Sermon Tone Analysis

Plentiful Peace

2 Peter 1:1,2

 

/To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours/:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

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eace is the professed desire of both tyrants and pacifists.

No individual is left untouched by the desire for peace.

Yet, when we speak of peace, the most of us have in mind something far different from what God offers in His Word.

We think that peace is best defined as a sense of being undisturbed.

A peaceful landscape is an undisturbed landscape, perhaps left in a pristine or an unaltered condition.

For the most of mankind, peace may be best defined as the absence of unjust or unwarranted demands or perhaps as the state of having no conflict others.

By such criteria, peace is unattainable in contemporary life.

Does the Bible offer such peace?

Does the Word of God not rather offer something far more valuable, far more precious?

Apparently, peace is an important issue to Christians since virtually all the letters comprising the majority of our New Testament begin with a wish for peace.

Only the three books of *1**st* *John* and *3**rd** John* and *James* fail to include a wish for peace in the introduction.

We should not think this a mere formula or literary device employed by the writers of these letters.

Instead, each wish for peace which was penned pointed to a specific peace unexperienced in the world.

It is my conviction, in agreement with and in the lineage of evangelical and fundamental Christians since the days of the Apostles, that there are no superfluous words in the Bible.

Therefore, the desire for peace which Peter penned must speak to our hearts today.

There is a distinction between peace as promised by Christ and that which is longed for in this fallen world.

Preparing to leave this world, Jesus said to His disciples: /Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid/ [*John 14:27*].

On the basis of this promise we would conclude that there is a qualitative difference between the peace Christ gives and the peace offered by the world.

Once again, our Lord is recorded as promising His disciples: /I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world /[*John 16:33*].

From this verse we would conclude that the peace Christ offers has no relationship to a state of being undisturbed.

In order to explore more fully this engaging topic of peace in the Christian life join me in study of the introductory sentences of Peter’s second letter.

We know Peter is writing to the saaints since the letter is addressed /to those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours/ [*2 Peter 1:1*].

The quality of peace which is the heritage of the child of God is what is in view as Peter writes.

Therefore, peace for the individual Christian is the subject of our consideration today.

Grace and Peace are Closely Associated*/ /*– The first matter of significance I observe is the close association of grace and peace.

Throughout the New Testament this interdependence is observed; peace is never mentioned except that grace is nearby.

These two aspects of Christian life are always in close proximity.

Sometimes mercy is mentioned together with grace and peace, and on one occasion love is mentioned together with these two prized commodities, but they almost always appear in conjunction with one another.

On a few occasions the wish for grace and peace is simply voiced, but more commonly the wish is voiced with acknowledgement that these are from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Grace is the basis for peace and peace always results when grace has been extended.

In order to grasp thoroughly the significance of this interrelationship, it will no doubt prove helpful to remind ourselves of the definition of /grace/ and the meaning of /peace/.

Dictionaries define grace as */unmerited favour/*.

Such a definition, however, is sterile and decidedly unsatisfying.

To one who has experienced grace, grace is far more exciting, far more stimulating.

Someone has defined grace as:

 

*G*od’s

*R*iches

*A*t

*C*hrist’s

*E*xpense.

To speak of grace is to speak of one knowing naught but impoverishment being enriched.

To speak of grace is to speak of the dead being raised to life.

To speak of grace is to speak of God’s surprising intervention to awaken the slumbering soul to light and life.

Grace always entails an element of surprise – sudden, joyous surprise.

How can the blind know the explosion of colours tinting the world about them?

How can the deaf know the profusion of sounds which defines life?

How can the dead know the joys of living?

Grace awakens the senses to God who is life, confers light to darkened souls, and causes the ear to hear the sweet voice of God.

All this is given as result of Christ’s sacrifice.

This is grace.

Where grace is extended there results the promise of peace – not the peace of being left alone to one’s own selfish devices, but the peace of contentment and satisfaction with one’s relationships and with one’s lot in life.

The peace of God is that quality which fulfils hope and makes the individual complete.

Though there may persist a sense of restlessness, it will be a restlessness which impels the possessor of peace to excel for the glory of God.

Though one’s spirit may long for changes in the world about, that longing will always be for the good of others and to the glory of God.

Peace, then, is a sense of confidence in God’s presence and in His power exercised for His child.

I recall a description of a painting which the artist had entitled “Peace.”

The painting was that of a great cataract whose waters crashed over a precipice to wildly smash the rocks below.

The viewer was gripped by the scene, for the sky was portrayed as a raging storm, with lightning slashing the darkened sky and wind bowing trees perched perilously on the sides of the chasm beside the waterfall.

Upon examination, a small nest could be observed on a branch of one of the trees; and snuggled in that nest was a little bird apparently sitting on her eggs.

What was striking about the bird was that her head was raised to the skies and she appeared to be bursting forth in song.

Serene and confident though the storm raged about her, the little bird sat in her nest and sang the song which the Father gave her.

The artist had entitled the painting appropriately.

Peace is the quality of contentment in the face of the raging storms of life.

Peace is that sense of confidence that our Father rules over all and overrules all for our good and for His glory.

Peace is the certainty that our God is too good to ever needlessly hurt His child and too wise to ever make a mistake.

Peace is best described as that sense of presence which defines the one who knows that whatever may happen in a given situation, he rests assured that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose [*Romans 8:28]*.

Peace is described by the response of the individual who says with confidence: those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified [*Romans 8:29,30*].

Such a one may indeed exult: If God is for us, who can be against us?  [*Romans 8:31*].

Grace and Peace are Offered in Abundance*/ /*– God never gives just a little.

God always gives in abundance.

Consequently, when He offers /grace and peace/, it is in abundance.

His grace, /a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap/ [cf.

*Luke 6:38*].

Recall the glorious old hymn of Haldor Lillenas:

 

/Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,/

/Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;/

/Higher than the mountain,/

/Sparkling like a fountain,/

/All sufficient grace for even me;/

/Broader than the scope of my transgressions,/

/Greater far than all my sin and shame;/

/O magnify the precious name of Jesus,/

/Praise His name!/

 

Again, you may recall the glorious hymn penned by Julia Johnston:

 

Marvellous grace our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured –

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Marvellous, infinite, matchless grace,