The Wonderful Peace of God (Jose Villaverde, 09/16/23)

Alright friends, I just want to ask that you bow your heads in prayer with me one more

time to invite the Spirit of the Lord to be with me here.

Let's bow our heads for prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank you so much for the special music here as well

that was truthfully a blessing Lord and I pray and ask that you would fill me with your

spirit so that I may be able to speak your wonderful and good message.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Okay so I want to say first and foremost Happy Sabbath.

So wonderful and beautiful Sabbath today.

It was a little bit rainy outside but that's fine.

Those days are good too.

I know me particularly I enjoy those rainy days because I get to stay inside and hear

the rain on the windows and those type of things.

It's always nice to thank the Lord for the rainy days too.

And so I want you to picture right now specifically, I want you to picture yourself walking through

a New York City, the New York City metropolis.

On your left hand side you have Spiderman and you have Superman and you know the people

dressing up in costumes and you have your magicians and your showman the mime who's

doing his mime thing.

And on your right hand side you have aspiring musicians.

You have the guitarist, the person who's there playing on the bucket drum.

You have various other musicians, people like to set out the pianos there and you see all

the busyness of the street.

You see all the busyness in New York City and you look forward in front of you and what

you see is you see people zooming by you, the cars zooming by and you have all the crowd.

And you wonder to yourself in the middle of that city, you wonder can I find lasting peace

in this city?

Is there a real chance, real opportunity for me to have peace in this city?

Some people might say hey, you know I live in New York City and I'm fine.

I'm doing okay.

I take my car or take the cab to work every single day and you know I feel great about

my life, right?

But to those people I would ask what is real peace?

What is sustainable peace?

To some others it might be just having a cup of coffee in the morning or maybe making some

tea and being at home reading some good reading material.

And although there are some things that you know we can say bring us peace or at least

aid to the peace, sustainable peace is something entirely different.

Something that we can only have truthfully by submitting to the Spirit of God.

Some others might say hey, well you know I have a log cabin and you know I go out and

I'm in the middle of the nature and have you know the birds chirping and everything is

wonderful and dandy.

And I feel great going out there chopping wood and making the fireplaces and all those

things, right?

But at the end of the day if we do not have a sustainable, the sustainable Spirit of God

then there is really no way we'll have lasting peace.

It'll be short-lived peace.

And what we are here in this world to do is to preach the gospel, to preach people eternal

peace.

Our scripture for the day is Philippians 4, 6 and 7, be anxious for nothing but in everything

through prayer with supplication and thanksgiving make your requests known to God and the peace

of God which passes all understanding shall keep your minds and hearts through Christ

Jesus.

This should echo inside of our hearts and our minds.

Those first few words there, be anxious for nothing.

When we think about our day-to-day lives, when we think about the things that we do

on a day-to-day basis, there are so many things that can bring us worry, so many things that

can weigh us down, that can burden our minds and our hearts and our souls.

But God tells us be anxious for nothing because I am in control.

What is it that Jesus says in Matthew 5, Matthew 6 and 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God

and his righteousness and all these things shall be added onto you.

He says have I not ordained the lilies greater than Solomon?

Have I not showed you that I feed the birds of the air?

How much more will I take care of you?

How much more will I take away your worries?

Worry not about tomorrow's troubles because today has enough troubles on its own.

And even then he will lead you, he will give you the strength that you need in order to

get through those troubles and those worries, to have faith.

When Simon was asked, when Simon Peter was asked by Jesus, who do you think I am?

What did he say?

Well, you're the Christ.

He said blessed are you because the Spirit of God has revealed this onto you.

It is only by measure of the Spirit of God that we can ever have lasting peace, ever

have the strength to get through our worries.

If someone like Peter can be shown revelation to who Christ is, how much more should we

have revelation in our Christ and our Savior to understand that he is the one that leads

us through adversity?

And what is the next thing that comes into that verse?

Be anxious for nothing but in everything through prayer, everything, all things should be submitted

to God.

Now, of course, you know, you might wake up in the morning and be like, well, hey, God,

should I brush my teeth today or not?

Of course, there are things that are automatic.

There are things that we really should not involve God in because, well, hey, you know,

this is a trivial matter.

He gives us free will, right?

But when we think about our day-to-day lives, when I'm about to make a big decision on whether

or not I'm going to accept this job or take a big move, those are the things that we come

to God to.

I'm a student.

And when I'm in school, there are so many things that I need to do that if I didn't

have Jesus, I don't know how I would be here right now.

And that's the only way that we can ever get through those things.

So everything in prayer, coming to the Lord, submitting ourselves to him, and supplication,

what is supplication?

When I think about supplication, I think about the psalmist.

I think about him kneeling down, coming to the Lord, Lord, save me from oppression.

Lord, show me what it is I must do.

Lord, give me the strength.

Psalm 17 and 5, hold up my goings and I pass, then my footsteps slip not.

That is the type of supplication.

That is the type of submission that is required for us to have an understanding of true and

lasting peace.

After we have brought ourselves into prayer, into supplication, what's the next thing that

comes in?

Thanksgiving.

May I have thanksgiving for the things that the Lord has given me.

Matthew 6, and if you can turn to Matthew 6, Matthew 6 gives us a template on how we

should pray.

Matthew 6 and verse 10.

And it says, our father, and when you get there give me a hearty amen.

Amen, all right.

That didn't sound very enthusiastic.

Amen, we've got to be enthusiastic about the word of God.

Amen.

Amen.

And so what does it say?

It says, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Here's the first thing that happens.

Lord, adoration for your name.

Respect, reverence for your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done.

The second thing, let your will be done here.

Remove me from the equation, Lord, so that I may have your will done in my life.

Because when I'm the one who's taking control of this situation, things are going to go

awry.

I'm going to make mistakes because I am imperfect.

But God says, we should say, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God is right now, is not Jesus, does it not tell us in Hebrews that Jesus is conducting

his priestly ministry right now?

Interceding for us, mediating for us, Lord, let your will be done in heaven as it is in

earth.

Give us this day our daily bread, the things that we should ask him for.

Lord, bring us the things that we need so that we may be sustained, so that we may be

able to walk forward in your truth.

Help us to forgive.

Because if someone has burdens in their heart, if someone does not allow themselves to forgive

someone who has done them wrongly, they shall have more worries in their life.

The worries will pile up because you're holding on to that burden when crisis has told you

forgive that person so that that debt is lifted off of your soul, so that you may be forgiven.

As we forget our debtors, do not lead us into temptation.

Help us to overcome so that we can be better.

And then deliver us from the evil one.

As you hear our supplication, deliver us from the evil one.

In your kingdom be done in the power and the glory to him.

That's how it ends.

It ends with giving him the reverence.

It starts with reverence and it ends with reverence.

This is how we should pray so that we may have the peace that passes all understanding.

Be anxious for nothing but in everything do prayer by supplication with thanksgiving.

Make your requests known to God.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your minds and hearts through Christ

Jesus.

Those last few words there, keep your minds and hearts.

It means that when we come into prayer with the Lord, he shall protect us.

He will send his angels to guard us so that we may have that peace, that lasting peace.

You know Paul, when he was going through his missionary journey, when he was in his Roman

cell, what he thought of was how can I reach my brothers in the church of Philippi with

friendship.

Because when he went there in his third missionary journey, he was overjoyed, rejoiced in the

fellowship that he had there with them.

He was truthfully joyful.

And that's something for us to take into account for our own peace.

Being at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Having wonderful fellowship.

Coming to Sabbath school.

And spending time in Sabbath school sharpening each other.

So that you may be able to not only have that peace, but impart that peace onto the people

that are around you.

And that's exactly what Paul was doing when he wrote this letter.

When you go through the first four verses in Philippians 1-4, and it reads, Philippians

1-4.

And if you get there, it's on the screen here, but you know some people like to have their

paper Bibles, so you definitely want to get there.

And so Philippians, that's 4, 1-4.

And it says, Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast

in the Lord, beloved.

I implore Iodia and I implore Synthache to be of the same mind in the Lord.

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel,

with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I will rejoice with you.

What are those first words that he says?

You are my crown and my joy.

All he was out there preaching to his brothers and sisters because he knew that the reward

for having preached to his brothers and sisters, being in fellowship with him, was great.

The peace that was imparted upon him.

Think about it.

Think about yourself in a Roman cell.

How would you feel knowing that you're about to die?

You must be ready.

You must have the peace that passes all understanding.

Imagine some of the people that are in death row right now for the great sins they have

committed.

They're not right with Jesus.

There's definitely going to be some fear for their death.

Now is fearing death a bad thing?

Does not Jesus say that there comes a time where there will be some people who will not

taste death until his coming?

Fear in some sense can be good, but who do you fear?

Do you fear God or do you fear Satan?

If one is at peace with their death, they have reached and had the peace that passes

all understanding.

But they are peace, better said.

So Paul was making his journey there to be with his brothers and sisters in joy with

his brothers and sisters.

And those are the things that we should have understanding of.

The supplication and his missionary journey.

And then you have furthermore, Philippians, a little bit further down.

Okay here, I closed my Bible by accident here.

And going down a little bit more, thinking on the things that are good, that are just.

Philippians 4 and 8, what so ever things are honest, what so ever things are true, noble,

what so ever things are just, what so ever things are pure, what so ever things are lovely,

what so ever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,

think on these things.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that the moments that I have taken my mind

off of Christ, the moments that I have decided to engage in something that is not correct,

that is against the Lord, is the moment that I can see the peace of God slipping away from

me.

Whether it be spending time in Hollywood movies that are showing all types of violence and

craziness that you shouldn't be engaged in.

Or whether it be listening to bad music.

I came from the music industry and there is music that glorifies violence and gangs and

worldly things.

That is the essence of the metropolis.

Now will I stand here and tell you that there aren't some churches out there in the metropolis

trying to preach the gospel onto the people inside?

Of course, do we not need to be out there preaching the gospel to people?

Of course we do.

But there is a whole darker and deeper place within the metropolis.

And we all have to make our choice on whether or not we are going to engage in that or we

are going to say, hey look, we are only here strangers passing by to help you get out of

this place.

Because there is a place of greater peace, sustained peace, whatsoever things are true,

whatsoever things are honest.

Those are the things that we should think on.

What we subject our mind to is a direct result of who we will be.

If I spend my time hanging out in a rap clique, chances are I am going to be like the people

in the rap clique.

But if I spend my time in church filling my mind with the word of God, does not Isaiah

Isaiah 26:3

26 verse 3 say, the man whose mind is stayed on thee shall be in perfect peace?

It's the word of God that sustains us, the word of God that brings us everlasting peace.

Amen?

Who here wants to have the eternal peace?

I know I do.

And there will come a time where that fulfillment will come about, where the Lord will come

in and take us to be with him up in the clouds to have that eternal peace.

So filling our minds with the things that are of God, with the things that are truthfully

what he desires us to have.

There are so many things that we can be led astray by.

In Philippians 4 and 13, it says, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens

me.

Now can God give you a strength that is like Samson's?

If you want to take a Nazarite vow?

Or can he possibly save you from something that seems to be impossible to escape from?

Of course, the Lord is deliverer.

But what Paul was talking about here specifically is about temptations.

The Lord will save you from the temptations that take you away from him.

You need to make your request known to God.

Replace in your brothers and sisters.

There's also another way to fight temptation aside from having that understanding that

you should come in prayer with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Having prayer meetings.

Having a prayer line.

Having those that you can lean on.

A prayer partner.

When I was in the SALT program, one of the things that we would do was every single Tuesday

after the week ended, we would all pick a prayer partner.

And throughout that whole entire week, we were praying for that person.

We're conducting an intercessory prayer.

And that's something that is so vital.

We were talking about it today in the Sabbath school lesson.

When we pray for someone else, it gives God the chance to be able to intercede.

To be able to get us not only to influence that person but for him to use other people

around them.

And even much better is when we talk to someone and they allow us to pray with them.

When they say, yes, you can pray for me.

Because that opens the door for them to also be able to have God engage in their life.

We've already said that we can pray for them.

What's next is us being able to actually talk to them about Jesus.

And what's next after that, actually doing a Bible study with them.

So the Lord strengthens us not only to get through temptation but he strengthens us to

have the courage in order to preach the gospel onto all the earth.

Onto the people who need it.

My professor, Dr. Hartman, while I was in the program, he told me something that was

so impactful and it was true.

He told me that you will experience the fact that when you minister to others, it will

be just as much as it is for you as it is for the person that you are ministering to.

So how much more should we be out there preaching to people, doing Bible studies with people

so that we can have the peace that passes all understanding, so that we can produce

the fruit that God has called us to produce.

God strengthens us to be a living sacrifice, to have the strength that is required so that

we can help our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And speaking about fruit, Philippians 4, 17 and 18 says, not that I seek the gift but

I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

Indeed, I have all and abound, I am full having received from Ephorodotus the thing sent from

you, a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

A living sacrifice.

First Corinthians 2, 15.

God calls us to be a living sacrifice, a pleasing aroma to both the saved and those that perish.

When we engage in acts of service, when we engage in speaking to people about Christ,

not only are the brothers and sisters that we have in our congregation affected, inspired,

but also the people who are lost in the world are affected as well.

They see, believe it or not, we are being watched.

Everyone has a ministry, everyone has a purpose, everyone has a place that they should be in

and they are watching as well.

Who here wants to affect the next person, even the person who's lost?

Say amen.

Amen.

I know that I want to affect every person that I possibly can.

I want to make sure that the people that I come in contact with know that Jesus is my

savior.

When they see me, they should see Jesus.

When they see me, they should see someone who's a Christian, who's a believer.

There's a story that I remember someone telling me about how they were working in an establishment

as an accountant, I believe.

And they're a Christian.

They had spent their whole entire lives there.

Well, they had spent at least two, three years there.

And one of their coworkers finally asked them, you know, had the courage to talk to them

and asked them, what?

I didn't even know you were a Christian.

To work at an establishment and talk to someone for two to three years and them not know you're

a Christian, that should tell you something.

At some point, you should have talked to them at least about Jesus gave them a card or something.

Right?

But doing those acts of service is what brings you that peace.

And once you start doing it more, the more you want to do it, because you see the fruits

of Christ being produced in your life.

As a canvasser, whenever I go out into the field and I see how people want the biblical

materials, it's something that inspires me to want to continue.

I know I'm content with my life in Christ.

Why?

Because I have gone out and I have done the good work.

I have labored for my Lord.

I have labored a labor of love not only for my brothers and sisters here, but also labored

a labor of love for those in the world, just like Christ, the great commission.

And that's something that we should all have great peace in our hearts for.

Because he takes us into doing those works, not that we are saved by them, but because

we are saved, because we have understood the great faith that we have.

How can we ever forfeit such a great salvation?

The saving grace that has made us on to good works.

That production of fruit in our lives is what helps us to be a sweet saver.

And then the definitive statement at the end of Philippians 4, that grace, the grace of

our Lord Jesus says from 21 to 23, greet every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren who are

with me, greet you.

All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Amen.

Paul starts with, therefore, beloved brethren, you are my joy, you are my crown.

And then he ends with grace be upon you.

Who wants to have the grace of the Lord upon you?

Say amen.

Amen.

He starts with beloved joy and crown.

I rejoice at the fact that I have been able to have this friendship with you.

To have been able to outpour the friendship of Christ.

It's not Christ, did not Christ come down from his heavenly abode?

No, he did not make himself a king.

He did not make himself someone greater than Herod.

He made himself a servant, lowly, humble, and meek.

Born in a manger.

And then he said, no, no, do not stand in front of me, do not stand behind me, stand

next to me.

Because I have come here to make you my friend.

Jesus, friend of sinners, of publicans.

He accused him of being a wine-bibber.

But he called Matthew anyway.

He told him, come and follow me.

Pick up your cross and follow me.

And that's what we should do.

We should pick up our cross and follow him.

Know the grace of Christ.

Follow after Paul's example and understanding that.

That is what our loving Father has called us to do.

And I want to thank you so much for that.

I want to leave you on that note of understanding and rejoicing in the Lord every single day.

As it says in Philippians 4, 6, and 7, be anxious for nothing.

Can you repeat it with me?

Do you know the verse?

If you can't go to your Bible, let's repeat it together.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer, by supplication, with thanksgiving,

make your request known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall

keep your minds and hearts through Christ Jesus.

Everyone should memorize that one.

It's a real good one.

It's one of my favorite verses.

So I want to leave you on that, and let us bow our heads for prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for all that you do.

I thank you for having me here, Lord, for being able to preach unto my brothers and

sisters in Christ about the wonderful peace of God.

I pray and ask that you will impart that peace on them, Lord, that they will have that peace

inside of their minds and inside of their hearts, that they will be invigorated not

only to have that peace, but to also impart that peace onto others.

If everyone here can just one person impart that peace to, then it is a success.

If they can preach that peace onto just one person who is lost, then it will be success,

Lord.

And I pray and ask that you will help them in their day-to-day lives as the worries and

the stresses of this world try to cave in men, cave us in, Lord, that you will help

us to overcome the adversities of this world.

Because you are at the door, and as this world is coming to a close, Lord, we know that you

are in control, our Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Counselor, Wonderful.

These are your names, and we thank you for all that you do, Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.