Now we are recording. So I heard that Scott and Johnny
are feeling ill, so they won't be here as well. All right, brethren, we're gonna,
let's begin with hymn number 93, Hark the Herald Angels Sing,
and we'll stand. We're gonna sing a cappella,
so Sing out with me. Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled. ? Joyful all ye nations rise
? ? Join the triumph of the skies ? ? With angelic hosts proclaim
? ? Christ is born in Bethlehem ? ? Hark the herald angels sing
? ? Glory to the newborn King ? Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel. Harp the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King. Hail the heaven-born Prince of
Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings. Mild he lays his glory by, born
that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth. Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the newborn king. Come, desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home. Rise, the woman's conquering
seed, bruise in us the serpent's head. Adam's likeness now effaced
Stamp thine image in its place Second Adam from above Reinstate
us in thy love Hark the herald angels sing Glory to the newborn
King Oh, you may be seated. OK. We'll be reading from John 7. We'll do the first 10 verses. After these things Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of the tabernacle
was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto
him, Depart hence, and go unto Judah, that thy disciples also
may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth
anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If
thou do these things, show thyself to the world. For neither did
his brethren believe in him. Then Jesus said unto them, My
time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world
cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that
the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast. I go
not up yet unto this feast, for my time is not yet full come.
When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in
Galilee. But when his brethren were gone
up, he went also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it
were in secret. Let's pray. Our Lord, Father in heaven, thank
you for allowing us the ability to come and worship you and hear
your gospel preached through Eric. We pray and ask that you
have a healing hand over those who are sick and are unable to
be with us today. We ask that we all hear Eric's
word today and have it blessed to our hearts. In Christ's name
we pray, amen. All right, let's go to hymn number
50. Got a little clog in my throat. This is Fairest Lord Jesus. ? Fairest Lord Jesus ? ? Ruler
of all nature ? O Thou of God and man the Son, Thee will I
cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Fair are the meadows, fairer
still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing. Fair is the sunshine, fairer
still the moonlight, and all the twinkling starry host. Jesus shines brighter, Jesus
shines purer than all the angels heaven can boast. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the
nations, Son of God and Son of Man, glory and honor Praise adoration
now and forevermore be thine. Let's just make sure we're running. All right. Good morning. All right, take
your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2. Our text is verse 14, but what
brought me here is that I've been hearing from a number of
my brethren and those whom I love just how troubled they are and
the anxiety that they feel. And that which gives us trouble
and anxiety and difficulties in this life, they differ from
person to person. Some people are troubled by the
news. Some people are troubled by their
own mental anxieties. And we get troubled about many
different things. Circumstances we find ourselves
in and trials that we come into. And so many people will feel
anxiety and stress. They'll feel their hearts troubled
and afraid about different things. And a lot of times, we don't
even know why we're so troubled. We realize it's an irrational
fear. It doesn't make sense. We know
it, but we still feel the fear and the anxiety nonetheless.
And so thinking of that, I first thought of the verse in Isaiah
26, verse 3, which was a help to me, something that was laid
on my heart from a young age, about the time I was 20. And
that's where the prophet Isaiah said, in Isaiah 26, 3, he said,
thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee, for he trusteth Indeed. And so I was thinking of that
verse and wanting to bring a message that would be a comfort and a
help to the people of God, to my brethren who think on the
Lord. And as I was thinking of these
things, another verse came into my mind, which is appropriate,
considered appropriate for this time of year. And that's how
we came to Luke chapter two. And I want to read verses 13
and 14 with you. It says, suddenly, there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace,
goodwill toward men. And so I hope to bring a message
to you. I want to bring a message to
you this morning that will be a comfort to you who are troubled. To anyone who gets troubled by
something, I pray that this be a comfort to you, to the people
of God. I'm very much like you. I also
get anxious and I get stressed about things and I worry about
things even knowing that I shouldn't worry about them and that I can't
add one cubit of stature to myself by worrying about something.
I know I can't help myself by worrying or feeling anxious. And I have the a great blessing
in being able to study and read the word of God, and doing so
while I'm feeling at times anxious or going through trials or difficulties. And one theme, one constant theme
proves true over and over again. No matter what it is that's causing
me fear or worry or stress, it doesn't matter what it is, I
can't find anything more peaceful, more comforting, than being brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ to behold Him, to remember that my God
has taken upon Him flesh. He's come as the mediator, as
the surety of His people, and bore my sin on the cross, putting
it away, while bearing the wrath of God in himself to make an
atonement, a covering for my sin. And I find that a lot of
times the stress or the anxiety that I bring on myself is oftentimes
wrought in me because I'm trying to save my life. I'm worried
about the things that I've gathered or do I have enough or the things
I've laid up for a difficult day and I worry what if they're
all taken away and so the fear comes in trying to save my life
and our Lord spoke to that saying he that will save his life will
lose it but he that will lose his life for my sake in the Gospels
he'll find it he'll find it and and of a truth. That which is
most comforting is when you take that fear and run all the way
to the worst that can happen and you realize, you know, death
is not the worst thing. And then I'll be in the presence
of my God. And what a joy and comfort to
know that all my sins have been put away and God is pleased with
me for Christ's sake. And so that is my comfort and
my joy. And I believe he is the comfort
and joy for all God's people. All God's people. And so when
you're troubled and weary and afraid, just remember, you know,
all these things are in the hand of the Lord. And they're all
passing away. And then we'll be with the Lord
forever. And what a joy and a comfort that is to me and I believe to
you also. And so it's a message for you
that are poor, you that are weary and troubled and anxious in your
souls. It's a message to you. And as
I was thinking on these things, it became apparent to me in this
passage in Luke chapter 2 that these shepherds, these shepherds
to whom this word came, they were lowly. And they came as
lowly messengers with the word that the Lord had revealed to
them, had taught them and put in their heart. They heard of
the Savior, the Christ of God. He's the Savior, which is Christ
the Lord, that he was born, that he came robed in flesh. And so hearing that word and
believing that word, they went to find the babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger. They wanted to go and see this
one of whom the angels spake. And so the testimony that they
bear them in coming with that message, coming in that faith,
they bore a testimony, they bore a message. And that message came
to Mary. And who is Mary? But another
lowly handmaiden of the Lord who was doing the will of God
by bearing that baby in her womb conceived in her womb by the
overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. And she was just a lowly handmaiden. And they came and bearing that
testimony unto her. And we read, look down in verse
19, Luke 2, 19. Mary, seeing this testimony that
was borne to her, hearing this word and seeing this word worked
out before her, kept all these things. and pondered them in
her heart. And that's a good example of
what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 26 3 when he said, thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. Mary received
that message. She received that word from those
lowly shepherds who came seeking the Christ and Mary pondered
those things in her heart. She thought on those things and
was comforted by the Lord. And so I pray that the Lord would
be pleased to take this word, this word from this lowly messenger
and that you would ponder them in your heart, that he would
bring them to your heart, and you'd think on that word that
your Lord has for you this day in the preaching of Jesus Christ. So I've titled this message In
Perfect Peace, In Perfect Peace. And I wanna look with you at
to whom does the Lord send this word? To whom is he speaking
this word of peace in the Lord Jesus Christ? And then we'll
look at three things, three things in which we, and how we understand
the peace that our God gives to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then very quickly, the last
point will just be a little word on the obedience of faith. It'll
just be a short closing point. So let's begin with whom, to
whom does the Lord speak these words? You know, we, We think we live in chaotic times. Maybe not all of you think that,
but I think that sometimes, and probably many of you think we
live in crazy, odd, weird times. You know, we look at our politicians,
perhaps, and we think, why are they doing this? It's just putting
an unnecessary burden upon us, and it just troubles the people
and makes life difficult for no real apparent reason. And there's a variety of things
in which we might think we live in chaotic or strange times. But the reality is, everybody
lives in strange and odd and chaotic times. They always have.
And in fact, the time in which our Lord was born, it was Caesar
Augustus who was reigning over the known He was reigning over
all of Rome and he decided that it would be good to tax all the
world that was under his control, under his command, and that world
included those in Israel and Judah, that they too had to be
taxed being under the rule of Caesar Augustus. And so Joseph
and his very, very pregnant wife had to pick up where they were
staying in Galilee in the northern part of the land of Israel. And they had to make a long journey
at a very difficult time, at a time when it wasn't going to
be easy for them at all. They were going from Galilee
down to Bethlehem in Judah. And that's about 90 miles. or
about 208 kilometers about, around there. And since they didn't
have cars or buses or trains, it would take them about four
to seven days traveling by the way that they would have traveled.
So four to seven days. And then having arrived there
in Bethlehem, they found no room at the inn, which would have
probably been considered nice at that time. And so they had
to take up a nightly room in this animal barn and give birth
to our Lord there in the animal barn, the filthy, dirty, stinky
animal barn, likely with other out-of-towners who didn't find
room at the inn either. And so times were difficult for
them as well, just as we feel like they are for us now and
others have looked out over their lives to find difficulties as
well. But what we see in these providential details that our
Lord gives us, these little details, we see how he's pleased to show
his grace to his people. through his message, the message
of the Lord Jesus Christ in times of difficulty and uses those
times to give us faith in that which we hear, to give us faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe his word. And so to people
that are in all sorts of difficulties and trials, just know that if
you're going through a hard time, if you feel yourselves poor or
challenged or not up to the task, know that That's no indication
that God hates you or that he's cast you off. In fact, the opposite
is true. The opposite is very true. You
know, God, just because you have difficult times, the thought
is, at least if you went by the way they speak in movies or things
like that, that God is angry with you, that God is punishing
you for some bad deed. But then think of Mary and Joseph.
Was God punishing them? was God chastening Mary and Joseph
by having that come up to be taxed at the worst possible time
when she's great with child and having to travel while bearing
in her body a child ready to be born. So you can see how they
weren't being punished at that time and yet God used it. He
was bringing it then through that trial to bless the people. And so being a person of low
degree, a person going through trials and difficulties does
not at all mean that God has cast you off. He may be speaking
to you. He may be teaching you something,
but that's not a sign of him casting you off, but rather him
being gracious to you and being kind to you through that providence. And so look at verses 8 through
11 with me in Luke chapter 2. Let's pick up because we see
here these angels announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds. And it says, there were in the
same country shepherds abiding in the field. That's where they
were staying, in a field. They didn't even have any shelter,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid. The angel said unto them,
fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. And to clarify that, when the
angel says it's to all people, it doesn't mean every single
individual person, because many hear the good tidings of Christ,
but to them it doesn't come as good tidings. To them, it doesn't
come as great joy to them. So why did the angel say it's
to all people? What we see in there is that
it's to all kinds of people. Our God is gracious and merciful
to all kinds of people scattered throughout the world in darkness,
in low degree, and people of not, any great stature, and people
going through various difficulties and challenges. And so it's great
joy to all kinds of people. Not only to Jews, but also to
Gentiles. Not only to the learned, but
also to the unlearned. Not to the rich and wealthy,
but even to the poor. Not to the wise and educated,
but even that one who isn't very bright. and the things of this
world. And so the Lord passed by all
these great people throughout the earth. He passed by the scribes
and the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He passed by the kings and the
governors and the great people in the earth, and he came to
these low shepherds who were separated out from the people.
had no place but a field to lay their head on some stone, were
in darkness, were in night, and had nothing, were made afraid
even, just like you and me are made afraid. And yet the Lord
brought to them a comforting message, declaring that unto
you, the angel said, is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And so to you who keep
watch, who cry out to your God in the night watches, when it's
dark, when you're separated and alone and feeling afraid, the
Lord says, be of good cheer. I've brought you good tidings
of great joy, peace unto you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 13 through 15.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass,
as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds,
those lowly shepherds, said one to another, let us now go even
unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which
the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste
and found Mary and Joseph, and they found the babe lying in
a manger. So what do we learn of these
nobodies, these people who aren't special to society in any way? We see that God sent them good
news, a good, comforting word, a word which gave them life.
And they heard it, and they received it. And what was born in them
was a desire, a need to go and see this child. And they went
in faith. and found that which they were
looking for. They found him of whom they sought. They found the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Peter declares something
similar which describes all the people of God in this way. It's
in 1 Peter 1, verse 2. He says, elect you that are chosen
of God according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. God loved
you, and he chose you. and committed you to the care
of his son Jesus Christ. It says, it's through the sanctification
of the spirit unto one obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Meaning that your God who chose
you, separates you out, sanctifies you, sets you apart by his spirit
unto hearing his calling. his word, his good word, his
gospel, bringing you to hear that word and to behold the effectual
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not your obedience, but his obedience
is what we're separated unto to behold who He is and what
He accomplished for me, the undeserving, unworthy, filthy, vile sinner,
God did this for me in His Son Jesus Christ. Peter says, Grace
unto you and peace be multiplied. And James even words it this
way in James 2.5, saying, hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not
God chosen you, the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? And so it's the poor. In fact,
if you turn over to 1 Corinthians, go to 1 Corinthians chapter one, And in verse 26 through 29, he
says, you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, in things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. So if you find yourself not only
poor, but even mentally incompetent to the challenges that we face,
rejoice in your God. You that have nothing, you that
find yourselves weak to the test, rejoice in your God, because
that's whom he calls, and those are the ones whom he calls us
to hear his word of good tidings, of great joy, that's those to
whom he speaks peace to their heart. So let's look at these
things where the peace is multiplied. What does Peter mean by peace
multiplied? Well, at the birth of Christ,
the angel said, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. And so the peace that God gives
us, is it political peace? Is that what he's talking about?
Political peace in our midst? No. No, there's always going
to be fighting and challenges. There's always going to be groups
of people that align themselves together, that fight against
one another for their interests and what they think is right.
What about civil peace? Should we expect there to be
civil peace? No, there's always problems and
unrest in the hearts of the people. There's riots and crimes and
trouble that comes about civilly. So it's not political, it's not
civil. What about domestic peace? Should
we expect domestic peace? No, there's families that have
fightings and difficulties all the time and all over the place. Some very grievous differences
and fightings between them. So it's not domestic peace either,
nor is it carnal peace, meaning in your flesh. If you are the
Lord's, he's not gonna, well, no one ever finds true, lasting
peace and rest in pursuing the things of this flesh. We're not
going to find that which gives us lasting, comforting peace
in any way. In fact, our Lord said in Matthew
10.34, think not that I am come to send peace on the earth. I
am come not to send peace, but a sword. And so oftentimes there's
differences, great differences between people that cause there
to be fighting and grievances with one another. So what is
this peace that we're given, which the Lord says on earth
peace, goodwill toward men? Well, there are, I believe we
can see and understand this peace in three things by the spirit,
by the spirit we see in three things. One, our God gives us
peace of pardon. the peace of pardon from our
God, and two, he gives us the peace of his presence. He dwells with his people and
leads his people. We have the peace of his pardon,
the peace of his presence, and third, we have the peace of his
providence, in which we know and trust that our God is working
all things together for our good. And so the peace, the first gift
of peace that we have is pardon from our God. Turn over to Romans
chapter three. Go to Romans three, we'll pick
up at verse 24 through 26. It says, being justified freely
by His grace, through the redemption, the purchase of Christ's blood
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to be that very means by which we
are forgiven and saved, to declare God's righteousness for the remission
or forgiveness of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God, To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. And so we find that in Christ,
our God has provided for us the peace of pardon, the forgiveness
of sins. He removes those sins. He's put
them away by the death of himself and reconciled us to God, that
God may be just and justifier of them which believe in Jesus.
And having done that, He sends the gift of his spirit whereby
we know him and have peace with him. Romans 4.25 Christ was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. And Romans
5.1 says therefore being justified of the Lord Jesus Christ by his
resurrection from the dead by faith which he gives to all his
children by faith We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. So that's the first. We have
the peace of pardon. You that believe Christ. You
have a glorious resurrection day in which you shall awake
in the presence of God, forgiven by Him, knowing peace with God
because your sins have been put away by the Lord Jesus Christ. The second gift of peace is the
peace of His presence. the peace of his presence. So
Christ's death on the cross reconciled us to God, putting away our sin. And the other way in which we
understand reconciliation is that he gives his spirit, which
removes that enmity that is in each of us by nature, being born
of Adam's corrupt seed. He sends His Spirit, His Holy
Spirit, to abide with us, to drive out, to scatter our darkness,
to drive out the enmity in the heart of man, in the mind of
man, to drive that out, that we might know our God, be reconciled
to our God, trust Him, believe Him, rejoice in Him. That's not
the natural man that rejoices in your God. It's that new man,
the creation of the Lord Jesus Christ, being born again by the
Spirit of God. So we see that reconciliation
of our Savior who put away our sin on the cross and brings reconciliation
to us, looking to our God, trusting him, having that enmity in us
driven from us by the grace of our God. In John 14, 25. John 14, 25 through 27, Our Lord was speaking to his
disciples and said, these things have I spoken unto you, being
yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto 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. And so our God gives us the presence
of our God to dwell with us, to dwell in us, whereby we know
him and have peace with God through the faith which he's given to
us by the gifts that he's given to his son to bless us with,
that we may know him. Now, 1 Corinthians 6.17 says,
but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. We have the presence of our God
and we're one spirit with Him. And 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says,
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you,
which ye have of God and ye are not your own. And so let me say
it this way. Sometimes we wonder, well, how
do I know that I'm a child of God? How do I know that he's
done this for me? You that believe Christ, you
that are sinners and have no righteousness of your own, that
have cast all your hope and care upon him, you believe him and
have understanding of your God and hope in him and trust in
him by faith. By faith, it's because of the
gift of your God. You're put into difficult circumstances
and you don't see things as you would see them in yourself because
you're called to walk by faith. You're called to trust Him even
in the midst of darkness, even in the midst of the trials, going
through those difficulties and finding yourselves to be weak. and unable to do that which you're
called to do, that you would look to him and cry out to him
for mercy and grace and to keep you. You look to him and cry
out to him because that's what he works in his child to find,
not satisfaction in yourselves and strength in you, but strength
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting him, walking by faith,
being left to walk by faith and to see his his kindness and mercies
and grace and love toward you through that difficult walk of
faith, because he keeps you looking to him. And so that's why you
have an understanding of Christ, of who he is, of who you are,
and your constant need of his grace, because he's being merciful
to you. He dwells with you. You have
his presence, the peace of his pardon and the peace of his presence.
And then the third gift is the peace of his providence. We look
at Mary and Joseph and the providence that they were brought into.
She was pregnant, great, with child at that time when the command
arose from the carnal governor to go to where you were born.
where you're from in order to be properly taxed. That's just
the way that they had to do it in that day, apparently. So they
had to travel for days and then gave birth to their child in
a filthy manger, in a filthy animal barn. And so we see that
the providence of God isn't necessarily easy on the flesh at all. The
providence of God does put us in difficulties. We see how our
God puts us in difficulties that try our patience. We see how
the Lord tries our mind. We are tried in our strength. We're tried in our hearts. We're
tried in our will and resolve of things. We're tried in our
faith. And Peter speaks of that in 1
Peter 1, 6 and 7, that he speaks that we go through fiery trials. that our faith might be found. That's where faith is found,
is in the trial. It's not found sitting at ease,
just having no troubles. It's found in the trial and the
trouble. And so what the Lord does in
his providence is in bringing us through trials and difficulties
is they press us. They press us, they put pressure
on us, whereby we're pressed in spirit, and that's where the
breathing or the groaning of the spirit is felt in us. Imagine yourself being pressed
and you lose your breath. There's a picture in that of
groaning in the spirit whereby you are put out of place, you
are put out of joint, you are put into a position in which
you find yourself weak and insufficient in order that you might cast
all your care upon Him and trust Him and look for Him to deliver
you and to provide for you. And you find that he does. He
teaches us there and strengthens his people and comforts his people
in the midst of the trial. And so we're given peace through
the providences, knowing, learning that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose, his purpose for us in Christ. And that's where
we learn The peace of God's purpose, the peace of God's providence
is for us. Now, before we go to that final
point, let me just give you something practical. Turn over to Philippians
4. Go to Philippians 4, and we'll
pick up in verse 6, and read down through verse 8. This regards
the peace of our God for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Philippians 4, 6, be careful
Be afraid for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. So in other words, we do get
troubled, we do feel anxious, we do get stressed, but don't
hold that. Lay it before your God, pray
to him, cry out to him, go to him in prayer with the things
that are troubling you and bothering you. You're not bothering God,
you could go to him again and again and again and again and
again with that same trouble. Just keep praying. Just keep
looking to your God. That's what he's calling you
to do. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. In other words, in your carnal
mind, with that peace that you receive in looking to the Lord
and trusting him, in the face of dangers, in the face of everything
that seems contrary to it, your flesh, your mind isn't gonna
sync up with why you find peace in the Lord. Your flesh is the
flesh. It's dead. It's corrupt. It's
unbelieving. You keep trusting the Lord. And so in spite of those things,
the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. In the face of great difficulties,
the children of God continue in faith, believing the Lord
Jesus Christ. They don't leave the Lord. They
don't go off in this world trying to find some other thing. There's
nothing else out there. We believe. We continue in Christ. Another thing that we see is
that how that we bring anxiety and troubles on ourselves. We do things that get ourselves
into all kinds of trouble and difficulty. We do things that
knowingly that bring more trouble upon us. And yet Paul gives us
this word here in verse eight. Finally, finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things." And so he's
encouraging the people of God, ponder the things of your God
in your heart. Let your mind be stayed upon
him, because thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. whose mind
is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. In spite of
all the trials and troubles and tribulations and difficulties
that we go through, we continue to look to the Lord, because
that's where we find peace, the peace of pardon, the peace of
his presence, and the peace of his purpose or his providence
for us, knowing he does all things well. And so in closing, let
me just say very briefly on this point of obedience of faith.
Going back to those poor lowly shepherds, they moved with haste
in seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. They were moved to seek him.
It says in Luke 2.15, and they came with haste. They came in
faith. and believing, they went to seek
the Lord, and they found that which they were looking for. They saw Mary and Joseph, and
it says they found the babe lying in a manger, just as the angel
had said. They moved with haste, and they
came in faith, and they found Christ. And so it is that all
who believe the gospel of our God and come seeking Christ. needing him, finding nothing
in themselves, but looking to him for that which is declared
of him in the gospel, they shall find Christ, just as our Lord
says. And just as he said in Matthew
11, 28 through 30, come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden. and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke
is easy and my burden is light. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and mercy. We thank you for your provision
of peace for your people. Indeed, Lord, may it be multiplied
to us that we may be comforted by the peace of the part in which
we have through your son, Jesus Christ. Let us know that peace
of your presence. For you say that you give your
spirit to your people, that we may know you being born again
of the seed of Christ. And Lord, let us See in the things
of providence, may we see the peace of your purpose through
the providences, knowing that you're working all things together
for our good. It's not because we're cast off
or despised of our God, but rather these things turn us to our God.
And what a comfort it is to know that you ever keep us and won't
let us go astray. And you keep us humble, being
anchored in the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting in him alone. and
not in ourselves, that we may glory in our God and not in this
flesh. Lord, thank you for that. And
Lord, we pray that you would bless your people, help those
that are sick and unable to be with us this day. And Lord, heal
your people and strengthen your people and bless your people,
Lord, that we may continue to come together as a body united
here, and that we would see your work established, and that you
would bless your people. Lord, call out your people from
this area. Give them a hunger and a thirst,
and cause them to be able to hear and to come to hear the
gospel preached concerning our Lord, and that they would be
given faith to believe it and to stay upon our God. It's in
the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we pray these
things. Amen. Alright brethren, let's just
close. Let's go to 301. Let's go to him 301. This is The King of Love, My
Shepherd Is. It's to the tune that goes... The King of love my shepherd
is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his, and
he is mine forever. Where streams of living water
flow, my ransomed soul he leadeth, and where the verdant pastures
grow, with food celestial feedeth. Perverse and foolish, soft I
strayed, But yet in love he sought me, And on his shoulder gently
laid, And home rejoicing brought me. In death's dark veil I fear
no ill, With Thee, dear Lord, beside me. Thy rod and staff
my comfort still, Thy cross before to guide me. And so through all
the length of days, thy goodness felleth never. Good shepherd, may I sing thy
praise within thy house forever. Dismissed.