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[0:00] shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The apostle has devoted the epistle to the church of Philippi to those things which may well be said to culminate in the words of our text.

[0:30] So that in the first chapter he speaks to us of those things which are undoubtedly productive of and the result of the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

[0:56] For he says for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor yet what I shall choose I want not for I am in a great in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better.

[1:26] And then in the next chapter he goes on to speak of Christ's humiliation.

[1:37] another view another view which must as brought to our hearts in the feeling association with it must give us a little experience of the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

[1:56] and then following on to the third chapter he speaks of his past in his Phariseeism and then and then brings us to this remarkable contrasting experience that what things were gained to me those I counted lost for Christ yea doubtless I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ and so he goes on.

[2:46] But all these foregoing parts of this epistle serve to show us that the mind of the apostle and the influence and power of the spirit of God was directed in just one way and that was a towards Christ.

[3:06] Hence almost summarizing in this verse and the peace of God which passeth all understanding is the result of the gracious leading of the spirit of God into those things and those places those conditions those circumstances wherein we may know the love of God and find the peace which the love of God brings into our souls.

[3:41] peace. The peace of God to the people of God is desirable above everything else but it signifies several things.

[3:59] We think of the words in I must how can two walk together except they be agreed there can be no peace unless there is agreement and that is clearly seen in all walks of life but how much more so must it appertain to spiritual life godly lives the peace of God brought about by an agreement with God now this is not to be understood as God in any sense compromising there is no compromise with God as God's word has ever been so it must ever be though men may attempt to water down the truth in order to produce a compromise giving and taking according as they see fit yet there is no compromise with God or in

[5:26] God a peace which is based upon compromise is a peace which cannot last but the peace of God is not based upon compromise therefore it will last but then if we are to enjoy this peace we must be in agreement with God it is not on the question of God being in agreement with you it is God you're being in agreement with God and then in order to this we find that peace is brought forth from being reconciled to God now this is the way in which agreement is brought about by being reconciled to God this is much deeper than may appear on the surface it requires much more than the work of an individual the great thing is that

[6:45] God has found a way himself whereby that he and sinners may be reconciled an experience therefore of reconciliation as well as an experience of agreement with God will all be necessary if the peace of God is to be enjoyed it hardly means repeating or emphasizing that unless we are in complete agreement with God we can never and never shall know the peace of God and we will dwell upon this first point a moment or two referring again to the words in Amos how can two walk together except they be agreed agreed now this is not just an agreement on paper this is not something which we sign to agree to this is an agreement which involves day to day walking day to day fellowship day to day communion day to day union with God in Christ and without this agreement and willingness we cannot know the peace of

[8:23] God how shall we come by this walking with God because this is part of Christian experience walking with God as we walk is God with us do we feel that he walks down the street with us that he goes about the house with us if so we shall know something about peace there can be no greater joy than for Christ to be found and formed in our hearts that we might have communion with him walking day by day this brings us to some very searching points from the word of God because we need to walk in the fear of

[9:24] God hence we have the words of the scripture be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long if you have it in your heart to know and to experience the peace of God it is a walking but a walking in the fear of God how should we understand that expression it is a walking with a desire brought by the love of the Holy Ghost and the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost desiring to do those things which please God we read when a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him now this on the face appears to be most encouraging on the other hand it is most searching have we peace if we have not peace if our enemies rise up continually and if we feel forsaken and alone is there not room for searching apart many excuses are made in the present day by people and there is a turning aside from that which is real truth because of our fallen nature so often we do not wish to look into the root of things and to discover the cause of things we may indeed speak about the peace of God we might indeed appreciate the benefit and blessings of the peace of

[11:34] God but God does not withhold his peace except there be a purpose and a reason in Isaiah the Lord raises various points and then he says oh that thou hadst done this then had thy peace been as a river and so if we enjoy not the peace of God the word of God is instructive to us to show us the reason so clearly but we have to come to this point as to how much we value the peace of God our carnal natures are very strong they set no value upon the peace of God there is no desire never can be any desire in our carnal minds which are enmity against

[12:40] God to desire the peace of God nevertheless do we find that there is a desire in our soul after the peace of God then this must come and only can come from that which is born again of the spirit peace peace with God and then we inquire have we inquired if we do not enjoy the peace of God why it is maybe we can inquire with the psalmist when he said search me and try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting it is good for us to make such appeals to God because we are troubled not having the peace of God and if we have it not having it in that peace that we would desire where is the world that gnaws at the root of the gourd so to speak because the peace of God will bring over us a covering and a shadow but has that been as it were withered away according to our feelings so that the hot sun of temptation and the blackened character of the devil is open to us we seem to have no shelter and in consequence no peace

[14:27] Jonah's words are very instructive as a person that at that particular time wanted the blessings of the peace of God and then God said to Jonah doest thou well to be angry for the gourd and he said I do well to be angry even unto death then said the Lord thou hast had pity on the gourd for which thou hast not laboured neither made it grow which came up in a night and perished in a night and should not I spare Nineveh that great city wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand and also much cattle Jonah knowing the power of the gospel knowing the blessing of the gospel felt such a power in his carnal mind that he did not wish to see the peace of God come upon poor sinners now if we are to be in agreement with

[15:52] God if we are to enjoy the peace of God in our own souls we shall have to have that spirit which earnestly seek the peace of God upon others there are many parts of the scriptures which will give us the mind of God and it is to this we have to agree first of all we must agree in the lines of the psalmist great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them now the words of God setting forth the mind of God are all in the word of God are all discovered in the word of truth are we offended is it not the purpose of

[16:53] God that we should have peace and have we not peace then is it because that we are offended is it because we do not love the law of God perhaps you may say oh I love the law of God all of it are there some parts that you object to I do not mean in your vocal expressions or another but in your feelings before God as an example and we have examples in the scripture we find Abraham saying unto God let Ishmael live before thee but God made it quite clear that in

[17:54] Isaac shall thy seed be called Ishmael was a type of that which is born of the flesh and Isaac was a type of that which is born of the spirit and Abraham had to agree there was no question of God agreeing with Abraham and reviewing everything and saying well perhaps after all we'll include Ishmael in the covenant and we've got to agree to the blessed doctrines of the grace of God if we're going to enjoy peace and so we must think upon God's sovereign electing love if we do not receive it we shall not know peace we cannot know peace but when we are by the grace of God able to receive it then some will certainly bear their witness of that inward peace that they have seen the glory of

[19:12] God manifested in that great mercy whereby he has chosen some and left others now we need to make this point ever so clear because it will be quite wrong to say that God has rejected anybody he has left them and if he has not left us what is it that we have received we have received the mercy of God and that is the view that must be taken if we are to know anything of the peace of God in our souls the mercy of the Lord in discovering to us his divine election we should never be saved without it and the sooner that light is given the more the sooner we shall come nearer and nearer to the peace of

[20:27] God and also an agreement with God we shall have to agree with God that he is perfectly right in choosing some and leading others I think it is top lady who says had not thy choice prevented mine I ne'er have chosen thee but because thy choice has prevented mine peace has come into my soul the mercy of God has been revealed to me and so we have to be in agreement with God in respect to salvation by grace not of works lest any man should boast and here again this is much easier spoken with the lips and walked out in our lives and our very walk has to indicate that we are chosen of

[21:35] God and our very walk has to indicate that by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God your carnal mind is not in agreement with that your spiritual mind is the carnal mind has one idea of salvation and that is by works and how many there are not possessed of the grace of God though having a religious profession are not capable of believing in grace whatever they say because all the while they are working and when they come to the end of their days there will be one plea Lord there was preached in our streets there was taught in our synagogues in our churches and chapels I never knew you I never knew you how was this why was this you were never in agreement with me you never walked with me you never held communion with me you did with some you did with your

[22:51] God yourself but not with me therefore you never knew the peace of God but the peace of God is brought into the souls of the people as they walk with God and rejoice in that salvation which is free and full and is able to extend to the worst case Jonah's painful experience caused him to free salvation is of the Lord when we agree with God in that then we shall begin to know something of the peace of God which passeth all understanding and then we are to know something of the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost in our lives and this caused the apostle to say by the grace of

[23:53] God I am what I am now if we are to enjoy the peace of God we shall know that by reason of the depravity of our nature there are many things which rob us of peace maybe our favoured lot to seek unto the Lord by the power of grace given to us that we might be sanctified in our lives that we might walk with God and the closer we walk with God the less opportunity will the devil have of walking with us he excited fun to her human love for them to see the person walking so to speak at a distance from another but let the two be close together then there will be no attempt and if we are assaulted by Satan at times as all the people of God are is it because we're not walking closer close enough with Christ there's a gap there's a time and occasion where he can cut off relationship and he is not slow to do it and in doing so our peace is severed for the time being so are we in agreement with God seeking earnestly that he will sanctify us wholly one of the of Paul's epistles he speaks about this whole sanctification and he says the Lord sanctify you wholly in body, soul and spirit and the peace of God brings about an agreement with the love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost but we agree not just in word but in spirit and when we agree in spirit then there is joy and peace in believing it is not just a a formal agreement it is not an agreement by the nodding of the head it is an agreement by the movement of the heart and the result the peace of God is known in our measure in our souls then how can two walk together except they be agreed but if they are agreed nothing can be more pleasant and now we come to the next point and the peace of God requiring reconciliation reconciliation are we sinners?

[27:23] who can question it? who would be so bold as to say no? are we daily sinners? do we have to say with one that we are continually overcome and that we are cast down time and time again seldom do we see the snare before we feel the spark and this disrupts peace what is required God again I may point out will not compromise there has to be a reconciliation there has to be a provision and it is God that has to bring about that which will cause him to be pacified toward you we should not overlook that solemn word that the Lord is angry with the wicked every day and he has a perfect right to be angry with the wicked every day because they are continually breaking his laws and ignoring him you find in your heart sometimes that wickedness and has not

[28:55] God a perfect right to be angry with that which is wicked in you even though your name being written in heaven is not wicked and not angry with your person but we need sin removed and how is sin to be removed there can be no reconciliation without sin being removed now we see those beautiful words describing the work of Christ in these ways that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself himself the world of believers the world of the election of grace the world whose names are written in heaven out of every nation tongue tribe and people God was in Christ doing a work of reconciliation bringing his church back from the ruins of the fall and in so doing being the end of the law to everyone that believe him peace now we read that the Lord brought about peace in his own inimitable way therefore being justified by faith we have peace with

[30:34] God through our Lord Jesus Christ reconciliation that is we must have reconciliation if we are to know anything of the peace of God which passeth all understanding and how is it brought about it is brought about by the Lord Jesus Christ not only living a perfect life but dying a vicarious death how often have we heard it but how often have we needed the veracity of it and the vitality in it Christ died there we see reconciliation Christ rose again and there we see justification the very receipt given to us that Christ has brought reconciliation between his father and his poor church when that is felt in the soul then there is the peace of God brought about there is nothing in between we find words in the prophecy of Isaiah which speaks to us very powerfully and doubtless from time to time has been upon our souls behold the

[32:07] Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear but your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear for your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity your lips have spoken lies your tongue hath muttered perverseness so these things produce the opposite of peace but there is this hope there is this faith present in the soul behold the Lord's hand is not shortened despite all your desperate situation despite all your base character despite all that is so clearly delineated in the scriptures describing your deceitful desperately wicked heart yet behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee

[33:24] I will hear thee and will deliver thee the peace of God now we see Christ said before us here he is our peace he is our peace everything centres in a person peace centres in a person and that person is Jesus Christ and the peace of God which passeth all understanding the legacy which the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples as he was about to leave this world is very wonderfully set before us in the most touching terms but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you peace

[34:26] I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid so he touches upon the things which and the situation the feelings the conditions which prevail when we have not peace the heart is troubled the heart is afraid but when the peace of God which passes all understanding is brought into our souls by the Holy Ghost then our heart ceases to be troubled and our heart ceases to be afraid spiritual experience is strange we can well understand the words of one who said strange and mysterious is my life what opposites I feel within and the psalmist says

[35:27] I am for peace but they are for war nevertheless overriding all this there is this blessed truth God and sinner reconciled through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ the peace of God do our sins trouble us this morning and therefore we cannot settle down to peace not outward sins as much as inward sins a sin which does so easily beset us the sin which is our weakness and it prevents us from enjoying peace but cannot we enjoy peace must we go through life with this enemy to the life of peace and godliness we must indeed have this companion with us until we die but there is this that must never be forgotten the god of peace is the god of power and there are times when he puts forth his hand and he stops all the enemies and brings into the soul peace you're completely agreed with god and by reconciliation through his son you are persuaded that he's completely agreed with you i can only tell you about these things i cannot communicate to you the blessed experience of having nothing between your soul and god i have seen god face to face and he is pacified toward me that is an experience of reconciliation seen your soul seen received accepted in the person of the lord and saviour jesus christ our lord and saviour jesus christ my lord and saviour jesus christ it's a personal experience of the soul you cannot enjoy what i might experience neither can i enjoy what you might experience it is so personal but it is certainly an experience to be sought after oh that we had peace and this is a wonderful mark of the grace of god in the soul because we read there is no peace to the wicked so if you get just a few moments of the peace of god in your soul that is a just peace peace because god has been just is satisfied justice is satisfied with a debt that has been paid satisfactorily when the lord died upon calvary and wrote again your sins were put away and this is what you're we want to know if your sins are put away you'll immediately know peace and because it is god's peace it will be the peace of god which passes all understanding and hence you will not find words that describe what you feel what is involved further forgiveness of sin if sin be pardoned i'm secure why we can never be secure unless we have peace in our hearts have you felt security it's been a time when peace

[39:29] prevails after the last war and the sound of peace was heard what a change took place in the feelings of our people there was peace there was safety there was relief so it is when you come to consider the peace of god which passeth all understanding that was wonderful in the natural order of things but how much more wonderful that when you enjoy this peace of god which brings with it forgiveness of sins and when we search to find our sins our sins can never be found and it brings the peace of god which passeth all understanding you will never be able to penetrate the glory of this peace the richness of this peace the purity of this peace and the fact that there is nothing that can invalidate this peace peace we might refer to it as a covenant peace and the peace of god which passeth all understanding written into the covenant of grace so that the church of god will know peace if we know god if we are favoured with the love of god in our soul we should know peace and all our enemies may rise up ineffectively with christ in the vessel i smile at the storm and this is past our understanding that we could ever know peace in the midst of a storm still but such it is and the people of god from time to time have been thus favoured and the peace of god which passeth all understand but then we may say when the peace of god comes when peace comes then war is over there is a continual war a continual conflict in the experience of the people of god but unlike earthly wars the people of god can see the victory though they still are compelled to fight on nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us so victory is won when jesus rose from the dead victory was won peace was procured there might be as it were guerrilla warfare by the enemy of our souls trying to disrupt our peace peace they are so to speak insurgents but they are isolated they are not concerted effort the concerted effort has been with the captain of our salvation against the captain of our salvation and jesus conquered our captain stood the fiery test and we shall stand through him and when this comes into our soul peace peace which passes all understanding when you can see the assurance of victory when you can see your captain in all the glory of his own conquest and to have this revealed to your faith that you shall gain the victory too

[43:29] sometimes when the saints of god pass out of time into eternity we may indeed think of the words that are put into our lips by another i asked them whence their victory came they with united breath ascribed their conquest to the land their crime to his death and they died in peace they died in peace the people of god will die in peace as well as dying in faith because assuredly they must have peace with god through their lord jesus christ and it will be all the more wonderful that the peace of god should have been brought about between a holy god and unholy people when nations war against nations they're only men against men but to think that the almighty god who made heaven and earth should stoop down to come and reveal peace to the soul of four helpless hell deserving sinners and it is peace felt in the soul it is not imaginary or we may long for it this morning all that that peaceful flow into my soul now do we long for it does the battle seem to be so drawn out as sin in our members still is hardness of heart one of our enemies an unbelieving spirit all emanating from the old man of sin but do they trouble us and interrupt our peace all that

[45:36]  God in the greatness of his love and mercy will bring this peace and he surely will because he says I will give peace and what God has said he will surely do there is no if and but to fell on such a stream as this which passeth all understanding if you have known the peace of God you will know that it surpasses all understanding all that your capabilities that you would gather together in one are not capable of expressing what the peace of God means to you when it is dropped into your soul by the Holy Ghost and he says there's nothing between the way is open into heaven itself we live then with this blessed peace