Advent - Peace | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

Peace is not just a fuzzy feeling that you get

when all of the things in your life come into

line. It's not just a feeling. You know, I get

a feeling when I'm sitting by a lake. And I like

it. But it is not the peace of God. Because there's

lots of people without the peace of God that

sit by a lake and like it. Right? The peace of

God is the order of God in our lives. And that

seems like a very mechanical definition. But

when God's order... comes into our life, His

peace comes. The opposite of peace is the lack

of God's order in my life. Okay? So we're just

going to start right away with that understanding

of peace. Before I read the text, Charles Schultz,

the creator of peanuts, on limiting his thought

life. I have a new philosophy. This is a quote.

Quote, I have a new philosophy. I'm only going

to dread one day at a time. Mark Twain on anxious

thoughts. I am an old man and have known a great

many troubles. but most of them never happened.

I want to read that one again. I am an old man

and have known a great many troubles, but most

of them never happened. The wonderful Corrie

Ten Boom. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of

its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.

It's a famous quote, but we need to hear that

one more often, don't we? Worrying does not empty

tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of

its strength. Peace is God's order. You don't

have order in your mind? You don't have peace

in your mind. You don't have order in your home.

You don't have peace in your home. Peace is God's

order and the assurance that comes when I am

aligned with Him. What happens when I know that

the activity of my life is not aligning with

God? the peace of God becomes elusive. Right?

When I'm doing the wrong thing, I come under

conviction. And that's a wonderful thing that

comes from the Holy Spirit, conviction. But you

know when conviction comes? When I am not in

order anymore. I am lacking peace. Now I want

to read the passage in Matthew chapter 2. Starting

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

in verse, we'll start in verse 13. Now when they

had departed, behold, this is the wise men, when

the wise men had left them. Jesus is probably

about two years old at this point. Now when the

wise men had departed, behold, an angel of the

Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise.

Take the young child and his mother, flee to

Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.

For Herod will seek the young child to destroy

him. And when he arose, he took the young child

and his mother by night, immediately, and departed

for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod.

That could have been, depending on which timeline

you follow, it could have been anywhere from

six months to three and a half years that they

were in Egypt until the death of Herod. Departed

for Egypt, was there until the death of Herod

that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken

by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out

of Egypt I called. my son. Now Matthew is a wonderful

author at pointing us to the messianic prophecies.

More in Matthew than any of the other gospels

you will see, this was done to fulfill that which

was said. And so Matthew will oftentimes quote

the Old Testament to prove that Jesus was the

Messiah. This quote is very interesting. It's

from the book of Hosea. It's from Hosea chapter

Hosea 11 · chapter mention

11 and verse 1. And I want to read that. Hosea

11 .1. Hosea was a very interesting prophet.

I don't have time to talk about him this morning.

But an incredible picture in Hosea's life of

the relationship between Israel and God. And

so he prophesies in chapter 11, when Israel was

a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt, I called

my son. It's very interesting because Hosea is

very clearly talking about Israel. He's talking

about the first time Israel was called out of

Egypt. And he looked at his son, Israel. God

the Father looked at his son who was in captivity.

And God supernaturally called them out of Egypt.

Initially, Israel came to Egypt because of a

drought. At that time, Israel, who's... whose

name before it was changed to Israel, was Jacob.

And Jacob had 12 sons. And Jacob was getting

older, and he had a son named Joseph. And so

how they came to Egypt was the story of another

Joseph, who had another dream. The situations

were a little bit different, but it was because

of a dream that Joseph had that his brothers

sold him into slavery, and he came to the nation

of Egypt. God raised up Joseph from Potiphar's

household. where he was a slave, to the prison

where he was suffering the bread of, what do

they call that, the bread of affliction, the

bread of affliction. There in the prison of Egypt,

Joseph suffered, but he came up through that

because he was an interpreter of dreams, and

he became the number two guy. all of Egypt and

ended up I'm shortening the story ended up bringing

his brothers his father and all their family

to Goshen a region in Egypt where they could

survive the seven -year famine And there they

continued to dwell, and there they continued

to multiply for 400 years. And after 400 years,

the cries of their slavery, where before they

came in as guests, and now they were enslaved

in the land of Egypt, and their cries reached

the ears of God, and Pharaoh gave an edict. and

said, I want you to kill every child that is

male that is newborn. It's very interesting,

the correlation between the initial story and

the story of Jesus. And out of that proclamation

from Pharaoh, Moses was put in a basket as a

newborn and pushed down the river. where Pharaoh's

daughter found him, and he was raised in Pharaoh's

household as a prince. And so Hosea is remembering

this Moses that was raised up, and through a

whole set of other series of circumstances, this

Moses that was saved from the death of the newborn

males, became the deliverer for Egypt. And he

went back and confronted Pharaoh, who was really

his brother, confronted Pharaoh, and God, through

ten miracles, pulled... Israel out of Egypt,

the last being the Passover, where lambs were

slain, the blood was put on the doorpost, the

death angel came, and wherever the blood was

not, the firstborn males, whether Egypt or Israel,

all of Israel had blood on their doorposts, so

all the firstborn males of Egypt were killed.

And Pharaoh finally said, you can go. It was

the blood of the lamb that protected them and

ultimately pulled them out of Egypt. And Hosea

is remembering this phenomenon. And you remember

the parting of the Red Sea. And you remember

them walking across on dry ground and getting

to the other side. And then Pharaoh hardens his

heart again and changes his mind and sends his

armies after Israel. God holds the armies back

with a pillar of fire until the Israelites were

all the way across. And then he lifted that pillar

of fire and Pharaoh's army. rushed in after them

and God swallowed up the entire Egyptian army

into the sea. Praise God. And Hosea is remembering

this. It was out of Egypt that I called my son.

My son. This is important. This is not in my

notes, but Some of you have sons and daughters

that are in Egypt right now. They're in the land

of slavery, and I want you to know that there

is hope in the land of Egypt. Out of Egypt I

called my son. And you fast forward thousands

of years to the Joseph that we started our story

with, the husband of Mary. Being called by an

angel in a dream to flee to Egypt. And this is

our passage where we talk about peace. Because

Matthew, by the Holy Spirit, says this passage

was not only about Israel. This passage was about

the Messiah. Not my son with a little S, but

my son with a big S. Out of Egypt, I called my

son. And Joseph fled to Egypt immediately at

the leaning of the Holy Spirit. as directed by

a dream. He immediately arises, wakes up his

wife, bundles up the child, packs a few things,

I'm sure, and heads to the land of Egypt. He

didn't know why. He just knew that God had spoken

to him and that he should obey and do it. The

next... Moment! Herod issues an edict, finding

out from the wise men where they worshipped the

King of kings and the Lord of lords. And he had

all the children in Bethlehem slaughtered. But

because Joseph listened, Jesus is spared. I believe

that Joseph was a man of peace. I believe that

before he ever had the dream, before he ever

met the angel, we see signs that he was a man

of peace. Remember when he first found out that

Mary was pregnant? And Mary said, it's by the

Holy Spirit. Well, Joseph was a godly man, but

he was also a thinking man. My fiance, my betrothed,

is pregnant. And she tells me this story. And

he's a thinking man. And he understands some

things. And at first, he's not sure. If he believes

her, this is all going to get out. And she could

be stoned because of her being pregnant outside

of marriage. She could be stoned, but guess what

Joseph was? He was a man of peace. And he said,

no, I'm going to divorce her quietly. We're going

to do this under the table. We're going to get

her out of the city. She's going to go somewhere

where she can have her baby and not suffer the

shame that could come upon her. He was a man

of peace. We see that Joseph was chosen by the

Lord because of his character to father the Son

of God. Jesus. And I just want to quickly share

three things that I believe that were a part

of Joseph's life that helped them navigate. Because

we have people from Bethlehem fleeing to Egypt,

and Joseph needed to be led by the peace of God.

And so how was it that Joseph was led by the

peace of God? Number one, Joseph cooperated with

the Holy Spirit. So many want peace in their

lives, but they don't want to cooperate with

the command of God. Look at this crazy world

in which we live. Do you know how much Chaos

comes because people do not follow the command

of God. Lots and lots and lots of chaos out there.

Have you noticed that there's chaos in the world,

friends? Shake your head at me if you've noticed

that there's chaos in the world. There's chaos

in the world because we ignore the command of

God. Listen to this. If one generation If one

generation would follow the Word of God with

regard to sexual activity, every single venereal

disease would be wiped out. Every single one

of them. But there's chaos in the world because

we ignore the command of God. Peace comes when

we follow Him. We want peace in our lives without

cooperating with the Holy Spirit. As soon as

the Holy Spirit spoke, Joseph said, here we go.

And away he went. Psalm 119, 165 says this, Great

peace have those who love your law, and nothing

causes them to stumble. Isn't that a picture

of Joseph? He loved the command of God. And how

do we know he loved it? Because he followed it.

Amen? And when you follow the command of God

for your life, you have great peace. These are

keys. Proverbs 3, 1 and 2 says this. My son,

do not forget my law, but let your heart keep.

My commands for length of days and long life

and peace, they will add to you. You see, God

is not out to get you and steal your fun. God

is out to protect you. He wants your life to

bear the fruit of peace. Real peace in your life.

Amen? Isaiah 26 verse 3 was an important verse.

Isaiah 26:3

I went through a season of the lack of peace,

didn't I, Cammie? I did, didn't I? You almost

didn't survive it. But you came through great.

And Cammie wrote this scripture out and put it

on my bedside table. Isaiah chapter 26 verse

Isaiah 26:3

3. You will keep him in perfect peace. whose

mind is stayed upon you. If you want God to bring

peace in your life, you have to listen to what

He tells you. That's easy, isn't it? Listen to

what He tells you. It's not easy. It's simple.

There's a difference between simple and easy,

isn't there? It's a simple concept. Do what he

says. But is it easy? No, it's not always. Because

sometimes he tells us to do difficult things.

Sometimes the things that he leads us to do don't

line up with what we want. And what we want opposes

what he says. And when that happens, if we hang

on to our desire, our want, our need, we forfeit

the peace of God. And that leads me to the second

point, because peace is not the absence of difficulty.

People think that if they just had more things

lined up in their life, As far as amenities,

that peace would come. If I just had a better

car, peace would come into my heart. Dale says,

yeah, right. If I just had more money. How many

of you think your life would have more peace

if you had more money? Americans. That's American

thinking. But it is not the truth. Because the

poorest of the poor can have the peace of God.

You do not need more money to obtain the peace

of God. You need more obedience. Mary and Joseph,

what they were asked to do was never easy. From

the very beginning, they're going to be ridiculed.

They're going to be laughed at. Joseph, you're

going to take that woman to be your wife when

that is not your son? They were asked to walk

a difficult road. But peace is not the absence

of difficulty. In fact, God will... ask you to

do hard things. And you can do them. Look at

your neighbor and say, you can do them. God asks

hard things. I've shared this story before, but

it bears repeating. In 1555, Dr. Nicholas Ridley

was sentenced to be burned at the stake in England.

because of his witness for Christ. On the night

before Ridley's execution, his brother offered

to remain with him in the prison chamber to be

of assistance and comfort. Nicholas Ridley declined

his offer, saying, I intend to go to bed. and

sleep as quietly tonight as ever I did. Because

he knew the peace of God. He could rest in the

strength of the everlasting arms of his Lord

to meet his need. Isn't that amazing? The peace

of God is not the absence of difficult circumstances.

You might be walking through something difficult

physically. You might be facing tightening in

your wallet. You might be facing circumstances

that are not ideal. And you wonder why God just

doesn't kill King Herod right there so you can

stay in Bethlehem and not leave. You wonder why

God doesn't just change everything to make it

easier for you. Well, he wants to teach you something.

That in the midst of the trial, you can walk

in perfect peace. Hallelujah. Around this room,

right now. At homes, right now. are people that

are suffering all kinds of situations and circumstances.

I know some of your circumstances, they are not

ideal. And even you would not wish your circumstance

on anybody else. And you're walking through it.

And I'm watching the peace of God on many of

you in the midst of the storm. I love the story

in Mark 4, 35. When evening had come, Jesus said

to them, let's cross over to the other side.

When they had left the multitude, they took Jesus

along with them in the boat as he was. And other

little boats were also with him, and a great

windstorm arose. And the waves beat into the

boat. We have a video if you watch one of our

camping trips of a sudden storm. Pastor Ben,

who's not with us this morning, was a part of

that trip. A couple of the guys said, I have

never been more scared in my life. The video

that Alexandra took captures. A tree falling

as the wind is blowing so hard. And there we

were, thanking God that we were not on the water.

It was a squall that came up in minutes. And

that's what's happening here. Waves beat into

the boat. It was filling up with water. But Jesus

was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. I want

to be like that. Anybody want to join me and

be like that? That your trust is so strong in

God that when the storm arises, you can sleep

in the front of the boat. Do you know what that

is? Peace. It's not the absence of difficulty.

It's that in the midst of the difficulty, you

know that God is with you. He is with you. This

is the whole point of Emmanuel. God who is with

you. He is with you. He is with you. There's

turmoil in my family, pastor. He is with you.

So they woke him and said, teacher, don't you

care that we are perishing? And he arose, and

I picture him rubbing his eyes, waking up, and

said to the wind, peace, be still. And the wind

ceased, and there was great calm. And he had

a question for them, which I believe God would

speak to you this morning and to me. Why are

you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?

Trust in God. When I walked through what I did,

it took me six months to really get a handle

on things. And I wouldn't trade that six months

of my life for anything because it was in that

crucible that God taught me peace. I had such

anxiety that I didn't sleep for three, four,

five nights in a row. I would go days without

sleep because of anxiety. I was embarrassed,

to be honest with you. Here I am, the assistant

pastor of the church, the worship leader. Anxiety

affecting my heart. Having to go to the emergency

room multiple times. I would read the scriptures.

And at first I was like, why isn't it working?

I'd be up in the middle of the night. And I would

look at the mirror. And I, in time, began to

prophesy over myself. And say, you shall live

and not die. I would look at myself in the mirror.

Do you know what I was afraid of? Dying. Things

were not good physically. I had issues. But it

exposed something in my heart that I was afraid

of death. And it was this six -month period where

God forced me to wrestle with things that were

buried deep in my heart that I didn't even know

were there. And I began to align my thinking.

With the word of God. And slowly, slowly, slowly,

I got on top and wasn't always on the bottom

because when you're filled with anxiety, you

feel like I am on the bottom. I can never get

on the top of this. But I began to align my thinking

and my life up with the word of God. And it was

a struggle. And I wasn't on the waves physically

in a boat, but I was. And I want to tell you

that even then, that Jesus did not abandon His

disciples. Don't think that if God says to you,

you need to grow in your faith, that He is abandoning

you. No, He's calling you up to a higher place.

so that you can do what Jesus did. The next time

the storm comes, guess what you can do? Sleep

in the boat because you trust that God is there.

I never want anybody to feel like they are less

of a human being or that they are somehow failing

in their walk because they have fear or anxiety

or difficulty. I never want anybody to feel that.

I know what that's like. But I do want to call

you to change. Amen? I want to call you to rise

up in the midst of your trial, to engage with

it, and to become what God's called you to be.

Joseph walked in peace, doing impossible things.

And so can you. And finally this morning, peace

comes when we position ourselves to hear from

God. Joseph was a man of prayer long before he

was ever chosen to be the Messiah's father. Peace

comes when we position ourselves to hear from

God. Go with me to Philippians chapter 4. And

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

I want to read the promise of verse 7. Every

one of you need this. In fact, you should write

this down. Write this verse down and put it on

your refrigerator. Philippians 4, 7. And the

peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your heart and mind through Christ

Jesus. Isn't that a great verse? The peace of

God will guard your heart and mind through Christ

Jesus. Praise the Lord. I love Romans 16 when

Paul is saying farewell. He says, and the God

of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Amen? I love that. I love that. This is the God

that we serve, crushing our enemies. And filling

our hearts with peace. And the promise here in

Philippians 4, the peace of God that goes beyond

my ability to even think about it will guard

my heart and my mind. And so I would make a decision.

I'm going to enter into your peace today. And

I would agree with the word of God. But the promise

of verse 7 is attached to a commandment. And

if you don't do the commandment, you cannot claim

the promise. You have to fulfill the requirement

in order to receive the promise. So what's the

requirement? Well, let's back up. To verse 6.

Be anxious for nothing. But in everything. You're

all saying that. I didn't even tell you to say

it and you're all saying it. In everything. By

prayer. And supplication. With thanksgiving.

Let your requests be made known to God. This

is the requirement. And so when your thoughts

are anxious, you know what I needed to do? Repent.

And I did it again and again and again and again

and again. Bringing my thoughts. My emotions,

my feelings in line with the word of God. Instead

of thoughts of anxiety, God, I want to bring

this to you in prayer. I want to yield it to

the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I want

to thank you, God, for meeting every need that

I have. I want to thank you, God, for helping

me with every thought. Instead of anxiousness,

Lord, help me to walk with thanksgiving. That's

a great determent to anxiety, is to start to

use your mouth to say all the things that you're

thankful for. You know, that's a godly exercise.

With thanksgiving. God, I thank you for your

goodness in my life. I thank you for the way

that you have blessed my life. I thank you, God,

for your promises in my life, that they are yes

and amen. And I had to... In the heat of the

battle, there was probably about a month that

was the heat of the battle, where every day,

and I didn't always succeed, but I did it over

and over and over and over again. And the promise,

there came the day when the promise broke through.

That happened when I was 35 years old. It was

a year I'll never forget. I have not been overcome

with anxiety by a symptom since. Because the

peace of God guards my heart. And I want to tell

you that the same God that worked in me can work

in you. I want to close with Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1. The Word of God begins with Genesis 1, but

I'm going to close my message with Genesis 1.

Because it illustrates the peace of God. In the

beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form and void. And darkness

was on the face of the earth. Some translations

say chaos. And the Spirit of God was hovering

over the face of the waters. Sometimes when you

feel anxious about something, it's because it's

not complete. Sometimes there's chaos in your

world. It's one thing to come down to the altar,

which I'm going to give the opportunity for anybody

to receive prayer here in a moment. Any of you

at home, we can pray for you. And the Spirit

of God touches you when you receive prayer. How

many of you have received prayer and you felt

God touch you? Yeah. You know that it's real.

But God can come and touch you here at the altar.

But one of the problems is the world that you

go back into is filled with chaos. Your home

is a disaster. Your relationships are struggling.

There is no order in the world in which you're

going back to. And oftentimes you get a touch

from God at the altar. but it does not translate

into transformation in your life. I believe that

God wants to touch you in the altar, but he's

also going to speak to you some things that you

need to get in order in your world. Isn't that

what happened in creation? The Spirit of God

was hovering over the waters. And God said, let

there be light. And He began day after day for

six days to bring order to that which was chaos.

And when He created Adam and Eve, we don't know

how long it was that they lived in the garden

before they sinned. We don't know, but for however

long they lived there in the Garden of Eden,

under those idyllic circumstances, in that world

of order, there was peace. It wasn't until they

got out of alignment, That Adam was afraid because

he was naked. And so he hid. And therein lies

the problem of humanity. But Jesus shed his blood

to redeem you. And to cover over the sin of Adam

that flows in your veins and my veins. And to

restore God's order to your life. Don't be surprised

if you give your life to Christ. And then he

suddenly begins to tell you things that you need

to change in your life. It's not because he wants

to be mean to you. It's because he wants to bring

you his peace. And he's starting to adjust things

and change things. Let there be this. Let there

be that. And that which he did in creation in

six days, he's starting to do in you. And that

is called discipleship. I'm becoming a follower

of Christ. I am ordering my life. I am lining

up my life with what God is telling me to do.

with what He is telling me to be. Young people,

don't miss it. Don't let the world line up your

life. It will end in chaos. Don't let the spirit

of this age influence your desires. Don't connect

yourself with people that are taking you down

the wrong road. Line yourself up with God. Line

yourself up with what He is saying. He doesn't

want to just touch you for a moment. Oh, remember

that time in my life where I felt good. He wants

to implant peace in your life. A fruit of the

Spirit that will increase throughout your entire

life. That's what he wants to do. Amen? Anybody

want that for their life? Anybody want that?

I want that. That's what we see in Joseph. Led

by the Spirit. Submitted to what God wanted for

his life. Doing things the way God wanted him

to do. Sometimes at the expense of his own reputation.

But saying yes. Lord, we just come before you

right now. The peace that passes all understanding.

Lord, you are here in this room right now, and

we acknowledge you. You're speaking to hearts

right now. There's some that are in a difficult

place. I want to pray for somebody at home right

now. I want to ask in Jesus' name that you would

just meet them right where they are in their

living room. God, I want to pray for couples

right now. There's turmoil and difficulty. But

when we line ourselves up with your divine order,

The peace of God comes. Lord, I'm asking you

in Jesus' name that you would touch people this

morning with your power, that you would break

off of them the anxiety and the fear. And I ask

God that you would speak to them. The things

that they need to know to bring about change.

It's for the long term. God, move in this place.

If you're here this morning, perhaps you've just

thought it was your personality. Well, I'm a

worry wart. It's what I do. You didn't understand

that it was part of the fallen nature. But this

morning you're saying, you know what, I have

been giving myself to that thing. And it's been

a part of my life. But today I just want to declare

my desire to walk in freedom from it. If that's

you, I just want you to lift up your hand all

over this room right now and say, that's me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Anybody else?

Thank you. Others with their hands raised up.

You're tired of dealing with anxiety. You think

that it can only be dealt with with a pill. But

God wants to teach you to sleep in the boat.

Lord, these that have raised their hands, God,

I want to just ask in Jesus' name that you'd

come alongside them right now. You don't abandon

us. You never abandon us. You love us too much

for that. I thank you, God, that for six months

you could have abandoned me, but you never walked

away. And you brought me all the way through.

And I'm just asking right now that you would

bring peace to the storm of the lives of the

people in this room. You saw them raise their

hands. They weren't raising their hand to me

or to anybody in this room, but to you, Lord.

And they were saying, God, I need your peace.

Can we all just pray this prayer right now? Jesus,

I thank you that you are the Prince of Peace.

You speak to my situation. Peace be still. But

you call me to be like you. And so I speak to

my situation. Peace. Be still. Teach me, God,

to cooperate with your Holy Spirit. Teach me

to position myself. For the promise of peace.

Teach me to grow in my walk with you. Put grit

in me, God. That would never give up. But that

would trust in your word. In the name of Jesus.

And everybody said. Amen. Amen. Praise God. I

believe some victory just happened in this house

right now. Hallelujah. I believe some victory

just happened in this house right now. If you

believe that, I want you to just stand up with

me right now in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Just lift your hands to the Lord. If you feel

comfortable just lifting your hands, just lift

your hands to the Lord right now and thank God

for being your peace right now. You're the Prince

of Peace. You are my Prince of Peace. And we

thank you, Lord. And we give you praise in Jesus.

Mighty name. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory

to God. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Thank you,

Father. Glory to Jesus. Your name is Jesus. Your

name is life. Your name is good. Praise God.