Would you like to have peace?
I mean real peace. Peace in your heart and soul. Peace of mind. Peace of conscience. What would you give to have peace
with God and to know you have peace with God? To know that
God Almighty, the Holy Eternal, triune, righteous, just and true
God has no quarrel with you, no quarrel, no anger, no wrath,
no malice, no vengeance against your sin. Would you like to be
able to go to bed at night, lay down and sleep with peace? without
your conscience crying against you, without anxiety or fear. Blessed is the man who has peace
with God. Find me a man who knows what
it is to be at peace with God, and I'll show you a blessed man.
How would you like to have peace in this world of turmoil, strife,
war, anxiety, and fear? What would you give? to have
a happy, peaceful home, a home without strife, without envy,
without jealousy, without any fighting. About everybody pretends to have.
Very few people know what it is to have a peaceful home. Oh, blessed is that man who finds
peace at his own table, peace around his own hearth, peace
in his own home. Blessed is that man whose home
is a castle of peace. What about personal, inward peace? Would you like to have a peaceful,
restful heart? Would you be interested in having
the secret to a life of peace? Blessed is the man who lives
in peace, who has a quiet, peaceful heart, even in the midst of trouble. who can look upon trial, the
difficulties and the heartaches that he faces day by day, and
yet be quiet and peaceful in here. Who can with weeping eye
have a heart of peace with God? Who can with pain have a heart
of peace with God? If your heart is at peace, no
outward circumstance can greatly disturb you. If your heart is
peaceful, though your life is turned upside down and inside
out, nothing really has power to cast you down. If I could
tell you how to attain this peace, would you be interested? Does
that interest you? It interests me. Give me your
ear. I have a word, I believe, a message
from God for everybody here tonight. Turn with me to Judges chapter
six. We won't read the chapter. I'm just going to pick out a
couple of verses and read them to you. I would encourage you
to read it at your leisure. The Book of Judges is an encouraging
book. It's a delightful book. Gideon
was a man who longed for peace. The children of Israel had sinned
against God. They'd done great evil in the
sight of the Lord. It was not so much that they
had outwardly forsaken the worship of God, but they had incorporated
into the worship of God the religion of the people among whom they
lived. And they had begun to worship at the altar of Baal,
much like many in our day. God had delivered them, therefore,
into the hands of the Midianites. And for seven years, the Midianites
plundered the land. These Midianites were Ishmaelites. They were men who were given
to plundering. They were men who were barbaric
in the treatment of these Israelites. And they spoiled the land, so
much so that they left no sustenance for the children of Israel. And
the men and women of Israel hid themselves among the dens and
the caves of the mountains. And in order that they might
just survive and have a little to eat, they'd plant a little
venue just in a little spot of ground over here and try to hide
it so the Midianites couldn't find it. And they'd plant a little
garden over here and try to hide that so the Midianites couldn't
find it. Well, Gideon had for seven years lived like this,
and this mighty man of valor, this man of God, this man who
believed God and walked with God, wanted peace. He longed
for peace. And he knew that the only way
of peace was reconciliation with God. He knew that Israel would
never have peace until Israel returned to Jehovah, the true
and living God, and made a clean break from all idolatry. And
Israel did return because of God's gracious chastisement,
because he brought the heavy hand of providence upon them,
because he pressed down their backs with affliction and pressed
down their necks with hard labor and trial and heartache. Because
God brought them into terrible need, he brought their hearts
down into repentance. And so the children of Israel,
we're told, cried unto the Lord. They cried to the Lord their
God in verse 6 because of the Midianites. And Israel was greatly
impoverished. Greatly impoverished because
of the Midianites. That's the reason God sent them.
God sent them to make Israel poor. I know these health, wealth,
prosperity nuts say God doesn't do that. They say God wants you
to be rich. No, not necessarily. Not necessarily. God brought these Israelites
into poverty so that he might bring them to seek true riches.
And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. And then the Lord
sent a prophet, a prophet who promised the people deliverance
in the name of God. He spoke to these afflicted people
and the prophet declared in God's name, I am the Lord your God. Fear not. Fear not. You can read
it in the next three or four verses. While Gideon then was
working in the field one day, he was meditating on the prophet's
words. The prophet of God said, God's gonna deliver you. The
prophet of God said, I'm the Lord your God, I'm with you,
don't be afraid. Well, while Gideon was working
in his little wheat patch, he had planted it beside a wine
press, trying to hide it from the Midianites. He was working
one day meditating upon God's word, meditating upon what the
prophet had said. That's a good way to work. You
go to work tomorrow. I hope God will give me something
to say to you tonight. Tomorrow while you're working,
meditate on it. Maybe God will do something for you. The Lord
God had spoken and Gideon was thinking about it. And while
he thought about the promise of God and thought about the
word of God, how that God would deliver Israel from the Midianites,
how he would establish peace in Israel, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Gideon. Read with me in verse 12. And
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him,
The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Verse 14. And the Lord looked upon him
and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from
the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee? That's
encouragement enough. You go, I've sent you. And if
I've sent you, you can't fail. If I've sent you, no hand can
be against you. If I've sent you, none can stop
you. If I've sent you, the work will
be done. Go and deliver Israel. Have not
I sent thee? Look at verse 16. And the Lord
said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt
smite the Midianites as one man. Now, I don't need to tell you
who this angel of the Lord is. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Savior, the angel of the covenant, the angel of God's
presence, the messenger of the Lord. This angel of the Lord
was the mediator between God and men, the one by whom peace
would be accomplished. And Gideon knew it. He recognized
this angel was himself the Lord. Notice in verse 14, the Lord
looked upon him and said, this angel is spoken of as himself
being Jehovah. And the further proof is that
later on in the chapter, Gideon built an altar and worshiped
this angel of the Lord and offered sacrifice. And the angel received
the sacrifice which he had offered. And once God had accepted the
sacrifice, once God had sent fire out of the rock to consume
the sacrifice, then he spoke again to his prophet Gideon and
promised Gideon peace and life. Now begin reading with me in
verse 22. When Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord,
Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for I have seen an angel of the
Lord face to face. The same thing when Noah said
when his wife saw the Lord. We've seen the Lord. We've seen
the face to face. We've seen God. Alas, alas, I've
seen the angel of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto
him, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Peace be unto thee. Fear not, thou shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there
unto the Lord. Look at it and called it Jehovah
Shalom. Jehovah Shalom. If you have a
marginal reference, the Lord, our Now here's another name for
the Lord our Savior, our God and King. And this name is my
subject this evening. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace. Turn over to Ephesians 2 and
you'll see exactly who it is that Gideon saw and who it is
that Gideon worshiped and who it is that spoke to Gideon. Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 14. Who is this angel of the Lord?
Who is this Jehovah Shalom? In Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul
tells us that he is our peace. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
You have it before you in verse 14. He, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us. The apostle is telling us
that the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, our Savior, the God-man
mediator, is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. Christ made
peace. Christ proclaimed peace. Christ
Jesus provided peace. Christ has given peace. But there's
something more in the Scriptures. The Scripture here is telling
us that Jesus Christ is Himself our peace. He's not just made
it. He's not just provided it. He's
not just proclaimed it. He's not just given it. But He
is our peace. Jehovah Shalom is His name. I watch these news reports and
every now and then on the news or in some television movie,
I'll see these Jews. They greet one another and they
say farewell to one another with the word Shalom. And though they
know it not, they're speaking a word of prophecy. For this
word is a prophecy of the coming of Christ, who is peace. They're
speaking a word, though the prophecy's been fulfilled, and they're ignorant
of it. They're telling us that Messiah, the Son of God, that
one whom God promised, is peace. And they say, Shalom. The Lord's
our peace. The Lord sends peace, and the
Lord is peace. And in this passage, we see the
Lord Jesus described by this name Jehovah Shalom. And I want
to speak very plainly, but I trust that the Lord will enable me
to speak most practically to your hearts and my own. I want
to tell you three ways in which Christ Jesus is our peace. First,
the Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah Shalom, our peace with God. When God first made man in the
garden, there was perfect love, peace, and unity between God
and his creature. God and man walked together in
the garden. God and man spoke to one another
as friend with friend. But as soon as our father Adam
sinned against God, a quarrel began. A war broke out. Adam, by sin, broke the peace. Willfully, deliberately, knowing
full well what he was doing, Adam lifted up his hand against
the Lord God, and he broke peace with God. With the pride of his
heart, he broke peace with God. And ever since that time, there's
been a quarrel between God and man. Now the problem is that
it wasn't just Adam that broke the peace. It wasn't just Adam
that sinned. Adam was our federal head. Adam
was our representative before God. The Lord God made Adam to
be one who stood for us. So that when Adam sinned against
God, you sinned against God. When did men become sinners? 6,000 years ago. When did we
fall? 6,000 years ago. What's our age
of accountability? I don't know, but it was over
6,000 years ago. That's when sin entered into
the world. And death by sin and death passed upon all men, for
we all sinned in our daddy Adam. We broke the peace. We broke
the peace with God. And now all men since Adam are
born with a quarrel against God, born into a warfare against the
Holy God. This quarrel is a mutual quarrel. God is angry with man and man
is angry with God. You read in Zechariah 11 in verse
8, as the Lord says, they were wroth with me and I am wroth
with them. They hate me and I hate them. The scriptures tell us that the
natural man, his heart, the carnal mind is enmity against God. That doesn't simply mean that
man's heart has some enmity in it toward God. It means, Bobby,
that you and I, by nature, all our minds and hearts have is
hatred of God. That's everything about us hates
God. Everything about, we're born
that way. We're born that way. The smallest child here and the
oldest man has a heart by nature that hates God and hates everything
about him. That's the way we are. This peace,
I mean, this quarrel between God and man is a universal quarrel. All the sons and daughters of
Adam, without any exception, are born, Ephesians 2, verse
3, they are born children of wrath. Every one of them. Those
two lovely girls of yours, buddy, are just like their mama and
their daddy, born children of wrath. Mine too. Born children,
not children subject to wrath. Not children who might become
the objects of wrath. But every child that breaks the
womb of a mama is a born child of wrath. Born under the curse
of God's law. Born for hell unless God intervenes. That's right. That's right. I
don't like that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you don't
like it. I'm not sorry at all. I'm glad
things the way God arranges them. Men and women by nature are born
with enmity against God so that man goes astray as soon as he
is born, speaking lies. God's angry with man. I thought
God loved everybody. No, that's a lie. Started to
say it's born in hell. I expect it's born in the Southern
Baptist Convention. That's a lie. No, God does not
love everybody. So God is love. Yes, God is love
in Christ. God is love. Out of Christ's
West Rose Boom, God's a consuming fire. Now I'm telling you, I'm
telling you, I know this religious generation. They say, smile,
God loves you. They say, it's a wonderful day,
the Lord's on our side. They say, God's my co-pilot.
They use all kinds of slogans to make me think that God's some
kind of a wimp with a sentimental heart with no justice and no
law and no righteousness. Now listen to me. God Almighty
is angry with the wicked every day that they live. Every day. Read the book of God. The Lord
God, our Savior, in His holiness, in His righteousness, in His
justice, in His truth, cannot embrace a man as he is by nature. He can't do it, Merle. He can't
do it. You know what God did with the
angels when they sinned? You remember what he did? We
read it last week in Revelation 12. When the angels sinned, the
Lord God cast Satan and a third of the heavenly host out of heaven
down to the earth. Sentenced them under chains of
darkness under the judgment of the last day. You think he's
going to do any less with you? You think he's going to do any
less with me? Men, by nature, are obnoxious objects of God's
wrath and anger. God loves nobody but that which
is perfect, righteous, just, and true, just like himself.
just like himself. God's holiness will not allow
him to love anything less than perfect holiness. Preacher, what
are you saying? I'm saying God Almighty never,
ever one time looked upon any man but the God-man, Christ Jesus,
and said, I'm pleased with him. That's the only man He ever said
that about. The only one. The only one. And if you ever
obtain God's favor and pleasure, it will be in Christ Jesus, in
Christ. All men by nature hate God and
are hated of God. Man's heart, his understanding,
his will, his mind is opposed to the Holy God. In the very
fabric and essence of man's being, there's nothing but sin. And
sin is nothing but the hatred of God. Is that true, Hubert? Sin is nothing but the hatred
of God. That's all there is. I saw this
little religious article in our paper a couple of weeks ago.
A fellow was trying to make excuses for folks, you know, good folks
and they set high goals, but you know, we can't measure up.
We can't attain that, you know, and let's not be critical because
fellows don't live perfectly. And these charismatics, they
say they live above sin. Oh, we make some mistakes. We're
not perfect. Anything short of perfection is sin. It's sin. And that sin, that's sin. I don't care what it is. I don't
care whether it's unjust anger, or lust, or stealing, or exaggerating
the truth, or telling a falsehood, or blasphemy, doesn't matter
what it is, in its essence, sin is the hatred of God. Sin says
God's got no right to tell me what to do. Sin says God's got
no right to be God. Sin says God's got no right to
be in control. That's man's hatred of God. So
the preacher, I thought everybody loved the Lord. No, everybody
loves that little hip pocket God that they can put in their
pocket, carry around, pull them out when they need him like a
charm. You remember Mr. Carter, bless his heart. Needs
blessing. He had him a cross, carried around
on his knees. Now, that doesn't say a thing
on earth about his presidency, I'm talking about his religion.
His religion's idolatry. He got him a God, he carries
around on his key ring. And when he's wanting to make
world peace, holds his little cross and rubs it like a magician
rubbing a magic ball. That's foolishness. And yet that's
just the kind of God this religious world has. A little manby-pandy,
do-nothing, know-nothing, ignorant, helpless God that can't do anything
without man. And I'm telling you, that God
is nothing less than an idolatrous figment of man's imagination.
You might as well bow down and worship at the altar of Baal,
Buddha, or a cow, or a stone of any kind. Such a God is foreign
to this book. Is that right, Lindsay? Foreign
to this book. Preacher, what are you saying? I'm saying everybody,
everybody who worships at the altar of a false god has a false
god that they worship and they're perishing in their false religion.
Perishing in it. Men by nature hate the God of
Scripture. That's the reason I stay in trouble
all the time with folks. So you just can't say things
about God like you do. I preach, talk to folks, I wouldn't
worship a God like that. That's showing what they are.
It shows what they are. You mean to tell me that God
predestinates who he'll save? Yes, sir, I do. And you'll either
like it or you'll go to hell. One of the two. You mean to tell
me that God has determined who's going to heaven? Yes, sir, I
mean to tell you that. And you'll either like it or
you'll go to hell. One of the two. One of the two. This quarrel
between God and man is a growing hostility. Man, as he grows in
age, increases in hostility. And as he increases in his rebellion
and sin, he increases in the aggravation of God's holy wrath.
On God's part, the quarrel is altogether righteous. Our sins
are a debt, and we are taught to pray, Father, forgive us our
debts. Because of sin, we are indebted
to God, and by reason of sin, God is indebted to us. The wages
of sin is death. God's indebted to you. He's indebted
to me. Turn over to Deuteronomy. Let
me show you something. Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter
7. Now, it may be that you and I
will not and cannot pay our debt to God. Now, it may be. That's certain. That's certain.
But you mark this down. God Almighty will pay his debt
to you. He will do it. He will do it.
In Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 10. Now let's read verse 9. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, he's God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments to
a thousand generations, and repayeth them that hate him to their face,
to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that
hateth him, but he will repay him to his face. The wages of
your sin is death and God's going to pay. God's going to pay. That's fact. That's fact. Either
he's going to pay in you or he's going to pay in a substitute
for you. But he's going to pay. He's going
to pay somebody for your sin. He's going to punish somebody
for your sin. Our sins are trespasses as well
as debts. The law of God was given as a
hedge to keep us in, but we've broken the hedge, we've transgressed
the law, we've robbed God, we've encroached upon God's territory
denying His right to be God. Our sin is treason, high treason
against the throne and dignity of Almighty God. Sin is an affront
to God's majesty and glory. It defies him. It despises him. It denies him. Like Pharaoh,
every sinner says by his deeds and by his words and by his heart,
he says, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Who
is he? The quarrel on God's part is
a righteous quarrel. But on man's part, it's unrighteous
and unreasonable. God's done nothing to deserve
your enmity. Let me reason with you this evening.
Some of you here yet live in rebellion to my God. What's he done to deserve your
wrath? What's he done to deserve your
hatred? What's he done to deserve that you should walk around every
day with the fist of your heart shoved in God's face saying you've
got no right to rule me? What's he ever done? He's fed
you, he's clothed you, he sustains you in life. Do you know you
draw your breath by his hand and just as easily as he gives
you your next breath, he can withhold your next breath and
you're gone. Now what's he done that he should
deserve your hatred? Our Lord, when he stood before
those Jews, he said, for which of these good works do you stone
me? Why should you be so angry? Why
should you be so hostile? I hear people, they get upset
and angry with God's description of himself in this book. They
don't like what God says about himself in this book. It stirs
up the wrath and strife of their hearts. My soul, whatever God
does is all right. He's God. He's God. I owe my existence to him. I've
got nothing to be angry with him about. He steps in and takes
a child. What are you going to do? Are
you going to fight God or are you going to submit to him? The
child belongs to him. He can do whatever he will, whatever
he wants to, whatever is his pleasure and purpose. He takes
a wife, a companion, mother, father, going to be angry with
God? No. A thousand times no. He's
God. He's God. If the quarrel which
exists between you and God, between me and God, is not taken up and
settled, it will be an everlasting quarrel. Death puts an end to
all strife except strife with God. Oscar, when a man dies who's
angry with you, your fuss with him's ended. That's over. But
a man dies angry with God, his fuss has just begun. It's just
begun. See, the Lord God will pour out His torments, His
wrath, His anger, His just punishment. upon the wicked in eternal death
with unceasing and ever increasing fury. Because man in hell will
go on cursing and blaspheming and denying and despising God
day after day after day. So won't there be any change
of heart in hell? No, no. Tormenting of hell will
be the fact that men will recognize what they are, and they'll recognize
all the truth of God that's been declared to them, and they'll
be utterly incapable of making any change, and they will be
utterly incapable of escaping the terror of God in their hearts
and minds and souls forever. Forever. But I'm telling you, Unless you this day come to terms
of peace with the Holy God, this quarrel shall be an everlasting
quarrel. Oh, guilty sinner, lay your hand
on your heart and say from your heart, I'm the man. I've despised
the Holy God. I've sinned against God. My heart
is enmity against God. I've hated him. His anger against
me is just and righteous altogether. If I could find anybody like
that, if I could find anybody like that, I don't care where
they are, if there's anybody like that here, I've got good
news for you. I've got good news for you. God's
own dear son has this name, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our The Lord
our peace. The Lord God, our Savior, is
himself our peace. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, has taken control on our behalf and he's settled it. He's our mediator. He's our days
man. He's the arbitrator. He's the
one by whom the differences between God and man have been settled.
Settled once and for all. And I'm telling you, he settled
the quarrel for every sinner who believes the gospel. He settled
the quarrel for every man who takes his place before God as
a sinner. So everybody's sinners. Everybody's
sinners. Find me one. Find me. Father, you go down on your job
tomorrow and find me a sinner. Just find me one. Find me one. Ain't nobody sinners. I used
to go over here to North Point Prison. Go over there and you
talk to murderers, pimps, pushers, and every other kind of thing
under the sun. I hadn't found a sinner yet. They're not any
over there. They're none over there. They're
all good folks. Oh, they made a few mistakes,
but they're good folks. You find me a sinner, and I'm telling
you that Jesus Christ made peace for sinners. Is there a sinner
here? Anybody here who needs peace
with God? In order to make peace for us,
the Lord Jesus Christ, first of all, had to deal with God
as our mediator and our substitute. If he would be Jehovah Shalom,
the Lord our peace, Christ had to make atonement for our sins,
pacify the offended justice of God, and fulfill the law of God
in our place. And he's done it. He's done it.
Let me give you some scriptures as I go along. You can jot them
down. The Lord Jesus Christ stood as Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace, in the covenant of grace before the world began. He stood
before God as our representative. He stood before the triune God
and agreed to the terms of peace. What's it going to require that
Don Fortner should have peace with God? What's it going to
take? What will it take to ransom his guilty soul? What will it
take to redeem him from the hands of justice? What will it take
for Don Fortner to live before the Holy God? Now our betrayer
speaks. Great God, what's required? Blood. Blood. Would the blood of bulls and
goats do? No, not all the blood of beast
on Jewish altar slain could give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away one's sin. What will it take? It'll take
the blood of a man. The blood of a man. Yeah, but
it's got to be more than a man. This man's got to be God. He
got to be God. It's man that sins, a man must
die. But man has sinned against the
infinite God, and only God could satisfy for fallen man. The mediator
says, I'll go. And I'll become a man just like
Don Fortner. I'll become a man just like him.
And in his room and in his stead, I'll live to fulfill everything
that he could not and would not fulfill. I'll live in holy obedience
unto you, my father. And having established perfect
righteousness for this fallen man, I'll pay the price for his
ransom. I'll die for him. You know what
happened? Listen to the book of God. This
is what happened. There's a messenger with him,
an interpreter, one among a thousand. And the Lord God, looking upon
this messenger, this interpreter, this mediator, this arbitrator,
this daysman, he says, I'm gracious to him. Deliver him from going
down to the pit. I found a ransom. And it was
settled before the world began. You can read it for yourself,
Job 33, 24. The Lord God looked on his son and said, I'll be
at peace with Don Fortner for his sake, for his sake. I've used my own name because
it just does my heart good to use my own name. If you believe,
put yours in there. He did it for you, Merle, for
Charlotte, for Shelby. He did it for all who believe.
He did it for us. And in the fullness of time,
the Lord Jesus Christ came to accomplish what he agreed to
do before the world was. He came into the world, he said,
I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. I wonder why he didn't say he
giveth his life for everybody. That's why he didn't say that.
I'll tell you why, Mark, because he didn't give his life for everybody.
He gave his life for the sheep. And some of those self-righteous
religions are standing around, they said, we don't like that. You're preaching limited atonement. We don't like limited atonement.
He said, you're not my sheep. I'm not talking to you. I'm not
talking to you. My sheep hear my voice. They
know me. They follow me. I give them eternal
life. They'll never perish. They'll never perish. The Lord
Jesus Christ rose from the dead as our substitute. And now in
heaven, he still deals with God for us as an advocate through
whom we have peace with God. Read 1 John 2. My little children,
these things write I unto you, that you sin not. Children of
God, Don't ever sin. Don't ever sin. Hate sin as you
would hate the plague. Resist it. Fight against it. Don't sin. But you're going to. It's what you are. You can't
avoid sin. James, it's not possible. You're
a sinner. Always had been. You always will
be. Always, it's what we are. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's
the propitiation for our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ at the
throne of God, our Savior, our Mediator, our God, is Jehovah
Shalom, Lord our peace. What do you do, Don, when you
sin? I confess it. I repent of it. I ask for forgiveness. And I look to him who sits upon
the throne of God with my name inscribed upon his breastplate,
and I call him Jehovah Shalom. Wes, he's my peace. He's my... I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. But you sinned. Yeah. But God
won't charge me with it. And David Coleman, if God doesn't
charge me with it, I don't care whether you do or not. That's
right. I'm not interested in what men
say. I'm interested in what God says. There's no accuser in heaven
for God's elect. Who is he that condemns? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who's even
at the right hand of the Father, who also maketh intercession
for us. Now then, having satisfied the justice of God by his obedience
unto death, Christ comes and deals with each of his elect,
graciously removing our inbred enmity against God, breaking
down that wall of partition that separates man from his God. Turn
over to Colossians 1. Let me show you this one. Colossians
chapter 1. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. That's what Christ was doing
on this earth. He was making reconciliation for his elect
scattered through all the earth, scattered through all the four
corners of the earth. That's what all of those prophets
in the Old Testament spoke of. When those prophets spoke of
God gathering His dispersed, gathering His Israel dispersed
among the nations, He's talking about Him gathering together
by the hand of Christ's predictive work, all His elect scattered
throughout all the earth. That's what those prophets mean.
They don't mean that there's coming a time when God's going
to start gathering Jews. to gather physical Jews out of
Russia, and out of America, and out of Spain, and out of Italy,
and out of Africa, and out of Brazil, and he's going to gather
them all over in Palestine. Oh, boy, that's foolishness.
He's talking about God gathering His scattered ones, His elect,
throughout all the earth. And Paul says, this is what God
was doing in Christ. He was reconciling the world
unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. We're his
Israel, we're his people. And now the Lord Jesus Christ
seated upon the throne of glory, David our king, the king sitting
upon the throne in the temple as God promised he would, now
sends his spirit. And he deals with you, Bobby.
And he deals with his elect by the preaching of the gospel and
persuades us to be reconciled to God. The legal work's been
done. The price has been paid. God
has been reconciled. His justice has been satisfied.
His law has been honored. His name has been magnified.
And now this God who reconciled us sends His Spirit to reconcile
our hearts unto the Holy God. Colossians 1 and verse 21, And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." By the preaching of the gospel,
Jehovah Shalom sends a spirit and persuades stubborn rebels
to be reconciled to God. Tenderly, oh, ever so tenderly,
he persuades us. You remember? You remember, don't you, buddy? Sometimes persuasion seems pretty
rough. Oh, but it was the hand of this tender love. Why? Why were you going near
old baby? He persuades you you can't stand
out against God. You can't resist him. You can't
fight against God. Fight against God, you're going
to die. You're going to die. But that won't do it. That won't
change the heart. That won't break a rebel's heart. But then in the fullness of his
time, look yonder. You see that man hanging on the
cursing tree. You hear his groans and cries. You see his pierced side, his
hands, his feet. You see him whose visage is so
marred, more than any man. He looks like a beast, not a
man. You hear him cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? You hear him cry, it is finished, declaring the accomplishment
of redemption. You know why he did that? He
did that to reconcile sinners. Can't resist that. Can't resist
that. He conquers God. So you fellas believe God saves
sinners against their will? No. Yeah. Yeah. No. He changes the will. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That's what he's done for us. How did you come to Christ? Well,
he drew me and I followed on. How come you came? I couldn't
do anything else. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't
do anything else. I couldn't. They could have, he wanted to,
but he didn't want to. Wanted him with life itself. Had to
have him. He overcame my heart. broke down
the rebellion and brought me to himself. Oh, Jehovah Shalom,
come now and bring peace. Cause every rebel's heart to
surrender. Terms of peace are simple, so
simple. Bow to the king. That's it, bow
to the king. That's another word for faith.
Surrender. To believe on Christ is to surrender
to Christ Jesus. Surrender. The problem with men
is not that they don't believe Christ died. That's not their
problem. Their problem is not they say, no, Christ isn't God.
They say, no, Christ didn't redeem. They say, no, Christ didn't justify.
They say, no, I don't believe in the blood of Christ. That's
not man's problem. Man's problem is, he says, I
won't have Christ to be my Lord. I won't surrender to Christ as
my Lord. And I'm telling you that that's
where God deals with men. He deals with men in their hearts. He demands surrender to King
Jesus. How do you have peace? Raise
the white flag. That's the only way. That's the
only way. Turn over the keys to the city
of Mansoul and say, Lord, come take possession of me. That's
how men have peace with God. I've got to hurry. Let me give
you briefly two more statements. Jehovah Shalom is our peace with
one another as well. When men and women are at peace
with God, they're at peace with one another. Where Jehovah Shalom
is worshipped, those who worship him are at peace with each other. Where the Prince of Peace reigns,
peace resides. In the home, in the church, wherever
two are gathered who name the name of Christ, if Christ Jesus
is truly worshipped, they're at peace. So I know Christians
who don't get along with each other. No, you don't. No, you
don't. You know religious folks who
don't get along with each other. There's a big difference. But
down there at church, folks are always fighting. Those Christians,
they don't count. They fuss and fight all the time.
No, Christians don't. Religious folks do. Baptists
do, but believers don't. Believers don't. Where the prince
of peace rules, men and women live in peace. Oh, thank God
for the peace he's given us in this place. Some of you just
fairly recently become a part of it. We've had eight years
of blessed peace. Bobby, I never believed it was
possible for this many folks to get along so well for eight
years. Well, I did too. I just never
had seen it. Peace. How? Prince of Peace reigns. We worship Jehovah Shalom. That's
how. That's how. Hell, I know Christians,
man and wife, they don't get along. Somebody doesn't know
God if they don't get along. That's just fact. That's not
fiction. That's fact. So preacher, you're
stretching it pretty tight. That's where the book puts it,
isn't it? Am I telling you the truth? The Prince of Peace brings
peace. He said, my peace I give unto
you. Oh, let us ever then pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem
is the church, the city of peace, the city of our God, where peace
dwells. Our charter is the gospel of
peace. Our ruler is the prince of peace. Our defense is the
spirit of peace. And once more, Jehovah Shalom
is peace. The Lord, our peace within our
hearts. When all is well between me and
my God, I have peace. Inward, sedate, composed, cheerfulness
of heart at all times, in all circumstances, under all conditions. The prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 26,
3 says, thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is
stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee. I want to tell you some
things to give me peace. This Jehovah Shalom is the sovereign
ruler of the universe. Think that he's my God. He's
my God. There's a man sitting here who
loves me. I just don't have any question at all about it. If
that man had absolute power, I would have nothing to fret
about. You'd do anything under the sun for me, wouldn't you?
Huh? Sure he would. I don't question
that at all. He loves me. I have a father who loves me
infinitely beyond what he could possibly love me. And he sovereignly
rules the universe. I trust his love. I trust him. What's he doing? He's exercising
his love for me. It hurts sometimes, doesn't it? Yeah, father's love does hurt
sometimes, doesn't it? Sure does. Sure does. But I trust Him. Trust Him. Not only is that so,
but He redeemed me. He died for me. He paid for my
sins. I've got nothing to fear. God
Almighty will never punish me for sin. Never. Never. Aren't you afraid of God? No,
I'm not. I reverence him. I wish I reverenced
him more, but I do reverence him. I cherish his name. I'm
careful not to speak his name except to honor him. I reverence
him. But afraid of him? No, no. I'll be honest with you. I'm
less fearful of God than I am of my father sitting right there.
I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth. because I can provoke this man
to anger. Lindsay Campbell, it's not possible
for me to provoke my heavenly father to anger. Can't do it. Can't do it. His love's immutable. The blood of Christ satisfied
his anger. He will never impute sin to me. Now, if you believe that, it'll
give you peace. I'm telling you, it'll give you peace. I trust
his providence, his rule of the world. There's a sense in which I care
about what goes on. I watch news, read papers, keep
up with it a little bit, probably more than I should.
But I'm going to be honest with you, I really don't much care
what happens to the stock market. I really don't much care what
happens to the economy. In all honesty, now I'm a patriot,
don't misunderstand me. I thank God for what he's done
for us, but I'm not careful about what's going to happen to this
country. I'm not at all. My father rules this world and
he rules it for the good of his people so that whatever evil
he brings, he brings it for a good purpose, for the glory of his
name and the good of his people. I trust his providence. His name
is Jehovah Shalom. The Lord our peace, the Lord
our peace. Is he Jehovah Shalom, the Lord
your peace. If Christ is my peace, I trust
him alone for my salvation for God. If Christ is my peace, my
sin is my enemy. If Christ is my peace in my heart,
I'm reconciled to God. truly reconciled to God. If Christ
is my peace, I'll take great care to keep the peace. The guilt
of sin in the soul is like a mold in the eye. There's no ease until
it's wept out. If Christ is my peace, Jehovah
shalom to my soul. I must prepare for war. You read
the sixth chapter of Judges again. Couldn't get back to it, but
you read it again. You know what happened right after Gideon got
done making this, building this altar and worshiping Jehovah
Shalom? He had to go out to battle. There are Midianites in the land.
It's the way it is with you, Wes Rosebow. There are Midianites
in here. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eye, the pride of life. You better prepare for battle.
I'm telling you, children of God, you better prepare for battle.
It's never over until the war's over, until you put up this flesh
forever. Till you lay it down in the grave,
you're going to have a battle. You know what the first thing
was Gideon had to do? The Lord told him, go out to
your father's grove. He's got an idol out there. Take
your hammer and beat it to pieces. Joe Ash was a mighty man. You
know what Gideon had to do? He had to go out there and tear
down his daddy's gods. Tear down his... Lord, do you
know who my daddy is? He went out there in the middle
of the night and he busted Baal to pieces. and he built an altar
to Jehovah Shalom and he offered up a sacrifice. He had to fight against the false
religion of his day and even the false religion of his own
father. That's what peace does. This world's crazy. They can't
understand it as far as spiritual things are concerned. They think
following Jesus is just La-dee-dah, whoop-dee-doo, rose-colored life
with rose-colored glasses, you know. Everything goes so well.
Our Lord said, you follow me, your father, your mother, your
brother, your sister, your kinsmen, your nieces, your nephews, sons,
daughters, they're going to take up war against you. And it's
not going to cease until you're with me in glory. Amen.