Amen. The first Christmas offering is in. Let's turn to today's sermon. There's a legend in the PCA Church of one of our founding fathers who was an army chaplain. And he was called back into service who's redeployed kind of later in life. He was a chaplain during Korea and during the Vietnam War his commander called him up and said, you know, we're having a hard time finding chaplains would you mind going? And so, you know, when your commander says, would you mind going, that's kind of an order? And so he went. He went back. And he was much older than the other soldiers and was really having trouble making any kind of connection with them and earning their trust. And they just weren't clicking. And during one particular recon mission, rescuing recovery mission, he volunteered to go with the soldiers. And the soldiers like to take chaplains on those kind of missions is a little bit of a superstition that nothing bad is going to happen to them if they got a chaplain. And so he went with them and he was praying as they were getting ready to take off in the helicopter. He just began praying, Lord, I don't have any way to connect with these young guys. Please give me some kind of in-road, give me some door that I can share the gospel with them through. And the next thing he knew, somebody was waking him up. The chopper was landed, and the soldier next to him was like, javelin, javelin, come on, it's time to go. And he took off the end of the bush with them and completed that mission. He said, he's actually embarrassed, and he's fallen asleep. He's like, that's surely going to show nothing else to how old I really am. But he said every soldier on that mission came up to him in pretty short time and asked, how in the world, how did you fall asleep on a helicopter headed into the Vietnam bush? How did you do that? And the news of what had happened to him spread throughout the base, and people just kept coming to him, how did you have that kind of peace? Why weren't you scared like everyone else? Today we are studying the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the peace that God gives us, that is beyond comprehension, the peace that protects us. And what we're going to see, as we study that peace, is that peace is a gift that God gives to us. But it's also something we have to put in practice. And as we put it into practice, we experience this tranquility, this confidence that the Lord of the universe is behind us and with us, and it makes us poised, it makes us unflappable when we put it into practice. The peace of God is a gift that when practiced brings tranquility to our souls and is irresistible to the world. Please stand as we read this text about the peace of God from Philippians chapter 4 verses 4 through 9. Hear the word of the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I'll say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. If you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. All men are like grass. All of our glories like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the flowers fall. But not God's word. God's word stands forever. You may be seated. The peace of God, it's a gift, it's a gift that protects us, that allows us to live with a tranquility of spirit, a calmness, a poise, and it protects us from anxiety, and craving fear, when we practice it in our lives, when we practice it in our lives. That's a little bit long definition, but it's the best I got for today. The first thing I want you to see is the nature of peace. What is it? What is peace? It's something that's confusing. Honestly, it's talked about a lot. I grew up, my early childhood, I was born in 1969, so my early childhood was kind of hippie era. Peace is a very hippie word, and my brothers were definitely hippies, I wasn't, but they were, and while they were dressed in Tennessee hippies, a little redneck spin on that. But John Denver Mew, when I hear peace, I still think of John Denver music, I think of the Coca-Cola commercial, I'd like to teach the world a scene, don't know that song. Okay, thank you. Parents, teacher, children. I think of the song Parents, teacher, children well. Peace, right? And it really kind of arose out of a war protest movement, and not too many folks from where I grew up love that movement, and so much so that it actually began to be this kind of conflict within the church, right? It's like when God says peace, he means peace between God and us, he doesn't mean peace between each other, and I'm like, I think he does. And it doesn't mean internal peace, you know, that's that Eastern mystic thing. That's not what it means, and I'm like, wow, I think it's all. I'm pretty sure it's all. I think peace is a relational term. Sure, absolutely, 100%. And it's a full term. Peace in our relationships is a holistic thing. It's not just ceasefire, right? I love the comedian Brian Regan, I've been to see him many times, and one of his bits, he talks about, you know, the war in the Middle East, and especially between Israel and Palestine, and he says, you know, that war has only been going on for, you know, a few thousand years, and they seem to have tried everything except a good dad. You know, you just need to send a good dad up there and say, hey, y'all knock it off. Knock it off. But these offer, I don't care the mask. Just knock it off. I'm not going to get into who started what or who shouldn't have done what? Knock it off, y'all hug it out, and we'll have a better day tomorrow. And that's kind of fatherhood peace, right? I'm bigger than you, and I will enforce that the fighting ends. The Bible calls for way more than that. Peace in the Bible is a holistic relationship of love, of seeing each other not as competitors, taking competition out of it, and that's hard for us. Everything seems to be a competition, who gives the best gifts, who throw the best parties, silly things, who wore the best sweater. Everything is competitive in our hearts, and it's hard for us to just see each other as brothers and sisters. Well, we do see each other as brothers and sisters, and that's the problem. We don't love each other. And God gives us peace between him and us, and he restores true love that what we were created to know, this relationship, where we lived transparently before him. He gives his son to us, so that we can trust him, and we can live transparently before him, and receive his love. That is peace, and then the peace he gives us is more than just being okay. There is a worldly peace. Jesus is interesting. One of the passages I've really been meditating on has been John 14. When Jesus says, my peace I give you, my peace I leave with you, let not your hearts be troubled. Not as the world gives peace, do I give it to you. It is fascinating things he's teaching us there, he's saying, the world does give peace, and it can't. You know, you're going to watch the dog whisper, yeah, Caesar, you know, he brings peace wherever he goes. He really does. All the humans are fascinated by him, because they're like, wow, you just feel better when he walks in the room. He's such a calming presence, and you know, he'll calm their dogs down, and then he leaves, and the dog goes right back to what it used to be. And the only time he ever failed was with a terrier. I just want to point that out. But I'm no longer own a terrier, so that's good. There is a worldly peace, right? I go to stretch labs, and the last time I was there, the lady stretching me out, she's a believer, but as she was stretching me, I could feel tension leaving my body. I actually asked her, I said, do you ever have anybody breaking the tears when you're doing this? And she laughs, and she said, yeah, it happens all the time. She gives peace while she's doing it. But it's, it's great. I got no problems with that, but it's temporary, right? Because I left the stretch labs and came back to work, and everything was still here. Yeah. But the Lord gives peace that passes understanding that doesn't go anywhere. Just try to imagine for a moment that you actually believe that the Lord is at hand. When Paul says that, what does he mean? He doesn't mean that the end is at hand, obviously, because we're living two thousand years later. He means the Lord is at hand. He's right here. He's right here. He's, heaven is not off somewhere in a great distance. Heaven is right here around us. He's our heavenly Father. He's just off stage. He is standing behind you. If you really believe that, if you really believe that everything that touches you passes through your Father's hands, wouldn't you be different? Wouldn't you be different? Michael Boyd has a story about playing golf on one of the kind of mini tours before he got on the PGA tour. And the worst thing possible happened. He teed off and hit a ball out of bounds. It's a big penalty, and golf. So if there's another ball down the tee, it's in the middle of the fairway, goes and gets a bogey and moves on with life. The guy playing with him was so impressed that Michael didn't yell. He didn't throw a club. He didn't get down. He just couldn't figure it out. And during that next toll, he started asking him on the next tee box. How did you do that? How did you recover so quickly? And Michael said, well, I'm a Christian, and I believe that the Lord is sovereign. And I'm going to do my best every time I stand over the ball. And where the ball goes is up to him. And I trust him. He did really well. And that tournament, and they came in as part of, became fast friends, and continued to do things together. He actually became as caddy later. And that kid became a Christian. They went to launch together that day, and he started talking to him about the gospel. It's irresistible to the world. Would you be different if you believe the Lord was behind you? That's the kind of peace he offers us. It's a tranquility of spirit. And it's not something that came easily. It's not something that came easily. If you don't know that piece, let's talk a little bit more about it. How did God earn it? He earned it by his son coming into the world and becoming the Prince of Peace. That's what we're told about him, right? The mighty God, wonderful counselor, everlasting king, the Prince of Peace. He's the Prince of Peace. What does it mean that Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Well, it means that his coming establishes peace, and as you know, when you come into a hostile territory to establish peace, it's, well, it certainly usually comes through some kind of battle. Right? When the allied forces invaded France to establish peace, it wasn't like the Germans went, oh, you're here? Let's get out of here. They fought, there was battle. It was a conflict. That's why Jesus says in Matthew 11, don't think I came to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. And I'm going to divide mother and daughter. I'm going to divide families. Everybody's going to have to decide, are they on my side, or are they against me? And he did bring a conquest. You see, Jesus' flesh was the perfect example, the ultimate example, of God using a Trojan horse. Right? It's something that looks benign. When God came in the flesh, Satan was excited. Here he is. I can defeat him for once and all, and for all. And he had him betrayed, and he had him killed. And he put him in the grave. And that was exactly where Jesus wanted to be. And once he got in the grave, he was able to destroy death from the inside. He destroyed it from the inside. So that death for us is no more than a passageway. He paid the price for sin, so that we don't have to live a life of guilt and shame. You don't have to carry your shame with you forever. He takes it away. And that is what gives you the right to peace. If you believe that, if the worst thing possible happened, that the Lord of the universe is going to redeem that, he's going to bring good out of it. That our suffering is but for a time and it's light and it's temporary, and the glory that is waiting upon us is eternal. And forever, if you actually believe that, if you actually believe that the Lord loves your children more than you do, if you actually believe that the Lord has your future written in his book, wouldn't you be able to rest? Wouldn't you be able to breathe knowing that he is going to bring reconciliation. And he's going to win our hearts and reconcile us to himself. That's what he does. He reconciles us to himself. It's obviously Christmas, and you're all watching Christmas movies, I trust. Have you seen Christmas story yet this year? You are going to watch it, right? Make sure the one with the boy gets the BB gun. My favorite thing in the movie is Ralph loses it and he beats up the bully and he's just a stream of profanities coming from his mouth and his mother comes to get him and takes him home. And he goes, he's up in his bedroom and he's crying because he knows when his dad gets there, he's going to get it. My dad is going to know all those awful things that I said and Little Randy is hiding underneath the kitchen sink. And mom hears him under there and opens the door and says, come on out, you want to come out and what's wrong, Randy? Daddy's going to kill Ralphie. No, daddy's not going to kill Ralphie. Yes he is. I promise he won't kill Ralphie. Do you want to come out? No. You want some milk? Yes. She gives a milk and shuts the door. Oh, he seems so pure. And dad comes home and mom begins to explain that Ralphie got into a fight. There's no big deal and I gave him a talking too. And he recognizes that mom was on his side. Everything was different from that day on because mom was on his side. When you come to Christmas and you see that God came not as the eternal judge, sword in hand, ready to destroy, but as a baby for you to pick up, for you to understand. He does that so we can recognize that he's on our side. And we receive that. And we trust him. You know what that means? It means that we can live at peace with each other and at peace with ourselves. James 4 starts out with these words, what is it that causes conflict among you? Is it not that your hearts are at war within you? You covet. You want and you don't have. And what God reconciling us to Himself does is it makes us able to be at peace with who we are. I'm not a mistake. There's not a single thing about me that's a mistake. Not this chin. Not this belly. I mean, this is a little bit of my mistake, but I wear dark clothes and cover it up. That's all that matters. There's nothing about me that's a mistake. When I was born, the family I was given, the children I was given. There's nothing about me that's a mistake and I can rest in that. And that doesn't mean I have to work hard and use wisdom. Of course, I try every time I hit a golf ball, I try. But it means that I can rest in Him. I can rest in Him. Do you know that? Do you trust Him to redeem even your worst mistakes? Even your worst mistakes. Michael didn't win that golf tournament. You know that, right? And if he hadn't hit that ball out of bounds, he might have won it. Did God redeem his mistake? Yeah. There's going to be somebody in heaven because of that mistake. There's going to be someone who has eternal life because of that mistake. That's redeeming the mistake. That's a much bigger redemption than a stupid golf trophy. That's an eternal redemption. God, is it work? You say, I hear you. I see your face as you're saying. Yeah, yeah, God did all this. Blavety, blavety, we hear this every week. But I still don't experience peace. And if that's true of you, then the first thing I would say to you is, are you putting it into practice? First of all, I would just say, have you received it? It's a gift. Are you still trying to earn it? As long as you are trying to earn it, you will never experience it. As long as you think, if I pray enough, I will get peace. If I repent enough, I will get peace. If I do enough evangelism, I'll be at peace. You'll never get it. What would that even mean? Repent enough? What would that even mean? You know, people have been studying that for years, monks, reading themselves with whips, people depriving themselves of food and comfort to try to repent enough for their sins. And it never works. What would that even mean? You would have to be crucified eternally. Receive it. You're never going to be enough. But God is enough. Receive it. The only way to truly experience peace is to understand that it only comes through Christ Jesus. Peace of God in verse 7, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Receive it. And then, yes, practice it. After, no, the order. It's in Christ Jesus, it's a gift, but we still have to put it into practice. We put it into practice through what? Rejoice in the Lord always, worship. It's why you're here. You're not here to see friends, though I hope everybody in this room is your friend. And you're not here to sing great songs, even though this is the only place in the world that we do get to sing songs. And I sit up front, so I can sing loud. I know I can hear me. And people in the state have little earphones in that can hear me. We get to sing. We get to rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. And all things make your request known to the Lord. Prayer. Mom and dad, you know there's a difference between prayer and worry, right? You can't say you pray all the time just because you worry all the time. That's not how it works. Actually, and the beautiful thing about prayer is that it forces you to face that question, what do I want? What do I actually want? Not just this vague sense of foggy worry around a future event that might happen. Every time Jesus came to someone, every time someone came to Jesus with a request, he always said, what do you want? Specifically, what do you want? And that, that, that clothes, that narrows our thoughts. And it shows us usually that we don't know. And if what we really want is our children to be godly, then we're not afraid of every little thing that happens to them during the day. If what we really want is joy. And we know that it has to go through suffering usually. What do you want? Prayer. Rejoice in the Lord always. And all things make your request known before God with thanksgiving. Which is odd. Typically, you're asked for something, you get it, and then you do thanksgiving. But Paul is saying you ask for things and thanksgiving right there at the moment. And thanksgiving transforms our hearts and it makes us more aware that again, the Lord of the universe is listening to me. And if you believe that, you can't, nothing can stop you from thanksgiving. It actually hears me. And then this incredible final verse. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. If there's anything of excellence. If there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Now, it's tempting to see that and begin to think. Oh, he's saying, think about good stuff. You know, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. And that's fine. That's okay too. Actually, if the only choices between you, if you're sitting in front of your computer and the only two choices in the whole world are looking at kitten videos or clicking on the news, watch the kitten videos. Okay? You can't do anything about either one. So watch the kitten videos. That's my official advice. But that's not what he's talking about. He's saying what you've received and learned from me. He's something about doctrine. If you want the peace that the Apostle Paul had, well, guess what? The Apostle Paul was steeped in Pauline theology. Allegus so far as to say that Paul was the foremost scholar on Pauline theology. Paul had already written the words. He who gave us his own son. How will he not with him give us all things? He had already written the words. All things worked together for the good of those who love him. He already written the words that we are his adopted son and all of creation is standing on tiptoes to see what we will become. And our future glory is not even worthy to be compared with our suffering. He's already written those words and he's saying, that's what I learned. That is how I learned to be content. That is how I was able to be peace at being peace, even though I was shipwrecked, even though I've been stoned, even though I've been left for dead, even though I've been imprisoned. That's how I learned it by meditating on how good God is. By meditating on the truth and letting it transform me. And today is the day to do it. Today is the day to do it. Don't wait until you desperately need it. Do it today. Learn today because you're going to need it. As y'all know, my mom passed away back in 2018 and it was a pretty short-lived final few months. At the time, it didn't feel short, but it was. And my brother took her to a doctor and he kind of whispered to my brother. I think I know what this is. You need to take her to get a biopsy. This is in January. She died in July. And so I drove back to the hospital just because I wanted to be there when she got the results of the biopsy because we knew what they were going to be. And so I was in the room when the doctor told her she had pancreatic cancer. She was like, okay. That was her response. Okay. I'm like, my mom's deaf in one ear. I can't hear that good out of the other. And so I'm like, she clearly did not hear him. And so we got in the car and I said, mom, did you hear what the doctor told you? Yes. Now she clearly didn't hear me. I said, mom, do you know what this means? And then when she gets exasperated, this is what she would sound like. Yes, Ricky. I know what this means. And I started crying and I said, are you ready? You remember what she said? I've been getting ready for this all my life. Have you been getting ready? Now is the time to discover that peace. Now is the time to receive it and to learn how to practice it. And I hope you will start today. If you still don't know that peace, don't let Christmas pass you by until you do. Please pray with me. Father, how good it is to be in your presence to know that you are here with us, that you're smiling upon us, that you care for us, that you bid us cast all of our anxieties upon you because you care for us. How good it is to know that you hear our prayers and you understand what is best for us. And Father, I pray that this Christmas we would all receive the gift of peace, the gift of knowing that you are for us. In Jesus' perfect and precious name.