Could you turn back to Ephesians
chapter 2? Tonight, I'm going to be bringing
a message I've entitled, Grow, Abound, and Increase. It's a message on spiritual growth.
And I've been thinking about this message for several months,
and I feel like tonight's the time to bring it. I've entitled this morning's
message, Gospel Peace. Gospel Peace. Now, you noticed in reading that
passage of Scripture, in verse 14, it says, He is our peace. A lot of times when we think about
peace, we think about a feeling and indeed peace is a feeling,
but this passage says he is, he himself is our peace. And then in verse 15, the last
phrase, so making peace. Not only is he our peace, he
made our peace. And then we read in verse 17,
he came in, preached peace to you. Gospel peace. What is peace? Well, there's
several things that come to our mind when we think of peace.
First thing that comes to my mind is a harmonious relationship
between nations. They're not at war. They're at
peace. They're on friendly terms. No war. And then we think of
peace between people. What a blessed thing that is.
Peace in the home. Oh, what a horrible thing it
is to have a non-peaceful home, but to have a peaceful home. Peaceful relationship with friends,
people who don't judge one another. You don't have to be worried
about what you say around them, that it's going to be taken wrong
and twisted and used against you, but there's peace. You know,
that person loves you. You know, that person has your
back and you feel at peace. There's no contention between
people. Then there's the piece that comes
from freedom from being molested. I know this seems like a trite
example, but I remember when I was a kid, there was a bully
in my neighborhood. I was afraid to go out. I knew
what was going to happen. He was going to give me a licking.
And wasn't a lot of peace about that. I know that's a small,
but just bullying now in the workplace, whatever you got to
deal with, school, bullies, The peace that I love to think most
of is peace with God, where God is at peace with me. Having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God. He doesn't have any reason to
be mad at me. And I don't have to fear because of my sin, because
I'm justified by him. What a blessed thing this is. Peace with God. You know, this
concept of peace with God can be seen in one of the Lord's
names, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord, our peace. Gideon had the Lord appeared
to him. He's scared to death. He thought,
I'm going to die. I've seen the Lord. And the Lord said, fear
not, you're not going to deny. And Gideon went and built an
altar called the Lord our peace. Peace with God. Has to do with
me not lacking anything for peace. I got everything God requires.
I'm content not looking for anything else because I know I'm accepted
through Christ. That is peace with God. No reason for God to be mad. Listen to this scripture from
Jeremiah 29, 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to bring you to an expected
end. Now, if you're anything like
me, and I dare say you are, quite often you think of the Lord being
mad at you. And I understand that. I understand
you thinking that way. I think that way too, because
of our sinfulness and so on. But how precious that passage
of scripture is that I just read. I know the thoughts that I have
of you. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to bring you to an
expected end. And peace, the feeling. Peace is a feeling. It's a feeling
of contentment. It's a feeling of satisfaction,
knowing you don't need anything else. What a glorious feeling,
the feeling of peace within. It has something to do with what
Paul was talking about when he talked about the joy and peace
of believing. There is joy and there is peace
in this thing of believing. Now, peace is a feeling and it's a
good feeling, but you can also have this feeling of peace that's
not well grounded. I want you to think about that. There are people who die peaceful
deaths, thinking everything is okay with their soul, and they
wake up in hell. The prophet warned of those who
cry, peace, peace, when there is no peace. You can have a feeling
of peace and that not be a well grounded peace. Now God has called
the God of peace eight times in the New Testament. And I love
this passage of scripture. Next week, Lord willing, we're
going to consider everything in its context, but I just want
to consider gospel peace, gospel peace. He is our peace. He made
our peace. He came and preached peace, gospel
peace. Now, I love the way Paul says
in that 14th verse, for he is our peace. He is our peace. When the angels announced the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, their words were glory to God
in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill. toward men. When Isaiah announced
his birth, he said, for unto us, a child is born. Unto us,
a son is given. You see, that son wasn't born.
He's the eternal son of God. Now the child was born, but the
son is the eternal son. Unto us, a child is born. Unto
us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders.
That means he controls everything. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor. Now understand this, that word
counselor is not a noun, it's a verb. The one who decrees is
what it means. He's the one who decrees everything. This is who he is. He's not somebody
you can get good advice from. He's someone who controls everything. Everything happens according
to his will. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Somebody
says, explain that to me. I can't. Not even going to try
to, but that's what it says. He's the Mighty God. He's the
Everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace. Romans chapter 14 verse 17 says,
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, if you're in the
kingdom of God, that means you have his righteousness. That's
a blessed place to be, isn't it? To have his righteousness. And you know what's going to
happen if you have his righteousness and you are made to see that?
You're going to have peace. The only way you're going to
have peace is if you see that his righteousness, his personal
righteousness, is your personal righteousness. And if you see
that, you'll have peace. And you know what else? You'll
have joy. 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 righteousness. It's peace. It's joy in the Holy
Ghost. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 16. Verse 33. Now in Chapters 13 through 16, we have
the Lord's last address to his disciples. And then in chapter
17, we have his prayer for his people. But look what he says,
ending up this last address to his disciples before his death. These things have I spoken unto
you. for this one singular reason,
that in me, you might have peace. In the world, you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We are not permitted to find
peace anywhere but in him. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. Now, who is he speaking
to? His disciples. Those who believed
on him. He is our peace. Now, it's important
for me to make this distinction. He is our peace. Who is the hour?
Not everybody. He's not peace to everybody.
Every believer, all of God's elect, all for whom Christ died,
all who God the Holy Spirit has given life to, those are the
ones that find in him peace. That's who he's speaking to.
These things have I spoken to you that in me you might have
peace. And that is why Paul said in
Philippians chapter three, Oh, that I might win Christ and be
found in him. That's all I want God to see.
And that's the only place I find peace in him. If I think of God looking at
me apart from simply seeing me in him, it just scares me. It
makes me think he's gonna send me to hell. With regard to everything,
the only place that I find peace is in the Lord Jesus Christ. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. Paul said, I don't wanna
be found anywhere else but in Christ so that all God sees when
he sees me is Jesus Christ. Now, if that's the case, you
know what? I have peace. If he sees me in any way independent
from simply being found in him, I have no peace. The Lord is not going to permit
any of his children to find peace anywhere but in him. Look in John chapter 14, verse 27. Remember, he is our
peace. He himself, our peace, is a person. Verse 27, peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. My peace I give to you. Now I
think of his, what kind of peace does the Lord Jesus Christ have?
This kind of peace he has, he knows he has perfect righteousness
with God. What peace He has? He doesn't
have the peace of sin and guilt. He's perfectly righteous before
God. He has the peace of knowing that He controls everything. And there's nothing He has to
fear. I mean, everything is under His thumb. And it can't be any
other way but that because He's God. He's all-powerful. He's
omniscient. He controls everything. He's
got the peace of who He is. He's got the peace of knowing
His Father is pleased with Him. He said, I do always those things
that please the Father. What peace the Lord Jesus Christ
has. And He says, my peace, I give
unto you. Now that is peace. My peace. I give unto you. I love the scripture in 1 John
4, verse 17, as he is. Well, how is he? Perfectly peaceful
with God. As He is, so are we in this world. He is our peace. My peace doesn't come from circumstances. My peace comes from this. He
is our peace. It's the peace of not lacking
anything. Listen to Scripture, Colossians
chapter 2, verses 9 and 10. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete. You're complete. You do not need anything else. You can't be any more loved.
You can't be any more accepted. You can't be any more holy. You
can't be any more righteous. You are complete. This is every
believer. You are complete. How? In Him. In Him. My peace I give unto you. He is our peace. Now go back
to Ephesians chapter two, verse 15. Well, let's start reading verse
14. For he is our peace, who has made both, speaking of Jew
and Gentile, He hath made both one. You're looking at a Jew,
and you're looking at a Gentile. They're both one. That distinction
is over. All of God's people are God's
heritage. All of God's people are true Jews. He is our peace,
who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us, 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." Have you ever heard a preacher
say, have you made your peace with God? Have you made your peace with
God? Now, somebody that makes a statement like that betrays
a complete ignorance of God. Have you made your peace with
God? The one who asks a question like
that is yet dead in trespasses and sins and has no understanding
of the gospel at all. And the believer is offended
by a statement like that. No, I've not made my peace with
God. He made my peace with God. I didn't make my peace with God.
He made my peace with God. Now, according to that 15th verse,
he abolished in his flesh the enmity, the hatred, even the
law of commandments contained in ordinances. Now listen to
me real carefully, listen to this statement. If you're under
law, you're gonna have no peace and all you're gonna do is hate
God. Now think about that. That's
a strong statement, but it's true. If you're under law, you're
not going to have any peace, and all you're going to do is
hate God. But he came and took away the
law by fulfilling it, answering its demands, and now you are
not under grace. That law has been abolished by
what he did. I know people can come up with
all kinds of implications about that, but I'm not worried about
it. It's the truth. It's what the Bible teaches.
If you're under law, all you're going to do is hate God. It's
only when you can say with Paul, sin shall not have dominion over
you for you're not under law, but under grace. Now, when you
see the law fulfilled and dealt away with, two things, you have
peace and you love God. Those two things are true. You
have peace and you love God. But if you're under law, you
have no peace and you have no love for God. He abolished, now
that's what it says, isn't it? He took away the enmity by doing
away. Fulfilling, answering the law's
demands, doing it away so that you're not under law. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
one. Not only is he our peace, he
made our peace. Now look in verse 20 of Colossians
chapter one, verse 20. 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 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, he made peace. He didn't make it available and
then offer it to anybody, he made it. He made peace by the
blood of his cross. Now this thing of reconciliation
implies that at one time we were on friendly terms. before the
fall of Adam. But after the fall of Adam, we
all fell in him, became his enemies, but he reconciled us. We didn't
have anything to do with his reconciliation. He reconciled
us by the blood of his cross and it's complete reconciliation. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses into them. And
look very carefully at verse 22. This gives me peace. He is my
peace. He made my peace. And in making
my peace, this is what he did. Verse 22. Verse 21, and you that
were sometimes 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 don't miss this word in his sight.
That's as important as anything else in that verse of scripture,
in his sight. Perception is reality to us. We perceive something and it's
real to us, whether it's real or not, but he sees things as
they really are. This is the truth concerning
every child of God without exception. You are, because of what he did
on the cross, you are holy in his sight. You might not even
be so in your own sight, but you are in his sight. And if
he sees you that way, that's what you are. You are Unblameable. You don't have anything to feel
guilty about. There's nothing anybody can blame you for. Nothing
in his sight. You are unreprovable. Nothing to reprove you for in
his sight. Now, beloved, that's peace. That's peace. Turn to Romans 4. Verse 25. Who
was delivered? to the cross is what that's talking
about for our offenses. And was raised again for our
justification. Therefore, being justified, having
been justified. Now, when the Lord was hanging
on that cross, The sins of God's elect became his sins, and he
put them away. And when he was raised from the
dead, all of God's elect were justified. You're not justified
by your act of faith. You're justified by the actions
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the action of the Lord Jesus Christ,
what he accomplished, My faith, you believe that. You believe
that. That's what faith is. It's believing
that we're justified by His faith. One of the reasons, I think about
what we were reading there, Claire. One of the reasons I love the
King James Version is, you know, it's the only version that says
that we're justified by the faith of Christ. If you've got any
other version, it says you're justified by faith in Christ.
And the reason being the translator said, well, that doesn't make
sense. How can you be justified by the faith of Christ? So they
just change it. But in the original, that is the way it reads. And
I'm, I'm justified by Christ, not by anything I did by the
faith of Christ, by the faithfulness of Christ, by the obedience of
Christ justified. Now, if you're justified, And
this is the very heart of the gospel. If you're justified,
that means you're not, you didn't do anything bad. You never sinned. Somebody says, but I know I've
sinned. Christ bore my sin and it's gone. And I have perfect
righteousness before God because his righteousness is given to
me. That's what justification is. Therefore, Having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God. The only way that I have
any peace with God is if Jesus Christ justified me and I don't
stand before God in any way except perfect righteousness. Now that
gives me peace. That gives me peace. If you put
anything on me, My peace leaves. If you put any of my salvation
dependent upon me doing anything, I have no peace. I know what's
gonna happen. But if he did it all, I have
peace. He made my peace with God. And this is the peace that passes
all understanding. Now back to our text in Ephesians
chapter two. First point is, He is our peace. Well, I'm so thankful it says
it that way. He is our peace. Secondly, he made our peace with
God. And then in Ephesians chapter
two, verse 17, came, he came and preached peace
to you, which were afar off. and to them that were nigh, speaking
of the Jewish people. He came and preached peace. Now our message is a message
of peace. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Verse 13, for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then should
they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how should
they believe in him in whom they've not heard? And how should they
hear without a preacher? And how should they preach except
they be sent? As it's written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. I've got to point this out. How
beautiful are the feet of them? Now, feet are pretty, if you
look at a bunch of people's feet, you can't identify those people. Here's my point. If I am preaching
as I should, you won't be thinking about me. You'll be thinking about the
message. How beautiful are the feet? They didn't even sing.
How beautiful are the feet of them that bring this message
of gospel peace. If you're thinking of me, either
by my bad preaching or how wonderful my preaching boy, he can really
preach. He's got such gift. I've gotten away. I've gotten
away. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace. Acts chapter 10, verse
36, where they came preaching peace by Jesus Christ. That's the message. Peace by
Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. And that's a summary of all true
gospel preaching. That's what Peter says. He came
preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He's the author of it. He's the
cause of it. He's the subject of it. He is
the peace, peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. I love that. I'm not going to
say to you, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? He is
the Lord of your life. Whether you know it or not, you're
in his hands. You're in his hands. Your eternal
destiny is up to Him. Now, does that give you peace?
Somebody says, no, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. That doesn't
give me peace. It's totally out of my hands. Listen, if it's
in your hands, you ought not have any peace because you're
going to mess it up. I'll assure you of that. You will not be
saved if salvation is in your hands in any way to any degree. I'm just dead sure of that. But
if it's in his hands, oh, there's hope for the chief of sinners
in his hands. He is Lord of all. Isaiah chapter
40, verses one and two. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. You hear that? Your warfare,
the rage that goes on within your heart. It's already over. It's finished. It's accomplished.
Her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, if you hear that as
gospel, you will feel peace. You'll feel it. Now, if you hear
preaching, And I know what this is, I know what I'm talking about.
If you hear preaching that makes you feel like you're not measuring
up, something's missing. I must not be saved, I'm not
fill in the blank. That's law preaching. That's law preaching. That's
works preaching. True preaching is a message of
peace. peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
12. He is our peace. Amen. He is our peace. He made our
peace. We didn't make it. He did it.
Our message is a message of peace. Now, I realize that it's not
a message of peace to everybody. It's a message of conflict to
somebody who's trusting their works. But it's a message of
peace to all of God's elect. It's the only place they find
peace. He is our peace. He made peace. We preach peace.
But look here in Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 14, follow, pursue peace with all
men. Make this your aim, make this
your pursuit. Follow after peace with all men. Listen to this scripture from
Romans chapter 12, verse 18. If it'd be possible, I realize
sometimes it's not possible, but if it'd be possible, as much
as life in you is live peaceably with all men. Blessed are the peacemakers for
they shall be called the children of God. Now, I hope I, well,
I'm going to go ahead and say it. I said, I hope I don't have
to say it, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. So I guess I do. A peacemaker
is someone, is not someone who avoids conflict at all costs. There are those who, to avoid
conflict, they're not going to say anything when the gospel
is not being preached. That's not being a peacemaker.
That's actually being the opposite. You're not doing anybody any
good that way. And I don't want to be that person. I want to
stand for the gospel of peace. And if somebody tries to water
it down in order to avoid conflict, I don't want to have anything
to do with that. And you don't either. So when I'm talking about
being a peacemaker, Or when the Bible's talking about being a
peacemaker, included in that is being someone who's persecuted
for righteousness sake. That's the next thing in the
Beatitudes. Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness
sake. But in this thing of following
peace, be a peaceful person. Not contentious. Don't be one
of those people And you know these kind of people, they're
so easily offended. You have to walk on eggshells
around them. Don't be that person. Don't be
one of those people, and you've seen people, there's people you
feel judged by, and criticized by, and condemned by, and you
don't feel any peace around. Don't be that person. Be a person
where other folks are around you, they feel peace. Peaceful. I want to be a peaceful person
and someone who can say he is our peace. Someone who can understand
that he made my peace. It has nothing to do with me.
It's wholly to do with him. Somebody who understands this
message, it's a message of peace. I love that scripture. God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world. The world
was already condemned. But to save the world. It's a message
of peace. Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And be a peaceful person, not
someone who people feel uncomfortable around and condemned and judged
and threatened and you're afraid that what you say around them
is going to be twisted. Don't be one of those people.
Be someone when people around you, they feel peace. That is gospel peace. And it's only experienced through
believing, believing the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
prince of peace. How we thank you that he is our
peace. How we thank you that he made
our peace by the blood of the cross. How we thank you for the
preaching of the gospel of peace. And Lord, we ask that you would
make us peacemakers. We ask that we might be poor
in spirit, that you'd enable us to mourn over our sin, to
be meek, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be pure
in heart, to be merciful, to be persecuted for righteousness
sake. And oh Lord, cause us to be peacemakers,
peaceful men and women. Bless this message for your glory.
and for our good, in Christ's name we pray, amen.