Trinity Baptist Church

Serve Oklahoma

The Power of Personal Peace

1 Peter 3:14-16

 

We are continuing our study of The Power of One.  We’ve looked at personal evangelism and personal purity.  Today, I want us to think about the power of personal peace.  Now we are taking a look at all of these ingredients of the power of one with a specific goal in mind and that is to make sure our lives, as best we can, represent the difference Christ makes so we can then have an opportunity to share the gospel with others. I want us to have that in mind as we look at this text:

 

1 Peter 3:14-16

 

Now zero in on verse 15 for a moment.  What does it mean to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”?

 

Think about it this way.  When you buy a new automobile or appliance or tool, the manufacturer includes that little piece of literature called the “Owner’s Manual” or “Operating Instructions”.

 

Now the reason that is included is because the manufacturer knows more about the product than anyone else. Now there are some of us who are so gifted by God we don’t need that stuff.  But they are included, just in case a woman buys it.

 

How many times have we launched out with some new piece of equipment thinking we knew more than the manufacturer did, and we would just not humble ourselves and admit that we don't know anything.

 

And we tried to operate some of these things and had to go back to the operator's manual and admit that sure enough the man who made the machine knows the best way to operate it and to run it.

 

I hold in my hand operating instructions provided by the manufacturer of your life.  I can assure you that when you have tried to operate your life without following the manufacturer's instructions, you have always ended up in a mess.

 

The reason for that is there are certain laws and principles and rules for operation that God lays down in this book.  And a person ignores and violates these operating instructions to his own peril and to his own disaster.

 

I want to share with you this morning what I consider to be the basic law of all human life.  This law is woven into the fabric of every part of human existence.  To me, it is the foundation of all that God is, and of all God does and of all God wants to do in your life.  The person who gets right in this one area will be right in everything else.

 

On the other hand, if you miss this one area, you will  fail in every area of his life. What I’m talking about is the law of Lordship.

 

As I said, it is woven into the fabric of every part of our lives.  This is what God was trying to say to Adam and Eve at the very beginning of human history when he said of all the trees in the Garden you may eat.  They are yours.  Take care of them, till the ground, replenish the earth.  I've made abundant provision for everything in your life.

 

But that one tree you shall not eat of it.  Now, what was God saying?  God was saying that tree is a symbol of my sovereignty.  As long as you acknowledge my Lordship over your life and over this garden, everything will be all right.

 

But the day in which you eat of that tree, the day in which you violate the law of Lordship and sovereignty, that's the day you will die.  That very day when Adam and Eve violated that basic law of Lordship, they died spiritually.  As a result, physical death came upon them.

 

God has planned that every part of our lives be built around this law of Lordship.  Where this law is not present, you have anarchy and chaos. And whether we realize it or not, we are observing the law of lordship (with a small l) every day of our life.

 

Can you imagine what government would be like if there were not the principle of Lordship?  If every man could do as he pleased, if every man was able to do what was right in his own eyes, not one of us would be safe.  We are not very safe as it is, but can you imagine what would happen if everybody was free to drive like they wanted to? Go as fast as they wanted to?

 

If somebody wanted to break into your home, take your possessions, beat you up and kill you, nobody could say a word because the law of Lordship has been violated.  If a government does not acknowledge the law of sovereignty and authority, you will have anarchy.

 

 

 

What about in the home?  If the law of Lordship is not found in the home, you are going to have chaos and rebellion.  God said the man, the husband, is the head and the parents are to be honored and in the home where the law of Lordship is not observed and yielded to, that home is going to be a breeding place of chaos and rebellion.

 

The only way your home can be as God intended it to be, to be blessed and happy and fruitful, is for that home to be acknowledging the law and principle of authority and Lordship.

 

What about in the school?  You still have the principle of Lordship there.  How much studying do you think would be done, and what would the grades be if the teacher said we are not going to tell you what to do or ever grade you.  We are just going to let you do as you please.  If you want to come up here every day and send text messages and watch videos, that's all right.

 

Can you imagine what would happen in a high school or college classroom if everybody did what was right in their own eyes?  The law of Lordship must be present in the school if it is going to be successful.

 

 

It’s not hard to figure out why are having so many problems in the government, in homes, in schools, and in universities.  It is because people are rebelling against authority. We have an entire society now that is saying, I don't want to be answerable to anybody but myself.  I don't want to answer to the government.  I don't want to answer to mom and dad.  I don't want to answer to the teacher.

Therefore, there is this widespread rebellion that is sweeping across our country today and it is nothing more than a Satanic attack upon the laws of God and rebellion against the law of Lordship that He ordained.

 

And with that kind of evidence of the rebellion aginst lordship with a little “l”, it’s easy to see how much we need the law of lordship with a capital L!

 

As much as we need it in the government and the home and the school, even more, we need it in our heart.

 

And that’s what Peter is writing about there in verse 15:  but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.  Of all the places that Jesus needs to be Lord, in the heart is the most important place because the Bible says that out of the heart are the issues of life.

 

Everything you are, everything you think, everything about you issues from your heart.  Your conduct, your language, your attitude, your philosophy are merely the streams that flows from the fountain of your heart.

 

So Peter says I want you to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart.  In other words, set Christ apart from everything else and treat Him as he ought to be treated.  That’s what the word “sanctify” means,  to treat as holy or to set apart.

 

In other words, I am no longer to be lord in my own heart.  I am to no longer sit on the throne of my own heart.  I am to take my hands off the steering wheel of my life, and in my place I am to set Jesus Christ.

He will direct and control my life as absolute, undisputed, unrivaled Lord and Master.  That means what he says, I do.  That means where he sends, I go.  That means I never question him; I give unhesitating and unquestioning obedience to him.  He is Lord.  To sanctify him as Lord is to treat him as he ought to be treated.

 

Let me give you a simple illustration of that:  To sanctify Jesus as Lord means to treat Jesus the same way heaven treats him.  How do they treat Jesus in Heaven?

 

In heaven Jesus is on the throne, and he is worshiped as Lord.  Revelation 5 says that the Lamb sits upon the throne and that all the creatures bow down and worship and praise him and honor him.  And for me to make Jesus Lord is to treat him on earth as he is treated in heaven.

 

We hear that in the model prayer.  He said, “T’his is the way to pray:  Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  This is what it means to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.”

 

Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, preacher, you said you were going to talk about the power of personal peace and all you’ve talked about so far is the Law of Lordship and making Jesus Lord.

 

Yea, but we have to understand, that’s where the peace comes from.  And without the foundation of Lordship, you will never enjoy the dwelling place of peace.

 

What happens when we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts?  In this text, Peter identifies three things that will come when we honor Christ up as Lord in our hearts. Here is where we discover the Power of Peace.  First of all, Peter says, when Jesus is Lord of your life,

 

 

verses 14-15

 

Peter says, “Don't let the world intimidate you. Instead of being intimidated, afraid of the things in this world, you sanctify Christ as Lord.”  In fact, the apostle is saying that the only alternative to intimidation and fear is Christ as Lord in your life. And in like manner, the only alternative to Christ being Lord in your life is fear and intimidation.

 

I would dare say, the number one, all-time high, primary reason most of us don’t share our faith with others is fear.

 

Sometimes we’re afraid of what others will think of us and we get intimidated.  For many of us, the world has flat scared us out of living for Jesus.  I promise you that many of you are compromising your convictions in your home and in your school and in your business life and in your social life simply because you are intimidated by the world.

 

And I say to you, just as Jesus stood on that ship when the storm was raging and said, "Peace, be still" and quieted down the waters, when Jesus Christ takes the throne of a person's heart, he can say to that person's heart, "peace be still."  He can quiet the troubled heart and erase all that intimidation.

Sometimes we are intimidated by circumstances.  Do you know why?  Because, you see, if Jesus Christ is not Lord in your heart, then something else is. If you are lord in your heart, then you are vulnerable because you know how miserable you are.  You can’t remember Scripture and get your words all tangled up.  And you are all the time worrying about how people are going to treat you and respond to you and if they’ll like you.

 

You might lose a friend if you love them enough to tell them about Jesus.  I guess it’s better to have a friend for a little while on the earth and let ‘em go to hell, than to take a chance on winning them to Jesus so you can be together forever.  And if you are Lord, then you are vulnerable.

 

If possessions and pleasures and comforts are sitting on the throne of your heart, you are vulnerable.   And at all costs those things must be protected and guarded.  And if you know nothing of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then you are vulnerable to all the chances and changes of life.

 

But when I come to the place to that I say, "Self, you are getting out of the life running business.  I'm putting you out of business.  I am dethroning you.  All these materials things that I have grasped for, loved, and sought, I am dethroning them from the heart of my life.  Jesus, I am putting you on the throne of my heart.  My heart now centers on you.  You are the center of my affections.  You have a treasure that is safe from the chances and changes of this life.  You are no longer vulnerable because no matter what the world does to you, they can in no way rob you of that treasure that is setting on the throne of your heart.

There is no reason for me to be intimidated by what this world tries to do to me.  When Jesus is Lord of my life, I can enjoy calmness no matter what is going on around me.

 

Here’s the second thing. 

 

 

Verse 15

 

Now I will promise you, when you are doing the first, the second will come.  What do I mean?  When you live your life with the confidence of having Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you will stand out from the crowd.  It is hard to miss the difference Christ makes in the way we deal with life.

 

And the implication is, people are going to notice and inquire what it is about you that makes you different from them.

 

And when somebody comes along and asks, you ought to be ready to give an answer. When Jesus becomes Lord in a person's life, all of a sudden their tongue is loosened.  All of a sudden people could not before make a logical statement of what Jesus meant to them find themselves going everywhere talking about Jesus.

 

How does that happen?  When Jesus takes over as Lord of the heart, now he is in control of every part of your life, and he can loosen your mouth and loosen your tongue.  He can quicken your mind.  He can give you an answer for the hope that is within you.

IN conjunction with that, when Jesus is Lord of your life, you are going to be actively and diligently studying the Bible.  We’ll see you in Sunday School and worship.  You’ll be back for discipleship training and Wednesday evening opportunities.

 

At lunch break at work, you can be found in a corner reading your bible and because of that there is an ever-present source of information that is equipping you to provide the answer of the questions that are being asked.

 

I think it is a sin against God when we are involved in conversations that are Biblically inaccurate that we don’t take the opportunity to straighten the error out according to Scripture.  It is our responsibility to be salt and light.  Instead we are trampled underfoot by our own decision to not open our mouth.

 

God’s Word is always appropriate subject to interject in the discussion of any subject.  And your corporate and private Bible study times will equip you to do that.

 

When Jesus takes over as Lord in your life, suddenly something happens.  The Spirit of God fills him, the Word of God equips him, the Power of God enable him, and that person is able to give an answer.

 

There’s one more thing in this text I want to show you.  I can be calm when intimidated, I can be confident when interrogated and

 

 

Verse 15

 

 

When you sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, the result is a clear conscience.  Now that’s what God wanted us to have all along.  What God wanted us to have all along is peace instead of fear.  What God wanted us to have all along is a reason instead of doubt.  What God wanted us to have along is a clear conscience instead of being plagued by guilt.  What God has wanted us to have all along is love and joy and peace and meekness and longsuffering and goodness and gentleness.  This is what God has wanted all along.

 

This is why he gave to us the operating instructions in this book.  This is why he instituted the fixed laws of heaven because all along he wanted to be this.

 

And when I turn my back on the Lordship of Jesus and set myself up as my own lord and boss, then God is unable to give me all his blessings and what he wants to give me.

 

That means, when I’m intimidated, I’ll retreat in fear or respond in the flesh.

 

When I’m interrogated, all I’ve got to offer someone is my own wisdom and logic.

 

When insinuations come against me, I have no defense.

 

But when I allow Jesus Christ to be enthroned as Lord, and he takes over and becomes not only the owner of my life but operator of my life, then he is able to do what he wanted to do all along.

 

 

 

So let me ask you a question.  Do you have a clear conscience this morning?  Are you intimidated by the world?  Can people bring accusations and be right because they are not false accusations?  You need to sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart.

 

Some of you have never been saved; therefore, Jesus Christ isn't even in your heart, much less Lord of your heart.  The first thing you need to do this morning is to yield yourself to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and I receive him into my life to forgive me of my sins, to cleanse me, to save me, and to set him up as Lord in my life.

 

Today He wants you to know the Power of Personal Peace.

 

Let me leave you with a couple of verses of Scripture as we enter this invitation time.

 

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." – Isaiah 26:3-4

 

It’s as if Isaiah want to drive home and emphasize and re-emphasize the significance of the Lord. HTat’s where it all begins.

 

 

Let's pray