Let's read a verse, first of all, in
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2.
When Jesus was born, the angels appeared to
the shepherds out in the fields.
And there was a great multitude in heaven
of the heavenly hosts, praising God.
Luke 2, verse 13, saying, Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace among
men with whom He is pleased.
I think that is the correct translation.
That God wants men with whom He is
pleased to have peace.
So, I see that if I seek to
live a life that pleases God, He blesses
me with peace.
And when I don't have peace, it indicates
that there is something in my life which
is not pleasing God.
So, if I can keep that as a
sort of a guideline through this year, that
if there is some lack of peace in
my heart, it means that God is not
pleased in some area.
And if I seek Him, He will show
me what that area is.
And if we live by that rule, we
can have a wonderful life throughout this year.
And this is something which people in the
Old Testament could not experience.
It is something which is possible only after
the coming of the Holy Spirit.
They just could not experience it.
And so, if we live without this peace
in our heart, it means we are living
at the Old Testament level, just as if
Jesus had not died, He had not risen
up, the devil has not been defeated.
That is what a person who is living
without peace in his heart is saying.
If I live one day without peace in
my heart, I am saying, well, the devil
has not been defeated actually, he is still
in power.
Jesus has not yet died on the cross,
the Holy Spirit has not yet come.
Because we read in Romans 14 and verse
17, that the Kingdom of God is righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament, they never had the
Kingdom of God.
They had only a Kingdom of Earth.
And as long as our Kingdom is of
this Earth, we are not going to have
peace.
There may be righteousness.
You read a lot about righteousness in the
Old Testament.
This very frequently occurs in the Old Testament.
But righteousness with peace is never found.
Righteousness with joy.
Whenever people live righteous lives with grim, serious
faces, that is Old Testament.
New Testament righteousness is a righteousness with joy.
We are always rejoicing in doing what is
right, even if we suffer for it.
And that is because New Testament righteousness always
leads to peace in our heart.
That is how I know I have done
the right thing.
In fact, one of the ways in which
we know that we are doing the right
thing, it brings peace in our heart.
So the Kingdom of God is righteousness that
leads to peace in our heart, that leads
to joy in our life.
And all of this is through the Holy
Spirit.
In the book of Romans, you read of
righteousness in three directions.
First of all, in Romans chapter 5 and
verse 1.
It says, because we are justified by faith,
we have peace with God.
That is in the vertical direction.
And that is the first area where we
must always have peace.
In our relationship with God, there must be
peace.
Now that was also absolutely impossible in the
Old Testament.
And the reason why it was impossible in
the Old Testament is because nobody's sin in
the Old Testament was cleansed.
They were forgiven.
Like David says in Psalm 103, Bless the
Lord, O my soul, who forgives all your
iniquities.
It was covered.
Like David says in Psalm 32, Blessed is
the man whose sin is covered, whose transgression
is forgiven.
Sins were forgiven, covered, but never cleansed.
Cleansed is a New Testament word.
There is a lot of difference between covered
and cleansed.
Covered is sweep it all under the carpet,
so that nobody can see it.
But you are always scared that somebody will
lift the carpet, and your sins will be
seen.
The blood of bulls and goats, the Bible
says, could only cover sin.
And there was a constant, in the book
of Hebrews it says, there was a constant
remembrance of sin throughout their life.
It's one of the characteristics of Old Testament
Christianity.
See Hebrews, book of Hebrews we read, Hebrews
in chapter 9, we
read here about the blood of bulls and
goats, the contrast between that, and in the
Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 9, in verse
12 it speaks about, Jesus did not enter
into heaven through the blood of goats and
calves, but through his own blood he obtained
for us an eternal redemption.
Because if the blood of goats and bulls,
and ashes of a hipper, can sanctify for
the cleansing of the flesh, how much more
will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience?
So you see, this cleansing of the conscience,
was just not possible under the Old Testament.
So today when, there are some songs, which
people sing, I'm under the blood.
You know they talk about the blood on
the door posts of, the houses in Egypt
when Israelites left.
There are certain expressions that Christians use, which
are never found in the Bible.
One of those is, under the blood.
But we can sing it so often, that
it becomes part of our terminology, because we
don't know the Bible.
You know because most Christians, I'd say 90
% of believers don't know the Bible, and
therefore they accept certain things, imagining it must
be in the Bible somewhere.
I just want to tell you, under the
blood is nowhere in the New Testament.
It's in the Old Testament, sure.
I thank God I'm not under the blood
of Jesus.
I've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
I'm not under anything.
I'm under grace.
I'm cleansed.
You need to be sure of this, otherwise
you won't have peace with God.
You know people have got all types of
foolish prayers, which are not found in the
Bible.
I've heard even God fearing people who say,
Lord sprinkle your blood over this compound.
What absolute insult to ask God, to sprinkle
the blood of Jesus on cement.
He didn't, on grounds.
He didn't shed his blood for grounds and
cement.
He shed his blood to cleanse us from
sin.
This is all Hinduism.
You know sprinkling holy water and blood of
Jesus.
These are not the things that the blood
was meant to do.
We must be very careful to read the
scriptures and see what did Jesus shed his
blood for.
He didn't shed his blood to sprinkle on
any compound.
That is Old Testament.
The blood of bulls and goats was sprinkled
on the tabernacle and in the temple.
But today, Jesus' blood is shed to cleanse
our hearts.
You see there's nothing under the carpet.
It's been cleansed.
It's gone.
The Bible says, Your sins and iniquities I
will remember no more.
That's the word in Hebrews 8 and verse
12.
And it's very important to know that, that
if we have really confessed our sin to
the Lord, if we have told the Lord
about our sin, 1 John 1.9 says,
if we have confessed our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us and to
cleanse us.
There's no remembrance of it.
There had to be a remembrance of it
in the Old Testament because it was not
taken away.
It was taken away only when Jesus died.
And they were looking forward to that wonderful
day that would come when Jesus would die
on the cross and take the punishment.
Actually, it seems like a man who's got
a debt.
Supposing I got a huge debt, like the
Bible speaks about this man who had a
debt of, say, crores of rupees to the
king.
Huge debt.
And he couldn't pay it and the king
forgave him.
There's a picture of the debt we owe
to God.
Imagine if you have a debt of 10
crores or 40 crores of rupees, 40 million
rupees to God.
And somebody says, OK, I'll clear your debt.
I give you my word.
And he's a trustworthy person.
I'll clear your debt next week.
Till next week.
You're in suspense.
Right?
You're sure that he'll do it.
But he hasn't yet done it.
That's how Old Testament people were.
God said, I'm going to deal with it.
But he hadn't yet dealt with it till
Jesus died.
But once that debt is cleared next week,
and you get the certificate, it's quite different.
And that's how it is in the New
Testament.
So we shouldn't live like people in the
Old Testament who think, yeah, it's going to
be cleared.
No, it's already been cleared.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and righteous to not only forgive us, but
to cleanse us completely so that there is
no memory.
It's very, very important to remember this.
That God, when He says, the sin you
confess, which is the sin that God will
not forgive you?
God will not forgive you the sin you
don't confess.
That's all.
If there is a sin you don't confess,
that won't be forgiven.
But if there is a sin that you
confess, will be forgiven.
The sin that you try to justify yourself
with by saying, well, it wasn't really my
fault, like Adam said, it was 50%
my wife's fault because she gave me the
fruit from the tree.
Such sins will never be forgiven.
I want to tell you that.
I don't believe Adam's sin would be forgiven
because he put the blame 50% on
his wife.
And every sin where you put the blame
50% or even 5% or 1
% on somebody else, I want to tell
you, it'll never be forgiven.
Because God forgives only those who say, that
was my fault.
That's my sin, Lord, forgive me.
And who don't bother about what somebody else
did.
It's very, very important to remember this in
this New Year.
I believe many of you, your sins are
not forgiven because you're still blaming somebody else.
You're following Adam.
Do you know the fundamental difference between Adam
and Jesus Christ?
Let me point out this to you.
The first thing you read about Adam after
he sinned was he told God, it's not
just me, it's my wife.
And it's not just my wife, it's you,
who gave me this wife.
So, maybe he didn't even take 50%, it
was only 33%.
33% of the fault was God's, 33
% of the fault was his wife's, 33
% was mine, of course.
God said, get out of Eden.
And that's exactly what he's going to say
to people who try to do that.
How difficult is it to acknowledge that we're
blamed.
Now that's Adam.
And every person, I don't care whether he
calls himself an atheist or a Christian.
In some situation, who points the finger at
somebody else, and says, but you, you know
how husbands point the finger at their wives,
and wives point the finger at their husbands,
you did this, brother, I can give it
in writing, that sin will not be forgiven.
It will not be forgiven.
Supposing, let's say, 90% of the fault
is the wife's, and 10% is the
husband's.
Okay?
Some particular event.
And the husband points the finger at the
wife, and says, that's your fault.
Now, who's committed 90% of the sin?
The wife.
Husband only 10%.
So he can say, well, according to human
standards, he's right, in saying, that's your fault.
And the wife, maybe a godly sister, she
says, Lord, it's my fault.
You know what's going to happen in that
home?
That wife who did 90% of that
sin, will be forgiven completely.
And the husband who did only 10%, will
not be forgiven.
He'll go to hell.
And he deserves to go to hell.
Because he's following Adam.
What did Jesus do on the cross?
What's the difference between Adam and Christ?
Adam could not take the blame for his
own sin.
Why should he blame God for his wife?
I mean, if he didn't want her, he
could have told her.
Told God, I don't want her.
Make another one for me.
But he didn't say that.
He said, this is it.
This is the one I want.
And then after that, he blames God.
So I say, all of you who got
married, don't blame God today.
You chose her.
You said, yes, I want her.
On your wedding day.
And some of you have been complaining frequently
since that day.
Finish with it.
And secondly, I mean, even if his wife
gave him the fruit.
The wife didn't pull his mouth open and
say, come on, eat it.
He opened it himself.
Why not accept the blame?
There's no need to blame God or your
wife.
It's you.
You opened your mouth.
But the difference with Jesus Christ is, Adam
could not take the blame for his own
sin.
But Jesus, when he died on the cross,
he took the blame 100%.
Even though he was to blame 0%.
He took the blame for other people's sins.
That is Christianity.
Where you don't blame other people.
And such people live a very happy life.
They say, Lord, I've sinned.
What about the other person's part?
I don't know.
That's none of my business.
I know my part.
See, it's like, you know the difference between
a bathroom mirror and a driving mirror?
What's the difference?
In a bathroom mirror, you see your own
face.
In a driving mirror, you see somebody else.
So, what is the...
The Bible is a mirror, it says in
James 1.
What type of mirror do you think it
is?
For most Christians, it's a driving mirror.
Ah, I can see somebody else has not
obeyed this verse.
The Bible says, Wives, submit to your husbands.
My wife is not submitting to me.
Do you know the number of husbands who
quote that verse?
When the Bible says, Wives, submit to your
husbands, for whom is that verse written?
You don't know?
Shall I ask one of these six-year
-olds?
When it says, Wives, submit to your husbands,
for whom is that verse written?
Who?
Wives.
So, what should a husband do when he
comes to that verse?
What do you do if you get...
A postman gives you a letter which is
meant for somebody else.
I hope you won't open it.
Hey, this is not for me.
So, when you read something like that, you
say, that's not for me.
It's not...
I'm not even supposed to know it.
She's supposed to know it.
And when a husband says, Don't you know
what it says here, Wives, submit to the
husbands?
He's reading somebody else's letter.
It's none of your business.
There's another letter sent to you, husbands.
Love your wives, as Christ loved the church.
And vice versa.
Now, all of you wives are happy.
I'll tell you what you should do.
You read a verse which says, Husbands, love
your wives.
That's not for you.
Don't ever tell your husband to love you
as Christ loved the church.
That letter is not for you.
You know, we can be saved from a
lot of misery if we just learn to
mind our own business.
Just mind your own business.
That's the way.
So, we see here, if we confess, He
cleanses us completely.
100%.
And that brings peace.
And as soon as you're aware that you've
done something wrong, immediately confess it.
What did we read in Romans 5.1?
Being justified with God.
We have justified by faith.
We have peace with God.
And justified means God says, You're righteous.
Even though you've committed so many sins in
the past.
So many wrong things.
God says, I don't remember all that.
I choose not to remember it.
You're righteous.
The wonderful thing of finding this peace with
God in this area is that we begin
to treat other people also like that.
If you're not, if you're still remembering the
things that other people did against you, I
think God will be absolutely righteous in remembering
all the things that you did 30 years
ago.
Or 25 years ago.
Every single thing that you did in your
past life, God will be absolutely righteous in
remembering it.
You may have done it 50 years ago.
God says, No, it's alright.
I remember it very well.
Because you choose to remember something, that some
evil that somebody did against you 5 years
ago.
Or last year.
I mean, don't you think it's righteous for
God to treat us exactly like we treat
other people.
Supposing you have a servant working in your
home and you're really hard on that person.
And we are God's servants.
And God says, Well, you're my servant.
I'll treat you like you treat your servant.
Is there anything unrighteous in that?
It's absolutely righteous.
If you never give your servant a bonus
that she never expected.
But you only give her what is lawful.
Don't you think it's absolutely righteous for God
never to give you a bonus in your
life of blessing but only what you deserve.
God is righteous.
I have learnt the secret of how to
make God give me more than I deserve.
I want to give other people more than
they deserve.
It's very simple.
Do you want to get more than exact?
Do you want to get a bonus from
God?
Treat other people like that.
Treat the people lower than you in society
like that.
Treat your husband and wife like that.
Be good to other people.
Be good to other people in the church.
You go around speaking about other people in
the church.
God will be absolutely righteous if he one
day exposes all your evils in one way
or the other.
And he can do it and puts you
into some difficult, awkward situation.
You who thought you were so smart that
you'd never get caught.
God will begin to expose stupid things that
you do and humiliate you.
And when that happens, when that happens, don't
get upset with the circumstances that exposed your
worldliness or your carnality or your love of
money.
It was God doing it because you were
doing the same thing about other people.
You know what you should do at that
time?
Instead of getting upset with somebody who told
a true story about you, don't get upset
with that person.
Go before God and say, Lord, I deserve
that.
I have spoken about other people.
I deserve that all these things in my
past should come out.
I want to tell you a way to
escape it this year.
Say, Lord, whatever bad thing I hear about
anybody else, I'm going to justify them, just
like you justified me.
I'm not going to speak about it.
It's going to die with me.
Do you know there are lots and lots
of things I know, not just heard, that
I know about many people in our churches.
Not even my wife knows about those things.
She will never know it.
It lives and dies with me.
Because that's how God has treated me.
And I'm a very happy man.
And I want to encourage you to be
like that.
Don't...
Not only don't talk about what you know
about other people, which is not good, don't
even think about it.
Think something positive.
Why is it so many people don't know
God's word?
Because they don't think about the good things.
They're thinking about all the bad things that
other people did and all that.
And I don't have space for that in
my mind.
You know, your mind is a very small
area.
And you stuff it with all these garbage
bags.
Where would there be place for God to
put something good there?
God's got all this lovely furniture for your
room, but your room is full with garbage
bags of all the stinking rubbish that you've
accumulated.
Each garbage is named with maybe some brother
or some sister in the church.
This is this person's garbage and that person's
garbage.
And God says, get rid of all this.
And then I'll put something good in your
room.
I got rid of it all.
I've got some good furniture there.
I've got amazing revelations on God's word, which
I could never have got.
I'll tell you honestly, I would never have
understood these amazing things in God's word, if
I had my room filled with garbage bags
with different people's names.
Throw it away.
Burn it up.
Peace with God.
Because I have confessed my sin.
I don't blame anybody else.
I don't want to remember anybody else's sin.
Because God doesn't remember mine.
Great.
That's the best way to live.
Okay.
And whenever you do sin, immediately confess it
to God and say, Lord, I slipped up
there.
I want to tell you something.
Don't be ashamed to admit that you slipped
up.
When you make a mistake, even when you
confess to somebody, I'm sorry, that was my
mistake.
That's not a humiliating thing.
That's just saying, I'm not God.
Isn't it?
God is the only one in the universe
who doesn't make a mistake.
The Bible says in the book of Job,
even his angels he charges with mistakes.
What about us?
So there's nothing wrong.
When you say, when you go to somebody
and say, I'm sorry, I made a mistake
there.
You're just saying, I'm sorry, I'm not God.
Is that a very humiliating thing, to say,
I'm not God?
But it's a great revelation that some people
need to have, that they are not God.
They do make mistakes.
And I want to tell you, in 2005,
I'm going to prophesy, your wife will make
mistakes.
Your husband will make mistakes.
Your children will make mistakes.
Do I have to be a prophet to
say that?
No.
I know human nature.
Be prepared for it.
People say, if we had known this tsunami
was coming, we would have been prepared.
Okay, I'm going to prophesy.
You're going to have tsunamis in your home,
from your wife and your husband.
Be prepared.
Don't say you were not warned.
You were warned on the 2nd of January
this year, the tsunami is coming.
But be prepared.
You don't have to die.
You can be an overcomer.
Because you can forgive.
When you say, Lord, I forgive.
I will not look at my wife or
husband as having done that.
That tsunami wave will just go back like
that without destroying you.
What a wonderful way to make that wave
go back.
But you remember it, remember it.
You got a choice this year.
I know what I've chosen.
I chose it many years ago.
No tsunami wave is going to drown me.
Because God's forgiven me so much, I've learned
to forgive others.
Be quick.
Be quick to go to God.
Be quick to ask forgiveness from others whom
you have hurt.
Don't wait.
Don't let these waves engulf you and you
lose everything and then you wake up.
No.
Don't let it engulf you.
You don't have to lose anything.
You can say to that wave, thus far
and no further.
Like, you know, we have one of our
churches on the Kerala coast where there was
a real risk of the tsunami coming.
In fact, some people died along that coast.
But God's protected our fishermen brothers who were
on that coast.
In fact, one of the waves came and
lifted one of the boats that belonged to
our brother way up.
You know, these funny 30 foot high waves
and it went over there and as the
wave came back it brought the boat right
back to the shore and he got it
without being damaged.
Amazing what God does.
Simple people.
And there was a sister there who, there
was this danger of this wave and her
husband was here at the conference and she
was seeking God for protection and she got
that verse from Isaiah 43 verse 2.
Don't worry, I'll be with you.
The waters will not overflow you.
What a verse.
I will be with you and the waters
will not overflow you.
And it never overflowed their house.
God is a good God.
Learn to bless others the way God has
blessed you.
The second area of peace is in Romans
chapter 8 and verse 6.
The last part.
The mind set on the spirit is life
and peace.
See, the first direction in which we need
to have peace is upward direction with God.
The second direction in which we need to
have peace is inward.
In my heart I always need to be
at peace.
That means nothing that happens in the world
is going to bring anxiety and fear in
my heart because my mind is set on
the spirit.
I believe that like I said just now,
God is a good God.
He cares for His children.
I mean, where is the question of accident
if even the hair on our head is
numbered.
That's amazing.
I don't know what it means.
The hair on my head is numbered.
Whether that means that God knows when I
was born I had 500,000 hairs on
my head.
Now I have about 1000 perhaps.
I don't know.
Whether it means that or whether it means
that God actually knows.
This is hair number 837 and that is
hair number 745.
I prefer to think of it like that.
It's even better.
God knows that hair number 745 fell off
this morning when my son got up from
bed.
It fell on the pillow and it fell
off at 2.01 a.m. I believe
that.
That God's care for me is so intense
that the hairs on my head are numbered
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and He's kept
a track of them.
Jesus said that.
I mean, you don't have to believe it.
You don't believe it, you have unrest in
your heart.
I believe it and I have rest in
my heart.
Because I believe exactly what Jesus said.
The hairs on my head are all numbered.
That not even a hair on my head
can be touched by anybody in this world
without God's permission.
Why did Jesus take hair on our head?
Because that's the most insignificant part of our
body which we are not even bothered when
we lose it.
You comb your hair, particularly ladies, and you
see hair on the comb.
You get all worried.
No need to.
It's all numbered.
Do you see hair on your pillow when
you get up?
You get worried.
One hair, it's numbered.
Jesus, you know, this is the most insignificant
thing.
I mean, even if you lose one rupee,
you'll be more bothered than if you lose
one hair.
You just, ah, okay.
And Jesus took that most insignificant thing in
our life and said even that, God knows
about.
God's care comes down to the smallest little
detail.
And when my mind is set on what
the Holy Spirit has revealed in His word,
there's peace.
You know, a lot of people think that
some place is safer than the other.
Which is the safest place in all the
world?
The safest place in all the world?
It's not Bangalore.
It's not the United States.
It's not any country.
It's the center of God's will for your
life.
If God calls me to serve Him in
Iraq, clear call, to go and work right
now in Mosul or Fallujah or some place
like that to preach the gospel, that will
be for me the safest place in all
the world.
I wouldn't go there if God didn't call
me.
But if God called me, I'd go anywhere
because I know that's the safest place for
me in every possible way.
And I want to say to you, don't
think one place is safer than another.
If you give your life totally to Jesus
and say, Lord, I want to live for
You.
I don't want to waste my earthly days.
I've got only one life.
I want to live that life totally for
You.
In any part of the world, to live
for God, to bring people to Christ, to
build a church, to glorify Your name and
God leads you, that will be the safest
place in all the world for you.
Because that will be the secret place of
the Most High.
The place where God has sent you is
the secret place of the Most High, where
you will dwell under the shadow of the
Almighty God.
Like it says in Psalm 91.
And when my mind is set on the
Spirit, there is life and peace in me.
And that's what the second area, where we
always need to have peace in our heart,
always peace.
Whenever, like it says in Colossians 3.15,
the verse that I've often quoted and love
to quote everywhere, Colossians 3.15, let the
peace of Christ be the referee in your
heart always let the peace of Christ be
the referee, that's what it says in the
margin.
Referee in your heart.
And like you've heard me say before, when
a referee blows a whistle in a football
match, it means a foul has been committed.
You're kicking the ball and going around, suddenly
you hear a whistle.
Anybody who's playing football knows you've got to
stop the game.
You've got to stop the game because a
foul has been committed.
And it's no use kicking the ball after
that and going and scoring the goal and
say, hey, I scored a goal.
Won't be counted.
Some stupid fellow, can everybody stop playing because
they heard the whistle and this fellow keeps
on kicking the ball into the goal ten
times and says, hey, I scored ten and
the referee says, you stupid fellow, just bring
the ball here.
You don't know the rules of the game.
You're committed.
A foul, nothing you do is counted after
the foul is committed.
So whenever you lose peace in your heart,
it means a foul has been committed in
your life.
Just set that foul right before you do
anything else in your life.
And you've got to bring the ball back
to the exact spot where the foul was
committed.
Don't try to get away from that.
This is the spot where I committed a
foul.
That's the meaning of the blowing of the
whistle.
Let the peace of Christ be the referee
in your heart.
I have followed that rule for many years
and it has brought peace in my heart.
I've often said to you, dear brothers and
sisters, don't ever open your mouth when you're
agitated in your heart.
You know, that can happen sometimes.
Something goes wrong at home or somebody's upset
at home and it's agitated your heart.
That's the time you should bless your home
by keeping your mouth shut.
Not only at home.
I sometimes come to a meeting here and
I'm agitated in my spirit over something.
Maybe something that happened during the day or
something that happened with some brother, not doing
something he was supposed to do or disturbed
with some bad news I heard and I
know I have to speak in the meeting.
And I say, Lord, I will not speak
till this comes to rest.
Let's sing another song.
Let's pray for some more time.
I'm not ready to speak till my heart
is at rest.
Particularly if you're agitated with some person.
If you're upset with anybody in your home,
bless your home by keeping your mouth shut.
Follow that rule this year.
That you'll open your mouth only after the
sea has become calm.
There are two types of seas mentioned in
the Bible.
Let me show you one in Isaiah chapter
57 verse 20.
The wicked are like the tossing sea, cannot
be quiet.
Its waters toss up refuse and mud.
Yes, the wicked are like this troubled sea,
always tossing up rubbish, mud from the bottom.
That's one type of sea.
And that's the picture of our heart.
When you're so agitated, it says here that
this sea, when it's agitated, it brings up
all the mud that's been lying in the
bottom for hundreds of years.
All the mud, not only the mud, all
the old tires and tins and cans and
all that people threw into that sea, they
all get tossed up when there's a turmoil,
waves.
And that's how some people are.
When they get agitated, all the things that
happened 20 years ago, 5 years ago, 1
year ago, 30 years ago, all the rotten
tin cans and old tires and all, they
all get thrown up to the service in
the conversation.
They all come out of the mouth.
Have you seen that type of thing?
You haven't?
There's another type of sea.
And that's in Revelation chapter 15.
And that's the sea we should be standing
on.
It says here about those who are overcomers,
in Revelation 15 verse 2, a sea of
glass mixed with fire and those who had
come off victorious from the beast, standing on
the sea of glass.
There is an expression in English called the
sea was like glass.
You've probably heard it.
It means the sea was absolutely calm.
You know how flat glass is?
Transparent.
And when you say the sea is like
glass, it means absolutely flat, not a ripple
or a wave on it.
Those who are overcomers have got a heart
like that.
They stand on a sea of glass because
they are overcomers.
They don't have a spirit of accusation against
anybody else.
They don't have a spirit of anxiety concerning
all the things happening in the world.
They are at rest in their heart.
Jesus said in Luke's gospel, Luke's gospel chapter
21 verse 25, speaking about the
last days, there will be signs in the
middle of verse 25, on earth dismay among
nations.
The nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by
the roaring seas.
Verse 25 in the Living Bible it says,
the nations of the earth will be in
turmoil because they will be perplexed by the
roaring seas and strange tides.
We saw something of that last week.
Strange tides.
Jesus said it's going to happen.
Tides that they have never seen before.
And it's going to happen to the nations
of the earth.
And then the courage of many people will
falter because of fear.
Because they say, what is going to happen
to the earth?
For the stability of the very heavens will
be broken up.
Leave alone the stability of the earth.
And then, and then the people of the
earth will see me, the son of man
coming in a cloud.
So when these things, verse 28, begin to
happen, and they are already beginning to happen,
stand up straight and look up, for your
salvation is near.
And we are to be at peace in
our heart, because like it says in 1
Timothy and chapter 6 in that, in one
paraphrase, it says in 1 Timothy chapter 6
and verse 15 God is the blessed controller
of all things.
I want to tell you my brothers and
sisters, you really need to know God is
the blessed controller of all things in the
coming days.
Because worse things are going to happen.
As J.B. Phillips paraphrased of that verse,
God is the blessed, here it says the
blessed and only sovereign, the blessed controller of
all things.
Let's ask God to show us that He
is the blessed controller of all things.
That's why our hearts are at peace.
That's why my heart's been at peace for
many, many years.
No matter what, so many things happen, so
many things happen around me.
So many events, people doing this, people doing
that.
I sleep peacefully at night because God is
the blessed controller of all things and He
is my Father.
You must know that.
He cares for the hairs on your head,
He cares for the birds, He feeds them,
cares for them.
So many things that Jesus said.
You are not to be afraid.
The mind set on the spirit is life
and peace.
Romans 8.6. There's a verse like that
in the Old Testament, if you're not familiar
with it.
Let me turn to it in Isaiah chapter
26 verse 3.
He will keep in perfect peace all those
whose minds are set on Him, those who
trust in Him, whose minds are, means their
thoughts, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord.
That's the Living Bible.
He'll keep in perfect peace all those who
trust in Him and whose thoughts turn often
to the Lord.
Do your thoughts turn often to the Lord?
We can't actually think about the Lord 24
hours because we've got our work to do.
So many things we have to do on
earth and the Lord understands that.
But in the middle of all that, do
your thoughts turn to Him?
You know, it's like if a girl is
very much in love with some boy, even
when she's doing her work, her thoughts turn
to him now and then.
He's not there.
But she thinks about him while she's doing
something else.
When she's doing something else, she thinks about
him.
And that's how we must walk with Jesus.
We are the bride of Christ.
And I've often said to the Lord in
my own life, I said, Lord, I want
to love you more than any girl ever
fell in love with a boy and loved
him.
In the whole world, I want to love
you more than that.
I don't want any human love that a
girl had for a boy to put me
to shame.
I want to love you more than that,
more than anyone.
I said that to the Lord 45 years
ago.
And I still say that to Him today.
My whole walk with Jesus has been a
love relationship with Him.
And that's why it's made my life so
happy and blessed.
And I want to encourage you to have
a love relationship with Jesus Christ like a
bride, like a girl waiting for the man
she's engaged to, waiting for Him to come.
That's how we're to wait, admiring Him.
This is the fairest among 10,000.
It's altogether lovely.
Do you see Jesus like that?
And that's how it must be.
And all the things of earth will grow
strangely dim.
And your relationship with Jesus like that, it
makes your married life better.
It makes everything in your life far better.
And then, when your thoughts often turn to
the Lord, it says, God keeps us in
perfect peace.
That's what the Bible says also in Philippians
chapter 4.
Philippians in chapter 4, it says in verse
6, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
this is a command.
You see, there's something we're supposed to do.
Everything means everything that happens in our life.
Supposing something that causes anxiety or turmoil comes
into our life this year, here's what we
should do.
By prayer and supplication.
Supplication means a specific request.
You know, when you say, bless me, that's
a general request.
When you say, Lord, I want this particular
problem here solved, that's a specific request, a
supplication.
With thanksgiving, let your request be made known
to God.
Now, if I don't add that thanksgiving at
the end, it's saying that I don't have
faith.
It's like writing a long letter and then
you don't mail it.
She was writing this long letter.
You don't put it in the letterbox.
You write a long email and you don't
click send.
Doesn't go.
It's there.
So, when you write this long email to
God, send it.
And we send it by faith.
And how do we know we have faith?
That we say, Lord, I thank you, you
heard me.
That's thanksgiving.
Lord, I've got this list of problems.
It's a pretty long email.
Number of things, this, this, this, this, this,
this, this, this, this, this.
I've been very specific.
Then what should I do?
I should send it.
I should say, Thank you, Lord, you got
it.
Then I know it's gone.
Then it's not in my outbox anymore.
It's in the sent box.
It's already gone.
See, a lot of people are wondering why
God hasn't answered their prayer.
You haven't sent it yet.
Your outbox is full of all these requests
which have never been sent.
Now just go and click on send when
you go back home and send it all
and you'll be surprised at the answers that
come.
And that means by faith.
I say, Lord, I believe you heard this
prayer.
I thank you.
When you thank God, you know you've got
faith.
And when you do that, here is a
promise which your request be made known to
God.
Verse 7, The peace of God which passes
all comprehension shall guard your heart and mind
in Christ Jesus.
This is like a military garrison.
It's like these black cat commandos surrounding some
VIP.
The peace of God will surround you, guard
your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
We need to have peace in our heart
and our mind and it says only God
can do it.
The peace of God surrounds you like a
fort and they can't get through.
All the anxieties and anxious thoughts of the
devil can't get through because God's peace surrounds
your mind and surrounds your heart.
And that's great.
You know that's even great for health.
I believe you can be healthier if you
learn to live at peace like this.
You don't get ulcers in your stomach when
you have peace in your heart and your
mind.
You can be healthier, you take less medicines
you don't need so many medicines and injections
and all that.
And you can live a long healthy life
if you learn to take your regrets send
them to God with thanksgiving say Lord I
believe you heard me there because I prayed
in accordance with your will and I know
you love me.
I know to think that throughout this year
God is silently planning for me in love.
What's going to happen to me tomorrow, next
month, end of this year, I don't know.
But I know one thing, whatever it is,
God is silently planned for me in love
already and that's all that's going to happen
to me.
You believe that and it'll be like that.
According to your faith, it'll be to you.
According to my faith, it'll be to me.
So let's put our faith in God's word
and say that He is really interested in
that.
Always to be at peace.
One of the things has blessed me very
much and sometimes I tell this to other
people please remember there are only two circles
one very small circle is the circle in
which I'm supposed to do something or I
can do something.
All the rest of the things in the
world are a big huge circle.
What other people do to me, what they
say about me, circumstances over which I have
no control.
Many many many things.
It's all God's circle.
And I should not be a busy body
in God's affairs.
Let me mind my own business.
What are the things in my circle?
I can make my request known to God.
I can pray.
I can love my enemies.
That's all in my circle.
I can bless those who curse me.
I can do good to people, even do
good to those who harm me.
All that's in my circle.
If I concentrate on that and I can
read the word, there are millions of things
that happen in the world that can affect
me.
And I thank God that's not in my
circle.
And I'm not going to be worried or
anxious about all these things that God is
supposed to take care of.
You know many of us, all our anxieties
and worries are coming because we are wondering
about that thing and that thing and all
of that in God's circle.
I mean it's absolutely crazy.
That's his business.
He'll take care of it.
You worry about yourself.
The things that you can do.
It's a very very small circle.
There may be situations in your home where
you can do nothing about it.
But then it's not in your circle.
Anything that you can do nothing about is
not in your circle.
That's God's circle.
Isn't that a great liberation?
Many of us are carrying burdens for things
which we can do nothing about.
I mean if you can do nothing about,
just leave it in God's circle and say,
Lord that's none of my business.
That's your business.
Then we have peace in our hearts.
And the third area where we must have
peace, as I said, we must have peace
upward towards God, inward towards ourselves.
And thirdly, Romans 12, towards other people.
And that's Romans chapter 12.
The first verse we saw was Romans 5
.1, the second was Romans 8.6 and
the third is Romans chapter 12 and verse
as much as lies in you, live peaceably
with all men, verse 18, if possible, so
far as it depends on you.
Now do you know, I don't know whether
you know this, this is the only command
in the Bible, it is a command, live
peaceably with all men.
But it's the only command in the Bible
which says, if possible, do it.
It doesn't say, if possible, don't commit murder.
Or if possible, don't commit adultery.
Or if possible, don't get angry.
Those are all absolute.
Give up all anger, not if possible.
If possible, don't tell lies, no.
Don't tell lies, that you are yes for
yes.
But when it comes to this one command,
live at peace with all men, why does
it say, if possible?
You know that.
All of you bright, brilliant folks, you know
the answer.
Because peace with all men depends on the
other person also.
My getting angry does not depend on the
other person, it depends only on me.
Whether I lust or not depends on nobody
else.
I mean, people can tempt me, they can't
make me lust, that's my choice.
People can irritate me, but they can't make
me angry, that's my choice.
But peace with people depends on two people.
I want to live at peace with that
person, but he doesn't want to live at
peace with me, what can I do?
Could be a difficult neighbor.
The Bible doesn't say if you are a
wholehearted Christian, you'll have a very happy marriage.
No.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that.
Because happy marriage depends on two people.
And if one person is a wholehearted Christian
and the other is not, they won't have
a happy marriage, but he'll have a peaceful
life, one person.
That's true.
But peace with all men depends on the
other person.
And so it says here, as far as
your side is concerned, seek for peace.
And in one of the other episodes, the
word in the Greek is translated as hunt
for peace.
Hunt for it.
Go looking for it.
Like you misplaced something valuable in your house
and you are hunting for it all over,
putting the shining torch under the bed and
where did that fall down?
Where did I misplace it?
Find it, find it.
Hunt for it.
Hunt for peace and find it.
I can only do it from my side.
I cannot do it from the other side.
You can long with all your heart to
be at peace with a brother, but that
person is not interested because he is always
remembering what you did sometime in the past
or something.
Well, you can't be at peace.
That person is always going to bring up
that issue.
Or you want to be at peace with
a sister, but always the past is brought
up.
So be careful.
From your side you must seek to be
at peace with all men.
This is the way.
What do the angels say?
Glory to God in the highest and peace
on earth towards all men with whom God
is pleased.
I want to have that peace all the
days of my life.
Towards God inwardly in a world of turmoil
and towards all people as much as it
lies in me.
These are all feasible.
These are all practical, possible commandments.
These are not impossible.
And if you take this seriously, if you
say, Lord thank God it's only this small
circle, as much as it lies within me.
That's what I mean by this small circle.
That's all I have to care of.
And this huge circle what other people think
and say and do, it's not my circle.
That's all God's business.
Thank God I don't have to worry about
all that.
This whole year I'm only going to concentrate
on this little circle, the things that I
can do.
I'm going to make sure there's peace in
my heart.
Towards God inwardly as I see circumstances in
the world and towards all human beings.
I'm going to bury the past like God
has buried my past.
Smile before God.
Say, Lord will you help me?
Will you fill me with the Holy Spirit
so that this peace can rule in my
heart.
Be a referee in my heart.
Right from this day till the end of
the year and for all the years to
come till Jesus comes again.
I want to move forward.
I want to be a man of peace
in whom Jesus, a woman of peace, a
home of peace where Jesus can come and
live.
Lord answer my prayer.
I want this.
I really want this and I'm willing to
pay any price.
Heavenly Father apply these truths to our lives
we pray.
Be glorified.
Commit ourselves to you in Jesus name.