The Eve of National Day of Thanksgiving
PEACE
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen! God says to you in tonight’s Epistle, “The peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Dear Christian friends,
There are several things that God wants you to know about the peace He promises
you in tonight’s Epistle.
1. God wants you to know that His peace does not mean you will have no
troubles or hardships in your life. Rather, God’s peace will guard your heart
and mind in the midst of your troubles in life.
When God says to you, “Do not be anxious about anything,” He is telling you
that He knows exactly how many things you have in your mind—things that will
cause you anxiety.
• God knows your schedule, and how hectic life can become for you at a
moment’s notice. God knows that you have people in your life that keep your
hands full. God knows that you have demands placed upon you that continually
feel impossible to fulfill.
• God also knows the things you worry about, even though you have nothing
to worry about. God knows that you have a tendency pick at wool, so to speak,
and to become preoccupied by what are really very minor details. God knows that
you think so much about tomorrow that you easily lose sight of today.
• God knows that you love what you do: Anxiety is intoxicating. Worry
creates the sensations that you can feel. There is nothing quite so empowering
as a good fret now and then.
• God also knows that your ragdoll anxieties will destroy you. That is
why God promises that His peace will preserve you and protect you, even in the
midst of your troubles and hardships. That is why God says to you tonight,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
2. God wants you to know that peace is His oath and promise to you.
God does not say to you here that His peace has the ability to guard your
heart, or that His peace has the potential to protect your mind. God does even
speak as if His were a possibility for you, if only you will first pray to Him.
God says that His peace “WILL guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
WILL & SHALL: these Words get used in promises and in oaths. When God says to
you that His peace “WILL guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” His is
raising His right hand and He is making His vow to you. God’s peace in
Christ—God’s peace through Christ’s death and resurrection—is now yours. God
has spoken His peace to you in the form of a promise, and He needs no help from
you in keeping His promises!
3. God wants you to know that His peace is an article of faith.
God’s peace is not the peace you might know and feel in your heart. If you feel
peace in your heart, praise God! But God’s peace is yours, even when your heart
is unsettled and your mind is troubled! God’s peace “surpasses all
understanding.” Stated another way, God’s peace goes beyond all that your mind
can comprehend. God’s peace can be compared to the resurrection of the body:
• With your own eyes, you have never seen someone rise from the dead. Yet
you nevertheless believe in the resurrection of the body and the life
everlasting. The resurrection for you is an article of faith. It is what you
believe despite what you see with your eyes and even feel in your heart.
• The same things may be said about “the peace of God which surpasses all
understanding.” You might not feel very peaceful. Believe that God’s peace is
yours, nevertheless. God’s peace is yours because of Jesus and Jesus alone. Do
not make God’s peace a matter of your own sensations—as if you can bottle your
God. Believe, because God has spoken.
When God speaks, anxiety falls silent. When God speaks, fear gets laid into the
grave. When God speaks, “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
_______________________________________________
Sermons mailing list
Sermons@cat41.org
http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
