Sermon Tone Analysis

*PEACE LIKE A RIVER*

*Isaiah 26*

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            In Isaiah, we have precious promises about what we receive through Jesus Christ.

In Isaiah 26, we learn how to experience peace like a river.

There was a pastor who preached and a young man said, “Pastor, your sermon was like the peace of God and the love of God.”

He was really encouraged by the words of this young man so he asked him to tell him more.

“He said, “It was like the peace of God which passes all understanding, and the love of God which goes on forever.”

We have many spiritual blessings in Christ: salvation, heaven, forgiveness of sins, guidance, strength, - we have peace like a river.

*Isaiah 26:3-4 \\ *3 - You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

\\ 4 - Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

\\ NIV

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*Isaiah 66:12 \\ *12 - For this is what the Lord says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.

\\ NIV

 

Complete this sentence for me.

“I just want some peace and _______.

(Quiet)

We think that these two words are linked – that peace comes when everything is quiet.

But the problem is that life is rarely quiet.

There are storms, trials, needs, unexpected tragedies – the list goes on.

But the Bible says that we can have peace like a river.

Near my home is Rowlett creek, a favorite fishing spot in our area.

I used to drive by that creek everyday.

(Now the bridge is out.)

I have driven over the bridge when it is calm, and when there is a storm.

When the wind is still and when the wind is strong.

When it is day and when it is night.

When there is a small amount of water, and when it is full.

There is one fact that is always true; the river flows all the time.

How can we experience the peace of God like a river that flows all the time?

·         *FOCUS -  SET YOUR MIND ON JESUS.*

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*Isaiah 26:3-4 \\ *3 - You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

\\ 4 - Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

\\ NIV

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You will keep -  guard like an army guards.

God will protect us.

Whose mind is steadfast -  Focused on the Lord - 

When we have a difficult time – what do we focus on?

Sometimes, it is a our problems.

Peace comes when we focus our mind on the Lord.

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*Isaiah 26:8-9 \\ *8 - Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

\\ 9 - My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.

When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

\\ NIV

 

This is the focus of our mind and our hearts.

*If our peace comes from Jesus, what did He say about peace?*  Jesus had a lot to say about peace.

Jesus said, *John **14:27* \\ 27 - Peace I leave with you; 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.

\\ NIV

 

*John **16:33* \\ 33 - “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world.”

\\ NIV

 

The word “Peace” means “completeness – when everything comes together.”

It is not the absence of problems – it is not peace and quiet.

It is the presence of the Lord.

The peace that Jesus gives has nothing to do with the things going on at the time in our life.

Even in tragic and terrible times – His peace flows like a river.

Ill: There was an art contest for the painting that best depicted peace.

There were two finalists.

One drew a serene scene of a lake and trees and everything as perfect as could be.

It was beautiful but unlike real life.

The winner was a painting of a raging storm with wind, rain, and lightning – and in the midst of the storm is a bird sitting on a nest nestled in a crevice of a cliff.

Peace is not the absence of problems or conflict – peace is the calm in the midst of the storm.

*Paul is one who understood the storms of life.

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In 2 Corinthians 11, he talked the storms of his life:

*2 Corinthians 11:23-30*

Are they servants of Christ?

I can go them one better.

(I can’t believe I’m saying these things.

It’s crazy to talk this way!

But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

23–27     I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time.

I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once.

I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day.

In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes.

I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers.

I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28–29     And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches.

When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones.

When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30–33     If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus.

*But no one in the New Testament talked more about God’s peace than Paul*.

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*Ephesians **2:14* \\ 14 - For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, \\ NIV

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*Philippians 4:6-7*

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul would set his mind on Jesus by praying about everything.

·         *FOLLOW  -   SET YOUR WALK ON FOLLOWING JESUS.*

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*Isaiah 26:7-8 \\ *7 - The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.

\\ 8 - Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

\\ NIV

 

*Isaiah 32:17 \\ *17 - The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

\\ NIV

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*Isaiah 48:18 \\ *18 - If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

\\ NIV

 

I have a brother and sister.

Like typical brothers and sisters growing up, we got along most of the time, but there were moments that we did not.

One time, my dad confronted me in about my behavior.

My answer was that my brother and sister had not done what was right, so I only responded in like fashion.