The Peace that Cannot be Understood

Philippians 4:7 ESV

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The Bible speaks of a peace that a person can have that cannot be understood. A peace through one’s circumstances that leaves a person with no worries, no dread, and no fear. I do not know if you have ever experienced this peace, but I can tell you it cannot be understood.

I have experienced this peace in a storm and even though I was experiencing it I cannot tell you why I had the peace I did. It is something, that even though you are experiencing it you look at yourself and you ask, "Why am I so calm? How can I be so calm?" Today's lesson is about that peace, the peace that cannot be understood.

I am sure you are expecting a lesson involving a 3-5 step program where you too can have the peace that cannot be understood when you go through a storm in your life. But that is now how I am going to teach this lesson, because it is not how you get the peace of God. Instead, I am going to describe to you the type of person that has the peace that cannot be understood.

I am going to give you a great insight into the Bible. The Bible is not a "How-To" book. Let me say that again, the Bible is not a "How-To" book. Many Christians and good Bible teachers will amen that statement, but when you talk to them about their theology, or look at their doctrine you will find that they treat the Bible as a "How-To" book. Catholicism is bad about this. They read passages that say, "If you walk in the spirit," and since they treat the Bible as a how-to book they say, "You must walk in the spirit." But the Bible is not a "How-To" book. Instead the Bible is a book of descriptions. In fact, it describes one thing, the one that has YHWH as their God.

The Ten Commandments is a perfect example of this. We read Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor they father and mother and we think they mean you should not steal, you should not bear false witness, and you should honor your father and mother. However, that is not what they say. Thou shalt is not you should, but is you will. They say you will not steal, you will not bear false witness and you will honor your father and mother. The Ten Commandments are not a how-to serve God, but a description of the one that serves God.

God's guidance is another great example of people trying to use the Bible as a "How-To" book. People study the Bible wanting God's guidance in some area or part of their life, looking for some pat answer to some situation they have, and they come back disappointed because they can't seem to find an answer. The problem is the Bible does not teach God's guidance, but instead describes the person that discerns the will of God. So, instead of a 3-5 step program on how to achieve the peace of God, I am going to give you the characteristics of the person that has the peace of God

Mark 4:35–41 ESV

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

This passage is a story that is also told in -27 and about the disciples taking a trip on the Sea of Galilee. In this story we see the disciples and Jesus taking a boat ride on what must be the Sea of Galilee. During their trip, while Jesus is asleep, there comes a bad storm and it threatens to sink the boat. The disciples finally wake Jesus and he calms the storm and immediately ask the disciples two questions. From the situation of the disciples and the two questions Jesus ask we can find the characteristics of the person that has God's Peace.

It is obvious from our passage in Mark that the disciples did not have peace in the storm until it was well over. But even though they did not have the peace of God we can use them to determine the type of person that would be able to go through the storm and have the peace of God.

The thing to notice is that he disciples were surprised by this storm. I understand that the Bible does not expressly say this, but this is an actual even that occurred and we can deduce that the disciples were surprised by the storm.

First, the disciples where fisherman that had fished the Sea of Galilee before. This was their profession and whether they were successful or not depended upon their knowledge. If they had seen the storm coming wouldn’t they have gone around it or waited a day before they set out?

Like the disciples when the storms come into our lives we are surprised. Why are we surprised? We are surprised because an event occurs that we do not expect. I did not expect to be thrown into the pit. I did not expect to be accused of rape and thrown in the dungeon. I did not expect the king to throw a spear at me and set me on the run. I did not expect to have this financial burden. I did not expect to have health problems. I did not expect to have this problem with my family member. These events surprise us because they are unexpected, but the person that has the peace of God knows these kinds of events are coming.

Luke 17:1–2 ESV

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Jesus here says offenses are coming, in fact he says it is impossible they won't come. This is often taught as temptation and even my more modern version follows this line of thinking and yes there is something to this about temptations. However, this is not about temptations, but verse 3 shows this is about forgiving those that hurt us. Jesus is here saying you are going to be hurt, in fact it is impossible to go through life without being hurt.

John 16:31–33 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 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.”

The Bible says that the rain is going to fall on the just and the unjust, the sun is going to shine or not shine on the just and the unjust the same. (). In this world you are going to have trouble. It is not a question of if, it is barely a question of when. You are going to have trouble, it is just the normal part of life.

If you’re not saved you are going to have problems, but for the Christian it is even worse than that because you are a stranger in a strange land with an enemy that seeks your destruction.

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Much has been made of this, but it is good to point it out again for us Christians it is not a question of if you are going suffer for your faith, but when. You will be persecuted, and you will suffer. So why aren’t you expecting trouble?

The first characteristic of the person that has the peace of God is that they know there is trouble coming and they are not surprised by it. I have a saying I use in the prison, "Don't go looking for trouble, trouble will come find you," and it is as apt for life as it is for prison. If your life is calm now, enjoy it, because trouble is coming.

Wow, Bob thanks. Life is horrible, and we should expect bad things to happen to us. Thanks. You mind sitting down now. Look what Jesus ask the disciples, “Why are you so afraid?” Why were the disciples afraid, what where they worried about? The disciples were worried, because they were scared they were going to perish.

They were worried because they were scared they were going to die. They feared losing their lives. We worry because we fear losing something. Maybe we fear losing our health or losing our money. Maybe we fear losing our home or our job. Maybe we fear losing our stature, what people think of us, or maybe we fear losing a family member, or relationship.

For those that are not Christians I do not know what to tell you. I have no answers for you, except maybe listen to what I ask the Christians and see how they are different.

For those of you that are Christians let me ask you this. Why are you trying to find your joy in this world? Let me repeat that. Why are you trying to find your joy in this world, is this where you are supposed to be finding your joy? Is your job, you family, your children, even our health supposed to be what gives you joy?

The Bible says that where our treasure is, that is where we will find our heart and we are to lay up our treasure in heaven not on this earth. It is in heaven we are to find our joy, not here. The Bible ask the question, "What does it profit someone to gain the whole world, yet lose their soul?" For that matter what does it profit someone to gain anything in this world? Why do you hope to find joy where there are thieves, rust, and moths that eat treasure?

C. S. Lewis said,

“All that is not eternal is eternally out of date.”

Put your hope in something that will last.

I remember one day was driving and it was the kind of day that I love. The sky was blue, and the sun was out with a smattering of white puffed clouds. It wasn't hot, but the temperature was just right, comfortable. Everything was so colorful, the flowers were blooming, the grass as green, the sky was blue. I remember thinking, "This day is so great, but compared to heaven it won't even be worth remembering, because as good as it is it will not be better than the worse day in heaven." I then thought, "For some, this is the greatest day they will ever experience, because it will be better than the best day in hell."

Solomon was one of the wisest person’s to ever live. His wisdom was so famed that people came from miles just to see and hear his wisdom for themselves. He was also the richest, most powerful king that Israel would ever see. And late in life he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, which you should read because it is a great essay on life and the human condition. Solomon writes in the book of Ecclesiastes is that he used his wealth and his wisdom to explore life and he starts the book with these words:

Ecclesiastes 1:1–2 ESV

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Solomon is saying, Useless of uselessness, Useless of uselessness, all is useless. The person that has the peace of God knows that this world is not where they find their joy. The loss of things in this world does not bother them, because they are looking toward something else.

What a day that will be, when my Jesus I will see. When I look upon his face, the one that saved me by his grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day, that will be.

There will be no sorrow there. No more burdens to bear. No more sickness. No more pain. No more parting over there and forever I will be with the one that died for me. What a day that will be.

Look at how Paul put it,

Philippians 3:5–11 ESV

circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Why are you trying to find joy and peace in this world? Jefferson Bethke, in a spoken word piece, stated it this way, "When is the last time the world promised satisfaction and actually came through?"

After asking the disciples “Why are you afraid?” Jesus ask them, “Where is your faith?” To understand, the third and final characteristic of the person that has the peace of God we must study a passage from .

takes place when Paul has been taken into custody in Jerusalem and because he is a Roman has appealed to Caesar. After a couple of years Paul finally catches a ship heading to Rome, but there comes a storm and the storm begins to drive the ship to the point that they lose control of the ship and must let it sail with the wind.

Acts 27:21–32 ESV

Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.” When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

If you look up this passage in a commentary you will find a great many things said about the passage. Many will begin to delve into nautical manners and talk about how to handle ships in a storm and what to do. Some focus on the sailors wanting to leave the ship. Some focus on the centurion and the soldiers. Some spiritualize the entire episode. I myself even have a lesson from this same passage titled, "When To Cut the Lifeboats Away." But few talk about the apparent contradiction in this passage.

Before we go any further into this I want you to remember who Paul is. Paul was a student of Jewish law. In fact, to put it in the terms we might understand, Paul was one of the most promised students from the most prestigious classes of his time. There is little doubt that if Paul had not converted to Christianity he would be the leader if not one of the leaders of the Jewish rulers, the Sanhedrin. This is important because there is no way Paul could achieve such status without great knowledge of the scriptures. This means, without a doubt, Paul knew and understand

Look at

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 ESV

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

When Paul stands up and says that he has seen an angel and God says that all that are with him will live he expects it to be fact. He knows that if it doesn't come to pass he should die. Yet, when Paul notices the sailors trying to leave the ship he tells the centurion and the soldiers that if the sailors leave they won't live. Notice he doesn’t say the sailors won’t live, but that the soldiers won’t live. What? Does this make sense to anyone? (Ask for discussion) What would you have said if you were the centurion?

The reason this appears to us to be a contradiction is because it violates how we think the universe works. See we are from a scientific-western culture and in our minds either our decisions matter and change the future or the future is already determined, and our choices don't matter. Either we have free will and that is what determines the future, or the future is already determined, and we are just automatons with no free will. If we are the centurion we look at Paul and say, "Why stop them from getting off the ship? You said we are going to live right? What does it matter if they get off the ship? Let them go water skiing for all that it matters."

Paul understood a biblical point of view that we have lost. Paul understood that our actions matter, but the future and every event has been determined by God for his purpose. Paul understood that yes, our actions matter. Yes, we have free will, but at the same time God has already determined the future for his will and his purpose. Look at these verses….

Proverbs 16:1 ESV

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:33 ESV

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 21:5 ESV

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

The Bible is clear. Our actions matter, our decisions have an impact on things, yet at the same time God is completely sovereign and in complete and total control of everything. Many good Christians and good Bible teachers will amen and hallelujah when you say God is in control. But then you listen to the doctrine they teach, or study their theology, God is in control except here or there. God is in control except my decisions. God is control except for my free will. The Bible says you have free will and God is in control of even that.

This doesn't make any sense. How can we have complete free will and, yet God be in complete control of everything? I don't know. All I can tell you is this is what the Bible teaches. This what the Bible says. You get to decide to either believe the Bible or go with what you think makes sense. I can tell you why you don't understand it. The reason neither you nor I, or anyone else for that matter, can understand it is because we do not meet the qualifications. The qualifications to understand this are to be an infinitely dimensional being with perfect wisdom, i.e. God.

Joseph is another great example of this. Joseph, like Paul, understood that though we make decisions and have free will God is in complete control of everything that is happening and what happens is according to his will and purpose. Look at what he tells his brothers when he finally reveals himself to them:

Genesis 45:3–8 ESV

And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Twice Joseph says, "You sold," but three times he says God that sent him. Later when their father is dead, and the brothers fear Joseph's vengeance he tells them:

Genesis 50:19–20 ESV

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Again, Joseph lays the blame of the actions on the brothers, "You meant," but says God was in control and God meant it for good.

Jesus ask the disciples, "Where is your faith," because they are not believing God is in control of the situation. They are doubting God. The third, final, and most important characteristic of the person that has the peace of God is they know that despite their decisions, despite the decisions of others, God, with his perfect wisdom, is in complete and total control.

Philippians 4:11–13 ESV

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Paul says that he has learned how to be content. This is something you have to learn, you have to be taught and learn that God is in control, but once you learn it you can be content when you are brought low and you can know how to abound. You can know this because as Paul puts it, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." It is from God that we get our peace, the knowledge that he is in control of every situation for his glory and his purpose.

Psalm 46:4–10 ESV

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

That nations rage, kingdoms totter, the earth melts, desolations are brought on the earth. How can we be calm in this situation? How can we have peace? Because God is in control. He makes wars cease. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire. Be Still. Be quiet. Relax. Know that he is God.

There is a television series called The Band of Brothers. It is based on true story about some paratroopers, the guys that jump out of planes, during WWII. In one of the episodes there is a soldier that freezes in combat, it is so bad in fact tha he goes blind. He is unable to act because of his fear and finally an officer comes to him and tells him something that sounds cruel. The officer tells him, "The reason you are scared is you think you are alive. You think you are going to live through this.

The sooner you realize you are dead and this is going to kill you the sooner you will be able be a good soldier."

The sooner you realize that the things of this world are dead, that they don't matter, that those things you hold most dear, those things are worthless trash, the sooner you will realize what is important and have peace.

The Peace that Cannot be Understood

Introduction

Scripture

The Look

Expect the unexpected.

Why are you afraid? (Where Do You Find Joy?)

Where is your Faith? (God is in Control.)

The Story of Joseph

Conclusion