Garwood Presbyterian Church

God's Promise of Peace

The Power of God's Promises

Isaiah 26:3-4, John 20:19-20, Romans 8:5-7

Intro. - Who highly values inner peace? Everyone! Who would like to have more inner peace? Everyone!

1. God Wants You to Have Inner Peace
   1. But He's not just going to hand it to you.
      1. There are certain things you have to do to gain it.
   2. But God does want you to have inner peace.
      1. The first thing we read that Jesus said to His disciples after his resurrection was, "Peace by with you." He wants us to have peace.
      2. And God promises you peace. Psalm 85:8 says, " I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints..."
      3. And God is the source of peace. Judges 6:24 says that "The Lord is Peace." And Ro-mans 15:33 says that God is "The God of peace..."
      4. And Jesus died so you can have peace. Isaiah 53:4-5 says, "Surely he took up our infir-mities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."
      5. So God is the source of peace, He wants you to have it, and promises that you can have it, and Jesus died so it can be yours.
   3. But His promise of peace is a conditional promise, and you have to meet the conditions to have peace.
      1. He's not just going to give it to you. Sorry!
      2. He's made it possible for you to have, but you're going to have to do your part to get it.
2. So, Here's How to Have God's Inner Peace
   1. First, be a Christian.
      1. So Jesus' death on the cross, which purchased your peace, applies to you. Col, 1:19-20 says, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [His Son], 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
      2. And be a Christian, so you get God's Spirit in you, which gives us inner peace. Gal. 5:22-23 says that the fruit or result of God's Spirit in us is love, joy, peace, and other things. But we notice that it says that it is God's Spirit that produces peace in us.
      3. Then we want to live by that Spirit within us, starting with our thoughts, because Romans 8:6 says that, "the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."
   2. And, we live by the Spirit, by, first, trusting God with our life.
      1. Isa. 26:3-4 says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."
      2. Moment by moment.
      3. And we can tell the Lord that in prayer, that we trust Him, instead of being anxious. Phil. 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving (= trusting in God), present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
   3. Then we need to do what God wants.
      1. First, by knowing what it is that He wants us to do - by consulting His Word. Psalm 119:165 says, "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." "Great peace", because they love God's law, and want to follow it.
      2. Then we need to submit to that Word. Job 22:21 says, "Submit to God and be at peace with him..."
      3. Then we need to do what He says, because righteousness produces inner peace.
         1. Isaiah 32:17 says, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteous-ness will be quietness and confidence forever."
         2. And that's why discipline from the Lord also produces peace. Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Because it keeps us from doing wrong, and doing wrong takes away our peace.
         3. Just like doing what is right - produces a clear conscience - and gives us peace.
         4. But when we do not do what is right - it produces guilt -it bothers our conscience - and takes away our peace.
         5. And, when we do not do what is right - we also feel like a failure - 1) get on our self = angry - and it takes away our peace. Or, 2) we get down on our self - and it takes away our peace.
         6. And, when we do not do what is right - we cause problems in our life - and it takes away our peace.
         7. So living righteously ,or rightly, for the Lord is an important key to experiencing inner peace.
   4. But sometimes we (do) fail. What can we do as a Christian to still have inner peace?
      1. You need to forgive yourself, just like God forgives you. I John 2:12 says, "I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name." So forgive yourself like God does, and gain God's peace.
      2. And then accept yourself like God accepts you. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demon-strates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That's love! And we can be at peace, by loving and accepting ourself like God does.
   5. And while we are forgiving, we need to forgive others too.
      1. Because staying angry will rob you of the peace that God wants you to have.
      2. Forgiving is the way to inner peace.
   6. Another wonderful way to have inner peace is by worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in truth.
      1. Experiencing His presence, experiencing His peace, and resting in Him.