Don't Miss the Entrance to Peace!, Part 1

In a world filled with turmoil and uncertainty, our sense of inner peace seems elusive.

Truth be told, we worry a lot.

Well, in the Bible, we're promised a peace that surpasses understanding.

Not just a fleeting feeling that dissipates into thin air, it's an abiding peace that

sinks right into the core of our being.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll continues his brand new series on the fruit

of the Spirit.

In today's study, we'll do a deep dive that'll uncover the secrets to God's perfect

peace.

Chuck titled his message, Don't Miss the Entrance to Peace.

In our morning worship services, we are giving attention to the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit, that cluster of virtues that we find in Galatians 5, verses

22 and 23.

There are nine of them.

The greatest of these, as set forth in other parts of the scriptures, is love.

And that is falsehood.

Followed by joy, peace, and patience.

And then we find kindness and goodness, faithfulness and gentleness, and then running anchor in

that relay, self-control.

All nine are virtues.

We would love to have in our lives, but we cannot produce them ourselves.

They must be produced by the Holy Spirit, who infuses us with those virtues as we yield

ourselves to his power, his presence, and to the work of Christ in our lives.

Amen.

We've looked at love.

We've considered joy.

Today we examine the importance of peace.

Peace.

When you turn to an alphabetical listing of all the words in the Bible, it's a book called

a concordance.

And in an exhaustive concordance.

An exhaustive concordance.

all the verses are listed, and when you find the word peace, you will find numerous verses

including the word in both Old and New Testament. I've chosen a passage from both Old and New.

They are somewhat familiar to us, though we've not looked at them lately,

and so I thought today it would be appropriate that we consider the virtue of peace

through the pen of Isaiah chapter 26 and the writer to the Hebrews chapter 4. So locate both

passages, put your finger in Hebrews 4, and hold it for a few moments as I read first from

Isaiah 26.

A couple of verses there before we look at three verses in Hebrews 4. I'll be reading from the New

Living Translation as you follow along in the version that you use. Isaiah 26, beginning at verse

3. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts

are in you.

They are fixed on you.

Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal rock.

Then turn to Hebrews 4, verse 1, which begins, God's promise of entering his rest still stands.

So we ought to...

We ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it, for this good news

that God has prepared this rest has been announced to us just as it was to them, but it did them no good

because they didn't share the faith.

So let's take this with a sense ofheritance.

And so I hereby present you the great gift of the Spirit of God that makes you a view.

That's the good news of those who listened to God.

For only we who believe can enter His rest.

You're listening to Insight for Living.

Did you know about the spiral-bound workbooks for our Searching the Scriptures Bible studies?

To dig deeper into the fruit of the Spirit, you'll need to do some research.

the Spirit. Purchase a workbook today by going to insight.org slash workbooks. And now the message

from Chuck titled, Don't Miss the Entrance to Peace. If you really want inner peace,

you'll have to take these next six words seriously. Worry about nothing. Pray about everything.

Once again, worry about nothing. Pray about everything. Now it's your turn. Here we go.

Worry about nothing. Pray about everything. At the risk of being too elementary,

nothing means nothing.

Nothing. And everything means everything.

Now that's a tough assignment because we all have a churning place inside our being.

Not sure exactly where it's located. Maybe part of the mind. Maybe in the soul.

Maybe it drifts all around and just bobs.

It bothers us all over. But it's there. And the churning place is filled with

sticky interest in everything bothersome. All things that trouble us.

Things that bring panic or worry or fear. The churning place is ready to grab it and cling to it

and occupy that space that has been designed for peace.

God has made us to be peace-carrying believers. It's one of the characteristics of his children.

We are to be people of peace in the midst of a wayward, treacherous world.

But the churning place wants nothing to do with peace.

And I hardly need to remind you that worry and peace cannot coexist.

You can't have both at the same time. And of the two, worry is the great aggressor.

It fights for its space. Especially when we've formed habits of worry.

I mean, worry gives some people security. If they don't have something to worry about,

they worry about nothing to worry about. You woke up today worried about something.

Or you

even on your way to this place of worship, worried about someone or something.

And if it's not today, it's something tomorrow or something this week.

There it is again, the churning place is doing its job.

Now, if you take the time to dip into Colossians 3.15,

you'll find an interesting,

statement which says to the child of God, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

Interesting how that is worded. It's something we let happen. It isn't automatic.

It isn't automatic. Peace never becomes a part of our lives automatically.

Just because we belong to Christ doesn't mean we'll be at peace.

Just because we hear a sermon that's full of truth doesn't mean that truth has landed

and we're suddenly automatically in a realm of peace. No. We have to let the peace of Christ

rule in our hearts. It's an unusual word, this translated word rule, used rarely in the New

Testament. It means this, to be in control, to be in control of someone's activity,

by making a decision.

Something rules by your being in control and making a decision.

In this case, you make the decision to let the peace of Christ take over.

And when you do that, it is remarkable how the Lord comes to your response.

He comes to your assistance and drives out the worry, the panic, the fear,

and whatever may have been the source of it.

It's your decision. It's my decision.

Someone said to me between the services this morning,

thank you so much for the message today. It was meant for me. And I said, wait a minute.

I said, wait a minute.

I preached on something I needed to hear, and I'll let you listen in.

This is something I need to hear. It may surprise you. Don't be surprised.

I, too, have a churning place. I, too, have things to worry about.

I, too, face a tomorrow that's unknown. I don't know what tomorrow will hold, just like you.

I've got situations I can't fix.

And I'm the number one fixer in the city of Frisco.

I fix stuff. I fix people. Or I think I do.

When, in fact, I don't do that at all. I can't.

I can't even fix my wife. Not that she needs fixing.

Let me clarify that.

Because I can't fix myself.

I can't straighten myself up.

But I can turn myself over to one who can.

And it's remarkable when I do that.

What's remarkable is that the Lord gives me the peace that his son had.

Think about that.

Jesus said, my peace, I give to you, not as the world gives.

Do I give this to you?

No, the world will give you trouble.

But I'll give you a peace that has overcome the world.

Now, that's a promise worth claiming.

I want that kind of peace.

Christ.

Never once do we read that he worried.

Or panicked.

Or was afraid.

Never once.

In his 33 plus years on this earth.

All the things he faced never brought panic.

All the criticism, all the attacks never made him worried.

And all the unknowns of tomorrow.

Never caused him to fear.

And he says, I repeat, I want to give you that kind of peace.

It's yours.

Let it happen.

Let it rule in your hearts.

So that you no longer are stressed out by panic and worry and fear.

Now, the big, crucial question is, how?

How do I do this?

How do I transfer all that sticky stuff in my churning place and dump it out so that peace comes and rules over my thoughts?

My thoughts, my responses, even my attitudes.

How do I do that?

Well, I'll be honest.

That's what led me to Isaiah's words and then the words of the one who wrote Hebrews.

We don't know who wrote Hebrews, but whoever that person was.

There are truths here.

There are truths here that are still applicable and worth remembering.

But first, let's go back 800 years before Christ was even on this earth.

Isaiah.

The prophet wrote chapter 26, verses 3 and 4.

A magnificent promise.

Not just to people back in ancient.

Days when he lived, but in every era, every generation, including this one.

Go back and look at that two verse promise with me and allow me to sort of take it apart so that it really lands with both feet down inside our churning place.

Isaiah.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you.

All whose thoughts are fixed on you.

Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal rock.

I love those words.

I'm excited about pulling these words out

and highlighting a couple of the more important ones

for the sake of application.

The first one is the first word.

You.

It doesn't mean you and me.

It means the Lord our God.

Okay?

And every time you appears in these two verses,

it refers to him, our sovereign Lord,

our great God, our mighty, powerful God.

So let me read it, the Lord our God, each time.

Here we go.

The Lord our God will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in the Lord our God.

All who, whose thoughts are fixed

on the Lord our God.

Trust in the Lord our God always

for the Lord our God is the eternal rock.

So guess who the object of the promise is

that is the main character?

It's the Lord our God.

It isn't you.

You're not the center of the universe.

I'm not the center of anything.

The Lord our God is the center.

He's the core of this peace.

So when you read the verses, remember,

he's central to gaining this peace

in your churning place.

Now, the second thing,

the second word that's of interest to me

is the word all.

That would be everyone in the family of God.

Everyone who knows Christ as savior.

If you're a Christian,

your name is included in the word all.

Allow me.

The Lord, our God will keep in perfect peace.

Every believer in Christ

who trusts in the Lord, our God.

Every believer in Christ whose thoughts

are fixed on the Lord, our God.

Trust in the Lord, our God always.

For the Lord, our God is the eternal rock.

I know I'm being a little redundant.

I'm being a little overly simple,

but it's easy to graze over a verse and miss the emphasis.

He is central to this peace and we are the recipients of it.

Since Colossians 3.15 says, let this peace rule,

then we have something we must do to make it happen.

Look at the verses.

You will keep in perfect peace all who,

there's the word,

trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you.

Trust and fixing thoughts on, trust in you.

Trust and fixing thoughts on are synonymous.

They mean the same thing.

It's the idea of leaning on, relying on, resting in,

being sure of, believing in.

So I'm sitting in my study, going through this exercise,

and this is exactly what I do in my study.

I look over words like a dog gnawing on a bone.

I go over the verse, I go through the verse,

I read it aloud, I read it in other versions.

I take words, I pull them out, I put synonyms in their place.

I find other versions of the scripture and I will read that.

This is exactly the process.

And I also have you in mind knowing that illustrations bring light.

You know, using true and false information.

I continue to use my own knowledge about God,

which is what I've seen in books of the Bible.

I've seen what God has done in me

and what God has done in me.

I've seen his work, what God has done in me.

I've seen the person who was at my desk

that was at my desk,

and in the meeting with him,

to your chair, okay? I've got one. Nobody in my family sits in my chair. I haven't put a reserve

sign on it. I haven't given them a lecture. They just stay out of it because it's mine, okay?

Now, when guests come, they sometimes sit in my chair, and they don't know they're doing that,

so I've got to sit on the little sofa that's in the same room, and I never feel comfortable.

When they get up to get a drink of water or something, I get in my chair. That's my chair,

okay? I come in, and you may have noticed I just came in and plopped down in my chair,

sort of like you did in the one you're sitting in. I didn't walk around it. I didn't look underneath

it. I didn't check the structure. I didn't ask

anyone about how reliable the chair is. I just sat down in it, just like you did,

and you, what, trusted the chair to hold you up, and it did. You could rely on that chair,

and like the Lord, there's no cracks.

When we trusted Him, He has no weak points. He never gives way.

When you turn to Him, and you trust in Him, and you fix your thoughts on Him,

what is He? Look at the last two words, eternal rock.

God can be trusted. He's the eternal rock, and He will never let us down.

You're listening to Insight for Living. Our Bible teacher, Chuck Swindoll, is midway through a

message he titled, Don't Miss the Entrance to Peace. It's just one of nine sermons in Chuck's

brand-new teaching series on the fruit of the Spirit. This is a foundational lesson for every

believer. Those who walk in harmony with God will manifest these nine virtues called the fruit of

the Spirit. And in addition to these nine virtues, we're going to talk about the fruit of the Spirit

and the fruit of the Spirit. We're going to talk about the fruit of the Spirit, and we're going to

talk about the fruit of the Spirit. In addition to study notes, there's plenty of room for you to

jot down your own observations. It's like a journal of sorts, where you'll keep a permanent

record of the things you learned about each fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, and love. And we're going to talk about the fruit of the Spirit.

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To purchase the Searching the Scriptures Bible

Study for the Fruit of the Spirit, go to insight.org slash workbooks.

Many in our listening family have been asking about Chuck's view on leadership succession.

Who will become the next Christian statesman for our generation? And how will we appoint them?

Chuck wrote a brand-new booklet in which he shares the biblical story of Moses passing

the baton of leadership to Joshua. Chuck weaves his own story of leadership to Joshua.

Chuck weaves his own story into this illustration, and he describes how God intends his work to

flourish when leaders mentor their successor. Chuck's booklet is called How to Follow a Giant.

The subtitle is Carrying on Your Mentor's Legacy. And a copy is yours when you give a donation to

support the ministry of Insight for Living. Here's the address to write to us, Insight for Living,

Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas 75034.

You can also call us at 800-772-8888, or go online to insight.org slash donate.

I'm Bill Meyer, inviting you to join us when Chuck Swindoll describes the biblical

secrets to God's perfect peace, tomorrow on Insight for Living.

The preceding message,

Don't Miss the Entrance to Peace, was copyrighted in 2023 and 2024, and the sound recording

was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication

of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.