Philippians chapter four. We'll read two verses. Philippians
chapter four. Verses six and seven Philippians
four verse six. Apostle Paul says, 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. We're going to be hopefully brief
and very practical this morning with this thought from verse
seven. Peace that passeth understanding. Look again, what he said, and
the God of peace, which passeth all understanding shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. What makes this
difficult is that by nature we refuse to rest in anything we
don't understand. We must be able to see through
it, forward and backward, take it apart, dissect it, put it
back together, understand it fully, or else I can't rest in
it. Well, that is where the operation
of faith comes in, the God-given principle in which we take God
at His word and find peace. Fallen humanity searches diligently
for happiness, for peace of mind and heart, and searches in so
many ways. I've thought of this all this
week as we were away in a strange place, seeing strange people
do strange things. It's amazing. Some just try to forget God,
period. They resign to the fact that
if there is a God, they can never please him. So they run from every thought.
and every mention of God. So many in our world today are
like that. Then there are others who seek
peace and satisfaction in the world, to travel, to see every
sight there is to see, to experience every pleasure there is to experience. But it's never enough to bring
peace. Others are given to attain and
to strive for wealth long as they live. One million is not enough. Ten
million is not enough. But the pursuit of more and more
and more is what keeps them occupied till death, but it's never enough.
to find peace. Other people seek for peace by
laboring diligently to deny self. Evil deeds and sins of the past
plague the troubled mind. And many feel like, well, if
I can just shake off the evil that is in me, And if I can get
a hold of the good that's not in me, I can find peace, but
it never happens. Cannot be so. And then others
think, so many think that by being very religious, they can
find peace. But true religion is the fruit
and the enjoyment of God's peace. not the price to be paid for
it. So people have it just backwards. This peace of God we read about,
which passeth understanding, is a peace that comes not by
our doing anything, but by our believing, being able
to believe, that Christ did everything for us. Really, when we're saved, we're
saved from ourselves. Everybody talks about being saved
from hell. That's just a small thing. Being
saved from ourselves is the great need. Delivered from ourselves. Not by trusting that our faith
is strong enough. Not by trusting that we believe
enough. You say, well, I believe. I tried
to believe. Yeah, but the devil says you
don't believe enough. Well, I think I have faith. Yeah,
but I need more. See? Believing in all is the issue. And we're not believing in ourselves
or anything about ourselves. We're believing in him. That's
what I want to tell you this morning. Believing in him. There
are three precious things I want to mention in our enjoyment of
the peace of God in this world. I'll say this, if you are set
on being an extreme religionist until you die, you won't have
time for these things. You won't have time to enjoy
anything. But these are three precious things. that the Lord's
children, trusting in Him, enjoy. First of all, we rest in the
finished work of Christ. And I can never overstate that,
though we try to state it constantly. We rest in the finished work
of Christ. So many people believe that God
can only smile on them if they don't make too many mistakes
in life. Well, I know a little secret.
You've already made too many. That doesn't give any hope to
those of us who've made lots of mistakes. But the Bible teaches
that God's smile on us does not depend on us at all. but that
we are accepted with God in His Son, Jesus Christ. The sinless blood He shed on
Calvary, the sacrificial death upon the cross, it was the judgment
of my sin charged by God to His Son. Now, he didn't deserve to be
there. His perfect righteousness, which could never bring anyone
to be condemned of God, was imputed to me because he
took my sin the same time he gave me his righteousness. This
is so simple and yet it's so hard. The Passover in Egypt is a good
example. Very good example. It's a perfect
picture. And you know this, God had said
on one specific night, I'll pass through Egypt in judgment. And I'm going to judge, I'm going
to kill the firstborn in every house. Not just the houses of
the Egyptians, but in every house. You see, the Israelites too were
guilty before God. And God instructed the Israelites
to kill a lamb and to strike the blood of the lamb upon the
upper door post and the two side posts of their houses. And he said to them, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. He never said, when I see the
Star of David. He never said, when I see that
you're Israelites. He never said, when I see that
you believe in the true and living God. He never said, when I see
that you're religious people. He said, when I see the blood. It wasn't that the Israelites
were one bit better than the Egyptian. The deliverance wasn't based
on them being better. It was based on a price being
paid. A lamb had to die. And the blood said death has
already been here. Judgment has already come here. And so they were not delivered
by anything else except by the blood of the Lamb. The blood of that Passover Lamb
was a picture of the shed blood of Jesus Christ upon the cross. It is not by our doing things
or refraining from bad things that we escape the judgment of
God upon us for our sin. No. It is rather that our sin
was judged in another, in God's Son. Christ took our place. And I rest in that this morning.
His finished work. When Christ spake these words
from the cross and said, it is finished. Was it? Yes, it was. Then why should we worry? Why
should we fret? Why should we look to ourselves
for relief? Why should we live thinking that,
well, if I can do a little better tomorrow than I did today, maybe
I can change God's mind. No. God's mind has been fixed
and set from eternity on His Son. And all who are in Christ
are accepted with God. So this morning if you choose
to dwell on a sinful past, we all have one. If you choose to dwell on wasted
years, we all have some. You will find no peace. If you trust in what all you've
done right, how you've lived, you'll never
find peace because you haven't lived good enough. Christ said to his disciples,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. You know what he was simply saying? You give God some credit. Give
me some. And we could say that this morning,
you give God credit for his beautiful creation. For getting the sun
up every morning, the sunshine and the rain and the mountains
and the beautiful flowers we're enjoying this time of year. You
give God some credit. Why don't you give Christ some
credit? He really did satisfy God in
my behalf. No use in me trying to add my
two cents' worth. I don't have two cents' worth or one cent's worth. I have no
righteousness of my own to give, and I don't need to. I am represented
in and resting in. the finished work of Christ and
His perfect righteousness. Second thought, I rejoice in
the mercy and grace of God. Not only do I rest in the finished
work of Christ, but this peace lets me rejoice in the mercy
and grace of God Not just from my past, but in the present. Right now. Right now. You see, some of you don't understand. You'll mess up enough today. I'll mess up enough while I'm
up here preaching to you. There's enough corruption working
in me right now to send me to hell 10,000 times today. Forget about yesterday, today! And you're just as bad off sitting
in the pew with your mouth shut. But God's mercy, what is God's
mercy? Withholding what we deserve. And God's grace, what is His
grace? Giving us what we don't deserve.
It's working right now. It's working right now. We are
kept, Peter said, by the power of God. I'm talking about present tense
now. I'm talking about right now. The only thing. You think
you have some conviction. You think. that you got a handle
on this thing. I want to tell you something.
I've seen folk that I felt like were a lot further along than
me and you flop out. And I'm going to tell you something
you won't believe. The only thing that keeps you from cursing God
and walking away today is His mercy and His grace that works
day and night, 24-7. If there is any love in your
heart for Him this morning, it's His mercy and grace that put
it there. If there is any longing in your heart for Him, it's His
mercy and grace that put it there. Can I remind you there's multitudes,
multitudes this morning that all of this means absolutely
nothing to them. They think it vain. that you'd
get out of bed on Sunday morning, get ready to come to church.
They think it vain and foolish that we should come here and
sing, what a fellowship, what a joy divine. What is it? Leaning
on the everlasting arms of Him who has not and will not fail
us. They think it a waste of time
to hear God's word. Oh, but this book is so true.
It's so trustworthy. We rejoice in his promises of
mercy and grace. And while this world around us
this morning rejoices in temporal things,
things passing away, things soon to be gone. We rejoice in Him
who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. There's people this
morning working themselves to death, spending big money, I
mean really busting a gut to try to preserve what they cannot
hold on to. I'm telling you, This is a changing
world we're in, and this is a fleeting life we're in. Oh, we rejoice in him who will
not fail tomorrow. He's the same yesterday, today
and forever. We rejoice in him whose mercy
will not run out by this time tomorrow. But it's everlasting. And I'm
rejoicing in Him whose grace is greater than all my sin. All my sin past, present, and
future. All my sins of commission and
omission. All my sins of word, deed, and
thought. Grace greater than all. my sin. You can have anything
else. I rejoice in his mercy and his
grace. Third and final thought, we rely
on the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost for guidance and for power. Zechariah 4, 6, not by might
nor by power, But by my Spirit, saith the Lord." What are we
going to do tomorrow? Same as today. Rely on Him who
is all-wise for guidance and for strength. I confess to you,
I cannot bluff my way through this world, and neither can you. Forget the world, I can't even
handle this position God put me in as your pastor. It's amazing to watch through
the years and I watch other people and I watch other preachers.
It's amazing how many people have the idea. It's amazing how
many preachers have the idea that the preacher's really got
a handle on it. Everybody else is messed up.
I mean, he's got his life in order. He's, he's able to handle
this thing. No, I won't tell you. I can't
handle anything. I am resting in the finished
work of Christ. I'm rejoicing in the mercy and
grace of God day by day. And I am relying on the blessed
Holy spirit for guidance and for strength. So many rely on
personality, popularity, natural talents, gimmicks, and
games to try and do God's business. But I'll say to you this morning
what I always say, it takes more than what any man can do to change
another man's heart. It takes the Lord. It's not my business to entertain.
It's my business to preach the gospel that Christ died, was
buried and rose again, satisfying God for the sins of his people,
representing such wretched sinners as ourselves and representing
us well. Only the Holy Spirit can give
you peace. It is my business to tell you that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. So we rely on the Holy Spirit. He can do so much more than what you or I can do. He
can do what needs to be done. Do it efficiently. Do it quickly. Years ago now
when we were, I thought of this today, we were building this
building and had a pile of dirt out here
that needed to be moved. And one certain fellow was straining
and working diligently with a shovel, using up lots of energy he didn't
have to spare. About that time another man came
along on a backhoe with a big old wide bucket and spread that pile. Spread
it more. Spread it evenly. He did more
in five seconds than the other fellow could have done in five
hours. And I often think about that
in our religious pursuits. in our lives. When God moves, it makes all
else insignificant. When God does it, it's done and
done right. I want to say this morning, we
don't need new ideas, bigger signs, brighter lights. We just
need to plead with our God. to do his work in our hearts
and in our children and in all hearts that he's pleased to bring
to this place. We need him. We need him. How may I find and enjoy this
peace that passeth all understanding? One, I rest in the finished work
of Christ. Otherwise, I perish. It's that
simple. Two, I rejoice in the mercy and grace of God this very
moment. I've never made the grade. I'm
not making it now. And I won't make it tomorrow.
I rejoice in his mercy and grace given me in Christ for every
day I live. And three, I rely on the Holy
Ghost for guidance and strength. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We do know who holds tomorrow.
He gives peace in the time of trouble. Oh, yes. I heard about an old
saint one time singing during a tornado. Everybody else was
scared to death, on their knees praying, screaming out to God,
and she's walking around singing. Somebody looked up to her and
said, Sister, why don't you pray? And she said, I prayed yesterday.
I'm singing today. You get the picture? I read another story about a
military man, a general, a godly man who lay dying. And for years he had an officer
under him who was not a believer. He had talked with him many times
through the years about it. So on his deathbed, this old
general sent for the Lesser officer sent word to him that he had
some orders for him. The officer came in and said,
sir, you sent for me, you have orders for me. And the old general
said, yes, just one, one last order. There's not anything you
have to do, just something I want you to observe and learn. And
here it is. I want you to see and hopefully
someday understand how that one who is trusting, not in himself,
but in Christ alone can die in peace. You're watching a man
die in peace. What a testimony. Let me say this, and I'm finished.
If you have not this peace that passeth understanding this morning
to pillow your head on at night and to pillow your head on when
you're dying, here's what you have coming. Satan will be showing up with
boxcar loads of sins, mistakes, failures, foolishness, and all
sorts of proof that your life is worthless.
You're the biggest fool ever lived and you must die in defeat
and perish in your sins. So I urge you this morning. Open
God's Word. Talk to the Lord. Seek to rest
in the finished work of His Son. Then and only then can you rejoice
in His mercy and grace every day you live. Then and only then
can you rely on the Holy Spirit for comfort, guidance, and strength. for whatever the future holds. Be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known unto
God. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall, not might, but shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus. Thank you.