The Fight for Peace

Well, good afternoon everyone. It’s really nice to see all of you. It’s always a pleasure to see you all on the Sabbath. Over eleven thousand, nine hundred seventy-three civilians, including six hundred twenty-two children, have died or were killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February, two thousand twenty-two. In Haiti, twenty-five hundred people have either been killed or injured due to gang violence, and that was just in the first three months of this year, the first quarter of twenty twenty-four.

Over sixty percent of the infrastructure, the living infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed since the war between Israel and Hamas. The healthcare system in Gaza is practically non-existent as there has been a ninety percent shutdown in electricity available. And that’s affected hospitals, it’s also affected the water treatment plants, as well as the sewage systems.

In just fourteen months, this is between April of twenty twenty-three and June of twenty twenty-four, a reported sixty-one thousand people have been killed in the conflict in Sudan. And that is just in one state in the nation people have died. Sudan actually has the largest displacement of human beings at this point anywhere on Earth. Twelve million people have been displaced from their homes and they have nowhere else to go.

Brethren, in these circumstances, I’m sure you would agree that all of those people, all those many people who are suffering, who have been killed, who are displaced, who are in fear, all of those people are desperate for peace. They’re desperate to have peace in their lives, but are those people alone? Are they the only ones desperate for peace? Sure, their circumstances are terrible. What they’re going through is very, very bad.

The atrocities, things that they’ve suffered, but do you have to live in a war zone, or do you have to live in a neighborhood filled with violence, gang violence, do you have to live in either of those places or places like that to want peace? Let me ask you, are you at peace? Do you have peace in your life? Different aspects and elements of your life? Sure you may not have bullets flying over your head or bombs going off where you live, but the question still stands, are you at peace?

Do you have peace in your home? Are you at peace with your spouse? Are you at peace with... Parents, are you at peace with your children? Children, are you at peace with your parents? Do you have peace with your extended family? Perhaps those who are not in the church. Are you at peace with those people? Do you have peace at work? Are you at peace with your boss, with your coworkers? Are you at peace with fellow brethren in the church?

Are you at peace with your health situation? Are you comfortable with how you’re doing health-wise? What about peace with your finances, your bills, your credit score? Are you at peace with those things? Here’s a big one, are you at peace with your spiritual growth? How are you doing with your spiritual growth? Are you where you want to be? Are you satisfied with where you want to be? Are you at peace with God, your relationship with God, or are you troubled?

No, we don’t have to face tanks, guns, knives, violence, we don’t have to face any of those things to still desire to have peace. I dare say all of us, everyone here in this room, everyone around the world hearing this message, even me, all of us have some area or areas of our lives where we are not fully at peace. We are not fully where we want to be with the situation or with the experience.

Brethren, God does not just want peace when it comes to the wars that the nations are facing. He certainly wants peace in those areas, but he does not only want peace for the people in those situations. God wants all people to have peace in all areas of their lives, of our lives. That’s something God desires for all of us. He desires for all of us to have peace. So how do we achieve this peace? By the end of the sermon, you will know the one way or a way, an important way to achieve peace in your life. If there’s any area in your life where you wish you had more peace, then this message is for you. This message will help you. This message will begin you on the path to finding that peace that you seek.

Now, what is peace? What is it? It’s one of those things you wouldn’t... you know what it means, but what is peace? Well, it’s more than just an absence of conflict. You know so often, especially in the context of scripture and the Bible, we talk about world peace, and our minds go to war and people dying and violence like I started the message with, but peace is so much more than the absence of conflict. Peace is when you just feel settled. You feel settled, you feel relaxed. It’s a tranquil feeling, a calm feeling. You feel a sense of harmony, and you can apply that calmness, that harmony, that tranquility, that feeling of being settled, you can apply it to different areas or aspects of your life.

It’s possible to feel calm in one area, but a whole lot of anxiety in another. But the Bible is, it’s interesting, it’s often called a manual for life. And it is, the Bible is a manual to help us all learn how to live our lives, but I would, especially today, I would call the Bible a manual for peace. The Bible talks about peace everywhere within it. Turn to Exodus fourteen, Exodus fourteen. The Bible is the ultimate manual for peace. Peace is everywhere in the scriptures. We’ll start in Exodus, and this word, peace, comes up in many different contexts and means, some cases, many different ways to look at the same thing. But Exodus fourteen, fourteen, we’ll just pick up right in the context and we’ll read a verse here.

Exodus fourteen, fourteen, it says, “The Lord shall fight for you,” and you shall do what? “Hold your peace.” Now, this story is account... it’s the Israelites. They are running away from the Egyptians. They’re trapped between the Red Sea and an approaching Egyptian army. And God is saying here that he’ll fight for them, all they have to do is hold their peace.

Now, verse ten shows that the Israelites were terrified. They were understandably terrified. This group of slaves who didn’t know how to fight, who didn’t have any weapons, are facing the most powerful army in the world, and they’re trapped. They have the sea on one side, and they have a pursuing army on the other. But despite that, God is saying he’ll fight for them, all they have to do is hold their peace.

Now, peace there means to be silent, to leave alone, and this one’s interesting, to be deaf. As in you can’t hear. So, God is saying, “Be silent, act as if you can’t hear what’s happening, as if you’re deaf.” God is saying, “Stand still and trust me. Hold your peace.” It has to be interesting to act as if you can’t hear, and I’ll add, see an approaching army coming to kill you. But God is saying, hold your peace. Act as if you can’t hear them. Be silent. Stand still.

Brethren, sometimes achieving peace means silencing the fears and the doubts that we naturally have. We have to trust God. Trust that God will fight the battle for us. Every battle is not a pursuing Egyptian army, but we do face battles in our lives and God is saying, “Stand still and trust me. Hold your peace.” In what part of your life, I ask myself the same thing, what part of my life, what part of your life are you holding on or fearing a battle that you’re facing? What part of your life does that apply? What part of your life are you holding on to a worry? What’s worrying you in your life? God is saying whatever that matter may be, whatever that situation, whatever that circumstance is, God is saying, be silent. Stand still. Be death to the situation. Don’t get caught up in all the things you’re hearing regarding that situation. Hold your peace.

Turn to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one. This is interesting. Mark chapter one, we’ll read in verse twenty-five. Mark chapter one, verse twenty-five. “And Jesus rebuked him.” This is Jesus speaking to an unclean spirit, a demon, a devil possessing someone. “Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold your peace and come out of him.” So Christ is speaking to a powerful demon, an unclean spirit that’s taken over control of a person. Peace there means to muzzle.

We used to have a dog, and we had a muzzle. There was times we’d put that muzzle on that dog. It’s a situation maybe we were transporting the dog, or we didn’t want the dog to bark at that moment. We had a border collie lab mix, and he liked to bark. So, there were times we would put a muzzle on the dog so he would shut up. I love dogs. No, I like dogs. I do. I do, but we wanted to muzzle the dog. Christ is muzzling the demon. Shut up and come out of that person. Hold your peace. Be quiet. Stop making noise. Stop causing trouble.

Brethren, to achieve peace, sometimes we have to overcome “the demons in our own lives.” The things that vex us. The things that give us problems. We need God’s help to muzzle those situations, to quiet those situations down, to make them, again, make them be quiet. They could be sinful habits, things that we struggle with. We need God to muzzle that, to make it shut up, to make it stop. Toxic relationships, we need God’s help to make those settle down.

Negative attitudes, those are all things, for the sake of illustration, I’m calling them demons that can give us a whole, whole lot of problems, things that we can surely rely on God to control, to make depart, to make go away, and bring us peace, restore peace to our situations, to get us back to how we were before we had to deal with that situation.

Mark nine. Stay here in Mark. Mark chapter nine, verse fifty. Mark chapter nine, verse fifty. “Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his saltiness, or his saltness, wherewith will you season it?” Familiar verse, we’ve seen it in different accounts, but this version of it jumped out to me, especially given our topic. “Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.” Peace there simply means be peaceful. So be peaceful one with another.

We know that salt is a preserver. You use salt to preserve meat, preserve certain foods. Salt is a good thing. The Bible speaks very positively of salt. Salt brings out the best in foods. It brings out flavor in foods. It preserves foods. It’s interesting how salt there is compared to peace. Peace brings out the best in a situation. It preserves certain situations, particularly our relationships. He’s saying there, to have peace, one with another. That is speaking of a relationship. Peace will bring out the best in our relationships. It will preserve our relationships, so amazing analogy.

Are you, am I to be accountable as well? I have to adhere to these things as well. Are you bringing salt, the salt of peace, to the relationships that you’re in, family relationships, work relationships, all sorts of relationships? Are you bringing the salt of peace to those relationships, or is there someone that regardless of how hard you try, you just can’t seem to be at peace with? You struggle to be at peace with them. Are your words creating the peace, preserving the peace, bringing out the best in the relationships? Are your words doing that, your responses or actions from the other person, or are your words or actions leading to tension and strife where the salt has lost its saltness in your relationships? The salt is gone. The flavor is gone.

Let’s stay in Mark, Mark chapter four. Mark chapter four. The Bible is a manual for peace. Mark chapter four, we’ll read a few verses here. Mark chapter four, verse thirty-seven says, “And there rose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full.” So Christ and disciples are on a ship and they’re encountering a storm. And we’re seeing here that the waves are having their way with the ship, and it was now full. And full there would have to be in water. The boat was full of water.

“And he was in the hind part of the back of the ship,” this is Christ, “...asleep on a pillow. And they woke Him up saying unto him, master care you not that we perish?” Don’t you care that we’re all about to die? “And Jesus arose and he rebuked the wind and he said unto the sea, peace be still.” And then what happened? “The wind ceased and there was great calm.” Not just calm, great calm. You almost get the sense that it was more calm than it was before the storm. It was great calm. Everything was just peaceful. Christ, Jesus Christ commanded the storm to be still and it brought instant calm but he took his time doing it. Christ took his time doing it. The waves were beating on the ship, the ship was full of water. Christ is asleep on a pillow. We’re all about to die. But eventually, he stepped in and he resolved it.

Brethren, we all know in our heart of hearts, or by our experiences, or by what other people have said, we all know that God is able to deliver us from the challenges and the storms in life that we face. We know, we know God is able to do that, but sometimes he takes a while. Sometimes he takes his time in doing that. Sometimes when we’re in the heat of the moment, we feel like he just takes too long to do it. We’re all about to die. Why aren’t you doing anything? Don’t you know? God, don’t you know what’s happening?

Let’s keep reading. Verse forty, “And he,” Christ, “Said unto them, why are you so fearful? Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” Wow, the wind, the water, the storm, it’s about to kill us. We’re all afraid and Christ just said, why don’t you have any faith? Why do you have no faith? Wow, that would get anyone’s attention.

We all know that God can deliver us, sometimes we feel like he’s taking too long, and the response, the reaction to that feeling is why don’t you have any faith? Why do you have no faith? In what trial or challenge or storm are you dealing with that you’re feeling like God is taking too long? I would challenge you to read the words of Christ, his response to the disciples. I’ll read it. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” It’s the kind of words that make you swallow real hard, don’t they? They do. I’m swallowing hard reading them. What issue in your life have gone on so long that you feel like God has abandoned you? That he’s forgotten about you? That he doesn’t realize that you’re taking on water? Your ship is taking on water.

Psalm one twenty-two, Psalm one twenty-two, verse six. We’ll just read one verse here, verse six in Psalm one twenty-two, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” and it finishes off, “They shall prosper that love you.” It’s saying there to pray for peace in the city of peace. Jerusalem is the city of peace. That’s what it means. Jerusalem is the city of peace. So, pray for peace in the city of peace. God wants Jerusalem to be a peaceful environment. For you to be able to look around in that city and see and experience peace. So much so that the city is named peace. It’s not like that right now, but that is the intent for that environment to be an environment of peace.

Brethren, our environments, none of us are anywhere near Jerusalem, but our environments should also be environments of peace. We should be able to look around our lives, our physical lives, the circumstances in our lives. We should be able to look around our environment and experience peace. We should pray for and work toward harmony, feeling settled, feeling tranquil in our own lives. We should have peace over the things that we can control. How peaceful is your environment? How peaceful, how tranquil, how much order is in your life?

What does your home look like, physically? What does your physical home look like? What does your bedroom look like? Is it an environment of peace? How about your yard? When you look out your window and you look at your yard, it’s a tough season right now. It’s winter, but just all year round. Just think about it. What’s your environment look like? What are people seeing when they see your environment? Are they seeing peace, or are they seeing chaos?

How about your car? Is there so much paper, clothing, books, junk, McDonald’s wrappers, Burger King wrappers for those who prefer Burger King over McDonald’s, candy bar wrappers. Is there so much junk in your car that you have to move things over for people to be able to have a seat? For you as the driver to even have a seat? That does happen. That does exist. You’ve seen it. You’ve seen it.

Is there peace in your back to finances? What do your bank accounts look like? Are they in the negative, or are they practically there? What’s your credit look like? What do your bills look like? That’s a part of all of our environments. Is there peace in those situations? Are we praying for peace in those situations? Are we asking God to bring peace to those situations?

Leviticus chapter three. Leviticus chapter three. Read verse three, Leviticus three, verse three. “And he shall offer of the sacrifice of peace an offering...” Let me start that again. “And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Verse six. And his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord will be,” and it goes on to explain what it is a peace offering. And you see it all throughout the scriptures. You mostly see it in the Old Testament, and it’s painting this picture or illustrating or demonstrating offerings that would be given in the temple, in the Tabernacle. And there would be various types of offerings. And a particular offering is a peace offering. That’s what we’re reading about. But it’s a peace offering was an official offering commanded by God, and it symbolized reconciliation and gratitude toward God. It was a sacrifice of peace offering.

Peace in our lives often requires some sort of sacrifice, a willingness to give up something in order to obtain it. Peace is not something that’s a given. It’s something that we have to, at times, we have to sacrifice for it. Here, it talks about sacrificing to the Lord. We have to be willing to give something up. It could be letting go of pride, letting go and forgiving someone who’s offended you. Surrendering our personal desires, the things that we would want to do for the sake of someone else. That sacrifice of peace offering is something that often goes along with the territory of obtaining peace.

Sometimes we just have to let things go, maybe even things that didn’t go so well. We can, at times, become so comfortable with chaos that we forget it’s chaos. We forget what peace even feels like in this situation because we’ve been dealing with it for so long, and it’s become a coping mechanism to just deal with it, and we forget what it’s like to have peace in that area of our life, and in a certain way, we kind of just give up on that element of our lives because we feel like, what’s the point? Peace is never going to come to this situation. We can get so used to certain habits, certain relationships, certain circumstances, that peace is just not something we can even imagine being possible in that particular area of our lives, and maybe even overall if it’s an important or significant enough area of our life.

Brethren, I’ve covered several places in the Bible that talk about peace. We just walked through them, looked at the circumstances, and my job was to help you see those areas of peace and begin to apply them to yourself. But I really haven’t talked about the most, what I think is the most significant reference to peace in the Bible. I haven’t even touched it, but I will now. I will now. Go to Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. I believe this to be the greatest reference of all to peace. Galatians chapter five, and we’re going to read the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians chapter five. Verse twenty-two.

Galatians five, twenty-two. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” Now, it does continue. There’s “…long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” There are nine fruits. I’ll say only nine fruits. Of all the different fruits, of all the different ways that God could describe himself, all the different options that are out there, all the many words that could have been used in those traits that could have been chosen, he chose nine of them. One of those nine is peace. I personally find it amazing. Perhaps you do as well. Maybe you’ve thought of this before. I find it amazing that God describes himself as peace, one of the nine fruits. It’s only nine. There’s only nine of them. But God describes himself as peace.

I have to admit, I don’t often think of God as this calm, tranquil being. I don’t tend to think about God in that way. At least just not regularly. I just don’t do that. But God is saying that he is peace. It’s one of his character traits. I think that is one of the greatest things about peace that could ever be said. God describes himself as peace. Peace is a part of God’s character.

First Corinthians, fourteen. First Corinthians, fourteen. Peace, this idea of peace should be expanding in your thinking. Should be expanding as we go through this. It should be getting bigger and bigger in your thinking. First Corinthians, fourteen. This is something that I missed for a long time. Pretty much until I studied for this sermon, at least focused on it. First Corinthians fourteen, thirty-three. “For God is not the author of confusion.” Now, we all know that verse. That’s something we say all the time and think about often. “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

We focus on that part of confusion and what it’s saying is God is not the author of confusion, but what it’s saying is, also if you read it, God is the author of peace. We know what an author is. An author comes up with ideas and he ideates, or she ideates and creates an outline and a draft, first draft, and a second draft. I’m going through my editorial experience here. But an author comes up with things and writes them out and creates those things and paints a picture for others and for people to be able to experience it and to read it and to enjoy it and to learn from it.

Well, God is saying that he is the author of peace. He brings peace to a situation. He’s the author of it. I never noticed that. I was just focused on the confusion part and the fact that God is not the author of confusion. But God is the ultimate source of peace and harmony. He’s the author of it. God does not thrive in chaos and disorder. He thrives in peace. It’s one of the fruits of his Spirit.

Isaiah twenty-six. Isaiah twenty-six. Just thinking about God brings peace. Just thinking about him brings peace. Isaiah twenty-six. Isaiah twenty-six, verse three, “Thou will keep him in perfect peace...” Now that seems like an extra level of peace. “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts you.” The you there is God. He who keeps his mind on God is in perfect peace if he goes on to trust God. Thinking about God, having our minds on God and the things of God brings peace. Trusting in the things that God is saying and doing brings peace.

That’s why daily prayer and study are so important. What does it help us do? Let’s keep it simple. When we pray and study regularly, it helps us think about God. It helps us keep our mind on the things of God. It helps us learn how to trust God. And what does that do? It brings perfect peace from what I’m reading if our minds are stayed on the things of God. That’s why Satan wants to distract us. That’s why Satan wants to take our minds off of God. He doesn’t want us thinking about the things of God. That’s not what he wants. He wants our minds on other things, and as a result, we don’t have that perfect peace that we could have. That’s just not where our minds are. That’s just not what we’re thinking about.

Satan wants us to focus on the chaos and confusion around us, either of our own doing, the chaos and confusion, or just the chaos and confusion that just comes with life, that just comes from living in this world. The more we’re focused on those things, the less our minds are on the things of God, the less peace we have in our lives. One more verse tying peace to God, Matthew five. Matthew five. Matthew chapter five, read verse nine. Matthew five, verse nine. This is the Beatitudes, this is a Sermon on the Mount, and Christ is explaining things.

Here it says in verse nine, Matthew five, nine, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” The peacemakers, people who make peace shall be called the children of God. Now, we’ve all heard that there is a difference between maintaining peace and making peace. Walking into a space, into a room where there is no peace, and bringing peace is an element of peacemaking. Walking into a peaceful room and just not messing it up is good. You help maintain the peace. You’re not bringing chaos and confusion. But walking, the ability to come into a situation and to make peace where there wasn’t already peace, hence a peacemaker, that’s another level.

And what Christ said is, those who do that shall be called the children of God. A child of God. A potential God-being. A future God-being. Someone who’s going to be born into the family of God. This ability to bring peace into a situation just like God can do that. He says, if you can do it, you’re blessed. God has the demonstrated ability to bring peace into situations, peace where there is no peace currently. But apparently, brethren, we can too. And if we do, we’re blessed. And we’re called the children of God. Fighting, chaos, confusion, that’s a different father. That’s not the father we want to be associated with.

The God of this world, Satan, he is the opposite of God. He does not want to make peace. He wants to make war. He wants to fight. He wants to bring confusion. He wants to bring chaos. Instead of peace, Satan wants war, and that is what explains our world. It explains our world so perfectly. It explains why we see the things that we see, because Satan doesn’t want peace. He doesn’t want peace in all those areas that I named to start. He doesn’t want peace in the millions and billions of homes around the world. He doesn’t want peace in relationships between people. He doesn’t want that. That doesn’t help him achieve what he’s trying to achieve. To truly understand peace, brethren, it helps to really understand war or the opposite of peace. In this case, war.

It helps to really understand it because the more we understand the opposite of a thing, it can also help us understand what the thing is. In this case, understanding war to better understand peace. Here I have a list, there’s many things that lead to war. I tried very hard before I looked up some of these to help me out. I tried very hard to figure out all the reasons that people go to war. And I came up with a few, but I have many more here. But often wars are caused because of a disagreement. It’s a little bit like, well, duh, but it’s a disagreement. There’s something that you don’t agree with or agree about.

It could be a misunderstanding or a miscommunication, something just your wires are crossed. Now you think war and nuclear weapons and tanks and death and all of those things. Those are really big things and those things do grab the attention, but they come down to the things that I’m talking about on this list, a disagreement, a misunderstanding, a miscommunication.

It could be a desire for power. I want to be in charge and you’re not letting me be in charge so we’re going to fight about it. It could be fear. War can start because of fear. It can start because of revenge. I want to get revenge against something that you did against me or something that you did against my family or that your family did against my family. It could be competition. I’m better than you. I think I can beat you.

These are all reasons for war. It could be just differing beliefs. At a fundamental level, we just do not have the same ideologies. Be they religious, racial, anything, life philosophy. It could be self-preservation or survival. We’re going to war because if not, I’m not going to survive. My lineage won’t survive. It could just be opportunity. You know what, you’re in a vulnerable state and I’m going to take advantage of it. All sorts of reasons that there’s war. Now we’re thinking about this in the context of peace.

And what’s interesting, brethren, is this list doesn’t just apply to fights on the battlefield. These fundamental differences, these fundamental issues apply in all manner of conflict. It’s just that the wars that we see fought between nations just involve weapons and more people and a willingness to wage violence. But at the core level, the war, the disagreement is really the same. And they all stem from this list. This list also applies to the wars in our personal lives, the conflicts that we have in our personal lives.

This list applies just the same. We just may not pick up a gun and do something about it or pick up a knife, or try to go out and physically hurt someone. But this list still applies to the wars or the lack of peace that we can have in our own lives. Think about the disagreements with a loved one. Perhaps a disagreement you have or have had with your spouse. And think back to that list, a disagreement.

They even call them that, “Oh, I’m having a disagreement with my wife, a miscommunication with my husband. Think about our relationships with our children. We’re just not on the same page. Think about how fear or insecurity can lead us to feeling defensive at work. I think I’m going to lose my job, and I’m not comfortable with it. And it’s causing fear, and it’s causing anxiety in me.

I’m not at peace with it. My co-worker keeps getting all up in my business. Sometimes it just feels like that. You don’t feel like… you have a lack of peace in that relationship with your co-worker or even your neighbor. My neighbor just keeps letting those pine needles fall into my yard. Make it stop. That’s not happening here at headquarters. Not starting any rumors. My house, my home, is fine.

But you’re just not at peace. You’re insecure about the situation. You don’t know how to deal with it. You want revenge, but you know you can’t do that. You know you can’t allow yourselves to do that. That revenge, competition, differing beliefs, it’s torn families apart. Why are you going to that church? You changed when you went to that church. Oftentimes it’s positive change, but sometimes from the perspective of the other person, it’s not positive.

Because the relationship that you had with them has changed. You feel like you’re at war with that person. With your mom, with your dad, with your cousin, with your best friend from high school. We just have differing beliefs. Things are not the same. Wars, whether big or small, tend to come from the same reasons: the same issues, a lack of peace. So how do we resolve it?

How do we not only achieve but maintain peace in our lives? How do we do it? Romans sixteen. Romans sixteen. There’s a certain irony, something ironic about achieving peace. We’re going to read about it. Something ironic about peace and achieving it. Romans sixteen, verse twenty, Romans sixteen, verse twenty, it says, “And the God of peace,” so we know God is peaceful.

In fact, it’s one of the fruits of His Spirit. We went through that. He’s the author of peace. We saw that. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Now that’s interesting. That caught my attention. That juxtaposition there that we just read caught my attention. Bruise there means to crush or shatter, to crush or shatter. So, the God of peace will use us to crush or shatter Satan.

Well, crushing or shattering something doesn’t seem very peaceful. I thought peace, calm, tranquil, everything is settled, no problems. It’s peace. But it’s saying here that the God of peace will use us to crush or shatter Satan. Those two things seem to fight each other. They don’t seem to match. Well, brethren, that apparent contradiction that we just read about, that apparent contradiction is valuable for us. It is a valuable thing for us to consider. In fact, it’s the one thing... remember when I started, I said, “There is one thing that you can do to achieve peace.” You remember I said that? What’s the one thing that you can do to achieve and maintain peace in your life? Well, we just read it.

Romans sixteen is telling us that the God of peace will use us to fight for peace, to crush, to shatter Satan the devil, to rid the world of Satan the devil and all that stuff that he brings when it comes to war and the opposite of peace. God is going to use us to crush him. We are going to fight with God’s help, fight for peace. So, what is the one thing we have to be willing to do to achieve peace? Brethren, we have to be willing to fight for it. We have to be willing to fight for it. Fight for peace?

So many wars are fought in the name of peace, especially, the good guys, they’re fighting to achieve peace. The goal isn’t to fight forever. The goal is to win and to have peace. That’s the point of the fight. That’s the point of the war. Brethren, our fight, our war is no different. We have one goal in mind. If we want lasting peace in our lives, we have to be willing to fight for it, to do whatever it takes to achieve it. And I don’t mean physical confrontation and hostility. That would go against the entire message. I don’t mean put up your fists and that sort of thing. That’s not what I mean at all.

I mean, put forth the effort, be determined, be deliberate, be committed to pursuing the peace, to achieving it, even when it’s hard, even when you don’t want to do it anymore. Put forth the effort. Have a by-any-means-necessary attitude when it comes to achieving peace in a given element of your life. By any means necessary, I’m going to do whatever it takes with God’s help to have peace in this part of my life. It means using the tools, the strategies, the tactics of warfare to achieve the peace, to realize the peace, to not only get it but to also maintain it.

First Peter three. First Peter three. First Peter chapter three, verse eleven. First Peter three, eleven. “Let him eschew evil...” So stay away from evil. “...and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue it.” Ensue means to pursue. There’s a hymn that should come to mind. Seek peace, pursue it earnestly. I won’t sing. But we have to be willing to seek the peace. And that implies to me that it’s not always easy to find. We have to seek it and we have to pursue it, which also paints the picture of peace is elusive in a situation.

It’s trying to get away from us, but we have to pursue it. We have to go for it. We have to have a by-any-means necessary attitude about it. We have to put forth the effort, whatever it takes to get the peace. We have to be willing to fight for it. We have to be willing to use the tools, the tactics, the strategies available to us. It could be all sorts of things available to us. It could be wisdom, patience, willingness to forgive, planning, good communication, wholesome communication, all sorts of tools, tactics, strategies that we could use to fight for the peace that we so desperately want in the various parts of our lives.

Achieving peace is not a passive thing. It’s not something we can just sit back, and it ought to happen. It can feel like, “Okay, I’m just at peace.” Well, peace doesn’t work that way, especially in this world. We have to pursue it. We have to fight for it. We have to chase after it. We have to catch it, try and catch it no matter how elusive it can be at times. Think about all the different areas in our lives in which we can pursue peace.

Early on, we went through a list when I asked you if you wanted or if you had peace in various parts of your lives. What about peace at home with your spouse? Marriage can be a wonderful thing. It’s a thing that comes from God, and it’s a gift from God. But marriages can also be a breeding ground for conflict. Husbands and wives just not getting along. So many marriages end even in the Church, sadly.

So many marriages end because there was no peace in the home. Disagreements, miscommunications, insecurities. You let yourself go. You’re not like you were when we first got married. Your attitude has changed. You’re not the same. All sorts of issues can come and not bring peace in our homes with our spouses. Proverbs fifteen. You have such a short temper. You used to be so much more patient than you are right now. So judgmental, so argumentative, but there’s a solution, brother, and there’s another way to approach this. Another way to fight for the peace in our homes with our spouses. Proverbs fifteen, one, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words, stir up anger.”

That sounds like a non-peaceful situation on the back end of that verse, but on the front end, a soft answer, an opposite response to a hostile action turns away wrath, calm and gentle words with our spouses. Husbands speaking calmly to their wives, even if their wife is maybe a little on edge or upset about a situation or about a matter, and something’s on her mind and bothering her, and maybe she doesn’t come at it in the most calm way and is somewhat emotional about it. Well, husbands, that’s an opportunity not for us to join in and to be short-tempered, but to have a soft answer.

The husband who just won’t fix the thing he said he was going to fix, he said he was going to do it and he just won’t do it. A wife that can have a soft answer and not grievous words can make a difference. It can bring peace in that home. Husbands and wives who make an intentional effort to speak kindly and show appreciation with one another, that leads to resolving conflicts and having peace in that home.

What about peace with our children? Parents, sometimes we can feel like we’re at war with our kids, like they just don’t get it. They just won’t listen. They won’t do the things that we keep asking them to do, and we can feel like we’re at war. We can have certain expectations for our children, certain things that we want them to do, certain paths in life we want them to take, but they just won’t take that path.

The easy path, it’s right there for you. It’s what’s best for you, but they just don’t see it. Perhaps our children are just misbehaving. They have a bad attitude, or they’re allowing influences, bad influences from the world to have a negative effect on them and it’s causing us to be at war with our children as parents. Ephesians four. Ephesians four. God wants us to be at peace with our kids. Ephesians chapter four. God wants us to be at peace with our children. Ephesians four, three.

“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

That’s talking about Christianity and the brethren, but I picked this verse for a couple of reasons. One is to endeavor, to strive for it, to yearn for it. But I also picked it because of the bond of peace. Children and parents have a special bond. Children and parents have a bond, they should have a bond, that is unique to any other bond. It’s a different bond than with a spouse. It’s a different bond than with a friend. It’s a different bond than all the other relationships that we have in our lives. That bond between parent and child is a special one.

Parents, we don’t want to allow anything to break or cause that bond to break and be irreparable. Whatever it takes, we have to continue to value the bond we have with our children, even if they have to just learn the hard way. We don’t want anything... we should not allow anything to destroy that bond of peace that we have with our kids. And it helps to think about that in the heat of the moment when they just won’t do what we want them to do.

Parents, be patient with your kids. Give them a chance to grow. Give them a chance to figure out life. They’re not going to be perfect like we were when we were growing up. Build peace by spending intentional time with them. Give them the time of day. Open up. Allow them to open up. Set realistic expectations for your children, young and old. Children, what about being at peace with your parents? I’m not going to let you off the hook. Children, young and old, what about being at peace with your parents? Sometimes your relationship with your parents can feel like it’s just filled with tension.

Mom and dad just don’t get it. They think I don’t get it, but I do get it. As children get older and more independent, it can be hard to be at peace with mom and dad. Exodus chapter twenty, Exodus chapter twenty. Children, you’re human. Teens, young adults, you’re human, you have feelings, you have perspectives. Exodus twenty, verse twelve, but you can’t forget this, Exodus twenty, verse twelve, “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

Children, a part of honoring your parents and being at peace with them is seeing things from your parent’s perspective. See it from their perspective. If they’re asking you to do something or expecting something from you, see it from their perspective. Your parents love you. I love my kids. I want what’s best for my kids. I’m not telling my children... Your parents are not telling children to do something that’s going to harm them or to hurt them.

Think about the underlying motive behind what your parents are telling you or wanting you to do, as hard as it could be. Parents want what’s best for their children. Any good parent would want that. If you disagree with a parent’s decision, don’t throw a tantrum. Don’t throw a tantrum. That’s not going to work. That’s not good. That’s not honoring your mother and father. And tantrums come in different shapes and sizes. They may not be throwing your blocks around the room. Tantrums come in all different ways. It could be the silent treatment. It could be being disrespectful in your tone. It could be all sorts of things.

But think about the reason that your parents made that call. Why did mom tell me to do that? Why isn’t dad letting me do that? Be mature about it. Kids want to grow up so fast. Be mature about it. Think about it. When appropriate, ask questions, “Mom, why is that?” When appropriate. Have the communication with your parents. That’s the point. Respectful, honorable communication. Believe it or not, it works. It can work. It can work. What about being at peace with our health? We talked about our health. Many of us are sick and we’re not doing well health-wise. Our health is not where we want it to be. Some of it is beyond our control, but a lot of it is under our control.

A lot of the health things that we deal with, brethren, are under our control. God wants us to prosper and to be in good health. Third John. Third John. I’m going to read the whole verse. Third John verse two, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.” God wants us to be in good health, and much of our health, brethren, is under our control. Maybe not all of it. It’s a tough age. The food is not what it should be.

The air quality is not what it was, the water. All those things are factors, no doubt. A lot of what we’re going through, health-wise is self-imposed. Good health takes discipline with diet, rest, and exercise. It’s up to us. If we want peace when it comes to our health and how we feel every day, it’s up to us to fight for it, to do what it takes to feel better, to not be so tired, to lose a few pounds. It could feel like getting and staying healthy is impossible. It can feel that. I’ve been there. It can feel like it. But turn to Philippians four.

This is a reminder, Philippians four. It can feel impossible. I’m just too far gone. I’ve let myself go too much. I can’t do anything about it. It’s too late. It’s easy to feel that way. Remember I talked about you’re just been in chaos so long, you don’t even know if peace is possible. You can feel like when it comes to health, there is no peace. It’s just impossible. I read here in Philippians four, thirteen, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.” It means what it means. It says what it says. “I can do all things through Christ.” The fact that I can do all things through Christ, and the fact that I know that, that strengthens me.

That gives me the courage, that gives me the power, that gives me the different ideas that I need in order to take control of my health. Trust God to help you overcome your health trials. Don’t be afraid. So much of not dealing with health is fear, fear of failure, fear that it won’t work, fear that it could get worse. Take a different look at it. Trust God to help you overcome that fear, to maintain balance, and to take things slowly. It can work. You can do it.

Many of your fellow brethren have done it. You can do it. You’re no different. How about peace at work? We talked earlier about relationships at work. Workplace tensions often arise from this idea of competition or this miscommunication, not being on the same page, a struggle for control, “That’s not my job. You should be doing... you’re trying to do my job,” or I’m having to do your job. We’re not at peace in this situation. One way to stop that to bring peace back into the situation, to be a peacemaker is in Ephesians four. Ephesians four. Ephesians Chapter four.

Remember growing up and hearing, “You can’t control what someone else does. You can only control what you do.” Now, of course, what we do can have an impact or an effect on others, and that’s a good thing. You can’t control what someone else does. Ultimately, we can’t do that. We can only control ourselves. Ephesians four, verse twenty-nine, how do we bring peace into a situation?

In context of work, it says here, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.” None, no corrupt communication. Is that even possible? None, no corrupt communication. That’s what it says. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Now, I don’t see anything qualified there that you only let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth if you receive no corrupt communication. I’m not seeing that part.

If you look at it and you think about it in the context of work, it talks about ministering grace to the hearers. Our communication, our tone, the things we say, how we say them in the work environment, to our boss. When we’re talking to our boss, are we respectful? Bosses, when you’re talking to your subordinates, are you treating them like slaves? Are you talking to them like slaves? Are you talking to them like colleagues that need to be respected even though you may be in charge, to your coworkers? I could talk to you like I want. You’re not my boss. That’s corrupt communication. That’s not going to work. That’s not going to give us and bring us the peace that we want and that we need.

Hebrews twelve. Hebrews twelve. What about peace in society as we look around? Peace in society. Hebrews twelve. It’s interesting and it’s some ways easy to be very peaceful with brethren at headquarters, and your congregations, and maybe peaceful around people who know you. You know, you’re a Christian and you go to church. What about that stranger who has no idea who you are? How peaceful are we with those people? Our interactions, how peaceful are they?

Hebrews twelve, fourteen. It says, “Follow peace with all men.” Not follow peace with church members. No, “Follow peace with all men.” I’ll throw in women too. “Follow peace with all men and holiness...” That’s to be separate, to be special, to be different, “...Without which, no man shall see the Lord.” There’s some heavy implications there. Without following peace with all men and living a holy life to the best of our abilities, we can’t see God. We won’t see God.

When that person cuts you off in traffic, do you react humbly, or do you start throwing gang signs? I’ll let that sink in. Of course, we would never do that. When that person doesn’t hold the door for you, even though you’re right there and both your hands are full, how do you react to it? Do you have a peaceful reaction when they don’t say thank you for you holding the elevator for them, and they just walk on and act as if you didn’t have to do it. How peaceful are we then?

Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which otherwise, we won’t see the Lord, we won’t see God. It’s important. I have to do it too. Ask God to give you that peace when those things happen, and they inevitably do. But finally, brethren, peace with ourselves, peace with ourselves. So many ways, this can be the most important peace. People can struggle with being at peace within themselves. Inner peace can be the hardest thing sometimes, just to have that inner peace, to be settled, to feel tranquil, to feel like, “You know what, I’m in a good place. I’m growing. I still got some ways to go, but I’m in a good place.”

That could be the most elusive piece at times. It can stem from fear, guilt, mistakes that we’ve made in the past, fear of being found out, fear of having some sort of weakness or issue, things that we’re dealing with. Those can all help us make us not feel very settled, not really feel at peace with ourselves, to be troubled.

Psalm one nineteen. Psalm one nineteen. Psalm one nineteen, one sixty-five, classic Psalm here, and the verse in the Psalm is very memorable. Psalm one nineteen, one sixty-five. “Great peace have they which love your law and nothing shall offend them.” Think about offense there in terms of not being at peace. You’re offended in some way. In this case, you’re offended about yourself, something maybe you’ve done, something that you’re not able to overcome, and it’s got you unsettled. Well, this is saying great peace have those which love your law. Great peace is possible even in our view of ourselves.

Loving God’s law means following God’s law to the best of our abilities. Will we do it perfectly? No, no, but we can follow it to the best of our abilities. We know. We all know when we’re doing our best. We all know when we’re trying really hard. It’s saying here, great peace is possible. Following God’s law to the best of our ability brings a tremendous peace, a great peace. We don’t have to guess where we stand with God. We know. We can measure ourselves in His law. We know we’re not there yet. We’re falling short, but we’re trying. We’re doing the best we can. We’re pursuing, fighting for that peace when it comes to how we view ourselves.

Brethren, as we begin to close here, let’s read about a level of peace that we should all be striving for. Philippians four. Could have put this verse so many different places in this message, but I decided to finish to end on it. Philippians four, verse seven. Philippians four, seven says, “And the peace of God...” So it’s a peace that comes from God. He’s the source of it. He’s the author of it. So one of the fruits of His Spirit “...And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

There is a peace that when people see it in us, it leaves them bewildered. Why is that person so peaceful in that situation that they’re dealing with? It’s a peace that passes all understanding. It could even be our own understanding. I don’t understand why I’m so peaceful in this moment right now. I normally go to pieces, but I’m calm. I’m at peace. Brethren, that’s the peace we want. That’s the kind of peace I want. I know that’s the kind of peace you want.

That’s the goal. But the key is that’s not the kind of peace that you just stumble upon. That’s the kind of peace you have to put forth the effort for. That’s the kind of peace you have to have a by-any-means-necessary attitude for. That’s the kind of peace you have to be able to fight for. That peace that passes all understanding. It’s the peace that we can bring into our homes, into our workplaces, into our relationships. And it’s beyond understanding, even including our own understanding. So, brethren, let’s commit to this journey of peace. Strive to achieve the peace described throughout the Bible, a peace that surpasses all understanding.