Colossians chapter three, I would
like to continue to the next verse in our study through Colossians. It's verse 15. And it says, let the peace of God Rule in
your hearts to the which also you are called in one body and
be ye thankful. Let the peace of God rule in
your hearts. The peace of God, that's what
I wanna start the message by emphasizing, the peace of God,
not the peace of man. Not the peace of the world. Our
brother just read where our Lord said, peace, I leave you. Not
as the world gives it to you. You know, we're not just gonna
have a yoga class and find some inner happiness and contentment
and, you know, just feel a empty peace. That's not what he's talking
about. The peace of God. The peace of God. In this responsibility that has
been given to me to stand up week after week and to speak,
to preach to men and women, my number one greatest concern in
this is honesty. Truthfulness. That's my number
one greatest concern. It weighs heavily on me that
I must tell you the truth about God, who he is, what he deserves. And I must tell you the truth
about man, who he is, and what he deserves. And I must tell you the truth
of the only way that man can be justified before God. I must. I must. That's my greatest burden in
this. That is honestly my greatest
concern. That's my greatest concern. There
are some men who stand in pulpits and they lie to people. And some of them know that they
are lying to people and some of them don't know that
they're lying to people. Some of them see this and they
read it point blank and they say within themselves, I'm not
saying that to everybody. I'll say the opposite of that,
I'll skip over that, I'll water that down, I'll do something,
but I'm not saying that. And then some men honestly have
no idea what's in this book. They get up in pulpits and they
have been told things by their grandparents and great-grandparents
and it's just been passed down and they think it's in here,
but it's not. Some men know that they're lying
to people, and some men don't know that they're lying to people,
but in both cases, either way, they are withholding the honest
truth from people. And the reason men withhold the
honest truth from people is because they want to make people happy. They want to tell people what
they want to hear. They want to do whatever it takes
to keep people and pacify people. And their
greatest burdening concern in what they do is they want to
offend no one. Now, I want to make this so clear.
I don't want to be a personal offense to anybody. That weighs heavily on me. I
think about my facial expressions as I say things. I don't want to deliver the truth
in an offensive way. This word is offensive enough. Just what God has said is offensive
enough to the flesh. I don't need to try to add any
offense to it. The Apostle Paul called this
the offense of the cross. The cross of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ is offensive enough to men and women. I don't need
to add my offense to his cross and I don't need to add my offense
to his word. But removing all offense from
us is not my great concern. That's not my great concern.
Honesty is my great concern. Truthfulness is my great concern. We are all very soon going to
go stand before God. Very soon. Wouldn't we be wise
to find out from his own word who he is? Wouldn't we be wise? Before we have to go stand before
him, wouldn't we be wise to find out who this God is that we're
gonna stand before? If a man or a woman only hears
me one time and then decides they never want to hear me again, I need to know in my soul that
they heard the honest truth about these things. If it's just one
time, I need to know that I told them the truth. The scripture
says God is holy. Wouldn't we be wise to find out
what that means? This scripture says God is sovereign. Wouldn't we be wise to find out
what that means? Now let's take a minute here.
Just follow me to a few scriptures. Let's see the honest truth concerning
God. Okay. I want to start the message
by looking at these particular verses of scripture because Our
subject matter today is the peace of God. And I want the peace of God and
I know you want the peace of God. So let's find out the truth
of what it is and how we can have it. We're gonna start with
this honest truth right here, okay? God does not change. This is where we're gonna start.
God does not change. Turn with me if you would to
Malachi chapter three. Last book of the Old Testament,
Malachi just before Matthew, Malachi chapter three. My heading at the top of my page
says, The Majesty and Grace of Christ. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking. And in Malachi 3 verse 6, he
said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed." Now, I'm going to tell you, there's the answer
to the whole thing. If you want the punchline of the whole message,
we could just go home right now, okay? He said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Many people believe that God
has changed. Many people believe God changes
all the time. That is not so. That is not so. Hebrews 13 verse eight says,
he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Whatever is said
about him in the Old Testament, That holds true in the New Testament. And that holds true today. And that holds true for all eternity. The angel said, this same Jesus
will come again as you've seen him go, the same one, same one. He does not change. He said, I am the Lord, capital
L, capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah. He does not change. All right, let's continue reading. Let's find out a little more
about our God who does not change. Turn with me to Psalm 7. Psalm 7 verse 11 says, God judges the righteous. And that means God is a righteous
judge. That's what that translates to
mean. And it goes on to say, God is
angry with the wicked every day. To understand that, we have to
know the honest truth about man, all men and women. What is the
honest truth about all men and women? Here it is. We are all
wicked every day. Every day. Jeremiah 19 verse
9 says, this heart right here is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. What does that mean? This heart,
this heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
That means don't put all of your worry in the things that you
do. Everybody's worried about the things they do. I said this last week, I said
this the week before, I said this the week before, Lord willing,
I'm gonna say this next week. What we do is such a small component
of what makes up us. Let's put our worry in what we
think. Let's put our worry in what we feel. That is just an
endless, Oh, cesspool of sin, isn't it? All of our real time spent sinning,
we talk about committing sins, all of our real time spent sinning
is in the mind, generally speaking. Inside, it's inside. So here's
the thing, God does not change. Wickedness makes him angry. And look at Psalm five, verse
four, Psalm chapter or Psalm five, verse four. It says, for thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. The end of verse five says, thou
hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity,
hatest. David wrote this. You know what
David also wrote in Psalm 51? I'm a sinner. I'm a worker of
iniquity against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this
evil in thy sight. So God does not change. He is angry with the wicked,
and He hates all workers of iniquity. Don't turn to this, but Deuteronomy
32 verse 39, He said, I am He, there is no God with me. This
is the Lord God speaking. And then He went on to say, I
kill I make a life, I wound, I heal, I do all these
things. I do all these things. There's
none that can deliver out of my hand. He said, vengeance is
mine, I will repay. I do all of this. Okay, now somebody
is gonna say, That was the God of the Old Testament. I've heard
about that God. I have heard about that God,
but that was the God of the Old Testament. I really don't think
he's like that anymore. I think you're mistaken. I don't
think. Okay, well, let's find out. Go with me if you would to 2
Thessalonians 1. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7. It says, to you who are troubled,
rest with us when the Lord Jesus, and this is talking about the
Lord Jesus, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired
in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed
in that day. He's coming back in flaming fire
to take vengeance on sinners. He hasn't changed. He hasn't
changed. That's what's going to happen
to every person who has a wicked heart and commits iniquity, commits
sin. Hebrews 10.31 says, It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Fearful thing.
Why? It's because He is going to punish
sin. If I could just make this clear,
let me just say this. He is going to punish sin. He's going to. He's going to. He will by no means clear the
guilty. By no means. That's the honest
truth. Men are standing up in pulpits
all over this world telling wicked, sinful people like me that everything's okay. You're
at peace. It's all peace, peace, peace
with God. when God says there is no peace. Not in man. Not with man. Man at his best state, no peace. Why? Because man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Altogether vanity. Saying I'm
sorry will not make peace with God. People say, well now if you'll
repent, and say you're sorry, everything will be fine. That's
not true. It's not true. Changing your life will not make
peace with God. If you'll just quit your sinning
and if you'll, you know, being born into a religious nation,
being born into a religious family, giving your own life to religion,
that will not make peace with God. Once wickedness and sin
has infected a human being, God has to deal with that human being
in absolute justice, holy justice he has to. And he's plainly declared
what he's going to do, and he won't change from it. Somebody
will say, well, what if I just don't sin? How about if I'm just
born into the world and I just keep myself from sin my entire
life? If any soul thinks he or she
has never sinned, that soul is deceiving himself or herself.
Scripture says we were conceived in sin. We come forth from our
mother's womb speaking lies. Okay, have I established that?
I got a lot more, I'm gonna move on. People say, why do you harp on
this all the time? Here's why. There are masses of people who
are not at peace with God, but they think they are. They think they are. Countless, countless men and
women think they have peace with God, but they don't. They don't
know it. This is the heartbreaking part
of what I've been called to do. They don't know it. They don't
know it. They look for peace. You say,
how do you know they don't have peace with God? Here's why. They
look for peace in their good works. That's where they're looking
for peace. They're looking for peace because of their decision.
They're looking for peace because of their own faithfulness. They're
looking to themselves. We will never find peace here. That which is flesh is flesh.
That which is spirit is spirit. We'll never find peace here.
The only way that a sinful, wicked man or woman can have peace with
God is by this. They have to have
the peace of God. They have to have the peace that
only comes from God, the peace that God supplied, the peace
that God created. What is that peace? Not a what,
it's a who. It is a who. Just listen to these
scriptures, okay? Isaiah 9 verse 6 says, For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince, The Prince of Peace. Who is the
Prince of Peace? Listen to this. This is Luke
2, verses 11 to 14. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, And 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. They said, peace has come to
the earth. They said, we have good news,
gospel good news. Peace just came to the earth. Romans 5 verse 1 says, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ by looking to Him, hoping in Him, trusting
in Him. By faith in Christ, we have peace
with God. What is faith in Christ? It's
no faith in self. How do you have faith in Christ?
It's by renouncing my works, renouncing my decision, renouncing
my faithfulness in looking to and pleading, reaching forth
for His good works and His decision and His faithfulness, hoping
and trusting that He did all that for me. He gave all that
to me. He appeased all that judgment
and wrath on our behalf. Because of Him, we have peace
with God. Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
I love this next line right here. Verse 14 says, "'For He is our
peace, who hath made both one and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, that means enemy, that's what
the word means, we were enemies. Even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances to make in himself of Twain one new man,
so making peace. and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you, which were afar off and
to them that were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father." The truth of God's Word is, He
gets all the glory. He gets all the credit because
He made all the peace. Outside of Christ, there is no
peace. Look to Christ. Cling to Christ. Beg for Christ. Plead Christ. He is our peace. God had a chosen people who were
infected with this loathsome, deceitful, wicked disease called
sin. Sin that all it did was provoke
the Lord's anger. You know what I do in my flesh?
I provoke the Lord's anger. You know that? In my flesh, that's
what I do. I provoke the Lord's anger. And God went to war with this
sin. But He didn't bring that war
to His people. He brought His people to Christ. And then He brought that war
to Christ. He laid the sin of his people
that he so deeply hated, he laid that sin on his own precious
darling son, and then he poured out his anger on his son. If God is angry with the wicked,
how can he love me? He brought everything that he
was angry with in me to his son, laid it on his son. And then
he poured out his anger on his son. He brought vengeance to
his own son. He said, vengeance is mine. I
will repay. He laid it on his son and he
did. He poured out his vengeance. He wounded his own son. He said, I wound. He wounded
his own son. He said, I kill. He killed his
own son. Why? Sin. God the Father's own son endured
the wrath of falling into the hands of the living God. And all of that wrath and all
of that anger and all that vengeance, it was satisfied in Him. And
because God's war on the sin of His people was fought and
won and finished in Christ, all that's left for us now is peace.
It's over. The battle's over. The war is
over. That fiery vengeance is over. That fiery vengeance consumed
Christ. And all that's left for God's
people now is peace, the peace of God, the peace that Christ
created for his people. In the early days of this country,
whenever men and women were settling out West, they would travel across the
country in wagon trains. It was safer to travel that way. There were a lot of dangers in
that long journey across the country. And they would have
a wagon master and these families would load up a wagon and they
would all travel out together. And it was their practice to
send a scout out on a horse a couple of miles in front of the wagon
train to see if there were any dangers coming. And if so, they
would ride back and notify of whatever was taking place. So
there was this one move out west, and there was a wagon train,
and there was a scout a couple of miles out. And he saw a prairie
fire, which was one of the great dangers of traveling out. That
tall, dry grass would catch fire, and it would just sweep across
the prairie. So he saw a huge prairie fire
and he turned around and he quickly rode back to the wagon master
and told him, there is a prairie fire and it's coming this way
and it's big. So the wagon master told all
the men to come down and they scraped grass behind the wagons. They created a bare spot. And
then they lit the grass on fire that would burn away from them.
And it did. And after that fire burned away,
that wagon master said, OK, let's ease all the wagons back. So
they sat and waited. They could see the smoke. And
all of a sudden, here it comes, this fire just raging over the
plains. Here it came. And they sat and
waited on it. This man was sitting in his wagon and his little boy
was sitting in his lap. And as that fire got started
to get close, that little boy reached up and hugged his daddy's
neck so tight. And his dad said to him, son,
you have nothing to be afraid of. He said, you look down, you
see all that black stubble right there. He said, we're standing
on burnt ground. The fire has already been here. It can't come here again. It
cannot come here again. We're safe. We are safe. I used to try to understand if
God is so angry with sinners, how can God love me? How can God just sweep my sin
under the rug and say, well, you just get a free pass. He didn't. The best news I know to tell
is the fire has already been here. His vengeance, he poured
his vengeance out on. He was so angry with me. He poured
his wrath out and his vengeance out on me. He consumed me. I didn't make it. I stood before
him and I didn't make it. And I died. And I was buried
three days. He gave me life again. Why? Because of my peace. All because of my peace. The
peace He provided for me. I stand in Him. We stand in Him.
I've got a bunch more stuff here. I'm not going to say it. Let
the peace of God rule in your hearts. Let the peace that God has provided
rule in your hearts. And the apostle told us after
you do that, after you meditate on what Christ did for you and
everything he endured for you and and suffered for you, and
now that it's all over and you made it through it safely on
the other side. Be thankful for it. Let the peace
of God rule in your hearts to the which you're called. Let's
all be thankful, thankful to him. Romans 1533 says now the
God of peace be with you all. Amen. All right.