Peace in the Lord

The Peace of God John 14:27 Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567 “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.” On the verge of His violent execution1 Jesus’s final testament was to offer divine peace to those who believe in Him. Just hours before facing one of the most “horrific means of torture” and death ever devised, the burden Jesus felt was not for Himself but to “solidify the souls of His followers” with a sense of overwhelming peace.2 Despite knowing the grueling details of His impending arrest, mockery, floggings, desertion and subsequent crucifixion for humanity’s iniquities (Isaiah 53); Jesus told the disciples to not fear for striking the heal of the Shepherd would result in Satan receiving an unrecoverable, fatal wound of eternal damnation (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 20:7-10). What Jesus offered to the disciples before He went to the cross was not a worldly “peace of mind” that is here today and gone tomorrow3 but divine peace that transcends all circumstances and understanding. Like the disciples there are times when the wolf4 seeking to devour us will instill fear in our hearts (1 Peter 5:8). Even as Christians we often wonder if feelings of peace are possible when the turbulent waves of oppression, financial burdens, physical ailments and the unknown are crashing our hopes and dreams! If you struggle with feeling an overwhelming sense of terror or lack indescribable joy in your life then keep reading for He who laid His life down for us sheep5 has not only secured your victory over the power of sin but through the Holy Spirit offers you His divine peace! Peace of Christ Christ’s dying bequest to those who believe in Him was that they might receive “the unruffled, calm, the profound peace of the Eternal Son of God.”6 Since we live in a fallen world where chance happens to everyone (Ecclesiastes 9:11) managing the fear of the unknown has become a multibillion dollar industry. Even though the world promises “peace of mind” from 1 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1154. 2 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 3 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 4 Augustine of Hippo, “Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John,” in St. Augustin: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. John Gibb and James Innes, vol. 7, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888), 340. 5 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 6 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 112. 1|Page acquiring insurances and hoarding wealth,7 trusting in what is here today and gone tomorrow does little to secure either present or eternal peace (Matthew 6:19-21)! Eternal peace comes from knowing that it was not Satan, Pilate, Herod, the Jews or the soldiers that were in charge on Good Friday (John 10:18)8 but the sovereign, Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13)! Fear lodges in our hearts the moment we forget that He who bought our lives offers us reconciliation and divine peace (1 Corinthians 6:20). Let me tell you a story about a starving soldier. “At the close of the Civil War, a troop of Federal cavalry were riding along a road between Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Suddenly they saw a poor wretch of a soldier, clothed in the ragged remnants of a Confederate uniform, coming out of the bush. He called to the captain of the cavalry unit who drew in and waited for him. “Can you help me?” the soldier called out. “I am starving to death. Can you give me some food?” “Starving to death?” questioned the captain. “Why don’t you just go into Richmond and get what you need?” The soldier explained, “I do not dare go into Richmond because if I did I would be arrested. Three weeks ago I became so discouraged because of our losses that I deserted from the southern army, and I have been hiding in the woods ever since, gradually making my way north, hoping for a chance to break through to Federal lines. If I should be caught by southern soldiers, I would be shot for deserting the army in time of war.” The captain asked, “Haven’t you heard the news?” “What news?” “Why, the war is over. Peace has been made. General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox two weeks ago. The Confederacy is ended.” “What!” said the soldier, “Peace has been made for two weeks, and I have been starving in the woods because I didn’t know it?” This is what it means to have peace 7 8 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 2|Page with God. It means that the Lord Jesus Christ made peace nearly two thousand years ago for those who are given to him by the Father. They do not have to make their peace with God.”9 The Good News is that the same personal peace that Jesus shared with God the Father in heaven10 that enabled Him to face and endure the cross with undying love is available to everyone who believes in Him! Christ’s Peace is an Unshakeable Foundation The peace that believers receive from Christ is built on a sure foundation! When we face the unknown future, our hearts are not to be troubled and filled with fear because the foundation of the cross is unshakeable.11 When Christ atoned for our sins on the cross the wrath of God towards us was paid in full and a bridge to have an intimate relationship with the Father became guaranteed12 and unshakeable for those who are justified by faith.13 The world’s granting of peace, one that is based on the shifting sands of culture and selfreliance,14 is “a conditional, negotiated and contractual matter, whereas that of Jesus is unconditional and incalculable.”15 Our eternal union with God is not built on one’s imagination or of one’s dreams16 but on the truth that since “God punished Christ in my stead” 17 I am pleasing and acceptable to Him! We are to conquer the fear of the unknown by focusing on the love of Christ that is unshakable and always available to those who draw nearer to their 9 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1155. 10 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1155–1156. 11 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 109. 13 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 110. 14 Merrill C. Tenney, “John,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 148. 15 Andrew T. Lincoln, The Gospel according to Saint John, Black’s New Testament Commentary (London: Continuum, 2005), 397. 16 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 110. 17 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 110. 12 3|Page Savior. Read what Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Rome concerning our unshakeable foundation of peace: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39). John Piper stated that “the roots of the cross reach back before creation into the eternal Godhead where the God the Son has always infinitely loved God the Father.”18 Peace Christians are offered through the Son surpasses all human understanding for this fruit from the Holy Spirit is the very same peace that God the Father and Son have eternally shared with one another!19 So secure is our foundation of peace in Christ that not even the worst of storms can instill fear into our hearts! Those people who become believers are not promised an easy life, but ones filled with persecution and tribulation (John 16:33, 15:18-25). While it is far from easy to persevere through health, financial, mental, adversarial, marital and outright demonic attacks; our hearts are not to be troubled, cowardly or filled with fear20 but with peace that God always does good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28)! Dark and bitter times seen through the eyes of Christ are moments of potential blessings and spiritual growth (James 1:24) in which the “soul shelters itself beneath the twin wings of the faithfulness and power of his Covenant God.”21 The peace that Christ seals upon those who rely on Him is stronger than death and more invincible than the grave.22 Let me tell you a true story about peace in the face of death: 18 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 20 Leon Morris, The Gospel according to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 584. 21 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 111. 22 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 112. 19 4|Page “I remember, in my early childhood, having heard an old man utter in prayer, a saying which stuck by me—“O Lord, give unto thy servants that peace which the world can neither give nor take away.” Ah! the whole might of our enemies cannot take it away. Poverty cannot destroy it; the Christian in his rags can have peace with God. Sickness cannot mar it; lying on his bed, the saint is joyful in the midst of the fires. Persecution cannot ruin it, for persecution cannot separate the believer from Christ, and while he is one with Christ his soul is full of peace. “Put your hand here,” said the martyr to his executioner, when he was led to the stake, “put your hand here, and now put your hand on your own heart, and feel which beats the hardest, and which is the most troubled.” Strangely was the executioner struck with awe, when he found the Christian man as calm as though he were going to a wedding feast, while he himself was all agitation at having to perform so desperate a deed.”23 This kind of peace surpasses all human understanding because it does not come from one’s imagination or outright grit but is generated and maintained by the very God who knit you in your mother’s womb and securely holds your future in His hands (Psalms 139)! Praise be that Jesus gives believers peace amid the fiercest of storms. Christ’s Peace Comes from Faith and Trust in Him Lest one thinks that grace is cheap, to feel the peace of Christ one must not only be a believer but also obey and trust His voice. Disobeying God destroys our fellowship and intimacy with a holy God24 because there is no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5). His commands are not a burden (1 John 5:3) but when meditated upon and obeyed are the key to expressing our love and desire to be like Him (2 John 6; 1 Corinthians 11:1). Also, since peace comes from Christ, peace is not attainable without trust in Him. Nothing says I trust you Lord more than surrendering the helm C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 112. 24 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1158. 23 5|Page of our ship25 to the hand of a gracious God while our souls sleep in the lofty cabin of His grace and mercy! The prince of this world loses his grip the moment we put our trust in Christ who at the cross has already secured our freedom and victory!26 It is by surrendering anxiety and fear to God in prayer that the peace of God bequeathed to believers27 enters and guards our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6-7). The key then to keeping our “peace continual and unbroken” 28 is to always look to the sacrifice of He who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)! Conclusion I want to conclude by saying that the greatest source of peace for a believer comes from knowing that their eternal destination is secured in Christ Jesus! I heard of a contest in which the artists were to submit paintings and sculptures of their understanding of peace. The winner of said contest was the one who painted a bird in a nest protruding from a branch that was over a raging waterfall.29 The key to obtaining peace is not found in avoiding the raging waterfalls of tribulations that threaten to crush our souls or even our very lives30 but in having faith that He who overcame the world is still in charge31 and will one day return to take us home to spend an eternity in His presence. “What wonder that a Christian man has peace when he carries the title-deeds of heaven in his bosom!”32 By trusting and obeying His voice may we from the darkest waters and the filthiest dung hills of life33 find the brightest pearls and most precious jewels imaginable … Christ’s peace for He truly is our portion forever, amen! C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 111. 26 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1158. 27 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1154. 28 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 116. 29 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1154. 30 James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1158. 31 John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014). 32 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 111. 33 C. H. Spurgeon, “Spiritual Peace,” in The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 6 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1860), 112. 25 6|Page