John 14:27
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On the night before His death, the Lord is sitting at the table in the upper room in Jerusalem. Judas Iscariot had departed from them to betray Jesus, for Satan had entered him. With the eleven remaining disciples, Jesus began to explain that “the Son of Man” is now glorified, “and God was glorified in Him.”
Jesus had previously told the unbelieving Jews, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in you sin; where I am going you cannot come.”
This is a horrifying statement. It is horrifying beyond comprehension, for anyone to be eternally damned. But Jesus knew that they would never repent, they would never believe, they would willfully reject the Son of God, their promised Messiah.
But in tenderness, Jesus promises His true disciples, “Little children, I am with you a little while longer…where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”
Simon Peter asked Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” But as it would turnout, when faced with fear, Peter would deny Jesus three times, as Jesus was laying down His life for him and for all that would believe.
Jesus comforts His disciples with reassuring words, that He would come again and receive them to Himself, that where He is, they will be also.
Jesus says to them “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Jesus even promised that He would ask the Father to grant the Spirit of truth, (the Holy Spirit) to them.
What would the Holy Spirit do for the troubled disciples?
He would be sent as a Helper and a Comforter to the disciples.
He abides with them... and would come to abide “in” them, forever.
Isn’t that wonderful???
By His indwelling, the follower of Christ will come to know, to sense and understand the presence of the Holy Spirit and His guidance in their life.
The Holy Spirit that the saint of God receives, guides in all truth. We are given further clarification by John in...
27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
The Holy Spirit teaches and reveals truth exclusively to the follower, but is not seen or known by the world.
The Kingdom of God is not of this world. He must leave and return to His place of Glory. In Jesus’ final hours, before His arrest, He tries to reinforce what He has been saying to His disciples all along.
Jesus had previously promised His disciples that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that He would continue to be with them, as would the Father and the truth.
Jesus says to them twice in John Chapter 14, “Let not your heart be troubled”
Jesus has spent a great deal of time being a Comforter to His disciples. They must not allow themselves to be thrown into confusion, to be frightened or terrified. They must not become unsettled in their minds.
With the happenings in the world, it is easy to become distracted, isn’t it? Humanity is in extreme emotional distress. Fallen humanity is submerged in emotional sorrow and agitation. Lives are in turbulence.
This evening we come to a verse in the Gospel of John, that I would like to spend some time on. Because it is so beneficial for us all to grasp its meaning.
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 heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
We live in a fallen world. In this fallen world people are desperately in search for face. But sadly, the problems and the pressures continue to mount with each passing day.
People look for peace by various means. Some will seek for wealth, some will look for that certain person who can make them happy, some will seek for it in alcoholic beverage or drugs use. Others might be looking for the opportunity to escape, to get away, to take a vacation, yet peace cannot be found, because we eventually have to return to the same problems that we let behind. If we look for peace in temporal things, it always ends the same way, in disappointment. Why? Because a life that is lived is anything but peaceful.
Circumstances change so we can’t base our peace on the circumstances of life.
The apostle Paul explains the type of peace that he had found in this way...
11 Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
Regardless of what was going on in Paul’s life, whether he was being beaten and thrown into prison with his feet bound in stocks and chains, or whether he was being dragged out of the temple and beaten with an angry mob screaming “away with him,” or whether he was caught in a raging storm at sea, Paul learned to remain content and be at peace in the midst of terrible circumstances.
Encouraging His disciples, Jesus declares to them, “Peace I leave with you;”
There is can never be real and lasting peace in this life, unless one has made peace with God.
Since the fall of man, all are enemies of God because all violate His holy law.
In rebellion Adam and Eve listened to Satan, and the human race has been at war with God ever since.
God knows the sinful heart of man very well! Way back in Genesis, God describes that fallen condition of man…He says “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
In the Book of Job is says...
14 “What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Left to their own devices, humanity is hopelessly sinful, and has set themselves against God and His Holy law. Therefore, all humans inevitably face Gods wrath and the penalty of eternal punishment.
Thanks be to God who is merciful to fallen humanity, there really is lasting peace to be had. It can only be recognized in the Messiah. God has chosen “to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
The repentant man can be reconciled to God through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. The repentant man can be reconciled to enjoy eternal peace with God through faith in the Lord. It is through Him that God has chosen “to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Paul wrote in...
1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
In that same chapter if we scroll on down to verse 10 he says...
10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
At the moment of justification, the rebellion ends, all sins are forgiven, and enemies become sons of God.
As a result, those who at one time had a “mind set on the flesh [resulting in] death” now have a “mind set on the Spirit [resulting in] life and peace.
For there to be peace between sinful men and holy God, to satisfy God’s holiness, Jesus had to die in our place.
This is why Paul called the gospel the “gospel of peace”, because it is the good news of how sinful rebels can be at peace with God through Christ Jesus.
Because God is holy and just, He requires that a penalty be paid when sinners violate His law.
The death of our Savior fully satisfied the demands of divine justice that God can “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Through Christ’s substitutionary atonement and the imputation of His righteousness to sinful humanity, the enemies of God can become friends of God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Peace is an essential part of the Christian life.
Paul wrote to the Romans....
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In each and every circumstance, it is the Lord of peace who continually grants peace.
Jesus says, “My peace I give to you;”
He is the Prince of Peace, and the “God of peace” God the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are all the source of true peace.
The peace that Jesus promised to give to His disciples would come in fullness on the day of Pentecost.
But the peace that Jesus gives in “not as the world gives”
No real peace is available in the world. The world is in disarray and only offers temporary joy and peace.
The Bible repeatedly emphasizes that the world’s peace is inadequate.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
The world’s peace is only an illusion, it is not peace at all. The truth is, in the end times, “while unbelievers are saying, “peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape.
Only those who know Jesus Christ can have peace with God and, subsequently, experience true peace in this life.
After promising to give His disciples peace, yet again Jesus repeated His command to them, “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Christians are responsible to appropriate God’s promises. The good news of the gospel is that the war between the sinner and God can end, since the treaty ending that war was purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A true christian has a clear conscience while a non-believer will have a troubled and accusing conscience.
Christians who live in unrepentant sin forfeit the experience of peace and assurance that is Christ’s legacy to His people. Only repentance can settle a guilty conscience.
On the night before His death, the Lord promised supernatural peace to His troubled disciples. By pointing to Himself as the giver of peace, rather than to the fearful circumstances they faced in His absence, Jesus offered His followers a peace that in unshakable by the troubles and sufferings of life and a peace that lasts forever.