James Merritt - Peace Process
You know, when I talk to young pastors about preaching and about preparing sermons, I tell 'em, I say, you know, the two most important parts of a sermon are the introduction and the conclusion. And the introduction is the most important part because what people are thinking right now, and this is what you're thinking every time you come to hear anybody preach, but I know what you're thinking right now. You may not even realize you're thinking it, but here's what you're thinking. Is this going to be worth my time or not? Or am I just gonna pull out my cell phone and do my thing? This is what you're asking. Is this really, really something I need to hear? Well, let me just tell you two words. It's all you need to know. And it's amazing that we're in this message on this topic today. Here's the two words. Ukraine and Russia. Says it all.
Ukraine and Russia, the two most significant events of the last maybe five years, terrible events, claim countless lives. Their ongoing conflicts, they're gonna have ripples maybe for decades. But the sad thing is, is even as heartbreaking as it is to see what's going on, it's really not that unusual. 'Cause if you were trying to sum up most of human history from the beginning of time in as few words as possible, unfortunately you could really use one word. And that pretty much sum up the history of this world since the beginning of time. And that word is war. This may blow your mind, but what I mean by war is this. It's an active conflict that is claimed more than a thousand lives.
Now I'm not talking about just a battle here or there or a little skirmish, I mean war. So let me kinda get this in your mind. Go back 3,400 years ago. In that 3,400 year period, there has only been peace in the world 268 of those years, out of 3,400 years. That means 3,200 of those years, somebody's been fighting a war somewhere. In the entire history of the United States, our nation, did you know, there's only been 15 years in our country when we were not fighting somebody somewhere in a war? 15 years out of our entire history, 15 years, we've been at war with somebody, peace has been a rare luxury in the history of the human race. In fact, Winston Churchill put it best, he said it this way. He said the story of the human race is war except for brief and precarious to the lose. There's never been peace in the world.
And long before history began, murder and strife was universal and unending. And as much as that may trouble you and it troubles me, as that much as it may grieve your heart and it grieves mine. Let me assure you, it grieves even more the heart of God because God is a God of peace. In fact, when you read the Bible, you know what you'll find? The Bible is a book of peace. As a matter of fact, the Bible is the word of the God of peace and it is full of peace. If you go read the New Testament, 27 books in the New Testament, of the 27 books in the New Testament, listen to this. 18 begin with a greeting of peace. How does the Bible begin? It begins with peace in the Garden of Eden. How does the Bible end? It ends with peace in the garden of heaven. So it all really comes as no surprise that deep down inside all of us, there's a hunger for peace.
We all want peace. Anybody that has a conscience, anybody that has a heart should want peace. We should want peace in the Middle East. We should want peace in Europe. We should want peace around the world. We should never, ever want a cannon to fire, a missile or a gun to fire a bullet or a sword to be wielded against anyone. We ought to all hunger for peace. And you know why we do it was put there by the God of peace. The God, as a matter of fact is we're gonna learn, sent Jesus Christ so that we might have peace. He wants us to have peace. And maybe that explains why Jesus said something in the next beatitude on the Sermon of the Mount that on the one hand may have been surprising to the people who heard it then, but maybe it's not. But let me tell you what Jesus said. But keep in mind, I want you to imagine you're Jewish, you're on that mountainside and you're hearing these beatitudes and every one of them is shaking you to your core.
Every one of you, you're going, I've never heard that before. I've never thought about that before. That seems so counterintuitive. It seems so counter-cultural. And then Jesus drops this bombshell, no pun intended. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. Now, when Jesus spoke those words, he was talking to the people who were living under the thumb of the Roman empire. They were living under the domination of a nation who even enjoyed, even though they enjoyed great peace across the empire. The reason they did was not because they were into peacemaking, they were into war mongering. Because here's what the Roman Empire would do, they would first invade your country and they would break peace before they would make peace.
And so when Jesus comes along and there were Roman centurions and Roman soldiers and Roman generals listening to this sermon as well, when Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers, mouths dropped, eyes rolled, sighs were heard because it was radically different from both the culture and the country that he spoke that in. And throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus keeps telling us over and over get used to different because Jesus did something that we don't even do today. Jesus didn't call out the troopers, he didn't call out the fighters, he didn't call out the warriors, he didn't call out the soldiers. He called out his peacemakers. And the reason why that's so different is we don't do that today. When you go see an action movie, you know my favorite genre, in fact, I think it's the only movie that anybody ought to watch. Personally.
I love action movies. How many James Bond people here? Like James Bond? Okay. Mission Impossible. Yeah. Okay, good war movies you like good war movies, okay. You know, yeah I like just a good dose of blood and guts just put me in a good mood. I don't know why, but I'm just that kind of guy. But it is so interesting. You never see people flock to a movie about people that make peace. No, the heroes are the warriors, the ninjas, the martial arts guys, the soldiers, the fighters, the people that we put the history books are the people who fight battles and win wars and conquer the enemy. And then Jesus comes along and he says, no, wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I don't think they ought to be put on the pedestal alone. What about the peacemakers? Why don't we take our eyes off of peace breakers? Why don't we put our eyes on the peacemakers? And that's when he says, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
So here's what I'm gonna learn today. You ready for this? When we make peace with God, we can then make peace for God. When we make peace with God, we can then make peace for God. So Jesus makes a statement and it actually begs four questions we're gonna answer this morning 'cause it has everything to do with Ukraine, everything to do with Israel, everything to do with war. But it's got more than that. It's got a lot to say to our culture and a lot to say to our community and a lot to say to our country because I promise you there's war going on right now in families. There's war going on right now in our public educational system. There's war going on right now in Washington DC, it's just a different kind. They're not firing bullets and shooting off cannons, but there's a war just the same.
So let me just answer these four questions that I think you'll find very relevant this morning. Number one, what do we mean by peace? When Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, what do we mean by peace? Well, 2000 years ago when Jews would greet one another, they do it the same way Jews do today. If you go with me, we ever get to go back, I hope we still get to go. But if you ever go to Israel, you'll find when you hear Jewish people on the street, here's the way they greet one another, they greet one another with a word. And that word is shalom. That's a Hebrew greeting. And that word shalom means peace.
Now the word peace is not a negative word. It is a positive word. When somebody walks up to you and say shalom, they're not saying, hey, I hope you stay outta war. I hope nobody fires a shot at you today. I hope you don't have to go to battle. I hope you're not called up to the army. That's not what they're saying. Peace is not the absence of something, it is the presence of something. And here's the interesting thing. There are a lot of people today who live in countries who are at peace, but many of the people that live in countries who are at peace don't have peace. You must understand first of all what peace is not 'cause I don't want you to get the wrong idea of what peacemaking is because you're hearing this on the news right now and you're hearing people say, oh we need peace, we want peace. We've got to have peace.
They don't really understand what they mean when they say that because let me make something very, very plain. Peace is not refusing to engage in a conflict, that is not what peace is. There are always gonna be people that'll just say, hey, let the sleeping dogs lie. Don't rock the boat. Don't cause any trouble. Turn the other cheek and turn the other cheek and turn the other cheek and turn the other cheek. Always get along with everybody. Well that's not always possible because even Paul said, Romans 12, verse 18, he said, if it is possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone, I hate to break somebody's bubble in this room today or maybe somebody listening to us right now. You just can't be at peace with everybody. It's just absolutely impossible.
My mentor, Adrian Rogers said something I believe is absolutely true. He said something is wrong with you if you get along with everybody. I believe that, something's wrong with you if you get along with everybody. I mean if you don't believe that Jesus was the prince of peace. But let me tell you something, he didn't get along with everybody. And if you don't believe that, ask the Pharisees. He didn't get along with the Pharisees. They had one thing in common. They didn't like him, he didn't like them, they didn't wanna be around him and he really didn't care to be around them. But let me tell you something, sometimes you're going to be known as much as the enemies that you make as you are by the friends that you make. You'll be known by the enemies you make as the friends that you keep. And if you're going to live like Jesus and live for Jesus, you're going to make enemies.
Some people are not going to like you, they're not going to get along with you. So peace is not saying, hey, I don't like conflict. I'll do anything I can to avoid conflict. That's not always peacemaking. Sometimes that's just cowardice. But peacemaking is not just compromising 'cause let me tell you why it's gonna be very difficult to find peace in the Middle East right now because contrary to what some people are trying to make us think, peace does not come easy. And peace is not cheap. You gotta pay a cost, you gotta pay a price to have peace. And I believe there's one peace, I'll always believe this, there's one price that is too high to pay for peace. And that is truth because we're living in a culture today where people say, listen.
And people say this all the time, the only way you get along with me, this is what a lot of people are saying now. The only way you can get along with me and have peace with me is you've got to always agree with me and never say I'm wrong. If you wanna get along with me, you've got to always agree and never say that I'm wrong. Because if you do, if you dare to say I don't agree with you, if you dare to say that is wrong, if you dare to say I cannot accept that, then they're gonna label you with a word that ends with the word phobic.
So for example, you believe that homosexual behavior is a sin, which I do and you believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, which I do, then you are homophobic. Or if you believe that the gender you were born with is the one that God intended you to have, you are transphobic. Or if you believe that the constitution of the United States should be the only guiding document we have instead of Sharia law, then you are Islamophobic. And frankly, the biggest problem we have in our culture today is too many people are truth phobic. They hear the truth but they don't like the truth and they can't handle the truth. So more and more people abandon the truth for the sake of peace, but that's not peace.
Now let me be clear. Yes, sometimes you have to compromise to have peace. I get that. But peace in and of itself is not compromise. You say, okay, you've told me what is not. What is it? This is what peace is. This is what real peace is. Peace is an inner security and tranquility that comes from knowing you're in a right relationship with the God of peace. That's what peace is. It's not political, it's not military, it's not who's got the biggest guns and the most powder. Peace is not really what you have on the outside. Peace is what you have on the inside. And that's so important because it's only when you have a right relationship with God that you'll have a right relationship with yourself. And when you have a right relationship with God and with yourself, then you can be truly capable of having a right relationship with other people. 'Cause it's only when you make peace with God that you can make peace for God.
But that raises a second question and that is so where do we find peace? I mean we're, you know, I wanna be a peacemaker and I wanna have peace. Where do you find it? Because one of the biggest problems we have today and we're seeing it played out all over the world, is yeah, we've got people that want peace. Or at least they say they want peace. But if they keep looking for it in all the wrong places, let me just give you a very easy example. If the Ukrainians were to say today to Russia, you can have the whole country just take it.
Do you think we have peace? Do you think if the Israelis said to the Palestinians, hey we'll just go find another place to live. You just take it back. You think we'd have peace? You don't find peace in a land, a piece of land. You don't even find peace sometimes in victory, in war. The truth of the matter is you'll never find peace in this world. Now you may find pleasure, you may find prosperity, you may find popularity, you may find position, you may find power, but you will never find peace. In fact, I read a story about a man that he read an article and this article said The way to achieve inner peace is to always finish things that you start.
That's what they said, the way to find inner peace. Always finish the things that you start. He took this to heart, he tried it. He said, this is what happened to me, this is what he said. Finish what you start definitely is working for me. I'm now making a point of always finishing what I start. And I think I'm well on my way toward finding true inner peace. So because I care for you, let me tell you how I did it. Here are the things that I have finished just today. Two bags of potato chips, a strawberry cheesecake, a package of Oreos, a two liter bottle of Diet Mountain Dew, that's for Bruce, and a large cheese pizza. He then said, I know this works 'cause I feel better already.
And see that's why we think, well I got news for that guy. He may have found peace in his belly. He's going to have war in his bathroom. I'm telling you right now, that is not the place that you're going to find peace. So let me go ahead and cut to the chase. I'm living this dream. You know, I asked you the other day, we're up in the mountains this past week and I walked into a service station to get something to drink. I said, how you doing man? I'm living the dream. I thought myself, man, I'm living the dream. I really am, 'cause I wake up every morning in perfect peace. I go to bed every night in perfect peace. When Dr. Rogers died, just before they intubated him, when they knew and he knew he would never talk to his family again. His last words, I am at perfect peace.
How does that happen? Let me cut to the chase. The only place you'll find lasting peace is in Jesus. That is the only place you'll find lasting peace. It is in Jesus. He's the prince of peace. As a matter of fact, Jesus made an incredible statement in the 14th chapter of John. Here's what Jesus said. He said, peace I leave with you. But then he gets real specific. My peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Jesus specifically said, hey, I'm gonna give you peace, but wait a minute, time out. My peace is not the peace that Washington promises. My peace is not the peace that Wall Street promises. My peace is not the peace that fame and fortune promises. My peace is not like the world's peace. It is not the peace the world can give. It is not the piece the world can take away. It is a peace that passes all understanding.
I can tell you I've experienced that in my own life and I have learned that no psychologist, no psychiatrist in the world can understand the peace that you have when you have Jesus the prince of peace. But now that raises a question. So Jesus, where did you provide this peace? Where does this peace come from? At the cross. Because up until the cross, we were all at war with God and we were at war with God because we sinned against God. We disobeyed God. But here's what Jesus did at the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, he confronted our sin. He conquered our sin. He canceled our sin by paying for it completely in his own blood. He then signed the peace treaty with God that put our name on it. And as the Apostle Paul put it, Jesus did this by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
See, I didn't realize what happened to me when I was nine years old. I still don't know all that happened to me when that 9-year-old boy in that movie theater gave his life to Jesus. I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I look back now and I realize what I did. I surrendered my sword. I laid down my arms, I waved the white flag, I surrendered and I made peace with God. I walked into that theater with the peace of God. I knew I had peace from God and I knew that I could peace for God. But it all began with a relationship with his son, Jesus Christ.
I found that peace, I've told you this many, many times before. The kid that walked outta that theater was not the kid that walked in. I looked back now and I realized what happened. I walked into that theater at war with God. I walked outta that theater at peace with God. And I didn't sign the peace treaty. I didn't even write the peace treaty. Jesus wrote it. Jesus signed it in his blood and Jesus put my name on it. And what I didn't realize at the time was when I walked up to that theater, God looked at me and said, now we're at peace. Now we are one. Now I'm your father. Now you're in the family.
The Catholic priest, Thomas Burton, wrote a whole volume of theology with one statement. Here's what he said, man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself and he's not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God. And that's why when you experience the peace of knowing Jesus, and the more you get to know Jesus and the deeper you go with Jesus, the more peace you'll have. As a matter of fact, let me tell you something, if right now in your life you're anxious about something, you're worried about something, you've got ulcers about something, you're walking the floor over something, you can't sleep because of something. Let me tell you what you need to do. You need to go deeper with Jesus. You need to get closer to Jesus. You need to fall more in love with Jesus.
Let me give you an illustration. This is fascinating to me. Oceanographers will tell you no matter how great a storm is going on in the ocean, doesn't matter, no matter how strong the wind, how high the waves, no matter how fierce the weather, listen to this, this is amazing to me. They say if you just go 25 feet below the surface of the ocean, it will be as calm as a country lake. Think about that. It can be a hurricane out there. It can be 100 foot, 200 foot waves out there. You just go 25 feet. That's all, 25 feet under the water. It is as calm as a country lake. That's the way it is with Jesus. When there's all kinds of chaos and havoc and the rain is blowing and the thunder's crashing and the lightning is flashing and all kinds of things are going on in your life, you'll find if you'll just go with Jesus, just get deeper with Jesus. You'll have the peace of a country lake. That's where you find it.
But that raises the third question and that is, well how do you make peace? I mean, Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. So how do you make peace? Blessed are the peacemakers. Well, look at the word make. You're not blessed by wanting peace. You're not blessed by wishing peace. You're not blessed by talking peace. You're not blessed by hoping for peace. You're not even blessed by praying for peace. He says you're blessed by making peace. Well that raises a question. How do you make peace? If you already know and you've already understood now, okay, so I get it now. Pastor, God's called me to be a peacemaker every day of my life. Yes he has. Well, how do I do that? How do you make peace?
Let me tell you the greatest way to be a peacemaker. And let me tell you why I have such a passion. I pray for it every day too. For lost people, for people who don't know Jesus. This is why, the greatest way to be a peacemaker is to help other people find the peace of God in Jesus Christ. Because another name for peacemaking is something Paul referred to. He called it the ministry of reconciliation. Want you listen to this carefully. When you make peace with God, I made peace with God as a 9-year-old boy. Some of you made peace with God. Maybe you were in your teens or early 20s, or maybe you were a child. I don't know. But you're here this morning, you're listening right now and you've made peace with God. You know you're at peace with God. If you die tonight, you're at peace. If God takes your life today, you're at peace.
That's great. Listen to me carefully. God did not give you that peace to keep it to yourself. Did you hear me? God did not give you that peace to keep it to yourself. He didn't say blessed are the peace takers. He said, blessed to the peace makers. And I realized early on, God, you didn't just give me that peace to me to hoard it and to keep it. You gave it to me. You gave me peace with you so I can help other people find peace in you. So I want you to listen carefully to these words that Paul wrote in a book called Corinthians. Listen to this. Here's what Paul said. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone. The new is here. All this is from God who reconciled us, made peace with us, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us thee. Can you say those words out loud? Ministry, say it loud. Ministry of reconciliation.
Let me just stop and tell you. I just called every one of you into the ministry. No, you're not ordained. May not give some tax breaks, may not get this or that. But you are in the ministry. 'Cause we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation. He keeps going, that God was reconciled the world to himself in Christ. Not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the, say that word, message of reconciliation. So guess what? You've got a ministry of reconciliation. What's that ministry? To share the message of reconciliation. He goes on. We are therefore, Christ ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God.
So here's what Paul said to every person who claims to be a follower of Jesus, you have a ministry and you have a message. You have the ministry of reconciliation, or we could call it peacemaking. And you have the message of reconciliation, which we call peacemaking. Why? People need to be reconciled to God. Why? Because there's a division between them. Your neighbor that's lost, your mother that's lost, your father-in-law that's lost, your best buddy that's lost, that teammate of yours that's lost. They may not realize it. They're in a battle. They're in a war. They're in a war with God. There is a battle between them. There's a barrier between them. There's a war between them. There's a division between them. Because the Bible says a friend of this world is an enemy to God.
Well, what does a friend of God do? A friend of God wants to go to these enemies and let them know this one simple thing. You know why I love talking to lost people about Jesus? 'Cause here's my simple message. I got some bad news, but I got some good news. Here's the bad news. You're an enemy of God. Here's the good news. God wants to be your best friend. You're an enemy with God. But God wants to be your best friend. Here's the bad news. You're at war with God. Here's the good news, because of Jesus and the cross, he wants to make peace with you. And that's what a friend of God does and say. So that's our ministry. Well, what is our message? Our message is the gospel. Our message is, hey, good news. The wall's been torn down. The barrier has been broken. A bridge has been built. And with a crucified, risen Lord, anyone, anywhere, anytime, any place can put their name on that peace treaty and they can make peace with God.
Now obviously anytime you can help bring peace within fractured friendships, you ought to do it. Anytime you can come and reconcile fractured families, we ought to do it. And the reason why a lot of us don't do a lot of this peacemaking business, 'cause I got news for you. Peace making's hard work. It's messy. Sometimes you fail, sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes you've got to endure pain. You've gotta pay a price. There is a cost. But what I'm saying to you today is this, as important as it is to make peace between nations and peace between enemies and peace between individuals, the greatest peacemaking of all is when you make peace between a sinner and the savior 'cause there's no greater blessing. You'll ever experience the blessing of taking the hand of a sinner who's hopeless and helpless.
Putting that hand in the hand of a Savior who is sovereign and supernatural and bringing them all together for all eternity. And I'm gonna prove this to you. There would be instant peace in Ukraine right now. There would be instant peace in Israel right now if everybody on every side surrendered to Jesus Christ. If everybody on every side surrender to Jesus Christ, you would have instant peace.
But then that raises the last question. And that is, why should we enjoy peace? Why should I get involved? Why should I get my hands dirty? Why should I take a chance knowing I might have both sides wind up shooting at me if I try to make peace? Why should I even bother with it? Why should I pay this price you talk about? Why should I endure this cause? Because Jesus said there is a reward waiting for the peacemaker. Listen to what he said. He said, blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. Now, in the Greek language, the word there for child is the word teknos. It's literally the word son. What that literally says is we will be called sons of God. Why is that such a big deal? Because back in that day, when somebody was called a son, it always meant two things.
Number one, it meant that they were someone's direct descendant. That they came from someone of that line in that family. But it also meant something else. When you were called a son of someone, it meant that you acted just like your father. So to be called a son of God means that people act like God. That's what it means. If you're called a son of God, you act like your father. I'm a dad and I can tell every dad in this room the same thing. I know this is true. There is nothing that thrills a dad more than to hear that his kids are just like him, that his kids emulate him. I'm talking about the good parts. There's just nothing like it to know. You've taught your son well, you've taught your daughter well.
You know, you tell the truth, they tell the truth. You're polite, they're polite. You're kind. They're kind. You love Jesus, they love Jesus. There's nothing like knowing that they're just like you. And when we're making peace for God, because we made peace with God, the world will look at us and they'll just have to say this. You know what? You're just like your father because God is the ultimate peacemaker. So don't miss this. The reason why we'll be called sons of God. And this is so awesome. The reason why we'll be called sons of God is because we will be sons of God.
Now I wanna just take a minute. I'm gonna chase a rabbit for about 30 seconds. When's the last time you stopped and just took a deep breath and just thanked the creator of this universe that you're in his family, that he is your father, that you are one of his sons, that you are one of his children. I mean, do you understand the privilege and the honor of being a royal blue blood and a child of the king and the creator? Because when you're a true child of God, do you know what you'll do? You'll do what your father does. I want people to say about James Merritt. There goes a son of God. There goes a child of God. There goes somebody in the family of God. You know why I want them to say that about me? 'Cause when they look at my life, they see someone that I just do what my father does. I walk in his footsteps. I follow his past as much as I possibly can. I just imitate him.
So I always look for ways to close a message. And I was having difficulty with this one, but one of my hobbies, or one of my passions is presidential biographies. I collect them. And I love to read biographies. One of my goals is to read the biography of every president before I die. I've got a ways to go, but I'm getting there. And one of my favorite presidents was Calvin Coolidge, Silent Cal they called him, didn't say a whole lot, one of the greatest presidents we ever had and only served four years. But he was a great president, but he had a dry sense of humor.
So there's this funny story about Calvin Coolidge and he invited some people from his hometown to dine with him at the White House. Well, they were so nervous when they got there. I mean, they're with the president even though they'd known him. I mean, he's the president of the United States or in the White House, most powerful man in the world. And they wanted to make sure they didn't do anything to mess up or look like they were idiots or, you know. And so they just all decided, you know what? Whatever the president does, that's what we're gonna do. We're just gonna imitate him. Whatever he does, we're gonna do it. Well, Coolidge noticed after a while that they were doing everything he did. They were mimicking his actions. So he decided he'd have a little fun.
So when they began to bring coffee around to the tables, the president picked up his saucer and poured the coffee into the saucer. And they looked at that and they said, okay, that's what we're supposed to do. So they picked up their coffee and they poured it into their saucer. And then the president took some milk, he poured on the coffee, on the saucer. They thought, okay, that's what we're supposed to do. So they took some milk and they poured it on the coffee, on the saucer. And then he put some sugar in the saucer and stirred it up. So they took some sugar out of their cup and put it in the saucer. And they stirred it up. Well, they thought for sure the next step would be he would take the saucer and begin to sip this coffee from the saucer. So they all took their saucers and they put it to their lips to sip it. But he didn't do that. He leaned over, put the saucer on the floor and called his cat.
Now you gotta give him credit. They're just trying to imitate the man. They're just trying to make sure whatever this guy does, that's what we're going to do. And I read that story and I thought to myself, it's funny, but it makes a point. How much more should we be like that with our Heavenly Father? How much more should our attitude every day, Lord, Father, whatever you do, that's what I want to do. However you would act, this is how I would want to act. Whatever you would say, this is what I would want to say. Wherever you would go, this is where I would want to go. Whatever you would do, this is what I want to do. Because how much more are you like your Heavenly Father than when you are a peacemaker?
So here's the question, serious question, somber question, sobering question. But it's a question. And don't blow it off. Don't be flippant. Don't give a knee-jerk reaction. Be honest. Right now where you're sitting, where you're listening. Do you have peace in your heart? I don't mean the peace of your 401k. I don't mean the peace that your house is paid off. I don't mean the peace that your checkup went great. I don't mean the peace of knowing you don't live in Ukraine or in Israel. Do you have the peace that comes from not just believing something about Jesus, but truly knowing Jesus and truly surrendered to Jesus? Because you cannot make peace for God until you make peace with God. And you cannot make peace until you have peace. And you cannot have peace until you know peace. And you cannot know peace until you know Jesus the prince of peace. But here's what I learned, if you will follow his peace process, you will have peace now and forevermore.
So the day comes as it will come for all of us, for some totally unexpected, for some in a clap of a hand. But for some it'll be on a deathbed with your family gathered around you saying your final goodbye. You're at the end of your one way. You're not gonna see another sunset. You're not gonna see another sunrise. This is the day. I will do the funeral this week of a lady named Jerri Graham. Jerri Graham was on my youth committee when I was a youth pastor in Smyrna, Georgia First Baptist Church, 90 years old. I just did her husband Ken's funeral about six, seven months ago. So I got the call Friday from Cheryl. She was in my youth group, I got a call from Cheryl. She said, I just want you to know mom just passed away.
Mom just went to be with the Lord. I said, well, Cheryl, how did it go? Tell me about it. Well, she'd been agitated that day for some reason. She began to losing her mental faculties and trying to pull the tubes out and the oxygen mask off and all that. But that didn't last very long. She said, I don't know why, I can't understand it. I did. She said, but at the end, it was peaceful. I wrote in my journal this morning, my spiritual journal, Jerri Graham passed away day before yesterday, and she was at perfect peace. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.
So my question, do you have peace in your heart? Sir I'm asking you, watching right now, you're sitting in that recliner. Maybe you're listening to this driving down the road, or you've got this on a TV program six months from now, do you have peace in your heart? The peace of knowing that you're right with God? 'Cause you cannot be right with yourself till you're right with God. And you can't be right with those till you're right with yourself and God. And you can't be right with God till you know Jesus.
So I just wonder who in this room today or who watching me right now would say, gosh, I didn't even know I was at war. Well, you are. I didn't know that I'm an enemy of God. Yeah, if you're a friend of the world, you're an enemy with God and you don't sit on the fence, you gotta choose sides. But there's a peace treaty that's been signed in the blood of Jesus Christ. And all you gotta do is put your name on it. You'll be at peace with God. And all you gotta do to do that is just simply say:
Lord, would you right now come into my heart? I don't wanna be at war with you anymore. I'm sorry. I lay down my arms. I'll wave the white flag of surrender. I believe you died for me. I believe that God raised you from the dead. I believe you're alive right now. And Lord, right now, I just want you to come into my heart and save me. Forgive me. I trust you as my Lord and I receive you as my Savior.