Grace & Peace: A Journey Through the Book of Colossians - Part 3: Inner Peace | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. It's been a joy to be

able to start this new study together, and it

will take us all the way through August. But

it's a study that is like learning to read. You

start with the letters, then you put things together,

then you write sentences and paragraphs. It's

like that. It accumulates. So we have to make

sure that you follow all the studies. If for

some reason you have missed the first two, you

can find them in our website or our app as well.

But as we begin the study in the book of Colossians,

I also want us to pray just for this time. So

please join me again. Lord, I want to ask you

for your power. That your word will speak to

us, will break through barriers, will break strongholds.

That today, Father, you will bless us with truth.

And use me, Lord, in the power of your spirit

and in your grace. In Jesus' name, amen. Grace

and peace. Journey through the book of Colossians.

And what we have done in the past sessions, we

will learn a little bit because we will do a

little review today as well in the study. But

the book of Colossians was written in the year

about 60. of our era. And it was written to Christians

for the first generation ever of Christians in

the world. And this generation of Christians

were in different parts of the Roman Empire,

but this particular city, Colossae, was in the

region that today is known as Turkey. And a church

has been planted in that place, and Paul writes

this letter to encourage these Christians not

to be deceived by some things that were going

around. Now, I want to do this little review.

The first question is, what are the two legs

of the Christian walk that the Apostle Paul wants

the Christians to make sure that they experience?

What are they? Grace and peace. God wants you

to experience His grace. He wants you to experience

His peace. If you are not experiencing them,

then that's a problem because something is not

right and we'll have to figure out what is it

as we go through the book of Colossians. Second

question. Oh, sorry, I want to show you here

the picture of grace and peace because in the...

Previous session, what we discovered is that

the way the grace and peace have been compromised

in the Colossians was because some people were

saying you need Jesus plus other things. And

Paul says, no, Jesus is all you need. The second

question, what did Jesus do when he saved us?

What we covered in the first study in salvation

redefined was to understand that salvation is

not just, hey, when you die, you go to heaven.

That's like really minimizing it to this. It's

much bigger than that. The Apostle Paul told

us that when God saved us, the moment we gave

our lives to Jesus, he transferred us from the

kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

Before we were his enemies, now we are completely,

100 % reconciled forever. And before we were

under the spiritual oppression of the enemy,

now we have spiritual authority. Over the spirits

of darkness. All of this is what happened when

Jesus saved us. So if you are a follower of Jesus,

this is true of you. And then the next question,

who is Jesus? Because some of the teaching that

was infiltrating the church of the Colossians

was distorting who Jesus was. So Paul writes

very specifically, he says four things. Look,

Jesus is God. He is your creator. He is Lord

over all creation and over all the redeemed people.

And He is the only Savior that came and died

for our sins and overcame the power of Satan

and the power of sin. So we can really trust

in the Savior and in what He has accomplished

for us. This is what we have covered so far.

Today we're going to be talking about inner peace.

Because this aspect of peace is something that

God wants you to experience so that it flows

from you into your surrounding. And what the

rest of the book will do, it will start showing

you what does grace and peace look like on the

outside. But it has to start on the inside. And

the problem is that even though people were following

Jesus and believing Jesus, some of them started

getting this peace compromised. And now that

we're not experiencing it anymore. That's why

he writes in chapter 3 verse 15. Would you read

it out loud with me? Let the peace that comes

from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members

of one body, you are called to live in peace

and always be thankful. He says that you and

I, if we're going to experience God's peace.

We have to let it rule in our hearts. And this

is the thing about grace and peace. God has given

you his grace completely. But if we don't understand

how this works, then we will experience the lack

of peace in our lives. And if you experience

the lack of peace in your life, you're going

to feel much more like broken and empty and aimless.

That is not. What God saved you for. It is recommended

if you're going to take a road trip. Like some

of you did. Take during this break here in Thailand.

That you not only get a full tank. But also.

That you check something very important. What

is that? Air pressure. In your tires. Because

if the air pressure is not right. You're going

to start driving. And suddenly you're going to

feel like. How come I have to like work hard

at making it go straight? And not only that,

which becomes a pain, but also you're going to

have a little sensor light come on. And you try

not to look at it, but it's like you cannot not

notice it. And now you're all stressed out in

your road trip because you did not check the

pressure tire. So now you're going to the tire

pressure. I mean, what you will do is that you

have to stop, correct the tires. Now everything

is aligned again. And then, oh, such a different

trip. And when you have lack of peace in your

life, it's simply a sign that you have lack of

alignment. You have not checked the tires very

well. And it feels like an effort when it's supposed

to feel like just right. Peace means that everything

is just right. It's just as it's meant to be.

As God is working through you and in you. And

you are just going for the ride. So if it feels

like so much effort and so much work and such

a burden and such a pain. Then that is not what

God wants us to experience. If what you have

is lack of peace, what the apostle is telling

us is that you will have to understand that peace

is something that happens out of an intentional

process, just as shaking your tires before you

take the trip. And what's going to happen in

this study is that he's going to first tell us

what is the problem that these Christians were

facing. And he starts... Very small. Let's find

out what was the problem they were facing. He

tells them. Right here on chapter 1 verse 21.

Look guys. Remember before you came to know Christ.

When you were not saved yet. You were his enemies.

Separated from him by your evil thoughts and

actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself

through the death of Christ in his physical body.

Because remember, Jesus was a real human with

a real body. And he died on the cross for you.

And when he died on the cross for you, he reconciled

you with God. And as a result, he has brought

you now into his own presence. And you are holy

and blameless as you stand before him without...

A single fault. Completely forgiven. Completely

reconciled. Because of what he did on the cross.

That's the truth. But you. You must continue

to believe this truth. And stand firmly in it.

Because it might be true. But if you're not believing

in it. You're not going to experience it. You

need to believe it. Align yourself with that

truth. Don't drift away. From the assurance you

received when you heard the good news. The gospel

is called the good news for a reason. It's because

it was God's full forgiveness. Reconciling you

as a gift from God. Not based on your efforts.

But based on your repentance. Your response to

the message that he has given you. And now you

are his forever. But don't drift away from that

truth. And this is where we realize the beginning

of the problem. They had lost their way. Instead

of walking in the path of grace and truth, trusting

God's love, His embrace, His acceptance fully,

they started second -guessing, thinking, oh,

maybe what these people are telling us is true.

Maybe Jesus helps us be saved, but we need also

to work for it, and maybe we need to do certain

things. For God to really accept us. And Paul

says. No. No. The moment you believe. That the

grace of God is not enough. And you have to start

working for it. You are going to start drifting.

And that is why he continues. And he tells them

this. In the following verse. Can you help me

with the clicker? There, okay, thank you. And

now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your

Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Don't

follow this other message. You know, your God,

your Creator, the Lord, the Savior, this Jesus,

continue to follow Him. Don't leave the path.

Continue to follow the Lord. You were dead because

of your sins and because your sinful nature was

not yet cut away. But then God made you alive

with Christ. He forgave all of your sins. He

canceled the record of the charges against us

and took it away by nailing it on the cross.

It's like, I'm trying to tell you here the picture

of God's grace. Because I don't understand why

you are walking away from that grace. When Jesus

died on the cross, he canceled all the charges

against you. Done. In this way, he disarmed the

spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them

publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

So don't let anyone. condemn you for what you

eat or drink or for not celebrating certain holy

days or new moon ceremonies or sabbaths these

people that are infiltrating your church are

telling you that you need to now follow these

laws and you need to keep the sabbath like the

jews do and you need to do this and that and

this and that don't let that message get to you

You don't need Jesus plus all these other things.

Don't let them convince you that you are condemned

because you are not following all of these things.

Don't fall for that. For these rules are only

shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ

himself is that reality. Listen, when Jesus saved

you, when you came to be part of his kingdom,

now you have died with Christ. And he has set

you free from the spiritual powers of this world.

So why do you keep on following the rules of

the world such as, don't handle. You're not going

to go to heaven if you handle that. Don't touch,

don't taste. If you do, you're going to lose

your salvation. Such rules are mere human teachings

about things that deteriorate as we use them.

These rules may seem wise because they require

strong devotion, pious self -denial, and severe

bodily discipline. But in reality, if we get

real, they provide no help in conquering your

inner world, your sinful, evil desires. So don't

fall for it. The moment they started drifting

away from just being rooted in Jesus. Jesus period.

We don't need plus this, plus this, plus this.

No, Jesus. In Him, I'm fully forgiven, fully

accepted, fully embraced. I belong to Him. I'm

part of His kingdom. Instead of being rooted

in that and letting them grow into these fruitful

trees, they started doubting that truth. And

they started replacing that assurance and that

confidence and that power and freedom to live

for God and serve Him fully. They started replacing

it with what we call legalism. Legalism is the

idea that I have to try very hard at doing good

things so that God... Will like me and be happy

with me. And accept me. And therefore. I believe.

That God's acceptance of me. Is based on my effort.

Are you a good boy? Are you a good girl? Okay.

But if you are not. Watch out. You may not go

to heaven after all. Well, the problem with legalism,

therefore, is that it gives you all these extra

rules you have to follow. And these rules are

what make you righteous. Not Jesus. Your effort.

And therefore, because I'm never sure if I'm

good enough or not, the way I experience following

Jesus becomes worse than the economy. If I put

it in a graphic, it will look like this. Today

I feel very close to God. Today not so much.

Today God's grace is great. Today it's very little.

And it's like God loves me. Maybe God doesn't

love me. And I am in that space. It changes by

the day. And therefore rather than experiencing

God's peace. God's peace has been compromised.

And it has been compromised. The reason why it's

not reigning in my heart. And it's not defining

the way I experience my relationship with God.

It's simply because I have stopped standing on

God's grace. You abandon God's grace, you cannot

experience peace. You only have fear and insecurity.

You see, God's grace is so different. So different.

Because God says, look, you want to follow me?

Sure? Okay, but you're a sinner. You recognize

that? Do you repent of living life without me?

You really want to love me? Yes. Okay. Forgiven.

All, everything. Past, present, future. All done.

I'm going to give you my Holy Spirit. And now

follow me. But God, I'm not perfect. I know.

I know you'll struggle and all that stuff. But

I am making you perfect. Not you. Just follow

me. And you follow God. And now the Holy Spirit

in you. Wants intimacy with you. He wants you

to experience inner healing. He wants you to

start experiencing the freedom. Of living for

him. Where guilt and shame and fear are no longer

defining you. God's grace is an invitation. To

be transformed. Into freedom. Into life. God's

grace. It's not a work permit that you get so

you can make a bigger hole and live in it. It's

already terrible. God's grace is a ladder that

is inviting you to come out of it. So you can

live in his freedom. But legalism is a whole

different story. Because legalism is not about

intimacy with God. It's not about any transformation.

It's about your effort and a bunch of rules that

define who you are. If this is not clear, let

me summarize it to you in 10 statements that

contrast legalism with grace. Listen to them.

Legalism is trying to be holy without the Holy

Spirit. Legalism... What about the next group?

A legalist obeys to be accepted. A Christian

obeys because they have already been accepted.

Grace whispers, you are free. Legalism shouts,

try harder. A little harder. Maybe then God will

accept you. Maybe then you will be good enough.

And if not, we have purgatory for that. Legalism

is trusting in your hands more than his scars.

I love that one. What about the next section?

Grace transforms hearts. Legalism just manages

behavior. Legalism... Let me look at it here

because my sight is terrible now. Legalism wears

the mask of holiness but forgets the heart of

Jesus. I love that one too. Legalism builds a

prison with Bible verses as bars. Oh, wow. Where

legalism thrives, joy dies. And that's true.

Because instead of being this thriving tree,

Flourishing with the freedom knowing that you've

been accepted, forgiven, and his forever. Now

you experience life from this place of insecurity

and fear and compromised peace. Have you fallen

for the lie of legalism? Have you stopped resting

in God's grace? If so, that explains why you're

not experiencing peace. You need to check the

tires. Stop where you are. Make sure that they

are right before you keep following. Because

this journey is meant to be a journey marked

by peace. But what the Apostle Paul does is that

after he confronts them with the distortion of

legalism, He's going to help them understand

that at the core of letting the peace of God

reign in you is simply an issue of alignment.

You have to learn to live life according to who

you truly are. I remember there was a professor

in seminary that told us that when he got married

at the beginning, well before he got married,

he loved canoeing. In fact, he had built his

own canoe. And he always loved going canoeing.

So he would take his canoe, go for the whole

day, then come back tired. You know, he did that

all the time. So he got married. And the first

week that he got married, one day he thought,

I want to go canoeing. So he got up very early,

went canoeing, spent the whole day, except he

didn't tell his wife. So when his wife woke up,

And didn't see him there. And there was no way

to contact him. She had no idea where he was.

What had happened to him. She was freaking out.

Not knowing what's going on here. And he comes

back happy after a day canoeing. And it's like

that's when he discovered. That he had to learn

to live as a married person. He was acting like

a single one. You see. You did that when you

were single. But now that you're married. You

just disappear. Like that. It's okay to use your

canoe and love doing this, but at least can you

check with your wife now that you're one? Make

sure that this is okay and it's going to be fine.

And take your cell phone with you because most

likely she will want to check on you to make

sure you're safe. What he was experiencing is

that even though he had a change of identity,

he had to learn to live that new identity. The

fact that you are not a good husband doesn't

mean you're not a husband. It means that you

have to learn to live according to this identity.

And the same thing will happen in following Jesus.

Lack of peace in our lives is a symptom, an indicator.

That you are not living your life according to

who you are. And that is going to have to be

the focus of your attention. Not trying harder

like legalism does. It's paying more attention

to what is the root of the problem. So I can

correct it. Because the concept of acceptance

and forgiveness, that's done. That's an old song.

I don't need to revisit it. I need to understand

what is robbing me from this peace that Jesus

died to give me. And that's why the Apostle Paul

is going to use the rest of this section to tell

us about it. And as I read this section, I picture

it like the person that goes to the doctor. Except

that in this case, the Apostle Paul is the doctor.

Last time I got my checkup done. It goes like

this, you know, it's like typical, basic health

questions. So, Pablo, are you working out? Are

you running? Are you exercising? Well, not really.

I used to, but not much. I'm so busy. It's like,

I don't have time to exercise. Okay, and how

are you doing with your diet? Are you eating

enough veggies and fruits and avoiding all the

carbs and cholesterol and sugar and all this

stuff? It's like, well, you know, it's like I

can always add a little bit more veggies to my

diet, but the sugar, I just love the coffee with

the sweet, you know? Paolo, what about sleeping?

Are you sleeping okay? Because, you know, your

body needs enough hours to sleep. Well, sleeping.

It's kind of like hard because I'm so stressed

out. I just wake up so early, you know, and it's

like, and just in those three questions, the

doctor could already tell that my health is not

very good. Not because I needed an MRI. This

is basic health questions. Everybody knows if

you want to be healthy, you need to work out,

eat well, and rest well, right? Well, the Apostle

Paul is going to now turn to you and to me. And

he's going to help us understand how we're doing

with our health, but our spiritual inner health.

Is the peace of God being compromised in your

life? Then let's find out how you're doing. Pablo,

the first question I'm going to ask you, what's

your perspective? You are living life, you're

following Jesus, you love God, right? Okay, you're

a Christian, yeah, okay, so what's your perspective?

It's like, what do you mean? It's like, I have

my family, and I'm trying to work, and be a good

father, and you know. No, no, I mean, what is

your perspective? The way you are seeing your

life. Because if you don't have the right perspective

on your life. Your peace will be compromised.

And you have to make sure that you let the peace

of God rule in your heart. And for that you have

to have the right perspective. What I mean is

this. Since you have been raised to new life

with Christ. Since now you belong to his kingdom.

100 % reconciled with God. And you are his. Since

now you have been raised with Christ, you have

to set your sights on the realities of heaven,

where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's

right hand. Think about the things of heaven,

not the things of earth. For you died to this

life, and your real life is hidden with Christ

in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is

revealed to the whole world, You will share in

all of his glory. Is this your perspective? Oh,

wait. If that's what you mean, well, you know,

once a week when I go to church on Sundays, you

know, I kind of think about these things. But

the rest of the week, not much. Ah, that explains

it. That means we're living just like the world.

Day to day for the mundane stuff. You have to

have the right perspective on your life. Because

otherwise the peace of God was not something

that you're going to be experiencing. Let me

put it this way. You see this picture? There's

a little insect called a caterpillar. This caterpillar

doesn't know. It's just so busy eating every

day. Eating and getting fatter. Eating and getting

fatter. That's all it does. It was programmed

for that. This is in its DNA. But this caterpillar

doesn't know that soon he's going to be in this

chrysalis. And that all his cells, everything,

the whole body is going to melt. And all the

cells are going to reassign. And now, all of

it is built in its DNA already. And it's going

to suddenly, one day come out of that chrysalis,

now completely reassemble into a butterfly. It

doesn't know that. But this is what this is.

This caterpillar is basically a butterfly in

the making. It's just a matter of time. It's

going to happen with a... the caterpillar knows

it or not. But what if he knows it? What if he

knows that he's going to become a butterfly?

What if he knows that a chrysalis is going to

be soon formed? What if he knows that this is

the future? Oh, that changes everything. Because

otherwise, that poor caterpillar may be eating

and getting fatter, eating and getting fatter.

And then, he starts hearing people saying, you

fat insect. You don't have self -control. Can

you ever stop eating? Look what you have become.

You are just a fat worm. And that book caterpillar

starts believing it. A fat worm. And every time

he looks at the mirror, he goes like, I'm so

ugly. I'm so ashamed of myself. You see, that

doesn't change the fact that it's a butterfly

in the making, does it? It's going to become

a butterfly whether it realizes it or not. But

what changed is that this caterpillar is not

experiencing peace. It's not enjoying the ride.

It's not looking forward to what is it going

to be like flying. I can't wait till that day.

Because I'm never thinking about that. You see,

the caterpillar is not a fat worm. The caterpillar

is a butterfly in the making and so are you.

Think about the things of heaven. Because when

Jesus comes back, the one you're following, you

know what's going to happen? You're going to

be glorified. You're going to become sinless,

immortal. You're going to be transformed. You're

going to be with the Lord forever. Do you know

that you're going to reign with Christ? That

you're going to judge angels? That you're going

to judge the world? Did you know the future that

is awaiting you? I know you can understand it.

It's beyond you because you never experienced

it. But I can't wait to tell you. Perspective

matters. And the first thing that the Apostle

Paul is going to say. Is that you have to learn

to be who you already are. And what you are is

this butterfly in the making. In biblical terms.

Who you are is this. You have been justified.

Jesus reconciled you with God 100%. No more guilt.

No more shame. Done. Also he gave you his Holy

Spirit. You are sanctified. Now you have within

you. The power of God. That wants to transform

you from within. So you can experience freedom.

It can heal your wounds. Because God heals the

broken hearted. And he does bandage their wounds.

And you will be glorified. You will be transformed

and you will be loved with the Lord forever.

This is who you are if you are a born again Christian.

And therefore, we have to live our lives with

the right perspective. Otherwise, peace is not

going to define your experience on day to day.

Has your peace been compromised? because you

realize you have the wrong perspective, and you

are thinking of you just as a worthless worm,

then what you have to do is change perspective.

There's a second question that this doctor wants

to ask us, because remember, it's checking our

health. The second question is, you know, what

is your identity? Who are you? Because what you

believe you are is going to affect how you behave.

So if you're not happy with your behaviors, then

don't try harder. Start thinking about what is

it you're thinking you are that is leading you

to those behaviors. And align yourself with the

Holy Spirit in that place because He's the Spirit

of Truth. And when you start walking in truth,

the behaviors change. But the behaviors won't

change if you keep believing lies. So what's

your identity? It's like, I mean, I don't know

how to answer that question. Where do I even

begin? It's like, I don't know. I mean... I know

God loves me, and He saved me, and Pastor Pablo

says, you know, I'll go to heaven after I die,

even though sometimes, you know, it's like, yeah,

but the grace, yeah, you know, and all this.

Let me make it easier for you. I'm going to put

three mirrors in front of you. You see these

mirrors? Okay, stand in front of them. Now, the

problem with these mirrors, is that they want

to do everything in their power to deceive you,

to make you believe that you are that which is

in the mirror. But here I'm telling you, you

are not that. Remember who you are. I already

covered it. Remember who you are. The first mirror

is the mirror of your body. You see, this mirror

that comes from the world tells you that the

goal in your life is to be happy, not holy. And

that you need to simply embrace every desire

you have. That if you have any sexual desire

in your life, just pursue it. It will make you

happy. It will also tell you that as long as

there's consent, that's all you need. You don't

need to be married. Don't put that thing on your

neck. It's a marriage. As long as the person

likes you, it's fine. Plus, everybody does it.

And you know like the song says, as mammals do,

you're just a mammal, just live your life. That's

not who you are. Don't believe that mirror. The

moment you believe that mirror, your peace will

be compromised. So listen. Put to death. The

sinful earthly things lurking within you have

nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity,

lust, and evil desires. Don't fall for it. And

if you already fell for it, come out of it. That

is not who you are. Don't believe that mirror.

Because what do you get when you believe that

mirror? Peace? Ah, no peace, huh? What do you

get instead? Do you happen to feel filthy? Worthless?

Used? Yeah, exactly. That's how you're going

to feel every time you're engaged in sexual behaviors

that do not align with who you are and you are

not just a mammal. Your body now is a temple

of the Holy Spirit and you are called to honor

God with your body. And when you grow in honoring

God with your body, you will experience more

and more peace. And that's exactly what Jackie

experienced. Because you see, Jackie believed

the mirror the world gave her that told her you

are your sexual desires. So whatever desire you

have, that's your identity. And she started pursuing

that. And she's very honest. She says, I really

enjoyed my sin, but I had no peace. And when

I started wrestling with these things, I had

a friend that prayed for me and said, God, help

her know how much you love her by helping her

see how much she needs you. And when that friend

prayed that, oh, did she start understanding

how much she needed God. Things started going

not so well. And the lack of peace became more

and more obvious. Until one day Jackie heard

the gospel and understood God's grace. That Jesus

had paid for all of her sins. She just needed

to come into the family. And now accepted and

embraced the Holy Spirit was going to empower

her. And that changed completely her way of thinking.

Because until that point she thought that to

be a Christian was a life of trying hard, of

being miserable, following rules that you don't

like and that you cannot fulfill. Rather than

an intimate relationship with God where He is

healing your wounds and transforming you from

within. So as she started experiencing this transformation,

she writes it and she says, I discovered that

holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence

of God. Intimacy with God makes you realize how

much He loves you and how miserable you are away

from Him. That you start looking at sin as like,

nah, not anymore. I know what follows after it.

and I'm done with that. Have you believed the

mirror of distortion about your body? But there's

a second mirror. The second mirror is the mirror

of money. This mirror tells you that you are

what you have. That if you have a lot of money,

then you are a worthy person, successful, someone

with stature. You are defined by your belongings.

Which also means that if you don't have much,

you're a loser. And if you're a loser, then act

like one. The problem with this mirror is that

it's a distortion because you are not what you

have. Your worth is defined by God, not by your

belongings. And your belongings... are not to

define you, are simply tools that God has given

you so that your needs can be met and then he

can use you to address the needs of others. In

other words, money is not the goal of life. Money

is simply a tool to serve God with it. The more

money I have, the more things I have to serve

God with. So don't believe the distortion of

this mirror. Instead, don't be greedy, for a

greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the

things of this world. And in the past, listen,

you used to do these things, when your life was

still part of this world, but you are not part

of this world anymore. If you live to have more,

you will experience like the song says, Never

enough, never enough for me, for me, never enough.

Never. Always a little bit more. And there's

no peace in that. There is an author that wrote

a book called Heaven. Thick study on everything

the Bible says about heaven. His name is Andy

Alcorn. And as he was following God, and he became

more and more aware of, wow, that's where we're

going, and this is what it means, and this is

what it implies, he started changing the way

he saw his money and his pursuit. And he puts

it in a way that is so powerful. He says, what

I discover is that God prospers me. Not to raise

my standard of living, but to raise my standard

of giving. My ability to give more so I can serve

God more with the impact more people. Imagine

giving more to this ministry that is working

with the prisons, the house of blessing. Wow,

I can help those people now. I have more. There's

freedom and there's joy in that. Instead of,

well, I never have enough. I need more because

I never have enough. Have you fallen for this

mirror? It's a distortion. It's going to compromise

your peace. But there's a third mirror. And this

third mirror is people. This mirror is going

to tell you that what people think of you is

what matters most. So when they don't think nicely

of you, oh, you're all stressed out. And therefore,

you want to make sure that you do the right thing.

And you say the right thing. And that they think

of you the right thing. Because you want them

so desperately to like you. And when they don't

like you, you feel so discouraged. That mirror

is a distortion. You do not live to impress people.

What they think of you is not what matters. What

matters is what God thinks of you. So listen.

You have to understand that now is the time to

get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander,

dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for

you have stripped off your all sinful nature

and all of its wicked deeds. You don't need to

start using the F word to sound cool so that

your friends will like you. You don't need to

act like the world so that they will think of

you a certain way. That is going to compromise

your peace. This is not who you are. You don't

need to start lying and manipulating so that

people will think highly of you. No. That is

compromising your peace. That's why you're not

experiencing it. And you need to let the peace

of God rule in your heart by aligning yourself

with Him. What matters most is not what people

think of you. What matters most is truth. There

is a pastor and theologian that now is with the

Lord. Admired by many. His name is Timothy Keller.

On his own journey of following the Lord, he

realized that people pleasing was not the way.

Compromise is peace. And there is freedom. In

knowing that the only person that will live to

please is the Lord. And this is what he says.

The only person whose opinion counts looks at

me and sees Jesus. I don't have to impress anyone

anymore. Not even God. There's freedom in being

known and being loved and embraced. Because God

knows that you are a butterfly in the making.

He sees you as that fat, never stopping eating

insect. And he sees a butterfly in you. Have

you fallen for this distortion? Because if you

have, that's why your peace has been compromised.

So there it is. The three mirrors. If you look

at these three things. And you say, Pastor Paolo,

I don't struggle with this one at all. Then it's

a zero. If you say, oh, that mirror, I've been

believing it almost like the whole picture. Then

the more struggle, it's a ten. Anything in between.

What would you score yourself? Have you fallen

for the distortion of sex in the world? Have

you fallen for the distortion of money as identity?

Success as the goal of life? Or impressing people?

If you have, then the last question the Apostle

Paul has for us is this. What is your plan? What

are you going to do to get healthier and make

sure the peace of God is now reigning in your

heart? What are you going to do, Pablo? It's

like, what do you mean what I'm going to do?

I guess I'll try harder. No, that's legalism.

Try harder. It's not going to lead you anywhere.

What you need is to love more deeply. Love the

Holy Spirit more deeply. And it's in this loving

more deeply. That you start looking at the things

that you engaged with before. And now you can

see them for what they are. And it's like. I

don't like that anymore. When you focus your

energy. Is in seeking intimacy with God. That

is the plan. And I don't mean read your Bible

more and pray more. I mean seek intimacy with

God more. Because what you need is to put on

your new nature. And be renewed as you learn

to know your creator. And become like him. Because

that is the journey that we are in. We are in

this place of transformation where the Holy Spirit

is healing us so that we can experience His life

more and more. You are becoming like Him with

more joy, with more peace, with more self -control,

with more love flowing through you because you

are loving the Holy Spirit more in you. And what

this looks like, if your peace has been compromised

by any of the things that Paul told us, it means

that the first thing you have to do is to simply

confess. You will come to God, you call it for

what it is, and you say, God, I have been believing

this lie. I acknowledged that I've been engaging

in these behaviors and that's not who I am. My

peace has been compromised. That is confessing.

You're acknowledging in the raw form. Calling

it for what it is. And after that you get honest

with God. And you say but God I renounce that.

Because that is not what I want in my life. What

I want is you. So break the power of this thing

from me. Because you is the one I want. Now we're

seeking intimacy. You see, you can pray all the

prayers, you can read all the Bible, and you

can go to all the worship services, but if we

don't get real with God, and there's no intimacy

growing, nothing changes. You are just managing

behavior rather than experiencing peace. So remember,

learn to be Who you are. If your perspective

has been compromised. Your identity has been

distorted. If your plan became trying harder.

Rather than just seeking more intimacy. Now you

know where you need to focus. To make sure that

the peace of God is ruling in your heart. Because

the grace part is not a problem. It's done. But

the peace part. You have to align your car. Before

you continue the journey. So I conclude this

study simply with this question. Has your peace

been compromised? Let the peace of Christ reign

in your heart. Lord, encounter us. Open our eyes

so that we can see our distortions for what they

truly are. Bless us with seeing truth, because

truth is what sets us free. In Jesus' name. we

welcome you to engage by sending us an email

to office at ecb .asia. If God is calling you

to support our ministries, you will find giving

options on our website. And remember to join

us next week. God bless you.