By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2005-07-17

Text: John 14:27

Two artists set out to paint a picture representing perfect peace. The first painted a canvas depicting a carefree boy relaxing in a boat on a little placid lake without a ripple to disturb the surface. The second artist painted a raging waterfall with winds whipping the spray about. But on a branch of a tree overhanging the swirling waters a bird had built its nest and it sat peacefully brooding over her eggs. Here she was safe from her predatory enemies, shielded and protected by the roaring waterfall. This is real peace - the result of remaining calm in the midst of raging trials and difficulties in life.And this is the peace that we are going to learn about this morning, as we consider our sermon text in John 14:27,28. 

You will notice in v.28 that Jesus had told His disciples that He was going away. Why did He say this? Because at this point, He was already having His Last Supper with His disciples, and sharing His final moments with them. He knew that He was going to die on the cross the very next day. He had told them that He would soon have to leave them, and naturally, this made the disciples feel quite fearful and anxious. In their hearts the future seemed very uncertain. Life would obviously not be the same for them without Jesus. There were probably many unanswered questions on their minds. Why did their master have to go away from them? Could He not stay longer with them? What will become of them when their master is gone? These questions must have troubled them and made them feel quite discouraged.

I think that all of us can identify with those kinds of thoughts and feelings at some time in our lives. When someone we depend on for strength and support suddenly has to go away from us, maybe to work or study overseas for a few years, and we wonder how we will ever cope with life during his absence. Or when someone that we love very much is taken away from us by death, and we wonder, 'Will I ever see him again? Will I be able to cope with the vacuum he has left behind in my heart?'

Now, what do we do when things like that actually happen to us? We may be tempted to become very sorrowful and depressed because the future does not seem to be very bright for us. But the good news for all of us is that there we can always find tremendous encouragement in our Lord Jesus Christ in times like this. Whenever we are bereft of a close friend or a loved one and feel as if our entire world has collapsed, we know Christ can always find tremendous encouragement in the tender words of comfort that Jesus gave to His followers just before He left them, including the words of John 14:27 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' (Many of you will recognize that this was our memory verse for the first two weeks of this month)

Let us study this verse now and learn all about the Peace that is mentioned in it. I would like to bring out three basic truths about this peace: Firstly, we must know the Exceptional Nature of this peace is - that it is quite different from any peace you can find in this world. Secondly, we must seek the Exclusive Source of this peace. It is a peace that comes only from Jesus - you cannot obtain it anywhere else. Thirdly, we must experience the Effective Results of this Peace. It is a peace that can keep our hearts from being troubled and afraid. Let us first consider:

I. The Exceptional Nature of this Peace

You will notice that the comparison Jesus used to contrast His peace is the peace that the world gives. What kind of peace is that? It is a peace that is said to exist when there is no war or conflict. And this is a peace that does not last - Since the beginning of man's recorded history, the world has been seeking for peace, but it has only enjoyed it for only 8% of time. In 3,521 years, there have only been 286 years when no wars were fought! And over 8,000 peace treaties have been broken on an average of 2 years after they were made.

One nation that has not enjoyed much peace in its history is Israel. Till today they have always been troubled by war, bondage, oppression, captivity, and persecution. It is perhaps this lack of peace that has caused Jews since ancient times to greet one another with the greeting, 'Shalom.' For whatever occasion, the Jews would always use the same greeting 'Shalom.' 

When Dr Raymond Saxe was here some years ago, he remarked that one could never tell if a Jew was saying 'Hello' or 'Goodbye' to him because it was always 'Shalom' (Peace). Now the word 'shalom' itself means more than just an absence of war or conflict. It refers to a sense of completeness and soundness. Although it is commonly translated 'peace,' Shalom can also be translated as 'well-ness,' if such a word exists. Shalom may therefore be used to describe a personal inward peace - a deep-seated peace of the soul.

And this is the peace that Jesus says, the world cannot give. No matter what the world tries to do, it cannot bring any lasting peace. Neither can the world give you the inward peace or the well-ness that your soul needs. There have been peace talks, peace protests, peace initiative, peace marches, and countless organizations and institutions set up for the sole purpose of promoting peace and harmony. If you were to do a search on the internet, you will find millions of websites that talk about peace! 

One website I found was set up by a big organization called, 'The World Peace Prayer Society.' It claims that world peace can be attained if people all over the world of whatever nationality, race or religion will just pray the same prayer, 'May peace prevail on earth.' They sincerely believe that the more people they can get to pray the prayer, 'May peace prevail on earth,' the more peace there will be on earth. Interestingly, you will notice that this prayer is not addressed to God or to anyone at all. It is a prayer made to no one at all, because the world does not know who can bring peace to this world. The world does not go to the only source of real peace - and that is the Lord Jesus Christ!

II. The Exclusive Source of this Peace

Christ is the exclusive source of peace. In our text of Scripture He boldly said, 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.' Seven hundred years before He was born, the prophet Isaiah foretold that He would be the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). On the night of His birth in Bethlehem, the angels filled the night sky with the chorus 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.' (Luke 2:14). 

During his ministry on earth Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee as recorded in Mark 4. Jesus and His disciples were in a ship sailing on the sea, when a great storm arose. 

The waves grew bigger and bigger and water came right into the ship and threatened to sink the ship. Then the disciples woke the Lord Jesus up and said, 'Master, carest thou not that we perish?' And He promptly arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind ceased, and immediately there was a great calm. And whenever storms arise within our own hearts the same Lord Jesus Christ who dwells in us still calms our hearts with the same words, 'Peace, be still'. 

Christ has brought peace not only to man, but to the whole creation. Colossians 1:19,20 tells us, 'For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.' Thus our Lord Jesus is truly the Lord of Peace and the Prince of Peace! 

Dearly beloved, if real peace is what you seek, please do not look anywhere else. Jesus, the Prince of Peace is the only One who can give you perfect peace, and it is to Him alone that you should resort to, to find this peace that you seek. Jesus says, 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you' (John 14:27) And He goes on to tell us that with this peace that He leaves with us and gives to us, our hearts need not be troubled nor afraid. This speaks of the effective results of having His peace, and we will now consider this in detail.

III. The Effective Results of this Peace

How does the peace of our Lord Jesus stop our hearts from being troubled? And how does it remove our fears, so that we no longer have to be afraid? Well the answer is that the way that Jesus made this peace for us was by dealing with the very root of the problem - our separation from God that was brought about by sin. Jesus dealt with our sins by dying on the cross to bear the punishment for every one of them. With our sins removed we can now have peace with God:

A. Peace With God

Romans 5:1 tells us 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ' It is very assuring for us who are saved to know that because of Jesus there is no longer any enmity between us and God. There is peace instead. This is why the Gospel of Christ is also known in the Bible as the Gospel of Peace (cf. Ephesians 6:15). 

This is the most wonderful good news that any sinner can ever hear - that we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer troubled by any thought that God is against us or angry with us. We are no longer afraid that His awful judgments may come upon us because of our sins. Jesus has made peace between God and us! Now that is not the only kind of peace that we have from Christ.

B. Peace Within Yourself

This is the peace of having one's guilt for sins removed. Guilt feelings are a great source of inward turmoil. There are many people who are immensely troubled by the guilt of their sins. The burden of guilt and the fear of retribution can be so great as to incapacitate a person completely! Perhaps Jesus is saying to you 'Let not your heart be troubled anymore by your guilt, neither let your heart be afraid anymore of the retribution for all your many sins. For I, the Prince of Peace have taken away all your guilt and shame and suffering and in exchange, I give you My peace instead - the peace that passes all understanding, that will keep you heart!'

What a wonderful peace this is! We who belong to Christ can now go through trials and trouble differently from others because we have this peace within our hearts. Whatever circumstances of life we face, we can have this wonderful tranquility, this sense of calmness and confidence in God. These were the sentiments expressed by the Horatio Spafford, writer of the hymn 'It is Well with my soul' I am sure you must have heard the story of how he lost his children at sea, and when brought to the place where their ship had sunk he wrote these words: 'When peace, like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll?? Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should came, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul.'

Do you share the sentiments of this hymn? Are you able to say under any circumstance, no matter how trying it may be, 'It is well with my soul?' Are you able to rise above every fear, every disappointment, every frustration and every anxious moment in your lives? If you are able to do so then you can truly say that you have the peace of God within yourself - the peace that is wrought only by Christ.

Now, that is not all that Christ gives. There is one more kind of peace that Christ gives to us: Peace with others.

C. Peace with Others

One illustration of this is found in the relationship of Jews and Gentiles. Before Jesus came to live on earth 2000 years ago, there was no peace between the Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles from almost every ancient civilisation hated the Jews and despised their customs and beliefs. Now, the Jews were God's people because of the covenant that God had made with them. Gentiles had no part in God's covenant at all, and so the Jews also looked down on them.

But when both Jews and Gentiles came to believe in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, this enmity came to an end. Ephesians 2:13,14 'But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;' All distinctions that divide people from one another are dissolved when they come to know the Lord. In Galatians 3:28, God's Word tells us: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.'

During World War II many Jews were mercilessly slaughtered in concentration camps by the Nazis. Just after the war, one of these Nazis who had participated in the concentration camps came to a little village and boasted to all his friends there about how he killed hundreds of Jews. But what he did not know was that one of those who heard him boast was a Jew whose wife had lost all her family members in these concentration camps. However, this Jew and his wife were Christians, and instead of hating him and seeking revenge, they shared the gospel of Christ with him and forgave him for killing her whole family. When this huge soldier saw that, he suddenly broke down and cried, realising how sinful he was. With full repentance, he knelt down and asked Christ to save him. He became a Christian, and from that time onward he loved God's people and no longer hated anyone. When he found peace with God, he also found peace with his fellow men.

It is really exciting to see people who would normally hate or despise each other because of differences in race, culture, nationality or social status, now becoming the best of friends because they love and serve the same Lord Jesus Christ!

So we have seen that through Jesus, the Peace of Life we have peace with God, peace within ourselves, and peace with others. When we have such peace, it is important for us now to maintain this peace. How do we keep on appropriating peace from Him? One passage that has a lot of useful instruction on this is Philippians 4:6,7 'Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.'

Now, the words, 'be careful for nothing' in v.6 really means 'do not worry about anything.' Do you know that worrying is one of the worst habits that has ever afflicted mankind? It causes people to lose sleep, lose their appetite and lose their effectiveness. Medical research has proven that worry breaks down our body's resistance to disease, and causes stomach ulcers, headaches and heart problems. When carried to an extreme, worrying brings about severe depression, irrational behaviour and even suicide. If you are the kind of person who worries a lot, and you find it very difficult to cope with it, you should develop the habit of praying and committing all your cares to the Lord.

And something happens as you pray: Your worrying will gradually give way to the restoration of that wonderful sense of serene calmness and peace in your heart. This is an inward peace that comes from God, a wonderful peace that passes all understanding. There is nothing in this world that can restore the perfect peace to the heart of the anxious or worried Christian than prayer. Some people try to deal with the anxiety and stress of modern day living by taking tranquilisers, or by having aromatherapy, or by seeing a psychiatrist. But as the hymnwriter Joseph Scriven wrote: 

'Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear. 

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.'

One good illustration of how prayer effectively restores peace in the believer's heart can be found in the prayer made by Hannah, the mother of Samuel. According to 1 Samuel chapter 1, Hannah was married but had no children. This situation troubled her so much that she cried with a grieved heart and refused to eat. Then she went up to the Lord's house to pray, and there she poured out her heart to the Lord so emotionally there that the priest thought that she was totally drunk with wine. 

But after she had prayed, the Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 1:18 that she 'went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.' The peace of God which passes all understanding was keeping her heart and mind. And God answered her prayers by giving her a son named Samuel.

And therefore the way for you to maintain the peace in your heart, the wonderful peace that Jesus gives to you, and that passes all understanding, is to commit all your cares and worries to Him daily in prayer. Dearly beloved, if you have been neglecting your prayer life then it is not surprising that you do not have this peace.

Perhaps now is the time for you to build up your prayer life again. You need to come before the Lord daily to seek God's grace to live for Him each day. You need to draw close to Him to seek the Peace of Christ that will keep your heart and your mind. For Jesus says: 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' Will you commit yourself now to do this?

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