Finding Gods Peace

John 14:25–31 ESV

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 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. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Jesus had spent 3 years trying to prepare His disciples for the time that coming. A time that would test the strongest of the disciples. But even after three years of teaching and ministering, they were still confused and seemed lost as to what Christ was speaking. In the previous verses of the Chapter, Christ continues with, not only His teaching, but with His comforting of the disciples for what was to come.

John 14:1–24 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

How can we know the way?

Show us the Father, and THAT is enough for us!

Do you not believe?

How will you manifest yourself to us?

Lord, we have been with you three years, but we still do not recognize or understand.

Oh, how many of us today are struggling with these same questions?

Lord, how can you let this happen?

Lord, why hasn’t this happened?

Lord, are you still there?

Lord, are you listening?

Lord, TALK TO ME!

And how many years have we been students of Christ? How many years have we been able to be tutored and mentored by Him, yet we still have the same questions as Thomas and Philip. And to think, we have been given a reference / guidebook to help us through!

But Christ extends more comfort to the disciples by reminding them that, even though He would not physically be with them after His death, that there would be the promise of the Helper that would help guide them every day when these questions would come to mind. Christ promises them a Helper, and that the Helper would give us true peace, if we believe in what is true.

A Promised Helper

John 14:25–26 ESV

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Physically, Christ would no longer be with the disciples, so the would no longer have their mentor and teacher with them. Who would they go to? Who would answer their questions? Who would teach them?

Christ continues to give them comfort by telling them He is sending the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to be their teacher. Being God, the Holy Spirit teaches the same thing that Jesus taught. Christ brought the disciples through tough periods of life, giving them the blessings on the Sermon on the Mount, teaching them throughout His ministry, preparing them for their own personal ministries. But since He would no longer be with them physically, God would send the Holy Spirit. Notice we will never find comfort or peace in looking for things of this world, they only come from the Comforter, the Helper who comes only from the Father, and through Jesus name.

What is the significance of the Father? It shows the relationship of one becoming a child of God! We must be children of the Father in order to receive the Comforter. Coming to the Father in Jesus name shows us that He alone is the one in whom we must come to God through. We, as believers, have a job to do - the same as Christ. If we look back at verses 12 we find that believers will do the same works as Christ, but He goes on to say even greater works the Christ! How is it that a believer can do the same or even greater works than Jesus did? Not only will we show the love of Christ to others, we will minister to those in need, we will proclaim and teach His word, we will witness and testify, we will disciple and share the Gospel Message. We will demonstrate the same kind of work that Jesus did. Our mission is the same as Christs, to demonstrate the love of God in order to lead others to the saving knowledge of His Son! But we have the ability to do greater works that Jesus - we can reach more people than Jesus did. Remember, He was only in ministry 3 years - how many of us have had more than 3 years to minister to the needs of those in our communities, to witness to those we come in contact with? What technology do we have today that could help us spread the Word to the whole world? We have the ability to impact the world in a way that was not available to Jesus while He was on this earth. But the works we do are only made possible through Jesus because He has gone to His Father. It is through His power that the believer is able to do great works. Not only does He provide us with the Comforter, and gives us the ability to do great works, Christ promises a true peace.

True Peace

John 14:27–28 ESV

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. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

How many of us have concerns on a daily or even hourly basis? Whether it be finances, relationships, work, the list can go on and on. But how is it some people can cope with the daily stresses? True peace. Freedom from disturbance. A clear mind. No concerns or worries. Now, doesn’t that sound exciting! How can we find true peace? The root word for peace here means to join - we are to join/bind together with God and it is through that relationship that we can find the source of peace! The Hebrew word is shalom - a freedom from trouble, experiencing the highest good, enjoying the very best, possessing all the good possible, wholeness, soundness, prosperity in the spiritual sense of having a soul that overflows.

Many of us try to find peace in the world. Instead of true peace, we try to escape through alcohol or drugs, we try to avoid troubles, we refuse to face reality, and we seek peace through pleasure, satisfaction, contentment, positive thinking/vibes, or denial of problems.

I don’t know about you but I get concerned when I hear of people with problems asking others to send “good vibes”. Creating positive emotional/thoughts, expressing positive feelings or hope from a person or environment. It goes contrary to everything that brings true peace! We are looking for some other person or thing to bring us peace, comfort, inner settling without acknowledging where true peace is derived.

But I can offer you something that does not rely on another person - a peace given by God. It is a peace that calms the mind, brings composure to chaos, a peace that is calm in the face of bad circumstances and situations, it goes so much further than our feelings, attitudes, and thoughts. Christ assures us that this peace will be given to each believer. We have the knowledge, as a Christian, that our lives are in the hands of God and that ll things will work out for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). You see, we don’t have to hope for something worldly, we have been assured where the source of true peace comes! It is only found in the salvation offered by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We can believe in this because Christ has proven it to be true!

Belief in What We Know to be True

John 14:29–31 ESV

29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

True peace leads us to the source of joy! What is joy? Inner gladness and deep seated pleasure. Have you ever been at a place in your life where you just aren’t happy? Aren’t settled? Where things just don’t feel good? Maybe things aren’t going well, you aren’t where you think you should be? Things just aren’t progressing as well as you thought they should? Thinking this way robs us of our joy!

This world is sin stained, it is not what it was created to be, and it can not provide us with peace or joy. It is not perfect, it is not permanent, and it must be recreated so it can be as God intended.

It takes away our inner gladness, yet Jesus tells us that His going away and coming back (His death, resurrection, ascension, and future return) gives us a source of joy. Joy comes from the cross and our deliverance from sin, death, and hell. Joy comes from the resurrection and ascension as the source of our new life and hope for eternity. It points us to Jesus’ glory and His position at the right hand of the throne of God. And that should bring us ecstatic joy!

Christ told them what was going to take place to build their faith, not that they understood it at the time, but they would understand more when these things (death, burial, resurrection, ascension) took place. The confirmation of faith would bring joy to the disciples, just as it should bring comfort to us because everything Jesus told His disciples happened! He did leave (die), He did return (resurrection), He did go to His Father (ascension), and He did send the Holy Spirit. All these things should help build and grow our faith so we, too can have peace and joy.

We can feel secure in these things, as Jesus tells us He has overcome the ruler of the world. Satan has already been defeated, Jesus is victorious over him. We know as times grows closer to the return of Christ that things in this world will at least seem to get worse. As Satan is not the ruler of the world, he continues to create chaos and wreak havoc on all of God’s creation. But he knows his time is short, Satan has nothing on Jesus, and he has been overcome. THAT is our awesome source of peace, joy, comfort, and security.

Closing