Peace that passes all understanding

I was reading in Leviticus this very week, because I am going back to read the Bible again, about the holy convocations. God called the people of Israel to have seven convocations. There was the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of First Fruits, the week of atonement, and a different number of things, the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles. Each of those things constituted a holy convocation where the people were supposed to go to the temple to worship the Lord and offer sacrifice at that time.

We now do them every Sunday. We come on Wednesdays, different times, but this idea of separating a time to be before the presence of the Lord as a people. And I encourage you in the name of the Lord to look at what God is doing in León de Judá at this time, the call that God is making to us, his visitations that are so beautiful, so special.

And that enthusiasm that we feel for God to complete his work in our church and that these next years of life, as a congregation, be years of harvest, of all this investment that we have made through all these years and entering a new era.

That is why we have put the motto of this celebration "The best is ahead and the last glory of this house will be greater than the first." Because we believe that God has something bigger, better for us in these next few years. And to start that time and conclude the time that is behind us now, we want to dedicate that week to the search for God and there are going to be different activities as well. So we are going to have those days of solemn convocation in light of what Joel 2 says, that "convoke a solemn assembly, grieve before the Lord, cry out to Him for a visitation of his spirit to come." And the Lord says, "Caring for his land he will send wine, oil, grain and blessing."

That's what we're going to do. So put that there in the name of the Lord in your spirit right now. If you feel God supports me and not me, obviously, but what I represent as senior pastor of the church, that week of seeking the face of the Lord, afflict our souls because we also need to do that for all the things that afflict the Holy Spirit, but also to make us empty vessels so that the Lord fills us with his oil, with his anointing.

For me this is a great expectation of what God still wants to do through the León de Judá Congregation and the coming years that await us, which are going to be wonderful. So I put that in your spirit. I was pondering whether to say it or not, but there it is.

Now, ask the Lord to give you wisdom and discernment as to how long you are going to do it. Because if we become a passionate mass crying out to God, God is going to do something. God is going to visit us greatly. So I put that in there and we're going to have other prayer times during that week as well, lots of nice things. I invite you to pray now so that the Lord impregnates us with his life and does extraordinary things with us. Amen.

So, I want to invite you to go to Galatians. Weeks ago we started the meditation on the fruit of the spirit. Because I have always believed, what I was saying a moment ago, that we have to seek that balance from the Lord. We Pentecostals fall in love with the gift of the spirit but sometimes we don't think enough about the fruit of the spirit. And I see it as two sides of a coin.

As the Americans say, it is not this or that, but this and that in perfect harmony. The fruit of the spirit is not a corrective to the gift of the spirit, it is rather a complement of both. And we have to maintain that balance.

That is why I have taken this time to preach about the fruit of the Holy Spirit because it is also necessary that we meditate on it. So, weeks ago we started this meditation on the fruit of the spirit and if you will remember, because it was a long time ago. What happens is that other preachers intervened, during Holy Week, there was the intervention of Ezequiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, and that led me to continue with the meditation on Joel.

That is to say that many things have intervened since I began to preach about the fruit of the spirit, but always in my mind to complete what I have started and continue reflecting on the fruit of the spirit that is so important.

I preached on two topics, you will remember, about love, because in Galatians 5 it says, "but the fruit of the spirit is love - and we preach about that - joy, - we also preach about the joy of the Lord - and peace." The fourth is patience, then kindness, goodness, faith or fidelity, meekness and temperance. And Paul says that against such things there is no law.

So today I want to talk a little bit about peace. The peace of the Lord, the peace that God calls us to experience. Because the presence of the spirit in us must produce peace. And I want to talk a bit because it is something very complex. Peace of mind is something extremely dynamic and complex.

And I want to read some passages and I don't have that much time because God has done so many beautiful things in the service, glory to God, there has been no... no waste, as the Spanish say. Nothing has been wasted here today. Everything has been a great blessing. So in the time I have left I want to reflect a little.

But if I can't reach all the thoughts and I'm going to continue, I think, last Sunday, because this happened to me this morning in the English service as well. I'm going to use this time for two sermons on peace, on peace of mind.

But at least take the readings with you. And if you want to write them down, write them down and use it this week to meditate. At least there is one person here, Bethany, who tells me yes. Write down the readings to reflect on.

Philippians chapter 4 apart from Galatians 5 which I just read. And we are going to see in their complexity all these different texts. Philippians 4:4 says:

“Rejoice in the Lord always.” Again I say, rejoice. That's where the joy is. “Your kindness be known to all men. The Lord is near." Now verse 6 begins and says, "Be anxious for nothing." There you are talking about peace already, right? Don't let your peace, your emotional stability be affected by anything. Now we know that's hard. The man or the woman who can experience the Lord's peace in his life, that is a great achievement.

"Do not be anxious for anything, rather let your requests be known before God in all prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." There is an antidote to anxiety. Later I am going to talk about that, which is prayer, a life of prayer is one of the greatest antidotes against anxiety.

I don't know about you, but I find that when I pray and pour out my soul before the Lord, it is better than going to any psychiatrist, and even cheaper. and I can do it in my own house with a cup of tea. there is something beautiful about prayer that calms the spirits.

“…your requests before God in all prayer and I pray with thanksgiving. and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding…” because the peace of God is not something explainable, the peace that God gives is a peace that is beyond circumstances.

"... who surpasses all understanding will guard, protect, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Because that's important, what do we focus on and who do we focus on. Later I will talk about that, that according to what you focus on in life, so will your life be. And I don't want to get too far ahead, but there's a lot there to keep our thoughts focused on Jesus Christ. It is as if you approach a radiator, a heater, your body heats up because that heater is a source of heat, and you yourself are infected.

And likewise when you focus your gaze and mind on Christ Jesus, wow! the very life and peace that is in Christ Jesus somehow rubs off on you too. The Lord will keep his eyes on Christ Jesus.

Then Paul adds and says, “For the rest, brothers, everything that is true, everything honest – look at this here, what Paul is saying here, also concentrate on this, your life thinks about it. Another thing I want to talk about later. "... everything that is true, everything honest, everything just, everything pure, everything kind, everything that is of good name, if there is any virtue," - that is, anything that represents beauty, it harmony of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

“…if there is any virtue, if there is something worthy of praise in this, think about it.” Focus your life and try to cultivate those positive elements and if you think about it, something good will happen in your life. Paul then says in verse 9, "... what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, this do."

There is another thing there that also reminds us how good it is to observe good examples in life, good mentors, people filled with spirit, people mature in spirit, and one talk with them, be intimate with them. If you want to have peace from the Lord and grow in maturity, stick with people who are mature in spirit. Don't stick with people who are always drinking around or criticizing others or complaining. No, look for those mentors, look for those good examples.

Paul had authority to say, "What you have seen in me, do that also." May God bring us to that point in life, that we don't have any reservations, to tell people, "Hey, what you see in me, do that." Because we don't say it with ego, you're not going to say it with that, but you're going to say it because your life represents something positive. And we must learn from those good examples.

And when we stick with people like that, we will also experience peace in our life. Because the values of the Kingdom of God are going to allow, when lived by us, and being infected with the examples of others, that we also have that peace. And again, we'll talk about that.

It says, “…do this and the God of peace will be with you.” He knows that God is a God of peace too. Sometimes we emphasize the lordship of God, his power, his holiness, his justice, his omniscience, his omnipresence, but what about that attribute? Where there is God there is peace. That's why if the spirit of God is there, there is peace. There is freedom too. God is associated with peace, the God of peace will be with you.

When we keep our mind focused on the positive things of the Kingdom, there is a result of peace. So he continues in that chapter of Philippians, speaking to the Philippians, thanking them for providing for his needs, giving offerings to support his ministry.

In verse 11 Paul says, "I'm not saying this because I have a shortage." I mean, I'm not thanking you because I'm missing anything. “…because I have learned to be content whatever my situation may be.”

There you have another element of peace. Pablo has learned to be happy in all situations of life, even in shortcomings. I remember my mother, when I was a child in the Dominican Republic, in Alma Rosa. How many know where Alma Rosa is? Some around here, the Dominicans know. I was little and I grew up there in that part of the Dominican Republic. We are talking many decades ago. When Alma Rosa was a little field over there, very small, on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, the capital.

And I remember my mom, and we didn't have much money or anything. Sometimes we were serious. I remember those moments, before my mom knew the Lord, at that time she got to know the Lord, her life changed and God did something wonderful in my family. God transformed our life economically, everything, everything changed when my mom entered the ways of the Lord.

But that is not the point. The point is that when I was little, I was still lying in bed. My mother had converted in those days and she would get up in the morning, and I would listen to her worshiping and singing Pentecostal choruses despite the fact that things were still not going well for us financially. But she had such a joy of having known the Lord Jesus Christ that that was the only thing that mattered to her.

One of the choruses that I remember is, “In the morning, the birds sing their praises to Christ, the Savior, etc.” Now revival again here. And that brings me such a beautiful memory of my mother praising the Lord in the shortcomings. Because she was so filled with the joy of the Lord that she adored the Lord and that she gave to us too, her little children.

So, Paul says, “…I have learned to be content whatever my situation is.” Even if all you have is a little sugar to add to your coffee, adore the Lord and be content with that because that is part of the blessing. And Paul had learned the secret of conformity, the secret of contentment, which does not depend on physical circumstances.

I'm going to talk about that too. The peace of the Lord is a peace that passes all understanding. It does not depend on the circumstances. He says:

“…I have learned to live humbly and I know how to have abundance, in everything and for everything I am taught, as well to be satisfied, as to be hungry, as well as to have abundance as to suffer need.”

I ask the Lord, "Lord, help me find that secret, no matter what my condition is." Look, if God gives you a Cadillac or a BMW enjoy it, enjoy it. If you have a good steak to eat tomorrow, eat it with gusto, letting the juices of the meat run out of the corner of your mouth. But if all you have is a banana with a little oil, and hopefully olive oil, and a scrambled egg, enjoy it too.

Because you have to learn to be in any situation in life. For all one to be accustomed. We are warriors in the Lord. We're going to talk about that at a later time as well, about peace that doesn't depend on circumstances. We have to learn to be content with everything.

Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." When we are filled with the Lord we can experience the peace of God, because our peace does not depend on us, but on our closeness to the Lord.

Now, the following is interesting, brothers, that one hears Paul say, "Do not be anxious for anything, I have learned to be content in everything," and one would think, "Well, Paul, he was a super man who never worried, never felt fear or anxiety.

Look at this passage, Second Corinthians:11. I want to tell you about the complexity of peace. Peace is something very complex and very dynamic. Paul also experienced anxiety many times. The man who says, “be anxious for nothing,” now in Second Corinthians, chapter 11, he says, “…and besides other things, what crowds me every day – he is speaking of his own apostolic experience – the worry..."

But Pablo, didn't you just say that we shouldn't worry about anything? “…the concern for all the churches. Who is sick, I am not sick, who is made to stumble and I am not indignant." This man too... because we fight... the truth is that we all go through moments of anxiety, anxiety, fear. That is something natural in human life. And the Christian life is a struggle.

So don't be ashamed, Christian. That is important to me, not to add more burden to God's people by saying, “no, don't be afraid. Don't worry." "Well, but I do." And what happens? Am I in sin then?" Sometimes pastors, even preaching to people to have peace, we fill them with even more load.

It is important that you understand that if you struggle with anxiety, with eagerness, it is a natural tendency and the peace of the Lord is something that is conquered. The peace of the Lord is something that even has to be fought for many times. As I said before, the joy of the Lord, the devil wants to steal our joy many times. And we have to say, "No, you don't come through here."

And when you lose joy, go back to look for it and bring it back. Like a disobedient goat, lasso her and bring her home again. The important thing is that we are not content with anxiety and eagerness, but that we learn... when we feel the inclination towards eagerness, we seek the armor of God, we seek the medicines of the spirit to recapture peace.

Because the peace of God is something dynamic. You have it for a moment, then you lose it. It develops and one grows in peace over time. Over the years, things that used to take away our peace now don't bother us so much. We have learned to trust in the Lord. We have a longer fuse.

You know that the word patience in the original Greek means that, to have a long fuse. Like those bombs that are in the dolls that have a very long thread and start to burn from there. The more you learn in life, the more experience you have with the Lord, the more God has been filing your personality, the longer the fuse becomes and it takes more and more time to take away your peace of mind, because you have already learned many lessons. And the Lord likes to give us lessons to lead us to develop that patience, that peace, that trust and that being still and knowing that God is God.

When we are sometimes going through great tribulations in life, go to the secret place, and seek the company of the Lord and before leaving, shoot ourselves and start protesting, be still and know that God is God and that He knows what he is doing. We will also talk about that later. And you are going to say, “Well, pastor, and when are you going to start talking about what are you going to talk about?”

I'm already talking about it. [Laughter] James, chapter 4. Another very interesting passage. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom on these passages. James 4. Says:

"Where do the wars and lawsuits come from among you? Is it not from your passions, which fight in your members?

That is for me one of the penetrations and insights, of the deepest psychological knowledge of Scripture, the fact that many times the wars in the world, the social controversies, this time, for example, of such great polarization that there are in the United States and in many nations of the world, they come because men, human beings are divided within themselves. Because he knows that only God can reconcile us with ourselves. Only the presence of Christ in our lives, the prevailing of the word of God and the principles of Scripture, can take our different emotions, our thoughts, our energies, and order them so that there is coherence in us.

Because the human being, left to his own nature, is a divided, schizophrenic being, in conflict with himself, he loves but hates, he wants and also offends, he loves God but on the other hand there is also a spirit that pulls him away from God, he wants being pure and cannot, blesses and at other times curses. Our emotions are divided. But when the spirit of the Lord is gaining ground in our lives, all those contrary aspirations and emotions become unified with the passage of time and we become internally harmonious beings and that internal harmony then translates into harmonious lives as well. We become people of peace, because over time God has allowed us to recover our own peace within ourselves.

I ask the Lord, “Lord, unify my energies, so that the desires that I have to serve you, to please you, are also unified with and dominate the other animal, carnal, and diabolical parts that are also within me. And go on eliminating everything that is not yours, Father, and unifying my inner being so that then I can be a person of peace, that attracts others and infects others with the peace that You have given me."

And that is something that has been going on for a long time and that God is crucifying us, filing us down, pruning us, removing the rough edges until we then remain like a smooth stone, at the bottom of a river that through the water runs years and years over it, it ends up being smooth, not sharp, not hurtful.

And that is only earned - I will share that with you - through many ailments, many trials, many difficulties. And that's one of the things that to gain peace sometimes you have to go through tribulation, let me tell you that. Only through many tests, many difficulties, can we become those harmless and blessed beings of others, when God is filing us down. And that is not reached by any other path than by the path of experiences, trials, difficulties.

I am going to tell you that many times, brothers, the most beautiful people I have met in life, and even the happiest people, are people who have gone through great tribulations in their lives, and who have processed them appropriately and who then they are light. God has taken away all those burdens that we have when we are young, wanting this, wanting that, fighting for this, and He says, “Hey, come on, I'm going to put you on the operating table and I'm going to teach you to be a man, a woman of peace.” And that is only through those experiences.

And James paints a picture here of what it is to be divided. "You covet and you do not have, you kill and you burn with envy and you cannot achieve, you fight and you fight but you do not have what you want because you do not ask..." and he is talking about the Christian world, imagine. The Christian world has always been like this, no one is surprised that in the churches there are divisions, struggles, that there are imperfect people.

They tell me, “Pastor, there is sin in the church.” And I'm like, “Wow, sis! I knew that many years ago." [Laughter] And look, let me say, "If there is no sin in the church, there is something wrong, because the church has to be a hospital." It's like telling a psychiatrist, “Dr. there are crazy people in the hospital.” "And what do you want if it's a crazy hospital?" Sometimes the main madman is the psychiatrist himself, you know. [laughs]

But he is speaking to the church. He tells them, “You ask and do not receive because you ask badly to spend on your delights. Oh, adulterous souls…” Wow! That's strong. It is a first century Jew speaking to a congregation. “…Don't you know that the friendship of the world is enmity against God? Anyone, then, who wants to be a friend of the world, becomes an enemy of God."

I want you to study those passages and in your meditation time, over a cup of coffee, let the Lord speak to you about these passages because there is a lot there. I could already, if I were a wise man I would say, "You're already fired, go home." But I'am not. I still have about 10 minutes left. [Laughter] I have 10 minutes left, with the help of the Lord. Ten minutes I ask you to at least start. Because this is part of the sermon.

What I want to teach you is this, that peace is something extremely complex, as you can see. It is composed of many facets. It's like a diamond. Now, one thing is clear, that God is a God of peace and we who follow Him, we who are part of his family, must be people of peace. Let us not be content, my brothers, let us not be content with division, neither in our lives, nor in our families, nor in the world we inhabit. Because where God is there must be peace. And I rejoice when many people come to the church from outside, and say, "Hmmm, there is peace here." And I thank the Lord for that.

I know that there are discords, there are divisions, of course, but there is also a lot of peace and I want every day that León de Judá grow and be more and more a place of peace. I tell that to the leaders of the congregation, and perhaps I am getting on delicate ground here, but we have to think twice before we disturb the peace of a church, in anything. It can be something simple and tiny. Let's count to 100 before we become discord agents.

There is something interesting in Scripture. You know that the Bible says that when the temple was built, the sound of the hammer was not to be heard. He knows that all the stones in the sanctuary of the Solomonic Temple were fitted together, and the wood was not to be cut. If wood was to be cut, it had to be outside, first cut and then fitted, so that the sound of the hammer would not be heard in the house of God. How interesting. They were adjusted in such a way that they counterbalanced each other, because it was as if the house of the Lord was so holy that violence should not be heard in it, but tranquility and peace.

I ask the Lord, "Lord, keep us from being a source of scandal in your house." The house of the Lord is holy. And not only when we are physically in it, but the economy of the church. And I know that many times there is… that happens, and I freely say so because there is nothing new about it. It is not that we are more sinners than anyone, but yes, many times in our leadership, in the activities that we organize, yes, meat comes out. It is still quite alive in many of us. It shouldn't be like that. And I must be the first. We have to be very careful about being agents of… because God is a God of peace.

God's house should be a place of extreme reverence. It must be very different from the world and that must also be so in the houses of the children of God, our families. We have to earnestly desire that our homes be homes of peace.

I always say, "Lord, let our house be with a holy precinct where You can feel comfortable dwelling." If your marriage is not a place of peace, cry and cry before God but do not get used to a troubled marriage. If your relationship with your children is not a smooth and calm relationship, don't be happy about it. Fight, paradoxically, fight for the peace of your home, of your marriage. Marriage should not simply be a coexistence, it should be something that gives life to spouses and children.

And if you have to die, die. If you have to be quiet, be quiet. But, brothers, we are going to cry out to the Lord and ask him to make us people of peace, that our homes, the house, our houses be houses of peace. And by the way, I tell you that there is a retreat for couples. Not a retreat but an event for couples that I imagine Jonathan announced, that he invited couples. Invest in the health of your home, in the peace of your homes.

You have to invest. If you can't pay for that activity, I tell you in the name of the Lord, brothers, come anyway. I declare a moratorium. If you can't pay, don't let not being able to pay keep you from coming to that retreat. I already spoke with Wendy and with others. if they can't pay, it doesn't matter. But invest because our homes must be healing homes, places of healing. Our children will be people of peace in the future when they see parents and grow up in homes where there is peace.

God is a God of peace. That is why Paul says, "And the God of peace will be with you." There are many passages of Scripture that speak of the God of peace, as we see in Philippians, chapter 4. In fact, the word "shalom" is peace. The Jews blessed each other with the word “shalom”. And the definition of "shalom" is a tremendously comprehensive definition. It is harmony, it is prosperity, health, God's character, many things because where God's people are there must be peace.

With this I will end. Talking about God's order. I have been meditating a lot about God that, the order of the Kingdom of God, the order of the Kingdom of God. And I ask the Lord that our congregation be a congregation where God's order reigns in every way. It is twinned with the word "shalom" where God creates in our church a people that reflects harmony, beauty, and the order that is appropriate to the Kingdom of God.

A people where husband and wife know their roles, submit to each other, where the wife blesses her husband, acknowledging his leadership, where the husband lives out his priesthood exemplifying the character of a priest of God, blessing his wife , where children are subject to their parents, where there is also economic order, discipline, not giving cards left and right, but living within what we can afford. And that our houses may not be luxurious, but at least, that they be clean, orderly houses, where there is tranquility, where there is peace, where there is order, where there are hard-working people, people who reflect the beauty and order of God, where we discipline ourselves our bodies, our eating habits, our treatment of others. Order, the "shalom" of God, because God is a God of order and peace.

I understand what Jonathan meant, again, although I think, as I said, we can't take away that effervescence either. That is important too. It is not a contraposition of one thing to the other. But yes, I have always believed that where God is, each one of us has to aspire to that. It should be a place where people look through the window and go wow! I want what those people have. That we are people who are orderly in all our habits, that we have ordered our passions, that we have ordered our dealings with others, the way we speak, everything, everything, people who save, people who study, who plan, our youth growing orderly in the Mister.

May the "shalom" of God that befits the people of God spread through our lives. That we be people of order and not a self-righteous order, not a neurotic order. Because it is also easy to fall into that order, control. No, it is the organic order of God. Because there are people who have been touched by the Holy Spirit in which the word of God reigns and the beauty of the Kingdom of God is manifested in all its areas, so that we can then reflect that God of peace. Right now I want to bless this town with that "shalom" and end here, but then we will continue.

But, Father, by this word that has been preached, Lord, these attacks of spiritual intelligence, I prophesy over this people now, Lord, peace, the order of the Kingdom of God. May the glorious cloud of your spirit, Lord, manifest itself in young married couples, in those young women, those youngsters, those children, Father, that the Lion of Judah for your exclusive glory, be a family where the beauty and harmony of the God we serve It manifests itself in all areas.

That the enemy who wants us to be a chaotic, destructive, accusing being, has no part or luck in our lives. File our rough edges, Lord. Bless our homes, remove all resentment, remove all excessive ambition, Lord, remove all sensuality that does not glorify you, Father. Remove all materialism, all vice, all ambition, Father, all attachment to material things, all lack of discipline in us, Lord. We want to honor you, that our houses, this house, our homes, the order of our family, honor the God of peace, the God of order that we serve and that we adore and bless.

By this word, Father, by the power that is in your word, and in prophesying in your name, I declare your spirit directing, straightening, filing the divine process of perfection in us, sanctification in us being fulfilled.

Lord, I pray for our young, our young men. Father, I pray that they will come to love the order of your house, that they will be an example to youth, Father. I pray that our children will reflect your health, Lord, that we will facilitate for them, that they will reflect the beauty of your Kingdom, Father, that where there are young people out there, reflecting other things that the youth of our church, the children of our church will reflect holy people, the people that bring pleasure to you.

Father, make this family a truly pleasing family in your eyes. We want to reflect, that Israel that You created, Lord, and that You prospered and then, that your prosperity spreads and is manifested through our family, our business, our work life, our way of treating each other, of speaking. Lord, take all our appetites and put them in order, Lord, of your Kingdom. We thank you because you are a God of peace.

Lord, we ask that the fruit of your spirit, which is peace, among other things, be manifested in our midst. And we thank you because in Christ Jesus it is possible. And the fruit you will give through us, Lord. We bless this town. Say goodbye to your house, with your peace and your blessing in the name of Jesus. And the people of God say, amen, amen, and amen. Glory to the Lord. Come next Sunday and we will continue meditating on the peace of the Lord. Amen.