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                  Peace of Mind - In These Troubled Times

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By David Wilkerson
October 28, 1991
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          Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither be
          afraid" (John 14:27). But the fact is many Christians
          do have troubled hearts - and they do live in fear!
          Many are secretly plagued with panic, turmoil and
          sleepless nights.

          Jesus also said in the same verse, "Peace I leave with
          you, my peace I give unto you." Yet few believers can
          honestly say they enjoy constant peace of mind. For
          many, peace comes and goes, leaving them worried,
          restless and battered by stress.

          Yet here is what Zacharias prophesied of the coming
          Messiah: "That he would grant unto us, that we being
          delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve
          him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before
          him, all the days of our life" (Luke 1:74-75).

          Beloved, this is why Jesus came to this earth and died
          for sinful man: so that we could walk with God without
          fear, enjoying His peace, all the days of our lives!

          No fear... peace of mind and heart... all of our days!
          This includes days of suffering, turmoil, testing and
          uncertainty. It means both good days and bad days. No
          matter what comes our way, we are to enjoy peace at all
          times.

          Zacharias added these words about Jesus: "To give light
          to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
          death... to guide our feet into the way of peace"
          (verse 79). He was saying Jesus would guide all His
          children into the path of peace - not into
          restlessness, emptiness or fear, but into peace!

          Jesus is the Prince of Peace. At His birth the angels
          sang, Peace on earth.... His gospel is called the
          gospel of peace. And He promised of Himself, "In Me ye
          (shall) have peace" (John 16:33).

          Peace is what the gospel is all about: "The word which
          God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace
          by Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:36). Likewise, the apostle
          Paul outlines the acceptable way in which believers
          ought to serve Christ. Measure your life against what
          Paul describes:

          "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
          righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
          For he that in these things serveth Christ is
          acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us
          therefore follow after the things which make for peace,
          and things wherewith one may edify another" (Romans
          14:16-19).

          In this world we will face tribulation, persecution and
          fiery trials - "fightings without and fears within,"
          according to Paul (2 Corinthians 7:5). We will be
          tempted, we will suffer for the sake of Christ. The
          winds of adversity will try to topple the house of
          faith we build on the Rock of our salvation, which is
          Jesus.

          But still we are to serve Him in righteousness - full
          of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit - at all times.
          Paul' s prayer for all believers was this: "May the
          Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in
          every circumstance. The Lord be with you all" (2
          Thessalonians 3:16, NAS).

          Think of it - peace in every circumstance. Now I ask
          you: Do you have peace in every circumstance? In your
          every waking hour are you full of absolute peace?

          Here is the definition of peace: inner contentment,
          inner calm, serenity, tranquillity, free from all
          strife, at rest, an undisturbed spirit. I love to be
          around Christians who have that inner calm.

          Regrettably, the world doesn't see this serenity in
          many of us. In times of crisis, many believers are not
          ruled by a calm, undisturbed spirit. Too often others
          see us panic-stricken, worried and frustrated.

          Yet God' s goal for His children is that we live free
          of all care and worry! We know this, we say we believe
          it, and the Scriptures confirm it - but few of us have
          entered into this walk. So few are truly free!

          Here is the Lord' s desire for us: "Be anxious for
          nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication
          with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
          God. And the peace of God which surpasses all
          comprehension shall guard your hearts and minds in
          Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7, NAS).

          Do you take absolutely everything to God in prayer? I
          mean everything? Often I have boasted that I go to God
          asking nothing, just simply loving Him. But God invites
          us to come to Him making all our requests known. He is
          pleased when we do this!

          The blessing in making your requests known isn' t that
          you come out of the prayer room with your prayer
          suddenly answered - your sickness or pain gone, your
          problems solved. Rather, it' s that you emerge with
          your heart changed because God has given you His peace.

          When we go to the secret closet of prayer, unburdening
          our souls, weeping and making our request known - we
          come away with peace. The sickness may not be gone -
          but we are changed! The strife, the fear, the anxiety
          are gone.

          How do we obtain such peace of mind in these troubled
          times?

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                   1. It Is Impossible to Have True Peace
                       Without Christ Living in You.

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          "For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
          broken down the middle wall of partition between us"
          (Ephesians 2:14).

          I know of many sinful souls who claim to have peace,
          yet are living in sin. These people say, I have peace,
          I' m not afraid, I have rest. But their peace is not a
          real peace. It' s not real rest. It is a delusion, the
          result of a satanic lie. It is a false peace that will
          damn and destroy!

          In Deuteronomy 29:18-19, we read of people whose heart
          turneth away... from the Lord our God, to go and serve
          the gods of the nations. These people had a root of
          poison growing in them - and the Holy Spirit warned
          them. They were told that a curse would fall upon them
          because they left the Lord and had gone back to their
          sinful, stubborn ways. This was the warning:

          "You shall find no rest, and there shall be no resting
          place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord
          will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and
          despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt
          before you; and you shall be in dread night and day,
          and shall have no assurance of your life. In the
          morning you shall say, 'Would that it were evening!'
          And at evening you shall say, 'Would that it were
          morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you
          dread" (Deuteronomy 28:65-67, NAS).

          In addition to this curse, these words were preached to
          the idolaters: "And it shall be when he hears the words
          of this curse, that he will boast, saying, 'I have
          peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart'"
          (Deuteronomy 29:19, NAS).

          God says such people can't have real peace - and that
          the peace they claim is a delusion. The Bible says,
          "There is no peace for the wicked, but the wicked are
          like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet" (Isaiah
          57:20-21, NAS). "They have made their paths crooked;
          whoever treads on them does not know peace" (Isaiah
          59:8, NAS). Further, God's Word says it is impossible
          for the sinner to know peace because the Lord will
          single him out for adversity" (Deuteronomy 29:21).

          This is one thing the world can't handle - adversity.
          Cults can't handle adversity, other than to deny it by
          escaping into a world of illusion. They won't face it
          head on. Their instruction is to go into a room,
          meditate and give yourself over to "nothingness." But
          such "peace" only lasts a day or two before the worries
          and pressures of this world come flooding back in.

          By contrast, Jesus is glorified most in His church
          during times of adversity. Those are the times
          Christianity clearly triumphs over all other religions
          - because Jesus faces every crisis head on! And He
          bestows abundant peace to us in the midst of every
          trouble.

          Some of the most deluded people on earth are those who
          claim peace without Christ. They have a false security.
          If you ask a man on the street, "Do you have peace with
          God? Is your heart at peace?", he most likely will
          answer, "Yes. I'm not what you would call a Christian,
          but I have peace. I'm not afraid."

          Another man will say, "Oh, I've had peace now for
          fifteen years." Ask him how he got that peace, and he
          says, "Years ago I was in all kinds of turmoil, and
          someone taught me to meditate. I went into a room with
          my mantra, and I began to repeat it. I began to
          withdraw from this world, and a spirit swept over me
          like fresh, cool water."

          You ask, "But what is the source, the spring of your
          peace? How can you prove it is genuine?"

          He answers, "I can't tell you where it came from or how
          I got it. All I know is, I have a peaceful, calm heart.
          I feel happy and content. And if I become troubled, I
          go into my room and repeat my mantra. I shut everything
          out."

          America is now full of oriental doctrines, all of them
          boasting they offer peace of mind. They call it
          "nirvana." Yet it is not peace at all. Rather, it is
          self-surrender to nothingness. God offers no such
          emptiness. Instead, he offers fullness. He gives peace
          like a river - ever flowing, always fresh, continually
          renewing!

          Another person testifies, "I was going down the wrong
          path, hurting myself and my family. I knew it was time
          for me to change - so I decided to turn over a new
          leaf. I quit running around, gave up my bad habits and
          started doing what was right. I'm not the same person I
          used to be. I worked hard to earn this peace. And I
          believe God is pleased with me."

          But the Bible says, "By the deeds of the law there
          shall no flesh be justified in his sight" (Romans
          3:20). The next time this person falls into some sin,
          he will discover that his peace is gone - that it was
          all a false dream.

          Peace claimed by the sinner is not real peace - it is
          numbness! It is spiritual blindness. Only righteousness
          can produce peace, and nothing else: "And the work of
          righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of
          righteousness quietness and assurance for ever" (Isaiah
          32:17).

          You may say, "I am not wicked. I don't do the things
          wicked people do." But wickedness in the eyes of God is
          more than lust or drinking or drug abuse. In God's
          eyes, a wicked person is one who knows Christ is the
          source of all peace - but rejects Him and refuses His
          gift. Wickedness is resisting Christ's call to embrace
          Him as the Prince of Peace.

          It doesn't matter if you seem perfect. You may not
          drink, smoke or cheat. You may even seem to have almost
          every good quality a person could have. But if you turn
          your back on Christ, you are wicked in the eyes of God,
          because you have rejected the way of salvation. And God
          states plainly there will be no peace for that kind of
          person.

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                        2. True Peace Is the Result
                       of Being Justified by Faith.

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          "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
          God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

          There must be a foundation for our peace - and
          scripture says that foundation is our justification. We
          have peace because Jesus Christ has justified us before
          the Father.

          Too many believers have never entered into this great
          peace the Lord has promised. Beloved, we who believe
          are justified - and it is important for us to
          understand what this great word means, because it it
          the secret to our peace!

          Justification entails two principles: First, it says my
          sins are blotted out. I've been acquitted of them by
          the blood of the lamb. They are no longer held against
          me because Jesus went to the cross for me and paid for
          them all.

          This justification by faith is the rock, the foundation
          of all peace with God. To "justify" means to pronounce
          one guiltless - to proclaim that his debt has been
          fully paid by Christ, and that God is satisfied. Jesus
          was "delivered for our offenses, and was raised again
          for our justification" (Romans 4:25). He was raised to
          declare us free from all blame!

          Yet being justified means much more than just being
          forgiven. Jesus not only cleared me of all my sins - He
          also made me acceptable to the Father by His sacrifice.
          This is the second great part of justification. I have
          been declared innocent and guiltless - and I also have
          been declared holy in God's eyes!

          You can work hard to have victory over every besetting
          sin. You can gain control over every habit, conquer
          your temper or evil thoughts, and cast aside all evil
          speaking. you can be faultless. Yet you still can be
          building on the wrong foundation - because your peace
          cannot come from what you do or how you feel.

          I've lived that kind of life at times. I've known in my
          heart I've been saved by grace through faith; I've know
          my good works would not save me. And yet, like so many
          others, I've expected God to bless me according to my
          performance.

          I used to go through the week thinking I was worthy of
          God's peace only if I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd
          look back and see I'd been kind to my wife... I'd
          remained steadfast in prayer and the Word... and I
          would say, "Thank You, God, for your peace." And I
          would continue to thank Him - until the next day, when
          I blew it!

          My peace would come and go according to either my
          goodness - or an outbreak of "badness." Failure of any
          kind would bring despair and a loss of peace.

          Perhaps you've had this struggle. You so want to please
          the Lord and for Him to be pleased with you - but you
          look too much at how you are doing rather than what
          Jesus have already done for you. You find you are
          judging yourself, your salvation and your peace by your
          "performance."

          You think that if you've prayed effectively... read the
          holy Scriptures for several hours... done all you could
          for others... only then could God smile down on you!
          You think, "If only I have enough of the fear of God in
          me, or feed the poor and hungry, or am diligent, or
          avoid all appearances of evil - then I can enjoy
          peace!"

          But, beloved, you cannot justify yourself. You simply
          can't know the peace of God through Jesus Christ until
          you understand its foundation. And it comes only from
          knowing you are right in the sight of God through
          Jesus' shed blood. For that reason alone you are
          "accepted in the beloved."

          We must pursue our peace in a much different way - by
          entering into the truth of what Christ has done for us.
          The Word says, "Let the peace of God rule in your
          hearts, to the which ye are called in one body; and be
          ye thankful" (Colossians 3:15). Jesus will keep on
          justifying us - all the way until we meet Him in
          eternity!

          Yet I must add there is a deadly doctrine in Christian
          circles today that offers believers a false security,
          This teaching says you are made the righteousness of
          Christ no matter how you live in the flesh. Many
          Christians today run around doing as they please -
          cheating, fornicating, living carelessly and sinning at
          will. They boast, "No sweat - I am the righteousness of
          God in Christ! His blood covers all my past, present or
          future sins."

          These people are being deceived: No one can be
          justified who continues in sin and rebellion. We are
          "made the righteousness of God in Him" when we honestly
          repent and humble ourselves before Him.

          Yes, Jesus was raised for our justification, and He
          becomes our righteousness. But forgiveness and
          justification are offered to those who choose to turn
          from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the
          power of God. These things are not imputed to us or
          accounted ours until we repent, turn from our wicked
          ways, and believe and obey God.

          Jesus came "to open blind eyes, and turn them from
          darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God;
          that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an
          inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith
          that is in me" (Acts 26:18). Faith in Christ produces a
          sanctifying power in you!

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                   We Know We Are Accepted By Him Because
                He Invites Us to Come Boldly to His Throne.

                    ------------------------------------

          Why would God invite you to His throne if He were mad
          at you? You may condemn yourself because you had a bad
          day, took a fall or did something you knew grieved the
          Holy Spirit. But what must you do at such times? You
          must run to the Lord! You must say, "Jesus, my heart is
          repentant, and I know You can blot out all my
          iniquity."

          The Father hasn't turned His back on you. Yet too many
          Christians live as if they believe He has. They live on
          the edge all the time, believing they're saved one day
          and unsaved the next.

          I'm not preaching eternal security. I believe only in
          the eternal security of the eternal believer. That is,
          if you walk faithfully with the Lord and love Him with
          all your heart all the days of your life, then you are
          saved - all the days of your life!

          But many Christians are up-and-down, hot-and-cold. You
          never know where they stand - because they don't know
          where they stand. They don't have this foundation: "I'm
          justified in the sight of God, by the blood of the
          Lamb. And not only am I made righteous in His eyes, I'm
          accepted by the Father as holy. I have a right to enter
          into His presence!

          That's what the story of the Prodigal Son is all about.
          Not only was he forgiven, kissed on the neck, given a
          robe and a new ring - but he was also invited to come
          in and sit at his father's table to feast. This is a
          true picture of justification - one where we're not
          left to try to appease God and work ourselves into His
          good graces.

          Satan stands right now before God, charging you with
          all kinds of sins: unfaithfulness, lies, dishonesty,
          short-comings. He has a long list of every wrong thing
          you have done in recent weeks. "The accuser of our
          brethren... which accused them before our God night and
          day" (Revelation 12:10). He says to God, "How can that
          person be saved, when I've just seen him do the things
          he's done? I want justice! You can't be a just God and
          let him get away with that!"

          And he is right in many of his accusations! You did
          fail at times. You did fall short of the glory of God.
          You did do things unlike Christ. You did not live up to
          your testimony.

          But our Judge is unmoved, unimpressed. I can hear my
          Father in heaven telling Satan, " I need no word from
          you, father of lies! You are wasting your time, you
          have no case. You are accusing someone I have already
          acquitted. Be gone!"

          We need not be afraid of our Judge. He is on our side -
          and He has blotted out all our transgressions: "Thou
          hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isaiah 38:17).
          "Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the
          sea" (Micah 7:19). "I, even I, am he that blotteth out
          thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not
          remember thy sins" (Isaiah 43:25).

          I see the King of Glory standing before all accusers
          and crying out, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge
          of God's elect? It is God that justifieth" (Romans
          8:33).

          Many of you reading this are living beneath your
          privileges. You are carrying a load of guilt and worry
          you need not carry. God wants you to know how clear you
          are in heaven - that you are ready for glory. And He
          wants you to appropriate your peace right now!

          In 2 Peter 3, we find awful warnings of a final world
          meltdown, probably a nuclear holocaust. In it,
          everything will be dissolved. Yet in the midst of the
          world's most troubled times, we are called to practice
          peace of mind:

          "All these things shall be dissolved... the elements
          shall melt with fervent heat.... Wherefore beloved,
          seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that
          ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and
          blameless" (2 Peter 3:11, 12-14).

          On the day we stand before Him, we're going to look at
          His nail-scarred hands - and we'll realize the Source
          of our justification has done more for us than we could
          ever accomplish during a lifetime of penance. God wants
          us to appropriate that blessing now. He wants us to
          live in peace - to look at Jesus' wounds and be able to
          say, "He paid for my sins, devil! You can't look at my
          sins anymore. Look at those nail prints - look at Him,
          for He pleads my case. I'm justified in the sight of
          God!"

          Recently I told God, "Lord, I'm going to have Your
          peace at all costs. I'm not going to let the devil tell
          me any more lies. I know my salvation is not in my
          performance. If I cried a river of tears, or if I were
          perfect according to the law, I'd still be lost. I
          would have gained nothing. No, Jesus - You plead my
          case. I rest in what You've done for me."

          Can you say this by faith right now? "Lord, I'm not
          going to try to work my way into Your good pleasure.
          I'm going to enter in through Christ. He pleases you,
          He's sinless - and I come to You through Jesus, my
          Lord."

          When you have that kind of faith, God does not see you
          - He sees the Christ in you. He doesn't see the "old
          man," the one that passed away when you became a new
          creature in Christ. No, God sees only one man: the
          CHRISTMAN. And as Jesus is in glory, so are we in this
          world - redeemed, justified and set free.

          Are you worried? fretting? afraid? Are you condemning
          yourself? If so, you don't have to live in guilt
          anymore. If you've confessed your sins and are trusting
          in the blood of Jesus Christ, your sins are gone -
          blotted out. You are justified.

          "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who
          are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but
          after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). God says, "I didn't
          give you fear or condemnation. The devil put it on you.
          Get rid of it by faith and say, 'Jesus, I stand before
          You now boldly, through the blood of the Lamb. I'm
          washed, I'm cleansed, and I know you love me.'"

          If you've done this, then Jesus is getting joy out of
          you, and God is pleased with you. That's why He says,
          "Come boldly into My presence... make your petitions
          known... ask largely, that your joy may be fulfilled."

          That is true peace!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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