Peace that is Given
Notes
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Recap the book:
Faithful Church
Persecution
Confusion over the DOL
Idleness
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Peace
I wrote it
Grace
Three things that the people need. We see this in light of what he wrote in this letter but Paul closes this letter as he began it:
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul desires the members of the Church to have grace and peace. We have spent much time in other sermons looking at grace so today I want spend a little time on peace before we put this book on the shelf for a while.
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Lord of peace
authority and ownership of this needed peace.
Lord of Peace - Judges 6:24
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
Prince of Peace - Is. 9:6
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Shepherd of Peace - Micah 5:4-5
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men;
King of Peace - Zech 9:10
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
All through Scripture we see that there is a peace that is ruled by Jesus. It is His to do with as He wills. Yet Paul in his prayer asks the Lord of peace to,
himself give you peace
this peace is not found in this world because it come from heaven.
GOSPEL - For those who know the Lord of Peace they can have peace with God and from God.
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 hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Hiking and headwaters
How often do we look for the cool waters of the river of peace at the wrong headwaters?
We go to the headwaters of:
comfort
leisure
hobby
escape
substances
instead of going to the throne of Jesus where all good blessings flow from. Jesus rules over this peace and supplies it.
Yet, Paul makes one more statement about this peace and that Jesus himself give it,
at all times in every way
Painting: Peace in the midst of the storm by Jack Dawson
This picture illustrates a point we need to know about the peace that God gives. His peace is not a change in our circumstances but a change in our heart, while the circumstances rage around us.
This is why Paul can say that this given peace is for all circumstances, it causes internal change, not external.
So let’s circle back now to Paul’s closing prayer,
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
For a Church that is,
under persecution
in theological anxiety
is tension over members actions
they need
peace that passes all understanding
a grace that motivates them to walk while they wait for the Lord.
We need the same thing today,
Suffering
Anxiety
Stress
Questions
Attacks from the evil one
If Paul were to pray for GV today I believe he would pray for grace and peace from God for us so today this is what we need to pray.