PEACE: THE WORD FOR THE DAY

By Art Javier

 

I.                INTRODUCTION

     As already explained to us in the beginning of this series, the main theme of the epistle to the Galatians was to confirm to the Jews and Gentiles in Galatia, that we are justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the law.” The key verse in this epistle is the Galatians 2:16 “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” 

     As the epistle progresses, by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we are able to attain the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and that indwelling is able to produce in us the fruit of love, joy , peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23).

     Today we zero in on the fruit of “PEACE.”

     What was revealed to me by the Lord, on how I will be able to impart the message of PEACE to you today was that- He actually referred me to Chapter 1 verse 3.. “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ..”

     The revelation to me by the Lord is that no one in this world can ever have PEACE if he does not first receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It means that we must first accept our Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, be born again in spirit before we can even experience true peace.

 

     And as we breeze through this epistle, Paul is emphasizing that the Christian life should be lived in the power of the Spirit and not the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-17) “But I say to you, walk by the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another that you may not do the things that you desire. “

     As we moved on to the verse 21 and 23, we find the tremendous contradictions between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  “Envying, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.”

     Now I want you to focus on what Paul is saying here the works of the flesh, which are envy, murders, and things like these, are those that actually negate our attainment of peace. I will equate these works of the flesh to what I will call the SINS of the HEART which prevent us from enjoying TRUE PEACE in this world.

 

II. SINS OF THE HEART: H- HATRED

                                               E-ENVY

                                              A-ANGER

                                              R-RESENTMENT

                                              T- TIMIDITY

 

A.    HATRED

     Hatred by definition is the feeling of intense dislike or extreme aversion (dislike) of hostility. The hatred that I am referring to here is the one that is directed to others. Our Lord Jesus mentioned “hatred” in his sermon at the mount. (Matthew 5:22) “Anyone who hates his brother will be subject to judgment.” Our Lord commands us to be reconciled with our brother before we even come to the Lord.

     Hatred is a sin of the heart—It is so heinous, that the hateful thought or hateful act is tantamount to an act of murder in the eyes of God. The man who hates walks in darkness. (1 John 2:10-11) “He who loves his brother remains in the light. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and doesn’t know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

     The worst scenario, is that when a person who continues to profess religion but remains in enmity and hates his brother. The Scriptures says such person is a liar. (1 John 4:20). “If a man says “I love God” and hates his brother is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

     Hatred is like a poison, like an acid, that destroys us from within-producing bitterness that destroys our heart and our minds. It destroys the very core of our personal witness as a Christian and removes us from the fellowship with the Lord and with other believers.  A person who harbors hatred will never be at PEACE.

     FORGIVENESS is the sole act which will erase HATRED in our heart and allow the fruit of the Spirit, which is PEACE to manifest in ourselves-in our whole person and being.

 

B.    ENVY

     By definition, ENVY is a feeling of discontentment aroused by someone else’s possession, quality or luck. It is also that intense desire to have the quality, possession or a desirable attribute belonging to someone else.”

     When we are envious at someone, that means we want something of that someone, we don’t have. ENVY (which is a close relative of JEALOUSY) is a sin of the heart that is not characteristic of a true Christian. When we envy, that means we are still controlled by our fleshly desires. (Galatians 5:26. “Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.”

     ENVY is also manifested in us when we rejoice in the misfortunes of others or when we feel sad when somebody progresses, or attain some improvement or luck in their lives. Talk about the infamous “Crab Mentality.” 

     In order to remove ENVY in our hearts, we must set ourselves to simulate that perfect kind of LOVE that GOD has for us. (1 Corinthians 13). “Love is kind. It does not ENVY. It does not boast, It is not rude, etc..”

                The more we focus on ourselves, the less we are able to focus on Jesus. When    

          we are stubborn and harden ourselves to the TRUTH, we cannot turn to JESUS to    

          heal us. (Matthew 13:15). “For the people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are

         dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or perhaps they might perceive with    

         their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart and should turn again;

         and I would heal them.”

     Let us be more like Jesus and less of ourselves. Through Bible study, prayer and fellowship with mature believers, we learn to serve others and continually change our heart. It is only by knowing the Prince of Peace that we are able to attain True Peace. (Romans 12:2) :Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what is good, well pleasing and the perfect will of God.”

 

C.    ANGER

Anger by definition is a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility.  Anger becomes a sin of the heart when:

(1)   It is motivated by pride. (James 1:20) “For the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. “

(2)   It is unproductive and distorts God’s purposes. (1 Corinthians 10:31) “Whether therefore you eat, or drink’ or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”

(3)   When anger is allowed to linger. (Ephesians 4:26). “Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.”

     But more importantly, anger becomes sin, when we attack the wrong doer instead of the problem.  In Ephesians 4:15-19, we are told to speak the truth and use our words to build others up and not allow rotten or destructive words to pour from our lips.

     Anger more often than not causes depression and irritability over little things which are often unrelated to the underlying problem.

     The best way to handle anger and ultimately attain PEACE in our heart is to recognize and admit that our prideful anger was wrong. This confession should be directed to our Lord Jesus and to the people who had been hurt by our anger. (Proverbs 28:13). “He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (1 John 9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness.”

 

D.    RESENTMENT

     By definition, resentment is the bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly.  Resentment is synonymous to that feeling of bitterness and pain due to some injustice or an insult. Resentment can be directed to an action, a statement or a person. Either way, resentment stems from the love of things of the world and a lack of faith in Jesus and His plan for us. It is OK to recognize unfair treatment but we should not wallow or indulge in feelings of self-righteous anger.

     The Bible doesn’t care too much for the honor of human pride. An intense emotional outburst to an otherwise harmless insult shows a lack of spiritual maturity, a lack of self-respect and a lack of self-love.  (Matthew 5:38-39).” You have heard “An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist the evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

      Resentment is a passive weak emotion that has no place in a Christian life. If there is an insult, we should concentrate that we are in Christ and we must not put too much value in the cruel words of others.  If we face injustice, let us deal with it through prayer and Godly action. God will always allow us to be dishonored for the sake of sanctification- as we ultimately travel the road of the true PEACE that He alone can give us.

 

E.     TIMIDITY

    By definition, timidity is defined as lacking in self- assurance and courage.  Simply put, timidity is when you could have done something, but because of your cowardice you just didn’t do it.

     There’s not much that the Bible says about cowards except in Revelation 21:8. “But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, murderers, sorcerers, liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.”

 

     Peter is one good example of timidity when he enslaved himself in fear. His three-fold denial of our Lord Jesus surrendered himself to men rather than to God. But with Jesus’ forgiveness, Peter learned to lead a life of great faith and boldness despite facing persecution. 

     Jesus is our best friend when we are engulfed in fear and timidity. We are God’s children when we put our faith and trust in Christ. We should always ask our Lord Jesus to work His perfect PEACE in us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) “Be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid nor be scared of them for Yahweh your God, He it is who does go with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

     With all these words above, you will always be at PEACE with our God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, your fellow men and equally important, if not the most important, with yourself.

 

                                       PEACE BE WITH YOU!