of this message, confusion or
peace? Let's read verse 33 once again. We're going to look at 1 Corinthians
14, 26 through the end of the chapter, but the message is entitled
confusion or peace. God is not the author of confusion,
but of peace as in all churches. of the saints. When you're confused, you don't
know the answer. That's what confusion is. You
don't know the answer. You have peace when you know
the answer. And we just heard the answer. It is finished. That is the answer. And if I
can't rest in it is finished, all I have is confusion. Don't know which way to look.
Don't know what to do. Now confusion was going on in
this church. Uh, he had said earlier in chapter
11, when you meet together, you don't meet together for the better,
but for the worse. Verse 17, that is a scary thought to meet
together, not for the better, but for the worse. And look what he says in verse
40, let all things be done decently and in order. Uh, things were
not being done decently. Things were not being done in
order at the church at Corinth. And I am so thankful that. This is a true church of God. With all these problems going
on, this was a true church of God. I think it's interesting
and it's ironic that most of what is known as the charismatic
movement bases their teaching on what Paul says in 1 Corinthians
12 through 14. And in reality, it's a series
of rebukes to the church of Corinth for their abuse of the gifts,
which they really had. Now we've seen this for five
or six weeks if we've been looking at this. They had the ability
to speak in other languages. They had the ability to heal
the sick. They had all these gifts and they were practicing
these gifts and they were abusing these gifts. There was too much
going on to Instead of using the gift of being able to speak
in other languages, I think Janine waited for me to get to the door last time, and
then she didn't do it. So Wednesday night, she came
up and started speaking in French. I didn't understand anything
she was saying. She was demonstrating to me what it is to speak in
other languages. And they had 10, 12 people doing
this all at the same time during these services, and Paul says
that's not done decently or in order. Now, First Corinthians
may have been the first epistle that Paul wrote. It could have
been first, it's either First Thessalonians or First Corinthians. And at this time, the church
was in its infancy. And I think it's interesting
to note that there's no mention of a pastor. in First Corinthians
chapter, or the whole book. And you'll notice he says, when
you come together, as we look at this chapter, if you have
a prophecy, give the prophecy. If you have a language, give
the language. If you have, everybody was participating if they had
this kind of gift. And it could be that there was
not a pastor yet because he's not mentioned. I don't know that,
but I think it's, if you look at the way they conducted the
worship services, they're not the way we do it. And you say,
well, that's the way they did it in the Bible. Well, no, they
were not right in the way they were handling things. And it
could be that the office of the, I know the office of the deacon
had already been established, but it could be that the office
of the pastor had not been established. This was the infancy of the early
church and the pastor is not even mentioned as he is in a
lot of the other epistles. So I don't know, that's just
throwing that out there. But could you imagine if in our
services, everybody participated? Take a long time, wouldn't it?
It'd be very long services, probably hours, and you would have some
of the things going on that you had here. Verse 26 of 1 Corinthians
14. How is it then, brethren, when
you come together, every one of you, at the psalm? Now remember,
the full canon of scripture had not yet been put in place. He said in 1 Corinthians 13,
10, when that which is perfect has come, the full canon of scripture,
that which is in part, these prophecies and everything will
be done away with. But it hadn't been done away with yet. So when
you come together, every one of you have the psalm. Aren't
you thankful for the psalms? I love the psalms. They express
my heart better than I can express it. Hath a doctrine, the doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of God, the doctrine of grace, whatever
the doctrine is. Doctrine is always good. Doctrines are bad. It always refers to false doctrines,
but a doctrine, this is the doctrine of God. And come in with a doctrine,
hath a tongue, a different language, hath a revelation, something
God has revealed to someone. hath an interpretation of that
other language, let all things be done unto edifying. Now the
implication is, is things are not going on into edification
here. Things are going on in terms of self-promotion, trying
to show what all you can do, and it's not edifying. Let all
things be done unto edification. If any man speak in an unknown
tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that
by course, in order, And let one interpret now don't speak
at the same time, two or three at the most. I'm sure if there
was 10 people, they would want to speak in another language. He says two or three at the most
in these services. And you can't do it unless there's
an interpreter there. One who can tell what the language
was, but if there'd be no interpreter verse 28, let him keep silence
in the church. Let him speak to himself and
to God. Let the prophet speak two or
three and let the other, and in the original it's the others. judge now they had this gift
of prophecy before the full canon of scripture a man could come
up and say thus saith the lord and it was a prophetic word just
like the old testament prophets he said limit it to two or three
and don't interrupt one another look what he says in um verse
uh 28, but if there'd be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church.
Let him speak to himself and God let the prophet speak two
or three and let one and let the other judge listen carefully.
That doesn't mean judge is a critic. It means discern, listen to what's
being said. See if you can throw the whole
Bible at it. And if anything be revealed to
another that saith by, let him first hold his peace." Now, what
does that mean? A man would be trying to bring
this prophetic word and somebody said, I've had this revealed
to me. And he would interrupt him and it would be chaos in
these services. And he said, don't do this interrupting.
Hold your peace and wait for your turn, but everybody learn
for all, verse 31, for you may all prophesy one by one. And
that's what was going on in the church, the ones who had this
gift. There might've been 10 of them. There might've had been
20 of them that had this gift. But for you may all prophesy
one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted. Now
I love this. When true prophecy is taking
place, or the preaching of the gospel now, we don't have that
now. This prophetic word is no longer since we have the scripture.
But when we have gospel preaching going on, or then there's this
prophetic word, here's what happens. You learn and you're comforted. That must be in every gospel
message. You learn of the character of
God. You learn more and more who he
really is. You come to know him through
this. You know, the Lord said, learn
of me, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Don't you want
to learn? I want to learn more of who he
is. I want to learn more of who I
am, more of my need of him, more of my own sinfulness so I quit
being haughty and and self-righteous and judgmental, which I am all
the time. I realize that, you all are too. I mean, that's part
of our nature. But it's, I wanna learn of Him.
I wanna learn of Him so I'll be poor and mourn over my sin and be
meek before God and hunger and thirst after His righteousness
and be merciful. I wanna learn of Him to be merciful.
pure of heart, that new heart that he gives. I want to be a
peacemaker. I don't want to be a troublemaker. I want to be
a peacemaker. I want to be persecuted for righteousness
sake. Now, I'm not saying kick me,
but I want to preach the gospel in such a way that I will be
persecuted because I maintain that the righteousness of Christ
is the only righteousness there is. I want to learn. Not only
do I want to learn, I want to be comforted. You know, if I
hear a message where I'm personally not comforted, I don't like the
message. I don't care what you're dealing with. James chapter 2,
for instance, we look at that, that could be scary. You go,
well, I don't have enough work. No. It wasn't preached right, if
that's the way I'm looking at it, or I haven't heard it right. Every time I
hear the gospel preached, I want the comfort of the gospel. It is finished. That's where peace comes from. It is finished. It is done. There's
nothing for me to do. I want to comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and say unto her, her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity
is pardoned. She's received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. Every message without exception
is to be that way. I want to learn and I want to
be comforted. And that's what he says to these
people when you give these prophetic words. For you may all prophesy
one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted. Verse
32, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
Now, he's talking about these men who would come with a thus
saith the Lord, and they could do that then. Well, if what they're
saying is in any way contrary to the written prophets, they're
no good. The spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. And
with regard to anything we hear when we're hearing, you gotta
be able to throw the prophets at it and see if it lines up
with what they say. use the whole Bible. You can't
take one thing out of context and try to establish a doctrine
on it. No, everything is subject to the prophets, to the written
word of God. And that's when he says, we're
going to come back to this at the end. For God is not the author
of confusion, not knowing the answer. And that's what confusion
is, not knowing the answer, but of peace as in all churches of
the saints. Now he says, let your women keep
silence in the churches, for it's not permitted unto them
to speak. But they are commanded to be
under obedience, as also saith the law, and if they will learn
anything Let them ask their husbands at home for it's a shame for
a woman to speak in the church. And he's not talking about saying
hi and talking to each other after the services and so on.
He's talking about the public proclamation of the gospel. How
many women have been called to preach? Zero. Zero. Is that saying men or somehow?
more spiritual or more wise or more understanding than women. It's really not saying that. You're all one in Christ Jesus.
In Christ, there's either male nor female. You're all one in
Christ Jesus. And this is not putting the women
down, but this is still what the Bible teaches. I had a fellow
I was talking to one time, and he said, well, my pastor, and
I found out she was a woman where he was attending services, and
I said, Doesn't the Bible say a woman's not supposed to preach?
He said that's awful legalistic, isn't it? Okay. It's what the
Bible has to say with regard to women preachers. Turn with
me to the book of 1 Timothy. Chapter two. Now the reason Paul is dealing
with this is evidently the women were disrupting the services
somehow. And that's why he makes this statement. First Timothy
chapter two, verse 11, let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach door to assert
authority over the man, but to be in silence for Adam was first
formed. Then Eve and Adam was not deceived,
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Not
withstanding, she should be saved in childbearing. if they continue
in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Now, what child
is being spoken of? That's Christ. She'll be saved
in bearing the man-child of Christ Jesus, who will save his people
from their sins. But the scripture does say a woman is not to preach
or to teach or usurp authority. I realize in this day that would
not be well-received in a lot of places, but it's still what
the word of God teaches. And it's best that it is that
way. Let your women keep silence in
the churches. Verse 34, for it's not permitted unto them to speak,
but they are commanded to be under obedience as also say the
law. And if they'll learn anything, let them ask their husbands at
home for it's a shame for a woman to speak in the church. And I
know that's talking about disrupting services because that's what
was going on quite a bit in this church. He says, what came the
word of God out from you? Are you the origin of the word
of God? Or came it unto you only? If
any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge
that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the
Lord. Now, if you think yourself to
be spiritual, you're going to know this is God's command. This is God's way. But if any
man be ignorant, Verse 38, let him remain ignorant. If someone
objects to this, object. If you want to be ignorant, stay
ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to
prophesy, to speak the gospel clearly. Well, I want to do that. Like I said this morning, I don't
know how long I have left. But I would love to spend whatever
remainder I have here preaching the gospel clearly with God anointing
it. And he says to desire that gift,
desire the ability to preach the gospel, to witness to people,
to tell them the gospel, ask the Lord to open doors. You know,
the Lord said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
And every one of us are called upon to be fishers of men, whether
by prophecy, what he's talking about, or in whatever way the
Lord opens the door for us. He says, covet this, brethren,
covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues. If
somebody has that gift at that time, don't tell them, don't
use it. Now, don't use it in the church, particularly if there's
not an interpreter there to say what you've been saying, but
don't forbid somebody to speak with tongues. Let all things
be done decently and in order, in a graceful, comely, honorable
way. respectful and reverent, in order.
God is a God of order and worship is to be done in order, which
had obviously not been going on in this church. It's hard
for us to imagine things like that at that time, but it was
going on. But I want us to return to verse
33. Can you see why this would be
kind of hard to preach from? It's a challenge. First Corinthians
14, but I'm thankful for all of it, preach all of it, but
I like this verse the best in this chapter. God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace as in all churches of the saints. We first run across confusion
in the Tower of Babel. Remember when they got together
to make a tower that would reach to heaven? And God came down,
and that symbolizes works. Salvation by works. What does
God do? He comes down and confounds the
languages. And that's what Babel means,
confusion. God is not the author of confusion. And what is more confusing than
salvation by works? Because you never really can
get right to, what work do I need to do? Be exact. Tell me exactly. There's always something else
to be done. There's always something else to be reached for. And it's
confusing. And you don't even know what
to do. God's not the author of that. God is not the author of
confusion. I love the way false religion
is called the religion of Babylon. In Revelation chapter 17 verse
5, the religion of confusion. There's no sure and certain answer. You're left hanging. You're confused. That's what the mother of harlots
is, Babylon. That's man's religion. It's confusing. And God's not the author of confusion,
but of peace. Peace. as in all churches of the saints. Peace. God is called the God
of Peace. Christ is called the Prince of
Peace. God the Holy Spirit. What emblem
was used to testify of Him coming down upon Christ? A dove. The emblem of God is a God of
peace, and how we love the word peace. Salvation is called the
way of peace. Now, we have different ways of
using the word in everyday life, and I've never experienced this,
but can you imagine being in a country where war was going
on? Erin, I guess you can, maybe some others, but that'd be awful. Armies coming in and raiding
your house. Think of what it would be like
to live in Ukraine or in Israel. It would be awful. And how we
love peace. Aren't you thankful for the peace
we have in our country? What if other armies and other
countries were coming in here and involving the You can imagine. I can't imagine. I've never experienced
anything like that. What a blessed thing peace is
among nations. What a blessed thing peace is
among people, where people aren't fighting and quarreling and backbiting. Peace, harmony, peace, the peace
of God that passes all understanding. I'm so thankful for peace in
that sense, peace between people. The peace of security. The peace
of safety. There's a peace in that. Now,
the thing that is, being believers, we know that can be done just
like that, don't we? Just like that. Boast not thyself tomorrow,
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Those kind of
peace that I've been talking about, as blessed as they are,
that's not really peace. The real peace is the peace of
the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. I love the way the angels announced
at his birth, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace. goodwill toward men. Now that's
not talking about peace between men. That's talking about God's
peace and God's goodwill toward men. That is why the angels broke
out in this song. I think it's interesting how
people, interesting is not the right word, but people talk about
Christ bringing this revolutionary thought of peace between men.
That has nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, he said,
think not that I've come to send peace. I've not come to send peace,
but a sword. I've said, I've come to set a man at variance
with his mother and father and children and so on. You're familiar
with that passage of scripture. So that's not talking about peace
between men, although that's a very desirable thing. And Paul
actually says, if it'd be possible, as much as life in you live peaceably
with all men. I want to do that, but we're
talking about the peace of the Messiah. Now, would you turn
with me to Colossians chapter one? Colossians chapter one. I was gonna begin with verse
20, but let's go back a few verses so we can see who this is that
made this peace. You see in verse 20, having made
peace. Well, go back to verse 14. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And he is before all things. Does that give you peace? He's
before all things. That's including the bad things.
He's before it. He's in control of it. It's his
will being done. And I know this in salvation.
He's before all things. God didn't elect me and didn't
give me to Christ. I was chosen in Christ. I've never been viewed
independently of Christ. Every aspect of salvation, he's
before it. You don't do something, then
he responds. He is the author of peace, the author of salvation. He is before all things. And
by him, all things consist. They're all held together. And
he is the head of the body, the church. who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell." Now there he is in his person. What a glorious
description of Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20, and having made peace. Having made peace. How did he make peace? through
the blood of his cross. That wasn't a peaceful thing,
was it? That was his suffering, the wrath of God as the sin-bearing
substitute, being cut off by his father, experiencing the
full equivalent of an eternal hell on Calvary's tree, having
made peace by the blood of his cross. Somebody says, why can't God
just forgive sin? Why do we have to have this blood?
Why do we have to have this violence? Why can't God just forgive sin? You know, I think it's amazing
that when we ask a question like that, we never say about an earthly
judge, why can't they just forgive that murder? Why can't they just
forgive that crime, that horrible crime? It seems like they could
just forgive it. Why, if there was a judge like
that, we'd get rid of him. He'd be a corrupt judge. He'd
be a horrible judge. As far as that goes, The criminal's
not afraid of a corrupt judge. He can be bought. Enough money,
he can be bought. It's the absolutely just, righteous
judge. This is who he is. He's absolutely
just. He's absolutely righteous. And
the only way you and I can be saved and have peace is through
the blood of his cross. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross. Now here's what he did by him.
to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say whether
there be things in earth or things in heaven and you that were sometimes
or before time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you." Holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. Now, there is no peace anywhere
but right there. He made peace through the blood
of His cross and now everybody He died for in the very sight
of God and I don't need to remind you how God sees things is how
they really are. If I'm holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in His sight, There's only one reason. I really am
holy and unblameable and unreprovable. That's how God sees every single
one of his people. And it's all because he having
made peace through the blood of his cross, complete reconciliation
was made. God's got no reason to be mad.
Now you'll think of your sins even in the past 24 hours. I
didn't think of them. They're gone. They're not there. That's what the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ did. And the only way we can get ahold
of that is by faith. I can't see it. I can't see it
at all, but I do believe it. This is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, how he made peace. Turn with me to Romans chapter
four. Verse 23, now speaking of Abraham,
it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to
him, that righteousness was imputed to him. And let me say something
about the imputation of righteousness. This is such a simple concept
that we make too complicated. Why does God impute righteousness
to someone? Because they're righteous. That's why He imputes righteousness
to someone. It's not like they're unrighteous
and He imputes righteousness to them. This is talking about
justification. Christ made it to where I am justified and God
reckons me to be righteous, imputes righteousness to me, counts me
as righteous because I am righteous. Not because I'm not, but because
I am. If you reckon you've got $100
in the bank, It's because you got $100 in the bank. Well, that's
what I got. You know, well, I'm gonna reckon I got a million
dollars in the bank. Well, you still don't. You only got $100
in the bank. See, reckoning doesn't come just
because, well, I'm gonna. This is God's reckoning. He imputes righteousness where
there is righteousness. You see, that's what Christ accomplished
on Calvary's tree. He made him to be sin for us
and knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. He imputes righteousness. Okay,
now it's not written for his sake alone that was imputed to
him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered
for our offenses. That's why he died. and was raised
again for our justification." I love that word, justification. I stand before God without guilt,
without sin because of what he did. He was delivered for our
offenses. Truly, that's why he died. but he was raised again
for our justification. God said by that, I'm completely
satisfied with what he did and everybody he did it for. He was
raised for our justification. Therefore, verse one of chapter
five, therefore, having been justified. I know it says being
justified, but most other translations, having been justified. When was
I justified? When he's raised from the dead.
That was before I was ever born. As far as that goes, I was justified
in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, eternally. God
said, I'll by no means clear the guilty. If he ever sees me
as guilty, he's not gonna justify me. Accepted in the beloved. Now here's peace. Therefore,
having been justified, by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, We have peace with
God. Now here, here's how this works.
God's at peace with me. He's at peace with me. He has
no reason to be angry. I stand just dividing his side
and I have peace with God. That's where my peace comes from.
I have peace from what he has peace from. And that's where
we rest. God's not the author of confusion. The Bible really tells us where
peace is. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. God's at
peace with us. And we're at peace with him through
our Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 14, verse 27,
the Lord said, my peace. I give unto you, not as the world
giveth, give I to you. Now think about the Lord's peace.
He said, my peace I give to you. How much peace does the Lord
have? Is he distraught about anything? Does he know he's perfectly
pleasing to his father? Is there any odds between him
and his father? Of course not. The Lord said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's pleased
with him. That peace The Lord says that
I have between the Father, I've given you. Not as the world gives
it. The world gives a false peace.
That's not real. But he gives his own peace to
his people. He said in John chapter 16, these
things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. Now, here's where I have peace.
In him. Nowhere else. These things have
I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace." In the
world, you're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world. My peace is being accepted in
the beloved. Romans chapter 14, verse 17,
Paul says, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. Let me paraphrase that, and I
think this is really the meaning. It's not in do's and don'ts.
The kingdom of God is not in do's and don'ts. Eat this, don't
eat that. We could take that in a lot of
other ways too. It's in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now here, I know the answer.
Kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's righteousness. His
righteousness. His righteousness is my righteousness before God.
What comes out of that? Peace. The sin question has been
answered. All sin is put away. I stand
before God as one who has never sinned. That's what justification
is. Sinless before God. But you have
sinned. I know, but Christ put them away
and they are no more. That's what he that's what he
just finished means. All sin is gone. It's blotted
out. It's put away. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. You know what gives me joy? To
know that he is my peace and he is my righteousness before
God. Would you turn to Acts chapter
10. I love this summary. of the gospel
in just one sentence. And it really is a summary of
the gospel. Acts chapter 10. Peter's been brought before Cornelius. You remember Cornelius had the
vision of the sheet laid down from heaven with the unclean
beasts. And he said, rise Peter, kill and eat. Peter said, no
way, I've never eaten anything common or unclean. And the Lord
said, what God is cleanest call that not thou common. And that
was done three times and Peter was scratching his head. I don't
think he knew the meaning of it yet until these Gentiles came. Now look in verse 34. Well, this is God speaking to
Cornelius. Verse 32, God says, send therefore
to Joppa and call hither Simon, whose name is Peter, he is lodged
in the house of one Simon, a tanner by the seaside, who, when he
cometh, he shall speak unto thee. Immediately, therefore, I sent
to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now, therefore,
we're all here present before God to hear all the things that
are commanded to thee of God. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.
He saw that for the first time. God respects the Jews and doesn't
respect the Gentiles. He found out that that is not
the case at all. If you ever want to know how much God is
no respecter of persons, look at the cross. That is what tells
us how God is no respecter of persons. When sin's found on
his son, he kills him. God is no respecter of persons.
But in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. Well, does that mean you got
to fear him and work righteousness? Well, I do fear him and I have
worked righteousness in Christ. That's the only way you can interpret
something like that. I have worked righteousness. You know, Job
was a perfect and righteous man, upright. Well, he was in Christ. That's an accurate description.
And that describes every single believer. Verse 36, the word. which God sent unto the children
of Israel, and here is the content of all gospel preaching in this
one sentence, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of
all. That one statement gives us the
entire content of gospel preaching, peace by Jesus Christ. That's
the only, that's the only peace there is. That's, that's the
only one thing I'm not confused by. Peace by Jesus Christ. There's nowhere else to look.
Peace by Jesus Christ. What he accomplished, he made
peace by the blood of his cross. Peace by Jesus Christ. And this would be no comfort
to me unless he made the next statement. He is Lord of all. He is Lord of all. He's everybody's
Lord. He's Lord of angels. He's Lord
of demons. He's Lord of believers. He's
Lord of unbelievers. He's Lord of all. He's Lord of
creation. He created the universe. He's Lord of providence. He's
the first cause behind everything. By Him, all things consist. He
upholds all things by the word of His power. He controls everything. He is the cause of causes. Most
especially, He's the Lord of salvation. That means salvation
is in His hand. As to whether or not I'll be
saved, It's up to him. And here's why that's a good
thing. If it's up to me, I won't be saved. Neither will you. But
thank God he purposes to save. Like the leper said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. I will. As a matter of fact,
Mark's account says he was moved by compassion. You know, if you
pray that prayer, Lord, if you will, Just forget everything
else right now. Lord, if you will, I can't. I can't make myself clean. I
can't do anything about this. I'm totally helpless. I can't. If you will, you can make me
clean. I love in that prayer, the leopard
didn't even know if the Lord was going to make him clean.
He hoped he would. He knew he didn't have to. But
he comes with an understanding of who the Lord is, if you will.
You can, make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion,
reached forth his hand and touched him. Wonder how long it had been
since that man had a human touch. Would you touch a leper? I wouldn't,
but the Lord did. He reached forth his hand and
touched him saying, I will be thou clean. This is how we enter into what
Paul called in Romans 15, 13, the joy and peace of believing. If you believe Jesus Christ is
your righteousness before God, you may have circumstances that
you're not happy about. I get it. But you have joy and
you have peace knowing that all God requires of you You have. And don't forget this. We're
called upon to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace and follow peace with all men. Confusion. I don't like that. You don't
know the answer. Peace. Peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are that
your son made our peace with God. And how thankful we are
that we stand before you having been presented to you by him,
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in your sight. Lord, we're so
thankful. Lord, we ask that you would open
up doors for us to preach your gospel. We pray for your blessing
on TV, radio. We pray that you'd open up doors
for each of us to tell others of the peace of the Messiah and
how there's only peace in him. Bless us for Christ's sake. We
pray for your grace to keep us during the coming week. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.