Peace

Introduction

We are continuing our sermon series on the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Just to recap the Fruits - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control

Today, we are looking at the fruit of peace.

Now, peace is something this world considers really important. How do we know this? Many of the famous figures in history are famous because they are known as peacemakers. Do you know these people? (show pictures)

Mahatma Gandhi - lead the independence movement in India against British colonial rule. But rather than through warfare, he brought it about through non-violence. He said famous lines like ‘an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind’, ‘be the change that you want to see in the world’ ie, if you want to see peace in the world, don’t bring it about through war but through peace yourself.

Nelson Mandela - Mandela was famous for advocating for the black people in South Africa during the apartheid. It allowed reconciliation between the white and black people in the country. And again, he did it through peaceful ways rather than war - even after he was imprisoned for 27 years, rather than seeking revenge he promoted peaceful reconciliation.

Martin Luther King Jr. - he was a civil rights leader for the black people in America, and he advocated for equality. And again, he did it through peaceful measures rather than warfare.

Now each of these people are really good examples of peace in this world. Without people like them in this world, their virtues, and their work, this world would be much more chaotic than it already is. But the peace that these people brought, and any other peace in this world, only capture a tiny bit of the peace that God can offer us. So let’s see what the Bible tells us about peace.

1. Peace is from God

So the first point obviously is that peace is from God.

Read John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Here we have what’s called the ‘farewell discourse’ - this is the conversation that Jesus is having with his disciples just before he leaves. And he comforts his disciples because they are really anxious that Jesus is going to leave them.

And one of the greatest comforts that Jesus promises is that he says he will send His Spirit, the Holy Spirit - Read John 14:26 “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

And we see in verse 27 that with the giving of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says he will give us peace. Not just any peace but ‘my peace’ ie, the very peace of Jesus himself.

Imagine the most peaceful thing that you can think of. Perhaps it’s you lying on the soft grass, under a tree in the shade, with the gentle spring breeze blowing over you. You’ve just finished all your exams and you did well, so you don’t have a single worry in the world. You’ve got your sunnies on, and you look up at the sky with the clouds rolling over slowly. And you’ve got your cold refreshing drink right next to you. It’s almost like the garden of Eden right? Now multiply that feeling of peace by a 100. And 100 more. And guess what, even if you multiplied that feeling of peace even more, it would not even come close to the peace of God. The peace of God transcends any kind of peace that we can ever fathom.

God’s peace is infinite - there are no limits we can place on it. It cannot be captured by the human imagination. The moment you think you understand the peace of God, that is exactly when you have failed to understand it. It is infinite, beyond our capacity.

God’s peace is independent. Our peace is dependent on our circumstances, our successes, money and having a home, having a good relationship with our parents and friends. God’s peace doesn’t depend on any of that - it exists perfectly, not affected by anything else.

This is the kind of peace that Jesus offers us. The perfect peace of God - who exists in perfect harmony as Father, Son, Spirit, the Trinity, who himself is peace itself, the perfect embodiment of peace. And this is because of who Jesus is - Read Isaiah 9:6 “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is the prince of peace. (Psalm 27:4 is also helpful - God himself is the source of greatest peace, which David clearly knows, seeking refuge in the presence of God himself in the midst of his troubles).

So no matter what is happening in your life, remember that God is the greatest source of peace. It is not the peace of Ghandi, Mandela, or Luther, but it is the unsearchable infinite depths of the peace of God himself. And Jesus gives to us this very peace. That’s a remarkable statement we see in John 14:27 that I think too often we just take for granted, normalise, or underestimate. We have God himself, the God of peace, with us.

2. Peace not as the world

Now then it goes without saying that God’s peace is different to the peace of the world. This is what Jesus clearly says in the verse. Let’s read John 14:27 again “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Jesus gives us peace, ‘not as the world gives’. It’s clearly different.

The experience of ‘peace’ is not unique to Christians. This is something everyone in their lives strive for. Because people want a peaceful life, they work hard to make money to have some sort of security in their life. They save up for retirement. People are civil and nice because they would rather just get along with people rather than have conflict. They seek religions like Buddhism or even Islam which calls itself the ‘religion of peace’. And in general, what’s common about the peace of the world is that it seeks the experience or feeling of peace.

But as Christians, we don’t just chase after the ‘feeling’ of peace. Feelings are important, and Godly peace does include peaceful feelings. But if it’s only the feeling or experience of peace that we chase after, we may be deceived because we are not getting true peace at all - we may be getting something that just pretends to be peace. Read Ezekiel 13:10 “10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,”

In the OT, many prophets were guilty of preaching peace and that everything will be ok, when actually everything was not ok because of the sin of Israel.

So what this shows us is that as Christians, we cannot chase after peace at the cost of right relationship with God, goodness, justice, mercy, love. As Christians we cannot compromise. And that means as Christians, we sometimes have to sacrifice peace in this world, so that we can have a greater peace which is peace with God.

Jesus did precisely this in the garden: he could have chosen not to go to the cross to have the feeling of peace, but instead sacrificed all that and suffered agony, so that he could secure peace for us all.

That might mean risking conflict, because you choose to speak up about an unjust situation. Or risking being disliked by someone, because you cannot participate in the sinful behaviours of some people.

Whatever it may be, as believers, we prioritise our peace with God, over the feeling of peace that we might get in this world by compromising.

3. Peace that is to come

And that means that although we have the great peace of God we talked about earlier, we experience it partially in this life, and fully in the next. While we are in this world, we only get a taste of the true peace that is to come at the end of time when Jesus returns. So we should not be surprised when there is chaos or suffering in this life. Jesus tells us this himself - read John 16:33 “33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

So as believers, we are not surprised, and even expect, moments of chaos in life. But Jesus says ‘in me you may have peace’ - there truly is a peace that we can experience in this life that is from God, even during our sufferings. And that’s because Jesus has overcome the world - he has overcome all things, even death. And the God who has overcome all things lives in us through his Holy Spirit.

And one way we can have peace in the sufferings and chaos of this world, is by hope: we have a great hope of peace in the future - glorious, endless, perfect peace when He finally returns. This hope helps us endure through whatever situation we are going through, because as children of God we are confident that we will experience that perfect infinite peace of God in the future. Look our God describes it:

Revelation 7:15–17 “15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

When Christ returns, we will be with God, the perfect peace, forever and ever. In his presence. There will be no suffering ever again. We will be with Him forever, who will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Conclusion

So no matter what you may be going through in life, or what you will go through, remember that there is peace in God. Never underestimate that peace - it is so different to the peace of this world, so we should never settle for the lesser peace that this world offers. God’s peace is higher and deeper and greater than anything we can ever imagine. And it is a peace that we can already experience in this life, and there is also a much greater peace that we can hope for in the future. And finally, remember that it is because of Christ we can have this hope - he secured for us our peace with God, by experiencing the wrath of God we deserved on the cross. Because Jesus has done this, we have this sure hope that will see us through even the most difficult situations in our lives.

Discussion questions:

What brings you a sense of peace? When I am stressed, or angry, or sad, what do I seek?

Are the ways that I try to find peace good ways? Could my ways perhaps be harmful?

What are some ways we can train ourselves to seek God, through reading the Bible and prayer, in times when we are trying to find peace?