Let's turn back to 1 Timothy
chapter 2. I have entitled this evening's
message, A Quiet and a Peaceable Life. A Quiet and a Peaceable Life. Paul told us to pray for kings
and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and
a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Now quiet means tranquility
from without. Peace from without. It has something
to do with my environment and my circumstances. A peaceful
environment. Peace from without. And peaceable
means tranquility from within. Peace within. That really doesn't
have anything to do with my environment. You can have peace in an environment
and have wretchedness on the inside. He said his desire was
that we would have peace on the outside and peace on the inside
with all godliness. That word means devotion to God. devotion to God and honesty or
integrity. Now this quiet and peaceable
life is experienced in godliness and in honesty and it's good
the scripture says this is good and it's acceptable it's well
pleasing to God our Savior. Now I got to thinking about this
name of our Lord God our Savior. I'm glad this is in this passage
of scripture. God, our Savior. God, He cannot fail. He cannot
fail. Whatever He intends to do, He
does. His will is never thwarted. He's God and He's God, our Savior. And that's exactly what I need. God, my Savior, because I need
saved. Lord, save me. Save me. I need saved from my sins. I
need saved from the penalty of my sin. I can't bear the thought
of standing before God and giving account for my sins. I don't
want to have anything to do with that. I need saved from the power
of my sins because they're too powerful for me. They reign over
me unless He breaks that power. I need saved from the power of
sins. And I was thinking with anticipation today. I was thinking,
one of these days, I'm going to be saved from the very presence
of sin. I'm not going to sin anymore. When I'm in glory, in
His presence, I will not sin. Isn't that a precious name for
Him? God, our Savior. Now, He looks upon this quiet and
peaceable life as good, intrinsically good, upright, and acceptable,
well-pleasing to him. Now, quiet. Quiet. Peaceful environment, as opposed
to conflict, discord, fighting, and drama. One cannot leave a
quiet life if his circumstances and environment is anything but
that. Now look how he says that we're to pray for kings and for
all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty. The reason we pray for these
men is because God tells us to and what they do greatly affects
our lives. How the president makes a decision,
how the mayor makes a decision, how those in authority make a
decision greatly affect my life. And I'm to remember that the
king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water,
he turneth it whither so ever he will. So I pray for my leaders. I want to treat them with respect,
but I pray for my leaders that God will cause them to do that
which will promote a quiet, peaceful environment. I don't want war. I want to have a healthy economy,
don't you? I see of all the problems that a bad economy causes, I
want to have a healthy economy. I want to pray for our leaders
that we might have a healthy economy. What trouble a corrupt,
bad economy is, what trouble corrupt politicians bring, what
trouble an immoral government brings. So I pray for these men.
I want to have a quiet existence in that sense. And you do too.
I know you do. We want to have peaceful homes. How many homes,
this is talking about this environment, how many homes have wretched
existences because the homes they live in are not peaceful
places, but a war zone. I think of how many kids have
never experienced what it is to live in a peaceful environment. All they've ever seen is fighting
and bickering and trouble and tension. I was talking to a man
today who his grandchildren had been terribly abused all their
life and they had moved them out of that home finally and
they were bruised. Just a wretched existence all
the way, all their life. What a blessing a peaceful environment
is. quietness, and then he spoke
of the word peaceable from within. Now, this peace has nothing to
do with circumstances or environment. It's the opposite of feeling
conflicted. It's the opposite of feeling
fearful and no confidence and tormented and guilt-ridden. It's
an inner peace. Turn with me to 1 Peter 3. Here
it is, 1 Peter 3. Verse 1, likewise you wives,
be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not
the word, they may also without the word be won by the conversation
of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation, coupled
with fear, the fear of God. Who's adorning? Let it not be
the outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold
or of putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man
of the heart. Now this is what is beautiful.
The hidden man of the heart in which is not corruptible. It's
not even subject to sinfulness. This is the new nature that God
gives. It's not corruptible. Even the ornament that which
beautifies of a meek and quiet spirit. Now that word quiet is
the same word translated peaceable. This is supernatural. It's the
gift of God. It's the work of God in a believer
and there's Peace. Peace with God. In the sight
of God that is of great price. Now do you find this attractive?
A quiet and a peaceable life. I find that so attractive and
it certainly is attainable. Now he says in verse 1 of our
text in 1st Timothy chapter 2, I exhort therefore that first
of all This is what comes first. Supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks be made for all men. Now, the first thing
he mentions is prayer. That we might lead this quiet
and peaceable life. We will not experience this quiet
and this peaceable life apart from prayer. Now, prayer is not
the cause of a quiet and peaceable life. God is the cause of a quiet
and peaceable life. But this comes through prayer.
The Lord uses prayer to accomplish His purpose. You pray for your
children, don't you? You know that if they're saved,
the Lord's going to save them. And therefore, you ask Him, Lord,
save my children. We're to pray for all men. Praying
for their salvation and so on. Now, first thing he mentions
is prayer. And turn with me to Philippians
chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, verse
6. Be careful, be anxious, be fretful,
be worried for nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. I may feel wretched about something.
I may feel troubled about something. I pour my soul out before the
Lord. He knows. It doesn't say you'll
have peace because He's given you what you've asked for. Quite
often, what you ask for doesn't seem to be answered. But you
know that He's heard, and you know that whatever He does is
right, and you have peace. The peace of God that passes
all understanding. Now notice in 1 Timothy chapter
2, the first thing he mentions is supplications. Now that word
means needs. Needs, that's all it means. Needs. You know, every time I pray,
I remember hearing somebody talk about Psalm 103, and they said,
one of the things that is so amazing about Psalm 103 is, it's
where, bless the Lord, O my soul, all that's within me, bless his
holy name. And one of the amazing things about Psalm 103 is the
psalmist doesn't ask for a thing. All he does is praise. And I'm
thankful for that psalm, but I've never experienced it. Never
one time have I ever come into God's presence in prayer without
asking for something. I have needs. And that's what
supplications are all about. They're needs. And you know,
the Lord's the only one who can give you those needs. I have
spiritual needs. I need grace. I need mercy. I need God to not give me what
I deserve. I need the complete forgiveness
and pardon of my sins. I need the grace of faith. I
need to be able to repent continually. I need to persevere. I need His
mercy. I need Him to accept me. I have
spiritual needs. I need His love. I need His presence. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how I need Him. I have spiritual
needs. And I mean needs. And I have
emotional needs. And I have physical needs. But
I have needs and I know the only one who can meet those needs
and supply those needs is the Lord himself. Supplications and
prayers. Now what's the difference between
supplications and prayers? Two different words. Well, supplication
emphasizes our needs. Prayer emphasizes the one we're
praying to. The only one who can meet those
needs. You know, you only pray about
that which you can do nothing about. That's what you pray about. That
which you can do absolutely nothing about. When it comes right down
to it, that's everything, isn't it? That's everything. And then
he says intercessions. Intercessions is praying for
other people. You know, the Lord taught us
to pray, our father, not my father, our father. Who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Pray for me. Pray for me. I want to call your name before
the throne of grace every day in prayer. Intercessions. And giving of thanks. Giving
of thanks. Be made for all men. Now does
all men mean all men without exception? Am I to pray for all
men without exception? Well, no, I'm not to pray for
dead people. Somebody once asked me, would you pray for my dead
Brother, I said, no, I won't. What's the point? He's dead.
What good would that do him? He's dead. His place is already
fixed. There's no praying for a dead person. I'm not to pray
for that one who's sinned against the Holy Spirit. Lord says, don't
pray for that person. There are people who I feel no
impression to pray for. It doesn't mean all men without
exception, but it means all sorts of men, all kinds of men. I want
to pray for everybody here. Giving thanks for all men. And I think that's interesting.
We need to remember that as we go on down and consider this
next week, when it says who will have all men to be saved and
come to a knowledge of the truth. Well obviously that doesn't mean
all men without exception any more than he meant pray for all
men without exception. But pray for men, give thanks for them. We want these men to be used
to bring about a quiet and a peaceable life. Peace from without. Peace
between nations. A peaceful economy. Peace on
the job. Peace in my home. Peace with my co-workers. Most
especially, peace in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. A quiet
life. A quiet life. Peace. Harmonious
relationships. Like we considered Sunday night,
a believer is a peacemaker. A peacemaker. That's part of
producing this peaceful environment. Would you be a peacemaker? Well,
first preach the gospel of peace. That's where you got to begin.
You preach the gospel of peace. And we're going to talk about
that in just a moment, more about it. But also if you want to be
a promoter of peace, be a respectful person. Teach your children to
be respectful of all authority. That's so very important. Be
respectful. The respectful person doesn't
bring trouble. There's always a quiet relationship around somebody
who is respectful. You know, everybody ought to
be treated with respect, even if you don't agree with them.
Everybody ought to be treated with respect and esteem. expressions of esteem, showing
deference. You know, when we disrespect
someone, we say, you're not important to me. That's all we say. You're not important to me. And
that's so contrary to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. May
we be respectful men and women of everybody. A quiet life and
a peaceable life. Now, I've been talking about
a quiet environment, and we want that, don't we? I want a healthy
economy. I want to have peace in my home. I want to have peace
in this church. I want to have peace with you.
Just a peaceful, restful place where people enjoy one another,
and there's not conflict, and there's not fighting and bickering,
but there's peace, people behind each other, people who love each
other. We want that. But here's something that's even
more important, peace from within. Now this has nothing to do with
circumstances. This has nothing to do with environment. It's
a peace from within. Now here's the first thing that
gives me peace when I think about this. What is it that takes away
my peace? My sin. My sin. That's what takes away my peace
is when I think of my sin against God. I have offended God. He hadn't offended me. I've offended
him by my sin. Sin is against God. He is the
one who's offended. But here's what gives me peace. He's the one who came to me.
Not me coming to him. He came to me and He made peace
with me. He did it without my help. He
did it by the blood of the cross. He accomplished salvation for
me. Now this is what gives me peace. This is what gives me
peace. That Jesus Christ died for me and put away my sin. That's
the only thing that gives me peace. That's why I don't have
any peace in that horrible, evil, wicked teaching
that says that Jesus Christ died for everybody. He died for everybody. There's even people in hell that
he died for. And your salvation, your peace is ultimately in your
hands. I hate that. There's no comfort
in that. There's no peace in that. Here's
my peace that when he said it is finished, everybody he died
for was saved. All their sin was put away. And
they're accepted. Right now, God can't accept me
anymore than He already does. I can't be more loved. I can't
be more justified. I can't be more holy. And that's
what gives me peace. Nothing else gives me peace.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. I want to read this verse of Scripture
and I want to ask you a question about it. Verse 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost. The kingdom of God is righteousness. Now here's the question I've
got. Righteousness. Is that an adjective used to
describe our conduct and our behavior? Our conduct and behavior should
be righteous, but if that's what it is, I have no peace. None at all. If I have to look
to how righteous my conduct is and how righteous my behavior
is before I can have peace, I have no peace at all. I never will forget one time
I was talking to a preacher and he said, Brother Nybert, my enjoyment
of heaven will be dependent upon my obedience here upon earth.
And I looked at him, and I said, so and so, I said, if I believe
that, if I really believe that, I'd have a nervous breakdown. And he looked at me and just
went down. Come to find out he'd had one. He'd had one. And if I believed
something like that, I would too. I'd think, is this the day
I'm going to destroy it all? Oh, what a... My peace is that... When Jesus Christ said, it is
finished, my salvation was completely finished. Can't be added to.
What peace, what joy! Righteousness! The righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God. His
life is my life before God. Peace, righteousness, peace. What peace I enjoy from that. It's what the Bible calls the
joy and the peace of believing. You see, there is only one righteousness. That's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only righteousness there is.
That's why David said in Psalm 71 16, I've made mention of thy
righteousness, even thine only. His righteousness imputed to
me by God is my personal righteousness before God. That gives me peace. Nothing
else does. Now, his righteousness, is imparted
to the believer in the new birth. Now, what's that mean? What are
you talking about imputed and imparted? Now, this explains
it to me. Adam's sin was imputed to me. You know what that means? When he sinned, I was charged
with it, and I was guilty. When he sinned, I sinned. By
one man's sin, the many were made sinners. They were condemned,
Romans 5. I mean, it's what Scripture teaches. When Adam sinned, his
sin was charged to my account. I sinned. I was condemned. And his evil nature, as a result
of his sin, was passed on to me when I was born. I was born
a sinner. I was born evil. In the precise
same manner, Christ's righteousness is charged to me. It becomes
mine so that I did it. I love what he said to John the
Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.
When he fulfilled righteousness, I did too. When he kept the law,
I did too. His law keeping, his righteousness,
his perfect life is charged to my account And when I'm born
again, his righteous nature is given to me in the new birth.
Second Peter 1.4 says we're partakers of the divine nature. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
three. Now what if you knew you were gonna die tonight? What if you knew you were gonna
die tonight? What would you be looking to? You may. You may. Lord may kill you tonight. He
may kill me tonight. What would you be hoping in? What would
give you peace? Well, here's what gave Paul peace. Verse 7, but what things were
gained to me, his religious life, His personal righteousness, what
things were gained to me, those I put in the loss column for
Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may
win Christ and be found in Him. When God comes looking for me,
I'm gonna say this again. I said it plenty, I'm gonna say
it again. When God comes looking for me, there's only one place
I wanna be found. It's not up here preaching. It's
not on my knees in prayer. It's not witnessing. It's not
reading the Bible. That's what my flesh wants. Oh,
wouldn't I love to be preaching when he came back? Well, that's
pure flesh. That's all it is. Here's where I wanna be found,
in him. So that all God sees is Jesus
Christ, nothing else. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, not having my own righteousness. I don't want
to have anything to do with that, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith. Now, that gives me inner peace. Anyone else gives me inner peace?
The fact that everything else, he's in control of. And that
all things, all things, work together for good. To them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So no matter how troubling something might be, he sent it. for my
good and His glory. And He's in control of every
single event. And that gives me inner peace. I might not understand what He's
doing, and I don't need to. He does. And I have peace from
that. And this is the peace that Christ
gives. Turn to John chapter 14. Let
me show you some scriptures about this, this inner peace. In verse 36 of chapter 13, Simon
Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him,
whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I
follow thee now? I'll lay down my life for thy sake, and he
meant it. Have there not been times when
you felt like you encountered a great privilege to die for
the Lord Jesus Christ? You'd like to die as a martyr
on the stake for his glory? Sure you felt that way. There's
other times you didn't, but there's times you did. Peter meant this. Jesus answered him, wilt thou
lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your heart be troubled. Even though you're gonna deny
me three times, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe
in God, believe also in me. Look in verse 27 of the same
chapter. 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. Look in chapter
16 verse 30, now the disciples speak so confidently. Now are we sure that thou knowest
all things, and need is not that any man should ask thee. By this
we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them,
do you now believe? You know, when the disciples
made big, powerful statements to the Lord, he could see right
through them, couldn't he? Do you now believe? You're talking
big. Behold, the hour cometh, yea, now has come that you shall
be scattered, every man to his own, and you'll leave me alone.
Yet I'm not alone because the Father's with me. These things
have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. A quiet peace from without and
peaceable peace from within. And turn back to 1 Timothy chapter
2. I want you to notice this. I want to notice this. That we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. This quiet and this
peaceable life is lived in all godliness and honesty. Now, what does the word godliness
mean? Now, I think it's interesting.
I'm not real sure why the translators translated it like this because
the word God is not in the word. It's literally well-devout. Well-devout. It's devotion to God. Now, the only way I'm gonna have
a quiet and peaceable life is in being devoted to God. I think of that passage of scripture
in, I think it's Psalm 10 where it says concerning the wicked,
God is not in all their thoughts. To the believer, God is in his
thoughts. He's in his thoughts. He's devoted to God. And honesty is actually integrity. That's our attitude toward men.
That's our conduct before men. This is the only way there's
going to be true peace. Godliness, devotion to God, and integrity
toward men. That's what godliness is. Look
in 1 Timothy 4. This is a word Paul uses quite
often in the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. He
says in verse 7, but refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise
thyself rather unto godliness. Devotion to God. Give yourself
to that. For bodily exercise profits little,
for a little while. But godliness is profitable unto
all things, having a promise of the life that now is and that
which is to come. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Look in chapter six, verse three. If any man teach otherwise and
consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ into the doctrine which is according to godliness. He's proud, knowing nothing but
doting about questions and strifes of words where of cometh envy
strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of
corrupt mind and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain
is godliness. From such withdraw thyself, but
godliness with contentment. is great gain. Oh, isn't it great
gain? For we brought nothing into this
world. How'd you come into this world? Without a thing. How you
gonna leave this world? Somebody once said of a rich
man, what did he leave when he died? Somebody replied, everything. Everything. Godliness with contentment. Satisfaction with being saved
by Christ is great gain. Oh, that you and I would exercise
ourselves unto godliness and honesty or integrity. Gravity. There will be no quiet and peaceable
life where there's no godliness and honesty or integrity. And I'm thankful that this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. I just love
the way he talks about this and ends it with God our Savior.
I need the Lord God to enable me in this thing. Now let me
tell you two things about this thing of a quiet and peaceable
life. Two things. Number one, if I'm
going to have it, He's going to have to give it to me. Salvation
is of the Lord and a quiet and a peaceable life is of the Lord.
If I'm going to have it, He's going to have to give it to me.
Don't you know that so? If I'm going to have it, he's
going to have to give it to me. And I want it. And I'm asking
for it. But I'm not going to have it apart from the means
of having it. Praying for all men and being
a peacemaker myself. May the Lord give us grace to
enter into this thing, in this church, in our homes, a quiet
and a peaceable life. in all godliness and honesty. This is good and acceptable in
the sight of God our Savior. That means it's good, isn't it?
Let's pray together.