Intro: Today’s sermon is about “PEACE”, and let me confess right off — This is sermon is for ME! “Peace” is just what I need, because in case you didn’t know, we are the proud parents of now a third (6 wks old on Monday) little Zakari Morehouse, and our littlest man has Colic.  

Colic according to official descriptions is when a baby cries for more than 3 hours a day (he does that by a long shot), for more than 3 days a week (check, he cries every day), and guess when it peaks (4-6 weeks). So no one is sleeping — You can guess what we are all looking for in our fifth wheel — PEACE!  

Anyone else here come to Church longing for peace — anyone worn out, trodden down, emotionally spent, tired, beaten up by life, or facing stress and anxiety… I have a suspicion that peace is something we all long for!

Miriam Webster defines peace as:

1. a state of tranquility or quiet: (Anyone want peace this morning?)
2. freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions (Do you long for peace?)
3. harmony in personal relations (Are you searching for peace this morning?)
4. a state or period of mutual concord between governments —

Right now the US is in major trade disputes with China and others, It appears that a major conflict may erupt with Iran, N. Korea is still rogue — The thought of these conflicts lead many in this church to cry out to God for a new home, a new government, a new heaven and a new earth where peace will reign…

Greater than war, more disruptive to a life than bad relationships, more oppressive than emotional ups and downs, and more intense and constant than a colloquy baby — is the burden of guilt upon the human heart and mind that can not find peace with God!  

It was this experience that tore into the heart of the Savior in Gethsemane:

“As Christ felt His unity with the Father broken up, He feared that in His human nature He would be unable to endure the coming conflict with the powers of darkness.” — DA, 686.

“With the issues of the conflict before Him, Christ’s soul was filled with dread of separation from God. Satan told Him that if He became the surety for a sinful world, the separation would be eternal. He would be identified with Satan’s kingdom, and would nevermore be one with God.” — DA, 686.

“In His agony He clings to the cold ground, as if to prevent Himself from being drawn farther from God. The chilling dew of night falls upon His prostrate form, but He heeds it not. From His pale lips comes the bitter cry, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Yet even now He adds, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” — DA, 687.

Behold the Lamb of God experiencing fully & completely what we only but partially taste now — the emptiness, the weight of guilt, the utter darkness that floods the soul and banishes away deep peace from he who is separated from GOD.

It is this search for PEACE with GOD that drives men and women to meditation & Eastern spiritual practices —  (Perhaps I can find peace within — but peace with God can not be manufactured by rhythmic breathing, or purging your mind)…. It drives them to drugs, to alcohol, to illicit relationships — Searching, searching for peace but never able to find it. The whole world is on one grand search for PEACE…

Soon we will start a seminar called “Financial Peace” — Why do people chase money? They are looking for peace!

Even Donald Trump is after PEACE — He has declared that the greatest deal of his life would be to “bring peace to the middle east”… But the Bible declares only one path to peace, only one way to bring rest to the human soul burdened with guilt, separated from God!

There’s good news friends — you CAN have PEACE today!

1. You can have assurance that you are right with God — How many want that?
2. You can be free from guilt — set free from sin! — Do you want that freedom today?
3. You can have absolute confidence in your own personal salvation!

The Bible marks out that path to PEACE for us, and we find it in Romans (Turn now in your

Bibles):

[Rom 5:1 NKJV]  “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Justification by Faith = Peace with God

So if you want Peace with God, what do you need in your life? — You need to understand, and experience “Justification by Faith”

“The danger has been presented to me again and again of entertaining, as a people, false ideas of justification by faith. I have been shown for years that Satan would work in a special manner to confuse the mind on this point.” — Faith and Works, 18.

You may say this morning “I don’t understand what Justification by Faith means?” — When you don’t understand something, what must you do to understand it, friends? You have to “STUDY

IT OUT”!

If a biologist wants to understand something in nature he doesn’t understand right now, he has to spend time studying that thing out! Studying takes time, it takes effort, it takes a desire to learn, and a heart that values and sees as worthwhile the knowledge that will be gained.

[2Ti 2:15 KJV] “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

“Justification by Faith” deserves your personal effort in individual bible study…

“There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare.” — 1 Selected Messages, 359. You need to ask yourself this morning — Am I part of that one or the one hundred!!! Great news, you can know and understand this vital truth (But you have to want it friends, you have to see the value and see that understanding God’s truth of “Righteousness by Faith” is vital to your salvation)

How many today will commit to studying this subject deeper for yourself this week?  (Raise your hands)

There is another reason we need to understand “Justification by Faith” — Spirit of Prophecy declares that this is the Third Angel’s message (Our Message) we are to bring to the world!

“Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel’s message, and I have answered, “It is the third angel’s message in verity.” — Evangelism, 190. _________________________

Let’s get back to our study together — Romans 5:1 begins with the word: “Therefore” — So what is that “Therefore” there for?  

Step by step Paul is unraveling the mystery of the gospel, and the build up to his statement that we can have “PEACE WITH GOD” is all of chapter 4! Paul says a lot in chapter 4, and then his conclusion to chapter 4 is “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God” — Roman’s 5:1 is what Paul was leading up to, or building a case for in Romans 1-4.

So let’s look back in Romans for a second and see what has led us to this point —  

[Rom 4:1-3 NKJV] 1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has [something] to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

(Pause) — Check this out, Paul begins to build his case on two very important truths:

#1 — The unshakable reliability of God’s Word

Paul says “What does the Scripture say”. Scripture is the ultimate authority to Paul, because Scripture is reliable… This really is God’s Word to mankind and it’s timeless truth speaks with relevance to the human condition today just as much as it did to Paul’s day! (Btw, you can go into a lot of Christian book stores now days and get a book on peace, or heaven, or salvation that have nothing to do with what the Bible says… Many of these books teach mystical methods of coming close to God rather than following clear Bible instructions)

We need to know today that God’s Word is unshakably reliable!

The Second bedrock truth Paul builds his case on is:

#2 — How God dealt with the faithful of the past, is how He will deal with us today. 

That’s why Romans 4 references Abraham, and David, and those whom God called righteous in the past is because Paul believes we can rely on God’s past dealing with men, as a guide for

His present dealings.

(In other words, the Unchangeableness of God, The faithfulness and consistency of God) If God did it for Abraham, if God did it for David, if God did it for those in the past YOU can count on God moving and working in your life today in the same way, He will do it again today, because God DOES NOT CHANGE!

[Mal 3:6 NKJV]  “For I [am] the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

[Isa 40:8 NKJV]  “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Point: There is another point brought out in clearness by Paul in chapters 3 & 4 — You can not trust in yourself, you can not trust to your efforts or ability to follow God, to give you assurance of Salvation or Peace with Him.

Chapter 3 — None are good

[Rom 3:10-12 NKJV] 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Chapter 4 — If you work, Salvation is a debt you are paying off, but you’ll never be able to pay off the debt, the price is too high!

Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness”

So here is the foundation Paul builds on:

#1 — God’s Word (His Promises) are unshakably reliable

#2 — God’s past actions are a guaranteed guide for how He will act today

#3 — Human effort alone can never produce righteousness

So because God’s Word says: “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness” — Romans 4:3 and because human efforts at becoming perfect on our own are useless:  

“none are righteous, not one” — Romans 3:10 and because both Abraham & David received righteousness through faith:

[Rom 4:6 NKJV] 6 “just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:”

[Rom 4:11 NKJV] 11 “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had while still] uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,”

We can know for certain based on those three things, according to Paul, that if we also place our Faith in Christ, righteousness:  

[Rom 4:23-24 NKJV] 23 “… shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,”

Now there needs to be some clarification here, because there is a danger that the Christian will place his assurance on his own faith rather than on the Christ that he places faith in!

They say “I believe” therefore “I am saved” — But salvation is not in your ability to “Believe”, it is in “Christ’s ability” to save! Salvation is not your spiritual strength, but His! Listen to Ellen

White:

“There is danger in regarding justification by faith as placing merit on faith.” — Faith and

Works, 25.

“When men learn they cannot earn righteousness by their own merit of works, and they look with firm and entire reliance upon Jesus Christ as their only hope, there will not be so much of self and so little of Jesus… Jesus, they think, will do some of the saving; they must do the rest. They need to see by faith the righteousness of Christ as their only hope for time and for eternity.” — Faith and Works, 25.

I want to show you something from scripture, turn with me to Galatians 2:16 :

[Gal 2:16 KJV] 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

I want you to notice something, whose faith does the verse say saves us? Is it faith “in Jesus” that saves us, or the faith “of Jesus” that saves? You may say, what’s the difference:

1. says I place my trust in my faith
2. says I place my trust in Jesus faith

How reliable is your faith, friend?

[2Ti 2:13 NKJV] 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful…”

“The resolutions you may make in your own finite strength, will be only as ropes of sand; but if you pray in sincerity, surrendering yourself, soul, body, and spirit, unto God, you put on the whole armor of God, and open the soul to the righteousness of Christ; and this alone,—Christ’s imputed righteousness,—makes you able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The work of every soul is to resist the enemy in the power and might of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the promise is that the devil shall flee from us.” — Sons and Daughters of God, 346.

You see, it is not your faithfulness that keeps you connected to God, it is God’s faithfulness to you, that holds you to Him.

Now just for the record, I don’t only read or study from KJV — in fact I often find it easiest to preach and read from NKJV, but here is where I think NIV, NKJV, and almost every other text translates the Galatians 2 wrong, they all say that we are justified by our “Faith IN Christ” — KJV says we are justified by the “Faith OF Christ”

One seems to declare that we are justified by OUR FAITH

The other declares we are justified by HIS FAITH

Now if you had to choose, whose faith do you think is able to bring you through the final conflict? Your Faith or His Faith? Whose faith has proven more steadfast and reliable down through time — Your Faith or His Faith?

I like how the New English Translation phrases this verse similar to the KJV:

[Gal 2:16 NET] 16 “yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

When you are assailed by the temptations of the enemy, where will your victory come? — It won’t come from your might or power, for we each have a perfect track record of failure — Look to the faith of Jesus who overcame temptation as an assurance that He will defeat the enemy in your life — Christ overcame where we failed, that we might overcome by His victory! What joy, what hope the Faith of Jesus brings! How reassuring that He did not stumble, He did not fall or fail — the Faith of Jesus brings courage to those tempted to give up at sight of their own trembling and faltering faith!

When you are beaten down and feel like giving up on God or life, don’t look to your own weak faith — Look up dear friend — Look to Calvary! See the Savior beaten, tired, weak, and worn, but full of love for you. See the picture of your own weak self reflected in the tears of Christ as He cries His victory cry… hanging between heaven and earth (“Father into your hands I commit my spirit) holding with an unshakable faith onto the assurance that through His stripes you would be healed, by His wounds you would be cleansed! His faith in the lowest moment of His life, is the rock solid assurance that He will lift you back up in the lowest moment of your life! You won’t be abandoned, because of His Faith! Your won’t be forsake, because of His

faith!

When you feel discouraged by your failures as a Christian, trust in the faith of Jesus! He’s not done with you yet. The mystery of godliness isn’t complete in you yet — and Christ will come again when His image is perfectly reproduced in His people!

Do you think that there will be a confident people, boasting in their great faith at the end of time! Oh no, it is the time of Jacob’s Trouble friends when the rocks and mountains tremble and the earth quakes, and the sky shakes, and the scattered few are hidden in the rocks and caves of the mountains hunted for their commandment keeping trust in God. What holds this rag tad band together and to God through earth’s darkest moment — Well they look up, not down! They turn their face to JESUS and their own faith is kindled by glimpses of His…

What can bring peace to a troubled heart, and a troubled world?  

“Therefore, having been justified by FAITH” whose faith? Your Faith? My Faith?

“Therefore, having been justified by the Faith of JESUS, we have PEACE with GOD!”  

Scripture is not saying that we don’t need faith, or that we don’t need to play faith in God, we do! The point is that it is not “Faith” that saves us — Let our trust be in “JESUS”

Who are you looking to for peace this morning, and who is robbing your peace? Turn your tired face up and begin to behold with faith what Jesus has done for you, What His faith has accomplished for you and can accomplish in you! Put more of yourself into His hands! and you will have PEACE… I want to end, but I must bring us to two more verse — First (Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience… keep the commandments… and the faith OF Jesus”)

[Isa 26:3 NKJV] 3 You will keep [him] in perfect peace, [Whose] mind [is] stayed [on You], Because he trusts in You.

Appeal: Today, will you raise your hand to say “Jesus I trust in your work to save me, and your power to transform me — I give my anxious heart, my guilty heart, my wayward heart to you”

“No outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self. But no man can empty himself of self. We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work. Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.” — Christ’s Object Lessons, 159.