I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the Gospel according to John
chapter 14. John 14. I'd like to read one verse of
Scripture. Verse 27. John 14. The Scripture says, I leave with you my peace I give
unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for the precious time that we have. to look into your
Scriptures and study your Word. Lord, have mercy. Help us this
evening to worship. We pray for Christ's sake. Amen. We have God's Word that for a
believer, this world is going to be trying. We have God's Word, God's promise,
that in this world you're going to have tribulation. That's what
he said in John 16.33. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace,
quietness, rest. In the world you shall have tribulation. You shall have burdens. You're
going to have trouble. You're going to have anguish.
But be of good cheer. Be encouraged. I have overcome
the world. I've prevailed. Now, I want to tell you something.
I want some peace. some peace. I need for Almighty
God to settle my heart. I want to be able to believe
God. I want to walk by faith. And I know, according to His
Word, that this peace is experienced, it's known, It's enjoyed only by communion
with our Lord. I know that. With the realization
of Him, His presence, His promise, His blessing, I can settle down. In this world, distress, burdens,
And on all fronts, they're everywhere. Whether it's your family, whether
it's your job, whether it's your health, problems, problems. But I know this, this world is
the place that Almighty God proves His faithfulness, proves His
truthfulness. We're disappointed. I'm disappointed
in myself. I know I disappoint others. And I know that there's times
that others will disappoint me. This world is a trying place,
but I know that according to His Word, that there is victory. I know that there is victory
to be enjoyed through Him who according to His Word has prevailed.
For His people, He has borne all for them. Put away their guilt. Has borne their burden. Made it His own. Now peace, encouragement,
quietness for my soul is needed. And I'll tell you why it's needed.
Because I know something about the future. I know that there
is a day coming when I'm going to leave this world I'm going
to face what, as I said last week, and I've heard Brother
Scott say, I'm going to face what this body fights against. Death. I know that there's coming
a time when I'm going to stand before God. I'm standing before
you right now. And it may appear as though that
I'm just real comfortable, but I never am. I'm constantly on
edge. Glenda will tell me, she'll say,
well, you're the only one that knows it. Well, that's enough
for me. There's always that edge standing
before God's people. Preaching God's Word. I need
some comfort. I need some peace. You men that
have stood, it looks different from up here. Looking out. People looking back. I need some
comfort. I need the Lord to settle me
down. Our Lord said, These things have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. So I know, according to His Word,
these things have I spoken unto you. So I know that peace is
communicated, blessed by the Spirit of God, through His Word. Now, here's the foundation of
the peace that is promised by our Lord. John 14.27, what I
just read to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now I know this, obviously there
is some peace. There is some kind of peace.
that this world can give. It may stem from a decent job. Maybe a decent job
well done. Maybe you feel as though I've
done a good job. I'm a hard worker. I'm well paid. I'm appreciated. Maybe it's a
relative state of health. Maybe I can settle down. I feel,
as far as I know, As far as I know, right now, I'm okay, I guess,
health-wise, I guess. It may change tomorrow. It may change tonight. Maybe
just a sunny day makes me feel better. Peace. If the sun would
just come out, I'd just feel better. It just looks better. But I know this, this world,
does not and cannot communicate true peace. Matthew Henry made this remark. He said, when the Lord Jesus
Christ left this world, His gift to His people was peace. He said, peace I leave with you. Comfort. Romans 5 once says, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. Peace I leave with you. What a gift that the Lord Jesus
Christ would leave His people peace. I know this. The law has
been honored by His shed blood. I find some peace in that. I
know this is no condemnation to them which be in Christ Jesus. By faith, I believe that. I see by faith. And we know that
it's because He's left us peace. He's left peace. Peace that is known. Peace that's
established by His Word. But he said not only, peace I
leave with you. He said this, my peace I give
unto you. Now, the peace that is left is
a comfort to my soul. But let me tell you, the peace
that absolutely just settles my heart where I can truthfully
say, what a comfort. He said, my peace I give unto
you. That peace that he spoke of was
that peace that he personally experienced, had, owned. That peace that was His as the
Son of Man. That peace that He enjoyed here
on this earth. He, as the Son of Man, never
resisted the will of His Father. My peace. My peace. Now you think about the peace
that he had before his father. You think about the comfort. You think about the courage. That's what the word means. Encouraged. The rest. The peace that he gives
his people is the peace that filled his own heart. And the peace that He gives is
the result of His own perfect, unbroken communion with His Father. It was His peace given us. And it was our guilt given Him. Here is the divine substitute. My peace I give unto you. I bear your guilt. You possess
my peace, my righteousness. This peace that is the settled
heart of His people is always realized, known by the Father
and seen and declared to be the righteousness of Christ. This peace is His alone to give. The world can't give this peace.
I can't establish it. I don't have the ability. to
establish this peace. This world has nothing more than
just a shallow, unstable, unsatisfying, empty promise. The Scripture
says, when the world says, peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them. 1 Thessalonians 5. His peace is given to His people. And in
closing, I'm going to tell you something to make good on what
I've just said. Our Lord said at the tomb of
Lazarus, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest
me always. Our Lord spoke to His Father
with perfect peace, perfect confidence, perfect trust, perfect rest. Father, I thank You that Thou
has heard me and has always heard me. Now when a believer prays, that
believer believes that God hears him for Christ's sake. When you pray, our Lord said,
enter into your closet and pray to your Father in secret. He said, the Father that heareth
in secret. shall reward thee openly." Now,
when you pray, your heart is truly settled. God hears. Do you know where that peace
came from? That was His peace. His peace. His confidence. His encouragement. His rest. My peace I give unto you." There
is no other way that you could possess a settled heart to believe
and to know God Almighty hears my prayer, except the Lord Jesus
Christ tell you, My peace I give unto you. when our Lord cried
with a loud voice from the cross, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. He possessed peace to know that
the one who he was one with was going to receive him. That he
would, in a moment, be again, not separated into this world
in his humiliation, but he was going to be with his Father again. Peace. Now that peace given,
causes a believer to say, as Job said, Job 19.26, and go after
my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. A believer knows and possesses
the peace, the comforts, the rest given him By the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it was the Lord Jesus Christ's
peace. That peace that He possesses
and possesses as the Son of Man. The representative of His people.
My peace. Mine. I give unto you. What a gift. I realize we see
through a glass darkly, but bless the Lord, we see. We know in
part, but we know. Now, he said, let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I know this, there is
coming a time that we're going to leave this world. And in that day, confidently, in that day, in
that moment, the peace whereby a believer leaves this world, in that day, according to His
Word, will leave this world in perfect peace, His peace. His
peace. He said, I'm not going to leave
you. I'm not going to forsake you. I know so little, but I'm telling
you, having seen believers die, I know that some of you have
seen that too. You can say, I've seen the grace
of God. His peace given, His peace possessed,
His peace by which God's people rest. Now, let us with a heart
settled before God, by peace, let us remember Him in the eating
and the drinking of His supper.