September 29, 2024
Sermon Part 3: “Dominate Your World With the Peace of Jesus Christ!”
The picture rendering from Sheila Walsh is absolutely correct. “Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ.” And, because Jesus Christ is present in every trouble, we can remain in “Perfect Peace” knowing that Jesus has already conquered all of the tribulation in the world for us. (John 16:33)
Good Morning Saints and Happy Sunday!
Introduction
Praise God, after our last Sermon in the Series, we are rejoicing exceedingly forevermore! (See Sermon dated, Sept. 15, 2024.) By the faith of Jesus Christ abiding in us, we determined, once and for all time, to gather together all of our cares (stress, worries, fears, anxieties, and frustrations resulting from the troubles of the world), and to cast them all onto the cross of Jesus Christ where they belong. (One Time for All Times)! (I Pet. 5:7 & Is.53:4)
Jesus bore all of our cares on the cross over 2000 years ago, so we would not have to. Just as we are not to remember our sins and iniquities any more, we also are not to remember, nor become preoccupied, with the cares of this world. (II Cor. 5:17 & Matt. 6:25-33)
In exchange for our cares, we have taken hold of Jesus’ promise to “Care” affectionately for us, and carefully watch over us! For now on, this is our mind-set:
Praise God, if you will, God has enrolled us in “Heavenly Care.” This is the place where all of our needs are supplied by God, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Php. 4:19) Jesus Christ has given to us His Peace (Oneness and Serenity with God the Father) and the world cannot do us any harm. (John 14:27)
Let no one misunderstand, in casting all of our cares upon Jesus Christ, we willing and happily have decided to turn our lives and well-being completely over to Jesus for “His Care.” We are “solely dependent” on God’s “Welfare Plan!” No matter what trouble comes our way, or what the future may hold, our complete trust is in Jesus Christ to show us the way to God’s Welfare Plan for our lives. (Prov. 3:5-6 & John 10:10) Thus, we have chosen to take our rest in Jesus’ promise to Care for us.
Before I go further, remember these words from a wise-man:
“Worry has never solved a single problem in life. But, it has caused many sleepless nights. Trust in the Lord ushers in the Peace of Christ, and with it the answer and resolution to every problem.” P.D.
A Word of Prayer with the Lord
As we begin this Sermon, let’s humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and worship the Lord through this child-like prayer.
“Lord Jesus, we are the sheep of your pasture, and where you lead, we will follow. Wherever, and in whatever, green pasture you make us to lie down, we say yes Lord, and Thank You! For though this fallen world is full of trouble on every side, you have given to us your “Peace,” which surpasses all worldly understanding, and our hearts and minds will not be troubled nor afraid!” (John 14:27)
We thank you Lord that we hear and know Your “Voice,” and will not go to another. (John 10:5, 27) It’s Your Voice, Thoughts, and Plans that we crave, hunger and thirst to learn more about and obey. Precious Lord take our hand and lead us on to the Promised Land. Amen!
God’s Welfare Plan For You Has An Expected End: A Long-Satisfied Life!”
Saints, God has an end-goal in mind for your life on earth. That is, to give to you a “long-satisfied life.”
(Ps.91:16) God wants to give to you a life that dominates your world; a life full of multitudes of testimonies of continual triumphs over trouble to share with your family, and all who will listen. An end of life on earth like unto Abraham, who lived to be 175-years old, and God had blessed him in all things. (Gen. 24:1) Abraham was blessed with long life and material wealth; he was saturated in divine health and prosperity. In Christ, we too have been blessed with faithful Abraham. (Gal.3:6-9)
God’s purpose for giving His children a long-satisfied life is clear and simple. God wants our lives to be a beacon of light to the world, so that all people might see Christ in us, and receive salvation through His Holy name. God wants to give us “supernatural longevity” throughout all of our generations, so that the world may marvel at the blessing of God on our lives. As such, we are to be “Living Epistles of Christ” read of all men, as we discussed earlier in the Series.
Through the Covenant Promises of God, we have much to say about how we live and our longevity on the earth. We must hold fast to the promises of God without wavering and decree, saying “I shall not die, but live to declare the works of the Lord.” (Ps.118:17) Praise God, decree that “you will not fall asleep and go on to glory, until you have lived out the fullness of your years, and received every promise God has spoken into your life!”
This last decree reminds me of the story of Simeon told in Luke 2:25-35. The Bible says that Simeon was a “just and devout man,” who in his old age had been waiting on the consolation of Israel; waiting for the Messiah who would redeem the people of Israel. About Simeon, we could say that he was “ALL-IN,” fully committed to living a holy life before God. When your life is ALL-IN God, God is free to pour His Loving Kindness “ALL-OUT” on your life!
The story goes that the Holy Ghost had revealed to Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he died. Simeon was led by the Holy Ghost into the Temple on the same day that Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to be presented to God.
Simeon took Jesus into his arms and blessed God, saying in part: “Now, God, you may let your servant die in peace, according to thy Word.” (Luke 2:22-38) Simeon was in Perfect Peace. Oh yes, this is the way we are to make our transition, from earth to glory, in “Perfect Peace.” In complete satisfaction with the life God has given to us. To die satisfied!
In Christian Circles, we ought to be a people who always encourage one another to live a “long-satisfied life.” God and heaven expects for us to live longer, healthier, stronger, wiser, and more prosperous than the people of the world.
We must touch and agree with one another to receive the promise of God for a long-satisfied life through Jesus Christ. (Matt.18:20) By the witness of two or three let the Word of God shall be established. (II Cor.13:1) The Apostle Paul wrote that God has blessed us with all “spiritual blessings” in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph.1:3) Longevity is a spiritual blessing. Therefore, we must confer the blessing of longevity on our lives, as well as the lives of the people of God everywhere!
Returning now to the story Simeon’s meeting the baby Jesus. Did you notice it was the “Holy Ghost” who revealed to Simeon that He would not die until He saw the Messiah? Also, did you notice that the Holy Ghost was upon Simeon and led him into the temple? He was led by the Holy Ghost, to go into the Temple on the exact day and time that Jesus and His parents were in the Temple.
The Holy Ghost in essence gave to Simeon (1) a thought/word of wisdom that he would not die until He saw the Messiah, and (2) the plan for seeing the Messiah, as he obeyed the leading of the Holy Ghost and went into the Temple. This was Simeon’s sole ambition and desire in life to see the Redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ. Having this honor completed Simeon’s life and gave to him Perfect Peace, total satisfaction, which was God’s expected end for his life on earth. This is what God wants to do for us in every arena of life; to give us “His thoughts and plans for our Peace.”
God has “thoughts” and “plans” of Peace to bring us into a long-satisfied life that is pleasing in His sight. Check out Jeremiah 29:11 respectively in the Amplified and King James Versions:
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, thoughts and plans for Welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
King James Version Reads:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God’s Welfare Plan is intended to empower us to live in divine health and prosperity to the full of our days on earth. The Scripture tells us that God has thoughts and plans that He “thinks towards us,” “thoughts of “Peace,” and not evil to give to us an expected end.” The word “Peace” in the Hebrew language is “Shalom,” and conveys the meaning of “health and prosperity.”
Glory be to God, just think about how much God loves us! God who is omniscient, has contemplated (thought about, mulled over, and meditated in His Mind) about our Peace. God has contemplated all aspects of our health and prosperity and developed plans for our Welfare. Moreover, God communicates His thoughts and plans for our Peace to us to achieve an expected end (a long- satisfied life).
Daily, God seeks to give to us His thoughts and plans for our Peace to enable us to dominate our worlds. God speaks to us promises of Peace, and then the plan to receive the Peace we need to satisfy our lives. Praise God, even as we sit in this Service on Zoom, the Holy Ghost is at work speaking thoughts and plans to our hearts and minds pertaining to our Peace. He is speaking thoughts to us regarding our health and prosperity. However, for the most part born-gain Christians have been unable to clearly hear God’s thoughts and plans, because we have been so busy/preoccupied with carrying “Care!”
To Receive God’s Thoughts And Plans of Peace We Must Entertain God Only!
I wonder if born-again Christians understand that our relationship with God, and the growth of it, greatly depends upon our willingness to “go away” and “Think with God.” To leave everyone and everything, and go and entertain God and His Word. Joshua 1:8 says:
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Also See Isaiah 1:18, it reads:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
In the experience of our day, why wouldn’t we set aside time to think and reason with the omniscient God who dwells in our born-again hearts? (I John 4:15) Given that by the grace of God we have the Mind of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace, why wouldn’t we seek to start and close each day contemplating our Peace with God? (I Cor. 2:16)
It is far easier to entertain God after you have casted all of your cares on the cross of Jesus Christ forever. When you have completely surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, and depend solely on Him for His Care, spending time with God alone on a daily basis becomes the “necessity” and “priority” in life. When all care is casted away, we become devout like Simeon was; preoccupied with what the Holy Ghost has to say and has for us to do.
From this Sermon Series, this is the place where we have arrived. We are “God-dependent!” We are consumed with entertaining God! We have positioned ourselves to go and entertain God so that we might “Think and reason with God and receive His thoughts and plans for our Peace”
Regarding Jeremiah 29:11, in Christian Circles, we know this Scripture very well. Some quote it by heart as their favorite memory Verse. We even have many beautiful plaques and signs which display this Verse, or a portion of it. Like the one illustrated below.
But so often, we forget to add to our understanding God’s full Commandment, which is given in Verses12-13 of Jeremiah 29. Actually for full context, we should remember and take heed to Verses 11-13. It reads like this:
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
You see there? Yes, God has a Peace Plan for us. But, in order to receive His thoughts and plans for our Peace, we must “go” and entertain God. God says we must “go” and pray and He will listen. That we will find God when we search for Him with all of our heart. When we have given to God full acknowledgement, attention, and our ambition we will find Him. Whenever we draw near to God with our whole heart, He will draw near to us as well. (James 4:8)
Praise God, I hear the Lord saying, “I want to be alone with you, and I want you to desire to be alone with Me.” God says, “So that we can have heart-to-heart conversations and a meeting of the minds about your Peace!” To receive the thoughts and plans of Peace for our lives, we must be willing to practice “daily” stealing away and spending quality time with God in “solitude.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines solitude as the “quality or state of being alone or far-off from society; a lonely place.” We are to go and seek out a quiet place to be alone with God. Please understand that Bible solitude is not loneliness. Rather, it is togetherness with God! It’s entertaining God with our presence and being all consumed with Him.
Followers of Jesus Christ Seek Solitude with God
Remember our simple prayer offered to God earlier in the Sermon. We said to Jesus Christ, that we are His sheep and wherever He leads we will follow. Scripture instructs us to do so. For example, the Apostle Paul admonished the Christians at Ephesus to be “imitators” (copiers) of God, as dear children. (Eph. 5:1) The Writer of the Book of Hebrews exhorts us to look to Jesus Christ, in His manner of living, and follow His example, for He is the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb.12:2) Jesus Christ said, “if any person would come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.” (Matt.16:24)
So let us walk by faith with Jesus Christ. Let’s not lose sight of the Master and where Jesus Christ leads us. Throughout Jesus’ public Ministry, He excelled in doing the mighty works of God. (Acts 10:38) The multitudes of miracles performed and wonderful and powerful teachings and words of wisdom He spoke were all birthed from a life-style of retreating to deserted places to have solitude with God in prayer and contemplation. Examine the evidence of at least nine recorded times in Scripture of Jesus Christ retreating to have solitude with God:
Preparatory for Ministry Jesus retreated to the desert:
In Mark 1:12, the Holy Ghost sent Jesus out into the wilderness where He was for 40-days without food and tempted by Satan. After Satan had tried without success to tempt Jesus, the angels of God came and ministered unto Him.
Jesus retreated after day-long ministering to the sick:
Mark 1:35 states that, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Everyone was looking for Jesus, but after his time in prayer He told his disciples that it was time for them to move on to another village.
Massive crowds sought out Jesus and it was His practice to find lonely places for solitude:
See the accounts at Luke 5:15-16 and Mark 1:45. Despite Jesus’ plea that his miracles be kept secret the news about him spread all the more, crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Jesus took the time to pray all night in preparation for more healings, and the Sermon on the Mount:
See Luke 6:12-13 and Mark 3:13. “Jesus went out to a mountain-side to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him.”
After receiving the “horrible news” that John the Baptist had been beheaded, Jesus went away for solitude:
Matthew 14:13, states “When Jesus heard, he withdrew by ship privately to a solitary place.”
After the Disciples returned, and before Jesus fed the multitudes:
Mark 6:31-32 records this, “Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, [Jesus] said to [his disciples], Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a ship to a solitary place.”
After Jesus again fed the multitudes, and before Peter walked on the water to him:
Matthew 14:23 and Mark 6:46 states that, “After [Jesus] had dismissed [the crowds], he went up on a mountain-side by himself to pray. When evening came, he was [still] there alone.”
After Jesus healed many:
Matthew 15:29 records that “Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there.”
At the beginning of the Lord’s Passion:
But humbling yourself under the Mighty hand of God as a living sacrifice to God. Setting all your affections on God, the Word of God, and Promises of God. (Rom.12:1, I Pet. 5:6, & Col. 3:1-2)
The Bible tells us that God delights in the prosperity of His servants. (Ps.35:27) The Apostle John’s fondest wish for the Elder Gaius, was that “above all things, he would prosper and be in health, even as his soul prospered. (III John 2) The lonely place with God is where your future success is birthed; success that is supernatural and dynamic in its working to help you dominate your world with the Peace of God as your mantle.
In the lonely place with God, the Holy Ghost will teach and show you great and mighty things that you know not. He will teach you things to heal your body, bring you into divine health, and give you longevity. (John 14:26) As God talks with you, you will notice that there will never be any thought of “evil” words communicated to you. There will be no mention of sin and past failures. No expression of anger, shame, or discontentment with you. Only thoughts of peace, quietness, serenity, laughter, and joy will be uttered by the Holy Ghost to you.
The Holy Ghost will teach and show you ways to increase your wealth until your store-houses are full and running over with all good things. Praise God, this is what God longs to do for us; to satisfy our mouths with all good things! (Ps.103:5) In Christ, we are the “unique people” in the earth. For we are chosen by God, a royal priesthood and holy nation, that we are to declare the praises of God who called us out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ Jesus. (I Peter 2:9) We are the head and not the tail. Only above and never beneath. (Deut. 28:13) We are the lenders and never the borrowers. (Deut. 15:6)
The secret to our success is that we “solely depend on God for our Care.” Thus, we make it our practice to steal away to lonely places to search-out and be with God our Father, who is in secret. (Matt.6: 6-7) And, afterwards with the Peace of God ruling in our lives, we dominate our worlds. Jesus Christ advised His followers that “Men ought always to pray and not faint.”(Luke18:1) The reason we must always pray is because we are totally dependent on God our Father for everything we need. Most of all, we need our Daddy’s love, and to give Him all of our love and affection, and to express our gratitude for His amazing “Heavenly Care.”
Amen, and glory be to God for the Word we have received. Please don’t miss our last Sermon of the Series entitled, “Keeping the Peace by Spreading the Peace!”
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