Now let's open our Bibles to
the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 13. 2 Corinthians, chapter 13,
verse 11. My subject this morning is peace. Peace. Where is peace to be found? In 2 Corinthians 13, verse 11,
the Apostle says finally, closing the two epistles to the Church
at Carlin, finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be mature,
grow up, grow up. Be of good comfort, ease, and
rest. Be of one mind, unity. purpose
and spirit and worship. Live in peace. Live in peace. Live in peace. And the God of
love and peace shall be with you. My message this morning
has nothing to do with world peace. peace between countries and peace
between natural men. It has never been and it never
shall be. Because of man's depravity and
sin, there never has been and never will be peace between nations. Our presidents and kings talk
about peace for our time. Peace is temporary. There have
always been and always will be wars and rumors of wars. Is that
not what God says? Natural men can never live in
peace together because they do not know the Prince of Peace,
King of Salem. It cannot be. It shall never
be. So my message has nothing to
do with world peace. And then secondly, this message
has nothing to do with ecumenical peace. Error and truth cannot walk together. People are always saying, well,
the churches ought to get together. It is impossible for men who
believe that God is sovereign and almighty to get together
with or live in peace with men who deny it. Do you understand
that? Why don't you cooperate with
other churches? Because we're not worshiping
the same God. It's an impossibility. Why didn't the Lord Jesus get
together with organized religion when he walked this earth? They
hated and despised him. Why didn't the Lord Jesus get
together with the Sanhedrin or the scribes or Pharisees or Sadducees? Why didn't he cooperate with
them? Because their message was a message of works and his was
a gospel of grace. Do you see that? It's an impossibility. impossibility. Men who believe
the word of God, believe it is the word of God, believe it is
the verbally inspired word of God, the inerrant word of God,
cannot walk in peace with men who deny it. Men who believe that salvation
is by grace, pure, free, sovereign grace. cannot live in peace with
men who hate that message of grace, who preach that salvation
is by works. There's no way for two men to
walk together, one of which preaches salvation is by the grace of
God, the other preaches do the best you can and you'll wind
up in heaven. That's not so, that's a lie.
error and truth cannot, a dozen errors can walk together. You
say, but other churches get together, they are preaching the same thing. And we are together in unity
and beauty of fellowship with churches who preach what the
God we preach. Brother Ken Wymer told me yesterday
as he departed for Africa, he said, I have now with me and
behind me praying for me, supporting me, 28 grace churches. 28 of them. So I'm not talking about ecumenical
peace. It can never be. It can never
be. The enemies of God are my enemies. You understand that? They're
my enemies. David said, do not I hate them
that hate thee, O Lord. You explain it. Now, my message
has nothing to do with world peace. It has nothing to do with
ecumenical peace. My message has nothing to do
with psychosomatics. One does not find peace through
positive mental attitude. I'm sorry, you can find a veneer
of peace. You can find a false peace. And
one says, well, think the right things and you'll have peace.
You'll have a temporary peace. One does not find peace by exercising
mind over matter, not permanent peace, not lasting peace, not
true peace. You can find a temporary rest. You see, this peace, think good
thoughts and be at peace. This is the message of those
who cry peace when there really is no peace. There really is
no peace. You're claiming what you do not
have. You're claiming what does not
exist. You're claiming what you do not
possess to have just a show of peace. A smile on the face and
rebellion in the heart is not peace. A goody-goody outward
show And a heart full of resentment and envy and jealousy and malice
is not peace. So that's not what I'm talking
about. My subject this morning, and I'm interested in it, my
subject this morning is real peace. Not to sit down on the outside,
but to sit down on the inside peace. That's what I'm talking
about. Real peace. I'm talking about a genuine peace. I'm talking about a lasting peace. I'm talking about a peace based
on a sure foundation. I'm talking about a peace of
heart and soul and mind. I'm talking about this peace
in Philippians 4. Turn over here to Philippians
4. This is the peace I'm talking about. Philippians 4, 7. Philippians 4, 7, and the peace
of God, which passeth all explanation, understanding, comprehension
by any natural man. The peace of God, Philippians
4, 7, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and your minds. That's not a veneer now. That's
not an outward show. That's not a charade, that's
not putting on a show for somebody. That's a genuine, real, heart,
soul, and spirit peace. One other scripture, turn to
Isaiah 26. This is the peace I'm talking
about. And I'm not just going to talk about it, I'm going to
get into it. I'm going to tell you where it's not found and
where it is found. I'm going to tell you about a
peace that you can have. If you're a child of God, you
do have. Isaiah 26, listen, verse 3, Thou
shalt keep him in peace, peace. Perfect peace. We got a little
joke at our house. My daughter and her mother use
this kind of reasoning. Something is cold or it's cold,
cold. Is that hot or just hot-hot?
Well, you know what he's saying here? Thou shalt keep him in
peace, peace. Look in your center reference
and see it there. Thou shalt keep him in peace, peace, perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee. All right, here's three points,
three simple points. Peace is the common need of everybody
here. This fella, that fella, that
one, that one, that lady. Peace is the common need of everybody. Peace, peace, peace. Oh, I know we put on a good show,
but I'm talking about peace, peace. That peace of God. And there's
one place to begin. Our chief need is peace with
God. Is that not right? You see, this
is why we don't have peace in other areas. You know why you
don't have peace at work? You know why you don't have peace
at home? You know why your husbands and wives don't get along with
some of you? You don't have peace with God.
That's the problem. This is our whole problem. Lack
of peace at work with those with whom you work, at home, your
brothers and sisters. You say, brothers and sisters
just always fight. Oh, no, they don't. No, they
don't. Not those who have the peace
of God. No, they don't. Husbands, wives always argue.
No, they don't. I beg your pardon. Not when they
have peace with God. You see, our whole problem is
right here. We don't have peace with God. Our sins have separated
us from God. And the reason we don't have
peace in other areas is we don't have peace with God. The whole
foundation of our conflict is S-I-N, sin, S-E-L-L, self. That's our problem. And you're
not going to have peace with anybody until peace with God
is established. You see, the heart of the wicked
is like the troubled sea, and it's going to stay troubled.
He said your sins have separated you and your God. And God is
angry with the wicked. Every son of Adam has a right
to be in conflict and distress and depression and fear, because
as death leaves him, judgment is going to find him and eternity
is going to keep him. You have a right to be afraid.
You have a right to be. And if our souls are constantly
like the troubled sea, they have a right to be like the troubled
sea. God is going to punish sinners. The soul that's finished is going
to die. Sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. This thing
of sin is going to have to be dealt with. We need peace with
God. Peace with God. God's angry with
the wicked. God hateth the workers of iniquity.
Your sins have separated you and God. You're not right with
God, therefore you can't be right with anybody else. We not only
need peace with God, we need peace within. Man at his best state is vanity,
only a fool satisfied with himself. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. If we
say we have not sin, we make God a liar, and his word is not
in us. Turn to Romans chapter 7. Here
is the cry of a man who knows God. Romans 7, listen, Romans
7 verse 18, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. To will is present with me. How
to perform that which is good I find not. The good that I would,
I do not. The evil, I would not do that,
I do. Now, verse 20, if I do that,
I would not do it, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find a law, I find a rule, I find a principle that when
I would do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of man. mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am! Who will deliver me from this
body of death?" Job saw the Lord and hated himself. Isaiah saw the Lord and said,
I'm cut off. Our thoughts, what are our thoughts
like? Our thoughts are carnal, they're sinful, they're selfish.
Our minds are covetous. Our minds are never satisfied.
We're never content with what we have. We want more. We want something else. Our minds
are worldly. They're set on worldly things.
Our dreams are confusing and dreadful. Our words are careless
and thoughtless. Our conscience troubles us and
depresses us. There's no peace within, and
there's no reason to have peace within. We need it though, don't we?
We need peace with God. We need peace with him. We need
peace with others. There's not anybody here that's
not at war with somebody. No man lives unto himself and
no man dies unto himself. Our lives are interwoven with
the lives of others and the conflict in every area where we touch
other lives causes us to be distressed. We have difficulty forgiving. We have difficulty forgiving.
It's a difficult thing for us to do to literally actually forgive
somebody. In fact, I see it demonstrated
very little. And forgetting is impossible. That's not peace. Understanding. We have so much trouble understanding
why people do what they do, why they say what they say. So we
understand why we think what we think, but we have a problem
understanding why he does the same thing. We don't entertain the best thoughts
of others. Who does? We're suspicious. Now, what do you mean by that? We're in this. We're jealous. See, everybody's jealous. Is
that supposed to be? And I'll tell you, these relationships
destroy peace. That's not peace. And what I'm
doing this morning, you say, Pritchard, you're really cutting
deep. You're cutting deep. I'm just describing human nature
as it is, mine and yours, mine and yours. There's no peace with God, not
by nature, no peace. Now, everybody, flat everybody
in the United States claims to have peace with God, but I'm
talking about that real, genuine, God-given, God-accepted peace
with God. I'm not talking about your profession
of faith, or your baptism, or your confirmation, or your sprinkling,
or your doctrine, or your position, or your experience you had, or
your feeling. I'm talking about peace with
God. Real peace. Certain, sure peace. You know what I'm talking about,
Bob? That's what I'm talking about. Peace. I'm talking about
a peace within. A peace within. Whether you're
on the mountaintop or the valley. Whether you're succeeding or
failing, whether you're reading the Bible or upset, I have peace
with God in here. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day, that peace with which you can live
and die. And that peace with others, with others, that contentment
that forgiving, gracious spirit that does not keep you boiling
and boiling, boiling on the inside and boiling on the outside, that
constant conflict. And it just brings, I'm talking
about a peace that will bring unity with different personalities,
ages, classes, or whatever. But it's a peace, and it's real. And it's not being preached.
Consequently, most religionists do not have it. And I'm going
to tell you secondly here, now listen, where it's not found.
Where is that peace not found? Now that false peace is found
at the front of the church, in the church, in professions of
religion, in your doctrine, in your memorization. That's where
you find false peace, in psychology, in philosophy. in counseling,
that's where you find false peace. You go to a man to get peace,
he'll give you the kind he's got. Phony. So I'm saying, first of all,
this peace is not found by going to church. Somebody says, well,
I'm going to get started back to church. Well, I'll tell you this. If
you do, I'm going to get started back to church. You ever heard
that? You ever said it, I'm going to get started back to church.
Well, the atmosphere of religion will only last as long as you're
there. As long as you're there. You can't take the church to
work with you. You can't take the church home
with you. You can't take the church in
the kitchen with you. What are you going to do about
those days? Somebody else says, well, I'm
going to make a profession of faith. I'm going down the aisle.
I'm going to straighten up my life. And that'll bring me peace. Putting on the robes of religion
will not give you a new heart. The Pharisees did that. Putting
on the robes of religion will not give you a new nature. Putting
on the robes of religion will not give you a new attitude.
Won't do it. Well, people need to get involved
in religious activities. Brother man, you need to have
a choir, and a children's choir, and an adult choir, and a youth
choir. You need to have ball teams and suppers. You need to
have some activities for the young and for the old. Activities
in religion will bring a false peace. It's getting busy in this
area so I can forget about this area. It's getting people involved
in this so they won't be involved in that. Sending your children to Christian
schools may keep them off the streets, but it won't bring them
to God. It's exactly right. Fixing a
young boy so he can't get this won't keep him from wanting it. And group therapy is not going
to bring peace. I see these people sitting around
in circles telling their innermost thoughts, but telling it won't
change it. Telling it won't change it. Telling others what you're thinking
is not going to change your thoughts. You see, all of these plans and
promotions leave us buried in false refuges. They leave us
with a veneer of religion. They leave us claiming what we
don't have and professing what we don't possess and deceiving
ourselves and deceiving others. I don't want that kind of peace. My friends, there's a real peace. There's a peace with God, a genuine,
comforting, joyful, lasting peace with God. And there is a peace to be had
right here, a peace. He giveth his beloved sleep. You say, his beloved, are they
perfect? Oh, no. They're the first to tell you
they're not. Are his beloved without sin? Oh, no. But they
have peace. They got it somewhere. They have
peace. And peace with others. All right,
where is it found? One word. One word. Turn to Ephesians 2. One word, and I'm not oversimplifying
this thing. You preachers try to oversimplify.
Let me quote you a verse. Paul said, I fear, lest Satan,
through his subtlety, who deceived our mother Eve, should deceive
you and take you away from the what? The simplicity of Christ. The simplicity of Christ. Ephesians 2, 14. Read it. For he is our peace. That's what it says, doesn't
it? You reckon that's what it means?
Tom, that says he's my peace. He is our peace. Peace is found
where? It's found in Christ. He said
to his disciples, in me, in me you might have peace. Now, let
me tell you something. I, you, all of us can struggle,
reform, seek, study, ways and means, go to group therapy, turn
over new leaves, join the church, get baptized, rededicate. We
can go through all of these things, marriage counseling. We can go through all of these
things, but until, listen to me, until Christ is formed in
our hearts by faith, there is going to be no peace. Now you
can write that down. You can write that down. Clarence,
that's right. For He is my peace. He is my peace. Paul said, I
prevail till Christ be formed in you. We can profess religion.
We can study doctrines. We can buy all these books in
here. There's books in there on how to curb your temper. There's
books in there on how to get along with your wife. There's
books in there on how to do this, that, and the other. I'll tell
you how. No Christ. That's how. And a lack of the knowledge of
Jesus Christ is the cause of all these problems. You see those three areas I mentioned,
peace with God, peace with Ian, and peace with others? Let me
show you how Christ is our peace in those three areas. That's
where I started off. We need peace with God, with
Ian, and with others. I tried to show you where it
wasn't found. Then I said it's found in Christ. It says He is our
peace. Well, how is he my peace with God? All right, first of
all, turn to Colossians 1. How is he my peace with God?
Colossians 1, he's my only peace with God. Colossians 1, 19 says
this, listen. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fulness dwell, and having made peace, peace
with God through the blood of his cross. by him to reconcile,
to forgive, to justify, to reconcile all things to himself. By him
I say whether there are things in earth or things in heaven.
that were sometimes alienated and enemies of God, enemies in
your mind by your wicked work, yet He, now, hath He reconciled
us in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight. There is my peace. See, so I'm
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. See that? Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have what? Peace with God. Peace with God. It's no wonder people don't have
any assurance when they're trusting a profession. I know when I say,
back there when I walked to the front, if you're trusting that,
looking to that, resting in that, it's no wonder you don't have
any peace. I know my sins are forgiven and
pardoned and I'm reconciled to God because I'm looking to Calvary,
I'm looking to Christ, I'm looking to his cross, I'm looking to
his blood. That's when I was reconciled.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. You see
that? He's our peace. He's our peace. Turn to Hebrews 10 and listen
to this. You're not going to find any
peace except here. Here's our peace. Hebrews 10, listen. Hebrews 10,
12. Hebrews 10, 14. For by one offering,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. You didn't
do it. I didn't do it. The church didn't do it. He did
it. We didn't even do it together. He by himself purged our sins. He did it. Read on. Well, the
Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. He confirms it in our
understanding. After that, he had said before,
this is a covenant I'll make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my law in their hearts, not on paper and
tables of stone, so they'll love them in their minds, so they'll
think on them. Will I write them in their sins
and iniquities? Will I remember? No more. Now
where remission is, there's no more offering for sin, and that
brings peace. He has made unto me wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, and therefore I have peace with
God. I have peace with God because I don't owe God anything. My
Lord paid it all, all the debt I owe. I have peace with God
because I perfectly, in a holy manner, fulfilled his every law
in the person of my substitute. I have peace with God. I am near,
so near to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of his Son,
I am as near as he. I believe it, and that's all
I can do. God said, He that believeth on the Son hath life. I believe
I have life. I have peace. I was walking down the street one day,
and a preacher came up beside me. He said, you listen to that
Church of Christ preacher on the radio? I said, well, sometimes
I hear him, you know. I don't listen to him, but sometimes
I hear him. He said, doesn't he bother you?
I said, no. Well, he said he bothers me.
He said, he's got some pretty good arguments about baptism.
I said, my friend, when you find all you need in Christ, and rest
in Christ and know that Christ fulfilled all that God required.
There's no man can bother you with rules and regulations, duties
and responsibility. I'm resting in him. That's rest. Come unto me, he said, I'll give
you rest. Are you? Is Christ just what we talk or
whom we believe? Is this thing of salvation by
grace a doctrine or is it an experience? Now, come on. In
my hands no price I bring, except through the cross of Christ I
cling. If Christ cannot please God, satisfy God, reconcile God,
bring me to God, I'm hopeless, because I can't do it. Could
my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer? No,
these for sin could never atone. If I could live the best life
any human being ever lived without Christ, I'd still perish. But if my life is the most questionable
of any human being, in Christ I can be saved. No man's sins
ever kept him out of heaven, but his righteousness will. I'm
telling you the truth. So where do I find peace with
God? In Christ. In Christ. Can you rest in him?
Forgetting those things which are behind. Paul said, I count
them all but done that I may win Christ and be found in him.
Oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Christ
alone. Now, he'll go to work with you.
He'll go to school with you. He'll go out of town with you.
He'll go in the kitchen with you. Because he said, I'll never
leave you and I'll never forsake you. You can't take this atmosphere
anywhere, but Christ is everywhere. David said, if I ascend into
heaven right there, if I make my bed in hell right there, if
I take the wings of the morning and drown in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there thy hand shall hold me. I'm in hell, and he's my peace. He's my peace. He's my peace. About within, turn back to Romans
7. I talked about a while ago our
thoughts. You know, the difficult thing about it is I still think
them. And the unhappy prospect is I'll
think them tomorrow, too. That's what's sad. But does that
destroy my peace? Oh, no. Oh, no. No. Paul said in Romans 7, verse
24, O wretched man that I am! Not that I was, I am. Who shall
deliver me from this body of death, the body of this death?
I thank God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law, the commandments, the glory, the word, the gospel
of my God. But with this flesh, I regret
it, but the law of sin. I tell you this, I shall not
cease to struggle with the old man. He is a vermin, and he is
hard to deal with. But I tell you this, through
the cross he's dead, Charlie, and I reckon him to be dead.
And he is not going to destroy my peace. Greater is he that's
in you than he that's in this world. If the Son will make you
free, you're free indeed. Walk in that freedom. Walk in
that liberty. I shall never cease to try to
mortify this flesh. But I'll tell you this, in Christ
I am sanctified. I'm holy. Do you believe that?
Well, it's so. I shall never cease, by God's
grace, to repent. I repented yesterday, I repent
today, O God, I pray today, forgive me of my sins. I'm going to pray
that tomorrow. Aren't you ever going to be through
with the flesh? Yep, when you put it out there
at Rose Hill, and then I'll be through with it. But until then,
I'm going to have to cope with it. But I'm not going to let
it destroy my peace with God. I'm accepted in the beloved.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us
that we should be called what? Son of God. That's what I am.
And you said a while ago we don't look like it. We don't even most
of the time act like it. And unfortunately we don't think
like it. But that don't change the fact.
Does it? I'm a son of God. That's right,
John, I'm a son of God. I'm still in the flesh, but in
Christ I'm glorified. But I don't find any peace in
my holiness. I find my peace in his holiness. I wish I could make this clear
without excusing sin. I'm not excusing sin. I'm not
justifying sin. I'm not condoning sin. I'm simply
saying that when sin is there, when thoughts that ought not
be there, and things that ought not be there, the words, that
that doesn't destroy the fact that I'm a son of God. I'm a
son of God. Christ is my Redeemer. I belong
to him. I'm clothed in his righteousness. And I'll tell you this. I had
heaped rather grieve over my sins and rest in my righteousness. Now, I'll just tell you. I'll
just tell you that. I had rather lie down at night
and say, Lord, I know I've said things that I shouldn't have
said, I've done things I shouldn't have done. I'd lots rather do
that. I pray through Christ's name, forgive me, love me, accept
me. I'd rather go to bed that way
than lie down and feel like I've done the job. I really have. I've done the job. I've lived
good today, I've served God. I just thank you I'm not like
the other men. Huh? Yeah, that's right. So I have
peace with God, real, lasting, genuine peace on the foundation
that Christ died for my sins. That's peace with God. The sins
are put away. I'll remember them no more. I
have peace in here. It doesn't matter whether I'm
on a mountain or in the valley, Christ is my peace. Now, you're not
going to have peace if you reach back and find something you've
done for God. Or you reach back and find some
reason for peace. There's only one reason for peace
with God, and that's Christ loved me and gave himself for me. Is
that clear? Have I made that clear? I want to. And that's
real at any time. You don't want us grieving over
our sins? David said, my sins are ever before me. But he rejoiced
in the loving kindness of Christ. or at peace with others. Now
turn to Romans 12. Romans 12, and this is translated
into action. This is translated into a comfortable
rest. I want us to have rest. The people
have got to have joy and rest and love for one another. It
ought to be, it will be, it not ought to be, it will be an experience. In Romans 12, 18, if it be possible, Like I said at the beginning
of this message, in some cases it's impossible. Error can't
walk with truth. But if it be possible, as much
as life in you, live peaceably with all men. Peaceably. That's in Christ. That's with
the brethren. That's with those that have the
same objectives you have. the same confidence, the same
Lord you have, the same gospel you have. You live at peace with
them. Live at peace with them. Now let me make several statements. It may help you. I want God to
save my family and my friends. And this congregation, I want
God to save. Paul said, my heart's desire
and prayer to God is that he might save my brothers. And if he does, I'll rejoice.
And I think we're particularly interested in our own flesh and
blood, the fruit of your womb. And if he does, I'll rejoice.
I'll rejoice in his mercy and in his grace. But let me tell
you something. If he's not pleased to save them, I'm going to bow to his will.
I'm going to say, it's the Lord, let him do what he will. That's
right. I'm going to be at peace. Can you be at peace about it?
Because if they cannot give Christ the preeminence, they deserve
to be damned. Now, is that not right? You say,
man, you say, fellow down the street, well, if he can't give
the Lord the glory, he ought to go to hell. Now, wait a minute. Does
that apply at home, too? Well, it certainly does. So now
let's be at peace about it. It's the Lord. Let him do what
he will. That's what Job said. Though he slay me, I'll trust
him. That's peace I'm talking about. Secondly, by God's grace,
I've chosen my lifestyle. My lifestyle is Christ and his
glory. That's my life. I've chosen that
by his grace. He chose me and I chose him.
I say with Joshua as for me and my house, we're going to serve
the Lord. 2222 Stevens Avenue, we're going to
serve the Lord. Now I'm willing for others to
have that same right, to choose the lifestyle that they care
to live. They can choose theirs. And I'm
not going to interfere with it. I'm going to be at peace. That's
what Moses did. Let me show you this. If you're
taking notes, write it down. You don't need to turn to it.
But in Numbers 14, he said to his father-in-law, listen to
this, in Numbers chapter 10. I beg your pardon. Numbers 10
verse 29. Moses said to his father-in-law,
we're journeying into the place of which the Lord said, I'll
give it to you. Come thou with us. Will you come
with us? We're walking with God. Will
you come with us? We'll do you good. For the Lord spoke of good
concerning Israel, and he said to Moses, I will not go. I will depart to my own land,
to my own kindred." Well, what do you suppose Moses and his
wife did? They went with God. And the old man stayed home.
And you gotta be at peace about that. That's right, you gotta
be at peace about that. Can't go with God, you can't
walk with God, heart with God, and your heart be back here with
a rebel. I tell you this, natural men
hate Christ. Therefore, we must expect them
to hate us. Christ said, marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you, it hated me before it hated you. It just
seems to tear us up when this religious world hates us. Well,
let's be at peace about it. Our Lord said they would hate
us. He told us that. He said, what light, what fellowship
can light have with darkness? What communion can Baal have
with the temple of God? It can't be. Be at peace about
it. Blessed are you when men despise
you and speak all manner of evil against you. Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad. Don't mope over it and cry over
it. Be depressed about it, rejoice,
and be exceedingly glad. Great is your reward in Him,
for so persecuted the prophets before you." Is that what it
said? Be at peace. That's peace. Our Lord said concerning
the Pharisees, His disciples said, well, they're angry. He said, leave them alone. Leave
them alone. Can you leave them alone? Can
you leave them alone? You'll have peace if you can. And I tell you this, my fellow
believers are not perfect, nor am I. My fellow believers, people
right here in this congregation, and believers I know all over
the country, I know thousands of them all over the world, correspond
with so many. They're not perfect, but I'm
not either. They're full of weaknesses, so am I. They're full of infirmities
and failures, so am I. But Christ loved me, and I'm
going to love them. Christ forgives me and I'm going
to forgive them. He took me just like I am, right? And I'm going to take you just
like you are. Just like you are. If you're
in Christ. If you're in Christ. Just like you are. And love you.
And I'm going to try to change you. If you change, God will
change you. But I'm going to love you just like you are. That's
peace. You're constantly trying to make somebody else like yourself.
You're going to have trouble. You're not going to have peace.
Take him like he is and love him. Christ holds me close. He doesn't
avoid me, he holds me close. With all my infirmities, he embraces
me and he holds me in his everlasting arms of love. And I want to do
the same thing. Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted. forgiving one another as God,
for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. But the key to peace is
Christ. Somebody says, well, you'll get
hurt. So what? The Lord was hurt many times
over. And I wouldn't doubt that we don't hurt Him now. But whatever I am, whoever I
am, wherever I am, whatever I say or do, my Father loves me, not
because of what I do, but because Christ loved me and gave Himself
for me. Do you understand that? That's so. That's my peace. And
we'll have peace with one another when Christ reigns in our hearts.
That's right. Let me give you a little illustration.
I'll quit. I want to word this exactly right
so you can understand it. And not so you understand it,
you will, but so you won't misunderstand it. But our son, Robbie, who grew
up here in this church, and most of you knew him from the time
he was an infant, many of you did, was killed suddenly in the
war of Vietnam, 1969. And by God's grace, I and my
family were able to accept it, accept it, accept it, and not
only accept it, but rejoice in God's purpose. rejoice in God's
purpose. We have no regrets about it.
The Lord has spoken and the Lord doeth all things well. And the
Lord is too wise to make a mistake and too good to do wrong. I felt
that way all along about it. I felt that way when it happened.
I feel that way now. We've not only been able to accept
it and rejoice in it, but we've been able to profit by it. I
think that we've had much spiritual growth and profit by these trials
and difficulties. Well, I've had people call me
from even over the country. I've had them write to me. And
I've had them say in their calls or in their letters, I have a
friend who lost a son. This has happened so many times.
Or I have a friend who had a daughter, 19, 18, 20, 21 killed. And they can't cope with it.
They can't handle it. Brother Mayen, they cannot cope
with it. They're distressed, berserk. They won't touch the
room. They leave it like it is. Their
whole personalities have changed. Would you sit down and write
to them? Or would you call them? Or would you go and see them
and help them to cope? Well, let me tell you something.
I can't give you a recipe for peace. Peace is a person. They can't cope, and neither
can I. But He can, and I can through
Him. I can do all things through Christ.
But they don't have Christ. And so I can't give them some
magic formula or some recipe. Do you understand what I'm saying?
If He lives in that house, there's going to be peace in that house.
My peace, I give unto you. If He lives in your heart, you're
going to have peace. And not just when the sun's shining,
but when it's raining, you're going to have peace, because
He doesn't change. We had peace before Robbie was
killed. We had peace when he was killed,
because we had that peace in Christ. Do you see what I'm saying? Now, if I went to talk with that
person, I wouldn't start talking to them about whether or not
their child was in heaven or hell. I don't know. I wouldn't
start talking to them about a proper mental attitude. I wouldn't start
talking to them about getting involved in the church. I wouldn't
start talking to them about getting involved in some social activity.
I wouldn't talk to them about establishing some kind of bond
in memory of the child so that other children who are less fortunate
could be. I'd talk to them about coming
to Christ. Come to Christ. Look to Him. He is our peace. I can't make it any clearer than
that. See, I can't teach it. It has to be revealed. But He's
our peace. Whatever happens tomorrow, you
can handle it. He'll handle it if He's in your heart. That's
it. That's it. That'll prevent all
of this if He's in the heart.