If I had to put a title to my sermon this morning, I think I'd just write the word peace and then put a question mark. This past Tuesday, And I had a meeting at the gun club I belonged to in Plainfield, and the troops were all riled up, you know, and that's to be understood. When I came home, I was in a particularly disgruntled mood. And the flames of anger were flamed by some of the things we considered in the meeting. And that's understandable. And, you know, I'm an angry guy. What can I say? There are situations, there are things unfolding that cause good men to chafe in their soul. And so just this morning, in my office before I came here, I jotted down a little list. This is my little list. Five to 10 minutes. It's incomplete. It's all the illegal activities that our government is engaged in. No, it's not all. It's a partial list from the top of our heads of the illegal activities our government is engaged in. unconstitutional activities. Well, that can't be. Well, okay, let's think of these things. For instance, and this was fresh coming from the gun club, attacks against and the diminishing of our Second Amendment rights. No question, that's what they're doing. The whole Sandy Hook thing is based on a lie. No one used an AR-15 or a Bushmaster. The press is loaded with liars, and so is the government. The fellow used two handguns. Not that that really makes a difference as far as the Second Amendment is concerned, but I'm just saying their argument is even based on lies. The failing on the part, number two, the failing on the part of the federal government to defend our borders against foreign enemies and invasion, particularly, I think, of illegal aliens. They don't care about our borders. They pretend they're concerned with terrorism. Well, anybody can walk across the border with a dirty bomb. They know it, and they don't care. They don't graduate from Ivy League schools because they can't figure these things out. They know exactly what they're doing. The federal government also provides, as do state governments. Our governments provide backdoor avenues through which illegal aliens and non-citizens can vote, have driver's licenses, collect welfare. I mean, it's such an outrage. You don't know how the people can sit still and re-elect these guys. More of a reflection on us than perhaps them. The welfare state itself is a means of redistribution, and that welfare is not tied to one's ability to work. In other words, if the nation said, well, we want to have a little fund for the people who can't help themselves, people who are physically handicapped, and the people that absolutely have no ability to take care of themselves, the people want to have a little fund for that. That's understandable, but that's not how it's being used. It's being used as a plan for redistribution of wealth. It's socialism. It's Marxism. It's contrary to the Constitution. The federal income tax, illegal. They don't care. They got the guns, they own the jails, they'll do what they want. The Congress failing to coin money according to the Constitution. We don't coin our own money, so we have this phony fiat money system called the Federal Reserve, which is one of the greatest sins that have ever been imposed upon the people of this nation and is the root of our demise. Paul said, the love of money is the root of all evil. If you want to trace the line of anti-Christianity, you'll always find it connected to the love of money. And so it is systematized in our own nation. We bail out banks and private corporations, don't we? Contrary to the laws of our own land, called the Constitution. We have government health care. The government requires people to purchase products from private industry, namely insurance, against the Constitution. Cap and trade, illegal. Fast and furious, criminal. The nullification of the Tenth Amendment by virtue of the endless expansion of the federal government. The Constitution lays out for us the limits of the role of the federal government. And if what they're doing is not in that Constitution, they have no authority to do it. It belongs to the states or to the people. The manner and the magnitude of our ignoring the 10th Amendment cannot be overstated. It's been nullified, but it's never been removed from the Constitution. Have a constitutional amendment and get rid of it. Be an honest crook. Congress gives, the legislative branch gives to the executive branch the power that is given to them in the Constitution. They have no authority to do it. They cannot go to George Bush and say, if you want to go to war in Iraq, you can. If you don't want to, you don't have to. And you can do it whenever you want. It is Congress's responsibility, it is the legislative branch that has the authority constitutionally to declare war. They can't give it to the executive branch. They do it all the time. It's illegal. It's illegal. You realize they're criminals. Criminals run the government. They initiate undeclared wars, contrary to the Constitution. Let's see, what else we have here? They set aside posse comitatus. That doesn't matter. Use the military against the people if they have to. And they're militarizing our police all across this nation as we speak. Department of Homeland Security is getting armored vehicles. With the last batch they got, over 2,000 armored vehicles. Really heavy duty stuff. Have you ever seen pictures or videos of it? What's all that for? They can buy 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. Not the military. Our homeboys. What are you going to do with all that? The Patriot Act, number one. The Patriot Act, number two. The last thing it ever should have been called is a Patriot Act. But we were scared after 9-11, so we can break the Constitution because we're cowards and won't stand by our principles. We didn't used to be that way. The President has a kill lift. And the government reserves the right to kidnap, to torture, to outsource the torture, and indefinitely imprison American citizens without due process of law, without giving him an attorney, without a court proceeding, without the notification of his family. And he can be held forever an American citizen. I mean, it sounds like the images we've had of the Soviet Union in days gone by. It's us now. We clean up well. We stalk freedom. We wave flags. And we deceive ourselves. And in doing this, the kill list, the no due process of law, It's the total evaporation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendment. All you got to do is go home and read the Fifth and Sixth Amendment. It is very plain. They don't care what the Constitution says. Now, that's an impartial list. You can come up with a list and make it just as long and add to it as well. Only took five minutes to think of them. It's that bad. So I'm an angry white man, what am I going to do, you know? They can make fun of me if they want. We don't, as a culture, and there's exceptions to the rule, But we don't have the stomach anymore to do the things we need to do. We don't even have the stomach to vote bad guys out, because those bad guys bring us the little gifts we need. So the bad guys that bring us gifts in Rhode Island from the federal government, oh, we don't want to lose those gifts. So we're voting corrupt bad guys, because they bring presents from the mafia boss in Washington, DC. And we live with it. We've lost what we once had. We don't really think in terms of principle and right and wrong anymore. So every 4th of July, the people cook hamburgers and they remember 1776 and fighting for liberty and independence. Churches across the land have patriotic days. They wave American flags. They have soldiers come in and they're praised up and down. Remember how we fought for our liberties. We don't believe it anymore. We pretend we do, but we don't. Most of those ministers would never dare replicate 1776 no matter what happens. Someone says, you know, when I was in college I had a class in sociology and this liberal hippie guy from Brown, he was my professor, and he gave us a book to read. It was entitled Muddling Toward Frugality. And it was based on some green thing, you know, the sky has fallen, we're overpopulated, you know, the earth is shrinking, I don't know what it was. And so everything's going to have a breakdown. So the point of the book was we need to become self-sufficient and go back to an agrarian society and learn how to do those basic things for life again. And you know what? Those are good skills. And the book was good in promoting that sense of independence and self-sufficiency. It was built on a premise I did not agree with. But it was muddling towards frugality. So I thought if I was writing a book about our current state in our nation, maybe I would write muddling towards apathy. Muddling, or maybe more profoundly, muddling towards anti-Christianity. Because that's what we're doing. Someone can say, well, pastor Romans 13, Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God. How can you talk about 1776 powers that be are ordained of God. We have an obligation to obey the higher powers. This is all true. We have an obligation to obey those higher powers that God has appointed. According to Romans 13, I agree with that. But Thomas Paine, as we all know, we've talked about it before, Thomas Paine very famously wrote in Common Sense, no friend of grace, but sometimes he would say true things. And Thomas Paine said, in Europe, the king is the law. He's an absolute monarch. He issues forth decrees, and his decrees are law. That's sort of been the history of the world up until then. The king is the law. But something very revolutionary took place in America because Thomas Paine said, but in America, the law is king. And you know what? Under the theocracy of Israel, in the scriptures, that was true then. Even though they would have a monarch, that king was not above the law of God. That king had an obligation to submit himself to the highest authority in the land, which for the nation of Israel, as the theocracy of God, was the commandments of God. And so what Thomas Paine said was true. In our form of government, the law is king. We have a king. It's the Constitution of the United States. And our government is warring against our king. That's what's happening. The people that serve as the heads of our government are waging war against the highest authority of our land. If God appoints the king's impotentate to all the nations of the world, which he does, then the Lord also allowed for this form of government to come into being. We have a constitutional republic. In a sense, even Israel, they didn't have a constitutional republic, but they had a constitutional monarchy. It wasn't an absolute monarchy. It was a constitutional monarchy. Their constitution, the law of God. Now we have the highest authority in our land. Our king, according to our laws, We were founded upon the highest authority is the Constitution. There is no politician that is above that. They all seek to serve that document. Now, if they find some fault with the Constitution, they have an obligation to legally amend the Constitution. If they don't do that, And then they break it. They're acting illegally and contrary to the highest law of the land, which God has allowed in his providence and sovereignty to give to us. Just like he gives Kings to all the nations. Someone can say, but pastor doesn't, uh, the scriptures teach pacifism. Well, the scriptures teach that we ought to be peacemakers. This is true. We're going to talk about that this morning. But it doesn't teach pacifism. Remember Abraham, right? So Lot, they took Abraham's nephew away. But who was it that did that? Kings. A group of kings came down and attacked Sodom and Gomorrah. And they took Lot and his family and the possessions of the people of that land and took off while Abraham got wind of it. And Abraham got his servants on his side. There was about 300 strong people in his family and his servants. And he said, gentlemen, strap on your swords. It makes me think there was an old John Wayne movie. I forget the name of it, but there was a preacher and the preacher is leading the fellows into battle. And so they're on horses and the preacher pulls his sword out and he sticks it out and he says, brethren, let us go amongst them. That scene always made me chuckle. And that's what, that's what Abraham did. Let us go amongst them. And they went amongst them with swords. Now these Kings were magistrates appointed by the authority of God over the nations in which they rule. If we had to believe Romans 13 or the passages in Daniel or any other number of texts that teach this, they were a man that were appointed by God, but Abraham pursued them with a sort of sort of violence to bring back his nephew and everything that they took. And interestingly, and that's actually taken place in Genesis 14. I want you to think about that. Genesis 12, the promise made to Abraham. I bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and thee shall all nations of the world be blessed. Abraham receives this wonderful promise. Two chapters later, he has a little army with swords drawn, fighting against these kings, these potentates. Right after that, as soon as he's done, he defeats them, brings back Lot and all the goods, and brings back that which was stolen from the city and gives it back to the king there. The king says, hey, you can keep the booty. Just give us our people. Thanks for doing this for us. And he says, no, I'm not going to take anything that belongs to you. I'm not operating that way. And he gave everybody back what belonged to them. And so if Abraham broke the principle of Romans 13, He has a chastisement coming to him. But you know what happened right after that? That's chapter 14. Just start reading in chapter 15. You know, in fact, turn there for a second. Genesis chapter 15. Might as well see it with your eyes. Genesis 15. So chapter 14 is Abraham pursuing, taking back Lot by force. And verses 17 to 24 of chapter 14, that's him bringing back the booty and dealing with the king there and Sodom and saying, no, I'm not going to keep your goods. Here's all your stuff. Right after that, what is right on its tail immediately, chapter 15. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying, fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And then Abraham says, I'm childless. And then verse three and Abraham said, behold, to me, thou has given no seed and low one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. God did not chasten Abraham for what he just did in chapter 14. He blessed Abraham with pretty profound blessings. Someone can say, well, David said he wouldn't touch the Lord's anointed, right? David did say that. Who was the Lord's anointed to David in the context of when David said that Saul, King Saul was chasing him around trying to kill him illegitimately. Saul, a sinner is a bad guy. He became a, uh, an evil man, but he was, King Saul was literally the Lord's anointed. Christ, Christos, is the anointed one. That means the one anointed to preside and reign over God's nation, Israel. Anointed to be the king of the theocracy of the nation of God. He's the Lord's anointed. That's the direct context of, I will not touch the Lord's anointed. If David's statement, I will not touch the Lord's anointed, applies equally to all Kings, then Abraham sinned. But Abraham didn't sin, did he? You say, okay, pastor, that's a valid point. So when is it legitimate to use a sword of violence against the God-appointed magistrates described in Romans 13? When is it proper to do that? Well, that's a complicated question, and one that, believe it or not, that's not the point of this sermon. This is all preliminary thoughts. And by having such lengthy preliminary thoughts, I'm leaving little time for my sermon. I know that, but there's other Sundays and there's other sermons. But the answer to that question is more complicated than I want to take time to talk about now. But suffice it to say, there are times, by virtue of the observation of Abraham, that it is legitimate. Of course, the government will tell you, and they're training ministers right now, They haven't come knocking on my door, but they're training ministers right now to teach the people, if chaos comes, for the ministers to get in the pulpit and teach the people Romans 13 and the obligation of all Christians to submit to the government no matter what, because Romans 13, they're appointed by God. So the government's line is Romans 13 equally applies to all governments no matter what, so don't you dare resist us no matter what we do to you. Now you get in the pulpit and preach that. They have organized programs to train ministers to do that right now. Is the government right? Does Romans 13 apply at all times? Does the government really believe that? Seems to me the establishment tells us the German people should have resisted the Nazis. And because they didn't resist the Nazis, all the more Jews died. Well, you wanted the German people to resist the Nazis? Well, then you don't believe what you're telling us, do you? Would you condemn the Soviets? Not the Soviets, but would you condemn the Russian people who fought against the Soviet Marxist revolution in their nation? And even after they took power and killed the czar and his family and his daughters, if the people had a resistance, would you condemn them for that? No, they wouldn't. So they speak out of two sides of their mouth. They can't be trusted, right? They're lawbreakers. They're liars. So, okay, whatever you say. So it's not my intention to declare that now is the time that is ripe for armed resistance against the government. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying it. I'm not denying that. It's not my subject. It's not my point. It's not where I'm going. And truthfully on the side, let me just say, uh, that's sort of a moot point at this time because the people don't generally, generally have the morals or the principles to even perceive of the monstrosity of where we're at in the sin that abounds. Unless you take away their television and their beer, and sports, they can kind of live with a whole bunch. But if they want to start picking up arms to resist the government because they want their television and their beer, ah, you know, I took the wind right out of my sails to join them, you know. I mean, is that it? So we've lost something along the way. What we boasted about in our forefathers, we don't believe anymore. It seems, and there's exceptions to be sure. I hope the exceptions are bigger than I imagine. But God appoints the base men to rule over the nations of this world. We deserve President Barack Obama. We deserve him. We deserve him like we deserve President George Bush. And we deserve him like we deserve Clinton. We're not without sin and compromise as a people. And these men are ordained by God to rule over us. And God will appoint even the basis of men to chastise people for their sins and let them destroy themselves in their own corruption. So we are, you know, our ministry is very akin to Jeremiah's. Repent, turn from the wrath to come, go back to the Lord. But the people seem to be dull of hearing. So here's the question. That's the reality of the situation. Maybe the sad reality, but it's the reality of the situation. Okay, so where does that leave us? See, that was all just a setup. That's not my subject. Where does that leave us? How then shall we as Christians live in this? Not this assembly, but this culture we're in now. We're like Lot, who's, we're told in the New Testament, whose righteous soul was vexed from day to day. Well, brethren, no matter how bad circumstances may be, no matter how bad circumstances may become, no matter how evil and wicked the men are that rule over us, God has called us as his people to contentedness and happiness. And God has called us as his people to peace. To have peace, to actually possess it, and to be the source of peace for many others. We're to be peacemakers and we're to have in our own lives that peace. Now, someone may say to me after listening to me go on this morning, but pastor, You're the angry white man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, how can you be angry and have peace? At the same time, that's a contradiction. You can't talk your way out of that. The scripture says, Exhibit A, God is angry with the wicked every day. It does say that. Is God void of peace? No. He's the fountainhead of it all. But he's still angry with the wicked every day and hates the workers of iniquity. Oh, hate and peace. Well, we've been trained to believe that can't be. Well, we are walking away from the scriptures and we're tickling our ears with that which we want to hear. Exhibit A is the Lord God himself. Exhibit B would be Jesus. I often tell the story, the historical account of Jesus, you know, making his handmade scourge. He didn't buy it at Walmart. He made his own, you know, there he is. And then when he was done, it was a time consuming. I would have liked to have had a photo of Jesus making a whip. And then he goes in to the temple where the money changes are, knocks their tables over and drives them out with a rip, a whip. Does Jesus not know peace? He does. He does. In fact, Jesus was, if you think about it, he was by scripture described as the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, but he was the prince of peace. And I've found, and I was having a conversation with someone on the phone yesterday, for the righteous soul, for the good man, particularly for the Christian, and there are no good men outside of Christ, we understand that. You can't have one without the other. You can't have peace of mind and heart and soul as a Christian and not chafe against evil and have righteous indignation against injustice, rebellion, sin, and anti-Christianity. In fact, it's the combination of the two that makes us complete as God's people and does bring peace in our lives. Jesus fought against the scribes, the Pharisees and the hypocrites. He can turn over their tables and read Matthew 23 and he condemns them in pretty violent language. And then he goes into a mountain and prays and he's the picture of peace. He's our example. There is a judgment day coming, you know, That judgment day is the wrath of God poured out upon sinners. So don't say that righteous indignation and anger is contrary to the peace of the faith of Christ. That's a lie. If you watched some horrible crime committed on your loved one, they restrained you and they did something unspeakable to a loved one before you, your bosom would fill with anger and rage. And rightly so. God's does. And that God's bosom is filled with anger at that. And that's why they will be judged by him in the end. Are the sentiments of God somehow ungodly? Are we not to have the mind of Christ and the perspective of our Lord? So yes, we are to know about righteous indignation. And we are to allow our hearts to mourn for the nation's sin, to know sorrows. Jeremiah is a weeping prophet. We are to cry out for justice. We as Christians are to love the good and hate evil. but we are to know peace. You say, okay, then how do we do this? This is a difficult juggling act you're proposing here. Well, let me give you the sermon is the spiritual answer. Let me give you the practical answer from just, you know, earthly perspective, which will be insufficient, but will become sufficient by virtue of the foundation of the spiritual answer I'll give you over the next few minutes. You need to compartmentalize, really, brethren. You compartmentalize. And when we compartmentalize, the emphasis and the focus and the underscoring belongs to the things of Christ. You can let the sins of the world consume you. And if you do that, they can destroy you, even though you may be chafing against their evil, even then, even being angry against evil can destroy you. A backhanded way of Satan neutralizing your testimony. I understand the anger, and at times it's going to flare up in righteous indignation, but there's a greater principle involved. We have an eternity with Christ who has forgiven us of our sins. And sinners cannot discern their left hand from their right. The truth is they need to receive Christ as their Savior. The answer isn't in a 45 or an AR-15. I mean, let's face it. I mean, the government, they can shoot you from out of space if they want to. You're not going to take your 38 with a bunch of sandbags. I'll show you. It's different days now. Someone needs to show them, you know, I understand that, but our hope is not in the kingdoms of this world to begin with. So there's a way in which both things are true in us. And so the question is, how can we have this peace? I'm saying compartmentalize with the emphasis on Christ and that's the guiding rudder for the whole thing. Turn to John 14. John 14. And just one verse to consider here, we read the surrounding verses this morning, the elder did. John 14. Of course, this is after the Passover, the last Passover, the Lord ate with His disciples. This is after the Lord's table, which He instituted at that last Passover. This is the Lord's last discourse with his disciples before his crucifixion and leaving this world. And usually the last thing someone says before they leave this world, your ears ought to perk up, your mouth ought to shut, and you need to let them speak. It may be something really important because it's the last opportunity to speak. In essence, this was the Lord's last opportunity before his crucifixion and he gave a very specific promise to his disciples. It's found there in verse 27. 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. Now, there are several things we can observe from this one verse of scripture, several truths in this statement. First of all, and I'll give you four of them. First, the peace that Jesus speaks of here is his own. It's something that he has. It actually is part of what makes him Jesus. This is his peace. It's something he knows. He says, peace I leave with you, my peace. This is the, the, that which he owned, which is his, my peace I give unto you. So the peace we're talking about is the peace that Jesus himself personally had experienced and was a part of who he was. Secondly, It's obvious from that verse that Jesus wants his disciples to have the very same peace. The peace that he had, he wanted them to have. Not an inferior form of it. He wanted them to have the peace that he had. His peace, the peace of Christ. Thirdly, I want you to note that it would seem from the text that the effect of having this peace should be very real and very tangible in their lives. Because at the end of verse 27, he says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Of course, uh, in another passage of scripture, Jesus said, things are going to get tough. When I leave you, they're going to come after you. If you don't have a sword, you better sell your garments and buy one. And then they said to Jesus, well, Lord, we've got two here. He says, well, that's enough. Jesus wasn't raising an army to fight the Jewish nation or the Romans or whoever. But it wasn't so much he was advocating to form an army. That's not what was happening. but it was an indication of the violence that would come upon them. And yet the Lord is promising at the same time they're going to experience hardship and how many of the disciples would suffer a martyr's death. He told Peter exactly how he would die, but yet he says, I'm leaving you with my peace. Must be true. Must be true. And its effect is real and tangible. It's not hypothetical. It's not theoretical. It's like pie in the sky. Because what it should produce is that we be not troubled and that we be not afraid. We don't have anywhere near the things to be afraid of as the disciples would in their lifetime. At least not yet anyway. And he doesn't want them to be afraid. Now, to face those kind of circumstances and to have no fear and to not be afraid and to be at peace, that's something real and tangible. So it's a real peace. It's a tangible peace. It's a practical effect that it has. And fourthly, and this is most importantly, probably because this is where it brings us, Jesus reveals in this verse exactly how his peace would be achieved in the lives of his disciples. It wasn't going to be earned. They wouldn't have to strive for it. We're told it's a gift. In verse 27, peace I leave with you, that doesn't necessarily tell us how they're going to get it, but it's the next statement. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth. He's giving it to his disciples. The peace of Jesus Christ is something that he gives to his people. It's a gift. Well, we say, okay, but if it's a gift, how is it given and how can I receive it? I want that gift, right? Well, there's no ceremony for it. There's no ecclesiastical rite for its reception. It's simply given by the power of His authority because He said it was so. It is through the Word of Christ that that reality becomes true. When God created the world, He spoke a thing and it came to be. It came to be because He said so. Now when Jesus says, I give you my peace, it is so because he says so. That's the power and the authority of his word. And the effects of that gift are received when we believe him. It's not that the gift isn't real if we don't believe him. It is very real. But we receive the benefits of it by believing him. There's no religious ceremony. There's no thing you've got to go out and do and prove that you're worthy. It's the gift of God. It's the gift of Christ. And it is given freely. If you look at it, actually, right, we're looking at verse 27. If you just back up a couple of verses, the verse say 25, these things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you, but the comforter, which is the Holy ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. And then, verse 27, peace I leave with you. Now the Holy Spirit is spoken of in conjunction with blessing them and bringing them to mind all that had been said and to teach the disciples. But on the tail end of that we're told Jesus has given them his peace. Now we know from many other scriptures we're not going to get involved with how that happens. How is this gift given? Because Christ dwells in his people. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And God dwells in his people by virtue of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of peace, dwells in his people. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You say, is it that simple? It is that simple, just like salvation is that simple. The Holy Spirit is given freely when we repent of our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. It's given to us at the new birth. But its effects in our lives are received when we exercise faith in what God has said is true because He said so. And his peace comes, therefore, through his promise, the power of his word, which is very unlike the world's peace. See, in verse 27, he says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth. How does the world give peace? Well, when it comes to peace amongst nations, it's a pretty sad story, right? We say peace through strength. And that is true, and that's how we have to operate, because we're in a sin-cursed world. Peace through strength. Which means if you hit me with a club, I've got a bigger club, and I'll hit you, and then you'll be sorry you ever hit me. We don't do it with clubs anymore, we do it with nuclear bombs. So because we have nuclear bombs, well, there's peace through nuclear bombs and the threat of annihilation for everyone. They always used to call that mutually assured destruction. That's how we have peace, through mutually assured destruction. Isn't that peace kind of on shaky ground there? It was either George Orwell or Winston Churchill or maybe both doing different versions of the same thing. I don't know who was quoting who, but one of them made this statement and I don't know who originated it. We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. History of the world, yes. So peace for the world comes one way, and it's on unstable ground. But the peace that Christ gives to his people comes as a gift. It's not a threat. It's a gift, and it's received by faith. It's given very differently than the way the world gives peace. Sometimes a man has peace in his home because he's achieved great, say, economic security. But sometimes the way he has economic security is by walking over the backs of other men and cleaning himself up so he looks good. You don't want people to see you with your dirt. So we try to outdo each other. You have to stab a few people in the back, do it neatly, so you still have standing in the community. It's the history of the world, brethren. It's politics, it's war, it's human conduct. That's the piece we have. Jesus offers a totally different kind of peace. Turn to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Jesus sends out his disciples. This is the account of sending out the Seventy. And he sends the Seventy out to preach the kingdom of God to all the cities in which he would soon follow after. So they had to prepare the way of the Lord, just like John the Baptist did, and they were to preach the gospel, and then Jesus would arrive after the fact. So he sends the Seventy out. And in sending the Seventy out, he gives them very specific instructions. Amongst those instructions are these. Verse 5, And into whatsoever house ye enter, say first, or first say, peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. Now, it's obvious that Christ's peace would be given to his disciples upon his departure. He said so in the other text. He's not going to leave them comfortless. He's going to send them the Comforter and they're going to have peace. My peace I give unto you. And this will be through the Holy Spirit. But that's not to say that the disciples never had a taste of the peace of Christ before Jesus left this earth and he sent the Comforter. It's like in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit came and left and came and left. And the Holy Spirit God sent forth to men to equip them for a particular task that was at hand. Now, since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indwells God's people permanently. It's such a more wonderful thing. But back then, it was given more often to equip a man for a particular purpose. Here, the Lord gives them his peace and equips them to go out and preach to these different cities. And so he says, when you go into a house, first thing you do is you make a declaration. And whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall not rest upon it. And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. And if not, it shall turn to you again. This peace would be given to the disciples. It is the peace of Christ, obviously, that He gives. And they have a little preliminary taste of it here in their preaching. And then it was theirs to give to others. It became theirs. In verse 5, In whatsoever house he entered, say, Peace be to this house. And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace, not your peace. Well, it's his peace, but he gave it to them for this task. Now they can give it to others. And they would do it by the spoken word. and they would do it with this particular instruction given to them for this event, you say, peace be on this house. In verse six, and if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. So the grace of Christ's peace would be imparted to these people through the disciples and the spoken word. And, uh, it would be received by the sons of peace. Who are the sons of peace? Well, that would obviously be the elect, not the reprobate. That's a different story. If we read about the reprobate and verse six and it shall, and if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. And then if you jump down to verse 10, but into whatsoever city enter and they receive you not, Keep trying. No, that's not. No. Go your ways out into the streets of the same and say, even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding, be sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. If there is no son of peace in that home you enter into, and it's only the reprobate and the markers leave that piece you pronounce upon them. I'll withdraw. I will not let them have it. It'll return to you and you go somewhere else. If you want to apply that thought, um, It is good to witness and to preach to those who are lost. The unconverted need to come to Christ. And the lost sometimes, because they've grown up in Christian America, they have a general idea of Christianity and Jesus. And a lot of them say, well, no, I believe in Jesus. But they're not right with God. They've never been born again. And they struggle with faith. But they haven't closed the door on the Lord. pronounce peace on them. And if you pronounce peace and bring the gospel to them and they're willing to listen and to hear you and to contemplate, then you preach it to them. But if they say, if they're the markers and they rail against you and they rail against your Lord, don't cast your pearls before a swine. It's time to walk out, shake the dust from your feet and move on. It makes me think of men who, uh, I'm deeply involved with street preaching. One of the difficulties of street preaching is you can have the antagonist come up, and usually he's the guy with the biggest mouth, and because he despises the faith of Christ and he hates Christians, he thinks they're all hypocrites, which a lot of so-called Christians are. I mean, there's a lot of truth to that. He's an enemy of Christ and he hates the word of God. He hates the conscience that tyrannized. So he's public enemy number one. So there's the preacher preaching on the corner. And then he says, yeah, yeah, well, what about this? What about that? What about this? What about that? What about this? You're a liar. God's a liar. Moses is a liar. Paul is a liar. Jesus was a phony. You don't have any proof. What about science? And on and on. Guess what? That guy dominates the conversation. So that the street preacher inevitably almost can't help himself. He ends up being a professional in not shaking the dust from his sandals because he's frozen in a spot. You see, it's the very thing. You say, well, they preach in the streets. I'm not saying I'm not against preaching in the street, but I'm saying that's a huge hurdle if we consider these principles. And all I'm saying is, the gospel is meant for the elect that God has chosen before the foundation of the world. They are the sons of peace. There's a moment of truth in which they must receive Christ as their Savior, and before that moment, they're lost in their sins. But if they'll receive you, and they'll hear you, by all means graciously give them the gospel. But if they hate you, mock you, scorn you, and hate the Lord and despise Him, move on, brethren. Move on. The peace of Christ is for the sons of peace. You say, well, what about Saul of Tarsus? He was a hard nut to crack. He was on his way to kill Christians. And he came to Christ. So let's just give up on people because they're hard-nosed and they're enemies of Christ. No, no. What about Saul? Hey, no man could convert Saul of Tarsus. And no man did. Jesus himself had to intervene on that one. I'm Jesus whom you persecute. Uh-oh. No man led Paul to Christ. The Lord took care of that. Of course, in one sense, no man ever leads someone to Christ. It's always the Lord that does it. Peace comes through God's promise. We have to end here. And the faith of the sons of peace, even before their moment of election, because God's hand's been upon them, when that faith, which is the gift of God, is activated, the reality of the gift of peace becomes apparent in their lives. The Lord said, I came not to bring peace into the world, but a sword. What's all these contradictions? They're not contradictions. Because God is a God of peace and love he must hate evil and judge sin because he's good and he protects the weak and the innocent and the humble and the lowly because he's good. He's a God of peace and so he will destroy men of violence. What did David say? David said, I speak peace. He said it in the Psalms, I speak peace, but when I speak peace, they are for war. Why is that? Here's David speaks peace and their response, they want war. You know why? Because the children of this world are the sons of war, but the gospel is only beneficial and a blessing to the sons of peace. So when you preach the gospel, That's why the Lord didn't come to bring peace into the world, but a sword. When you preach the gospel of peace, people will hate you for it. They'll want to commit acts of violence against you, destroy your reputation. It inflames hatred in those that are the haters of peace. Is that a reason not to preach the peace of Christ? No, it isn't. But when you do, you do get trouble. And that's the way that it is. The gospel of Christ makes them rage with hate. But for God's people who will experience persecution, trials, they'll kill Paul, they'll kill Peter. They despised and attempted to kill Jeremiah. They crucified our Lord. But these were all men who knew the peace that passes all understanding. It can't be explained. And you know why? It's the gift of God. We can resist the Spirit and we can quench the Spirit even as believers. And thus, that's when we begin to lose some of that peace that we have experienced. When we take our eyes off the world and the circumstances, if Peter takes his eyes off the seas and looks at Christ, peace is restored. What was true for Peter is true for us. So don't be troubled. Don't be troubled. Don't be afraid. Rail against it. and warn them of the wrath to come. And if the American people had the, the, the, the soul, the nerve and the morals to do it. And they said, we're going to put a stop to this. Say, amen, brethren go amongst them, you know? Okay. But if they're not going to do that, what then? Woe is us? Nope. Preach against this and then follow through with the gospel of peace. of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit will give it to the sons of peace. And you'll receive a greater measure of it as well by just trusting the Lord. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, and the Prince of Peace. We know that one day he will come back as the judge of the world and will pour out his wrath and indignation against sin. The scales of justice will be brought forth and God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And yet, Father, thou dost offer out to man an olive branch. Let Olive Branch be in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who shed his blood by the violence of sinners in order to procure for his people peace. peace from the tyranny of the guilt of our own sins, the greatest terror that can ever be brought upon a man. And we pray, Lord, that many through the sound of the gospel, whether it be through the witness of thy people, through the ministries that thou has given us, through the testimony of the saints, that many can finally discover that peace and cross that threshold from a world of confusion and violence and hate and deception and to the kingdom of God, and know peace forevermore, come what may. Father, grant that to all the elect, even in this room, and if there is any amongst us that have never truly known Jesus Christ as their Savior. I've never really been born again and in a practical, tangible way, known this piece of which we speak, granted to them, even this morning, may they come to receive a Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. And for thy people, father, if our peace has been disturbed because we've taken our eyes off of Christ, We've allowed the wickedness and the evil of men to dislodge us and to compromise our trust in Thee. Then, Father, forgive us for that and renew us in the strength of Your grace and in the peace of Christ. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.