Turn in your Bibles, if you would,
to Isaiah 26, and we'll read verses 3 and 4, which bring forth
the blessed truth of the peace of mind for the believer when
our minds are set upon Christ. Now, in this world, we all have
tribulation and trials, and these things tend to get our minds
off Christ. And when that happens, our peace
also is shaken. The one way that we can have
peace in the midst of all the circumstances of this world is
to stay our mind upon Christ. Because we trust in Him. He's our hope. He's our hope,
no matter what circumstances we go through. And so we're going
to look at here the blessed truth of the peace of mind for the
believer when our mind is set upon the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Isaiah chapter 26, verses three and four, the scriptures declare
this. Thou will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee. Then verse four, trust ye in
the Lord forever. for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. Look at these wonderful words
in verse 3. What a exhortation for we who
are the believers, the born-again, blood-washed believers who look
to Christ alone for our salvation, who look to him alone and trust
him each day. Look at this promise from God.
This is a promise from God. Thou will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind has stayed on thee, because he trusts in
thee. I don't know about you, but for
me, when I get my eyes off the Lord, sometimes my peace tends
to disappear a little bit. Oh my. But when I get my eyes
back on Christ, my peace returns. When I try to do things on my
own and fix things on my own, I don't have peace. But when I rest and trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone, oh, what peace we have. What peace we have. Look at this text again in verse
three. Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has
stayed on thee because he trusted in thee. See that word mind there? It refers not only to our intellect,
but the whole of one's inner being. If I'm stayed upon Jehovah,
if my mind is set upon Jehovah, I have peace. If I'm straying
from the Lord, which we can all do, just like that lost sheep,
right? Just wandering off. If we're straying from the Lord,
we're wandering into misery, beloved. We're wandering into
misery. Oh, now peace. is God's gift
to his elect. It's God's gift to his people
when we know that we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's a settled affair, isn't
it? That's a settled affair. But this verse here is a promise
for us in this world that now we'll keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee. Again, if I'm stayed upon Jehovah,
I have peace. If I'm straying from the Lord,
I'm wandering into misery. Oh my. And we're not to look,
if one looks to philosophers, or psychologists, or therapists,
or physicians, or even preachers for peace, we're going to be
disappointed. We're going to be disappointed.
No man can give peace. No man can give peace. And you
know what? We can't muster peace up within ourselves. We can't
do it. The only way to obtain peace
while we're walking through this world, and I'm talking true peace,
I'm talking true peace, Peace that comes from God is to trust
Christ, to put ourselves in his hands, in his hands, in his hands
alone. And God gives peace to those
who look to him and trust him. As we see here, thou will keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusts in thee. Faith is not, now look at this
too, faith is not the cause of peace. Grace is. God's grace. Faith is not the
fountain of peace. Christ Jesus the Lord is. Faith in Christ is a channel
through which peace comes from God to us, to our hearts. And God gives us faith and then
when we stay our mind upon Christ and upon Jehovah, he gives us
peace. He gives us peace. Faith in Christ
proclaims peace to the soul. Peace with God to the soul. We
were enemies in our minds by wicked works. Sinful rebels. Now we have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ in his precious, precious blood, shed
for us, redeeming our eternal souls on Calvary. Oh, my sinner
friend, come amidst sinners who are saved by the grace of God
and rejoice with us. Rejoice with us. Whosoever will,
let him come, flee to Christ. He's the only savior of sinners.
He's the only one who can give us peace amidst the turmoil of
this world. Oh, my. And to be stayed upon
Jehovah, to be stayed upon Christ, is to be glued to Him. Isn't
that wonderful? To be built up upon Him by faith. Remember we saw in our study
in Acts that Barnabas told the saints, cleave to Christ. Cleave
to Him. That's like being glued to Him.
Cleave to Him. Hang on to Him. Oh, my. My, oh, my. So if we who are
the born-again, blood-washed saints of God would enjoy peace
in this world, let our thoughts be stayed upon Jehovah. Let our
thoughts be stayed upon Christ. Paul said, set your mind on things
above. Set our minds on Christ, that is. Isn't that wonderful? You say, is it that simple? Yeah,
look to Christ and be saved. Do we want peace? Look to Christ
amidst all the circumstances of this world, and God has promised
us that we'll keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed
upon Him, upon Christ, upon Jehovah. And then verse 4, trust ye in
the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. We're so weak, and He's so strong. He's so mighty. Oh my. And never think of your sin without
thinking of His forgiveness. Never think of your needs without
thinking of His bounty, which is endless. We can't exhaust
His bounty. Never think of your past without
thinking of His providence. And never think of your future
without thinking of His promises. Oh, look at this promise. Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee,
because he trusts us in Thee. Christ is our salvation. Christ
is our hope. He's the only one who we trust
our eternal soul to. Faith in Christ is a gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So let us be stayed
upon the one object of God-given faith. What is the one object
of God-given faith? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
not our works, it's not anything we do, it's not anything we say,
it's Christ and Christ alone. And it's looking to Him for all
our salvation. Now, as a result of being born
again, as a result of being saved, we're desired to serve Him, but
that does not add anything to our salvation. Nothing at all. That just comes from a grateful,
redeemed heart. Salvation is by Christ, in Christ,
through Christ, plus absolutely nothing by us. Salvations of
the Lord. Oh my. So let us, let us boast
in Christ. Let us boast in the one who is
the object of our faith. the Lord Jesus Christ, whose
God incarnated in the flesh, who came to save his people from
their sins. And by the shedding of his precious
blood, he redeemed our eternal souls. And we're thankful for
that, aren't we? We give glory to God for that.
Oh, my. And so, as the message is called,
Leaning on Christ Alone, let us lean on Christ. Let us rest
on Christ. As the old-timers said, let us
repose in Christ, which means you're sitting on something that's
holding you up, you're reposing. Let us repose in Christ. Let
us just cast our whole self upon Christ. And that's what the believer
does. He's everything to us. Oh, my. Let all our imaginations be stayed
upon our God. Oh my, my oh my. Let us, let our mind be stayed
upon his goodness, his mercy, his grace, his power, and his
promises, beloved, that are all, remember he said all the promises
of God are what? Yea and amen in Christ. It's wonderful, beloved,
absolutely wonderful. And if we would live in peace,
if we would live in peace, let all our desires be stayed upon
God, And may we want nothing but what the Lord wills to give
us. And may we desire nothing but what God deems good. Listen
to these words. The Holy Spirit had Paul penned
these words in his letter to the Philippians. And he says
this to the redeemed of the Lord. This is an exhortation for us.
Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God, and the peace of God, right? The peace of God, remember this,
thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee, because he trusteth in thee. The peace of God, which
passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. It's wonderful, beloved. It's
wonderful. We set our minds upon Christ
and we will receive peace in midst of trials and tribulations,
things going on in our country, things going on in the world.
We just have to keep our eyes on Christ. He is the sovereign
God. He is the sovereign ruler. So
let we who are the redeemed of the Lord set our hearts upon
Christ and His, think of this, His perfect sin-atoning work
in our room and place. He saved us, beloved. He redeemed
us by the shedding of his precious blood, and may we rest in his
providential care and his everlasting promise. This will cause us to
obtain peace, the peace which God says passes all understanding.
You ever had people say to you, how can you be so calm amidst
things going on in this world? It's because God gives us the
peace that passes all understanding. The world can't understand it.
And that peace is only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And beloved of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is precious to those
who believe. Precious. And those who have
God-given faith have precious faith in Christ, who's precious
to the believer. And we keep our minds stayed
upon him by the grace of God, don't we? By the grace of God. Oh my. And keeping our mind stayed
upon Christ, you know what that'll do? That'll make Him even more
precious to us. That'll make Him... It happens,
beloved. The more we think about Christ,
the more we keep our mind stayed upon Him, the more precious He
is to us. That's why Christ is precious
to the believer. Oh my. And God promises to bring
us peace. Beloved God, when our heart is
fixed in solid reliance upon God, a change in our circumstances
will only slightly affect us. As faith in Christ has made we
who are redeemed of the Lord stand firm and steadfast, trusting
Christ alone. And he keeps us that way. Therefore, as the psalmist learned,
We shall not be afraid of evil tidings when our heart is fixed
upon the Lord. Psalm 112, verses six and seven. Surely he shall not be moved
forever, for the righteous, or the righteous shall be in everlasting
remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil
tidings, his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. And that's
in the Hebrew, trusting in Jehovah. So I ask you this, is Christ
precious to you? I ask you, beloved of God, is
Christ not precious to us? Oh my, we believe on him who
is the savior of our soul. He's so precious to us. And God-given
faith will not permit the redeemed of the Lord to look, to trust,
to rest upon, to live upon, or to have any other hope but in
Christ and Christ alone. Therefore, unto the believer
in Christ, he is precious. If we stay our minds on our great
God, we will find peace and rest. As the hymn writer wrote a long
time ago, stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding
as he promised, perfect peace and rest. Amen and amen.