Peace is not just a fuzzy feeling that you get
when all of the things in your life come into
line. It's not just a feeling. You know, I get
a feeling when I'm sitting by a lake. And I like
it. But it is not the peace of God. Because there's
lots of people without the peace of God that
sit by a lake and like it. Right? The peace of
God is the order of God in our lives. And that
seems like a very mechanical definition. But
when God's order... comes into our life, His
peace comes. The opposite of peace is the lack
of God's order in my life. Okay? So we're just
going to start right away with that understanding
of peace. Before I read the text, Charles Schultz,
the creator of peanuts, on limiting his thought
life. I have a new philosophy. This is a quote.
Quote, I have a new philosophy. I'm only going
to dread one day at a time. Mark Twain on anxious
thoughts. I am an old man and have known a great
many troubles. but most of them never happened.
I want to read that one again. I am an old man
and have known a great many troubles, but most
of them never happened. The wonderful Corrie
Ten Boom. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of
its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
It's a famous quote, but we need to hear that
one more often, don't we? Worrying does not empty
tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of
its strength. Peace is God's order. You don't
have order in your mind? You don't have peace
in your mind. You don't have order in your home.
You don't have peace in your home. Peace is God's
order and the assurance that comes when I am
aligned with Him. What happens when I know that
the activity of my life is not aligning with
God? the peace of God becomes elusive. Right?
When I'm doing the wrong thing, I come under
conviction. And that's a wonderful thing that
comes from the Holy Spirit, conviction. But you
know when conviction comes? When I am not in
order anymore. I am lacking peace. Now I want
to read the passage in Matthew chapter 2. Starting
in verse, we'll start in verse 13. Now when they
had departed, behold, this is the wise men, when
the wise men had left them. Jesus is probably
about two years old at this point. Now when the
wise men had departed, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise.
Take the young child and his mother, flee to
Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.
For Herod will seek the young child to destroy
him. And when he arose, he took the young child
and his mother by night, immediately, and departed
for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod.
That could have been, depending on which timeline
you follow, it could have been anywhere from
six months to three and a half years that they
were in Egypt until the death of Herod. Departed
for Egypt, was there until the death of Herod
that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken
by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out
of Egypt I called. my son. Now Matthew is a wonderful
author at pointing us to the messianic prophecies.
More in Matthew than any of the other gospels
you will see, this was done to fulfill that which
was said. And so Matthew will oftentimes quote
the Old Testament to prove that Jesus was the
Messiah. This quote is very interesting. It's
from the book of Hosea. It's from Hosea chapter
11 and verse 1. And I want to read that. Hosea
11 .1. Hosea was a very interesting prophet.
I don't have time to talk about him this morning.
But an incredible picture in Hosea's life of
the relationship between Israel and God. And
so he prophesies in chapter 11, when Israel was
a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt, I called
my son. It's very interesting because Hosea is
very clearly talking about Israel. He's talking
about the first time Israel was called out of
Egypt. And he looked at his son, Israel. God
the Father looked at his son who was in captivity.
And God supernaturally called them out of Egypt.
Initially, Israel came to Egypt because of a
drought. At that time, Israel, who's... whose
name before it was changed to Israel, was Jacob.
And Jacob had 12 sons. And Jacob was getting
older, and he had a son named Joseph. And so
how they came to Egypt was the story of another
Joseph, who had another dream. The situations
were a little bit different, but it was because
of a dream that Joseph had that his brothers
sold him into slavery, and he came to the nation
of Egypt. God raised up Joseph from Potiphar's
household. where he was a slave, to the prison
where he was suffering the bread of, what do
they call that, the bread of affliction, the
bread of affliction. There in the prison of Egypt,
Joseph suffered, but he came up through that
because he was an interpreter of dreams, and
he became the number two guy. all of Egypt and
ended up I'm shortening the story ended up bringing
his brothers his father and all their family
to Goshen a region in Egypt where they could
survive the seven -year famine And there they
continued to dwell, and there they continued
to multiply for 400 years. And after 400 years,
the cries of their slavery, where before they
came in as guests, and now they were enslaved
in the land of Egypt, and their cries reached
the ears of God, and Pharaoh gave an edict. and
said, I want you to kill every child that is
male that is newborn. It's very interesting,
the correlation between the initial story and
the story of Jesus. And out of that proclamation
from Pharaoh, Moses was put in a basket as a
newborn and pushed down the river. where Pharaoh's
daughter found him, and he was raised in Pharaoh's
household as a prince. And so Hosea is remembering
this Moses that was raised up, and through a
whole set of other series of circumstances, this
Moses that was saved from the death of the newborn
males, became the deliverer for Egypt. And he
went back and confronted Pharaoh, who was really
his brother, confronted Pharaoh, and God, through
ten miracles, pulled... Israel out of Egypt,
the last being the Passover, where lambs were
slain, the blood was put on the doorpost, the
death angel came, and wherever the blood was
not, the firstborn males, whether Egypt or Israel,
all of Israel had blood on their doorposts, so
all the firstborn males of Egypt were killed.
And Pharaoh finally said, you can go. It was
the blood of the lamb that protected them and
ultimately pulled them out of Egypt. And Hosea
is remembering this phenomenon. And you remember
the parting of the Red Sea. And you remember
them walking across on dry ground and getting
to the other side. And then Pharaoh hardens his
heart again and changes his mind and sends his
armies after Israel. God holds the armies back
with a pillar of fire until the Israelites were
all the way across. And then he lifted that pillar
of fire and Pharaoh's army. rushed in after them
and God swallowed up the entire Egyptian army
into the sea. Praise God. And Hosea is remembering
this. It was out of Egypt that I called my son.
My son. This is important. This is not in my
notes, but Some of you have sons and daughters
that are in Egypt right now. They're in the land
of slavery, and I want you to know that there
is hope in the land of Egypt. Out of Egypt I
called my son. And you fast forward thousands
of years to the Joseph that we started our story
with, the husband of Mary. Being called by an
angel in a dream to flee to Egypt. And this is
our passage where we talk about peace. Because
Matthew, by the Holy Spirit, says this passage
was not only about Israel. This passage was about
the Messiah. Not my son with a little S, but
my son with a big S. Out of Egypt, I called my
son. And Joseph fled to Egypt immediately at
the leaning of the Holy Spirit. as directed by
a dream. He immediately arises, wakes up his
wife, bundles up the child, packs a few things,
I'm sure, and heads to the land of Egypt. He
didn't know why. He just knew that God had spoken
to him and that he should obey and do it. The
next... Moment! Herod issues an edict, finding
out from the wise men where they worshipped the
King of kings and the Lord of lords. And he had
all the children in Bethlehem slaughtered. But
because Joseph listened, Jesus is spared. I believe
that Joseph was a man of peace. I believe that
before he ever had the dream, before he ever
met the angel, we see signs that he was a man
of peace. Remember when he first found out that
Mary was pregnant? And Mary said, it's by the
Holy Spirit. Well, Joseph was a godly man, but
he was also a thinking man. My fiance, my betrothed,
is pregnant. And she tells me this story. And
he's a thinking man. And he understands some
things. And at first, he's not sure. If he believes
her, this is all going to get out. And she could
be stoned because of her being pregnant outside
of marriage. She could be stoned, but guess what
Joseph was? He was a man of peace. And he said,
no, I'm going to divorce her quietly. We're going
to do this under the table. We're going to get
her out of the city. She's going to go somewhere
where she can have her baby and not suffer the
shame that could come upon her. He was a man
of peace. We see that Joseph was chosen by the
Lord because of his character to father the Son
of God. Jesus. And I just want to quickly share
three things that I believe that were a part
of Joseph's life that helped them navigate. Because
we have people from Bethlehem fleeing to Egypt,
and Joseph needed to be led by the peace of God.
And so how was it that Joseph was led by the
peace of God? Number one, Joseph cooperated with
the Holy Spirit. So many want peace in their
lives, but they don't want to cooperate with
the command of God. Look at this crazy world
in which we live. Do you know how much Chaos
comes because people do not follow the command
of God. Lots and lots and lots of chaos out there.
Have you noticed that there's chaos in the world,
friends? Shake your head at me if you've noticed
that there's chaos in the world. There's chaos
in the world because we ignore the command of
God. Listen to this. If one generation If one
generation would follow the Word of God with
regard to sexual activity, every single venereal
disease would be wiped out. Every single one
of them. But there's chaos in the world because
we ignore the command of God. Peace comes when
we follow Him. We want peace in our lives without
cooperating with the Holy Spirit. As soon as
the Holy Spirit spoke, Joseph said, here we go.
And away he went. Psalm 119, 165 says this, Great
peace have those who love your law, and nothing
causes them to stumble. Isn't that a picture
of Joseph? He loved the command of God. And how
do we know he loved it? Because he followed it.
Amen? And when you follow the command of God
for your life, you have great peace. These are
keys. Proverbs 3, 1 and 2 says this. My son,
do not forget my law, but let your heart keep.
My commands for length of days and long life
and peace, they will add to you. You see, God
is not out to get you and steal your fun. God
is out to protect you. He wants your life to
bear the fruit of peace. Real peace in your life.
Amen? Isaiah 26 verse 3 was an important verse.
I went through a season of the lack of peace,
didn't I, Cammie? I did, didn't I? You almost
didn't survive it. But you came through great.
And Cammie wrote this scripture out and put it
on my bedside table. Isaiah chapter 26 verse
3. You will keep him in perfect peace. whose
mind is stayed upon you. If you want God to bring
peace in your life, you have to listen to what
He tells you. That's easy, isn't it? Listen to
what He tells you. It's not easy. It's simple.
There's a difference between simple and easy,
isn't there? It's a simple concept. Do what he
says. But is it easy? No, it's not always. Because
sometimes he tells us to do difficult things.
Sometimes the things that he leads us to do don't
line up with what we want. And what we want opposes
what he says. And when that happens, if we hang
on to our desire, our want, our need, we forfeit
the peace of God. And that leads me to the second
point, because peace is not the absence of difficulty.
People think that if they just had more things
lined up in their life, As far as amenities,
that peace would come. If I just had a better
car, peace would come into my heart. Dale says,
yeah, right. If I just had more money. How many
of you think your life would have more peace
if you had more money? Americans. That's American
thinking. But it is not the truth. Because the
poorest of the poor can have the peace of God.
You do not need more money to obtain the peace
of God. You need more obedience. Mary and Joseph,
what they were asked to do was never easy. From
the very beginning, they're going to be ridiculed.
They're going to be laughed at. Joseph, you're
going to take that woman to be your wife when
that is not your son? They were asked to walk
a difficult road. But peace is not the absence
of difficulty. In fact, God will... ask you to
do hard things. And you can do them. Look at
your neighbor and say, you can do them. God asks
hard things. I've shared this story before, but
it bears repeating. In 1555, Dr. Nicholas Ridley
was sentenced to be burned at the stake in England.
because of his witness for Christ. On the night
before Ridley's execution, his brother offered
to remain with him in the prison chamber to be
of assistance and comfort. Nicholas Ridley declined
his offer, saying, I intend to go to bed. and
sleep as quietly tonight as ever I did. Because
he knew the peace of God. He could rest in the
strength of the everlasting arms of his Lord
to meet his need. Isn't that amazing? The peace
of God is not the absence of difficult circumstances.
You might be walking through something difficult
physically. You might be facing tightening in
your wallet. You might be facing circumstances
that are not ideal. And you wonder why God just
doesn't kill King Herod right there so you can
stay in Bethlehem and not leave. You wonder why
God doesn't just change everything to make it
easier for you. Well, he wants to teach you something.
That in the midst of the trial, you can walk
in perfect peace. Hallelujah. Around this room,
right now. At homes, right now. are people that
are suffering all kinds of situations and circumstances.
I know some of your circumstances, they are not
ideal. And even you would not wish your circumstance
on anybody else. And you're walking through it.
And I'm watching the peace of God on many of
you in the midst of the storm. I love the story
in Mark 4, 35. When evening had come, Jesus said
to them, let's cross over to the other side.
When they had left the multitude, they took Jesus
along with them in the boat as he was. And other
little boats were also with him, and a great
windstorm arose. And the waves beat into the
boat. We have a video if you watch one of our
camping trips of a sudden storm. Pastor Ben,
who's not with us this morning, was a part of
that trip. A couple of the guys said, I have
never been more scared in my life. The video
that Alexandra took captures. A tree falling
as the wind is blowing so hard. And there we
were, thanking God that we were not on the water.
It was a squall that came up in minutes. And
that's what's happening here. Waves beat into
the boat. It was filling up with water. But Jesus
was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. I want
to be like that. Anybody want to join me and
be like that? That your trust is so strong in
God that when the storm arises, you can sleep
in the front of the boat. Do you know what that
is? Peace. It's not the absence of difficulty.
It's that in the midst of the difficulty, you
know that God is with you. He is with you. This
is the whole point of Emmanuel. God who is with
you. He is with you. He is with you. There's
turmoil in my family, pastor. He is with you.
So they woke him and said, teacher, don't you
care that we are perishing? And he arose, and
I picture him rubbing his eyes, waking up, and
said to the wind, peace, be still. And the wind
ceased, and there was great calm. And he had
a question for them, which I believe God would
speak to you this morning and to me. Why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
Trust in God. When I walked through what I did,
it took me six months to really get a handle
on things. And I wouldn't trade that six months
of my life for anything because it was in that
crucible that God taught me peace. I had such
anxiety that I didn't sleep for three, four,
five nights in a row. I would go days without
sleep because of anxiety. I was embarrassed,
to be honest with you. Here I am, the assistant
pastor of the church, the worship leader. Anxiety
affecting my heart. Having to go to the emergency
room multiple times. I would read the scriptures.
And at first I was like, why isn't it working?
I'd be up in the middle of the night. And I would
look at the mirror. And I, in time, began to
prophesy over myself. And say, you shall live
and not die. I would look at myself in the mirror.
Do you know what I was afraid of? Dying. Things
were not good physically. I had issues. But it
exposed something in my heart that I was afraid
of death. And it was this six -month period where
God forced me to wrestle with things that were
buried deep in my heart that I didn't even know
were there. And I began to align my thinking.
With the word of God. And slowly, slowly, slowly,
I got on top and wasn't always on the bottom
because when you're filled with anxiety, you
feel like I am on the bottom. I can never get
on the top of this. But I began to align my thinking
and my life up with the word of God. And it was
a struggle. And I wasn't on the waves physically
in a boat, but I was. And I want to tell you
that even then, that Jesus did not abandon His
disciples. Don't think that if God says to you,
you need to grow in your faith, that He is abandoning
you. No, He's calling you up to a higher place.
so that you can do what Jesus did. The next time
the storm comes, guess what you can do? Sleep
in the boat because you trust that God is there.
I never want anybody to feel like they are less
of a human being or that they are somehow failing
in their walk because they have fear or anxiety
or difficulty. I never want anybody to feel that.
I know what that's like. But I do want to call
you to change. Amen? I want to call you to rise
up in the midst of your trial, to engage with
it, and to become what God's called you to be.
Joseph walked in peace, doing impossible things.
And so can you. And finally this morning, peace
comes when we position ourselves to hear from
God. Joseph was a man of prayer long before he
was ever chosen to be the Messiah's father. Peace
comes when we position ourselves to hear from
God. Go with me to Philippians chapter 4. And
I want to read the promise of verse 7. Every
one of you need this. In fact, you should write
this down. Write this verse down and put it on
your refrigerator. Philippians 4, 7. And the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your heart and mind through Christ
Jesus. Isn't that a great verse? The peace of
God will guard your heart and mind through Christ
Jesus. Praise the Lord. I love Romans 16 when
Paul is saying farewell. He says, and the God
of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Amen? I love that. I love that. This is the God
that we serve, crushing our enemies. And filling
our hearts with peace. And the promise here in
Philippians 4, the peace of God that goes beyond
my ability to even think about it will guard
my heart and my mind. And so I would make a decision.
I'm going to enter into your peace today. And
I would agree with the word of God. But the promise
of verse 7 is attached to a commandment. And
if you don't do the commandment, you cannot claim
the promise. You have to fulfill the requirement
in order to receive the promise. So what's the
requirement? Well, let's back up. To verse 6.
Be anxious for nothing. But in everything. You're
all saying that. I didn't even tell you to say
it and you're all saying it. In everything. By
prayer. And supplication. With thanksgiving.
Let your requests be made known to God. This
is the requirement. And so when your thoughts
are anxious, you know what I needed to do? Repent.
And I did it again and again and again and again
and again. Bringing my thoughts. My emotions,
my feelings in line with the word of God. Instead
of thoughts of anxiety, God, I want to bring
this to you in prayer. I want to yield it to
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I want
to thank you, God, for meeting every need that
I have. I want to thank you, God, for helping
me with every thought. Instead of anxiousness,
Lord, help me to walk with thanksgiving. That's
a great determent to anxiety, is to start to
use your mouth to say all the things that you're
thankful for. You know, that's a godly exercise.
With thanksgiving. God, I thank you for your
goodness in my life. I thank you for the way
that you have blessed my life. I thank you, God,
for your promises in my life, that they are yes
and amen. And I had to... In the heat of the
battle, there was probably about a month that
was the heat of the battle, where every day,
and I didn't always succeed, but I did it over
and over and over and over again. And the promise,
there came the day when the promise broke through.
That happened when I was 35 years old. It was
a year I'll never forget. I have not been overcome
with anxiety by a symptom since. Because the
peace of God guards my heart. And I want to tell
you that the same God that worked in me can work
in you. I want to close with Genesis chapter
1. The Word of God begins with Genesis 1, but
I'm going to close my message with Genesis 1.
Because it illustrates the peace of God. In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void. And darkness
was on the face of the earth. Some translations
say chaos. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. Sometimes when you
feel anxious about something, it's because it's
not complete. Sometimes there's chaos in your
world. It's one thing to come down to the altar,
which I'm going to give the opportunity for anybody
to receive prayer here in a moment. Any of you
at home, we can pray for you. And the Spirit
of God touches you when you receive prayer. How
many of you have received prayer and you felt
God touch you? Yeah. You know that it's real.
But God can come and touch you here at the altar.
But one of the problems is the world that you
go back into is filled with chaos. Your home
is a disaster. Your relationships are struggling.
There is no order in the world in which you're
going back to. And oftentimes you get a touch
from God at the altar. but it does not translate
into transformation in your life. I believe that
God wants to touch you in the altar, but he's
also going to speak to you some things that you
need to get in order in your world. Isn't that
what happened in creation? The Spirit of God
was hovering over the waters. And God said, let
there be light. And He began day after day for
six days to bring order to that which was chaos.
And when He created Adam and Eve, we don't know
how long it was that they lived in the garden
before they sinned. We don't know, but for however
long they lived there in the Garden of Eden,
under those idyllic circumstances, in that world
of order, there was peace. It wasn't until they
got out of alignment, That Adam was afraid because
he was naked. And so he hid. And therein lies
the problem of humanity. But Jesus shed his blood
to redeem you. And to cover over the sin of Adam
that flows in your veins and my veins. And to
restore God's order to your life. Don't be surprised
if you give your life to Christ. And then he
suddenly begins to tell you things that you need
to change in your life. It's not because he wants
to be mean to you. It's because he wants to bring
you his peace. And he's starting to adjust things
and change things. Let there be this. Let there
be that. And that which he did in creation in
six days, he's starting to do in you. And that
is called discipleship. I'm becoming a follower
of Christ. I am ordering my life. I am lining
up my life with what God is telling me to do.
with what He is telling me to be. Young people,
don't miss it. Don't let the world line up your
life. It will end in chaos. Don't let the spirit
of this age influence your desires. Don't connect
yourself with people that are taking you down
the wrong road. Line yourself up with God. Line
yourself up with what He is saying. He doesn't
want to just touch you for a moment. Oh, remember
that time in my life where I felt good. He wants
to implant peace in your life. A fruit of the
Spirit that will increase throughout your entire
life. That's what he wants to do. Amen? Anybody
want that for their life? Anybody want that?
I want that. That's what we see in Joseph. Led
by the Spirit. Submitted to what God wanted for
his life. Doing things the way God wanted him
to do. Sometimes at the expense of his own reputation.
But saying yes. Lord, we just come before you
right now. The peace that passes all understanding.
Lord, you are here in this room right now, and
we acknowledge you. You're speaking to hearts
right now. There's some that are in a difficult
place. I want to pray for somebody at home right
now. I want to ask in Jesus' name that you would
just meet them right where they are in their
living room. God, I want to pray for couples
right now. There's turmoil and difficulty. But
when we line ourselves up with your divine order,
The peace of God comes. Lord, I'm asking you
in Jesus' name that you would touch people this
morning with your power, that you would break
off of them the anxiety and the fear. And I ask
God that you would speak to them. The things
that they need to know to bring about change.
It's for the long term. God, move in this place.
If you're here this morning, perhaps you've just
thought it was your personality. Well, I'm a
worry wart. It's what I do. You didn't understand
that it was part of the fallen nature. But this
morning you're saying, you know what, I have
been giving myself to that thing. And it's been
a part of my life. But today I just want to declare
my desire to walk in freedom from it. If that's
you, I just want you to lift up your hand all
over this room right now and say, that's me.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Anybody else?
Thank you. Others with their hands raised up.
You're tired of dealing with anxiety. You think
that it can only be dealt with with a pill. But
God wants to teach you to sleep in the boat.
Lord, these that have raised their hands, God,
I want to just ask in Jesus' name that you'd
come alongside them right now. You don't abandon
us. You never abandon us. You love us too much
for that. I thank you, God, that for six months
you could have abandoned me, but you never walked
away. And you brought me all the way through.
And I'm just asking right now that you would
bring peace to the storm of the lives of the
people in this room. You saw them raise their
hands. They weren't raising their hand to me
or to anybody in this room, but to you, Lord.
And they were saying, God, I need your peace.
Can we all just pray this prayer right now? Jesus,
I thank you that you are the Prince of Peace.
You speak to my situation. Peace be still. But
you call me to be like you. And so I speak to
my situation. Peace. Be still. Teach me, God,
to cooperate with your Holy Spirit. Teach me
to position myself. For the promise of peace.
Teach me to grow in my walk with you. Put grit
in me, God. That would never give up. But that
would trust in your word. In the name of Jesus.
And everybody said. Amen. Amen. Praise God. I
believe some victory just happened in this house
right now. Hallelujah. I believe some victory
just happened in this house right now. If you
believe that, I want you to just stand up with
me right now in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.
Just lift your hands to the Lord. If you feel
comfortable just lifting your hands, just lift
your hands to the Lord right now and thank God
for being your peace right now. You're the Prince
of Peace. You are my Prince of Peace. And we
thank you, Lord. And we give you praise in Jesus.
Mighty name. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory
to God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Thank you,
Father. Glory to Jesus. Your name is Jesus. Your
name is life. Your name is good. Praise God.