They who trust Him wholly find
Him wholly true. Stayed upon Jehovah's marks of
holiness, Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest. Most of you probably know that
song, at least the chorus, comes from Isaiah 26.3. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, or the rock of ages. Hebrews 13. Hebrews chapter 13
is our text. Hebrews 13. Read with me these two verses in this prayer
that Paul utters for the church. Hebrews 13, 20 and 21, Now the
God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. phrase, the title that really
struck me when I first read it preparing a couple of weeks ago. And as I told you, made me go
to Isaiah 55 eventually for last Sunday's message. Well, Tonight,
I couldn't get past this one line, the God of peace. So that will be tonight's message
and the Lord will on Sunday. We'll look at the great Shepherd
of the Sheep. And the Lord said to Gideon, the Lord said, Peace
be unto thee. Fear not, thou shalt not die.
And Gideon built an altar unto the Lord and called it Jehovah
Shalom. God our peace. God calls Himself
by that name. God of peace. Scripture refers
to our God and our Lord in ways like this. He's the God of hope. God of hope. All our hopes in
Him. He's the God of all comfort.
If we're to find any comfort, it's going to come from Him,
be in Him. He's the God of patience, Scripture says. Wait on the Lord. Wait, I said. The One who teaches
us to wait on Him. And the God of consolation, who
consoles us. And the God of love, the Scripture
says. God is love. God of all grace, He's called.
All grace. All grace comes from Him. And
the God of peace. God of peace. The gospel is called
the gospel of peace, isn't it? The gospel of peace. Glad tidings. Now, I'm not preaching the message
of peace that false prophets preach. Nor am I preaching to
those to whom they preach. I'm preaching to believers. They
preach peace, peace, And our Lord said, there is no peace.
You know what they say to everyone. Well, look at this with me, if
you've never seen it. Jeremiah 23. Many of you, if
not most, have seen this. But this is what modern preachers,
as well as those false ones before, say to people in general. Jeremiah 23. You have it? Verse 16, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you, that make you vain. They speak a vision of their
own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still
unto them that despise me, they say this to God-haters, The Lord
hath said, Ye shall have peace. And they say unto everyone that
walketh after the imagination, or stubbornness, rebelliousness
of his own heart, no evil shall come upon him. Isn't that what
they say to them? Isn't that what they pray? God
love you. Jesus died for you. Peace, peace,
when there is no peace. There is no peace. They say to
a people still at enmity with God, people who reject His sovereignty,
who reject His rights as God, who reject His glory, who steal
His glory, who reject His truth, people who did some little favor
for Jesus, accepting Him and made Him their personal Savior
and made their peace with God, people who have never cried unto
the Lord Jesus for mercy and forgiveness of sin, who never
saw their need of His righteousness to cover them and His blood to
sanctify them. I'm not preaching to those people.
And that's not the message I'm preaching. I'm preaching real
peace for God's people that Christ made by the blood of his cross. That's what this is. It's going
to sound like doctrine, because it is. This is the doctrine. This is the teaching of Scripture.
Preaching to a people who know that God is God. I'm preaching
to a people tonight who know that God is holy, just, and sovereign,
and that Christ is all, and that Christ alone made peace. with
God forever. And that we don't accept Him,
but we're accepted in the Beloved. That's who I'm preaching to.
And to you is this message of peace. This message of peace. Peace with God by Christ. And
peace within by Christ. Now my hope for this message
is that you'll have peace. That this will give you peace.
Assure you that you have peace with God. That there's no condemnation. That God is not angry. That God
is not angry. That God is at peace with us.
And we within. And I hope this will give us
peace within. Peace of heart and mind and conscience
by trusting the God of peace. Now go with me to Colossians
1. Colossians 1. Those who know the Scriptures,
you knew I had to go to Colossians 1, didn't you? Colossians 1.
Now, the Scripture says this. I've got nothing new to say,
but the old, old story. Scripture says that the carnal
mind is enmity against God, doesn't it? That means man is an enemy
of God. And so were we. We were born
that way, weren't we? Enemies of God. Romans 1 says,
haters of God. And people say, I didn't hate
God. No, people don't hate their conception of God. People love
the God that they have made up and so forth. But the God of
the Bible, Brother Marner used to say, the God of the Bible,
men hate the God of the Bible, the true God, the living God.
Irreligious people show their enmity against God by open sin
and rebellion against His law. Scripture says it's not subject
to the law of God. Don't care. Religious people show their enmity
by stealing His glory. I was thinking about this while
ago, how that by the grace of God we are what we are. Everything
we have is by His grace. And for anybody to be proud about
anything, It's robbing God of His due. Robbing God of His honor
and His glory. Stealing His glory. Stealing
that that belongs to Him. Religious people rest or twist
the Scripture to make it say what it... Who would dare do
that? Who would dare put up on bulletin
boards words that God didn't say? Isn't that what Jeremiah
said? Who heard me say that? And by dishonoring God's Son,
His person and His work, bringing Him down, making Him a mere amnesty,
an offer to men. And such were some of you, all
of us, one or the other, wasn't it? Colossians 1, look at this,
verse 21. This sounds like Ephesians 2,
doesn't it? You that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. Up in verse 20, He made peace
through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things
unto Himself. By Him, I say. And you know Ephesians
2, don't you? You, me, we, all. We are like the children of disobedience
among whom we all had our conversation in time past, fulfilling the
lust of our flesh, shaking our fist in God's fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." But now here's the God of peace,
but God. And you, like Adam and Eve, how could
they rebel against God? They did, didn't they? And so
did we. But God, God of peace, who is rich in mercy, for His
great love were with the loved one, even when we were dead in
sin. He has quickened us together
with Christ. And it goes on down to say, you
that were aliens, enemies, but now in Christ Jesus, you who
sometime were afar off or made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for He is our peace. He is our peace. It says, He
came and preached, He made peace. He made peace and He came and
preached peace. He sent the Holy Spirit to preach
peace to His people. And He came to preach peace.
I just read to you where the Lord said to His disciples three
times, Peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. Peace be unto
you. He kept assuring them of peace. He said, My peace I leave with
you. Peace I leave with you, he said.
I've made peace for you with God. I've made your peace with
God. God is not angry with you. He
loves you. He's your Father. Because of
me, Christ said, I've made peace. Peace I leave with you. And my
peace I give unto you. He sends the Holy Spirit to give
this peace and this comfort. Am I looking to cry? If you take
your eyes off Christ, you won't have any peace. But look to Him,
and I will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed
on Him. Look at Ephesians 1. Look through here. Just browse
a little bit with me. I want to show you something.
Chapter 1 of Ephesians. I have it. Verse 2. Here's the
beginning. It's to the saints and faithful
in Christ. Grace be to you and peace. from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the next book, Philippians. Philippians 1, verse 2. Grace be unto you. Do you have
it? Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter 1. Do you
have it? Colossians 1. Verse 2, to the
saints and faithful brethren in Christ that Colossians grace
be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. You want to go on? Should I give
you more? We'd have to look at every epistle that begins this
way. He said God is peace and he told
Paul and Peter that it He told them, write this down, first
thing out of your mouth to the saints, to those that look to
Christ and believe in him, grace and peace. You tell them, I'm
the God of peace. And I'm their father. Grace and peace. from God our
Father. Remember that? Our Father. Peace
means oneness. Peace means unity. Two parties
brought together where they were in conflict, like reconciliation. Two parties brought together.
Peace. How'd this happen? Jesus Christ. It's all about Jesus. Two things,
alright? You know these things. But two
things must be done to have peace with God. Men say, you know,
people always say this, don't they, in their deathbed, he made
his peace with God. You ever heard that? You can't
do that. We can't do that. We don't make
peace with God. I just read to you where it says
Christ did. Two things must be done for us to have peace with
God. Now this is a fact. This is the truth. God's wrath
must be God's wrath against sin must
be removed. God will by no means clear the
guilty. This is doctrine, yes, but it's so. This is who God
is, holy and just. His wrath against sin must be
appeased. And secondly, the enmity in us
must be removed. The rebellion in us must be removed. And both are done by Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Both. Accomplished by Christ.
Sounds old-fashioned and barbaric to the people of this world to
talk of God being angry. But that's what the Scripture
says, isn't it? Isn't it, Ty? That's what the Scripture says.
In Romans chapter 1, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against what? against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth for unrighteous purposes." Isn't
that what it says? But God, in mercy, sent His Son to bear
that wrath, not for everybody, but for some people. To bear
the sins of many. And with those people, whomever
Christ died for, God is not angry at all. To the contrary, God loves them. That's why He
sent Christ. He loves them. And God laid on
Him the iniquity of them all. The chastisement of their peace
was laid on Him. You remember that story, don't
you? That old illustration, that He took my weapon. The chastisement,
the stripes. By His stripes we are healed. The Lord hath laid on Him. the
iniquity of us all. And our sins, the sins of God's
people, past, listen to me, past are removed, paid for, punished
and forgotten by God. Forgotten. Present, paid for,
removed, forgotten by God. Future, paid for. Removed. Forgotten by God. Forgotten
before it even happened. Now, that's good news. That's
good news. That's important. You know why?
Because when sins trouble you in the future, when the accuser
accuses you and removes your peace, when the accuser comes
to you and accuses you and you don't have any peace, you think
God is angry with you and going to cast you out? Look one more
time. to Christ and Him crucified,
and plead His blood, and you'll have peace. Peace of conscience. Old Brother Scott used to always
say, there's no removal of guilt from the conscience except blood
of a sacrifice. God has said, peace. Be of good
cheer, Christ said. Peace, I leave with you. So Christ
is the one who bore the wrath of God against our sin. And secondly,
The enmity in us, the rebellion in us has to be removed. We have
to be turned from a child of wrath to peaceable. We have to
be turned from children of rebellion to submissive children. We have
to be turned from God-haters to God-lovers. And that's done, too, by seeing
Christ crucified. Nothing will do it but that.
Illustration, true story. A man sitting in a prison cell,
guilty of all manner of crimes, sentenced to die on a cross. He's awaiting execution. He's
guilty, he knows it. Everyone else does, too. And
he's been apprehended by the law, and he is held bound by
that law in prison, awaiting his just execution. His name is Barabbas. All right? And all of a sudden, they come,
they open his prison doors, and they say, Barabbas, you're free
to go. You don't have to die. You've
been set free. The laws have been blotted out
against you. Your record is clear. Go." And
he says, but why? And they say, look at that cross
on Yonder Hill. That man in the middle cross
took your place. Now, what do you reckon Barabbas
thought about that? I know what he thought, because
everyone for whom Christ truly died, it breaks down that enmity. It's the only thing that will.
Guilty? Sentenced? The only thing that
will really break down that enmity and that rebellion and make a
person eternally grateful is when they see Christ died in
my stead. That's the only thing. Right,
Pastor? Hold it down. Hold it down. Make them keep coming back to
worship. It won't be a duty. It will be a privilege. It will
be their reasonable service. Peace. Peace. That broke him. That's what will turn a proud,
rebellious, demanding prodigal into a broken, humble, and thankful
servant. Mercy. Grace. Peace. God the Father is not out to
get His children. Because it pleased the Lord to
bruise His only begotten Son. And if God spared not His only
Son, how shall He not with them three to give His Son? That's
proof. God's not out to get us. Like
that father with that prodigal son. The father was looking for
him, wasn't he? The father was waiting for him,
wasn't he? And our Lord said in Jeremiah 29, listen to this,
He said, I know my thoughts toward you. And this is what led to
all of this. He said, I know the thoughts
I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, not
of evil, to give you an expected end. Maybe you better turn and look
at this with me, okay? Jeremiah 29. Yeah, you need to turn and look. underline this and go back and
read it again. It's worthy of a message by itself,
isn't it? Look at it again with me. Jeremiah
29, 11. I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord. Who? Who's he talking to? None
of them that trust in him shall be ashamed. Anyone, everyone,
whosoever trusts in Him, whoever believes Christ. Christ said,
Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give
you rest. Peace. That's anyone that looks to Christ.
Everyone. The thief on the cross, didn't
he? All right. I know the thoughts I think toward
you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil. Do you ever think evil thoughts toward your children? Maybe you do. But God does this. God does this. It's because they provoke you.
But really, you wouldn't harm them. If you then, in evil, know
how to do good things, think good thoughts, how much more
shall the Father? Thoughts of peace, not of evil.
He said, I'm going to give you an expected end. We hope to the end, don't we? We hope. for salvation. We hope to be allowed into God's
kingdom. We hope for that. No, that's
an expected, that's what, hope is an expectation is what it
is. Based on something somebody said
or promised. God, who cannot lie, promised.
He said, I'm going to bring you to that expected end. I am. Because I am. Peace. Peace. When that prodigal When
the father of that prodigal came home, the father wasn't thinking,
I'm going to make him pay. No, no. Wasn't. He wasn't thinking that
at all. He wasn't thinking, he's going to have to feel real guilty
for a while. He's already feeling guilty.
That's why he's coming. He said, I'm going to make him
just feel sorry for the longest time until I feel like he's really
paid his dues and paid me back for what he did. No. What did
the Father do? He didn't make him feel sorry.
He made him feel welcome. He didn't make him feel guilty.
He made him feel missed. He didn't make him feel rotten. He made him feel loved. I know the Lord brings us to
ourselves to see our rotten selves and feel guilt and all of that,
but when then we see that He's a God of peace through Christ,
my, my. He said, I know my thoughts toward
you. The God of peace. Peace is what we need. Peace
is what we need. Peace means to be one, brought
together with God by Christ. Peace means quiet. Quiet. Peace, you know. You like peace?
Don't disturb the peace. Oh, my. What does it say in Isaiah
30? In returning and rest shall you
be saved. In quietness and confidence shall
be your strength. We keep coming back here. And
like we were talking, Sammy, He multiplies pardon. We keep
coming back for pardon. Well, the Scripture says God
multiplies pardon. Peter said it this way, grace
and peace be multiplied unto you. We keep coming back to hear
that we have peace with God. We have peace with God. Quiet.
Quiet means freedom from tumult. Come here to just rest. We need
peace, don't we? Come here to rest from the tumult
and the noise and the noisome pestilence. Peace means stillness.
Be still. What will still our soul? Be
still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side. If God be for us... Oh, a lot of people quote that,
don't they? Oh, my. Put it on the back of 18-wheel
trailers for everybody to see. It's not for everybody. But for
God's people, I can say from God's Word, if God be for you,
who or what can be against you? Huh? Who shall separate us from
the love of God, the love of Christ? Say anything? No. Can't. God of peace. God of peace. He's declared it. Christ obtained
it. The Holy Spirit applies it. Stillness. Peace. Freedom from war is what
peace is. Freedom from war. No war. No hostility. Now, we struggle
and we wrestle with sin, don't we? It's a very real struggle. We have a strong and real adversary,
don't we? A hostile enemy. What he said
to Simon goes for all of God's children. Simon, Satan hath desired
thee to sift you like wheat. Peter later on said he's like
a roaring lion. Seeking whom He may devour. Peter
says, I know. But, what's our peace? Here it is. Listen to Isaiah. The Lord said, you speak comfortably
to My people. Comfort ye My people. Speak ye
comfortably to them. Say unto them, The warfare is accomplished. The warfare is accomplished.
As Brother Dan said, the war is over and Christ won. These little skirmishes. It's
like back in the Civil War, you know, when peace was declared. Am I going to say this? Yeah, the South lost and they
had to submit. I'm glad they did. At any rate,
and you can tell anybody I said that, we wouldn't have a union. We wouldn't be here. We wouldn't
be here together. We'd still be in between. That
was up to the Lord. At any rate, there were still
little skirmishes here and there. They hadn't heard about it. Japanese, still fighting. Peace
had been declared. They'd already surrendered, hadn't
they? There were still little battles here and there. But the
war is over. The outcome has already been determined. Peace. God has declared peace for His
people. And Satan shall not. Sin shall
not have dominion over you. And Satan is on a chain. He's
on a chain. Our adversary. Because Christ
led captivity. When Christ, right before He
went to the cross, He said, now is the God of this world judged,
the Prince of this world. He's come and I've judged Him.
Now He'll be cast out. Now He's mine. He's mine. I'm going to crush His head,
the serpent's head. Our Lord said, go to John 16
with me, John chapter 16. Our Lord said this in Isaiah,
to Isaiah, there's no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
There is no peace. Who are the wicked? Now, all
of us feel wicked at times, don't we? We feel wicked. And I'll
tell you who the wicked are. I'll tell you what Scripture
says. The wicked are those that forget God. That's what Psalm
50 says. You that forget God. Those that
forget God, those who are not thankful, Romans 1 says, neither
are thankful. Those who hate His truth. That's
not you, is it? No. Those that hate His truth.
Those that blaspheme His name. As we said before, those that
rob His glory. That's the wicked. That's the
wicked. But to His people, now, He's
at peace. And He says this to them in John
16, verse 33, these things, John 16, 33. These things have I spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In me. And he said a great deal,
didn't he? If you want something to read,
you don't know where to read, the days ahead. Start, well,
John 1, but start in John 14. Start right there. This is what Christ says to His
disciples, to believers, His disciples, and to allay all their fears.
And over and over again He talks about peace. Start there in John
14, read all the way through chapter 17, that wonderful priestly
prayer. But these things have I said
unto you, He said in verse 33, that in me you might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation, but money be of good cheer. You know who owns this world?
You know who reigns and rules over this world? You know who
has it in his hand and has you and me in his hand? And will no wise cast you out?
And no man can pluck us out of his hand? Be of good cheer. Peace. Peace. There is peace. Peace. That ought to give us
peace of mind. Peace of mind. Peace of conscience. Peace of conscience. Peace of
God that will keep, which passes understanding. Some of you love
this verse, don't you? Philippians. The peace of God
that passes understanding will keep your hearts and minds happy
through Christ Jesus by looking to Him. Remember, that's His
name, the God of peace. That's His name. What God is, is what God does.
He's determined peace. He's ordained peace. He's settled
it, peace. He's at peace with us. And He's
broken down the enmity in us. And we shall ever be, Scripture
says, with Him in a peaceable... He said, I've made you a peaceable
habitation. We're going to dwell in a land
of peace, a kingdom of peace with our God of peace. That's His name. Psalm 9, 10
says, They that know thy name will put their trust in it. You
trust in Him, the God of peace. Irene, I wish you hadn't have
gone. You know what the Greek word for peace is? Irene. Seriously. I looked it up. Tell her that. Irene. Peace. Hebrews, Shalom. But peace. She's got a good night.
Peace. We've got a good God, don't we?
God of peace. God of peace. Next Sunday, this
Sunday, Lord willing, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep. Okay,
stand with me. Our Lord, we thank You. Our God,
we thank You for Your blessed gospel of peace. We thank You
for Your words of peace. Thank You for Your thoughts toward
us. If we should reckon them up,
they are more than can be connumbered. Thoughts of peace toward us to
give us an expected end. We thank You, Lord. We are undeserving. We are unworthy. Thou art God,
and beside Thee there is none else. As Your thoughts and ways
are higher than us, then the heavens are the earth. And we
are so glad that Thou art our God. Thank You, Lord, for sending
Your Son. This is how we know and can be
assured that we have peace with You, by looking to Your Son whom
You sent to make peace by His cross. Thank You, Lord, for making
Him our substitute. making Him to be a propitiation
for us. Blood on the mercy seat. Thank
you, Lord. Let us grow in these things and understanding and
with it comes greater peace. Let not the fowl of the air take
these things away or the thorns and thistles choke them out.
Let them be planted. Stayed upon Jehovah. It's in
His name, Christ's name, we've met here tonight. Amen. you.