The Way of Peace

[background music] [The Lord Is My Shepherd hymn plays] [Voiceover] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tech Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Main Speaker] Our discipleship class, a time in His presence again to learn at His feet. Let us have a word of prayer as we commence the meeting for today. Glorious God, Almighty Father, we are grateful unto You for Your love, for Your mercies, for Your goodness, for Your grace. We thank You for this opportunity again to gather, to look into scriptures, to fellowship together, both our brethren who are online joining us and we who are physically here. Lord, as we all come together to fellowship in Your presence, Lord, we pray. Lord, let Your Spirit work within us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that You will grant insight into Your Word. You will grant unto us, O Lord, that the entrance of Your Word will give light and understanding to our hearts in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Last week we began our discussion on peace. Peace or peace life, eternal life, and we were trying to look at that against the background of the perils of our time. We are putting some things together beside themselves. We were putting the matter of when the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:1 that know for certain that perilous times shall come. And we are looking at that vis-à-vis how the Bible described it in that 2 Timothy 3. We were able to see very clearly. The Bible says, but the Amplified Version says, "But understand this, that in the last days perilous times or times of great distress and trouble hard to deal with and to bear such a time will come." And giving the reason for it, the Bible says, "For people will be lovers of themselves, self-centered, lovers of money, aroused by inordinate greed, greedy desire for wealth, proud, arrogant, contentious, boasters. They will be abusive, blasphemous, scoffing, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, profane, without natural human affection, callous, inhuman, relentless, admitting of no truce or appeasement, slanderers, intemperate, loose in moral and conduct, uncontrolled, fierce, haters of what is good. They will be betrayers, rash, inflated with self-conceit. They will be lovers of sensual pleasure, vain amusement rather than lovers of God. They will hold a form of godliness, they will look religious, but they will deny and reject and be strangers to the power of it. Their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession. Avoid all such people, turn away from them." We were able to see last week that the perils the Bible was describing in this place is not something that would honestly be strange. Rather, it is something that will come as a result of the way people will be behaving. That was what I was trying to connect last week, that it is the behavior of people that will make the time to be perilous. But not to now say that we are losing sight of the fact that many times what people do cannot be separated from spiritual influence. We saw also that the cause of the world, what people choose not to obey God, is also flowing from being controlled by a spirit. And we were trying to call our attention to the fact that peace, life, peace and life, they are connected. And if we must experience if the perils of this period will not be something that we are experiencing or something that is around us, then we need to watch our own life. We need to look at our own conduct and behavior. Now, it is on this background that I want to move on today. I want to move on today. But as usual, I like asking if anybody has something else they want to say or something that was a blessing or whatever before we move on. I want to build on that background today to look at—last week it was peace. Today, I want us to see the way of peace. It is a build-up on what we were discussing last week. And I now want to bring the matter now in relation to the disciples, the body of believers, which is our concern. How does this particularly affect us as believers? That's our concern today. Does anybody have something they want to say? Okay, nothing this way. Do you have anything you want to? Okay, so we can move on then. Now, look at what the Bible says in the book of Isaiah chapter 59. Isaiah 59. The Way of Peace. I want to read from verse 1 to around verse 7 thereabouts. It's a popular scripture, but I just want to show something. Let me read the NLT translation. I'll be reading that vis-à-vis the Amplified translation. It says, "Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save, nor is His ear too deaf to hear you call. It is your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, He has turned away and will not listen anymore. Your hands are hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin. Your lips are full of lies; your mouth spews corruption. No one cares about being fair and honest. The people's lawsuits are based on lies. They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin. They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders' webs. Whoever falls into their web will die, and there is danger even in getting near them. Their webs can't be made into clothing, and nothing they do is productive. All their activity is full of sin, and violence is their trademark. Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder. They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them. They don't know where to find peace, or what it means to be just and good. They have mapped out crooked roads, and no one who follows them knows a moment of peace." Amplified says, "The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice or right in their goings. They have made them into crooked paths; whosoever goes in them does not know peace." King James says, "The way of peace they don't know, and there is no judgment in their goings. They have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein shall know no peace." Shall know no peace. I'm talking about the way of peace. And please don't forget where we were coming from last week. Particularly if you take yourself back to what we were looking at in the book of Ephesians chapter 2. That Ephesians chapter 2. Now where the Bible says just the verse 2 and the verse 3. It says, I'm reading the Amplified version, "In which one time you walked habitually. You were following the course and the fashion of this world, were under the sway of the tendency of this present age, following the prince of the power of the air. You were disobedient to and under the control of the demon spirit that still constantly work in the sons of disobedience, the careless, the rebellious, the unbelieving who go against the purposes of God." I want you to note that word: the careless, the rebellious, the unbelieving who go against the purposes of God. Now in the verse 3, the Bible says, "Among these, we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh. Our behavior governed by our corrupt sensual nature, that is, the way we feel, obeying the impulses of the flesh, that is, ruled by our emotions, and the thoughts of the mind—our cravings dictated by our senses and dark imagination or dark imaginings. We were then by nature children of God's wrath and heirs of His indignation, like the rest of mankind." I am trying to draw our attention to some crucial things about this way of peace. And my concern today actually is to bring it down to how this matter apply to us as believers. We're in perilous times quite well. But it is important to also know that I made mention of something last week, that the Lord said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Then He said, "Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives." Now, the Lord was calling our attention to something, that why it may be troublous, commotion, upheaval, perils—why it may be like that, actually in the mind of God, it is not supposed to be so with us in terms of our own life. When I relate to the world, I may experience from the world elements of their wickedness. But when I relate to those who are my own—my family, my relationship, me and my children, me and my friends, me and my brethren—we are not supposed to be experiencing that perils. We are not. I'm supposed to meet when the Bible says, if you look at what makes them—if you look at what makes the time to be perilous. Please, can we just look at those things one after the other? Can we see 2 Timothy again chapter 3? Whichever version you have, let's look at this matter one after the other. Let's see 2 Timothy chapter 3. Let's look at it from that verse 2. What is the first thing? People shall be—this is ESV, "For people will be lovers of self." We are taking it one by one. What's the first thing? Lovers of self. Lovers of self. Now I want to ask you, should a believer be a lover of self? [Class Members] No. [Main Speaker] The second one: lovers of money. Should a believer be a lover of money? [Class Members] No. [Main Speaker] We don't want to answer that one since we need money. What's the difference between the need for money and the love of money? When the Bible say the love of money is the root of all evil? What's done between needing money and loving money? Can any of us say something? Use the mic. [Class Member 1] When you love money, you notice that you can do almost anything in fact because of money. If you can lie, you can deceive, you can paste, you can forge—money can make you to be ungodly, then that's the love of money. [Main Speaker] Okay, that's the love of money. [Class Member 2] When you find it at all cost that must get it, and anything that comes your way you want to do it so that you can get it—so that's not what God is expecting from us. [Main Speaker] Okay, so we should not be desperate about it because people will do any type of job than steal to get money. But we're talking about desperation. So when we are desperate about money, it still comes back to you can just do anything to get the money. Is there any other explanation apart from what you have given? Any other insight? No. Okay, so are believers supposed to love money? No. Can we move to the next one? [Class Member 3] Proud, arrogant. [Main Speaker] Proud, one says proud, another one says arrogant. Are believers supposed to be proud and arrogant? [Class Members] No. [Main Speaker] Okay, can we check the next one? [Class Member 4] Abusive. Disobedient to their parents. [Main Speaker] Abusive. Disobedient to parents. [Class Member 5] Ungrateful. [Main Speaker] Ungrateful. [Class Member 6] Unholy. [Main Speaker] Unholy. [Class Member 7] Heartless. [Main Speaker] Heartless. Please, which of them should we mark as the life of believers? [Class Members] None of them. [Main Speaker] None of them. Okay, can we move on to verse 3? [Class Member 1] Unappeasable. Slanderous. Without self-control. Brutal. Not loving good. [Main Speaker] Are you following that, please, brethren? Which of them is a Christian conduct? [Class Members] None of them. [Main Speaker] Okay, please go on again. [Class Member 2] Treacherous. Reckless. Swollen with conceit. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. [Main Speaker] Which of them is a Christian virtue? None of them. None of them. Now I want you to note that. Please, I'm showing you something. These are the things that make time to be perilous. Am I correct? From that thing that we read. He said the time will be difficult. It will be hard to deal with because people will become like this. Now can I therefore make you see something? That any time we find any of those things in your life, it means you will become somebody that is hard to relate to. You will become somebody that will make things perilous for others. Are we together? Now, if we now look at what we read in Isaiah. The Bible was referring to the nation of Israel. And the Bible began to mention, mention, mention, mention so many things. Eventually the Bible now says, "The way of peace they don't know. Everybody who go their way will not know peace." Now if we now want to look if we now want to look if we now want to bring the whole thing together, brethren. Getting—how—what then—what are the crucial things about the way of peace? What is crucial about the way of peace? If you look at Psalm 25. Psalm 25. What is crucial about the way of peace? Psalm 25. Now brethren, let me ask this question. Do you think there's anybody that don't want peace? Is there anybody? Even the wicked people, what are they looking for? Even the people that practice witchcraft and sorcery, what will they want in their minds? They are looking for peace. The fornicator, the adulterers, the drunkard—what are they looking for? They are looking for what? Have you seen anybody that is not looking for peace? Is there anybody? I just want you to think about it. You will notice that—look at Psalm 25. I will read—I will be interchanging between King James and NLT. I will read from verse 1, I'll be going to around verse 9 thereabouts. It says, "Unto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me. Yea, let no one that wait on Thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Verse 4: Show me Thy way, O Lord. Teach me Thy paths. Verse 5: Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation. On Thee do I wait all day. Verse 6: Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old. Verse 7: Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions. According to Thy mercy remember Thou me, for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord." I'm reading KJV. "Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore will He teach sinners in the way." That's verse 8. Verse 9: "The meek will He guide in judgment. The meek will He teach His way." Do you see that? Can we have that in another translation? [Class Member 3] NLT: "He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way." [Main Speaker] Have you seen something? He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way. Look at how KJV put it: "The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way." Now, let me try to bring everything together. Brethren, let me make something clear. God is not a deceiver. God does not exaggerate. God does not cajole. And God from time memorial—from the beginning of creation when He began with man—the ways of God are plain. From time immemorial, from the beginning of creation, the problem have always been that man come to a state in his life where he feels there's an alternative means to that which God has said. When you look, for example, at the reference we made about Adam and Eve at the beginning. God said, "You can eat everything here, but this one you should not eat." Please, if I have 200 trees and I said eat 199, don't eat only one—is that a restriction? If I have said you cannot eat every other one except this one, that's a restriction. Но I said you can eat every other thing except this one. That's liberty. That's liberation. Но man got to a point where he said no, I need to break this limitation asunder. Why should I be like this? Why should I be limited? Why should I not? And so what did man do? Man went outside that limit that God gave. And what happened? He lost peace. Peace became an illusion to man. God came and he was afraid. Now, that loss that happened to man happened because man decided to go out of a bound. Но that bound, I want you to see that it's not a restriction. Was it? No. Now, the second thing I want to call your attention to—is that why I said that God does not deceive. God does not deceive. The problem is that have you always noticed that the Bible will say "upright"? Upright. Do you know why? You know there are two words there: "up" and "right". So what it is not up, it can never be right. Once it is down, it will be wrong. What I mean is this: man—the Bible says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be." The Bible says set your affections where? On things above. Once the affection of man is above, where will be his heart? His heart above. Once the heart is above, what will be happening to man? What will happen to man? Man will be upright. Once his treasure is down, his heart will be where? Down. Let me use a practical thing to illustrate it. This—I must have said this story too at some other times in our meeting. A young man came to me and was telling me that he was confused. I said, "What is the confusion?" He said actually there are two jobs. One is paying about 300,000 something like that, almost three times or two times the other one. Но for that job, he will need to change his state. It's for people from one particular state, and within a particular age bracket. He was above that age bracket, and he's not from that state. So he cannot get that. Do you get it? The other job, they were paying 150. You know, 3 to 400-plus compared to 150. Но this one, there is no issue about—it's straight if you want to pick it up. No state limit, no age limit. He now came to me. He said, "I'm confused. I don't just know what God wants me to do. This opportunity..." I said, "Young man, you are not confused. You are not confused. The ways of God are plain. The problem is with your heart. Your heart is down-wrong. It's not up, so you cannot be right. The problem is with your heart. You have set a treasure on money. If not, you don't need to be asking somebody. You don't need to be asking me so you want to ask God: 'God, should I change, lie about my state and my age?' Is that what you want to go and ask God? Or what is the counsel you are seeking? What do you want us to counsel you?" Which counsel are you seeking? He said actually he too had been thinking about it, that he was not supposed to take it. I said, "So why are you now seeking counsel?" So you want me to tell you that go and lie or you want—do you get what I'm trying to bring out? Why the ways of God were no more plain was what? His treasure is down. So he cannot be right, he will be wrong. Are you following me? Now, I'm saying this because I want to call your attention to something. Let me read something to you. I said, "Note: we perceive them by what order, order in terms of O-R-D-E-R. Are we together? We perceive them from this verse the order God proceed in the manifestation of His grace towards us. Look at what I wrote here: first He bring us again into the way where we are wandering and going astray from Him. Or rather, when we are already fugitives and exiled from Him. He restrain our frowardness, and whereas we were before froward and rebellious, He now subdue us to the obedience of His righteousness. Then after He has afflicted and tried us, He does not forsake us. Но after He has molded and trained us by His cross to humility and meekness, He now goes ahead to direct our life." What I'm saying is this: that I now said this is the way of peace that sinners don't know and the unbroken Christian don't find. You see, the way of peace is a way that God teach to who? The meek and the humble. Once a man's heart is not meek and humble, he cannot find the way of peace. It says the meek and the humble He teaches His way. Now, let's take our mind to something we discussed—I can't remember when we discussed it—Matthew 11. Но I know we have discussed it in one of our meeting. Take your mind to this thing we discussed in Matthew 11. I believe it will make what I'm saying clearer. Matthew 11. Are you there? You remember this discussion we had some times ago. I'm reading from verse 28: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul." You remember that there was a time we were discussing rest in the Bible. And I called our attention to two kinds of rest: the rest of salvation and the rest for the soul. The first rest, how does it come? He say "Come unto Me and I will give you." Но the second rest is not a rest that will be given. It's a rest you will find. You find that one. That is the peace I'm trying to talk about, the way of peace. You find that one. It's a thing you find. It's not a thing you will be given. Но you notice that the way to that peace, to that finding—do you notice that it is the meek that will find this thing? Look at the scripture. He says, "Take My yoke upon you and do what? Learn of Me." Please, what is a yoke? [Class Members] A burden. [Main Speaker] Is it just a burden? It's a log of wood. This thing you call yoke is also a log of wood. Но why is it called a yoke? Because it's like wood that you place on two animals so that they can do the work of a farmer. They will now put either something to till the ground, as they are walking they'll be tilling the ground. Now, the two cows must go at the same pace. Once one try to go—if one is going now and it saw something to eat, but the other one is going straight. If that one bend the neck to go and eat, what will happen to its neck? It will break. They must be turning the same way. So normally, you don't put a weak cow and a strong one together. You know what you put together? Cows of equal strength, or else one will break the neck of the other one. If the strong one see something to go and eat and the weak one still want to walk, and you pull the yoke this way, what will happen to the strong one? The neck will break. Now, do you notice that Jesus did not say "Take My bread and eat"? Immediately Jesus spoke about salvation, the next thing He said, He said "Take My yoke". The very next thing that followed is that "See, take a yoke". And do you notice something about that yoke? That yoke is a restraint. Am I correct? [Class Members] Yes, sir. [Main Speaker] So immediately we come to Jesus, where does He place us? He place us inside a restraint. You may not understand what I'm trying to say, but I like to give this example that I gave last week. If you are driving and somebody say "You fool", what do you feel like doing? You feel like either saying the same thing. Like sometimes, somebody say "Me, I will not say anything, I just show them sign." Just show them sign because I don't want to be like them. Но I want to show sign. He said no, it is you when you interpreted it like that. Но you know that he's doing like that. God will deliver us from being manipulative. Now, what I'm trying to say is that ordinarily there is a restraint. That if somebody calls you, you should bless him. Is that not a restraint? That restraint is taking you away from what you feel like doing. Is that not? Now, that is the yoke I'm talking about. You see, there is a yoke of Jesus on us that restrain us from doing what we feel like doing, what we like to do, what we love to do, to what He says we should do. And can I inform you: until the cross can truly conform you like that, you will not know the way of peace. Do you notice here that He said—if you remember what we discussed then—the first rest is the rest of salvation. "Come, I will give you rest." Sinners don't know the way of peace because they are not yet saved. Disciples don't find the way of peace because they don't take His yoke. They don't find it. They have the basis to know it because He said "Take My yoke and learn from where?" So if you don't take the yoke, can you learn? It is taking that yoke that make us to be meek and humble. What does it mean to be meek? To be meek is to be not to be revengeful. That's what it means to be meek. Somebody slap you, you don't slap back. Somebody curse you, you don't curse back. You feel like—you hold yourself back. Somebody insult you, you don't insult. Somebody cheat you, you don't cheat back. You don't give evil for evil, railing for railing. That's what it means to be meek. Humble—what does it mean to be humble? It is coming to a clear understanding that it is only in God that all things consist. And so you know that whatever you are, whatever you have, whoever you are, is just a mere function of God. And so you don't—there is no arrogant. There is no superiority complex. Because you know that I receive nothing except God gives. If He has not given, I would have got nothing. I come to understand that my intelligence, my labor, my effort, is not the basis of what I have become. Is that not what take away arrogance? Is that not take away all those thing that were mentioning in Timothy? Boaster, boastful, rebellious, I know what I'm doing. It's coming from men who are not humble, who are not meek. And I'm telling you, once we don't take the yoke, we cannot learn of Him, so we cannot learn His ways. What I'm trying to make you see is that today even the believers, those who have come to the first rest, could not come to the second rest because Baba could not teach them. Until you take the yoke, you cannot learn of Him. You take that yoke. His way is a way that He will teach. His way is a way that He will reveal. His way is not something that come because you are very intelligent. His way is not something that come because you have power of oratory. Some people think that because they can talk very well and so—do you know that you can win all argument, but you will gain nobody. Some people think that because they have the power of being able to win argument, it will give them peace. Okay, go ahead. Peace is something that come as a result of the Lord teaching His way. Peace is the way of God. And the way of God, God teaches His way to those that the cross—that's why I read that thing in Psalm—after He by the cross He had made us meek and humble, then what does He now do? He now begin to teach us His way. Но as long as we are rebellious, as long as we cannot be subdued, as long as we will not stay within His restraint, as long as we will not take His yoke, we will not stay within the restraint of the cross. And do I also inform you: He said if any man will come after Me, let him do what? First thing: deny himself. Are you seeing something? So when a man cannot forget himself, he cannot know the way of peace. The way of peace. I want us to stop here today, brethren. It's 6:30. Please, let us stop here today. I would next—supposed to be our time of praying. I will try to round up the few things that remain about this before we take our prayer next Monday. I want us to just go ahead to pray. The way of peace is a way not known by sinners, at the same time not found by the unbroken Christian. Once you are not a broken disciple, you will not know the way of peace. You will not find it. You will not be able to find it. Look at the level of restlessness today, even among so-called Christians. Look at the level of malice, bitterness, unforgiveness, backbiting—just check it. Check the way of disharmony even among believers. The problem is that they all love peace, they all want peace, but as long as a man is not broken, as long as a man is not meek and lowly, he cannot find the way of peace. He says "Take My yoke" so that you can learn, so that you can find. The way of peace. And I just want you to pray. God, help me. Peace is not—peace enjoying peace in my relationship, in life, in circumstance and situation—goes beyond just that I desire it, I love it, I'm seeking it, I'm looking for it. Yes, but there is a way to do it. The way to do it is first to come under the restraint. To tell yourself: life is not about how I feel, it's not about what I desire, it's not about what I like, it's not about what I want. Life is about that which God said. I need to take His yoke. I need to take His yoke. I need to understand that sexuality, emotions, reasonability—they are not the things that bring a man into the path of God. And that is why He warned: do not lean on your own understanding. Do not lean on these things. Can you come again and say, "God, God," like David prayed? He said, "Teach me Your ways, O God. Teach me Your ways, O God. Teach me Your ways. Teach me Your ways." You know, by the cross, because the truth is that the cross, the way of the cross, is the way of the Lord. Can you say, "O Lord, by Your cross, Lord, can You try me by Your cross, can You break me by Your cross? Lord, break me by Your cross, try me by Your cross, bring me to a state where I can be taught Your way. Lord, by Your cross, You said You will make, Lord, make me. Make me." He said, "I will make you." Lord, You are the one that can make me. Lord, make me. Lord, make me, Lord, make me. The way of peace. The way of peace. The way of peace. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Almighty Father, our eyes are on You. That which is not known to sinners is what You offered us in Jesus. You offered us rest as salvation and You also offer us the way of peace. For the Bible says Christ is our peace. Peace with God. Peace with God. Peace with ourselves. Peace among men. Но as often as we reject His yoke, as often as we reject Him, as often as we will not take to this yoke, as often as we will not take—as often as we do that, we turn our path from the path of peace. Lord, peace is so much desired today and the world don't know the way of peace. Но as believers, peace is our heritage. Peace is something You offered us in Christ. Peace is something Christ brokered for us. He purchased. Precious Father, Precious Lord, on account of the new and living way that was consecrated in the blood and in the flesh of Jesus, Lord, we cry again to You: teach us Your way. Lord, teach us Your way. Lord God Almighty, that Lord we may experience true peace in all situations and circumstances of life. Peace with God, peace with men, peace with ourselves, peace O God in all our networks, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Voiceover] Social and community development and mission head. Our regular activities are: discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescent and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminar...