True Peace and Joy by Kingdom Faith

For more information and to purchase the full version of this book by Colin Urquhart visit the Kingdom Faith Resource Centre: http://www.kingdomfaith.com/ResourceCentre

CONTENTS

Peace with God

The God of Peace

Righteousness and Peace

The Prince of Peace

Peace on Earth

The Holy Spirit and Peace

The Lord of Joy

The Spirit of Joy

The Joy of Obedience

Joy in Heaven

TRUE

Peace and Joy

C o l i n Ur q u h a r t

Kingdom Faith Resources Ltd. Roffey Place, Old Crawley Road, HORSHAM West Sussex, RH12 4RU E-mail: resources@kingdomfaith.com www.kingdomfaith.com

Acknowledgements

First published in Great Britain in March 2004 by Kingdom Faith Kingdom Faith Church is a registered charity (no.278746) Copyright © 2004 Colin Urquhart All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any

God’s peace brings much healing into our lives, and He wants our joy to be full. I am so thankful to the Lord for all these blessings that come through His grace.

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. Short extracts may be used for review purposes. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited.

ISBN 1-900409-54-2

My thanks also to Michelle and Cliss for all they have done in the production of ‘True Peace and Joy.’ And to all at Kingdom Faith with whom I share daily in ‘the peace and joy of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Colin Urquhart

CONTENTS

Peace with God

The God of Peace

Righteousness and Peace

The Prince of Peace

Peace on Earth

The Holy Spirit and Peace

The Lord of Joy

The Spirit of Joy

The Joy of Obedience

Joy in Heaven

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1 PEACE WITH GOD

God is the God of peace. Therefore He wants us to be at peace with Him, with others and with ourselves. Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peace is not simply an absence of conflict, confusion or enmity with others. It is a quality of His life that He wants to impart to us. In other words, He wants to give us His peace! One of the main reasons for God sending His Son to sacrifice His life on the cross was to make it possible for us to have this peace! God created man to be at peace with Him. The story of Adam and Eve shows the close relationship they had with the Lord in the garden paradise, as He walked with them daily. Sin disrupted that unity and caused Adam and Eve to lose this fellowship and their peace with God. Instead of being at peace with Him, they felt ashamed and tried to hide from Him in fear. They had lost their innocence before God and one another. Soon, instead of peace there would be conflict; their son, Cain, murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy!

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1 PEACE WITH GOD

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Throughout the period of the Old Testament God’s people had periods of obedience to His will. At such times they experienced victory over their enemies and enjoyed times of national peace. However, when they no longer needed to depend on the Lord to free them from trouble, compromise and disobedience would set in. This had far-reaching consequences, for again their enemies would begin to triumph over them. Usually they refused to heed the warnings of the prophets God sent to them. They stubbornly refused to repent and so lost both peace with God and the national peace they had enjoyed.

God had to judge sin. In His righteousness He declared that all who sin deserve eternal death, separation from Him eternally. They do not deserve to be part of His Kingdom! However, in His love for us, God sent His Son to take the punishment we deserve upon Himself. He died the death, that is God’s judgment on sin, on our behalf. On the cross He took our place. In Isaiah’s great prophecy about the crucifixion God says:

Throughout Israel’s history there is a clear lesson to be learned. When we are at peace with God we can also be at peace with others, not only personally but at a national level. In times of war, people pack churches as they cry out to God for His help. When peace comes most soon forget their need of God and return to their own ways, walking in disregard for the will of God, and undisobedience to the Lord. So things have not changed much!

By bearing the punishment we deserve, God drew us back into the place of peace and reconciliation with Himself. The benefits of this unity with Him are numerous as we shall see, for, as the God of peace, He promises to do such great things for us, in us and through us! However, it is of great importance to appreciate that God does not want us only to be at peace with Him; He wants to impart His peace to us.

God looked forward to the time when He could free His people from the consequences of their sin and again make it possible for them to be at peace with Him. Then their internal conflicts would be resolved, enabling them to live in peace and love with one another. Again they would be able to overcome their enemies. Sin is disobedience to the Lord and rebellion against Him; so it has dire consequences. It separated man from God and brought all manner of disputes and conflicts into their lives.

The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)

HE DIED THE DEATH, THAT IS GOD’S JUDGMENT ON SIN, ON OUR BEHALF. ON THE CROSS HE TOOK OUR PLACE.

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The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)

HE DIED THE DEATH, THAT IS GOD’S JUDGMENT ON SIN, ON OUR BEHALF. ON THE CROSS HE TOOK OUR PLACE.

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Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2:22) Peace is something that is to be so highly valued that you pursue it! The writer to Hebrews tells us that discipline ‘produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.’ (Heb. 12:11) An undisciplined life leads to compromise, sin, unrighteousness and a consequent loss of the sense of God’s peace. Jesus was concerned to teach His followers the kind of discipline that would enable them to experience both His peace and joy. Just as there is a clear connection between walking in right ways with God and enjoying His peace, so there is also a clear relationship between peace and joy! This is hardly surprising, for the Lord who is our peace is also our joy!

7 THE JOY OF THE LORD

When we think of Jesus in the days of His humanity on earth we readily think of the One who taught with great authority, who performed miraculous signs and wonders, and lived a holy life in perfect obedience to His Father. Yet there is a fascinating revelation about Jesus given us by God: You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. (Heb. 1:9) It would seem that Jesus’ joy marked Him off from all others: the Man of great joy! We could say that He was the most joyful Man ever to walk on the face of the earth! So much for all those sombre pictures of Jesus painted throughout history! No, He was (and is now in heaven) the Lord of joy. And He made it clear to His disciples that He wanted His joy to be in them and for their joy to be complete. God did not become the Lord of joy when Jesus became man, for

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He revealed the eternal, unchanging nature of God; He has always been the God of joy! So David speaks of being made ‘glad with the joy of your presence.’ (Ps. 21:6) Clearly there is a close connection between joy and praising God. Worship should be a joyful experience. So much for those sombre, lifeless services where there is little sense of the Lord’s presence or of His life. One of the most joyful services I have ever attended was a funeral service, so greatly were God’s people rejoicing that His victory over death is complete and that our departed brother was already enjoying the glory of heaven! And certainly there is much joy in heaven, for heaven rejoices over every soul that receives the salvation made possible through Jesus Christ. There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Lk. 15:7) We can only try to imagine the great joy that another soul is saved from the devil’s grasp, from condemnation and hell, and now has an eternal inheritance in heaven through God’s mercy and grace, made available through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross! Because God wants His Kingdom on earth as in heaven, so He desires to see our lives filled with joy. As with His peace, He wants us to draw on the joy of heaven, rather than try to draw from our circumstances.

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Clearly some situations give us a sense of joy, but many do not. God’s joy is eternal and is not dependent on feelings or circumstances. By His Spirit He gives us the ability to rejoice in Him, no matter what our feelings or the problems that confront us. And when we rejoice we are joining in that continual joy that surrounds His heavenly throne. Trusting God changes circumstances. We begin to see things as He sees them and realize that nothing is impossible for Him. He is the great Redeemer, the One who is able to transform any situation. David knew what it was to cry out to God in times of great and pressing need; and to see how He was able to turn the situation around completely: Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. (Ps. 30:10-12) To David, God was far more than the One who rescued him from difficulty and gave him joy; he describes the Lord as ‘my joy and my delight.’ (Ps. 43:4) When God is your joy there is no difficulty in worshipping or praising Him. You have no desire to lapse from a life of prayer. You want to walk daily in His joyful presence. If He is your joy then you will be able to fulfil Paul’s words to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances, believing this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!

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When someone is truly saved, there is great joy in his own heart, as well as great rejoicing in heaven. Having met with God in forgiveness and come to the realization that he is now totally accepted by God and has been given the gift of eternal life, he is filled with joy. As the Holy Spirit enters into his heart so does the joy of the Lord. This is no longer an external joy, but a joy that is within him, in his human spirit. God will never take that joy away. This does not mean that the believer will always express that joy; but it does mean he is able to do so. The Lord would not tell us to rejoice always unless He had made it possible for us to do so! And this is His Word: “Be joyful always”! To stray from God’s will causes the Christian not only to lose his sense of peace, but also his joy as well. God has not taken either the peace or joy away. It is simply that soulish, fleshly, selfish things have been allowed to push Jesus from the central place in the believer’s life. As soon as God is restored to His rightful place the peace and joy are restored. David prayed:

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8 THE SPIRIT OF JOY

We have God’s promises and His words of encouragement. When we truly delight in Him, we are able to praise Him no matter what the circumstances, and even rejoice in His commands. We know that to obey the Lord is always wise and profitable for us, and leads us into a sense of satisfaction, of knowing that we are pleasing Him. This, in turn, gives us a great sense of both peace and joy: “The prospect of the righteous is joy.” (Prov. 10:28) He gives to His people: A crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (Is. 61:3)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation. (Ps. 51:12) He had sinned in a grievous way and had lost all sense of the joy of salvation and of his relationship with the Lord. In His love and mercy God forgives David and draws him back into close relationship with Himself, and the peace and joy return! Later David says that God’s commands are ‘the joy of my heart.’ (Ps. 119:111)

God’s saving work in our lives is completely transforming. The believer has the oil of gladness and a garment of praise. God’s purpose is that: ‘you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.’ (Is. 55:12) Does this mean that as Christians we are expected to live on an emotional ‘high’ all the time? No, for although both peace and

TRUE

Peace and Joy

C o l i n Ur q u h a r t

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Other titles in this series include: TRUE AUTHORITY TRUE CHURCH TRUE COVENANT TRUE DISCIPLES TRUE FAITH TRUE GRACE TRUE LIFE TRUE LOVE TRUE SALVATION TRUE SPIRIT TRUE WORSHIP TRUE GOD TRUE HEALING TRUE PRAYER

All these books by Colin Urquhart and a catalogue of other titles and teaching materials can be obtained from: Kingdom Faith Resources, Roffey Place, Old Crawley Road Faygate, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 4RU. Telephone 01293 854 600 email: resources@kingdomfaith.com

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For more information and to purchase the full version of this book by Colin Urquhart visit the Kingdom Faith Resource Centre: http://www.kingdomfaith.com/ResourceCentre