A Peaceful Heart Part 1

Reese Flores looking to Jesus found her running her hectic race of life is a lot easier when we have peace within our soul piece is getting scarcer with increasing fears of economic collapse in a world evermore possible price. But Jesus gives his peace to those who believe in him from the Moody Church in Chicago this with Dr. Erwin Moser, whose teaching helps us get across the finish line pastor Luther Newman taking us through the upper room discourse of Jesus that we find in John chapter 14 tell us about today's message Dave. I never hesitate to talk about the authority of Jesus. Just imagine his disciples are fearful, and yet he has the complete authority to be able to say peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. It is his peace and it is his to give.

So in the midst of a world of conflict in competing opinions when often times the person who shouts the loudest wins the argument we need to hear again the words of Jesus and be comforted. You know, I've written a book on the upper room discourse. It's entitled prepare your heart for an uncertain future.

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Everyone seeks peace Sunday school teacher.

Once peace the drug dealer one space the alcoholic. Once peace we all seek for peace. The question is where can it be found. Now, there are certain thieves that come to steal our peace.

I divided them into two categories. One are those inner thieves I'm talking about the sense of guilt and regret a sense of self-loathing or fear that arise within us. Then there's another kind of thieves and those of the outer circumstances that people with whom you live the man you married.

The folks at work. The lack of money, the difficulty that you have in adjusting to Chicago. All of that also can rob us of peace and peaceful and then you receive a piece of nose and it's just like having a pebble thrown onto is still tranquil lake and suddenly all the ripples go on and it seems as if they go on forever, for some of you who are couples who are not at peace because the person whom you married did not turn out to be the person who is going to be committed to your happiness as you thought some of you teenagers are going through those struggles because you have peers at school who are robbing you of your peace because they are forcing you, or at least putting a lot of pressure on you to do things you really don't want to do.

And after you do them you feel that sense of guilt and betrayal sense of condemnation and your peace.

Please from what today were going to talk about peace and were going to talk about how it can be applied to you because some of you are skeptically saying will it doesn't apply to me because of what you wait until this message is over working to find how you can be peaceful and at peace.

Despite the turbulence within how God can track down some of those enemies of your peace, as well as the circumstances without that are not in your favor, and when I talk about peace. I'm not talking about some sense of tranquility that is either artificial or that avoids reality, it is sometimes peace in the midst of tears, Jesus gave his peace even though he was going to go through the horror of Gethsemane. I'm talking about a sense of stability as sense of being guided by God and in my way of thinking is very close to another word we call the word hope that's what can be yours today.

No matter your circumstances. Let me emphasize that no matter your past or your circumstances.

The text is the 14th chapter of John's Gospel and actually it is verse 27 verse 27 where Jesus makes this statement and today I'm going to have as my text only five words all read the whole verse and then I'll give you the five word peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

I do not give you to you as the world gives do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Five words, my peace I give you that's all that's all you say will is your sermon going to be longer than five words yet.

My sermon will be longer than five words at all, is already been a little bit longer than that, but it's based on just five words. What are we talking about in this verse, three characteristics of the Lord's peace and what you can do each time his underlying one of those five word to highlight that characteristic of peace.

First of all I want you to underline that little word my peace. This is the peace of Christ. That means it is a supernatural peace to peace that only he can give. It's a three dimensional kind of peace. The first is the piece that we have with God.

Romans 51 being justified by God we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin makes God my enemy. Sin means that God can fellowship with me so I the tendency to make up other gods who will sin means that I am cast from God's presence until Jesus comes and he reconciles me to God by paying my debt and giving me peace and this incidentally is the answer to those inner thieves of peace that want to ruin us the sense of regret. The crushing sense of defeat the self-condemnation which oftentimes is brought about by sin and the devil.

This kind of peace is the answer to that because my friend regardless of your past.

Regardless of your history. You can be brought into God's presence and you can experience the joy of reconciliation. That's what Jesus does for people. Now imagine being a part of the New Age movement. Maybe there some of you here who say will you know I have moved beyond the Christianity to something deeper. Now I'm into spirituality. That's what we have today as a symbol, a sign of saying I'm not committed to Christianity, but something deeper. Oh really, you may have a God who really does not even believe that evil exists like some of the New Age gods you may have a God to whom you do not have to come for forgiveness. I feel sorry for you because there's something on your conscience and you want God to be able to say, thou art forgiven and only a personal God can do that I think of Glen Tinder who belong to a religion that is much like the New Age movement, where he believed that there is a God in heaven. Everything is right with the world and there is really no great need of that I have, to seek his forgiveness, because after all, we're all little dogs traipsing around, but when he killed two Japanese soldiers in World War II and he thought they were armed and they weren't his conscience so bothered him that even the word murder came to his mind and he could not seem to live with himself and his God, and until he studied the Scriptures came to know Christ as Savior was that sense of guilt taken away because only Jesus can reconcile us to a holy God. Only Jesus can save about art forgiven the first dimension of the piece that Jesus gives the supernatural peace. There's a second dimension and that is peace with one another. Ephesians chapter 2 that he has broken down the barrier and made us one Jew and Gentile, and the Jews and Gentiles. The animosity between them was just like the Arabs and the Jewish people today where it seems as if there is very little common ground, and so much hate and if Paul were writing today, he would say he have made a bold one. Blacks and whites, Asians and Latinos because if I am at peace with God and if Pastor Schwartz appear with his Jewish background is at peace with God, and I think he is today that right. That means that he and I are at peace to wear something terrible is gone wrong and if we aren't we needed to be reconciled. We need to ask what is forgiveness. We need to humble ourselves because some of us of said yeah there are these Christians over here and there. These Christians over there but you got all of this animosity all wait a moment now. If that's true, it's because there is a part of our life that we had not yet turned over to Jesus and reconciliation and forgiveness and unity is incumbent upon all those who trusted Christ and made their peace with God is the third dimension and that is the personal dimension Jesus Christ says I can give you peace within your heart.

Someone said regarding someone else is a cold run of civil war within some of you are like that.

If the truth were known as reading about personality disorders this past week. Just try to check myself out. I guess they talked about compulsive what is the first word there of Michael obsessive-compulsive people. Now there may be reasons in your background if you fit into that category and by the way, I don't, but could I just simply say that you may just be a cauldron, you may find it hard to sit in a worship service for an hour and 15 minutes. Jesus Christ says to you, too.

There is peace. Peace. Peace be still. He walks into the room of your life. As he walked into the room of the disciples there in Jerusalem and says peace I give to you, Jesus can bring that restless heart to rest. It really can guess it's a supernatural peace. My peace I leave with you as a second word that you have to underline in these five words and that is the word give my peace I give to you. It is a gift, the gift of peace is not wonderful because a gift means that it isn't tied to circumstances. It's not a gift that that needs to connect with what is going on outside directly at something like an airplane flying over perhaps a desert and and throwing some food down on those below giving them some care packages is a gift that is inserted in the midst of their circumstances independently of how bad things may be or may not be here it is.

It is a gift. I want you to notice the next phrase that Jesus uses here. He says I do not give to you as the world gives. How does the world give the world gives a piece that is based on circumstances.

The world says I will be at peace when my husband finally leaves this house, none of you but I'm just talking generally. Somebody else says I will be at peace when that court case is finally over.

I will be at peace when I finally have the money for a new apartment. I will be at peace.

If I win the lottery yeah yeah yeah yeah I will be at peace.

If these circumstances change, Jesus Christ, peace comes in the midst of those circumstances, even if they do not change. There is a gift of peace. It's a piece that is on earned. It's not as if we deserve it.

I can go to a psychiatrist and may not be wrong to do that under certain circumstances. But if these one who does not believe in God all that he can do is to somehow draw out from you all that he needs to hope that you yourself have within yourself the resources for peace. That's not the kind of peace that Jesus is speaking about here and he may end up driving you to despair.

And that's why you have so many escape valves today, whether it's alcohol or drugs or whatever were you live in oblivion of sexuality. Whatever because you can't live with the quietness within because there is no peace. Listen, this is a supernatural gift.

It's a supernatural peace is a gift that only Jesus could give. Could you imagine Krishna saying my peace I give to you, or Buddha, saying, my peace I give to you. No way. Only Jesus can say my peace I give to you, but look at 1/3 characteristic and that is it is a personal pace. My peace supernatural, my peace I give. It's a gift, my peace I give to you.

That's the word to underline. Now I give it to you and so from here on, this message is between you and me you folks sitting in the balcony, whose eyes I find it difficult to see. I just want you to know I'm talking to you those of you are in the lower floor.

I'm talking to you I'm talking to those who are the back and special blessings to those who are near the front. I'm talking to you now because this is this is remember. I say to you from time to time but front row on earth is front row in heaven. Keep that in mind I do know what that says to those of you in the back of the room except this I do know that you wanted to come to the front. But it was already full.

So you're forgiven. Jesus said this is peace for you. Now were to talk about you know when he says this he knows your circumstances. He knows your past history.

He knows what you're going through.

He knows what you're going to go through tomorrow.

He knows all of the contingencies, all of the possibilities and he also knows how it's all going to turn out so it's not as if you know your circumstances so unique that Jesus in heaven says I can't believe it. I made this promise, but when I think of someone so it just doesn't work because I didn't take their life into account. This is a piece for you.

You think of what Jesus was going to go through the next day he was going to be crucified. But before that he was going to have to go through the agony of Gethsemane this very night he was going to have to experience the treachery of Judas and the betrayal of Peter and all that agony and then then to be nailed in the cross and to become declared sin for us, I mean all of that horror lay before him and yet he saying my peace, my peace I give to you my friend no matter what your future holds. No matter what crosses lie on your path is how do we receive this piece. How do we make it ours. First of all we have to look at Christ positively positively Jesus focused on the father didn't take you read this upper room discourse constantly. He's talking about the father has given to me. The father has given to me.

The father, the father, and in focusing upon the father and the father's will and this promises Jesus was able to almost block out the pressure that must've been upon them as he thought of what awaited him that evening and the next day because he knew as we do towards the book of Isaiah had already been written for hundreds of years when Jesus was on earth, that thou wilt keep him in perfect whose mind is stayed on the so the memorization of Scripture as the singing of hymns.

Very important.

All of us should not only be knowing hymns but memorizing them and using them in our devotional time. That is the very means that God uses to keep us focused on God and thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. You say it's not true. You say pastor had you never had circumstances in your life where there was no peace, no matter how you focused on God and the answer is yes.

I have years before I married my wife before I had that good sense I was in love with another young lady that I thought was a match made in heaven. God's response was, he said to me you know you may think that that match was made in heaven.

But what I'm going to do is to show you what hell looks like seriously I don't use that word lightly.

He gave me such a sense of unrest. It was like two rivers trying to both go through my spirit. At the same time. It was such agony. There were times I couldn't have gotten out of bed in the morning. I tried to focus on Jehovah.

I member singing that song stayed upon Jehovah. There is perfect rest. I kept saying it over and over and over again and did D unrelenting agony was so great, I wondered whether or not I was able to make it through the next day the most awful horrendous experience I've ever experienced in life even worse than I really telling you about what about this verse.

Ha ha you know what God was saying in heaven, you know what he was saying don't you ruin between you and me you think this match was made in heaven.

But guess what, it wasn't. And you had better get the message and I will not give you peace until this relationship ends.

I'm so slow to catch on. It took a couple of months before that message came through with on a triple apodictic clarity and waiting years to use that word apodictic.

Not sure exactly what it means but it seems so appropriate. I believe that there are times when God directs us by a lack of peace and there are people who are not listening to that voice. They are slow just like I was except that God preps is not as gracious and and hitting them with this tremendous restlessness on this lack of peace, but that was that was God, then how I thank him over and over and over and over again that is I tell you if I had married this match made in heaven. I won't go into details but I probably would not be here today. You had better listen to God, no, you can't have peace in every circumstance. But if you finally surrender it to God and say God this is your dilemma, then the peace of God which passes all understanding fills your heart and it filled mind once I made the right decision stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed. Just as he promised, giving peace and rest. How did Jesus endured you focus on God. That's the positive. Let's look at the negative. You'll notice Jesus is in verse 29.

I've told you now before it happens so that when it does happen, you will believe I will not speak with you much longer for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the father and that I do exactly what my father has commanded me what Jesus is saying is, is that Satan wants to disrupt my peace. But the prince of this world has no hold on me.

There is nothing within me that response to his overtures. He cannot get within me to enhance the struggle.

And so what we need to do is to recognize folks very clearly that we must say no to the devil who wants to work us into a lather.

Who wants to destroy RP so that we focus on circumstances rather than God. And we must recognize that it comes from outside of us at times and that the devil must be sent back to his place realize that's rather strong language, but the simple fact is Satan is he always wants to steal Eddie wants to steal our peace and what a world in which we live. A world in which there is so little piece. It is very easy for us to get him into it.

You know, as a pastor I am very concerned about my own spiritual life and yours as well. I've written a book on the upper room discourse entitled prepare your heart for an uncertain future. Now the subtitle is final words of warning and comfort from Jesus to his followers. I wrote this book so that in the midst of all of the strife we might find again the authority and the love of Jesus assuring us that he is with us during these uncertain times were making this resource available to you, and for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. I hope that you have a pencil handy you can go to RT W offer.com that's RT W offer.com or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me give you that again RT W offer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 thanks in advance for helping us because together we are making a difference.

We thank God for our partners. For those who stand with us, with their prayers and their gifts call right now 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. Valley Blvd., Chicago, IL 60614. Whether you have health issues, broken relationships or if you face an uncertain financial future apiece. Jesus offers his promised to all who believe in him next time I'm running to win. Join us to learn more about making the peace of God, a reality in your life, especially in these times of terrorism and economic uncertainty. This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the teacher