Discover the secret to unwavering peace in life's darkest moments, as we take inspiration from the ultimate example of peace, Jesus Christ. Pastor Chris's latest message draws you into the narrative of Matthew 26, where Jesus' calm in the face of betrayal sets a standard for us to aspire to. We dissect his incredible composure to find out how to anchor ourselves with the same peace that transcends all understanding, promised to us in John 14:27. And in a world brimming with anxiety despite countless resources claiming to offer solace, we reveal why true tranquility is more of a spiritual conquest than a material one.
Discover the secret to unwavering peace in life's darkest moments, as we take inspiration from the ultimate example of peace, Jesus Christ. Pastor Chris's latest message draws you into the narrative of Matthew 26, where Jesus' calm in the face of betrayal sets a standard for us to aspire to. We dissect his incredible composure to find out how to anchor ourselves with the same peace that transcends all understanding, promised to us in John 14:27. And in a world brimming with anxiety despite countless resources claiming to offer solace, we reveal why true tranquility is more of a spiritual conquest than a material one.
The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.
Speaker 2:Matthew, chapter 26,. We are in verse 47. Actually, let's start at verse 46. So Jesus is at Gethsemane. He has just prayed three times that the Lord would take the cup that he's about to drink from Him, but he says not my will, but yours be done. And here's what he says in verse 46. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. Verse 47,.
Speaker 2:While he was still speaking, judas came, one of the twelve, and with Him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying the one I will kiss is the man. Seize Him. And he came up to Jesus at once and he said greeting Rabbi. And he kissed Him and Jesus said to Him friend, do what you came to do. Then he came up and laid His hands on Jesus and seized Him and behold one of those who were with Jesus this is Peter stretched out His hand and drew His sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off His ear. And Jesus said to Him put your sword back into His place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels. But how, then, should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so? At that hour, jesus said to the crowds have you come out against? Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day, I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me, but all of this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, and then the disciples left Him and fled. You may be seated.
Speaker 2:Can I get a little less boom in my mic? Boom bass. It makes me sound kind of manly though, doesn't it? Does it sound like that out here there? Is it kind of boomy. Okay, I'll give you a second to fix that. One, two, three, one, two, three. One, two, three, one, two, three. You all let me know when it sounds good. I need my head mic again. I need my head mic, so we got to buy a new one. Oh no, dina's filming me. This is going on, dina, online. I'm going to make a plea. Please, somebody buy me a headset. All right, here we go. It sounds good now. Thank you, you all are on a good and happy, counting Throughout time and place.
Speaker 2:How many know that people have been on this quest for peace? World peace, peace amongst the nations, peace in your neighborhood, peace with others in peace? People have been on this quest for peace, and it's interesting today because we have so many resources that offer us help for anxiety. They're offering us peace, telling us how you and I can get peace. I mean, you do a Google search and you will get millions upon millions, hundreds of millions in fact, of listings, blogs and posts and articles on how you can have peace. Do you know that, since 2015, over 2,500 apps have launched that are for meditation and finding calm and peace? Over 2,500. How many books have been published that aim to teach us how we can have peace? Do you know that, annually, the mental health industry is about in just in America, it's about a $250 billion industry, and what that tells me is this though, we have more resources than ever trying to help us gain peace, peace seems to be out of reach for many, doesn't? It Seems to be out of reach when our text today.
Speaker 2:Jesus is in the final hours of his life. He's getting ready to bear the sins of the world, and you'll remember last week, if you were here, jesus was in Gethsemane and he saw the cup of wrath that he was about to drink, the pain that he was about to endure. He said, oh God, if there be any other way, let this cup pass In the garden. Listen, jesus literally had a panic attack. I mean, that's what happened. He was in absolute agony. But now, just verses later, just moments later, jesus displays such a calm. It's amazing. There's no anxiety. I mean this is profound, guys.
Speaker 2:I want you to just look at verse 46 with me. So he's been praying and agonizing and he just says all of a sudden verse 46, to his disciples rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand, pretty calm, not freaking out, not anxious. Verse 50. And Jesus said to him friend, do what you came to do. He's talking to Judas. I mean, judas is ready to betray him. And Jesus just sees him and says friend, do what you came to do. Can you just sense the calm in Jesus at this point? Look at verse 55.
Speaker 2:At that hour Jesus said to the crowds they brought clubs and you know things that swords, and they're ready to. Man sees him and here's what Jesus says have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me. Day after day, I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me Again. Do you sense the calm in Jesus voice, in his response to this situation? And that's profound. And here's the point I want you to see today that in the midst of Jesus darkest hour I mean the pain and agony that he is about to endure is beyond anything really we could ever imagine In this moment he has peace in the midst of that darkness. He has peace in the midst of the darkness. And I've got really good news for you today Once you go to John, chapter 14, and look at verse 27. John 14, verse 27.
Speaker 2:Jesus talking to his disciples. Here's what he says Peace, I leave with you. And here's what he says my peace, the peace that we see in our text today, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give it to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace that we see today, jesus says those of you who are in me, those of you who have received me, and that includes every one of you. Today Jesus says I give my peace to you.
Speaker 2:Your hearts do not have to be troubled, troubled, and here's what we think, many of us we think when we go to prayer. If the Lord removes these circumstances from me the financial woes, the health woes, you name it the work woes, the marriage woes Lord, if you just take this from me, then I can have peace. And often the Lord does remove us from those troubles. But oftentimes, for whatever reason, reasons that we don't know about that are beyond us those troubles stay in our lives, at least for a season. But I want you to know this is what we learned today from Jesus that in the midst of those dark hours, you and I, through Jesus, can experience peace.
Speaker 2:He said listen, peace in the world it looks a lot different because it depends on circumstances. So peace ebbs and flows, it fluctuates, it vacillates, it's up and down, up and down, up and down because it depends on your circumstances, which are always changing. That's not the peace that Jesus offers. The peace that Jesus offers is the peace of God, and God is unchanging, which means peace is unchanging. So I just want you to consider what Jesus is suffering in this moment, in this scene. I want you to think about the pain and agony that he is enduring, yet he is at peace. Let's think about it. Number one he is being betrayed. He is being betrayed. Look at verses 47 through 50.
Speaker 2:While Jesus was still speaking, judas came, one of the twelve. That's not accidental that Matthew put that right here. He didn't just say Judas came, he said Judas one of the twelve. What's the point of that? The point is is that Matthew wants to remind us that this isn't just anybody betraying Jesus. This is one of His closest companions, one of the twelve disciples that Jesus chose, and yet Judas betrayed Him. Judas betrayed Him, he's betrayed.
Speaker 2:And then you think about the verses after that. I mean you just you think about this. There's a mob that comes with Judas. Well, who is the mob? It's Jewish leaders. This is a mob that comes from the chief priests and elders. And here's what's so crazy about this.
Speaker 2:Jesus said his mission in coming. It was to save his people from their sins. Oh, the gospel is for the whole world. Sure through Israel. God sent Jesus and he would open up salvation to Jew and Gentile alike. But he came to fulfill the covenant with Israel. He came to save his people, to do for them what they could not do for themselves. And how do they repay him? How do they respond? With clubs and swords. Do you think you've been betrayed? Anybody ever been betrayed by a close friend in here? It hurts. I have been, matter of fact. You sit in my seat as a pastor and you will experience this time and time and time again from church folk.
Speaker 2:And yet Jesus, through this betrayal, experiences peace. Secondly, he experiences slander. You know people come and think of this with swords and clubs and Jesus says come on, I was teaching in the temple, why didn't you seize me? Then they're treating him and the scene is they want people to think, or they've been told that he's this crazy renegade who's violent. No, jesus didn't come with the sword. He did in one sense I know scripture talks about that too to divide, but he didn't come physically with the sword to crush people. He came to lay his life down for people and yet he has been made out to be this renegade who wants to obliterate Rome, wipe out Israel's enemies. So they come with clubs and swords. Have you ever been misunderstood? Have you ever experienced slander like this and your reputation was tarnished? Jesus has peace through all of this.
Speaker 2:Number three Jesus is experiencing impending death like imminent. Death is imminent, let's say Now, I know that we say, hey, we believe in life after death, but how many know that death can still be fearful? I mean really, let's not try to act more spiritual than we are. Death is a scary thing. It can be, even though we know. Listen, yes, life after death is great, but for the Christian can still be scary.
Speaker 2:There's a man I don't know if you've heard of this man His name is Brian Johnson and he is spending about $2 million a year right now to try to mitigate, let's say, age. It's a slow down the aging process and you ought to hear his regimen. It's crazy. I mean, he's getting injected, like with this young plasma in all this and he's trying to slow down the clock because he doesn't want to die until the last possible moment. $2 million a year to try to just slow down the clock a little bit, because he's petrified of death, I would say.
Speaker 2:But Jesus has perfect peace in the face of a terrible death and I wanna just read you this testimony In 1555, there was a reformer named Nicholas Ridley and he was actually burned at the stake because of his witness for Christ, burned alive. It's told that on the night before Ridley's execution, his brother actually offered to remain with him in the prison to be of assistance and comfort, and I want you to hear this. Nicholas find the offer, told his brother to go home and he replied that he meant to go to bed and sleep as quietly as he ever did in his life because he knew the peace of God, he could rest in the strength of the everlasting arms of his Lord to meet his need, and so can we. I mean that's profound. Jesus has peace even in the face of death. And finally, jesus is experiencing abandonment. I mean one disciple betraying.
Speaker 2:But look at the final text in our text, verse 56. All this had taken place at the scriptures. The prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him. All the disciples left him and fled In his time of greatest need. Remember he took his disciples to Gethsemane with him because he needed support. And how many know when you're in a dark hour you need support. Don't ever isolate yourself. In your darkest hour you pull church folk close to you because we want to walk with you through those times, encourage you and bless you. But every one of the disciples flee. They're scared, they don't have the same peace that Jesus has and they flee from him. And all of this to say that God does not remove the painful circumstances for Jesus, but he gets them through them and he gives them peace.
Speaker 2:Why the peace and calm of Jesus? Why does Jesus experience the peace and calm? Well, it's because he is at peace with the Father. He is at peace with God, the Father. He is walking in his perfect will and listen. If you are at peace with God, then that peace can overflow to every other facet of your life. Can I get a witness today? Jesus is at peace with God and so he has this constant peace.
Speaker 2:I want you to go to the book of Romans now with me, chapter five, romans, chapter five. Here's what Paul writes to the church in Rome. He says, therefore, since we have been justified or made right with God by faith here's what he says we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ Beloved. Apart from Jesus, you and I are not at peace with God. Actually, romans talks about us being enemies of God or at you could say, at enmity with God because of our sin. But through Jesus, he has brought us nigh to God or near to God. It's a beautiful thing. So you and I now. We get peace with God through Jesus. When you abide in Jesus, you get peace with God.
Speaker 2:Is anybody awake this morning? And if you have peace with God, you can have a constant peace in every facet of life. That's not dependent on your circumstances. In terms of your circumstances, you get peace, which begs the question then, why are so many of us not walking in peace? It's a fair question. Anybody struggle with anxiety. I'll put my hands up both of them and if you work closely with me, you know that I'm telling the truth. Anybody else want to be honest. As a pastor, I struggle with anxiety. I've got great news for you. You can learn by following Jesus example. Here, you and I can learn to walk in peace. How do we experience the peace that Jesus has given us? Go to Romans chapter or, excuse me, philippians chapter four very familiar text and look at verse eight.
Speaker 2:Now Paul is imprisoned while he is writing this and here's what he says. He writes finally, brothers. So he's writing to Christians. He says whatever is true, whatever is noble, 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. He's telling us meditate on the good things in life. There's many things that are vying for your attention and that they'll make your heart melt with fear. You're going to turn on the news and your heart can just melt with fear he's telling us. Paul says listen, it's not stick your head in the sand, but don't feed on Fox News all day long. Don't feed on CNN all day long. No, think on what's true and what's good and what's noble. Meditate on God's word. And then I want you to go back just a little bit in chapter four. Here's what he says in verse four Again, paul is in prison.
Speaker 2:Rejoice in the Lord. Again I'll say rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. How often what? Always. And again I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everybody. The Lord is at hand. Do not be what Anxious about anything.
Speaker 2:Now I learned something as I was studying for Gethsemane last week, because I've heard people say well, anxiety is a sin. Well, there's a problem with that. First of all, we're in trouble if anxiety is a sin. There's a problem with that, because can we agree that Jesus was anxious in Gethsemane? So this is a real problem here for me. Or used to be Be anxious, do not be anxious about anything.
Speaker 2:Well, I went to the Strong's Concordance or actually the Blue Letter Bible Lab, which is a real helpful free tool, and I looked at the tense of the word anxious, or do not be anxious, this phrase, and it's actually in the present act of participle. Bob's checking me over here? No, okay, he said no, I'm on Facebook, he's a listen, it's in the present act of participle. So here's actually what it should say don't go on being anxious. Don't go on being anxious. We all, we all experience anxiety. Jesus did in the garden, but now he's not anxious anymore. It doesn't seem to be. We're human, anxious.
Speaker 2:Anxiety is a normal emotion. But listen, paul writes do not continue in it, don't live in it, don't let it crush you, because it is crushing many people, even many Christians. Don't walk in it day in and day out. Okay, well, that's easier said than done. Does that seem like a kind of very difficult task, insurmountable almost Anybody? Because you're thinking about your life, you're going wow, man, I don't know about this. So let's go back to our text and let's see how we can. How can we actually walk in peace and kind of throw off this anxiety? Number one you want to guess what it might be what Jesus do in the garden Pray. You want to. You want to get rid of anxiety. You've got to pray.
Speaker 2:Could it be beloved that the reason we are not experiencing the peace of God like we should is because we are really horrible at committing to prayer. Anybody else want to be honest today. We don't pray enough. We sit around, we call so and so and we try to get advice everywhere else, but we fail to pray. We fail to pray. That's actually what.
Speaker 2:This is what Paul writes in Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, but in everything. By what? Prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, which is rehearsing what God's already done for you. What's he say? Let your requests be known to God. Now, let's not stop there. And the peace of God, so it's. After you do this, after you pray and bring your supplication and thanksgiving before the Lord. Then everybody say then, then the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God that surpasses all understanding. It's the peace that when people look at what you're going through, they'll look at you and go how in the world can you have peace? And you get to say one word, one name Jesus, because I've taken my burden to the Lord. I love that old song Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. We've got to pray. Not only do we pray, but we pray persistently.
Speaker 2:How many times did Jesus pray in the garden? Three times, three times he got on his face. He fell on his face before the Lord Crushed under the weight of suffering and he prayed oh God, if they're being in another way, let this cup pass, but not my will, but yours be done. He got up, he went over to his disciples, found them sleeping on the job, and what's he do? He still feels anxiety. What's he do? He goes back and lays on his face again and prays again. He gets up. This is Jesus. He gets up again and still feels the weight of anxiety. So what's he do? He lays on his face again and says Lord God, not my will, but yours be done. And he gets up. And now there seems to be this calm.
Speaker 2:When the Bible tells us to seek and you will find again. That's in the present active. It says keep and keep on seeking, ask and keep on asking, Knock and keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. Be persistent in your prayer. Remember what we used to say in the old days. We used to say you got to pray through, we're so ADD. Now let's say that we've lost the ability to pray through. We've been having an awesome time, by the way, on Wednesday nights that we've committed the prayer. If you've not been here, you need to be here, and I love it because we're really praying and we're praying through and it's been amazing. It's awesome.
Speaker 2:So, if you want peace, you've got to pray. Number two you've got to trust. You've got to trust. Jesus said in the garden not my will, but yours. You know that's tough to pray. That's tough to pray when you pray that way. Here's what you're saying, lord. This is what I ask for. This is what I ask for. But, lord, when you pray, not my will but yours be done. Here's what you're saying. In essence, lord, your ways are higher than my ways, your thoughts above my thoughts. And, lord, I just think. I just think you might know something that I don't and I may not understand the reason for your will. You may not give me an answer, but I trust you.
Speaker 2:You know when your children have used this illustration before. But when they come to you and they're really young, it's even worse. When they're teenagers they think they know more than you and they ask for things that are not good for them. But they think they know and they try to tell you how to do your job as a parent and you say to your kid you haven't been where I've been, you haven't lived enough to have the wisdom that I have. You've got to trust me. You may not understand the decision I'm making on your behalf, but listen, you got to know I love you and I know what you don't know. Beloved, god knows what you don't know. You got to trust him. Jesus says over and over in this text and really throughout Matthew I think there's like 13 times that Jesus says this is happening according to the scriptures. Jesus trusts God because he knows the scriptures.
Speaker 2:Listen, when you see all hell breaking loose around you see all that's going on in the world. Do you know that there were 23 natural disasters in America last year, that these were catastrophes that cost, you know, at least $1 billion each? You know what the average has been over the last several years or well before this 11 or 12, which is, listen, 23 last year by September. You know the revelation talks about that. It talks about the increase of natural disasters. So you could, your heart, you could see all these things and you hear about tornadoes and hurricanes and tsunamis and hell and all of these things, flooding, fires, and your heart could be anxious.
Speaker 2:And then you just think, oh, the Lord's return is near you, just trusting. Number three, so you pray, you trust If you want to walk in peace. Number three you obey, trust and obey, trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. I'll tell you from 20 plus years of ministry experience that the number one reason it's probably a tie maybe with with the lack of prayer, but but I would say maybe the number one reason or at least they taught reason that Christians do not experience peace is because they're living contrary to the word of God and they somehow think that they can do what they want to do and have peace. Let's use your children as an example again. Are you think back to when you were raised? How many know that when you disobeyed mom and dad, was there peace in your home? Oh, beloved, I remember the days when there was a belt. Come on, somebody having another need to be some belts today. Right, there is no peace apart from obedience.
Speaker 2:And today, if you are hiding sin in your heart and listen, we think, oh, I'm not sleeping around, I haven't killed anybody this week, good for you, like that's good. But are you a gossip? Are you a gossip? And I could list some more things. I want to just leave that right there. If you're walking and sin, you will never have peace with God. Let me read you, don't turn there. Let me just read you. You can market read it later.
Speaker 2:Isaiah 48 18. Listen to what the Lord says. Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments. He's saying to his people how many of you ever said your kids, if you just listen to me, your life would be a lot better. Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments, Then your peace would have been like a river. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river in my soul. How does that peace come Like? We sing it. Remember that song. We sing it, but it only comes through obedience. The great news is this If you've been walking and sin today, you can repent. You can repent and God will forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness and you walk out of here in peace. Finally, number four, number four Jesus experiences peace because of forgiveness.
Speaker 2:Think about what happens in this scene with Judas. This is, this is insane. Judas betrays Jesus and he walks up to him. Let's look at the text, matter of fact, let's go back to Matthew, look at this. So, while Jesus verse 47, jesus was still speaking Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priest and the elders of the people. Now, the betrayer, this is Judas had given them a sign saying listen to this. The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him, not the one I will punch, the one I'll kiss. What a slap in the face. A real slap in the face would have been much better than this.
Speaker 2:And he came up to Jesus at once and said greetings. Now, this word greetings here it is a really endearing term. It's like saying, almost like saying Shalom, peace, hey, buddy, good to see you. Greetings, greetings. And then he betrays him. And then what's he do? He kisses him. He kisses him. That's a sign of honor and respect and love and companionship in this in this time and yet, rather than using this as a sign of love, judas takes and perverts this sign. It's like perverting the rainbow, something God's promises, using it for harm and abominations. Right to represent that.
Speaker 2:He takes this sign of endearment and love and grace and honor, and here's what he does he uses it to betray Jesus, to turn him in this. It's dark out. It's dark out. He says, hey, we don't want to get the wrong guy. I'm gonna kiss, I'm gonna kiss the rabbi, I'm gonna kiss Jesus. And when you see that, you know that's the one you need to arrest. And listen to how Jesus responds. He doesn't punch. He doesn't punch Judas in the face. How many would have probably done that? Tell the truth. He doesn't kick him, he doesn't cuss him. Here's what he says Friend, friend, do what you came to do. Now, the word friend here there's. There's multiple words in the Greek language that we translate friend. This is to be sure. This is not the word um feel sauce, which means like intimate friends, like best buddy. This is the word um heteros heteros, I think. Actually it is, and it just means companion, but nonetheless it translate friend. So Judas walks up, betrays him, does this deceitful kiss. And Jesus says companion, do what you came to do.
Speaker 2:Is there any hardness in Jesus' heart here? I don't think so. I don't think so, and you know that a lot of Christians do not walk in peace because they're holding grudges against people. I don't want to diminish what you've been through, but some of you've been hurt by church folk. Some of you've been hurt by parents, the people that you were supposed to trust most. Some of you have been hurt by your children. You've poured into them your whole life and you've been hurt by them. But you're you're holding a grudge and you know that you're only hurting. You're hurting two people most. You're hurting yourself and you're hurting the kingdom. You're hurting God. It's like you're walking around with with them sitting on your shoulder or riding on your back. You're carrying that burden with you everywhere you go.
Speaker 2:And Jesus said if you don't forgive, you won't be forgiven. And there's nothing like walking around having a sense that we're not forgiven. Jesus, this is crazy. Jesus doesn't retaliate against the crowds. He says take me, you, with clubs and swords slandering me. Take me, judas, friend, do what you came to do. And then the people who would shout crucify him, the people that would hang him on that rugged cross. What would he say? Forgive them, father. They know not what they do. Is it any wonder he has peace? So, if you want peace, if you wanna walk in the peace that Jesus gave number one, you gotta know, jesus, that you've gotta pray, you've gotta trust, you gotta be obedient and you've got to forgive. And I'm sure there's many more things we could talk about, but that's what I see in the text today.
Speaker 2:I want you, as we close, to consider the characters of the garden. Think about their attempts for peace. I mean, think about Judas. He was driven by greed. Now here's the lie that he bought. Judas thought you know what, if I could have enough money, everything would be okay. And that became his God. That became his God. And so he was so hungry for more money that he would betray the Son of God himself. How did that go for him? Did it bring him peace? He ends up. We'll see, maybe next week or the week after he ends up hanging himself.
Speaker 2:11. Money will never buy you peace. Some of you thinking today oh Lord, if you just let me win the lottery, then I'd have peace. Well, it's like try me and tie the off of it, but it's like no, it'll never listen. This is why a millionaire wants to be a multimillionaire and a multimillionaire then wants to be a billionaire and a billionaire wants to be a multi-billionaire, and so it's never enough. It's never enough. What's Bill Gates gonna do with all his money? What's Elon Musk gonna do with all that money? What's Warren Buffett gonna do with all that money? It's more than they could ever spend.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you this I just read Elon Musk's biography and there's a lot of things I like about him, but, man, he doesn't have peace. I'll tell you that he does not have peace. He's kind of miserable. Won't bring you peace. Think about the crowds. They want peace apart, for they think if we just get rid of Jesus Maybe you're listening, or maybe you're listening, maybe you're here, maybe you're listening online and you think, man, if I could just avoid Jesus, because he tells me what not to do, I could just be the God of my own heart, call the own shots, listen, then I could have peace. That doesn't work out for them. There's no peace apart from Christ.
Speaker 2:And then you think about Peter, oh, peter. And he says funny, impetuous Peter, you know, always putting his foot in his mouth, always doing something crazy with great intentions. So Jesus is, you know he's being seized and all of a sudden, what's Peter do? Cuts off the dude's ear. The servant of the high priest, can I just give you a little nugget right here? I didn't come up with this, I heard I don't remember who said this it wasn't even a pastor, I don't think. But what Jesus do when Peter cut off the ear, put it back on. You know what he did. He got rid of the evidence because he would be persecuted under Roman law for something like that. I mean big time. He got rid of the evidence and that's what he would do at Calvary. He'd wipe away every bit of evidence. Isn't that good? As if we had never sinned. Woo, that's good, isn't it? But think about Peter. Here's what he does. He wants, he loves Jesus. He no doubt loves Jesus. But here's what he does. He tries to take matters into his own hands. And some of you think, man, if I could just fix this thing, then I'll have peace. No, do it God's way. Do it God's way. Do it God's way.
Speaker 2:In after the bombings of World War II, there were many orphans who were left, children who became orphans, and they were homeless and hungry. Many died. But many of them got taken to these refuge camps, which was a great blessing, and they were fed and given shelter. And it said that, though, that many of those kids who were taken into the refuge camps, they could not sleep at night because they were scared to death because of their past. They knew what it was to be hungry and without shelter. They were scared that they would wake up the next day and not have food or a roof over their heads. So someone came up with this idea. It sounds crazy, but it actually worked. They said listen, let's give them a piece of bread, not a stuffed animal. Let's give them a piece of bread to sleep with at night, to remind them that they're gonna have sustenance the next day. And it worked. They slept like babies throughout the night.
Speaker 2:Jesus is the bread of life. If you want peace, ultimately, here's what it is. You cling to Him with all that's within you, you cling to His word, you love Him, you abide in Him, and when you do, he will help you sleep through the night, no matter what's going on. You'll have that kind of perfect peace, which brings me to the final thing I wanna say. Peace is not an emotion. Ultimately it's a person. It's Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Speaker 2:Charles Wesley wrote this poem and I just wanna I wanna leave you with this. I rest beneath the almighty shade, my griefs expire, my troubles cease. Thou Lord, on whom my soul has stayed, will keep me still in perfect peace. Let's pray, god. I realize today that there are many anxious hearts in here, but, lord, may you bring healing to our anxieties. May you calm our fears. Thank you that in Jesus we can have peace because of His death, burial and resurrection, and that only can we have peace. But God walking in that peace is a whole different thing. It's something that's learned. We thank you for the example we have from Jesus here in the text. So help us, lord, to pray, to trust, to be obedient, to forgive and to cling to Jesus, who is peace personified. Calm our anxieties today, god. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at infoatmyrealchurchorg. Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, kentucky. We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 10.45 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.