Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018016A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello, friends. 01:11 Welcome to Friday night Family Worship. 01:13 Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. 01:16 That's right. 01:17 All of our people said happy Sabbath. 01:19 And I have with me my copilot tonight, my wife, Angela. 01:22 So glad to be here with you. 01:24 I hope you go to church tomorrow and be blessed. 01:27 I know there's a blessing in store for you tomorrow. 01:31 Always a Sabbath blessing, isn't it, honey? 01:32 That's right. 01:33 But we're going to begin that blessing tonight 01:35 as we talk about the topic of peace. 01:37 Everybody wants peace. 01:40 We're going to have a prayer in a moment. 01:41 But let's go ahead and... 01:43 We're going to get a bigger, wide shot here 01:45 so that my brother, my bodyguard... 01:48 No, I'm just kidding. 01:49 My head elder here, 01:50 Luis Capote and his wife, Xenia, 01:52 good to have you both here. 01:53 Thank you. Happy Sabbath. Yes. Yes. 01:55 Happy Sabbath. It's good to see you guys. 01:56 That's right. 01:57 It's good to be seen, 01:59 unless if I didn't know I was being seen, I'd be viewing. 02:02 That's not good at all. No. 02:05 And Donald and Janelle Owen, good to have you both here. 02:07 Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. 02:08 Yeah, we're kind of becoming regulars. 02:10 I know that. 02:11 You know, we really enjoy this combination. 02:13 And what we enjoy even more 02:15 than our combination is when you join us. 02:18 Amen. Amen. 02:19 And this is going to be a wonderful topic. 02:22 And so without further ado, honey, 02:24 would you have prayer for us 02:25 so we can invite the prince of peace to be in our program. 02:29 Okay, let's bow our heads. 02:30 Our kind gracious peaceful heavenly Father, 02:33 we come to You this Sabbath evening 02:36 in the name of Jesus. 02:38 We thank You for the Sabbath blessings. 02:39 We thank You for the ministry 02:42 that You have given us every day and night. 02:47 And, Lord, we commit this program to You, 02:49 everything about it. 02:51 The prince of peace will truly be in our midst. 02:55 And may those viewing and listening to this program 02:59 find peace in their hearts through this program, 03:03 but most of all, through You, in Jesus' name, amen. 03:06 Amen. Thank you, honey. Beautiful. 03:09 So nice when a subtle voice, 03:11 you know, as pastors 03:13 we're always praying and preaching, 03:15 so that's why I pray off the air, 03:17 and I always like my wife to pray on the air. 03:19 But the topic of peace, 03:22 the reason why we chose this topic 03:24 is because peace is something the world 03:26 has been trying to accomplish for a long time. 03:29 Everybody wants peace. 03:31 People want to be in peaceful neighborhoods, 03:33 people want peace in their family, 03:37 people want peace in their relationships 03:39 with one another, 03:40 husband or wife, want to be at peace. 03:42 When there is no peace in the community, 03:45 nerves on edge. 03:47 We want peace between the police and the citizens. 03:50 You know, there's so much... 03:52 We want peace between countries, 03:54 but right now there's so much wars. 03:56 The United Nations are trying to find a way to get peace. 03:59 Peace in Middle East 04:00 seemed like it was going on since forever, 04:03 since I was a little boy. 04:05 In the time of Abraham. Isn't that amazing? 04:08 Yeah. Yeah. 04:09 And ever since the entrance of sin, 04:11 we know that there has been no peace in the world. 04:13 That's right. 04:14 But what I'd like to do tonight 04:16 is I'd like to begin with this particular passage, 04:19 then we're going to open it up 04:20 because we always have great examples. 04:22 You know, in our experiences about the peace 04:24 that we've come to know 04:26 and the peace that others have come to know 04:28 through getting to know Christ. 04:30 But there is a passage in John 16:33. 04:34 And this passage kind of zooms in on peace the way 04:39 that we can expect it and peace where you should not expect it. 04:44 John 16:33. 04:45 Honey, would you read that for us? 04:47 Yes, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me, 04:52 you may have peace," that's in Jesus, "in the world, 04:55 you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. 05:00 I," Jesus, "have overcome the world." 05:03 Okay, so right away, 05:05 where are we going to find tribulation? 05:08 Everywhere. In this world. 05:10 The whole world. Now where is the world? 05:12 Where we live, all around us, 05:14 even peaceful Thompsonville, right? 05:18 Thompsonville even made the news. 05:20 We even had our own events here. 05:22 So is there any place that there won't be tribulation? 05:25 Heaven. 05:26 Okay, but in this earth, Xenia, 05:29 is there any place on this earth 05:30 where you'll find peace? 05:32 No, not, only tribulation. 05:34 Even though peaceful places we see in Europe, 05:36 they always say it's so peaceful. 05:38 Yeah, the Alps, Swiss Alps. 05:41 They say, "If you want to be in a peaceful community, 05:43 come to our community, 05:45 we'll maintain peace with weapons." 05:49 In Jerusalem... Like a oxymoron. 05:50 Remember in Jerusalem. Jerusalem. 05:52 Was it a place of peace? 05:54 The city of peace, they had weapons everywhere. 05:58 And I thought "Man, what kind of peace do they have here?" 06:00 It's in our schools too. 06:01 Schools even now, they've got, you know, 06:03 they got metal detectors in your school. 06:05 So where is the peace? 06:06 Oh, yeah, that's been going on from we were young, right? 06:08 New York, metal detectors. 06:10 And when you get into the airplanes now, 06:11 what happens? 06:13 They want to make sure that there'd be no incidents. 06:16 They won't have what kind of flight? 06:17 Peaceful flight. We want to have that. 06:20 And so peace is a real, very viable topic 06:23 because everybody wants peace. 06:25 But I want to begin by... 06:27 Let's spend a little time on this idea of tribulation 06:29 because what I've discovered 06:30 is Christians shouldn't be caught off guard 06:34 when tribulation exists because the Lord says, 06:37 "In this world you will have tribulation." 06:41 So whenever you're confronted 06:44 by something that brings tribulation, 06:46 another word for tribulation is distress, 06:50 lack of ease, another one, Donald. 06:51 Trials. Trials. What else? 06:55 Challenges. Challenges. 06:57 Stress. Stresses. 06:59 Sickness. Sickness. 07:00 Trouble. Trouble. 07:02 Whenever that happens, Christians should remember, 07:06 in this world, you will have tribulation. 07:09 No one is exempt. No one is exempt. 07:11 And oftentimes, Christians say, 07:14 "Oh, man, I don't know what's going on in my life. 07:16 I'm just having it going and coming. 07:19 I'm just having difficulty." 07:21 And I like to point out this passage, 07:23 you will have tribulation. 07:26 But based on what you read, honey, 07:29 where do we find that peace 07:30 that we have in the middle of tribulation? 07:32 What did Jesus say it is? 07:35 He says "In Him." In Him. 07:37 That's right. That's key. 07:38 But it's interesting, they said, 07:40 He says, "He has overcome," 07:42 you know, and this is the beauty about Christ, 07:45 He has gone through every trial and tribulations 07:47 that we went through and then some, 07:50 so you can know that there is an example that it's been done, 07:55 it's been taken care of. 07:57 You know, a lot of times, as Christians, 07:59 you are, you know, when the pastor called, 08:02 he said, "What the message was going to be about?" 08:05 I said, "Okay, well, I'm going to be that one." 08:07 He's going to say, "Okay, pastor, teach me how." 08:09 'Cause I've been a mystery most of my life, 08:13 and you see the struggle with good and evil, 08:15 you see the trials and tribulations. 08:17 But it's interesting, 08:19 the only way you're going to find peace 08:21 is when you die to self. 08:23 You see and that's what it's so... 08:25 That's what a lot of individuals 08:27 don't understand, by yourself, 08:30 you're never going to find peace, 08:33 but once you surrender yourself to God, 08:36 then you can just look back and now you're an expectator. 08:41 You're not going through it, 08:43 you're just seeing how God is going to take care 08:46 of all the trials and tribulations in your life. 08:49 Make it crucify yourself daily? Daily, I wish. 08:53 Minute by minute. Moment by moment. 08:56 Now, what were you saying? 08:58 I'm just saying, you make it sound so simple. 09:00 So Romans 5:3 says something. 09:02 In Romans 5:3 and 4 says "And not only that, 09:05 but we also glory in tribulations..." 09:07 How do you glory in tribulations? 09:09 "Knowing that tribulations 09:10 produces perseverance 09:12 and perseverance, character and character, hope." 09:15 Okay, so you got to go through something to get to it. 09:17 It's like... You ever seen those... 09:21 I call it whittling, 09:22 but just I'm surely that's not the word. 09:24 Whenever they take a square piece of wood, 09:26 and they put it through this... 09:27 Chisel. 09:29 Machine and it comes out like a perfect table leg. 09:31 Anyway, you guys probably are screaming the answer at me. 09:34 But trowel or whatever you want to call it, 09:37 there's the machine just starts... 09:39 The wood starts flying everywhere, 09:40 and then it comes out on the other side, 09:42 what a beautiful ornamental table leg. 09:44 So we have to go through what? 09:46 What are the steps again in Romans? 09:47 Tribulations then perseverance and perseverance to character 09:51 and character to hope, 09:52 so I like sharing that with our callers at 3ABN often. 09:56 You know, they're all calling with something 09:57 that they're going through, just difficulties, 10:00 and that's when we lose our grip on Jesus 10:02 when we just want to collapse and just end it all. 10:04 But we realize that Christ, as you were mentioning earlier, 10:07 He's the one who's done it, finished it for us, 10:08 so we can get through it. 10:10 It's interesting because once you're going through 10:12 the trials and the tribulation, 10:14 then you get to see and experience the victories. 10:17 And that's what it's all about. 10:18 You know, a lot of times, we... 10:21 How many times has God had to bring you down a peg or two? 10:24 Oh, ever. 10:27 You're running on and you're humming along, 10:28 you think everything is great, 10:30 and there are certain sins in your life 10:32 that are just, you know, part of your day-to-day. 10:36 And God has to kind of tap you on the shoulder 10:38 and say, "Guess what? 10:40 I'm about to thin you out," you know. 10:45 I'm about to show you what kind of God you serve. 10:48 And it's through this that you understand, 10:50 and that's the way that... 10:53 Look, the Bible clearly tells you 10:56 you're going to go through trials, 10:58 you're going to go through tribulations. 11:00 But as a Christian, 11:01 you know that you're not the one that has to battle. 11:05 I love the sermon that the pastor 11:07 preached this past Sabbath talking about, 11:11 "Let Christ go in front of you, so He can tackle the enemy." 11:16 So therefore, all you get to see 11:18 is just the battle between God and the enemy, 11:22 and then you can just walk without your issues. 11:26 And that really impacted me, 11:28 that hit me right between the eyes, I said, "Wow!" 11:30 It is so true that many of us, we want to rush, 11:34 and we want to do all the work when God says, "Be still. 11:37 Be still, and let Me take care of it." 11:39 A good example of that, to me, was the disciples and Jesus. 11:45 And the story that is in Mark 4 11:49 that it says that they were in a boat, 11:52 and Jesus was sleeping and the storm came 11:55 and so everything is going on, 11:57 and Jesus is just sleeping there peacefully. 12:00 Well, they had gone ahead, 12:03 like the example he's talking about, 12:05 without Jesus in a sense on their own. 12:09 So their peace went away. 12:11 And then they woke Him up. 12:14 And what did He tell the wind and the storm? 12:18 "Peace be still." 12:21 And to have that peace, I can't... 12:25 I'm not going to say that I'm even near that peace 12:29 because sometimes I forget, 12:31 you know, if the things come all the time 12:34 and the worries and everything, and you get working on things, 12:39 and that peace goes away. 12:41 To me, it's always so interesting 12:43 that some people could be going 12:45 through a disaster or something, 12:47 and they can just sleep through it. 12:51 And it's like it comes 12:53 from knowing that God left this peace with you, 13:00 like the Bible says. 13:02 And I think that's what led Warren Cornell, 13:05 Cornell I think it is, to write the song "Wonderful Peace". 13:10 Yes, share some of the words with us. 13:12 The refrain says, 13:13 Peace, peace, wonderful peace 13:16 Coming down from the Father above 13:19 Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray 13:23 In fathomless billows of peace 13:26 But the one, 13:29 every stanza is very, very deep. 13:34 But here it says, 13:36 "I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, 13:39 resting sweetly in Jesus' control," 13:42 which is what he was doing 13:44 in the middle of the storm in this boat 13:47 while everybody was going crazy. 13:49 And it's so nice to be able to do that, 13:52 you know, sometimes the wind is blowing so hard and stuff 13:55 and we're able to just sleep without worry, you know. 14:01 Another one says, 14:03 "What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace, 14:07 buried deep in the heart of my soul." 14:10 Wow, to have that. 14:12 And I think he had that to be able to write a song like this. 14:19 And I think when I rise with the city of peace, 14:25 that one strain of a song with the ransoms that will sing." 14:29 Wouldn't that be wonderful when you're in heaven, 14:31 when we all get to heaven, to be able to share that 14:35 and to know of a real peace in our hearts? 14:38 And you know it's going to take a... 14:39 I think one of the reasons why the transformation 14:41 is going to be necessary 14:42 because if we're going to heaven 14:44 with the same character, 14:45 and we heard of angel coming up behind us, 14:46 and we say, "What is that?" 14:48 Just take a bow at peace. 14:51 Well, you know, you start singing at angels in heaven. 14:53 It wasn't shadow? It wasn't shadow. 14:55 Because we don't just accustomed 14:57 to living in such a peace-less environment 15:00 that everything gets our attention. 15:01 Right. 15:03 You know, when we moved here to Illinois, 15:04 we thought where we live in Indiana 15:05 was really quiet and peaceful. 15:07 And we moved here in Cornville, and it's so quiet and peaceful. 15:10 We go back to Indiana, our house there it was like, 15:13 "That is noisy. 15:14 It's really noisy. 15:15 We thought, man, it was quiet there." 15:17 There's a lot of peace here in this area. 15:18 Well, welcome to the big cities. 15:21 But I want to transition to another one 15:22 because there's another kind of peace 15:24 that the world will not experience 15:26 and this kind of peace is Jeremiah 8:11. 15:29 You want to read that for us, it's right on our syllabus, 15:32 to save some time you have this second one, Jeremiah 8:11. 15:35 This is the kind of peace that the world 15:37 is trying to manufacture, 15:38 but what's the reality of it, Janelle. 15:40 You want me to. 15:41 "For they have healed the hurt of the daughter 15:43 of My people slightly saying, 15:45 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." 15:48 Okay, and the next one also, 1 Thessalonians 5:3. 15:52 We don't have that. 15:53 Oh, I'm sorry. Let me read it. 15:55 "For when they say, 'Peace and safety.' 15:57 Then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains 16:00 upon a pregnant woman, they shall not escape." 16:03 So what's happening in our world? 16:05 Where is this peace coming from, this manufactured peace? 16:08 Preachers preaching about peace, 16:11 and there is no peace. 16:12 There is no peace. 16:15 But that's one of the signs of the times 16:18 of the end of the times. 16:20 When people say peace, peace, and there is no peace. 16:23 You know, that's one of the signs. 16:24 Question is why are they saying peace 16:26 so they're keeping you away from realizing 16:28 who the sin pardoning, sin bearer is, it's Jesus. 16:31 So you're really what you're doing 16:33 is allowing them to continue in their sin. 16:35 You're not allowing them to find out they can, 16:37 could be healed by Jesus. 16:38 That's kind of what I see that 16:40 as it's like you're masking over what Jesus came to do 16:42 when He came to give us the opportunity 16:44 to give our sins over to Him. 16:46 But a lot of times they say, peace, peace when... 16:49 I'm at peace when they let me do 16:50 what I want which is not the same. 16:53 It's not the peace that God's talking about. 16:55 I was going to share Isaiah 57, kind of hits on what you hit, 16:58 Pastor, Isaiah 57:19-21 says, 17:01 "'Peace, peace, to him who is a far off, 17:03 both Jew and gentile and to Him who is near,' 17:06 says the Lord, 'I create the fruit of his lips, 17:08 and I will heal him, 17:10 make his lips blossom anew with speech 17:11 and thankful praise, 17:12 but the wicked are like the troubled sea,'" 17:14 as you mentioned earlier, 17:16 "for it cannot rest in its waters 17:17 cast up mire and dirt, 17:19 there is no peace,' says my God for the wicked." 17:21 Wow! No peace for the wicked. 17:23 That's a good point. 17:25 So the kind of peace that's talked about here... 17:26 Honey, I think you were telling me about this at home 17:30 where preachers today are preaching peace. 17:35 Peace and safety. 17:37 Yeah, they are preaching peace and safety. 17:40 They're not preaching about end times, 17:42 about things of the end. 17:44 It's more about, "Oh, get your portfolio together 17:47 and your finances and your family," 17:50 which is good, you know, those things are good. 17:52 But there's a destruction coming to this earth, 17:56 where you're not hearing that anymore, 17:58 you're not hearing about 18:00 "Get ready, Jesus is coming, get your house in order." 18:03 You know, you're not hearing that anymore, 18:05 it's what peace and safety. 18:07 And then what's going to come? 18:08 Sudden destruction. 18:10 And the watchman has to be alert to that, 18:12 he has to see the sword coming, so as preachers 18:14 and those who are called of God, 18:15 we have to blow the trumpet, 18:17 give the trumpet a certain sound 18:19 because when this supposed peace catches people off guard, 18:23 then it's going to be our responsibility, 18:25 and a lot of preachers don't know that. 18:27 Why it's interesting because the only way that God 18:30 is truly going to manufacture true peace in your life 18:35 is once He starts chiseling away all the impurities 18:39 that you were working through. 18:41 You know, it's like the pastor was talking before, 18:44 you look at a piece of wood that it's all, 18:47 you know, scuffed and everything, 18:48 but then you put it through the blades... 18:50 A lathe. A lathe. 18:51 A lathe, and then you start chiseling away. 18:54 And as you chisel away, then what you end up doing? 18:57 Then you put it in the sand paper, 18:58 and you just... 19:00 Then you have this beautiful end product. 19:03 What's happening today, 19:04 individuals that are being brought 19:08 and said, "Oh, look at the greatness 19:10 that God can give you all this peace," 19:11 but it's all manufactured peace. 19:13 Then nobody is ready for when the blades come, 19:17 nobody's ready when the chisel is coming in your life. 19:20 So when it comes, people panic. 19:22 And that's what happens all the time. 19:24 You go through... 19:26 How many individuals do you hear 19:28 that they go through 19:29 any kind of strife in their life, 19:33 and then they take their life. 19:34 Why? Because they have no idea. 19:36 And you get individuals, you know, 19:38 you said you were from New York, 19:40 I'm from Cuba, we're from... 19:42 You know, we know how we need to handle the life 19:47 and the trials and the situation. 19:48 So it's not a big deal for us. 19:52 We have all been, 19:53 I'm quite sure without a penny in our pockets 19:56 and we've had to make it through. 19:59 But with God's help, 20:01 with the true peace that only comes 20:04 through what God has planned for us, 20:07 that's when we are going to experience 20:10 that love and that peace and that wonderful joy. 20:13 That's right. 20:14 I want to go to the first question here actually, 20:17 "How does the Bible describe the origin of peace?" 20:20 Someone, anybody read Isaiah 9:6. 20:22 It's on our syllabus here. 20:23 "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, 20:28 and the government will be upon his shoulder. 20:30 And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 20:34 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace." 20:38 And so can you have peace without Jesus? 20:42 No. No. 20:44 There might the wind may be calmed briefly, 20:47 but it's really not peace, 20:48 sometimes it's the eye of the storm, 20:50 you know, the bands left 20:52 and you're in the eye of the storm 20:53 and you think, "Oh, it's peaceful now." 20:55 Almost the wind is coming after again. 20:57 So what we're saying here is the only way 20:59 that we can have peace is through the Prince of Peace. 21:02 The world tries to give you peace 21:04 but it's not the same as from the Lord. 21:07 You know watch a movie, and an another movie, 21:09 and take your mind off your problems, 21:11 go to Las Vegas, the sin city, 21:14 you know, temporary things, temporary peace, 21:17 it's not eternal peace. 21:18 The peace that we have is eternal from the Lord. 21:21 And another note, 21:23 have you ever seen the term rest in peace on a grave? 21:27 Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? 21:29 Yes. Oh, I looked that up. 21:32 And about rest in peace and it's talking about the soul 21:40 should find peace in the afterlife. 21:43 And a Christian should never have rest in peace. 21:47 Because where it came from, you know, 21:49 and it's associated with the Christian doctrine 21:52 of the particular judgment that is 21:55 that the soul is parted from the body upon death 21:58 and that the soul and body 22:00 will be reunited on Judgment Day. 22:03 That's where that came from. I looked that up in Wikipedia. 22:06 And so be careful when you say rest in peace 22:08 because we're resting, 22:10 aren't we when we die, you know. 22:12 But this has a different meaning. 22:14 Right, rest period. 22:15 But you're not saying rest in agony, rest in... 22:20 You're dead, you don't even know. 22:22 So you don't tell a person rest in peace. 22:25 I'll remember to do that, 22:27 you know, the dead know not anything. 22:29 Right. Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 6. 22:31 Can I ask the question? 22:32 It's like where do we know to find peace? 22:34 How do we know what peace looks like 22:36 if we are talking about this idea of peace? 22:37 'Cause some people want to make their own peace, 22:39 but what is real peace look like. 22:42 You were making a point a moment ago 22:44 and I want to just amplify that, 22:45 some people say, "Well, my stocks are doing well, 22:47 the stock market is up, prices are down, 22:51 gas prices are down, my kids are being behaved well, 22:53 my dog didn't, 22:55 you know, chew up the furniture recently." 22:57 We look at all the things around us 22:58 and we think, "Oh, don't breathe." 23:02 Then sudden destruction... 23:07 And all of sudden car crashes through your back window. 23:09 Sudden destruction is coming. Sudden destruction comes. 23:12 Peace in this world is all temporary. 23:14 It is. 23:15 I mean how many times have you heard on the news 23:17 even when people are celebrating Happy New Year 23:19 and this is not December 31st, 23:21 but when people have Happy New Year like January 1, 23:25 there's been a great big explosion, you know, 23:28 17 people were killed on, 23:30 the factory exploding this morning. 23:32 You know it's like 23:33 and we say the year just began... 23:35 There was fire... Right. 23:37 I was thinking when Luis was talking, 23:40 you guys know the book Steps to Christ. 23:43 For me that has been a huge blessing. 23:46 I read it every few months actually, 23:49 but to me there's principles in there 23:51 that would be relevant for me at any point in my walk. 23:55 I just wrote down a few of chapters on repentance, 23:58 confession, consecration, prayer, 24:01 several different things that really kind of drives home 24:05 like how we can have peace. 24:07 And you know it's just, 24:09 you know, you're talking about the peace and safety message 24:11 and that kind of thing 24:13 and it's like this is where the real peace is, 24:15 you know, when we don't like to see the mirror, 24:18 but it's there and God is showing us 24:21 those bad places in our heart. 24:24 And that's what comes through 24:25 these Steps to Christ in repentance. 24:28 And we know when we allow Him 24:30 to show us our dark corners and so... 24:33 Amen. 24:34 I like that dark corners because corners are dark. 24:37 You know, there's places in your life 24:39 where the light doesn't shine. 24:40 A lot of times it's in the corners, 24:42 corners are dirty too. 24:43 Yeah, they don't get swept. 24:45 You can't sweep the corners. You put all your junk. 24:47 Wow, that's a good point. 24:49 I want to take the cadence to the next level. 24:52 What about John 14:27, who'd like to read that for us, 24:55 that's in our syllabus. 24:57 How does the Bible describe peace? 24:59 Let's talk about this. Xenia? 25:00 "Peace I leave with you, 25:02 my peace I give to you not as the world gives 25:06 do I give to you. 25:07 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 25:11 So the world is in turbulence around us 25:15 and somebody once said, 25:17 and I heard this on several occasions, 25:19 but somebody once said, 25:22 "How could you be so calm at a time like this?" 25:25 You've heard that phrase before? 25:26 I mean, I've heard this in various counties. 25:28 "How could you be so calm at a time like this?" 25:31 And we said, "It's going to be okay." 25:37 God's got this. 25:38 And it took a while to get to that place. 25:41 Oh, yeah. 25:42 You don't just get there 25:44 and what a lot of new Christians don't realize 25:46 and then what a lot of Christians 25:48 that are kind of, kind of been like that, 25:51 they've been just floating along, 25:52 and all of a sudden they lost their zeal 25:54 and the Lord says, "They need a storm." 25:57 And He sends it into your boat like the disciples. 26:00 Not that I'm not in your boat, 26:02 but you need to remember I'm in your boat, 26:03 that's why the storm came to remind them. 26:06 I got this, I'm resting, 26:09 you guys can relax, it's going to be okay. 26:11 This storm is not going to... 26:12 So He leaves that peace with us and then He says, 26:16 if you know how it's going to work out, 26:18 don't let your heart be troubled. 26:19 Now let me ask the question, 26:20 how many of you get to that place 26:22 where you don't get heart trouble? 26:24 I would be, yes. I would be lying if I didn't. 26:28 But we're smiling right now. 26:29 Or as ladies I don't know 26:31 if you guys get irritated by this, 26:32 but when my husband says to calm down, 26:34 you know, like and he actually does the opposite thing. 26:37 Oh, do I know? 26:38 Relax. Yeah. 26:40 I say count to three. 26:41 They want us to be calm 26:43 and what you know but that just, 26:44 it's like fuel on fire. 26:45 Yes! Like what you said before. 26:47 You don't have that, do you? 26:49 Oh, no. He'll say, "Relax." 26:51 I'm so selective. Okay. 26:54 I kept one, it's like, of course, you do that. 26:57 It's like a paper bag. Yeah. 27:00 That's our favorite word. 27:01 He'll say to me, "Angie, relax." 27:04 And what do I say? "I am relaxed." 27:08 Isn't it funny how relationships work. 27:11 You know, those of you that are married 27:12 and you're watching the program. 27:13 You know you turned your husband or your wife, 27:15 and you know, that we're talking about you 27:18 because the one thing a woman 27:20 doesn't like is her husband telling her "relax." 27:22 Yes! Yeah. 27:23 Just have more faith. Calm down. 27:25 Did you check my pulse reading now? 27:27 Yeah, yeah. Calm down. 27:28 I am calm, what are you talking about. 27:30 I was going to share Isaiah 26:3, 27:31 it kind of goes along. 27:32 Oh, yes. 27:34 It says, "You will guard him and keep him in perfect 27:35 and constant peace whose mind 27:38 both its inclination and his character 27:40 is stayed on You, 27:41 because he commits himself to You, 27:43 leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." 27:46 This where I further preface with Desire of Ages, page 331, 27:49 it says, "Those who take Christ at His word 27:52 and surrender their souls to His keeping, 27:55 their lives to His ordering will find peace 27:58 and quiet to nothing of the world can make them sad, 28:01 when Jesus makes them glad by His presence, 28:04 and perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. 28:07 Our lives may seem a tangle, 28:09 but as we commit ourselves to the wise and master worker, 28:12 He will bring out the pattern of life and character 28:14 that will be to His own glory." 28:16 Amen. 28:17 I like that, was that the Amplified Bible? 28:19 Yeah, amplifying that. 28:21 Now that will keep him perfectly, 28:22 leans on Him, Trust in Him, rely on Him. 28:24 And so it's not just looking towards Him 28:26 in a moment of trials, 28:28 but if your mind is stayed on Him. 28:33 I think there's probably more than one definition of peace 28:39 because the Bible don't say no as the world gives it. 28:44 So there must be a different peace 28:45 that people are talking about 28:47 because in this world not everything 28:50 is going to be perfect all the time. 28:53 So you have to have that peace inside of you 28:57 that comes from God in the middle of all this turmoil, 29:01 and trials, and tribulations, and everything. 29:05 You know, it's like, have you seen that picture 29:08 where there is a lighthouse 29:12 and there is this person standing right there 29:14 is in the middle of the ocean 29:16 and there comes a big huge wave and engulfs the... 29:22 I always wonder how they get there. 29:23 And the boats. 29:26 And then get the whole wave encircles the lighthouse, 29:31 and here's this person 29:33 standing right there is like him 29:34 the other side with his hands in his pocket like nothing. 29:39 And the waves are just battering that lighthouse. 29:41 Yes. I've seen that. 29:42 I know he didn't get to work on that kind of day. 29:45 Because there's no boat will get you there 29:47 on that kind of day. 29:48 Probably a low tide, he got there. 29:50 But I mean, 29:51 to be able to develop the peace to know that, 29:56 "Oh yeah, they're going to cross there, but here I'm fine. 29:59 They're not going to touch me here." 30:01 But he is on the side of the lighthouse 30:02 where the wave doesn't engulf. 30:04 But let's go and throw a wrench 30:06 in the picture here for a brief moment 30:07 because I want to go to a couple of scriptures 30:10 that seem to be kind of, 30:13 you're wondering where did this come from 30:15 if Jesus is the Prince of Peace. 30:18 Luis, read Luke 12:51-53 right here. 30:22 And it really brings us into a question 30:24 since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, 30:26 what do you think He meant by the following verses? 30:30 It says, "Do you suppose that I come to give peace on earth? 30:34 I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 30:38 For from now on five in one house 30:44 will be divided three against two and two against three. 30:49 Father will be divided against son, 30:51 and son against father, 30:53 mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, 30:56 mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, 30:59 and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." 31:02 Oh, wow. 31:03 I wouldn't want to be in that house. 31:05 Divisions. Dysfunctional family. 31:07 Yeah. 31:08 And then he follows it up in Matthew 10:38, 31:11 but this word, look at that one right there. 31:14 Here it is right here. 31:15 Verse 3. Right there. 31:17 Thirty eight? Sorry, 34, my mistake. 31:19 Thirty four. Okay. 31:21 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. 31:24 I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." 31:28 So what do you think Jesus means by that? 31:31 He talked about division in the family and... 31:35 The bigger the family... Well, I know that. 31:38 That's right. I'm from a big family. 31:42 He has to do with the prince of darkness, 31:46 the prince of this earth. 31:49 So when Christ comes into your heart, 31:51 there will be conflict right there. 31:53 Because exactly that war will be right 31:57 raising against everything around you and in you 32:02 because you're not with the prince 32:04 of this earth anymore, 32:06 you're not with the prince of darkness anymore. 32:09 So this war is going to be raging around you. 32:12 I mean you. 32:14 Right, He allows these things to happen in your life 32:16 because a lot of times chaos is norm for you. 32:20 So now when Christ comes into your life, 32:23 it's when your eyes are fully open 32:25 and then you start noticing like Donald was saying earlier, 32:29 wait a minute, we used to live in a quiet neighborhood 32:31 until we moved to this one. 32:32 Well, every time that you are in strife with the enemy, 32:36 do you think you're okay, 32:38 just like we're talking about our wives, 32:39 we tell them, "Hey, calm down," or they tell us whichever. 32:43 And we say we are okay. 32:44 And I'm like, no, God's looking at you 32:47 and God seeing that there is not, 32:49 you're not okay. 32:50 So He's willing to open your eyes. 32:52 It's not that He's bringing it to you, 32:54 it's not that He's making you strive 32:57 is because He is just opening your eyes 32:59 to the strife that's in your life, 33:01 that way you can notice the need that you have of Him. 33:06 Anybody else? 33:07 What kind of peace do you think Jesus, 33:09 what kind of lack of peace 33:10 do you think Jesus is talking about here. 33:11 He said I didn't, you thought I came to bring peace 33:14 and at His birth you know the angel says peace on earth, 33:19 goodwill toward men. 33:22 What do we think that He means by this division here 33:24 'cause you came from a large family. 33:26 Well, yeah, large families, 33:27 there's always going to be division, 33:29 well, not always, but most large families 33:32 yeah, there's division, 33:33 but somebody has got to be the peacemaker in the family. 33:37 Somebody has got to be the peacemaker. 33:39 And to bring about peace 33:41 because if everybody's arguing with each other what, 33:44 oh, this person says this and this sister says that. 33:47 No, no, no, no, you've got to say, 33:49 you know what, we need to go to Jesus, 33:51 we've got to pray about this, I've done that. 33:55 And so and, you know, at funerals 33:57 sometimes that's the place of lot of division. 34:00 At funerals, I've seen that. 34:02 Many funerals, lot of division. 34:04 But my husband has been a peacemaker even in my family. 34:08 And I just praise God for a husband 34:11 that believes in peace. 34:13 I do too, but it's good to have somebody 34:18 who kind of on the outside to help with that. 34:21 And so God is good. Blessed are the... 34:24 Peacemakers. Amen. 34:26 Is it hard to tell relatives, is it hard to work out peace 34:29 between in families where they tend to know each other? 34:32 Yes. Yes. 34:34 Very much. Yeah. It is. 34:35 Do you have siblings? Yes. 34:37 One brother and one sister. 34:39 Okay, just like me, one brother and one sister. 34:41 What about you, Donald? I got three brothers. 34:43 Three brothers. No sisters? Nope. 34:45 They're all younger, my mom tried for a girl. 34:48 Last one she thought it was, but no. 34:50 Another boy, so that we're done. 34:53 So this division that Jesus 34:55 is talking about here is a division 34:57 that comes on a number of planes 34:59 and we could just kind of insert these things 35:01 and the thoughts here. 35:02 When you get to the point, Paul in Romans 7. 35:05 In Romans 7, Paul talks about the peace he lost. 35:08 The first thing when Jesus comes into your life 35:11 and I think you made this point. 35:12 He puts a mirror right in front of us 35:14 and says, "Now do you see who you are." 35:18 And Paul said in Romans 7, "I was doing fine 35:22 until I saw the law, sin revived, and I died." 35:27 And so what happens is there are families 35:29 and I know we've heard the stories, 35:31 maybe some of you could insert this into the discussion here. 35:34 But there are families that one member 35:37 decides to accept Christ. 35:39 And I remember very well, a good acquaintance of ours 35:43 that the Lord allowed us to meet, Little Richard. 35:47 He was telling his story 35:48 when his sister was one of the first ones 35:50 to become an Adventist in our family. 35:53 And she got baptized without asking her parents. 35:57 And when she came home 35:58 and told them that she got baptized, 36:00 they said, "How could you get baptized 36:03 without asking our permission?" 36:05 And he said, she crawled up and responded, 36:08 "Because it's my relationship with Jesus, not yours." 36:12 And sometimes you have to take that stand. 36:14 I mean, it could be done differently, 36:16 I don't know or maybe I added some attitude to it. 36:18 But the point of the matter is, we have to decide. 36:22 When I'm at peace with the Lord 36:23 and you're not at peace, what happens? 36:26 What is it? 36:27 Mother-in-law, father against son, 36:29 mother against daughter, 36:31 mother-in-law against daughter-in-law. 36:32 And that's what happens. 36:34 So this kind of lack of peace 36:35 he's talking about here is in families 36:37 where one is accepting Christ and the other one isn't. 36:40 Another question, I want to throw this out to my wife. 36:43 And I've said this a number of times, 36:44 because you have cousins, and nieces, and nephews, 36:48 and there's one particular nephew you have, 36:52 what I've always say to you when you say, 36:53 "Why don't you act right?" 36:54 What I always say to you? 36:56 Oh, he can't act right, he says, 36:58 you know, because he's in such, 37:00 he doesn't know the Lord, how do you expect... 37:02 I said, "John, when did he act right? 37:04 He knows better. He was raised." 37:06 He said, "What do you say to me?" 37:08 How could you expect a person 37:09 who doesn't know Jesus to reflect Jesus? 37:12 How can you expect a bad tree to bring forth good fruit? 37:18 Do you have any people that you know like that you say, 37:20 "Why don't you act right?" 37:21 You have had that situation, Luis? 37:23 Yeah, many times. 37:24 Yeah, myself. Myself some times. 37:30 That's the best way to do it. 37:32 It's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. 37:34 I had a brother years ago, 37:36 we went on to this trip to the Grand Canyon 37:38 and I was just coming to the Lord, 37:40 I was just fresh and learning the Word, 37:41 and also hungry for the Word. 37:43 And then my brother was saying something, 37:44 I don't remember what he said, 37:45 but all of a sudden this scripture came out of my mouth. 37:47 I really don't know why I did. 37:48 But then he just, I mean, he flipped out on me, 37:50 he just yelled at me and stuff and was like cursing me. 37:54 So I'm like walking away 37:55 and at this point I was just new to the Christian walk, 37:57 I start cursing myself, I said, "This is what faith takes." 38:00 I'm throwing this out the door 'cause I want my brother, 38:04 you know, I want to be with my brother. 38:05 And I was actually ready to throw down my beliefs 38:07 because of that. 38:08 It's difficult when you make that step towards Christ 38:10 'cause Satan will use those buttons to push you 38:13 and to find out what little, 38:14 you know, little holes in you that are ticking take that mile 38:17 when you get an inch. 38:19 So, yeah. 38:20 You made a good point 38:21 because this is what happens oftentimes 38:23 and I want to address this. 38:24 A lot of times we see peace going away 38:27 because of our decision to follow Christ. 38:29 And then we say you know what? 38:31 I need to give this Jesus thing away 38:32 because I love my brother too much, 38:33 I love my sister too much, 38:35 or my father too much, I love my... 38:36 And Lord said, "Wait a minute. 38:38 Wait a minute. Wait a minute." 38:39 And there's the other scripture, 38:40 he who loves father or mother, 38:42 sister or brother, husband or wife, 38:43 or whatever more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38:48 So you can't be afraid of the peace that is leaving 38:51 because you've accepted Christ. 38:53 And too often the nonbeliever... 38:56 I mean the believer modifies his or her life 38:59 to make the nonbeliever feel comfortable. 39:02 That's why, yeah, okay. 39:04 You're talking about, 39:05 you know, when you're a Christian your family's not 39:07 and then also the variable of the Sabbath, 39:10 you know, there's things sometimes 39:12 that our family wants to do. 39:14 But, you know, we being convicted of certain things 39:17 that we would rather not do on the Sabbath 39:19 and that's really a delicate thing 39:22 because they don't really understand. 39:24 But, you know, we have our convictions 39:26 and we try to, it's just, 39:27 you know, we always have to pray about it 39:29 when there's other things going on, 39:30 you know, different activities, events, and things, 39:33 you know, that we would rather not participate. 39:35 Where family comes around. Yeah. 39:37 Yeah, and you're talking about the Sabbath about the food, 39:40 you know, what's going to happen, 39:42 you know, when you first give your heart to the Lord 39:44 and you are finding out that the unclean meats 39:48 and then you get there 39:50 and you're just, there is the strife, 39:51 immediate strife and he says, 39:53 "Did you know all that your mother 39:55 went through to make this food for you. 39:58 Do you know all the troubles that we went through 40:01 to make this a special day for you." 40:04 All of those are things that are bombarded at you. 40:07 You know, you kind of wondered Lord, 40:10 you know I'm trying to make a difference, 40:11 I'm trying to have that peace, 40:14 but what do I do in situations like this. 40:17 And many of us unfortunately we buckle in. 40:21 And we do and we say, "Oh well, let's forget it, 40:24 God will, you know, the Bible does say 40:27 as long as we're blessed it's going be okay. 40:29 You know, that's the verse that they're trying. 40:31 Yeah, they try to use that verse? 40:33 You know, and those of the things that... 40:37 The only time you're going to accomplish the peace 40:40 is when you're 100% devoted and you're 100% sold on God. 40:45 And you know what? 40:46 And it is a peace not in the absence of the storm 40:51 but in the midst of the storm. 40:53 Peace that passes all understanding. 40:55 Say it again. 40:56 Peace that passes all understanding. 40:58 Will guard your heart 41:00 and your mind through Christ Jesus. 41:02 Thank you for bringing that one up 41:03 because I didn't have that on the syllabus 41:05 and it's so significantly important. 41:06 A peace that passes all understanding 41:09 where as Sandy Wieman years ago 41:10 when I was with It Is Written singers. 41:12 She said a different translation, 41:15 "A piece that does not need to be explained." 41:18 It happens as you said and family could be ruthless. 41:23 Am I right? Yes. 41:24 Family could be like, 41:26 so you think you are better than us now? 41:30 Now that you've got your Jesus thing going on. 41:32 Hey check this out, my son is telling me how to live. 41:35 And mothers can turn the heat on and dads, 41:38 they could say so, I raise you to respect me, 41:40 now you all of the sudden become a Christian, 41:42 you don't respect me, get out of my house. 41:45 Don't bring that Jesus stuff in here and that happens. 41:47 Yeah, we had that when we were going through same thing 41:49 going to the Grand Canyon, 41:50 my dad, we went there and we wanted, 41:53 we said we're going to fast on the Sabbath, 41:55 we're not going to eat, just going to fast 41:56 'cause we knew we're going go to a restaurant, 41:58 we don't want to buy on the Sabbath and so we'll fast. 41:59 And my dad said, 42:00 "What do you mean you're not gonna take my money, 42:02 what do you mean you're not going to take, 42:03 I want to buy this for you, 42:05 what do you mean, he got very irate. 42:06 I'm like, I don't know how to, 42:07 you know, I'm like how do I handle this, 42:09 I mean, I just don't want, 42:10 I don't want to eat, I want to fast. 42:13 It's not the right time to explain it to him, 42:15 give him the Bible study in the middle of restaurant. 42:17 Because he's your dad. Yes. 42:20 And he wanted to do a good thing for us. 42:22 He wanted to buy a meal 42:23 and you know, in his eyes he was doing a good thing. 42:27 So what happened with that? 42:30 Just kind of laid low after a while, 42:32 but yeah, first he was really heated, 42:34 he's really upset you know. 42:35 I want to pay for this for you. 42:37 You're really upsetting me because it's not validating me 42:39 and my gift to you so I can't take it. 42:43 Right and you're not putting him at labor, 42:46 that's the one thing you have to keep in mind. 42:47 You're not saying him to labor and to do work and to purchase 42:51 and buy on the Sabbath. 42:52 When it comes to, when you look at that commandment. 42:56 The stranger that is within your gates, 42:59 so we have to be consciously aware 43:03 of showing Christ to our family members 43:07 without imposing on them regulations 43:10 that we are convicted of at that very moment. 43:13 Because, you know, he may say, 43:15 okay, well, that's the kind of life you want me to live, 43:18 I will have no part with that. Exactly. 43:20 So you have to be very mindful of that. 43:21 And I was... 43:23 I think I was 14, 15, or 16 years old 43:27 when I went down to North Carolina once 43:30 with a family, 43:31 none of them are Adventist, my sister used to be. 43:34 And on Saturday we're here in Greenville, South Carolina, 43:37 we all went down together. 43:39 And they announced early Saturday morning, 43:41 "Hey, we're going to the lake, we're going boating, 43:43 we're going fishing." 43:44 I'm in their house. The conviction of the law... 43:48 And you know when I think back, 43:50 there was nobody there to tell me not to go. 43:53 The lady who raised me had passed away, 43:56 but the conviction came on me so strong. 43:59 I said to them, I'm not going, this is the Sabbath. 44:03 I'll be here when you get back. 44:05 And they left me at their house. 44:09 They left me at their house. 44:11 And I thought, wow, I think back on that 44:14 and I thought, wow, 44:16 "Lord, You are bringing these things to my heart 44:18 when I was a little, I was a young man." 44:21 I think you told me that. Yeah. 44:23 Right there, that's the picture of my sisters on the motorcycle 44:26 with the guy down in South Carolina. 44:28 And I thought, amazing, 44:29 God was working on my heart as even a young man. 44:33 Saying will you be Daniel in the middle of Babylon? 44:36 Let's go on to the next one 44:38 because we want to find out Galatians 5:22 and 23. 44:42 Who hasn't read yet? 44:43 Well, we've all read, 44:45 but you gonna read that one for me? 44:46 Because the question 44:48 is how can we know that Jesus is in a person's life? 44:51 Galatians 5:22 and 23, Angie. 44:53 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 44:57 longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 45:02 gentleness, self control against such there is no law." 45:09 No law. No law. 45:10 So when your dad is battering you. 45:13 You say, "It's okay, Dad, not a problem." 45:17 Okay. And he'll say... 45:20 It gets worst. In some cases. 45:23 Yeah, family didn't because the devil says... 45:25 Stick some stones. And you know what? 45:28 Can anyone irritate you more than family? 45:31 No. 45:34 I might be talking to you tonight, 45:35 you might have just had an irritating day. 45:37 You may have had an issue with your kids, 45:39 or with your spouse, or with your job, 45:41 but the people that are closest to you 45:44 can sometimes be that irritating person. 45:48 But when the Spirit of God comes into your life, 45:50 what should be the evidence of that? 45:52 One of them is peace. That's right. 45:54 One of them is peace. That's right. 45:55 You know this reminds me of an event 45:58 that happened a couple days ago, 45:59 we had baptism at Big Muddy at the prison. 46:03 And that was on a Thursday 46:06 and then on Sunday I get to be 46:09 with some of those guys in the Latino side. 46:13 There was a glow in their face. 46:15 There was just something totally different. 46:18 Imagine we're in jail here, we're in a high, 46:21 you know, max security inmate jail. 46:25 And these individuals are glowing 46:27 and like they're walking on clouds, 46:30 you know, that's when you get to see the Holy Spirit's 46:33 doing the work. 46:34 That's when you truly understand the power of God. 46:37 And that's when you truly can taste peace. 46:41 You know, there are some of them 46:43 that are on their walk of conviction. 46:45 And you can see and there's they tell me, 46:47 please, continue to pray because I am being attacked, 46:51 so you can actually recognize both the attack 46:54 and the peace in your life 46:56 while you're going through 46:57 and you're being fine tuned to the person 47:01 that God sees you as. 47:03 You see, there is a difference 47:05 and I love when the pastor says that. 47:06 And he says, "Once you give your life to God, 47:09 God immediately starts seeing you who you're going to be." 47:14 The only one that's going to change is the only difference 47:16 is going to be what that you have not seen that yet. 47:19 And He has to start slowly 47:21 but surely, start letting you know, 47:24 and start fine tuning, and getting to the place 47:27 where He can one day He's going to introduce us to His Father 47:31 and says, "Here is He, the one who give, 47:35 you know, who the one that I died 47:36 that You sent in the cross for Me to die, 47:39 this is Him." 47:40 You know, and that's going to be such an amazing, 47:42 and that's the only way that we can be assured 47:47 that the enemy could not strife our peace 47:49 because we can remember that day 47:52 when Christ is in front of the creator of God 47:55 and He's going to say, "Here is My Son, 47:58 the One that died for, 48:01 and the One that chose me." 48:03 And that's when it's all going to come to fruition. 48:06 Yeah, there's a song I really like 48:07 that some, "O, brother be faithful" 48:09 Ellen White in here says, 48:11 "Well done thou good and faithful servant, 48:12 your title is clear, that's just a evil thought." 48:14 I was going to share kind of what you were mention pastor. 48:17 1 John 4:7-11. 48:19 It says, "Beloved let us love one another for love is 48:22 or springs from God, 48:24 and He who loves his fellow man has begotten or born of God, 48:28 and is coming progressively to know, 48:29 and understand God to perceive, 48:31 and recognize, and get a better, 48:33 and clearer knowledge of Him. 48:34 He who does not love has not become acquaint with God, 48:37 does not and never did know Him, for God is love." 48:41 I think that's powerful. 48:42 Yeah, amplified. Yeah. 48:43 The passage that Luis was referring to is in 1 John 3, 48:47 "Behold, what manner of love, the Father has bestowed on us, 48:50 that we should be called children of God." 48:53 And this is the whole thing about the world and our peace. 48:55 It says, "Therefore, the world does not know us 48:57 because he did not know Him, 48:59 the world does not know our kind of peace." 49:02 But it says in verse 2, 49:03 "Beloved, now we are children of God. 49:05 And it has not yet been revealed," 49:07 that's what you're saying. 49:08 The Lord sees us 49:10 as we're going to be not just as we are. 49:11 It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know. 49:14 And I love that confident statement 49:16 that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, 49:19 for we shall see Him as He is. 49:20 Amen. 49:21 So we're going to see the Prince of Peace 49:24 and we're going to be at complete peace 49:25 because we're going to be just like Him. 49:27 Amen. 49:28 I think this peace comes from 49:31 when you give your life to Christ. 49:34 The reason we don't have peace 49:37 and it keeps reminding us that we need to have perfect peace 49:40 with everyone around us is because of the me, I, myself. 49:45 You know, that's always out there first, 49:48 you know, it's like, "What did they say? 49:50 Did that offend me? 49:52 You know, are they looking at me?" 49:54 Everything is me when we are able to give that to God, 49:59 and to Jesus is in control of our lives. 50:02 But that doesn't bother us any more, 50:05 and we can have peace. 50:06 Matter of fact, I want to insert this verse here 50:08 because look at the fourth verse we have Proverbs 16:7, 50:12 anybody get that. 50:13 This is a promise the Lord has made. 50:17 The fourth verse here, right here. 50:19 "When a man's way please the Lord, 50:22 he makes even his enemies be at peace with him." 50:25 Wow. Amen. 50:26 Have you ever had that experience? 50:28 Oh, yeah. Yes. 50:29 Beautiful. What do you say? 50:31 Another one that goes along with that is Psalm 119:165. 50:35 I love that, I've been memorizing that one lately. 50:38 "Great peace have they which love thy law, 50:40 and nothing shall offend me." 50:43 And if I could just really quickly 50:46 kind of goes along with this too. 50:48 You know, I was thinking about the Ten Commandments. 50:52 And also in conjunction with that, 50:55 we work in recovery ministry, we use the 12 steps. 50:59 And so with the Ten Commandments 51:01 and the 12 steps, 51:02 it's all designed to bring you closer to God 51:05 and to have peace with God, peace with others, 51:08 and peace with yourself. 51:10 And the Ten Commandments, it's beautiful how, 51:13 you know, I've got all the 12 steps here. 51:15 And I can see some of the Ten Commandments weaved into this, 51:19 it's not directly written, but it actually, 51:21 you know, the principles are there. 51:23 And so that's the peace, great peace 51:26 have they which love thy law, 51:28 it's like in the law we have peace 51:30 because it's peace with God, 51:31 peace with others, peace with ourselves. 51:33 So it's a beautiful thing. 51:35 And it happens and so this is why the aim... 51:37 I want to try to bring it down to the hone point here. 51:41 The aim, we've got to have an aim. 51:43 Christians without an aim in your life 51:46 because Christians 'cause sometimes be aimless, 51:48 waiting for peace to come to them. 51:50 But I want to make a point. 51:51 Let's look at some of these passages here 51:53 before the time gets away from us. 51:55 One of the ones I want to have you read, 51:58 Brother Luis, is Hebrews 12:14. 52:00 What should the Christian aim be as it relates to peace? 52:04 It says, "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, 52:08 without which no one will see the Lord." 52:12 Okay. So what should we do? 52:14 Pursue what? Peace. 52:16 You know what pursue means? 52:18 Go after. Chasing, yeah. 52:20 Make it your focus because there are some people 52:22 that want to argue, 52:24 I said, "Brother, I don't want to argue." 52:27 "Brother, I don't want to argue." 52:29 Be relentless. 52:31 You have to sit... Go after. 52:32 I don't want to argue. That's right. 52:34 And they're like ready to go. 52:37 I'm not here to argue with it. I apologize. 52:43 If not, if I apologized for my part. 52:46 Let's put this at rest, pursue peace. 52:49 Here's the next one, honey. Romans 14:19. 52:53 "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace 52:57 and the things by which one may edify another." 53:02 So the things that make for peace. 53:03 What are those things? 53:05 What are some of the things 53:07 that make for peace you think of? 53:09 Kindness. 53:10 Okay, being kind to people. Turn to where we're at. 53:12 Yeah, you have a kind, soft answer turn away. 53:15 Okay. 53:16 What else can make peace? Smile. 53:20 That's amazing. Be cheerful. 53:22 Putting others before ourselves. 53:25 Having a listening ear. 53:27 It's huge listening, communication, 53:29 you know, being talk to and being approached 53:31 and feeling accepted and loved. 53:33 Okay. 53:34 What's another one? Anymore? 53:36 Any other things that... 53:37 Doing father's put self aside as we all mentioned. 53:40 Doing father's putting self aside. 53:42 Sometimes people that are naturally combative, 53:46 they expect you to keep that combat going. 53:49 You don't say anything about they said. 53:52 They wonder, they said, they might say as a friend, 53:54 you watch, here he comes, 53:56 I bet he's going to say anything about it. 53:57 And he doesn't say anything about it, 53:58 they say, well, that was different. 54:00 He probably forgot. 54:02 But I bet you remember 54:03 before the day is over they see Luis again, 54:05 he didn't say anything again. 54:07 And Luis is saying, I know they're expecting me to argue 54:09 but I am not going to do it, Lord. 54:11 And you know what? 54:13 We have to ask for the Lord, 54:14 for the peace of God reign in us. 54:16 When God reigns His peace in us. 54:18 Let's get to another one. Janelle, Psalms 34:14. 54:24 It says, "Depart from evil and do good, 54:26 seek peace and pursue it." 54:29 Seek, pursue, what does that mean? 54:31 Where is it? Yeah. 54:33 That's right. Why can't I find this peace? 54:34 Where is it, Lord? I need to pray more for peace. 54:37 I need to trust God more for peace. 54:39 What else... 54:40 What is another word for pursue? 54:42 Well, I mean, but let's take a look at that verse, 54:44 it says, "Depart." 54:46 You know, those are the things that individuals, 54:48 they want the peace 54:50 but they want to still mingle around 54:51 with all the trials and all the... 54:54 They want to mingle with the people 54:56 that are causing the chaos. 54:58 And then they want to be in peace with God. 55:01 That's first thing, you're not only pursuing it, 55:04 first of all turn around, 55:06 then go and look for it because it's not that way. 55:09 Go and look for the other way, that's what struck... 55:11 Depart from evil. That's right. 55:12 Depart from the evil. Let's get in all the gossip. 55:14 Then, you know, they get, 55:16 they want to get involved in gossip. 55:17 "What did they say?" "Oh, yeah." 55:21 The Lord doesn't want you to get involved in gossip. 55:23 We know some, we met some people that say and it's a... 55:28 It's sometimes in the midst of something 55:29 that everybody knows about 55:31 and they say, "I don't want to hear it. 55:32 I don't want to know about it. I don't want to be biased. 55:35 I'll just pray about it." 55:37 They seek those things 55:39 that are peaceful and they pursue it. 55:40 But there's another one I want to get. 55:42 And you reminded me of this one, hon, so I may have you... 55:44 Well, actually Donald, 55:46 I didn't get to you yet but Romans 12:18. 55:49 Sure. 55:51 "If it is possible," that's the word, 55:53 "as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." 55:57 What's happening to you? What's the responsibility? 56:00 Depends on me. It's up to me. 56:03 I got to be the one to take responsibility 56:05 to make sure I present that peace. 56:07 I guess it was Matthew 5:9 says, 56:10 "Blessed are those, yeah, the peacemakers, 56:13 so they will be called the Sons of God." 56:15 So what this means is you've got to do your part. 56:20 Some people want peace, 56:22 but they don't want to do their part, 56:23 as far as that is possible with you. 56:24 There we go. And that's the important part. 56:26 We remember that you are going to go through issues 56:30 so it does say clearly, if it's possible that means 56:34 that 90% of the time there is a possibility of peace, 56:38 but there is that 10% of time that there isn't. 56:40 And you have to know that you going through it, 56:43 you'll have the peace. 56:45 But you'll have to go through the issues of life 56:48 and then God would give you the blessing, 56:51 and the peace, and it would be a visible to those around you. 56:55 Philippians 4:8, it just came in my mind. 56:58 Philippians 4:8, you focus on those things 56:59 we'd be thankful for which are holy, honest, pure, and good. 57:03 And like if you see somebody who is your enemy, 57:05 if you thank them, you're going to heap coals on their heads. 57:07 If you say something you're so thankful for them 57:09 that's going to totally just turn them around. 57:11 Wow, we got 20 something seconds here. 57:12 You did that one to one of our churches. 57:14 Oh, man. 57:16 I was so peaceful to this person 57:17 and they're wondering, "is he okay," 57:19 and it ended up resulting in a lasting peace. 57:22 We have to accept that. We have to accept that. 57:24 Friends, our time is running away, 57:25 but when you accept the peacemaker who is Christ, 57:29 your home, your heart, your family, 57:31 you will experience peace. 57:32 God bless you. 57:34 And thank you on behalf of all of us. 57:35 Until we see you again. |
Revised 2018-07-03