======================================================================== LET PEACE RULE IN YOUR HEART ALWAYS by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of honoring God by finishing the work He has planned for each individual, seeking peace in all aspects of life, and trusting God to open up the way step by step. It encourages seeking reconciliation, maintaining a peaceful heart, and trusting God to crush Satan under our feet. The focus is on glorifying God by completing the specific tasks He has assigned to each person. Topics: "Completing God's Work", "Trusting in Divine Guidance" Scripture References: 2 Timothy 2:2, Psalms 139:16, Romans 8:28, Romans 8:29, Proverbs 4:12, Psalms 119:105 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of honoring God by finishing the work He has planned for each individual, seeking peace in all aspects of life, and trusting God to open up the way step by step. It encourages seeking reconciliation, maintaining a peaceful heart, and trusting God to crush Satan under our feet. The focus is on glorifying God by completing the specific tasks He has assigned to each person. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, I hope you have had a good conference so far with all the other brothers. They are very dear brothers, the ones who have spoken to you, godly men. And we praise God that he's raising up such people in our churches who are in touch with him and who can speak the word of God to another generation. That is God's will. All of us have a responsibility, not only for our generation, but for the next one. You know, Paul was so concerned, not only for the next generation, but the generation after that. Turn with me to Timothy, Paul's letters to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 2. We read that Paul writes to Timothy saying, the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust them not to just to any brother but to faithful brothers. That's the second generation. No, Paul, sorry, Timothy is the second generation. You have heard from me, Timothy. Paul is first generation. Timothy is second generation. You heard from me. You must entrust them to a third generation of faithful men who will be able to teach a fourth generation. You see the burden the apostle Paul had that there should be a continuous testimony, not just of good doctrine, but of faithful men and women in every generation. And that's the responsibility, first of all, not of elders, but of parents. Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy. He called him his son. And those of us who have children, you have a responsibility to ensure that your children, boys and girls, grow up to be faithful young men and women in their generation. It's not enough that you are wholehearted. You must raise up another generation of wholehearted people. There is a saying in the world, in the business world, that success without a successor is a failure. Success without a successor is a failure. That means even if you have done a great job in a company, but you haven't raised up someone to take over that job, you're a failure. Same in a church. If an elder brother does not raise up others who are faithful after him to carry on who are 20-25 years younger than him, he's a failure. And if you are a wholehearted brother and your children are not growing up to be wholehearted, don't be so proud. Consider yourself a failure. Don't just say, oh my children are born again, they are baptized. That's a very low level. That is like saying, well my children have passed kindergarten. They know their ABC and they know two plus two is four. Are you happy with that? That your children passed kindergarten? Or even that they finished 12th standard? Every one of you, you're eager that your children should go to college. What about spiritually? Are they progressing? We are living in a very evil world. Standards are going down, particularly in the sexual area. So many people are being tempted through the internet and many other things. The whole society is going in another direction. The influence of western, I think western influences are influencing Christianity as well. Standards are going down. There's so much of compromise in many churches. For example, divorce is something we never heard of in India in my younger days. It has become common now among Christians, among people who call themselves born again Christians. What does it indicate? Standards are going down. Immorality. People are married and are unfaithful to their wives. I'm talking about believers. I don't know whether they're real believers. They claim to be believers. A man can't be a believer and walking with the Lord if he's unfaithful to his wife. No, he's deceiving himself. Even a person who's says he's happily married and he's watching pornography in secret, he's fooling himself. The sad thing is not that people fall into sin. Listen, the sad thing is after they fall, they don't weep. They don't weep. They don't repent. There are no tears in their repentance. You know the Corinthian Christians, they're known as a bunch of carnal people. Let me show you what Paul tells them in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. By the way, we read in Acts of the Apostles, Paul spent one and a half years in Corinth. Can you imagine if Paul spent one and a half years in your church? One and a half years, the mightiest apostle in the world living in your town for one and a half years, preaching every Sunday and many days of the week, visiting your homes. Boy, you think you're going to have a really spiritual church. Paul started the church in Corinth and stayed there for one and a half years, 18 months, because the Lord told him, it's all there in Acts chapter 18, I have much people in this city. There are people in your town whom God says, I've got people that I want to reach and I've kept you there to be a witness in your office. I know there are limitations in open witnessing in your countries, but no one can stop the witness of your life, your uprightness in your office. No one can stop you from, stop them from, they can see you reading a book. I remember when I was working as a naval officer and I had an office and a table, I would keep a bible there and I would, people would know what I was reading. Nobody can stop that. I'm not actively witnessing, I'm just keeping a book there to read. People know that and I'm the same in a ship and people see that and get converted. I remember a brother said to me once that when he went into a new town and it was a sort of a Christian town and he, a country I mean, nominally Christian, he didn't know how to make contact with other believers. Whenever he went to a restaurant to eat or have a cup of coffee, while he's having that, he'd sit there reading a bible openly and like that one or two believers saw him and said, hey are you a believer? What a wise way to make contact with people in a strange town. So Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 1, I cannot speak to you as to spiritual men, but you are fleshly men, you are babies in Christ. Paul was there for one and a half years and some of these people never took their Christian life seriously because they were clever, they were clever, they were rich. And you are fleshly, verse 3, there's jealousy among you, there's strife among you, you are walking like ordinary men, you're walking like other men. Is it a crime to be walking like other people in the world? Yes. It says here, it's one of the crimes of the Corinthians. They were walking like all the other people, they were behaving like all the other people. You go into their homes and they would be yelling at each other, husband and wife, just like other people. No, that's not to be for a Christian. This was the Corinthian church and Paul wrote such strong words to them, some very strong words. One person who lived in sin, we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, he said, put that man outside the church, remove him. He called him a wicked man, he was a believer. 1 Corinthians 5.13, he called him a wicked man, take him out. And it says here, verse 1 Corinthians 5.5, he handed him over to Satan. Apostles have that authority. He could hand a believer over to Satan, not to send him to hell, but to so trouble him in his life with all types of problems and sicknesses perhaps, so that one day, 1 Corinthians 5.5, he'll be saved. So sometimes, God loves a person so much that he hands him over to Satan, so that he'll be troubled and get saved. You know, so many people have been saved through sicknesses and getting cancer and things like that. So God loves people not to give us a comfortable life on earth, but to save us for eternity. But this is the type of way Paul dealt strictly with this church in Corinth. Thank God for a strict apostle like Paul, who would not compromise, and who did not care for his own honor, whether people thought he was too hard or people thought he was strict. He didn't bother about that. He lived before God and he did his work. What is the result? A few years later, he writes 2 Corinthians, and in 2 Corinthians, he says, my letter to you, see what effect it had on you. See, 2 Corinthians 7, and verse 8. In the second letter, he is telling them, I caused you sorrow by my first letter. I know that. He says, my first letter, which is first letter to the Corinthians, caused you a lot of sorrow when you read it. But I don't regret it. I love preachers who are so faithful to the word of God, that even when they cause sorrow to their hearers, they don't regret it, because they're concerned about the growth of those believers and not their own honor before those people to get a reputation for being very gentle or things like that. No, that's not what they're seeking for. They're seeking for the good of the people they speak to. And now see the result. And he says in 1, 2 Corinthians 7, verse 8, although it caused you sorrow, it was only for a little while, now I rejoice, because I see the result. That sorrow brought you to repentance. And that such a sorrow is according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. So you see, this is how Paul wrote to people. He wrote strongly, and the purpose was that they might grow spiritually and become Christ-like. He says that sorrow, now listen to this in verse 10, the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance. And it says here that, I'm sure there must have been a lot of weeping, their sorrow, because it produced, verse 11, what earnestness, what a longing, what zeal, and you have demonstrated yourself, verse 11, the last part, innocent in this matter. So when a preaching of an apostle brings great sorrow in people because of their sin, and they repent and they weep, it's producing a result of the Holy Spirit. That's how those apostles worked, you know. They were not concerned about their reputation. They were never interested in people's money or honor, any such thing. They were concerned that people should come into Godliness. And he kept on speaking like that, and that is God's will for all of our churches as well. I want to share something further about how there is an expression in the Bible called the God of Peace is a very important thing in the Christian life. In fact, you know, if you go right to the Bible, when the angels came to the shepherds, we read in Luke, chapter 2, that the angels said to the shepherds in Luke, chapter 2, in verse 14, the angels were singing and saying, glory to God on the highest, that we can understand, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. This is how it is in the NASB, and I believe that's a good translation. Peace among those men with whom God is happy. If God is happy with you, you will have peace. And if God is happy with your church, there'll be peace among people in that church. God is not happy when there's no peace, either in your heart or in your home or in your church. Peace on earth among men, those men with whom he is happy. How is it in your home? How is it in your relationship with fellow believers? We can't have peace with everybody. The Bible recognizes that, but we must do our best. Let me read this verse to you in Hebrews, chapter 12. Pursue peace, Hebrews 12, 14, with all men, even with unbelievers. I must never, never be a person known as a man of strife, not in my office and not anywhere. I want to be known as a man of peace everywhere. So pursue peace with all men, without which you will not see the Lord. Isn't that quite a strong word? If I'm not a man of peace, there's a doubt whether I will see the Lord one day. I have to pursue peace and holiness. Then I want to show you Romans, in chapter 12. Romans, chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 is a great chapter about Christian living. And in verse 18, we read, if possible, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. We already saw in Hebrews that we must pursue peace with all people, but the Holy Spirit is realistic, and he recognizes that some people will not cooperate with you in having peace. Even though you are for peace, they are for war. Sometimes your relatives can be like that. Some daughters-in-law find that with their mother-in-law. They want to be at peace, but the mother-in-law wants war. Or the other way around. Some mother-in-laws want war, but the daughter-in-law wants, some mother-in-laws want peace, but the daughter-in-laws want war. What can you do even though you're a wholehearted Christian? And therefore it says in verse 18, if possible, as much as it depends on you. You know there are many commands in the New Testament, but there's only one command in the entire New Testament which says, do this if possible. About no other command does it say that. It doesn't say, if possible, don't steal. If possible, don't tell lies. If possible, don't murmur. If possible, don't complain. No. If possible, don't kill people. No command is prefaced with if possible. If possible, don't lust after women. If possible, don't get angry. No such command. Only one command in the Bible, it says, if possible. That is, peace with all people. Because the Holy Spirit knows many people in the world don't want peace. What can you do? Therefore it says, as much as it lies in you, be at peace. See, I've been a servant of the Lord for more than 50 years, and when you're a servant of the Lord seeking to serve him under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you're a target of Satan. And I know I've been a target of Satan. I think it's a great honor to be a target of Satan, because he considers you to be a threat to his kingdom. So, I've been a target of Satan for a number of years, but I'm not afraid of that. Because I feel it's an honor. And so many people don't want to be at peace with me. So what shall I do? What shall I do? I say, Lord, if possible, as much as it lies in me, I shall be at peace with all men, but I can't guarantee that. That's up to them. From my side, I will always seek to be at peace with every believer, with my neighbors, with my relatives, with my in-laws, and with every person in the world. But it requires a cooperation from the other side. I will not start a strife or a fight, but if they want to be, I say I have nothing to say. If people want to quarrel with me, I say I'm not going to cooperate. You know, like I often say, you need two hands to make a sound. If somebody wants to come and fight with me and you refuse to cooperate, they can never make a sound. They cannot fight. Because I don't cooperate with them to make that sound. So if possible, as much as it lies in you, it's entirely up to you whether there's strife or not. Let that person come for strife, but you don't cooperate. You seek peace. It's a very important thing. Maybe your wife is in a bad mood one day, or your husband is in a bad mood one day. Bear with it, and don't judge them. You just make sure that you stay out of the way and be at peace. That'd be a great testimony for your children when they grow up to see that I grew up in a home where I had a mother and father who were not yelling at each other, like in other homes. And they'll want a whole home like that when they get married. That's a very important testimony. So peace is a very, very important thing. And I want to show you another verse. Colossians in chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 we read in verse 15. It's a very interesting verse. It reminds us of a football game. Let the peace of Christ, and the margin it says, act like a referee in your heart. You know in a football game you have a referee. And it says the peace of Christ must be the referee in your heart. You know what happens in a football game if the referee blows a whistle? The game stops, and you cannot continue the game until you bring the football to the place where the foul was committed, put it there on the ground, and then the referee says, okay, now the non-offending party can kick the ball and continue the game. That's the meaning of a referee. When the, when you lack peace in your heart about any situation, you're worried about something. Peace is gone. Or you're agitated about something. Peace is gone. Or you're disturbed the way somebody else is behaving, and you want to go and tell him what you think. Peace is gone. The referee is blowing a whistle in your heart. Stop. Don't go anywhere. Don't try and go and speak to that people at that time. You know, in the Bible says that when we are, we should not be, we should be angry but not sin. Ephesians 4 and verse 26, Ephesians 4, 26, it says, be angry but don't sin. Don't, there is an anger without sin, and there is an anger with sin. The anger without sin is what conceals the glory of God. When Jesus saw people making money in the name of God in the temple, Jesus was angry, and he took a whip, chased them out, all the sheep and everything, and when Jesus saw some Pharisees not willing to let a man with a withered hand to be healed on the Sabbath day, he was angry. That is an anger without sin, where it concerned the glory of God. What is the anger with sin? When people hurt us, when they spat on Jesus' face and called him prince of devils, he was not angry. So there you understand, Jesus is the dictionary by which we know what the word of God means. Every verse in the Bible, you find the answer in Jesus, just like if you don't know an English word, you open the dictionary. So you read a verse in the Bible you can't understand, go to Jesus. That's the spiritual dictionary. That is the word made flesh. In the Bible is the word in printer's ink, but that word in printer's ink, you can see made flesh in Jesus. So when we read, be angry but don't sin, I say, Lord, what does that mean? What is anger without sin? I go to Jesus, and I see what was anger in his life without sin, where it concerned the glory of God, but if it concerned himself, people called him bad names or even spat on him. He never got angry. Even when they came to capture him, he put his arm around Judas Iscariot and said, friend, he healed the man whose ear was cut off. No, he was never angry when it concerned him. I've tried to follow that law since I got light on this in my own life. Anything people say about me or do to me, Lord, give me grace never to get angry. I hear that somebody said something against me or did something against me somewhere, immediately I forgive him. I say, Lord, I don't know what he said or where he said it, but I forgive him in Jesus name. I don't want him to be condemned. Like Jesus said on the cross, Father, forgive them. They didn't ask for forgiveness, but he forgave them. That's what I want to be, and I don't want to have anything in my heart. I say, Lord, I bless them. I wish them good. It says, bless those who curse you. Pray for those who persecute you, and you want to actually do that. I want to bless everybody who curses me. I want to pray for those who treat me badly. That way I would remain at peace. If you take a neutral stand and don't do anything, peace will be disturbed. Do what Jesus said. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who treat you badly. Love your enemies. There will be peace in your heart, and ask God to give you grace for that. All of us will face, in our place of work, people are jealous of us and trouble us. Our children face it in school with people who trouble them in some way. I remember my own children faced problems in school because some of those teachers were from churches, which were not from which people left and came to our church. They were disturbed by that. Those teachers would take it out on my children in school. I said, okay, God bless them. I taught my children to have a good attitude towards them, and I sought to have a good attitude towards them. Pursue peace with all men. Nothing can happen. My children did not suffer because some teacher tried to trouble them in some way. No, they'll suffer if you lose your peace, and you start getting into a fight. But if we honor God, I'll tell you this, if you honor God, God will not only honor you, he'll honor your children. Yeah, that's God's way. If you are righteous, you know, all of us are concerned about our children, and that's right, but I'll tell you the best way to bless your children. Read Psalm 37. Be a righteous person. Psalm 37 and verse 25. You know, David wrote most of his psalms when he was a young boy, before he was 30 years old, before he became king. You read that in the top of the psalm, but this is a psalm that David wrote when he was nearly 70. He died when he was about 70, and this is one of the psalms that he wrote when he was a very old man, after years of experience, and he says that in verse 25. Psalm 37 verse 25. I have been young, now I'm an old man, but in all my life, Psalm 37 verse 25, in all my life, I have never seen a righteous man forsaken by God, or a righteous woman forsaken by God. God leaves the hand of a righteous man. Impossible. It didn't happen in David's time, and it has not happened in my time, it has not happened in any generation. I have never seen the righteous man forsaken by God. Be righteous, brother. God will never forsake you. You may lose money in the world because you're righteous. You may lose your position in your office because you're righteous. You may lose friends because you're righteous, but God will stand by you. But not only that, it says, and his descendants. I've never seen his descendants, the descendants of the righteous person, begging for bread. Descendants means children and grandchildren. Begging for bread means, who's the one who goes begging for bread? Yeah, we see them in India. Who are the beggars who beg for bread? Those who don't have a job. Those who have a job don't go begging. So I paraphrase those words like this, if you are a righteous man, if you are a righteous man, your children will always get jobs. Your grandchildren will get jobs. What a wonderful promise. That is my paraphrase of that verse. It's not by giving them a good education and giving them a lot, a lot of money that you earned in the Gulf that is going to go well with your children and grandchildren. Don't fool yourself. Don't make money your God like the people in the world. You want to bless your children and grandchildren? Be a righteous person. That is the greatest wealth you can give your children. And when you're righteous, you'll seek to be at peace with people. You'll be at peace in your home. You'll be at peace with your family. Always pursue after peace. I want to show you another verse. You know, I was telling you about the referee that blows the whistle. Let the peace of Christ be a referee in your heart. Whenever you feel a disturbance in your heart, it doesn't matter if the other person did the wrong thing. Lord, I find a little disturbance in my heart. Something's wrong with me. I want to judge myself. Maybe my attitude to that person is wrong. Maybe he is wrong completely. That's right. He's wrong. But my attitude towards him is also wrong. Please forgive me. Help me to have a loving, humble attitude even to my enemies or those who try to deceive me and fool me. Many people in my life have tried to deceive me and harm me, but I'll tell you till today, nobody has succeeded. In 61 years that I've been a believer, Romans 8 28 has always worked. That's my testimony. Romans 8 28 says all things will work together, not individually. When you look at the events that happen in our life individually, yeah, it looks as if it's all disturbing. But put together with all the other events that take place in our life, they will work together for my good. It's a very important verse. Most of us know Romans 8 28. But I want to ask you a question. Do you know Romans 8 29? The next verse. Most Christians who know Romans 8 28 do not know Romans 8 29. And you will not be at peace if you don't understand Romans 8 29 also. So I want to read both those verses together. Romans 8 28 says we know something, and it's very important for us to know it. It's not just that God does things for our good. That itself is great. But it says in Romans 28, we must know that. My question, my dear brother, sister, not whether that verse is in the Bible, but do you know that? Do you know with absolute certainty that no matter what the devil or anybody else in the world tries to do to you, it will work for your good? That is the way to be at peace in our heart always. That guy is trying to harm me. That chap in the office is trying to trouble me. Lord, it'll work for my good. Read the story of Joseph. He had 10 brothers who hated him, sold him off to Egypt, thought they'd never see him again. And when he went to Egypt, there was a wicked woman who accused him falsely. We haven't faced such things, have you? Have you had 10 brothers who sold you into slavery? Have you had some wicked woman who accused you falsely? Maybe you have, but it's pretty extreme cases of persecution. And he was only 17 years old. And for 13 years, he suffered. But at the end, God made him the second ruler in Egypt to bless his 10 brothers who had troubled him. Here it says, God makes everything work together. It didn't look like that for Joseph for a number of years, but 13 years later, he saw the amazing way God worked. And you will see in the future, if you honor God by seeking to be at peace with all men and keeping peace in your heart and keeping an attitude of love, you will see one day that God makes everything work for good. They will come and ask forgiveness from you. I've seen that happen to me. People come years later. I've seen that happen during this COVID-19 time. I see old people whom I knew many, many years ago come to me and say, Brother Zach, I'm getting old. I don't know when I'll die. I did this wrong to you. Please forgive me what I did many years ago. Thank God for COVID-19. If it brings a fear of death into some people's hearts, that they seek forgiveness from people and set matters right before they meet the Lord. Isn't that a good thing? So COVID-19 is not entirely bad if it makes people seek God and set things right with others because they know they're going to meet God soon. It's happened to me. At least three, four people have done that in the last few months. I say, thank God for COVID-19. Not that they ask forgiveness from me, but they're setting matters right before they meet God for the way they treated a servant of the Lord. Okay, praise the Lord. I never had anything against them, but all things work together for good. Romans 8, 29. And that good is described in verse 29. The good is not that you'll get a promotion. The good is not that if you're single, you'll get a better wife. This one rejected you, so you'll get a better one. That's not the point. The good is that you will become a little more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. What is the greatest good you're looking for? That shows a test of whether you're spiritual or not. If you think the greatest good for you is a promotion in your job or getting a visa or some earthly thing like that, you haven't really become a wholehearted Christian. Maybe you have accepted the Lord, but you haven't become a wholehearted Christian. If you're a wholehearted Christian, you say, Lord, there's only one thing I'm aiming at. Like Paul said, forgetting what is behind, pressing on to what is ahead. He says in Philippians 3, 10, I want to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of me. That is Romans 8, 29, to become like Christ. So all things work together for good to make me like Christ. That's why my heart is at peace. My heart is not at peace because I'm going to get a promotion. Maybe you lose your job and maybe that's what God wants for you. He doesn't want you there anymore. He wants to take you away somewhere else, but he'll make you like Jesus. I'll tell you one thing. I can guarantee, I can give it in writing, absolute certainty that there is, if you're a wholehearted disciple of Jesus Christ and you want to glorify him in your life and that's your only goal, he will make every single thing that people do and what people don't do, who should do something, and they don't do it for you. They forget. Like, you know, it says, Pharaoh's cup bearer. Joseph interpreted the dream for him in the prison and he was released. And just before he was released, Joseph said, please, will you go and tell Pharaoh that I've been unjustly put here in prison so that I can be released? At that time, Joseph was 28 years old. You read that in Genesis 40 onwards. And he was 28. And it says, Pharaoh's cup bearer, who experienced such a miraculous explanation of his dream, when he went up to Pharaoh, he completely forgot about Joseph. Can you imagine such ingratitude? You did a great favor to someone and some good result came from that in his life and he completely forgot about you. Have you had that experience? You're not the first person. Joseph had it. And that man forgot about Joseph for two years. Then one day, when Pharaoh had a dream, and no, none of his magicians would interpret it, then this man remembered, oh yeah, I remembered two years ago, there was this guy in the prison who explained my dream to me and he told Pharaoh and Pharaoh said, oh, is there somebody like that? Bring him here. And Joseph was now 30 years old. And he comes before Pharaoh and Pharaoh immediately appoints him the second ruler in Egypt. Why did that man forget about Joseph? God removed it from his memory. God removed it from his memory because Joseph was not yet ready to be the ruler. It had to wait two more years. So don't think that God has forgotten anything. God is always on time. And your time is not God's time. Be at peace. Somebody has forgotten to do something he promised for you. You did so much good for him and he completely forgot about you, didn't help you when you needed it. Be at peace. Think of Joseph. He did not have Romans 8, 28. He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have any fellowship. But you know, Joseph spoke Romans 8, 28 from his own mouth when his 10 brothers came to see him. Have you seen the Romans 8, 28 of the Old Testament? Let me show it to you. The Romans 8, 28 of the Old Testament is found in Genesis chapter 50. That's a great verse. And it came from the mouth of Joseph. You know what he said to his brothers when they came to see him and they were bowing down before him? And he forgave them. He said to them in Genesis 50 verse 20, you all meant something for evil against me, but God turned it to good to bring this present result. You meant evil, but my God turned it for good, not only for me, but for all these people. When God does something good, it is not only for you. It's for all the people around you. God meant it for good to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. I call that the Romans 8, 28 of the Old Testament. And it came from the mouth of Joseph who had suffered such a lot. I'm mentioning these things to say to you that there is no excuse for you not to be at peace. Be anxious for nothing. Let your request be made known to God. I'm sure Joseph prayed in that prison. Lord, I don't know why that guy's forgotten me. I did some good to him, but he seems to have forgotten me. Six months gone by, one year gone by, nothing's happening. And he's just praying. And one day God answered that prayer. Be patient. Be at peace. Don't have a grudge against that person who forgot to do something for you. Be at peace. Love him. Wish the best for him. If you keep your heart at peace, you know what God will do for you? Let me show you. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. It's a great promise. 1 Thessalonians 5. Here is the one verse in the New Testament which tells us what we are made of. It's the only verse in the Bible which tells us what man is a trinity. He was made in the image of God. It says here in verse 23, man is spirit, soul, and body. A lot of people in the world think there are only two parts to man, visible, invisible, body and soul, or body and mind. But the Bible says there's something deeper than mind, spirit. There are consciences, spirit, soul, and body. And it says here, your whole being, verse 23, will be preserved, complete, without blame. Your spirit will be preserved without blame. Your soul and your body will be preserved without blame, without sin. By whom? Verse 23, by the God of peace. The God of peace will sanctify you totally, will make you holy completely in every corner of your heart. What is your part? Be at peace. Keep your conscience clear. Be at peace means as soon as your conscience disturbs you about anything, that the way you spoke to your wife is a little unkind. Go immediately and ask forgiveness. I've done that numerous times, not only to my wife, to young brothers, to anyone. Accidentally, I said something. I go to him and I say, brother, I'm sorry. Never hesitate to go to someone you hurt or wounded, unbeliever or anyone, say, I'm sorry. That was my mistake. Please forgive me. I want to do it better. That's a mark of a man of God. A man of God is not someone who never makes a mistake. A man of God is one who's quick to acknowledge his mistakes because he's keen to keep his conscience clean, because he wants the God of peace to sanctify him, make him holy completely. That's his passion, and peace is a very important part of it. Like the angel said, peace on earth among men with whom God is happy. God is happy with men who are at peace. Then I want to show you something else in Ephesians 6, sorry, Romans 6, not Romans 6, Romans 16, Romans chapter 16. Romans 16, this is the one verse which says Satan will be crushed under our feet. You know, Romans is an explanation of the gospel, starting from chapter 1, describing man's sin, justification by faith, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, victory over sin, chapter 6, freedom from the law, chapter 7, life in the spirit, chapter 8, God's sovereignty, chapter 9, God's righteousness, chapter 10, God's faithfulness, chapter 11, and presenting our body, chapter 12, and how to live the Christian life, our attitude to government authorities, chapter 13, our attitude to one another, Romans 14, and Romans 6, and relationships with one another, encouragement of the God of encouragement, and finally, the conclusion of the gospel, Satan is crushed, not just on the cross, under your feet, Romans 16, 20. That's where the wonderful message of the gospel ends in Romans. And who does it? God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. I want Satan to be crushed under my feet. I don't want to crush anybody else under my feet. I don't want to crush any believer under my feet, or people who harm me, not even those who hate me. I don't want to crush them under my feet, but I want to crush Satan under my feet. But I can crush Satan under my feet only if peace reigns in my heart. If I'm agitated in my heart, Satan will not be crushed. He may crush me. But if peace is in your heart, the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. What is the problem you're facing today? Do you feel Satan is troubling you, or your children, or your family in some way? Do you want Satan to be crushed, and defeated, and cast out of your home? Seek peace. Go and ask forgiveness from all those you've wronged. You know, Zacchaeus, when he met Jesus, he said, every person whom I've cheated, I'm going to go and find out where their house is, and pay back four times what I took. He calculated interest and everything, and said, I cheated them so long. I'll make them happy. I'll give them back four times what I took from them. And there are some other people whom I don't even know their address, whom I cheated in past years. I can't keep their money. I'll give it all to the poor. Half my money I'll give to the poor, he said. And I'll also repay all those people I cheated. And you know what Jesus said? It's the only time in the Gospels where we read Jesus saying something like that in Luke chapter 19. Salvation has come to this house, because he decided to set matters right with all the people he has wronged. You take a decision today. Lord, I want peace in my heart. I want to ask forgiveness from everybody I've wronged. My husband, my wife, maybe my children, my neighbors, my in-laws, the guy who cheated me of my family property, whom I have such bitterness against, I want to forgive him. Pursue it, my brother. You may not get money, but you'll get peace, and you'll get something far greater. God will sanctify you completely, spirit, soul, and body, and Satan will be crushed under your feet. That is, in the long run, that is more important. When you get into eternity in heaven, you will not be worried about your in-laws cheating you of some property, that those few extra lakhs of rupees that you could have gotten lost because somebody cheated you. Forget it. You're not going to worry about that in eternity. But you will worry about something in eternity, that you could have been a useful servant of God on earth. You could have accomplished something for God out there in the Gulf during the few years there. Why do you think God has placed you in the Gulf, my brothers who are working there? A worldly person would say, in his mind, he would even say, it is to make money. It is to earn a sizable sum of money that I can educate all my children with a good education. It's so that I can build a nice house in Kerala or wherever I'm from, and have a sizable sum to live comfortably for the rest of my life, and to give something to my children as well. That is why God has brought me to the Gulf. Wrong. That's not the primary reason. God takes you to places to sanctify you, to make you a blessing to other people, to bring other people into his kingdom who would not have known about him if it were not for you. Because even though you are living in a country where you're not allowed to witness, nobody can stop your life from being a witness. Nobody can stop you giving an answer to people who come and ask you a question. And that's how God has raised up these churches there, to be a witness for him. It's a wonderful thing to have accomplished God's purposes before we leave this earth. You know, Jesus said in John 17 and verse 4, Father, I have glorified you on earth, and I'm sure all of us want to glorify God. But read Jesus' example. How did he glorify God on earth? Before he went to the cross, this is the last day. Next morning he was going to be crucified. And he said, Father, I have glorified you on earth because I have finished the work you gave me to do. There's only one more thing to be done, to go to the cross and die. Then he said it is finally finished on the cross. But while the work that had to be done in those 33 and a half years, I have finished the work you sent me on earth to do. In 33 and a half years, there was a particular plan God had for Jesus. And Jesus completed that in the appointed time. He didn't have to live for a hundred years. Why did Jesus not have to live long? Why didn't he live for 60 years? You could think he could have been a blessing to so many more people if he had died at the age of 60 instead of 33 and a half. What a blessing he could have been if he traveled to Rome or the other places Paul went to, Galatia and Thessalonica and all these places. He never went there. No. 33 and a half years was enough. He was only in Israel all the time. There are many preachers who have a lust to travel around the world. Think about I've traveled there. Jesus lived all his life in a country about the size of Kerala all his life. Imagine a person who lived only in Kerala all his life. Can he accomplish the will of God? Never traveled outside. Never even went to Tamil Nadu. And no desire to go anywhere else. I'm happy if God is wanting me in Kerala all my life. I'll be there all my life. Would you have been happy if you were living in Kerala and God said you'd have been Kerala all your life? Jesus was quite happy. And he finishes work. There are a lot of people who travel the world who have not finished the work God gave them to do. They've gone seeing places. They've done this, that and the other and they accumulated a lot of money. But they did not finish the work God gave them to do. We all say I want to glorify God. John 17 4 tells us how we can glorify God. By finishing the work which God planned for you to do. And just like there was a plan for Jesus' life, I want to say to every one of you who's a child of God, in Jesus' name, before you were born, God made a plan for your life. One of my favorite verses which I keep quoting always. Psalm 139. Before I was born. Psalm 139. You read verse 13 to 17 and verse 16 particularly. Psalm 139 verse 16. When I was in my mother's womb, you formed me, verse 13 and verse 16. While I was not yet fully formed in my mother's womb. In your book that is in your mind, all the days appointed me for me was written for me before I was even born. Psalm 139 16. How precious are your plans for me Lord. There's a plan. God has planned every day of your life before you came out of your mother's womb. That is a tremendous encouragement me to know that before I came out of my mother's womb. I was born 81 years ago. 1939. And before I was born, God had made a plan for my life. And now when I look back, I say, oh God, I'm so thankful that to the best of my knowledge, I tried to fulfill that plan. I don't want to count the amount of money I made or the places I traveled or what I did or what I didn't do. Did I finish your plan? And I say, Lord, I have no love to live on this rotten old earth, but I don't want to leave before I finished your plan. If your plan for me is to finish tomorrow, that's it. But if your plan for me is to live up to the age of a hundred, I'll live. I'll do it. Even if I'm sick, I'll serve the Lord. I want to finish the work you gave me to do. I don't want to have a target of making so much money before I leave the earth. No, I want to finish the work God gave me to do. I hope that is your desire. If you're a real Christian, that will be your desire. This is what it means to follow Jesus. How can I glorify God? John 17, four, I glorify him by finishing the work he gave me to do. Paul said in one Timothy, the second Timothy, sorry, second Timothy four, Paul says similar words at the end of his life, the last letter he wrote, second Timothy four, verse seven, I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. Paul, Paul, how much money did you make? I don't know about that, but I finished my course. How many people did you bring to Christ, Paul? He says, I don't keep a count of all that. I don't calculate all that to get some honor. I have finished my course. Did you live a perfect life? No, I slipped up now and then. Even just a few years ago, I shouted at the high priest and called him a whitewashed wall. I slipped up. I immediately asked forgiveness and asked his forgiveness also. So I didn't live a perfect life, but I set matters right immediately. As soon as I did something wrong, I didn't wait. I finished my course. What a wonderful thing. I don't want to be like the thief on the cross who says, hey, I went to heaven. I finally reached heaven. You think the thief who is in heaven today, but if you were to meet that thief on the cross who died and went to heaven, Jesus told him, you'll be in paradise today. Say, hey, do you have any regret? You're in heaven now. Do you have any regret? You're not in hell. He'll say, boy, when I see what tremendous love Jesus had for me, I feel so sorry that I did so little for him on the earth. I sought my own, but God is merciful because I didn't know he has regret that he couldn't do anything to show his love for the Lord. But you and I have had many years after we were converted to show our love for Jesus. Are you seeking to finish your work? Many years ago, it was in 1993, I think, 27 years ago, I was running my moped in Bangalore, coming back from somewhere, and there was a level crossing across the railway line, operated manually. The guy who operated was a new man. He didn't know how to do it. I didn't know that. He had raised both arms of that level crossing, and I went past. Before I reached the other end, he lowered it. He shouldn't have done that. Maybe he made a mistake, and some train was coming. But I was zooming across the railway track, and by the time I reached the other end, without knowing it, this thing was in front of me. It hit me on my chest, knocked me off my moped, and I fell on the railway track, cracked my skull, and was unconscious, lying there on the railway track. I remember it, August 1993. When I came to my senses, some time later, a few minutes later, I saw myself. The level crossing is closed. It wasn't too long. Somebody picked me up, and I came back to my senses. I was unconscious. I don't know for how long. All those people waiting at the railway crossing, and somebody had parked my moped on the side. There was a policeman there. I stood up, and I really don't know what happened till today. Those few moments of my life have been blotted out of my memory. I can't recollect what happened. Who picked me up? What happened? I was getting on my scooter, and the policeman said, be careful now. Be careful. I was only about half a mile from my home. As I got onto my scooter, I didn't know then that my shoulder had been dissipated, and there was a little crack in my skull. But I was fit enough to drive. Of course, there was a big red mark across where the level crossing had hit me. But as I got up, I said, Lord Jesus, I have not finished saying thank you for dying for me on the cross. I'm not ready to go. I have to finish saying thank you to you for dying for me on the cross. Give me a few more years to live for you. That's how I saw my life. My life is a life of writing thank you to Jesus for dying for me on the cross. And I haven't finished writing T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U. I haven't finished it. I've only finished up to T-H-A-N or something. Lord, you can't take me away. I've got to finish saying the full word. Thank you for dying for me on the cross. I pray your life will be a life of saying thank you to Jesus for dying for you. I haven't still finished saying thank you. Every day I live, I'm going to live for Jesus. Even if I'm a hundred years old, seeking to lead people to Christ, seeking to lead people to a godly life is the only way to live. Not with a mind occupied with money and advancement and all those other things. Seek the kingdom of God first. He will add all that you need for you. He will take care of your children. He'll take care of your grandchildren. It's amazing what he will do. If you honor him, he will honor you. I proved that in my life. I said, Lord, I want to be a living testimony to one thing, that if I honor you and live by Christian principles in my life, in relation to money and time and everything else, and in my relationship with people, I believe you will honor me. If I honor you and you don't honor me, then I'll be the first person in history whom God did not honor, who honored God. That will never happen. Every person who honored God, God has honored him. I believe that. I want to be in that line of people who honored God in their earthly life from beginning to end, at least from the time I got light. Many years of my life, I wasted in backsliding because I never had a spiritual father to guide me and show me. I didn't know when I was struggling to find victory. I didn't know whom to ask for. I remember going to a 40-year-old missionary when I was in my 20s. I said, brother, can you tell me how to get victory over lusting with the eyes? He changed the subject. He wouldn't tell me. He wouldn't tell me because he must have been defeated himself. People have come to me with that question, and I say, I'll give you an answer. How can I overcome anger? How can I overcome lusting with the eyes? How can I overcome the love of money? How can I always speak the truth? How can I love those who hate me? You should have an answer for every one of those things from your life. Seek to honor God. Remain at peace. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. Is Satan entering your home? Be at peace in your heart with God. Always set things right in your heart, and I tell you, Satan will be crushed in your home. I say that in Jesus' name. Yeah, there's amazing miracles God can do for you, even bring healing from sickness and amazing things. Dear brothers and sisters, the time is short. I don't know when Christ is coming. Make sure you have no regret in that day. Have a passion. Lord, before you come, I want to finish the work you give me to do, and all you have to do is not accomplish some great, mighty thing around the world. Keep it peace in your heart always, and step by step, God will open the door for you. I'll give you a promise finally before I close. Please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs 4 and verse 12. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded. Impeded means will not get narrowed down. It's not a road that's going to become narrow and narrow and narrow. Your steps will not be impeded. You will not be stopped. A paraphrase of that verse I read somewhere once years ago and I've forgotten. What is the opening? The opposite of narrowed down. Opening up, that's the opposite of impeded. And that paraphrase said, as you walk, step by step, I will open up the way before you. Beautiful paraphrase. I've claimed it. I said, Lord, I don't want to see the way opened up for miles ahead of me. No. But as I go, that closed door will open. Then I find another closed door, but it's some distance away. Let it be closed. By the time I come there, it'll open again. Then I find another closed door. By the time I come there, it'll go. And then I come across a mountain. By the time I reach the mountain, the mountain is flattened. As I go, step by step, the Lord will open up the way before me. Claim that promise and say, Lord, I want that in my life. Whatever way it is God's seeking for you, in your life, in your career, in your plans for the future, in your spiritual life, maybe some area you're defeated, Lord, open up the way for me that I shall overcome that mountain and be brought low. The area where I'm defeated, I'm going to be an overcomer. As I go, step by step, the way will open up before me. Don't be anxious and eager to see miles ahead. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, Psalm 119, verse 105, and a light unto my path. In today's language, I say, Lord, your word is like a torchlight. That's a lamp in those days, a torchlight. With a torchlight, you can't see very far ahead. A torchlight will show you maybe 20 feet, but as you move forward, you'll see another 20 feet. As you move forward, you'll see another 20 feet. That's Psalm 119, verse 105. Your word is a torchlight to my feet. As you go, he'll show you the next step. As you go, he will open up the way for you. Just make sure of one thing. Always keep at peace in your conscience, confessing all sin, and as far as lies in you, be at peace with everybody. God bless you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray there will be eternal results in everybody's life as they respond to the word they heard today. Let your name be glorified. I thank you for all these dear brothers and sisters in all these churches you've raised up in the Gulf countries. Thank you for faithful brothers who are leading them and other brothers who are faithfully doing their job day by day. I pray you will mightily bless them and their families, protect them from problems. Those who are needing a visa or job situation, please help them that it'll be resolved. Those who need healing from sickness, we pray in Jesus' name that you'll bring healing. Bless your family, Lord. This is your family, the family of God. Bless every member in it. Help us to love one another, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/vh4XCTqWQ18.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/let-peace-rule-in-your-heart-always/ ========================================================================