Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nivert. I want to speak on this subject,
gospel peace. Gospel peace. A text is found in Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 14 says, for he is our peace. And then in
verse 15, the last phrase, speaking of the Lord Jesus, so
making peace. He is peace. He made peace. And then we read in verse 17,
came and preached peace to you which were far off and to them
which were nigh. Gospel peace. What comes to your mind when
you think of peace? Well, the first thing that comes
to my mind is not being at war with another country. nations
war with one another. It's such a sad thing. It's a
men wanting what other men have and doing what they need to do
to take what is theirs or men having to protect themselves
from other men. War is a sad thing. It's a sad
state of the sinfulness of man, but peace between nations. Well, that's a blessed thing.
And then there's the peace of harmonious relationships, the
peace of friendship. where you're around someone and
you're not worried about them taking what you say wrong and
taking what you say and twisting it to use it against you. They've
got your back. They love you. There's not a
competition. There's not a strife. There's
a true harmonious friendship. What a blessed thing peace in
the home is. What a wretched thing strife
and fighting in the home is, but what a blessed thing peace
in the home is. And that peace can mean freedom
from molestation, not being bullied, not being abused. That is peaceful. But the peace I love thinking
about most is peace with God. Peace with God. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, this is better understood
by the Old Testament concept of peace. The Lord is called
Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. And this has the idea
of completeness and fullness so you're not lacking anything. I think of that passage of scripture
in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5, let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. Now,
what does the believer have? He has Christ. He has perfect
righteousness. He has the grace of God. He has
a new heart. He has everything working together
for his good and God's glory. He has all things. There's nothing
to covet. Nothing to be but at peace. God's at peace with me. He doesn't see anything about
me that would cause His anger. He has no reason to be upset. Peace with God. God looks at
me with complete satisfaction through the gospel. He's satisfied
with me. I love that passage of Scripture
in Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, thoughts of peace. not of evil, to bring you to
an expected end. I'm complete in Christ, and I
have peace. God is satisfied with me, and
that's where this peace from within comes from. It's called
the joy and peace of believing. It's contentment. It's satisfaction. It's not being afraid. It's the fruit of really believing
the gospel. All God requires of me, I have
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that is peace. Now, peace. Peace is a feeling, and it's
a good feeling. But you can have a feeling of
peace and it not be a well-grounded feeling of peace. You may feel
peace, but it doesn't have a good ground behind it. Now, listen
to this statement, and I want to say this carefully, but there are people
who die a peaceful death and think everything is right with
them and God, and they wake up in hell. I don't want that to
happen to me. Lord said, Many will say unto
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name,
and cast out demons in your name, and in your name done many wonderful
works? Then will I say unto them, Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you." I don't want
to hear those words. The Lord warned us of those who
cry, peace, peace, when there is no peace. Now, you can have
a feeling of peace, and it not be a well-grounded peace. It
might not be the peace of the Scriptures. Now, in The passage
of Scripture I just read out of Ephesians chapter 2, we read
of He is our peace, He made peace, and He came and preached peace.
And in this we find gospel peace. Now, let's consider each of these
three things. First, Ephesians chapter 2 verse
14 says, He is our peace. Now, it wouldn't be fair to deal
with this passage of Scripture without telling who the hour
is. He is our peace. Does that mean
He's everybody's peace? No, it doesn't mean that at all.
There is a place called hell. There is no peace to the wicked.
This is not talking about everybody. This is talking about those who
believe. This is talking about the elect of God. This is talking
about those for whom Christ died. This is talking about those who
God the Holy Spirit has given a new heart to. This is talking
about those who believe the gospel. He is our peace. When the angels announced the
birth of the Lord Jesus, here are these words, Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace." Goodwill toward men,
God's goodwill toward men. Isaiah announced his birth with
these words in Isaiah 9, 6, 700 years before the Lord was born.
He said, unto us a child is born. unto us a son is given." Now,
that son is the eternal son. He came and was born as a child,
but he's the eternal son of God. "'Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.'" As the priest after the order
of Melchizedek, he is called the king of righteousness and
the king of peace. We read in Romans chapter 14,
verse 17, that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's
not do's and don'ts. It's not rules and regulations.
It's not a how-to book, how to live. The kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, not what can you avoid and still be pleasing
to God. It's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, when it's speaking of righteousness,
remember, there's only one righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
That's the righteousness the believer is justified by. His
righteousness becomes my personal righteousness before God, because
He bore my sin, and He became guilty of my sin when He took
it upon Himself. His righteousness is given to
me, and I stand before God perfectly righteous, His righteousness."
Now, what comes out of that? Peace. peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. My peace is that the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ is my personal righteousness before God, and
God is at complete peace with me. I'm perfect in God's sight. That gives me peace. The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink. It's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. I love what Gideon cried after
the Lord had revealed Himself to him, and he cried out in fear,
thinking he was going to die. And the Lord said, Peace be to
thee, fear not, thou shalt not die. And he went and built an
altar and called it Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. He is our
peace. Now I want to read a passage
of scripture from John chapter 16, verse 33. This is the end of His last discourse with His
disciples. You can read about it in John
13, 14, 15, and 16. He gives His last message to
His disciples. Chapter 17 is His great high
priestly prayer for His disciples, and then His betrayal takes place
in chapter 18. But in this final statement of
this message, He brought His disciples. He said, these things
have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. The only place a believer is
going to find peace is in Christ. He said, in the world you'll
have tribulation. You'll have trial. You'll have
trouble. but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Now,
what is this thing of being in Christ, in me, in me? Do you remember in the Exodus
when the Lord was going to pass through in judgment, and there
was one place of safety in the house with the blood over the
door? At that time, God said, when
I see the blood, I will pass over you. Who was safe? The people
who were in the house. Who was safe when God destroyed
the world with a flood, with the rain came down for 40 days?
Who was safe? The people who were in the ark. Those people in Christ. That
means when God sees me, all He sees is Christ because I'm in
Christ. Those people in Christ, safety,
peace, security is only found in Him. In John chapter 14, verse
27, the Lord makes this statement, My, no, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth give I unto you. My peace I give to you. Now, the world has a peace that
it gives. Why? It can give you a pill that
makes you feel peace. Religion tries to make men feel
peace. It gives a false sense of peace,
but it's still some kind of peace. You're at peace with God because
of the things you've done. But the Lord said to his disciples,
my peace I give to you. Now I think of the peace of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He has the peace of knowing he
is equal with God. He has the peace of knowing that
He's perfectly righteous before His Father. He has the peace
of knowing He's in complete control of everything and everybody. Oh, I think of the peacefulness
of Christ. You know, He's never worried. He never has worried. He has absolute control of everything. He's at peace. He's not worried
about his enemies. He's not worried about tomorrow
because he controls tomorrow. He dwells outside of tomorrow,
and he controls everything in time. What peace! He knows he's
perfectly beautiful to his Father. He knows his Father is well-pleased
with him. And you think of his peace, and
he says, My peace I give unto you. You see, every believer
is justified in Christ Jesus and what peace we enjoy simply
being in Him, knowing who He is. We have the peace of knowing
that He controls everything, and there's really nothing to
worry about. My peace I give unto you, the
peace of perfect acceptance with God How accepted is Christ by
God? Perfectly. And that's the truth
with regard to every one of His children. My peace I give unto
you, the peace of not lacking anything. In Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. Now, He is our peace. Not circumstances, He is our
peace, the peace of every believer. And notice what it says in verse
15 of our text. It says, having abolished in
his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man,
so making peace. Now, I've heard preachers say,
have you made your peace with God? You know, somebody that
asks a question like that betrays a complete ignorance of the character
of God, of their own sinfulness, and the gospel. Somebody who
asks that question is yet dead in trespasses and sins. The believer
is offended by that. No, I've not made my peace with
God. Christ made my peace with God. No, I have not made my peace
with God. Christ made my peace with God. Now, in the verse I just read,
he having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances. Now, how is he my peace? He fulfilled God's law, and I
am no longer under the law. It's promised in Romans 6, 14,
to the believer, sin shall not have dominion over you. for you're
not under the law, but under grace. Now, if you're under law,
you'll have no true peace. You may pretend to have it, but
you don't have it really, because you're always wondering if you
really measure up. As long as you're under law,
you have no peace, and there's really no love to God. As a matter
of fact, there's only enmity and resentment of God when someone
is under the law. There's no peace in that, but
he fulfilled the law. and He made it to where the believer's
not under the law, we stand before the law perfectly righteous.
And then in Colossians chapter one, we read this statement in
verse 20, and having made peace, so making peace, and having made
peace through the blood of His cross, by Him. to reconcile all
things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
or aforetime 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, here's how the Lord made
my peace with God. My sin became his sin, and he
put it away. And God is now reconciled to
me because I have no sin, if I'm a believer. As a matter of
fact, if I'm a believer, God sees me This is what I am in
His sight, and His sight is the way things really are. And this
is true of every believer. I am holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. That is what the blood of Christ
actually accomplished. Now, you know what that does?
It makes me feel peace. I lack nothing. Through the blood
of the cross, I stand complete. There is nothing for the Lord
to be mad at me about." In Romans 4, verse 25, it says, he was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. You see, the reason he died is
because of the offenses, the sins of his people. He bore them
in his own body on the tree. He was delivered for our offenses,
but when he was raised from the dead, it was for our justification. Every believer stands justified
before God. Now, when you're justified, that
means you're not guilty. That means you didn't do anything
to be condemned for. You stand before God justified,
without guilt, perfect. Now listen to the scripture.
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,
therefore being justified by what he did. By faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is the
joy and the peace of believing. believing that everything God
requires of me, He looks to Christ for, and that because of what
Christ did, I stand justified before God. Nothing to fear.
I don't fear judgment, because I'm perfectly righteous through
His justifying work on Calvary's tree. Now, that is peace. If I have to look to be saved
by my own works in any way, in any measure, to any degree, I
have no peace. Matter of fact, if any part of
salvation is dependent upon me, I know what's gonna happen to
me, I'm gonna go to hell. And you will too, if your salvation
is dependent upon you. But thank God, because of his
justification, by faith we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ and our message. Now, he is our peace. If we have
peace, true peace, well-grounded peace, He is our peace, and He
made our peace. We wouldn't dare say, I've made
my peace with God. He made my peace with God by
the blood of His cross, and our message is a message of peace. He came preaching peace by Jesus
Christ. He is Lord of all. Now, in our text, in Ephesians
2, verse 17, it says, He came and preached peace. He preached
peace. That is our message. It's a message
of peace. I love what the Lord said when
He said, ìThe Son of Man didnít come to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved.î The world was already
condemned. It was already condemned, but He came to save. And the
gospel message is a message of peace. We read in Romans 10,
verse 15, how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him
that preach the gospel of peace. Now, I think it's very significant
what is seeing the feet, not the face, but the feet. Now, in this thing of preaching,
If I listen to a preacher and I'm upset with the bad preaching
or I'm so taken up with the good preaching, taken up with him, I miss the message of peace.
I'm thinking about the preacher. How beautiful are the feet of
them that bring the gospel of peace. Isaiah chapter 40, verses
1 and 2 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished. The battle's over. It is finished. And her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins." Now, if you hear preaching
that makes you wonder if maybe you're coming up short, you're
hearing law preaching. You're hearing works preaching.
When the gospel is preached and believed, there will be peace. You'll be satisfied with that
message. You'll be satisfied that you
need nothing else to make you acceptable before God. You find
satisfaction and peace and contentment in that message, the preaching
of peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. And in Hebrews 12, verse 14,
just as a closing statement regarding this thing of peace, the writer
to the Hebrews says, �Follow peace with all men.� Romans 12,
18 says, �If it be possible, as much as life in you is, live
peaceably with all men.� And the child of God is described
in the Beatitudes as a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Now, don't think
that that means that we're to be at peace with someone who's
denying the gospel of peace. I'm not going to be, I'm not
going to keep the peace, keep my mouth shut about that. That's
not being a peacemaker. That's being a troublemaker.
You're not showing any love for God and any loyalty to Christ
in that. I don't want to water down the
gospel under the name of peace, but I do want to be a peaceful
person. I don't want to be contentious.
I don't want to be one of those people who are so easily offended.
One of those people you got to walk like eggshells around because
you know they'll take offense at what you say or what you do.
I don't want to be one of those people who you got to watch yourself
around. You got to watch what you say.
knowing that they will take your words and hold them against you
and you don't really have any trust of those people. I don't
want to be somebody like that. I want to be a peaceful person
where someone that's around me feels at peace. They don't feel
threatened. They don't feel judged. They
feel at peace. You see, if you and I ever understand
that he is our peace, that peace is only in Him, that He made
our peace by what He did on the calvary's tree, making peace
by the blood of the cross. And if I ever hear the message
of peace, the gospel of peace, I will find peace, not because
of anything I've but wholly because of what He's done. And if I find
that peace, I'm not going to be fighting with you. I'm going
to be a peaceful person. I'm not going to be somebody
that everyone feels threatened and judged by. I'm going to be
a peaceful person. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Gospel peace,
He is our peace. He made our peace, and our message
is a message of peace. And the only way we'll feel peace
is seeing that He is our peace, and He made our peace with God. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church and write,
or write, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.