Sunday Worship 11:30 am 02/20/22

are too often we give up too quickly thinking something is not god's will just to move on to the next thing the lord the lord is at work and our tenacity reaching out to the lord makes a huge difference there's faith in this house today the presence of the lord is here and i feel a message that i believe the lord's going to use to help someone today amen the book of john chapter 14 john 14 27. it's good to see all of you here it's good to have everyone who's watching online i wanted to take just a moment to congratulate brother zach davey he was just appointed as director of promotions for the georgia district youth ministries he has served as our section 5 youth leader youth minister and he's going to be serving in a new role to help with all of the promotion of events and he and sister valerie already worked very hard in georgia district and at atlanta west and we love and appreciate them amen john chapter 14 verse 27 the words of jesus christ peace i leave with you my peace i give unto you not as a world giveth give i unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid i want to speak to you today on from this verse and this theme peace under pressure peace under pressure i don't always pray before i preach usually i just preach because we've already prayed but would you pray with me right now that the lord do more than just let us feel something or hear something let there be a divine transaction take place today lord i pray over your people right now who are hearing your word you know lord god that if your word is mixed with faith that it can be effective i pray in jesus name lord that you would give open hearts to receive your word and help us lord receive the word of god into us lord i pray in jesus name that it would not be word only but that it would be power that you would confirm your word with signs following that you would do great ministry today that you would let someone's eternal destiny be altered from hell to heaven that you would let someone be set free let someone be healed i pray in jesus name amen amen god bless you please be seated well not all pressure is bad equalized pressure pressure kept in balance is a good thing but pressure mounts when we perceive that the demands that are being placed on us are beyond our ability we feel pressure when we don't feel like we have adequate resources to respond to step up to the plate to deliver on the pressure that is being placed on us we feel unable to meet the demands and so we feel pressure all of us experience external pressures in life we feel pressure from time you plan your trip to take an hour and you told someone you'd be there at a certain time might be work or an appointment a meeting that you have to go to but there was more traffic than you anticipated welcome to atlanta every day and then there was an accident and you soon realize that you are going to be late and if you've got a good conscience you feel pressure if you're conscientious about things you ought to feel a little pressure i told someone the other day they live about an hour from us and i said from our house to yours it's about five traffic jams and three accidents that's the only way i know how to measure it because whatever google maps or apple maps or waze said when you left that can all change in a matter of minutes right maybe not you but a lot of people i know have felt financial pressure in their lives there's a bill to pay that's due and you know you don't have enough money and your bank account to cover all the bills financial pressure can paralyze people if you've ever been there say amen deadlines create pressure you have a deadline to deliver a project at school or at work and you know you don't have enough time to get it done of course you could have started earlier of course you could have worked instead of watching something but you know you're not going to make that deadline and you feel pressure and then there's a pressure of unfulfilled expectations you think you're doing your best to measure up but it seems like you're just not satisfying the person who's expecting you to perform or do a certain thing or act in a certain way you feel like the bar is always being raised feel like the goal post is always being moved and you just don't know how to measure up you feel inadequate sometimes a little helpless pressure builds because of externally imposed unfulfilled expectations then there's internal pressure we feel the pressure to please other people there's peer pressure right cultural expectations you don't want anybody to be let down there's the pressure to conform to the world paul wrote about this in romans 12 2 to not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind daniel felt that pressure when it became illegal to pray in babylon the three hebrew boys as we call them felt the pressure to not worship an idol that nebuchadnezzar set up they did not give in they did not bow they did not bend they did not burn right but they still felt the pressure to conform these internal pressures often are pressures we put on ourselves to succeed to perform we kind of create expectations that may have never been expressed by other people but we feel them and all the perfectionists should say amen about self-imposed pressure amen the thing that makes peer pressure pressure why is peer pressure pressure it's usually our insecurity our need for the approval of other people if you didn't care you wouldn't conform but because you care what other people think you about a peer pressure and i've learned as an old youth pastor that peer pressure does not just apply to people who are in their teenage years that peer pressure affects insecure people throughout their lives pressure you can feel the pressure of the future and it can be debilitating because you don't think that you're going to be able to get there and do right and succeed you feel like you may fail and you feel pressure now there are some wise practical ways to deal with pressure that we feel first of all don't undermine yourself by doing things that bring more pressure when you cave in to peer pressure and compromise biblical principles you just have more pressure you're still not going to be accepted now you feel guilty now you've sinned and fallen short of the glory of god you go out and spend a lot of money impulsively you think that relieves stress it just adds stress you walk out of the room when there's conflict in a relationship that doesn't resolve anything that doesn't help alleviate stress it just builds more stress in your life all of you who like to run when there's a problem need to hear me now need to stay and address it and deal with it you need to care enough to confront in a healthy way you need to speak the truth and love you need to work through your problems because running away that escape does not solve anything well there's some positive practical things you can do to help reduce some of the pressure in your life you can plan ahead and it can reduce the pressure that comes from procrastination you can make a list of things that you feel are pressuring you so you can identify them and deal with specific pressure points in your life that's a good thing to do you can try to take care of your body get adequate rest create margins so you're not late so you're not late on an appointment or a project or whatever building in margin can help you can cultivate healthy attitudes toward people by forgiving by repenting of bitterness by getting through and getting over conflicts that you might have with people if you remember a bible study i taught several years ago you can take the advice of brother jt pew who in his western drawl said to me brother john's i don't hate nobody and if you've got hate you've got pressure so forgiving and being forgiven can reduce the pressure of relationships you can internal internalized biblical principles that help you face pressures and see life through god's point of view instead of through a carnal worldly or secular point of view when you have a troubled heart the word of god will help you see things more clearly but with all of that said and there's a lot of practical things that we can do when you've done all the practical things possible to deal with pressure you need to know that god has power and god has peace that will keep you when you are under pressure spiritual pressure cannot be alleviated in the flesh you cannot fight spiritual opposition spiritual pression oppression or a battle that you're in with logic take as many deep breaths as you want go on as many vacations as you can afford but if the source is spiritual it has to be met in the spirit if you're going to overcome the pressure that you're facing amen spiritual pressure sometimes it's just an all-out attack from satan jesus told simon peter simon simon satan has desired to have you he wants to destroy you he wants to sift you like wheat but jesus said i prayed for you that your faith failed not and when you're converted strengthen your brother so there was an all-out attack but i found that many times satan piles on to normal natural pressures that we're feeling you're late but then he piles on the feeling that you don't you're no good and you always act like this that's what i feel like many times we battle not just life but satan sees an opening for us he's looking for someone that he can devour or attack and when he sees you down when he sees you struggling when he sees you under pressure then he piles on those natural things with spiritual battles that we all face and it doesn't matter who you are we all face them the apostle paul spoke about the time he arrived in macedonia he said there was no rest for us we faced conflict from every direction with battles on the outside and fear on the inside he knew what it was like as a man of god to face the external pressures of persecution and rejection and the internal fears that he felt as a human being i believe that we live in a world that was that is charged with spiritual pressure every moral institution in our culture is being challenged values are being turned upside down truth is the bible said has fallen in the street right is viewed as wrong and wrong is viewed as right i thank god that there are people who are fighting back in prayer and are not capitulating to the pressure that is in our world but the war i'm talking about in our world is more consequential than your political persuasion this war that we are fighting cannot be won on wall street it cannot be won at a ballot back box it has to be worn in an altar of prayer it is time for the people of god to be driven to their needs and pray these in prayer because this is a spiritual battle that we are facing and we must be one in the spirit there is an intense and intensifying pressure in this age that is grinding against the age to come i've referred to this in the past i'll talk about it scripturally in a few moments but when i envision what is going on in our world i envision the tectonic plates and the crust of the earth that grind against one another constantly shifting and moving sometimes only a sixth of an inch a year or two inches a year in some places like california but this the powerful forces beneath the continents that are always grinding and shifting there is there's something that is going on in our in the spirit world that reminds me of that that is the world that is now that is grinding against the world to come and we feel the pressure of this age we feel the resistance against the kingdom of god but we feel the kingdom of god coming it will be revealed in this earth and it is up to the people of god to fight back against the pressure that is in the spirit with prayer and spiritual warfare we should not think that it is strange that we are in this struggle i'm not trying to overstate something i am speaking to you in biblical terms not just some experiential idea that i want you to feel for the sake of a sermon i want to help you with the word of god today and i believe jesus wants to help you the bible spoke of these last days in very specific terms the bible said that the spirit speaks expressly or specifically about these times paul wrote that in first timothy 4 11 that some shall depart from the faith they'll give he to seducing spirits and the doctrine of devils they will be hypocrites and they will have their conscience seared with the hot iron so they do not know good from bad right from wrong they will completely ignore biblical principles upon which this world was founded paul wrote again that in the last days perilous times shall come dangerous times will come he he lists some of the characteristics of people in these last days loving their own cells and covetous boasters proud and disobedient to parents i'm thankful and holy not having natural affection fierce despising good people traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of god having some form of godliness but denying the power of god in their lives jude wrote about it in his single chapter epistle he said i want you to remember what was spoken by the apostles of our lord jesus how he told you that there would be mockers in the last time by the way let me pause here to say that if you think that life is going to rock on forever you have missed the message of the bible there will be a last generation life as we know it will cease and eternal life will begin for some in the lake of fire for some in the kingdom of god amen so jesus spoke about the apostles spoke about these last days these last days would be charged with spiritual warfare the age that is grinding against the age to come and feeling the tension of the times while this is not an easy day it should not be an unexpected day as i said the bible prophesied about the day in which we live right now amen now the apostle paul wrote about what we feel as the people of god and what is felt in the world in romans chapter 8 paul speaks about the dynamics of our times as a woman that is carrying a child and waiting to deliver it on the part of the mother there is groaning and travail and pain the baby inside the womb feels the pressure of being forced out of one safe secure environment into a new and unfamiliar one paul wrote about it in romans 8 22 for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travail it and paying together unto now not just human beings but all of this fallen world paul says is groaning and travailing it is like a woman that is about to deliver a baby but then paul said and not only they on the outside but those of us who have the first fruits of the spirit those of us who have been born again in water and spirit he said even we ourselves grown within ourselves we're waiting for something he said we're waiting for the adoption we're waiting for the redemption of our body there is going to be a day that comes when our mortal puts on immortality and our corruptible flesh puts on in corruption it will be in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and paul said we feel this tension of the times we're living in the here and now but we were made for the hereafter and we feel the groaning that is going on in a fallen world but we who are full of the spirit we also feel the pressure the pressure of this day trying to break forth into a new day [Applause] amen and think about a poor wonderful lady ninth month of carrying the baby feet are swelling she's fatigued and miserable she's got this 10 or 11 pound baby she's carrying at least she feels like it must be at least that big her stomach is tight the baby's moving too much she lays down she can't sleep she feels the pain in her back and imagine the the pain of natural childbirth many of you moms have felt this pain complete with hard labor with no medication at all paul said that that is what we feel in the spirit world we've grow within ourselves we travail within ourselves it is something that we cannot explain just like the earth cannot explain what is going on it is the tension of the times that we feel it is a pressure that is in our world that will give way to the kingdom to come but we are in a conflict we're in a battle and even though we have the holy ghost living inside of us paul said we feel it amen we know that this present world is not as god intended it to be he created it at peace and harmony the garden of eden when sin entered death came and sickness and sin and conflict and strife came into the world with the entrance of sin friday we stood at the grave of a family member of a church member here and as i stood at that grave and prayed they asked me to pray at the end i prayed about how death is a stranger we were created to live forever dave death you cannot wrap your brain around death we were meant to live forever not to die and as i stood there i thought this is always a foreign feeling because god intended us to live forever it is the pressure of the times you know have you ever felt a sadness that you couldn't explain heaviness maybe even you would call it some form of depression i understand that depression can be real and it can have you know psychological emotional spiritual roots that cause depression but then you try to write it off maybe i'm just having a bad day or it was that traffic jam or as a rough day at the office it's the problems we're having in our family and all of that is relevant and important but there can be a misery that is deeper than emotional it is a spiritual struggle that you may feel god may be calling you aside to pray in the spirit to pray an intercessory prayer to engage in spiritual warfare it is the groaning and travailing that we feel ultimately what we're feeling in our world is the clash of two kingdoms not tectonic plates but to kingdoms and this world is rushing headlong toward the battle of armageddon where this conflict will be settled once and for all this showdown between good and evil amen when god himself will be the lord of all in jesus christ will be declared as a king of kings and the lord of lords and we will be set free from our mortal bodies we will be delivered from the bondage that we feel amen there is a day coming when all of this will be laid down and the pressure will be released what a day that will be praise god there are forces and factors in the spirit that are bringing this conflict to a conclusion satan knows that he only has a short time to work but god is driving this world to a predetermined conclusion where satan and his kingdom is going down and god in his kingdom and his people are going up amen satan banished to the bottomless pit forever the people of god the new jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven adorned as a bride for her husband streets of gold gates of pearl everlasting joy right shall be upon their heads high walls and open gates peace forever and ever amen that's the promise that's our blessed hope the bible says but jesus knew that between that day that he was talking to his disciples john 14 and the day i just described would be seasons of conflict and tension and stress and strife and and pressure jesus knew what his disciples of that day would be facing and he knew that they would feel alone and abandoned by their king their messiah their rabbi and jesus also knew what his disciples of this day would be facing prior to our ascension our gathering together unto him and the apostle paul wrote to titus he said i beseech you i beg you by the coming of the lord jesus christ and are gathering together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us that the day of christ is at hand he was preparing them for the pressure they would face after his death burial resurrection and his ascension into heaven jesus knew there would be pressure in their day and there would be an even greater pressure in our day as we near the coming of the lord that's what paul wrote about that that grinding of one age against the next the earth paul said is groaning and travailing in pain this friction i would call it this grinding of these tectonic plates spiritually one against another while there's something that is not right not at rest not at peace but it is anticipating the peace that is to come meanwhile we try to figure out our pressure we sometimes or like the bible said the old testament i was as a beast before you the psalmist said i wasn't thinking spiritually i was thinking rationally only which could be carnally or with a not a spiritual approach to the problem you know you wonder is it the financial uncertainty is it the strain of inflation i'm feeling in the world is it the cultural climate that's trying to cancel christianity maybe it's all of the above is it the moral decay that is undermining the foundation of the family in our society is it the spirit of lawlessness that is so pervasive in our world you know you can attempt to try to find out what in the world is wrong but circumstances are often just the symptom of the source of the problem amen in this world jesus said you're going to have trouble you will have tribulation but i he said have overcome the world so what is this peace what is this peace under pressure this is the final week of jesus earthly ministry he huddles his disciples together the private gathering he washes their feet in john 13. in john 14 15 16 3 chapters he it is a long discourse he is teaching them in john 17 he prays for those believers and all believers who would ever believe on him his prayer of intercession but he begins this discourse in john 14 with these words let not your heart be troubled there are some things that are going to happen to you there are some things that you're not going to understand i'm telling you before they come to pass so when they come to pass you'll believe you'll remember that i told you to anticipate this he teaches down to john 14 an amazing passage but then he comes to our text today john 14 27 and jesus says to them peace i leave with you my peace i give unto you not as the world gives give i unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid it was a common greeting and benediction among the jewish people maybe you met a friend shalom peace you departed shalom peace closing of a prayer pray for peace pray for the peace of jerusalem they would say it was common to speak these words but what jesus said to them was not trite was not just words it was not just a parting benediction to his time on earth with them it was something deeper and significant their leader was going to the cross to a grave to heaven he was leaving them but he was not leaving them alone he said my peace i leave with you i'm not leaving you with an empty farewell i'm leaving you with something that is of substance it is something that you can understand and grasp and have in your spirit it is not a passing piece but it is a permanent peace my peace i leave with you and then he said my peace i give unto you amen i'm going to to give you this peace you know the bible said that that the kingdom of god is is not meat and drink but it is righteousness and peace and joy in the holy ghost he was inferring that i'm going to give you peace we know that that peace comes by the spirit of god that comes into our lives i'm i'm leaving you peace i am giving you peace he said this peace is a residing abiding peace something tangible that can be given that can be received that can be possessed not merely an absence of conflict or war but a peace that brings peace with god this peace would be the comforter that would come to them it was the peace that he himself possessed that allowed him to sleep in the middle of a storm and not be awakened because he knew that ultimately he was in control of the storm and when it was time he could stand on the bow of the boat and say peace be still because he controlled the powers of nature it was a peace that resided in him as a prince of peace that he could stand before the sanhedrin and pile it and he would be unruffled while he faced those accusers who would try to put him to death because the peace that he had in the present pain that saw the glory that would follow it was the peace that he gave his disciples on the day of pentecost when they received the holy ghost it was the peace that stephen possessed when his face looked like an angel while they were stoning him to death it was the peace that the apostle peter felt when he was in the jailhouse locked hands and feet with plans to kill him tomorrow but he could sleep so soundly that the angel had to hit him on the side to wake him up it was the peace that paul and silas felt when they were in a prison cell beaten in philippi that they could pray and sing praises at midnight and it is that same peace that jesus christ is giving us giving you in the middle of your storm in the middle of the stress in the middle of your pressure you do not have to succumb or give up there is peace under pressure why don't you thank him for it right now oh hallelujah go ahead i want you to receive it right now the impartation of the peace of god that passes understanding of power love and of a sound mind hallelujah this is the peace that paul felt when he said none of these things moved me neither count on my life dear to myself he said i know there's a lot of trouble that's awaiting me but i've got something inside of me that makes me unafraid of that it is a piece that john the writer of this book under the inspiration of the spirit wrote when he was banished to the isle of patmos but being on that deserted island a place for prisoners rather he was not he was not giving up but he was in the spirit on the lord's day in the place where you feel the most alone and abandoned the peace of god can keep you there and the lord can give you a church of one even when there's no one around [Applause] many of our lifetimes we've seen peace treaties signed and shattered in short order we've seen peace brokered and then broken in a matter of hours but jesus said i'm going to give you a peace it is not as the world gives he said i'm going to give it unto you amen not as the world gives my peace is permanent it's not passing it will keep you under pressure an abiding presence of god that goes with you through the fiery furnace in the lion's den in the school hallways where you seem to be the only believer there or at your work where no one seems to be living for god but you but the peace of god will keep you there it is the abiding presence of jesus christ and so jesus said the end of verse 27 john 14. so because of what i just told you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid i'm going to leave my peace with you i'm going to give my peace with you it is not as the world gives i will give it to you but you have to talk to your own heart and calm it down let not your heart be troubled don't let the fear of whatever you're facing cause trouble to overtake you don't be afraid jesus said don't shrink back from anything you may be fearing jesus said i am giving you peace i'm giving you peace wonderful peace that will keep you no matter what you go through so i prayed and pondered this message i wanted to ask you what have you been thinking what have you been feeling i wonder if there's anyone here who feels like the psalmist david did when he wrote psalm 55 he prayed to god and he said lord don't hide from me when i pray to you to hear me lord i'm restless in my complaint said i am moaning noisily the voice of my enemy the oppression of the wicked trying to bring trouble on me and their wrath they hate me he said my heart is severely pain within me the tares of death have fallen upon me fearfulness and trembling have come upon me and horror has overwhelmed me he said i'm in a really bad place right now sounds like to me i don't know it's just kind of how i see it but then david said i said to myself oh that i had wings like a dove that i could fly away and be at rest if i could just get out of this place of pressure indeed he said i would wander far off in fact i'd go so far away i'd just stay there i would remain in the wilderness have you ever felt like that wish you could buy a one-way ticket to nowhere just fly away not i'll fly away not that fly away and be at rest get in the car and just drive and drive and drive just wander far off like david was thinking i just want to wander far off i've had people tell me they felt like that before and david said when i get there where there's no stress and i'm at rest i'm just going to remain there have you considered walking away from your marriage from your commitments from your calling have you tried to escape maybe somebody watching listening sitting here trying to escape through drugs or alcohol or ungodly entertainment even pornography people do these escapes thinking that they're going to relieve the pressure only to create more as i said earlier you feel like your head is in a vise your stomach is in a knot you feel like your blood pressure is soaring chest is in pain from stress are you haunted by failures of your past do you fear the uncertainties of the future i'm not trying to call you out or humiliate you i want to help you today because despair is real there were times when the great prophet moses and the great prophet elijah wish that they could die but they did not take their lives they turned to god in prayer i want to show you this next verse second corinthians 1 8 the apostle paul said for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in asia that we were pressed out of measure above strength in as much that we despaired even of life but jesus said in our text john 14 27 peace i leave you my peace i give unto you not as the world gives give i unto you so my message today is that god can give you peace under pressure so let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid let's pray right now dear lord god huh two weeks lord i felt this message in my spirit only you know god perhaps only you know where your people are today or maybe someone that doesn't even know you who came in here is watching online they're in a desperate place lord and they they do not know what to do with their lives they do not know which way to turn they're feeling so much perplexity lord they are at a loss for a way they don't know whether to turn to the left or the right pressure like a pressure cooker lower without a relief valve [Music] oh for you know in your heart that the spirit or not fears me when you know my experience you have a point of reference that i have delivered you from fear many times it is not of me i am not the author of confusion and so if confusion is bothering you it did not come for me for i am not the author of it but i am the author of peace know the depths of my love for you if you will release your carnal thinking get rid of it put it aside my spirit brings you peace joy and love at all times seek me first when these things arise in your spirit seek my faith and i will come with my power of peace to alleviate every pressure that you feel yourself under for i the lord thy god