Annapolis, Maryland, USA
December 2017
Luke 1:79 To guide our feet into the way of peace.” Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)
1. The Progression of Peace
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Psalms 85:8 I will hear what God the Lord will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones…
Spiritual peace -> Personal peace -> Societal peace.
2. The Perfection of Peace
Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you… (ESV)
Why is human peace imperfect?
a. We don’t know the state of peace
b. The order of peace is skewed
Spiritual peace-> Personal peace -> Societal peace.
3. The Personality of Peace
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
a. Worry/Anxiety
Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
b. Fear
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
4. The Pathway to Peace
a. Spiritual peace is the first step.
Colossians 1:19-20 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
b. Perspective of the Eternal
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
c. Trust and dependence on God
Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)
Three Statements to Trust God
God is sovereign and all-powerful.
God is love.
God is for us.
