Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. It's been a joy to be
able to start this new study together, and it
will take us all the way through August. But
it's a study that is like learning to read. You
start with the letters, then you put things together,
then you write sentences and paragraphs. It's
like that. It accumulates. So we have to make
sure that you follow all the studies. If for
some reason you have missed the first two, you
can find them in our website or our app as well.
But as we begin the study in the book of Colossians,
I also want us to pray just for this time. So
please join me again. Lord, I want to ask you
for your power. That your word will speak to
us, will break through barriers, will break strongholds.
That today, Father, you will bless us with truth.
And use me, Lord, in the power of your spirit
and in your grace. In Jesus' name, amen. Grace
and peace. Journey through the book of Colossians.
And what we have done in the past sessions, we
will learn a little bit because we will do a
little review today as well in the study. But
the book of Colossians was written in the year
about 60. of our era. And it was written to Christians
for the first generation ever of Christians in
the world. And this generation of Christians
were in different parts of the Roman Empire,
but this particular city, Colossae, was in the
region that today is known as Turkey. And a church
has been planted in that place, and Paul writes
this letter to encourage these Christians not
to be deceived by some things that were going
around. Now, I want to do this little review.
The first question is, what are the two legs
of the Christian walk that the Apostle Paul wants
the Christians to make sure that they experience?
What are they? Grace and peace. God wants you
to experience His grace. He wants you to experience
His peace. If you are not experiencing them,
then that's a problem because something is not
right and we'll have to figure out what is it
as we go through the book of Colossians. Second
question. Oh, sorry, I want to show you here
the picture of grace and peace because in the...
Previous session, what we discovered is that
the way the grace and peace have been compromised
in the Colossians was because some people were
saying you need Jesus plus other things. And
Paul says, no, Jesus is all you need. The second
question, what did Jesus do when he saved us?
What we covered in the first study in salvation
redefined was to understand that salvation is
not just, hey, when you die, you go to heaven.
That's like really minimizing it to this. It's
much bigger than that. The Apostle Paul told
us that when God saved us, the moment we gave
our lives to Jesus, he transferred us from the
kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Before we were his enemies, now we are completely,
100 % reconciled forever. And before we were
under the spiritual oppression of the enemy,
now we have spiritual authority. Over the spirits
of darkness. All of this is what happened when
Jesus saved us. So if you are a follower of Jesus,
this is true of you. And then the next question,
who is Jesus? Because some of the teaching that
was infiltrating the church of the Colossians
was distorting who Jesus was. So Paul writes
very specifically, he says four things. Look,
Jesus is God. He is your creator. He is Lord
over all creation and over all the redeemed people.
And He is the only Savior that came and died
for our sins and overcame the power of Satan
and the power of sin. So we can really trust
in the Savior and in what He has accomplished
for us. This is what we have covered so far.
Today we're going to be talking about inner peace.
Because this aspect of peace is something that
God wants you to experience so that it flows
from you into your surrounding. And what the
rest of the book will do, it will start showing
you what does grace and peace look like on the
outside. But it has to start on the inside. And
the problem is that even though people were following
Jesus and believing Jesus, some of them started
getting this peace compromised. And now that
we're not experiencing it anymore. That's why
he writes in chapter 3 verse 15. Would you read
it out loud with me? Let the peace that comes
from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members
of one body, you are called to live in peace
and always be thankful. He says that you and
I, if we're going to experience God's peace.
We have to let it rule in our hearts. And this
is the thing about grace and peace. God has given
you his grace completely. But if we don't understand
how this works, then we will experience the lack
of peace in our lives. And if you experience
the lack of peace in your life, you're going
to feel much more like broken and empty and aimless.
That is not. What God saved you for. It is recommended
if you're going to take a road trip. Like some
of you did. Take during this break here in Thailand.
That you not only get a full tank. But also.
That you check something very important. What
is that? Air pressure. In your tires. Because
if the air pressure is not right. You're going
to start driving. And suddenly you're going to
feel like. How come I have to like work hard
at making it go straight? And not only that,
which becomes a pain, but also you're going to
have a little sensor light come on. And you try
not to look at it, but it's like you cannot not
notice it. And now you're all stressed out in
your road trip because you did not check the
pressure tire. So now you're going to the tire
pressure. I mean, what you will do is that you
have to stop, correct the tires. Now everything
is aligned again. And then, oh, such a different
trip. And when you have lack of peace in your
life, it's simply a sign that you have lack of
alignment. You have not checked the tires very
well. And it feels like an effort when it's supposed
to feel like just right. Peace means that everything
is just right. It's just as it's meant to be.
As God is working through you and in you. And
you are just going for the ride. So if it feels
like so much effort and so much work and such
a burden and such a pain. Then that is not what
God wants us to experience. If what you have
is lack of peace, what the apostle is telling
us is that you will have to understand that peace
is something that happens out of an intentional
process, just as shaking your tires before you
take the trip. And what's going to happen in
this study is that he's going to first tell us
what is the problem that these Christians were
facing. And he starts... Very small. Let's find
out what was the problem they were facing. He
tells them. Right here on chapter 1 verse 21.
Look guys. Remember before you came to know Christ.
When you were not saved yet. You were his enemies.
Separated from him by your evil thoughts and
actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself
through the death of Christ in his physical body.
Because remember, Jesus was a real human with
a real body. And he died on the cross for you.
And when he died on the cross for you, he reconciled
you with God. And as a result, he has brought
you now into his own presence. And you are holy
and blameless as you stand before him without...
A single fault. Completely forgiven. Completely
reconciled. Because of what he did on the cross.
That's the truth. But you. You must continue
to believe this truth. And stand firmly in it.
Because it might be true. But if you're not believing
in it. You're not going to experience it. You
need to believe it. Align yourself with that
truth. Don't drift away. From the assurance you
received when you heard the good news. The gospel
is called the good news for a reason. It's because
it was God's full forgiveness. Reconciling you
as a gift from God. Not based on your efforts.
But based on your repentance. Your response to
the message that he has given you. And now you
are his forever. But don't drift away from that
truth. And this is where we realize the beginning
of the problem. They had lost their way. Instead
of walking in the path of grace and truth, trusting
God's love, His embrace, His acceptance fully,
they started second -guessing, thinking, oh,
maybe what these people are telling us is true.
Maybe Jesus helps us be saved, but we need also
to work for it, and maybe we need to do certain
things. For God to really accept us. And Paul
says. No. No. The moment you believe. That the
grace of God is not enough. And you have to start
working for it. You are going to start drifting.
And that is why he continues. And he tells them
this. In the following verse. Can you help me
with the clicker? There, okay, thank you. And
now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your
Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Don't
follow this other message. You know, your God,
your Creator, the Lord, the Savior, this Jesus,
continue to follow Him. Don't leave the path.
Continue to follow the Lord. You were dead because
of your sins and because your sinful nature was
not yet cut away. But then God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave all of your sins. He
canceled the record of the charges against us
and took it away by nailing it on the cross.
It's like, I'm trying to tell you here the picture
of God's grace. Because I don't understand why
you are walking away from that grace. When Jesus
died on the cross, he canceled all the charges
against you. Done. In this way, he disarmed the
spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them
publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
So don't let anyone. condemn you for what you
eat or drink or for not celebrating certain holy
days or new moon ceremonies or sabbaths these
people that are infiltrating your church are
telling you that you need to now follow these
laws and you need to keep the sabbath like the
jews do and you need to do this and that and
this and that don't let that message get to you
You don't need Jesus plus all these other things.
Don't let them convince you that you are condemned
because you are not following all of these things.
Don't fall for that. For these rules are only
shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ
himself is that reality. Listen, when Jesus saved
you, when you came to be part of his kingdom,
now you have died with Christ. And he has set
you free from the spiritual powers of this world.
So why do you keep on following the rules of
the world such as, don't handle. You're not going
to go to heaven if you handle that. Don't touch,
don't taste. If you do, you're going to lose
your salvation. Such rules are mere human teachings
about things that deteriorate as we use them.
These rules may seem wise because they require
strong devotion, pious self -denial, and severe
bodily discipline. But in reality, if we get
real, they provide no help in conquering your
inner world, your sinful, evil desires. So don't
fall for it. The moment they started drifting
away from just being rooted in Jesus. Jesus period.
We don't need plus this, plus this, plus this.
No, Jesus. In Him, I'm fully forgiven, fully
accepted, fully embraced. I belong to Him. I'm
part of His kingdom. Instead of being rooted
in that and letting them grow into these fruitful
trees, they started doubting that truth. And
they started replacing that assurance and that
confidence and that power and freedom to live
for God and serve Him fully. They started replacing
it with what we call legalism. Legalism is the
idea that I have to try very hard at doing good
things so that God... Will like me and be happy
with me. And accept me. And therefore. I believe.
That God's acceptance of me. Is based on my effort.
Are you a good boy? Are you a good girl? Okay.
But if you are not. Watch out. You may not go
to heaven after all. Well, the problem with legalism,
therefore, is that it gives you all these extra
rules you have to follow. And these rules are
what make you righteous. Not Jesus. Your effort.
And therefore, because I'm never sure if I'm
good enough or not, the way I experience following
Jesus becomes worse than the economy. If I put
it in a graphic, it will look like this. Today
I feel very close to God. Today not so much.
Today God's grace is great. Today it's very little.
And it's like God loves me. Maybe God doesn't
love me. And I am in that space. It changes by
the day. And therefore rather than experiencing
God's peace. God's peace has been compromised.
And it has been compromised. The reason why it's
not reigning in my heart. And it's not defining
the way I experience my relationship with God.
It's simply because I have stopped standing on
God's grace. You abandon God's grace, you cannot
experience peace. You only have fear and insecurity.
You see, God's grace is so different. So different.
Because God says, look, you want to follow me?
Sure? Okay, but you're a sinner. You recognize
that? Do you repent of living life without me?
You really want to love me? Yes. Okay. Forgiven.
All, everything. Past, present, future. All done.
I'm going to give you my Holy Spirit. And now
follow me. But God, I'm not perfect. I know.
I know you'll struggle and all that stuff. But
I am making you perfect. Not you. Just follow
me. And you follow God. And now the Holy Spirit
in you. Wants intimacy with you. He wants you
to experience inner healing. He wants you to
start experiencing the freedom. Of living for
him. Where guilt and shame and fear are no longer
defining you. God's grace is an invitation. To
be transformed. Into freedom. Into life. God's
grace. It's not a work permit that you get so
you can make a bigger hole and live in it. It's
already terrible. God's grace is a ladder that
is inviting you to come out of it. So you can
live in his freedom. But legalism is a whole
different story. Because legalism is not about
intimacy with God. It's not about any transformation.
It's about your effort and a bunch of rules that
define who you are. If this is not clear, let
me summarize it to you in 10 statements that
contrast legalism with grace. Listen to them.
Legalism is trying to be holy without the Holy
Spirit. Legalism... What about the next group?
A legalist obeys to be accepted. A Christian
obeys because they have already been accepted.
Grace whispers, you are free. Legalism shouts,
try harder. A little harder. Maybe then God will
accept you. Maybe then you will be good enough.
And if not, we have purgatory for that. Legalism
is trusting in your hands more than his scars.
I love that one. What about the next section?
Grace transforms hearts. Legalism just manages
behavior. Legalism... Let me look at it here
because my sight is terrible now. Legalism wears
the mask of holiness but forgets the heart of
Jesus. I love that one too. Legalism builds a
prison with Bible verses as bars. Oh, wow. Where
legalism thrives, joy dies. And that's true.
Because instead of being this thriving tree,
Flourishing with the freedom knowing that you've
been accepted, forgiven, and his forever. Now
you experience life from this place of insecurity
and fear and compromised peace. Have you fallen
for the lie of legalism? Have you stopped resting
in God's grace? If so, that explains why you're
not experiencing peace. You need to check the
tires. Stop where you are. Make sure that they
are right before you keep following. Because
this journey is meant to be a journey marked
by peace. But what the Apostle Paul does is that
after he confronts them with the distortion of
legalism, He's going to help them understand
that at the core of letting the peace of God
reign in you is simply an issue of alignment.
You have to learn to live life according to who
you truly are. I remember there was a professor
in seminary that told us that when he got married
at the beginning, well before he got married,
he loved canoeing. In fact, he had built his
own canoe. And he always loved going canoeing.
So he would take his canoe, go for the whole
day, then come back tired. You know, he did that
all the time. So he got married. And the first
week that he got married, one day he thought,
I want to go canoeing. So he got up very early,
went canoeing, spent the whole day, except he
didn't tell his wife. So when his wife woke up,
And didn't see him there. And there was no way
to contact him. She had no idea where he was.
What had happened to him. She was freaking out.
Not knowing what's going on here. And he comes
back happy after a day canoeing. And it's like
that's when he discovered. That he had to learn
to live as a married person. He was acting like
a single one. You see. You did that when you
were single. But now that you're married. You
just disappear. Like that. It's okay to use your
canoe and love doing this, but at least can you
check with your wife now that you're one? Make
sure that this is okay and it's going to be fine.
And take your cell phone with you because most
likely she will want to check on you to make
sure you're safe. What he was experiencing is
that even though he had a change of identity,
he had to learn to live that new identity. The
fact that you are not a good husband doesn't
mean you're not a husband. It means that you
have to learn to live according to this identity.
And the same thing will happen in following Jesus.
Lack of peace in our lives is a symptom, an indicator.
That you are not living your life according to
who you are. And that is going to have to be
the focus of your attention. Not trying harder
like legalism does. It's paying more attention
to what is the root of the problem. So I can
correct it. Because the concept of acceptance
and forgiveness, that's done. That's an old song.
I don't need to revisit it. I need to understand
what is robbing me from this peace that Jesus
died to give me. And that's why the Apostle Paul
is going to use the rest of this section to tell
us about it. And as I read this section, I picture
it like the person that goes to the doctor. Except
that in this case, the Apostle Paul is the doctor.
Last time I got my checkup done. It goes like
this, you know, it's like typical, basic health
questions. So, Pablo, are you working out? Are
you running? Are you exercising? Well, not really.
I used to, but not much. I'm so busy. It's like,
I don't have time to exercise. Okay, and how
are you doing with your diet? Are you eating
enough veggies and fruits and avoiding all the
carbs and cholesterol and sugar and all this
stuff? It's like, well, you know, it's like I
can always add a little bit more veggies to my
diet, but the sugar, I just love the coffee with
the sweet, you know? Paolo, what about sleeping?
Are you sleeping okay? Because, you know, your
body needs enough hours to sleep. Well, sleeping.
It's kind of like hard because I'm so stressed
out. I just wake up so early, you know, and it's
like, and just in those three questions, the
doctor could already tell that my health is not
very good. Not because I needed an MRI. This
is basic health questions. Everybody knows if
you want to be healthy, you need to work out,
eat well, and rest well, right? Well, the Apostle
Paul is going to now turn to you and to me. And
he's going to help us understand how we're doing
with our health, but our spiritual inner health.
Is the peace of God being compromised in your
life? Then let's find out how you're doing. Pablo,
the first question I'm going to ask you, what's
your perspective? You are living life, you're
following Jesus, you love God, right? Okay, you're
a Christian, yeah, okay, so what's your perspective?
It's like, what do you mean? It's like, I have
my family, and I'm trying to work, and be a good
father, and you know. No, no, I mean, what is
your perspective? The way you are seeing your
life. Because if you don't have the right perspective
on your life. Your peace will be compromised.
And you have to make sure that you let the peace
of God rule in your heart. And for that you have
to have the right perspective. What I mean is
this. Since you have been raised to new life
with Christ. Since now you belong to his kingdom.
100 % reconciled with God. And you are his. Since
now you have been raised with Christ, you have
to set your sights on the realities of heaven,
where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's
right hand. Think about the things of heaven,
not the things of earth. For you died to this
life, and your real life is hidden with Christ
in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is
revealed to the whole world, You will share in
all of his glory. Is this your perspective? Oh,
wait. If that's what you mean, well, you know,
once a week when I go to church on Sundays, you
know, I kind of think about these things. But
the rest of the week, not much. Ah, that explains
it. That means we're living just like the world.
Day to day for the mundane stuff. You have to
have the right perspective on your life. Because
otherwise the peace of God was not something
that you're going to be experiencing. Let me
put it this way. You see this picture? There's
a little insect called a caterpillar. This caterpillar
doesn't know. It's just so busy eating every
day. Eating and getting fatter. Eating and getting
fatter. That's all it does. It was programmed
for that. This is in its DNA. But this caterpillar
doesn't know that soon he's going to be in this
chrysalis. And that all his cells, everything,
the whole body is going to melt. And all the
cells are going to reassign. And now, all of
it is built in its DNA already. And it's going
to suddenly, one day come out of that chrysalis,
now completely reassemble into a butterfly. It
doesn't know that. But this is what this is.
This caterpillar is basically a butterfly in
the making. It's just a matter of time. It's
going to happen with a... the caterpillar knows
it or not. But what if he knows it? What if he
knows that he's going to become a butterfly?
What if he knows that a chrysalis is going to
be soon formed? What if he knows that this is
the future? Oh, that changes everything. Because
otherwise, that poor caterpillar may be eating
and getting fatter, eating and getting fatter.
And then, he starts hearing people saying, you
fat insect. You don't have self -control. Can
you ever stop eating? Look what you have become.
You are just a fat worm. And that book caterpillar
starts believing it. A fat worm. And every time
he looks at the mirror, he goes like, I'm so
ugly. I'm so ashamed of myself. You see, that
doesn't change the fact that it's a butterfly
in the making, does it? It's going to become
a butterfly whether it realizes it or not. But
what changed is that this caterpillar is not
experiencing peace. It's not enjoying the ride.
It's not looking forward to what is it going
to be like flying. I can't wait till that day.
Because I'm never thinking about that. You see,
the caterpillar is not a fat worm. The caterpillar
is a butterfly in the making and so are you.
Think about the things of heaven. Because when
Jesus comes back, the one you're following, you
know what's going to happen? You're going to
be glorified. You're going to become sinless,
immortal. You're going to be transformed. You're
going to be with the Lord forever. Do you know
that you're going to reign with Christ? That
you're going to judge angels? That you're going
to judge the world? Did you know the future that
is awaiting you? I know you can understand it.
It's beyond you because you never experienced
it. But I can't wait to tell you. Perspective
matters. And the first thing that the Apostle
Paul is going to say. Is that you have to learn
to be who you already are. And what you are is
this butterfly in the making. In biblical terms.
Who you are is this. You have been justified.
Jesus reconciled you with God 100%. No more guilt.
No more shame. Done. Also he gave you his Holy
Spirit. You are sanctified. Now you have within
you. The power of God. That wants to transform
you from within. So you can experience freedom.
It can heal your wounds. Because God heals the
broken hearted. And he does bandage their wounds.
And you will be glorified. You will be transformed
and you will be loved with the Lord forever.
This is who you are if you are a born again Christian.
And therefore, we have to live our lives with
the right perspective. Otherwise, peace is not
going to define your experience on day to day.
Has your peace been compromised? because you
realize you have the wrong perspective, and you
are thinking of you just as a worthless worm,
then what you have to do is change perspective.
There's a second question that this doctor wants
to ask us, because remember, it's checking our
health. The second question is, you know, what
is your identity? Who are you? Because what you
believe you are is going to affect how you behave.
So if you're not happy with your behaviors, then
don't try harder. Start thinking about what is
it you're thinking you are that is leading you
to those behaviors. And align yourself with the
Holy Spirit in that place because He's the Spirit
of Truth. And when you start walking in truth,
the behaviors change. But the behaviors won't
change if you keep believing lies. So what's
your identity? It's like, I mean, I don't know
how to answer that question. Where do I even
begin? It's like, I don't know. I mean... I know
God loves me, and He saved me, and Pastor Pablo
says, you know, I'll go to heaven after I die,
even though sometimes, you know, it's like, yeah,
but the grace, yeah, you know, and all this.
Let me make it easier for you. I'm going to put
three mirrors in front of you. You see these
mirrors? Okay, stand in front of them. Now, the
problem with these mirrors, is that they want
to do everything in their power to deceive you,
to make you believe that you are that which is
in the mirror. But here I'm telling you, you
are not that. Remember who you are. I already
covered it. Remember who you are. The first mirror
is the mirror of your body. You see, this mirror
that comes from the world tells you that the
goal in your life is to be happy, not holy. And
that you need to simply embrace every desire
you have. That if you have any sexual desire
in your life, just pursue it. It will make you
happy. It will also tell you that as long as
there's consent, that's all you need. You don't
need to be married. Don't put that thing on your
neck. It's a marriage. As long as the person
likes you, it's fine. Plus, everybody does it.
And you know like the song says, as mammals do,
you're just a mammal, just live your life. That's
not who you are. Don't believe that mirror. The
moment you believe that mirror, your peace will
be compromised. So listen. Put to death. The
sinful earthly things lurking within you have
nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, and evil desires. Don't fall for it. And
if you already fell for it, come out of it. That
is not who you are. Don't believe that mirror.
Because what do you get when you believe that
mirror? Peace? Ah, no peace, huh? What do you
get instead? Do you happen to feel filthy? Worthless?
Used? Yeah, exactly. That's how you're going
to feel every time you're engaged in sexual behaviors
that do not align with who you are and you are
not just a mammal. Your body now is a temple
of the Holy Spirit and you are called to honor
God with your body. And when you grow in honoring
God with your body, you will experience more
and more peace. And that's exactly what Jackie
experienced. Because you see, Jackie believed
the mirror the world gave her that told her you
are your sexual desires. So whatever desire you
have, that's your identity. And she started pursuing
that. And she's very honest. She says, I really
enjoyed my sin, but I had no peace. And when
I started wrestling with these things, I had
a friend that prayed for me and said, God, help
her know how much you love her by helping her
see how much she needs you. And when that friend
prayed that, oh, did she start understanding
how much she needed God. Things started going
not so well. And the lack of peace became more
and more obvious. Until one day Jackie heard
the gospel and understood God's grace. That Jesus
had paid for all of her sins. She just needed
to come into the family. And now accepted and
embraced the Holy Spirit was going to empower
her. And that changed completely her way of thinking.
Because until that point she thought that to
be a Christian was a life of trying hard, of
being miserable, following rules that you don't
like and that you cannot fulfill. Rather than
an intimate relationship with God where He is
healing your wounds and transforming you from
within. So as she started experiencing this transformation,
she writes it and she says, I discovered that
holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence
of God. Intimacy with God makes you realize how
much He loves you and how miserable you are away
from Him. That you start looking at sin as like,
nah, not anymore. I know what follows after it.
and I'm done with that. Have you believed the
mirror of distortion about your body? But there's
a second mirror. The second mirror is the mirror
of money. This mirror tells you that you are
what you have. That if you have a lot of money,
then you are a worthy person, successful, someone
with stature. You are defined by your belongings.
Which also means that if you don't have much,
you're a loser. And if you're a loser, then act
like one. The problem with this mirror is that
it's a distortion because you are not what you
have. Your worth is defined by God, not by your
belongings. And your belongings... are not to
define you, are simply tools that God has given
you so that your needs can be met and then he
can use you to address the needs of others. In
other words, money is not the goal of life. Money
is simply a tool to serve God with it. The more
money I have, the more things I have to serve
God with. So don't believe the distortion of
this mirror. Instead, don't be greedy, for a
greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the
things of this world. And in the past, listen,
you used to do these things, when your life was
still part of this world, but you are not part
of this world anymore. If you live to have more,
you will experience like the song says, Never
enough, never enough for me, for me, never enough.
Never. Always a little bit more. And there's
no peace in that. There is an author that wrote
a book called Heaven. Thick study on everything
the Bible says about heaven. His name is Andy
Alcorn. And as he was following God, and he became
more and more aware of, wow, that's where we're
going, and this is what it means, and this is
what it implies, he started changing the way
he saw his money and his pursuit. And he puts
it in a way that is so powerful. He says, what
I discover is that God prospers me. Not to raise
my standard of living, but to raise my standard
of giving. My ability to give more so I can serve
God more with the impact more people. Imagine
giving more to this ministry that is working
with the prisons, the house of blessing. Wow,
I can help those people now. I have more. There's
freedom and there's joy in that. Instead of,
well, I never have enough. I need more because
I never have enough. Have you fallen for this
mirror? It's a distortion. It's going to compromise
your peace. But there's a third mirror. And this
third mirror is people. This mirror is going
to tell you that what people think of you is
what matters most. So when they don't think nicely
of you, oh, you're all stressed out. And therefore,
you want to make sure that you do the right thing.
And you say the right thing. And that they think
of you the right thing. Because you want them
so desperately to like you. And when they don't
like you, you feel so discouraged. That mirror
is a distortion. You do not live to impress people.
What they think of you is not what matters. What
matters is what God thinks of you. So listen.
You have to understand that now is the time to
get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander,
dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for
you have stripped off your all sinful nature
and all of its wicked deeds. You don't need to
start using the F word to sound cool so that
your friends will like you. You don't need to
act like the world so that they will think of
you a certain way. That is going to compromise
your peace. This is not who you are. You don't
need to start lying and manipulating so that
people will think highly of you. No. That is
compromising your peace. That's why you're not
experiencing it. And you need to let the peace
of God rule in your heart by aligning yourself
with Him. What matters most is not what people
think of you. What matters most is truth. There
is a pastor and theologian that now is with the
Lord. Admired by many. His name is Timothy Keller.
On his own journey of following the Lord, he
realized that people pleasing was not the way.
Compromise is peace. And there is freedom. In
knowing that the only person that will live to
please is the Lord. And this is what he says.
The only person whose opinion counts looks at
me and sees Jesus. I don't have to impress anyone
anymore. Not even God. There's freedom in being
known and being loved and embraced. Because God
knows that you are a butterfly in the making.
He sees you as that fat, never stopping eating
insect. And he sees a butterfly in you. Have
you fallen for this distortion? Because if you
have, that's why your peace has been compromised.
So there it is. The three mirrors. If you look
at these three things. And you say, Pastor Paolo,
I don't struggle with this one at all. Then it's
a zero. If you say, oh, that mirror, I've been
believing it almost like the whole picture. Then
the more struggle, it's a ten. Anything in between.
What would you score yourself? Have you fallen
for the distortion of sex in the world? Have
you fallen for the distortion of money as identity?
Success as the goal of life? Or impressing people?
If you have, then the last question the Apostle
Paul has for us is this. What is your plan? What
are you going to do to get healthier and make
sure the peace of God is now reigning in your
heart? What are you going to do, Pablo? It's
like, what do you mean what I'm going to do?
I guess I'll try harder. No, that's legalism.
Try harder. It's not going to lead you anywhere.
What you need is to love more deeply. Love the
Holy Spirit more deeply. And it's in this loving
more deeply. That you start looking at the things
that you engaged with before. And now you can
see them for what they are. And it's like. I
don't like that anymore. When you focus your
energy. Is in seeking intimacy with God. That
is the plan. And I don't mean read your Bible
more and pray more. I mean seek intimacy with
God more. Because what you need is to put on
your new nature. And be renewed as you learn
to know your creator. And become like him. Because
that is the journey that we are in. We are in
this place of transformation where the Holy Spirit
is healing us so that we can experience His life
more and more. You are becoming like Him with
more joy, with more peace, with more self -control,
with more love flowing through you because you
are loving the Holy Spirit more in you. And what
this looks like, if your peace has been compromised
by any of the things that Paul told us, it means
that the first thing you have to do is to simply
confess. You will come to God, you call it for
what it is, and you say, God, I have been believing
this lie. I acknowledged that I've been engaging
in these behaviors and that's not who I am. My
peace has been compromised. That is confessing.
You're acknowledging in the raw form. Calling
it for what it is. And after that you get honest
with God. And you say but God I renounce that.
Because that is not what I want in my life. What
I want is you. So break the power of this thing
from me. Because you is the one I want. Now we're
seeking intimacy. You see, you can pray all the
prayers, you can read all the Bible, and you
can go to all the worship services, but if we
don't get real with God, and there's no intimacy
growing, nothing changes. You are just managing
behavior rather than experiencing peace. So remember,
learn to be Who you are. If your perspective
has been compromised. Your identity has been
distorted. If your plan became trying harder.
Rather than just seeking more intimacy. Now you
know where you need to focus. To make sure that
the peace of God is ruling in your heart. Because
the grace part is not a problem. It's done. But
the peace part. You have to align your car. Before
you continue the journey. So I conclude this
study simply with this question. Has your peace
been compromised? Let the peace of Christ reign
in your heart. Lord, encounter us. Open our eyes
so that we can see our distortions for what they
truly are. Bless us with seeing truth, because
truth is what sets us free. In Jesus' name. we
welcome you to engage by sending us an email
to office at ecb .asia. If God is calling you
to support our ministries, you will find giving
options on our website. And remember to join
us next week. God bless you.