Know God, Know Peace 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Adapted from a Davon Huss sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=45371

1. Know God,
Know Peace
2 Thessalonians 3:16
Adapted from a
Davon Huss sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly
.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=45371

2. Consider the sad story of
Wilmer McLean. Prior to
the Civil War, McLean
owned a house on the Bull
Run in Northern Virginia. In 1861, during
action at Manassas, a cannonball dropped
through McLean’s kitchen fireplace chimney
and into a stew being prepared for CSA
Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.

3. Seeking a more tranquil
place to live, McLean
bought a farmhouse in
— of all places —
Appomattox County.
McLean’s house was
chosen for the surrender
meeting between Grant and Lee.
Later, McLean is supposed to have said "The
war began in my front yard and ended in my
front parlor".
Once the ceremony was over, members of
the Army of the Potomac began taking the
tables, chairs, and various other furnishings in
the house —essentially, anything that was not
tied down—as souvenirs.

4. They simply handed the protesting McLean
money as they made off with his property.
Major General Edward Ord paid $40 for the
table Lee had used to sign the surrender
document, while Major General Philip
Sheridan got the table on which Grant had
drafted the document for $20 in gold.
Sheridan then asked George Armstrong
Custer to carry it away on his horse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_McLean

5. The McLeans left Appomattox Court House
and returned to Mrs. McLean’s Prince
William County, Virginia estate in the fall of
1867. When Wilmer McLean defaulted on
repayment of loans, the banking house of
"Harrison, Goddin, and Apperson" of
Richmond, Virginia brought a judgment
against him, and the "Surrender House"
was sold at public auction on November 29,
1869.

6. Peace is a stranger to us. Wars we have
had in abundance. We have had two world
wars. The last half of the last century was
peppered with between 60 to 100 other
wars, depending on how we define the word
"war." Individual lives have been equally
chaotic. Homes and marriage torn apart,
civil strife, crime on the street and in
politics; where can there be peace? The
beginning years of this century do not seem
to offer much hope for future.

7. The world describes peace by thinking of
the opposite of peace and says what peace
isn’t; it isn’t war.
The peace that Jesus came to bring was
not just peace for one nation, but for all the
nations of the world. This peace would not
be brought about through political force or
conquest of war, but through the humble
Jesus.

8. The question being asked today from all
walks of life is, "Where does world peace
begin?" World peace does not start way
over there somewhere. It begins in our
hearts and minds.
When there is peace in the heart, there is
peace in the family; when there is peace in
the family, there is peace in the community;
when there is peace in the community;
there is peace in the nation; when there is
peace in the nation, there is peace in the
world.

9. The world works on outward peace. Christ
works on inward peace and then works
through us to bring that peace to others,
Christ starts in the heart and works his way
outward.
Let’s talk about the nature, the source, the
channel, the duration, and then the absence
of peace.

10. In an old copy of “The Wonderful Word”
magazine, edited by Leon Tucker, is this
sermon by W.H. Griffith entitled "The Power
of Peace.“
He gave an exposition of:
2 Thessalonians 3:16 NET
Now may the Lord of peace himself give
you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with you all.

11. The Nature of Peace
Peace of a quiet conscience
Romans 8:33 NET Who will bring any
charge against God's elect? It is God who
justifies. 34 Who is the one who will
condemn? Christ is the one who died (and
more than that, he was raised), who is at
the right hand of God, and who also is
interceding for us.

12. 35 Who will separate us from the love of
Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
danger, or sword?
Three questions
1. Who will bring any charge against those
whom God has chosen?

13. Even when mankind brings some charge
against us, we know that through Jesus
Christ we are fine. If we are guilty, we know
that the blood has covered us. If we are not
guilty, we know that God will judge and
bring vengeance against the slanderer. We
do not have to worry or fret over false or
true charges. It’s not like legal dramas
where the lawyers are scrambling to find
solutions or answers. We don’t have to
worry.

14. 2. Who is he that condemns?
Jesus Christ is going to judge the world.
John 5:22 NET Furthermore, the Father
does not judge anyone, but has assigned all
judgment to the Son,
We should fear the condemnation of the
Son. Do we know the Son? Are we under
the blood? Have we made him our Lord and
Savior? No hard questions on the Day of
Judgment.
Do you know the Son?
Is he a friend of yours?

15. 3. Who or what shall separate us from the
love of Christ?
Romans 8:37 NET No, in all these things
we have complete victory through him who
loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly
rulers, nor things that are present, nor
things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in creation will
be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

16. If we have a good relationship with Jesus
Christ, our consciences should be clear.
Hebrews 13:18 NET Pray for us, for we are
sure that we have a clear conscience and
desire to conduct ourselves rightly in every
respect.

17. Many people’s consciences condemn them.
Keep playing the memories over and over.
It is said of some Catholic convents: They
look for young women who eat, laugh and
sleep well. If they eat well, they physically
can endure any hardship and any living
condition. If they laugh well, they have a
joyful spirit and can bear their cross easily
and with gladness. If they sleep well, they
have no serious sins and have a healthy
spiritual life.

18. Do you have a healthy spiritual life?
Granted some people’s consciences
condemn them when it is not justified.
Some have a warped sense of right and
wrong. Some people’s consciences
exonerate them when they have committed
heinous crimes. How is your conscience?
Does it condemn you? You and Jesus need
to have a talk about that. How does it feel
when you know you’re all right when you lay
your head on your pillow at night?

19. Peace of a restful mind
Philippians 4:7 NET And the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding will guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

20. Distrustful anxiety
Unusual concern betrays a lack of trust in
God’s care. Your mind is never at rest. You
need to do more, need to be more. Give it a
rest. Pray about everything. Peter says,
And God will exalt you in due time, if you
humble yourselves under his mighty hand
by casting all your cares on him because he
cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6,7 NET

21. O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry, everything to
God in prayer!
Be thankful for everything.
Count your blessings.
Seeing all we have makes us grateful,
increases our love for God and reduces
needless worry.

22. Peace of a surrendered will
What am I going to do? How am I going to
do it? Where should I go? When should I do
it? For what reasons should I do it? Most of
this is relieved when we have a surrendered
will to Jesus Christ. He is our Lord, our
leader, our Master. We don’t have to worry
about those things because he will reveal it
to us.
God is my Co-Pilot. If God is your Co-Pilot,
you better switch seats.

23. Let him be in control so you don’t have to
worry about it. Give up and let Jesus take
over and he’ll make a way for you.
Well, if you’ve got mountains that you can’t
climb, and if you got rivers that you can’t
cross, oh and if you’ve got valley’s that you
can’t span, let Jesus hold to your hand.

24. Well if you’ve got burdens to hard to bear,
and if your load is more than your share,
kneel down and talk to Jesus because I
know that he cares. I want you to know that
he’ll make a way somehow. Resignation is
peace.
Peace of a hopeful heart
Isaiah 50:7 NIV Because the Sovereign
LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I
know I will not be put to shame.

25. Hope keeps us going. Without hope, we
despair and quit.
I set my face like flint.
I shall not be, I shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that’s planted by the water.
How do people have hope like that? They
know where they are going and nothing will
be able to disgrace them because they are
in God’s will.

26. God will always help those who are
Christians. It may not be exactly the kind of
help we were looking for but God is always
in it and he will get us through. There is a
lot of hope there. People are at peace on
the direction or course of action they have
taken. They are going in God’s direction.

27. Peace of loving fellowship
Fellowship with brothers and sisters in
Christ is so important.
Acts 2:42 NET They were devoting
themselves to the apostles' teaching and to
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer.
Acts 2:46 NET Every day they continued to
gather together by common consent in the
temple courts, breaking bread from house
to house, sharing their food with glad and
humble hearts,

28. We do not experience that like the 1st
century Christians did. Why? If there is
trouble in the church, it is because there is
trouble in somebody’s heart. Give us peace
when we are with those who love us and we
love them. Contrast Christian fellowship
with the fellowship in the world.

29. 1 John 1:6 NET If we say we have
fellowship with him and yet keep on walking
in the darkness, we are lying and not
practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the
light as he himself is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another and the blood of
Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

30. We have fellowship, communion, with God.
God is the friend who sticks closer than any
brother. He is always there and if we have
God in our lives we can feel his presence.

31. The Source of Peace
Peace with God
Romans 5:1 NET Therefore, since we have
been declared righteous by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ,
We are in rebellion, war, and enmity with
God. This is our problem. When we sin, we
sin against God. We need to make peace
with God.

32. God has made the peace treaty possible
through Jesus Christ.
Lot of issues with God.
Make your peace with God before it’s too
late. In God is peace. In us is trouble and
war and hatred, etc. God is a God of peace.
He wants to come and bring peace and
rest.
The God of peace
Romans 15:33 NET Now may the God of
peace be with all of you. Amen.

33. The peace of God which passes all
understanding. Something that mankind
does not understand.
Philippians 4:7 NET And the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding will guard
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The Lord of peace
2 Thessalonians 3:16 NET Now may the
Lord of peace himself give you peace at all
times and in every way. The Lord be with
you all.

34. Think about Jesus. He is the example of
peace. Peace is not apathy, or indifference,
or self-absorption.
In Jesus we see sorrow, weeping, anger,
love, all the human emotions. Yet he was
filled with a calm which marked his whole
life. Only through Jesus can we be calm in
our relations with people and calm in
situations, and make all things work
together for the good.

35. The Channel of Peace
2 Thessalonians 3:16 NET Now may the
Lord of peace himself give you peace at all
times and in every way. The Lord be with
you all.
A channel is a course or passage through
which something may be moved or
directed. In this case God wants to move
his peace into our lives.

36. God has unclogged the channel on his end
by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We need to unclog the channel on our end.
How?
The plan of salvation.

37. Hear God’s Word,
Acts 2:14-37, Rom. 10:14
Believe God’s Word,
Mark 16:15-16, Hebrews 11:6,
Repent of sinful ways & turn to God,
Acts 2:38, 17:30-31, Luke 13:3
Confess Jesus,
Matt. 10:32-33, Rom 10:9-10
Submit to Baptism for the forgiveness of
your sins & gift of Holy Spirit
Acts 2:36, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:20-21
Live faithfully all the days of your life.
Titus 3:1, Hebrews 10:24-27, Matthew 6:33

38. The Duration of Peace
“…give you peace at all times…"
God has not promised an easy life. No, God
has promised peace in the midst of the
trials and troubles.
John 16:33 NET I have told you these
things so that in me you may have peace.
In the world you have trouble and suffering,
but take courage — I have conquered the
world."

39. His peace is perpetual, unbroken in time
and all the changing circumstances of life.
What is being said here is that there is a
peace available that we can experience
through disasters, calamities, sorrows, and
losses. The peace of God may be
permanent, but to be that there must be a
permanent communion and permanent
obedience to God. God gives peace by
giving his presence. Last part of verse, The
Lord be with you all.

40. When Jesus is in the boat, the waves calm.
When Jesus is in a life, He speaks peace to
our souls.
Is he in your life?
The Lord be with us all.
Then the peace of the Lord shall clothe and
fill our hearts in Christ Jesus.

41. The absence of peace.
There is no peace in hell. No clear
conscience. Always guilty. No restful mind.
always disturbed, full of anxiety and stress.
Full of regrets. Nothing but regrets. Did not
surrender. Your will be done. No hope.
Nothing but despair. No fellowship with
others or with God. No presence of God.
On this earth we can block out pain. A
tortured heart is a terrible thing.

42. On a scale of 1 (blissfully peaceful) to 10
(high anxiety), where would you rate your
sense of God’s peace right now? Hell is
nothing but one big panic attack forever.
Come to the Lord of peace. If we come, he
himself will give us peace at all times and in
every way.
NO GOD, NO PEACE.
KNOW GOD, KNOW PEACE.