The Peace of God
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The Peace of God
The Peace of God
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.
What is Peace?
Sounds like a philosophical question, doesn’t it?
People have all kinds of ideas concerning peace, but ideally in most cultures, peace is the absence of trouble, danger, or sorrow.
In other words, most people in the world don’t understand peace as a positive concept, but in a negative. To them, it’s the absence of trouble or adversity.
For Example:
The Quechua people of the central Andes in Ecuador and Bolivia — their word for peace literally translates — “to sit down in one’s heart.”
For them, peace is the opposite of running around in the midst of constant anxieties.
The Ch’ol people of Mexico define peace as “a quiet heart.”
Sounds good, but it’s really the absence of care or agitation.
The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom, which is a greeting meaning — “Peace unto you.” It doesn’t mean “I hope you don’t have any trouble;” rather — it means, “I hope you have all the highest good coming your way.” And that means even in the worst of circumstances.
The Biblical concept of peace doesn’t focus on the absences of trouble, but is unrelated to the circumstances.
Philip Bliss captured the biblical concept of peace in his hymn, It is Well with My Soul:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”
That’s Peace! That’s true peace. You may be in the midst of the greatest trials, persecutions, adversity, suffering, affliction of your life and still have Biblical peace.
Do you remember Paul and Silas in jail? — sitting in the dark prison — What were they doing? Singing!
Paul wrote
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.
Rejoice in my sufferings?
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
James exhorts the dispersed Jewish Christians:
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials,
Where does a person find that kind of peace that is not just absent of trouble, but unaffected even in the midst of it?
Well, our text is the iconic verse for such peace.
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.
This is the peace He knew His disciples would need. He knew what they were facing. This peace is that which gives a calm spirit in the most wildly fearful circumstances. It affords them joy in the pain and trial, the song in the suffering, the hush in the riot. This peace overrules every kind of adversity. This peace thrives in the trouble.
I. The Nature of Peace
I. The Nature of Peace
“Peace I leave with you.”
The NT speaks of 2 kinds of peace:
Objective Peace
Subjective Peace
Objective Peace
Objective Peace
Objective peace in the Bible is Peace with God.
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The unregenerate person has no peace with God because he is at war with God, enemies of God. But through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, God brings the war to an end. This is objective peace and has nothing to do with our feelings or what we think. It’s an accomplished fact.
We are justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ — redeemed, totally forgiven, declared righteous by God, our sins forgiven, rebellion ceased, the war is over — We have peace with God.
This is the only way a sinful, vile, wicked, enemy of God can be reconciled to this Holy, holy, holy God.
20 and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross — whether things on earth or things in heaven.
God through Christ paved the way to peace. This is Objective Peace.
Subjective Peace
Subjective Peace
But in , this is not what Jesus is talking about. He is speaking of subjective, experiential peace here — the tranquility of the soul, settled peace like a river — a peace that thrives — regardless of the billows that roll.
But this is not a peace that is victimized by the events or is gobbled up by their attackers. It’s a supernatural, permanent, positive peace. One that rests in the conviction that
32 He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?
This is the peace of
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
It’s a peace impervious to the conflict, a peace so supernaturally powerful that it surpassing all human comprehension and understanding. Even as believers, we cannot fully understand such peace, but we experience it.
It guards our hearts and minds.
Guard is a term that means “to watch” or “keep imprisoned.” It holds the military connotation of “standing a post and guarding against the aggressive attack of the enemy.”
The Peace of God stands guard and keeps us from worries that burden our hearts. It stops unworthy thoughts from overtaking our minds.
This is the kind of peace we desperately need. It’s the kind of peace that deals with the corrosive poison of pasts sins that have been washed away. It’s the kind of peace that governs the present unsatisfied desires gnawing at our hearts. It’s the kind of peace that holds sure the promises of God for the future where no unknown of tomorrow can threaten.
This is the promise Jesus leaves with His disciples.
The guilt of their past sins had been forgiven. They can be assured they would overcome all their present trials. They can be sure that they are secured for all eternity and their destiny is sure.
What a rich gift!
II. The Source of Peace
II. The Source of Peace
“My peace I give to you.”
It’s the Peace of God subjective and experiential peace that has it’s foundation in the objective, factual peace — Peace with God.
The Peace of God is only obtainable by those who have Peace with God.
Notice what Jesus says, “My Peace.” Here’s the key to the supernatural nature of peace — It’s Jesus’ own personal peace. It’s the same deep, rich peace that stilled His heart in the midst of the mockers, the murderers, the haters and everything He faced.
How is it He doesn’t answer His accusers?
23 when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He was suffering, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.
When He faced Herod, He answered not a word. When He faced Pilate, He stood in fearless peace. Listen to this exchange:
10 So Pilate said to Him, “You’re not talking to me? Don’t You know that I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You?” 11 “You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.”
That’s the kind of Peace Jesus gives His disciples. It’s really stunning that that Lord Jesus Christ would give us His own personal peace.
Think about this: His peace Has already been tested and found to be a serenity in the danger, a calm in the storm, the freedom from worry.
III. The Giver of Peace
“My peace I give to you.”
He is the Source of this Peace and the Giver of this peace. And He does it through the agent of the Holy Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
Christ’s Peace given to us through His Holy Spirit.
14 He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.
This is really what sanctification is. He makes us to be partakers of the same peace that kept guard over the heart and mind of Christ.
So, every promise Christ made to His disciples that night was rooted in the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus told His troubled disciples.
7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.
John 16:7
The Holy Spirit’s coming brought to full fruition every promise of Christ.
IV. The Contrast of God’s Peace and the World’s Peace
IV. The Contrast of God’s Peace and the World’s Peace
“I do not give to you as the world gives.”
He emphatically states that His peace is unlike the world’s peace.
The world’s peace is worthless. There has never been a time in human history that there has been true peace. There are more conflicts, more wars now since WWII, and this was the Great World War that broke out after the War that was to end all wars.
Peace of the world is shallow and unfulfilling and worthless. Marriages are shattered and torn apart because there is no peace in the home. Peace is not in the home because there is no peace in their hearts. And because there is no peace in their hearts, there is no peace in their relationships with one another. No peace with one another means there is no peace in the home, in their schools, on the job, in governments, in the nations or among the nations. There is no peace in the world.
The ungodly cannot nor never will know peace apart from peace with God. That is not only the plot of our present world, it has been the plot of mankind since .
14 They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
6 For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.
15 We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
Jeremiah 8:
26 People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken.
Luke 21:
We can expect nothing different in our present world. The world’s notion of peace is a lie that cannot satisfy. But our Lord Jesus Christ offers real peace.
V. The Result of Peace
V. The Result of Peace
“Your hear must not be troubled or fearful.”
This is the proper response of our Lord’s promise of peace. Receive His gift by faith.
Notice what He says:
Notice what He says:
No
“My peace I give to you…Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”
The first is sovereign grace revealed, the second is our responsibility. His peace given has to be received and applied in your life. His promise is absolutely sure as Christ Himself is faithful; if you lay hold of this promise, you will have true peace, calm, untroubled hearts, regardless of the circumstances.
And listen — if your heart is troubled, then it’s because you do not believe God as you should. You do not really trust His promise of peace. As someone said, “Anxiety is troubled borrowed from either the past or the future.” People worry about thing that “might happen.”
34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
But the Lord’s Faithful Love never ceases.
22 Return, you faithless children. I will heal your unfaithfulness. “Here we are, coming to You, for You are the Lord our God. 23 Surely, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in the Lord our God.
22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
The Lord’s Peace is an essential spiritual source.
The Apostle Paul exhorts the believers in Colossae.
15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.
Control your hearts — means to let the Peace of Christ control your hearts in all your conflicts, decisions, and situations and issues.
This becomes helpful to us in practical ways.
Problems and Decisions
Do you have a problem or decision to make?
Let the peace of Christ make the decision for you. Here’s what I mean. If you have examined the plan of action in light of God’s Word and His Word does not forbid it and you can do it and retain the peace of Christ — then do it with with all the confidence of it being God’s will. But if you have to give up any sense of Christ’s peace in order to carry it out, then don’t do it.
If a certain action will rob your peace — Don’t do it!
23 But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and everything that is not from a conviction is sin.
And so there are really two reason not to sin.
First, sin is an offense to the Holy God we love. He hates sin, and if we love Him and are passionate about pleasing Him, then we should also hate sin.
Second
The second reason is that sin destroys our peace because it brings God’s displeasure and burdens our conscience with guilt.
So, the Peace of Christ is an unending source of strength in the midst of difficulties. It sustains us, enables us to endure any difficulty, and provides absolute serenity.
Look at how Stephen offered such a loving, forgiving prayer when he sank bleeding, bruised, under the stones of the hate- filled crowd.
60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep.
Stephen exemplified the peace of Christ — the same as His Lord.
2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.
Such a marvelous peace is available for all of us — and if available to us, it puts us under obligation to lean on it.
John MacArthur offers insightful understanding of ,
,
It is not a command to seek peace, but rather a plea to let the Lord’s peace work in us, to let it rule in our hearts.”
Christ’s Peace is every Christians — Now let it control your heart. It comes to you when you take your eyes off the problem, off the trouble, and constantly look to Christ.
Hebrews
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
How does this help you?
How does it convict you?