When Peace Gets Personal - Part A

So something absence of something.

It's the presence of something God's definition isn't the absence of conflict God's definition of peace is the presence of God himself in the midst of conflict no matter what conflict is going on.

Doctors will be the piece is connected to God's name in the Bible want you to have today on connect with Skip Heitzigs or Skip shares about a future of peace. You can look forward to personal patient can have today want to let you know about an opportunity you have to visit the sites with the prophets and kings in the Bible heard from God. Lenny and I are taking a group to Israel in 2022 and we want to invite you to join next visit places like Nazareth, Jordan River Dead Sea and Jerusalem including the Temple Mount and the garden to – just a flyby look at the itinerary. Find out more about the trip@inspirationcruises.com/to see a deed you think Skip okay let's dive into today's teacher will be in Isaiah chapter 26 is Skip Heitzigs. It begins the study with the picture up on the screen.

See if he recognizes the payment recognize that okay so this is a painting which is keep that up. This is a painting called the scream is by an artist named Edvard Monk and he he painted this picture is it they say it is as recognizable, second only to the Mona Lisa, and what people would recognize as a famous painting effect.

This is now in emoji so that's how famous it is. Yet it sold for in 2012 at Sotheby's. It sold for $120 million and a looking at the gun my kid could do that so that $720 million and I was able to to see this picture myself and I was in Oslo. Here's proof that I was there to be standing in front of the picture try to make the same face. This picture has been called a timeless portrait of anxiety rate, timeless depiction of anxiety. A lot of people look at the picture and it sort of creeps them out.

Edvard Monk, the artist was believed to be a very tormented soul. Somebody who lacked peace, lacked peace in his heart. Some even believed he was not of sound mind and there's a message at the top of that picture, the scream a little inscription that is written in the top left-hand corner that says this can only have been painted by a madman can only have been painted by a madman and for four years, people argued who put that there. Nobody really knew who wrote that there somebody thought it was a vandal of your Cayman input inscription, but experts have since come to the conclusion that it was the artist himself, who put the inscription at the top of his own painting, can only have been painted by a madman now. I believe one of the reasons that that picture is so famous and would sell for $120 million is because it's sort of this creepy mirror for a lot of people. It's like he have I feel that lack of peace that presence of anxiety that it represents what a lot of people are feelings. I think it was a happy face looks on like this. I don't think I would sell 420 million bucks, you are. That is something your kid could do, but I rather you would look like this rather than like the screen and so with that sort of as a background because here's this depiction of lack of peace and presence of anxiety.

I want you to look at a verse of Scripture in Isaiah 26 that it's a verse of Scripture. This is the first time ever preached on just this verse and so I'm glad to have had a time this week to really study through it but I'm calling this message, when peace gets personal.

Want to talk about personal peace, all in favor of personal peace.

Yeah I am to so Isaiah 26 verse three it says here's the promise you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Remember the first time I saw that birth I was him I was a Christian may be for two weeks I was in a Bible bookstore buying a Bible and I saw that verse on a plaque you will keep him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed in unit that that's a great saying I did know was a Scripture think it's a great saying and I discovered that it is a verse of Scripture. It is a verse that I call to my mind several times are often every night when I'm going to sleep, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm wrestling with thoughts. I would just meditate on this verse is such a beautiful promise were in a series called give peace a chance and we decided we would do it because of the difficult season that we have experienced in our country and inhumanity. I think you would agree that our world is anything but peaceful.

After a worldwide pandemic after contentious election cycle. After a government enforced lockdowns after job loss and business closure.

We just felt like we needed to breathe in God's peace take a few weeks and just see what the Bible has to say about peace because we don't have peace. Internationally, we don't have peace. Nationally, we don't have peace. Economically, we don't have peace politically. We don't have peace in nations. We don't have peace. In cities, we don't have peace in states we don't have peace in communities. We don't have peace in homes. We don't have peace in the hearts but you can you can have peace in your heart and if you do, you will be the exception not the rule because the rule is this exception is this right having peace in your heart, will I discovered that the Bible mentions peace about 400 times gives me an indication that's pretty high on God's agenda that he wants to confer on his people peace. He wants us to have.

So we want to look at personal peace because this section. Like any septic section of Scripture as its own context, its own background and that has to be considered. But in the midst of that and we will consider in a minute but there is a promise to one that we just read that transcends all culture all time frames all languages. The promise of God's peace to individuals for peace. Personally, inner peace, the feeling of tranquility. That's what I want to get and I've discovered lately that there's more and more talk more more chatter about inner peace. I've seen ads on the on meditation techniques. Lately, I told you in our first message that when I googled him. When I type in Google inner peace I got back 1,016,000,000 results.

And of course our time to go through even attempt of those but just clicking on a few of telling you how to get inner peace, intercom, personal peace, and they will advocate things like using crystals or herbs or spirit guides, all of which are placebos and the real source is what we want to talk about today I want to give you then. In this section of Scripture will look at primarily the first four verses, and a couple of others.

Five fundamentals of personal peace. Five fundamentals of personal peace have written them down in an outline in your worship folder for you to use for taking notes. First of all this personal peace is found in God.

Now I know you would expect a preacher to say that that's because you should expect the Bible to say that and it does a personal peace.

The real source is found in God. So let's look at the first four verses of our text Isaiah 26 verse one in that day. This song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city, God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you trust in the Lord forever for any job. The Lord is everlasting strength. This section is a song of praise song of praise I get ended at that context. In just a minute, but notice in what we just read that the author when he writes this Isaiah goes from the third person to the second person back to the third person that is he talks about God when he talks to God. Then he goes and talks about God, but that is the theme of his writing is talking about the Lord God, and that you'll notice that he uses the covenant name for the Lord. I want you to want you to look at verse four and it says trust in the what and how is it written in your Bible all capitals every time you see all capitals you know that that's the covenant name that God gave to his people way back in the law when he introduced himself as Yahweh. Yahweh I am that I am the Lord. Then in verse four says trust in the Lord Yahweh forever. Then it says something a little bit unusual in this translation for in the which is simply a shortened form of Yahweh for any the Lord so literally, for in the Yahweh is everlasting strength. So what he's doing is saying that the source of all of this promise, that were gonna sing about is the Lord himself so personal peace is found in God. By the way, in verse four Stuart says everlasting strength. How many of you have a marginal note in your Bible. If you look really closely and you can read that small if your eyes are still good.

It has a lower marginal note that says literally or rock of ages Zeta. That's because in Hebrew. That's the translation so diverse literally is trust in the Yahweh forever, for in the Yahweh is the rock of ages and I bring that up because some of you are familiar with a very famous hymn by that title was written in 1776 by hymn writer named Augustine's top lady story is he was walking down a path and thunderstorm broke out rain, thunder, lightning, and he didn't have shelter, so he found a little cleft in the rock by the side of the road little cave and he can hit himself in it and he thought about the shelter that God provides the peace that God brings in so based on that verse.

He thought of the words to this famous hymn rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in the look at the letter.

Let me draw your attention to the last verse of that him, he says, when mine eyes shall close in death when I soar two worlds unknown CD on by judgment throne rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in the here's the hymn writer, basically saying no matter what happens in life. Even the very worst my own physical death. My hope is in you my trust is in you. I know that you are the provider and sustainer of me you provide peace, so the experience that the author is getting at here is is the peace of God, the peace of God, the feeling of tranquility. It's that calm or intercom that we experience independent of outward circumstances you remember in the very first study I talked about the cushion of the sea sailors call it that. There's a place so far under the ocean that no matter what storms are going on on the top of the water. You can get to a place where it is absolutely undisturbed. The cushion of the sea. God wants to place you in a in his cushion cushion of his see and give you that calm and at peace and that tranquility so so that's the thought here in these verses that God is the source of peace, personal peace is found in God. I discovered that most people define peace is the absence of something. So what is peace. You say no more. The absence of her or the absence of strife is the absence of conflict. Listen, you can have the absence of war and strife and conflict in a cemetery and that's not the best role model appeases it so is not the absence of something.

It's the presence of something God's definition isn't the absence of conflict God's definition of peace is the presence of God, of himself in the midst of conflict no matter what conflict is going on. God says I'll be there.

I'll be there when teachers meet on the street to Jewish people in Israel and they see each other. They want to give each other, greetings, what word they say say shalom here all the time. Shalom fellow means peace now when they say that they're not saying that you have no more wars with their saying is that May you experience the deep and abiding peace, calm and tranquility that God brings. So let me give you a definition of peace of this personal peace.

Peace is the calm assurance that what God is doing his best peace is the calm assurance that what God is doing his best, so peace is just the absence of conflict in the presence of nothing, that's just the Cold War right you you can have that in your home is called a truce. You can have peace by just avoiding the issues you don't really talk about the issues you have the sort of uneasy peace produced by the fact that you don't open your mouth and so you you keep it inside and you fume and you walk around angry.

That's not peace that's just restraint.

What God offers is far deeper and far better so personal peace is found in God.

Let's keep this going. Second, personal peace is forecast for the kingdom. Now I will explain this because III always tell you that every tax has to be interpreted by its context and its setting, and none of us has the right to the sort of lift diverse set of Scripture make it up Clyde anything we want, so this also has a context. And here's the context.

Chapters 24 2526 and 27 those four chapters are called by scholars the little apocalypse or Isaiah's little apocalypse because they deal with a future theme in apocalyptic theme and so often, the prophets did this right. They wrote about a an immediate event going on around them, but they use that as a model of something that will be fulfilled to a greater extent in the future so it's sort of like prophetic bifocals you're seeing something close but you can also use that to see something much further away. So this is Isaiah's little apocalypse, and chapters 25 and 26 are two songs that are written songs of praise and they are the songs that the restored Jewish remnant will sing after the tribulation. When they go into the kingdom age can do a whole message on that era called the kingdom age. At the last of this. Give peace a chance series. But just so you know that the the setting here is a prophetic setting of the millennial kingdom.

The thousand year reign of Christ on the earth that age of peace that is coming up so without them.

I look at verse one in that day something that is that little phrase in that day is used three times in this section. It is used 44 times in the book of Isaiah is using something to speak about a far flung event in that day.

This song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city is referring to Jerusalem is a strong city. That's because in the kingdom age.

Jerusalem is going to be HQ Messiah headquarters. It is always been God's intention. Plan purpose to have his son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ rule and reign literally geographically from Jerusalem to rule over the whole earth which you will do for a thousand years. Even though the world coming out of the tribulation will be excited about that song two puts it this way, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing. The kings of the earth have set themselves in the ruler have rulers of the earth have met together and and have come against the Lord and against his Christ literally is Messiah, his anointed, and they have said let us break their bonds asunder, or let us cast their records far from us. But God says this I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. That's Jerusalem. God goes on to say you are my son, this day I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. It's a picture of Messiah ruling and reigning the world from the city of Jerusalem will be an absolute government goes on to say he will break them with a rod of iron. You will dash them in pieces with a potter's vessel. So, because Messiah will be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem during that time it will be a very strong piece. I will be a maximum-security facility not in terms of a jail or incarceration.

But in terms of PCs and bring in absolute peace to the world. So says in that day, that day is when the believing remnant of Israel is safe and secure, protected by their Messiah, delivered from the tribulation. In the kingdom age as Jesus is ruling and raining his people are going to have deep peace you will keep him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed and that's the context of sin that little apocalypse section. So with that in mind go down to verse 12. Now recommended to go chapters a couple verses here verse 12 Lord Yahweh, you will establish peace for us. You have also done all our works in us oh Lord our God masters besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only we make mention of your name so the personal peace will grow into a national international peace and in verse 13 it makes mention of the fact that the Jewish people have in history been ruled by many different nations that had many taskmasters over them. They have suffered a slavery takeover by a number of different groups.

I think of the Egyptians. I think of the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Medo Persians the Syrians the Romans right is a long list of that all of that is over now assess their Messiah and there is peace in the land. And there's peace in their hearts. So that's the future of peace is found in God. It is forecast for the kingdom. Here's the third fundamental factor, personal peace, it nourishes with virtue nourishes with virtue that Skip message with a series usually source that introduces players Israel and the Middle East and shares what their decisions are significant for you. New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg is now based in Jerusalem and he's releasing the new nonfiction book enemies and allies I traveled with Joel to middle of the cities to meet with kings Crown Prince.

We sat together on the east lawn of the White House for the signing of the historic Abraham of and I previewed his new book enemies and allies. I can tell you it contains never before published quotes from behind closed door meetings with some of the most powerful and mysterious leaders in the Middle East. You will want to read enemies and allies by Joel Rosenberg includes insights and analysis. The authors conversation is the first name. She needed leaders to meet's house first language means income to meet the most interesting consequence is leaders enemies and allies by Joel Rosenberg insights and analysis of the authors conversations with some of the most controversial leaders in the world will send you a hardcover copy of enemies and allies. Thanks for your gift of $35 or more to give. Visit connectwithskip.com or call 819 to 1888 is like you play a vital part in this ministry. Your generosity makes an eternal impact by helping connect so many others to the truths found in God's word. If you think impacted by this radio broadcast. Consider supporting connect with skip. I think with the gift today to help people around the world find spiritual nourishment to biblical teachings, just call 800 9218 88.892 1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/donate connectwithskip.com/donate tomorrow Skip Heitzigs of shares held God's peace nourishes your life. I call it peace without no undercurrent of anxiety total well-being internal client sounds good to me. I like it that focusing mind is so Skip presentation of connection communication to guns, never changing to