to John chapter eight, verse 44, some truths about unbelievers. Now, Jesus is actually talking here to the religious leaders of his day. the Jewish priests and Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes, and all those that should know these things. And Jesus had these words for them. He says, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. You are of your father the devil. If you are not a son or a daughter of God, you are a son or a daughter of the devil. There is no middle ground. It is black and white. And again, people don't, unbelievers don't understand that. They believe that God is love. How could he possibly send anybody to hell? And living under that deception, they go on with their lives just as they're living, and they have no idea, again, that there's a time coming when they will know they will realize that yes, God is love, but he is also just. And anyone who is not holy and blameless in his sight is going to pay the price for their own sin. And that price is an eternity in hell. If we look at Romans 1.18, They don't realize that they're citizens of Satan's kingdom. They're not in the light, they're in the dark. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It's not like they don't know. God tells us clearly here that each one of us has been given a knowledge of God in general, natural revelation. looking at the world around us, looking at the stars, looking at the planets, looking at the sky, looking at all living things. They have a knowledge of God and they choose to suppress that knowledge. And because of that knowledge that they have, they are without excuse. There's no gonna be standing before God and saying, I didn't know. And God will point out, the number of times that, one, they had the thought within themselves, the fact that they knew right from wrong and chose to do wrong, those that have come and shared the gospel with them, planted seed, watered seed, that they rejected, they'll know that, and they'll know that what they're receiving is their just punishment. There is no injustice with God, amen? Amen. Ephesians 5.6. Unbelievers, let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the sins that were listed just before this verse, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. The wrath of God is hanging over them and it will come unless they repent and become believers. So, the only source of true peace, again, is God through Jesus Christ. If we look at Romans 5.1, therefore, and we all know that when you see a therefore, we wanna know what it's there for, right? This, therefore, refers to everything that's been written in the first four chapters of Romans. And in the first, from chapter one, verse one, to chapter three, verse 20, Paul has, without a doubt, convicted everyone that they are all under sin. Then in starting in 321, he tells us that we are saved, that we can be saved by faith. And all the way to chapter five here, he said, because of that, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Very good news. Again, there is no other source for peace. It's only in God. And if we look at, where am I? John chapter 14 and then verse 27. Jesus said this, he said, peace, I leave with you. My peace, Jesus's peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jesus gives us his peace. He is peaceful in every and any circumstance that he faced during his time here on earth. And his peace is probably most seen with his crucifixion. That he was able to totally trust his father to take care of the situation, he knew he was working out the will of his father, and he trusted his father that he would bring him through this, and that the glory that he had before, he would have once again, and he would also bring many into the kingdom with him, that we can enjoy peace. And this peace, as we read in the beginning in Philippians, is beyond comprehension. It's a peace that surpasses all understanding. Only believers can really enjoy true peace. Let's look at Isaiah 48, 22, just as I guess as a final comment on unbelievers. Isaiah said this. Pended, I should say, because the Lord said this. There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked. So again, scripture supports over and over and over again the state of an unbeliever. What is really going to happen to them and It is up to us to bring that out to them, to look for opportunities to share Jesus Christ, to share the gospel of peace, and to bring them into the kingdom, into a right relationship with God, so that they can have the peace that you and I as believers are having. So, when we're justified, we have this peace with God. And that justification is a one time declared not guilty. And it is the first step in our progress. be declared in the court of God not guilty. Every sin has been paid for. And if we sin, and we will, because we're still in this fleshly body, we have an advocate, we have a lawyer who stands before God and says, if we will confess, if we'll agree with God that we have sinned, then Jesus will stand there and say, hey, the devil's over here accusing you of that sin. And Jesus is over here saying, no, he says, that's under the blood. Yes, that is under the blood. No counting anymore. And with that, When we confess our sins and we know that Jesus, we know that God has forgiven them, that should get us experiencing this peace that we're talking about. We know that we are in right relationship with God. We are in right relationship with Jesus. Jesus is our brother. We're his brother and we're his sister. We're in line with his inheritance, all right? And that peace is something that we can experience. All right, so enough with the wicked and the beginning of our peace through Jesus Christ. So let's talk about this peace. This peace is an objective peace. It is solid. It is there. It can be experienced. And it results from being in that right relationship with God. And if we have that objective peace, we will have or can have a subjective peace, which has to do with our feelings. I feel right with God, I feel happy, I feel peaceful. That can only truly come if you know that you objectively have peace with God, that it's all been taken care of. Since Adam and Eve, there has been no peace. And we talked about the history of wars and treaties and casualties and all of that. And if you look at Genesis chapter eight, verse 21, and the Lord smelled a soothing aroma Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake. Although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. The thoughts are evil from our youth. And I think if I pointed out just one or two things, how many have had your babies Children, young children, when you tell them to do something, what do they say? No. No. When you want them to share their toys, what do they say? No. Amen. They need to be trained to share. They need to be trained to say, yes, mom. Yes, dad. Yes, sir. They need that training. So we see from their youth that there is something, there is a bent towards evil in every child. Every child that is born of Adam, and how many of us were born of Adam? Every single one of us. So we know we've experienced that being bent towards evil and thinking that we were okay because we had these good things going on over here, which have to offset the bad things that are going on over here. And a lot of the world is under that impression. If I can just tip the scale one way to the side of good, I'm okay. compare myself with others. I'm better than that guy. I'm better than that lady, you know. John, oh, James 4.4. There is so much that the Bible has to say about peace. I mean, we could probably go on for a few weeks doing this. But James 4.4, adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity or hatred with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Again, this is where the wicked are. And the good news is that enemies can be reconciled to God. Look at Colossians 1.20. Colossians 1.20 says, by him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Peace comes through the blood of Jesus, which is just another way of saying his death. He shed his blood, he died, he died for each and every one of us. And I believe that even if you were the only human being, that Jesus would have paid the price for you, to show you that he loves you. If we go to Romans 5.1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We now have a mind that is set on the Spirit. We're no longer set on the mind of the flesh. And that setting will guard our hearts and will keep watch over us. It looks like I missed a verse reference there. So we have peace in every circumstance. Let's look at 2 Thessalonians 3.16. I didn't give you that one. Can we go to 2 Thessalonians 3.16? Now, may the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. So the nature of this peace is something again, that surpasses all understanding. It's something that even during our trials and our problems and tests, that which we know are gonna come, right? Tribulation is going to come, it's promised to everyone. But during those times, if we will shift from our eyes being on that problem to shift to being our eyes on God and on his peace, there isn't anything that we can't go through. and knowing that God says he won't give us anything that we can't get through. So when we hit those times of trouble and your mind wants to focus on those things, we need to grab a hold of it. and we need to change it, and we need to think about the things that God has provided for us. And it will give us, just like Jesus, the ability to go through a test or a trial. And when I say that, I think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who trusted the Father when King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to throw them into the fiery furnace. Do you remember that? What happened? A fourth person appeared. Nebuchadnezzar himself even realized that this was the Son of God. How he did that, I don't know, but that's what he said. And what happens? The three of them, he calls the three of them out of the fire, and what did the people notice about them? There was not a hair on their head that was burnt, and there wasn't the smell of smoke. How much do I wanna go through a trial and not have my hair singed or the smell of smoke on me. Amen. All right, the source of this piece is the Trinity. And it's interesting that when you look at the letters of the New Testament, most of them start out with these words, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember that? Just about all of them. So it's the Father and the Son, and then it's the Holy Spirit who imparts that peace to us. So the Trinity is involved in our peace. The world only offers momentary peace. They live in the bliss of ignorance. If they understood the wrath of God, eternal torment, they wouldn't have any peace in their lives. Christians, as Christians now, here is this peace And we're told, we are commanded that Christians are responsible to appropriate God's promises. We need to learn to walk in the spirit. Let's go to Romans 6, 11, and then 13. Paul tells us, likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And then 13, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. This is a command to you and I. We need to do this to appropriate the promises of God and especially the peace of God. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. If we look at Psalm 34, 14, Psalm 34, 14. Did I have that on the list? Okay. 34, 14, one more. The psalmist tells us that we should depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 119, 165. Great peace have those who love your law and nothing causes them to stumble. The peace that we have is the result of loving the law of God, obeying his commandments. If you love me, what? You will keep my commandments. Isaiah 26 three. You, God, will keep him, a believer, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. The only way to have this is for you and I to be in God's word, to meditate in it day and night. And by doing that, we will have and keep that perfect peace. Our minds will stay on the Lord, and that will cause us, should cause us, if we yield to the strength of the Spirit, to obey the things that God wants us to obey. Isaiah 32, 17, I'm gonna try and wrap up here. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. All right, I got a couple more here, but I'm gonna pass over them. So time of peace, well here, mark them down if you can, if you want to. 2 Timothy 2.22, 2 Peter 3.14, and Hebrews 12.11. And Hebrews 12, 11 talks about the chastening of the Lord, that it seems sorrowful at the time that it's happening. You know what I mean? You know what he means? But what is the result? The result is a peace and assurance in God. There is a time coming when the Prince of Peace is going to rule on this earth and sin is gonna be done away with. Yeah. In the millennial kingdom, the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, the Prince of Peace is going to be reigning. But according to scripture, there's still gonna be some rebellion in those, in the people that have physically survived the battle of Armageddon and gone into the kingdom. They still are flesh and blood. and they will sin, and there are times when rebellions will have to be put down. But the Prince of Peace is going to be reigning, and since you and I are in a glorified body, we are going to experience peace no matter what is going on. And then there's a day coming when there's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth, and in there, nothing but peace. No tears, no pain, Just bring it on. Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. All right. So, look at Isaiah. Look at Isaiah chapter 11. What time did I start? Okay. All right, here, let me try to read this real fast. In Isaiah 11, one through 10, it says, there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. If you're wondering in Revelation what the seven characteristics are of the Holy Spirit, there they are. His delight is in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. There is judgment coming. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. And here's the millennium. The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together. A little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like ox. The nursing child shall play in a cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in a viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. And in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious. One more, Romans 15, 13. And this is the prayer. Now, may the God of hope, which we talked about last week, fill you with all joy next week and peace this week in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah, amen. So, Father, I just thank you for this time. Lord, I wondered how I was gonna fill the time, but obviously I didn't have to worry about that. But just thank you, Lord, that you have given us this peace, Lord, and I believe everyone in here understands. Everyone has, and Lord, help us to appropriate it for ourselves in all situations that we find ourselves in, giving thanksgiving and enduring and having peace. And we just thank you for it, in Jesus' name, amen. Huh? No, I didn't need the chair. Hallelujah. I didn't need the chair. You want me to leave it there? Okay. Okay.