Turn with me, if you would, back
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Let's read one verse together.
Verse 16. It says, Now the Lord of peace
himself Give you peace always by all means, the Lord
be with you all. I'd like for us to use that verse
of scripture as an outline for this message. The scripture is
our outline. You know, that we just read one
line and then we read the next line and then we read the next
line. And I'd like for us to see five things from this one
verse tonight. Number one, the Lord himself
is our peace. He said in verse 16, now the
Lord of peace himself. I love that. The Lord himself
is our peace. Number two, peace is not fought
for by us. It's not earned by us. It's not
won by us. It's given to us. Peace is given
to us. He said, now the Lord of peace
himself give you peace. Number three, I want us to see
that never will we be without it. Never. He said in verse 16, now the
Lord of peace himself give you peace always, always. Number four, I want us to see
that it will come through every means. It will come, peace will
come through every means. He said in verse 16, now the
Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. And number five, I want us to
see that peace will come to every single one of God's people. Every single one. He ended the
verse by saying. The Lord be with you all, all
of you, every single one of God's people. Now I have titled this
message and it may based on my intro here, this may strike you
as odd, but I've titled this message peace when there is no
peace. And I've titled it that on purpose
because you know, the verse of scripture. that tells us of men
and women who have peace in this world and hear of and are told of peace
in this world, but they don't have any peace with God. They
do. They have peace in this world,
happy in this world. but they don't have any peace
with God. And they're being lied to by men who are standing up
in pulpits, telling people, and this is what men are saying,
in other words, this is what they're saying. They're standing
up saying, there's no need in fearing God. You don't need to
fear God. That's what they're saying. They're saying, He's not angry
with your sin. You know, I want to make it clear
in the ministry of our preaching here, God is angry with our sin. You want to know how angry? Look at the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But men stand up and tell people,
listen, He's not holy. God is not holy. He's not just
and strict according to His law. And they stand up and tell people,
He is not going to punish you. I hope it's made clear through
the course of our ministry that God will punish us for our sin. If we want to see how badly,
look at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But men stand up and tell people,
everything's fine, it's fine, everything's fine. Jeremiah is
the one who said, they are lying to men and women, crying, peace,
peace, when there is no peace. Outside of Christ, there is no
peace. That's the truth. That honestly
is the truth. And you know, we get on things
like this and you think, oh, that's hard and that's strict
and that's stern. People need to know this. Outside
of Christ, there is no peace. Outside of Christ, there is no
peace. It doesn't matter what we have
in this lifetime. Outside of Christ, there is no
peace. What does that mean? You know,
we stand up here and say that, what is it to be outside of Christ? We talk about, and we warn people
about being outside of Christ. What does that mean? What do
we mean when we say that? What is it to be out of Christ? Here's what it is. It's to be
in self. That's what it is. If I come before God in my own
righteousness, then I am not coming in Christ's righteousness. That makes sense. Doesn't it?
If I'm coming in my own righteousness, I'm not coming in Christ's righteousness. I'm coming outside of Christ's
righteousness because I'm coming in my own. And coming in righteousness
means when we say that, what we mean is if I'm coming in my
own works and my own good deeds, if I ask myself in my mind, why
do I think I'm going to get to go to heaven? If my answer is
well, because basically I'm a good person. and I try to do good
things, and I go to church, and I this and I that. If I go before
the judgment throne of God in my own works and my own deeds,
then I'm not coming in Christ's works and Christ's deeds. Coming in Christ's works and
Christ's deeds is asking myself, why is God gonna let me into
heaven? And here's my answer. It's because
of what Christ has done. It's because of who Christ is
and because of what He earned for His people. If I plea my own payment and
my own sacrifice, you know, people literally think, well, you know,
we're gonna have to cut some things out and make some sacrifices
for God if we wanna be saved. If I come in my own sacrifice,
I'm not coming in His. I'm not coming in the sacrifice
of Christ. So we either come in Christ or
we come in ourselves. It's one of the two. If I'm looking
in here and hoping in here, if my faith and my assurance is
in here looking within myself and I am not looking within Christ. My hope and my faith and my assurance
is outside of Christ. And the truth is, outside of
Christ, there is no peace. There is no peace. It just crushes
me to hear men stand up and say, look within yourselves, all right? You're gonna have to look within. Don't do that. That's looking
without Christ. That's what it is. Don't do that.
Don't do that. They're crying, peace, peace,
when there is no peace. But here's the thing, in Christ,
in Christ, God will cause all of his people to hear the truth. And they'll say, I believe that. That makes sense to me. And I
do that. I don't, I renounce me and look to him alone. In
the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are looking to Him and not ourselves,
His work, His righteousness, His sacrifice, not our own, there is peace there. There is peace there. There is
peace in Him. even when there's no peace in
anything else. And there really is, there honestly
is. There is peace in Him, even when
there's no peace in anything else. So to make my title clear,
so we can understand what I mean in titling the message this,
outside of Christ, Men and women may have some temporary peace
in this world, they may, but there's no eternal peace to come. But in Christ, even though this
world may be nothing but trials and tribulation and heartache,
and I'm gonna tell you, it is, it is. But even though that's
the case, And sometimes, you know, we're
hard pressed to find one solitary moment of peace in this world.
No peace. There's just no peace. But even
though that's the case in Christ, we have an unlimited, that means
a never wavering, never failing, never diminishing peace. Waiting for us with him right
now, eternal peace, no matter what goes on down here. We have
an ordered, established peace in the heavens that has been
settled for us. And knowing that settles us. It settles us. So that's why
I titled this peace when there is no peace. Outside of Christ
for an unbeliever, that means something horrible. But in Christ,
for a child of God, that is a glorious truth. In Him, we have peace,
even when there's no peace anywhere else. Now, let's look at these
five truths that ought to bring great peace to us. I pray it
will bring great peace to us tonight. Number one, for a child
of God, for a child of God, for a quickened, called, chosen child
of God, the Lord himself, he is our peace. He is our peace. If we are looking for peace,
look to him. Really look to Him. He is our
peace. You think about this in your
mind as I describe some of these things, say some of these things,
and see if it doesn't bring peace to you, okay? Just knowing who
He is, just knowing who He is in all
of His authority, and all of His power and all, He's not trying
to do anything. All He has to do is speak the
Word and it's done. And everything that He speaks was
purposed and unchangeable from the beginning till now and forever.
And it's all good and right and perfect, just knowing who He
is. All we have to do is whenever
something comes along that just is so troubling, just so troubling,
all we have to do is in our mind and our heart and our soul, just
think on who He is and what He came to do for us and what He did for us. as our substitute. Just think
about who our substitute is. As our advocate, as our mediator, as our deliverer,
as our redeemer, as our security. He is our security. as our hope
and our plea and our all. He himself is our peace. Look with me at Isaiah chapter
nine. Isaiah nine. Verse 6, it 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
of Peace. That word prince means the chief,
the captain, the commander, the securer of
peace. That's what his name shall be
called. When the angels announced his birth, they cried, glory
to God in the highest, peace has come to the earth. Peace
himself is on the earth. He is our peace. Turn with me to John 16. John 16, verse 33. He said, these things have I
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world
you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome
the world. That brings peace to me. I've overcome the world. He said,
your peace is in me. Even though tribulation will
come in this world, your peace is in me. A true peace. I mean a true peace, not just
something to get you through the day. A true peace, an eternal peace. Turn with me to Romans five. Romans 5 verse 1, it says, therefore,
being justified by faith, that means looking to Christ, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though our
sin was at enmity against God, Even though in our sinful flesh,
we were at war with God. That's what it means, at war
with God. In Christ, we're at peace. In
Christ, we have peace. Why? Romans 5 goes on to say,
because Christ died for us. That's the reason why. Peace
with God, all because Christ died for us to make that peace. Ephesians 2 says, when His blood
was shed on the cross of Calvary, at that moment, He broke down
the middle wall of partition. And He abolished all of that
enmity, and He drew us to Himself, and He made us to be one with
Him, so making peace. Christ is our peace. He is our
peace with God. He's our peace with each other. He is our peace with each other.
He is the peace in this church. I feel like this assembly is
at peace. I really do. He is our peace. And I'm so thankful for that.
State upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed. Finding as He
promised, perfect peace and rest. Just so thankful. He is the peace
in our homes. If we want peace in our homes,
He is that peace. He is the peace in our hearts.
If we want peace in the heart, He is that peace. When we are truly looking to
Him, and that's what it means, looking to Him, look at Him,
soak Him in, acknowledge who He is and what He's done for
us. When we're looking to Him, we have peace. So He Himself
is our peace, number two, and the other ones are not gonna
take as long. Number two, His peace is not fought for, it's
not earned, or won by us, it is freely given to us. Turn with me to John 14. John
14, verse 27, he said, 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. He said, I have given you peace. Now here's what I want to say
about this. Knowing that He gives it, if we want it, knowing that
He gives it, seeing that He's willing to give it and that He
freely gives it. Let's ask Him for it. Let's ask
Him for it. He said, you have not because
you ask not. He said, if you ask a good thing
in my name, I'll give it to you. So He is our peace and He will
freely give it to us. Let's ask Him for it. Let's ask for peace. I would, you know, some here
pray for us and, and, uh, but it doesn't matter. We all pray
in our heart individually. I'm asking you to ask the Lord
for peace here. Let's ask for peace within this
congregation that it might continue. Peace with each other. That's
what I want. I really want that. You know
how sin ruins everything. You know how this flesh ruins
everything. And you think about how brethren, I'm talking about
true brethren, can be so together and then something comes along
and I ruin it, my flesh ruins it, my sin ruins it, and brethren
separate. I don't want that with you. I
don't. Let's pray for peace. I want to be at peace. Let's
ask for peace, not only within this congregation, but with the
other true congregations that the Lord has raised up. Let's
ask for peace. I want that. I want peace within
the church. I want peace between the churches.
Let's ask for peace within our homes. Let's ask for peace. Do we ever
think to do that? You know, I mean, whatever the
circumstance may be, whether we have children who are growing
up or husbands and wives or whatever it may be, let's ask for peace
within our homes and within our families, the kind of peace that
God supplies, not the kind of peace that the world gives, the
kind of true heart peace that only God can give. Sometimes
we murmur and complain, you know, saying, I just don't have any
peace. But I don't ever ask for it. Let's ask for that within our
homes, within our families, within our own selves. Only God can
give it. You know, say, I just feel troubled
and only God can give it. There's one source of it. He
is our peace. and it has to come from Him.
It can only come from Him. We can't get it any other way.
It has to be given. So, don't turn back, but let
me remind you of what our text says. It says, Now the Lord of
peace Himself give you peace always. Always. Whether we know the experience
of the peace that Christ has given to us or not. It's always
there. It is always there. Never will
we be without it. Never. We just said right now,
we just said, let's ask him for it. Meaning, let's ask Him to
let us enter into the experience of knowing what He's provided
for us. It's there, and we ask, Lord,
let me enter into it. Let me enjoy the experience of
it. Our sinful flesh has a way of continually hiding that peace
from us. It's what it does, it hides the
peace from us. And it ruins the enjoyment of
that peace for us. But even though our sin ruins
our experience of it, it's always there, forever settled in heaven. Look with me at Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel
37, verse 26. Ezekiel 37 verse 26, the Lord
said, moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall
be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and
multiply them and we'll set my sanctuary in the midst of them
forevermore. He said in everlasting covenant
of peace. We were just in Isaiah nine,
where verse six said, Christ is the Prince of Peace. Verse
seven, the next verse after it said, of the increase of His
government and peace, there shall be no end. God's people will
never be without it. It's right there, ready and waiting
for us anytime we need it. All we have to do is look to
Christ. Anytime we need it, it's right there. Just look to Christ,
the one who said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake
you. Turn with me to Philippians 4. Philippians 4. Let me remind
you again of what our text says. It says, Now the Lord of peace
himself give you peace always by all means. By all means. This peace that we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that He freely gives to us, it will come to us through every
means. Every means. It will be there
for us in every situation and circumstance that comes our way,
by all means. No matter what. Doesn't matter
if it's poverty. Doesn't matter if it's pain,
persecution, sickness, death. Doesn't matter what it is. Doesn't
matter how difficult the circumstance may be. the peace of the Lord
Jesus Christ for God's people will surpass the circumstance. Look at Philippians 4, verse
6. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request
be made known unto God, And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus." Passes understanding. We have a dear sister who lives
in another place. And many years ago, she lost
her believing daughter. Her daughter was a believer.
I believe she was probably in her late 20s. But our sister
was obviously sad, obviously very sad, very tearful. But the
peace of God, which passes understanding was with her. And when her unbelieving. neighbors, she lived, you know,
on this particular street and her neighbors all found out.
Her neighbors came over and some friends came over and they tried
to console her, but she ended up being the one who consoled
them. And one lifelong friend in particular
got mad at her for having so much peace. Got really mad at
her. And she was, you know, in her
frustration, she told her, she said, I'm going to clear everybody
out of this house and I want you to run through this house
screaming at the top of your lungs. And our sister said, that just
won't be necessary. That's just not necessary. She
said, don't get me wrong. Don't misunderstand. I'm sad. I'm sad, but she said, I bow
to the sovereign will of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And
I trust that he has done all things well in this. And that friend of hers said,
well, I just don't understand that. I just do not understand. I don't understand how you can
have peace at a time like this. Verse seven says, the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Jesus Christ, no matter what the situation is. He shall,
no matter what the situation is. So go back to our text. We'll
close. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 16 says, Now the Lord of peace himself
give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. The Lord is with every single
one of his people. The Lord is with every single
one of his people. And if the Lord is with his people,
His peace is with His people. If the Lord is with them, His
peace is with them. That will hold true for every
single child of God. It cannot and it will not be
said that one child of God has the peace of Christ and another
child of God cannot have it. That cannot and will not be said. God's sovereign word says the
Lord and his peace will be with you all. Every single one of
us forever now and forever. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.