CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: A BIBLICAL PEACE FOR YOU
CHAPTER 2: PEACE THROUGH THE LORD CHRIST
CHAPTER 3: BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
CHAPTER 4: PEACE TO THIS HOUSE
CHAPTER 5: THE PEACE AMONG MEN
CHAPTER 6: PEACE OR DIVISION?
CHAPTER 7: HEALING AND PEACE
CHAPTER 8: THE PEACE OF TIUMPHANT CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 1:
A BIBLICAL PEACE FOR YOU
Some Christians believe the Old Testament has no value. If we truly hold to tota scriptura, we will let the whole counsel of God in the Divine Word speak. It is true that the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New. Our dedication ought to be to the totality of the Divine Word. Ultimately, God authored the sacred pages of the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Herein is where we find true peace born of heaven.
Since the fallen in the Garden of Eden, things have never been the same. On that day that Adam fell, sin entered the world. Before the fall of humanity, Satan rebelled in heaven, and sin would forever change the world. However, the peace of the Almighty Trinity would conquer the disturbance of sin; the conflict of sin with good, and the suffering that comes from sin.
There is no heavenly peace in a life of sin. The believer in Christ knows that dwelling in peace is a providential way of God to dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8). The wicked speak peace but inwardly possess an evil in their hearts (Psalm 28:3; 35:20). But the Sovereign Lord blesses His people with peace (Psalm 29:11). We are commanded to seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14). The consequence of peace is spiritual posterity (Psalm 37:37).
The Lord comes and speaks peace to His people (Psalm 85:8), and righteousness is the sister of peace, and peace is the brother of righteousness (Psalm 85:10). The law of God is about righteousness; and the consequence of loving God’s law is peace (Psalm 119:165).
Those who are lawless will not have peace. A mind in rebellion against God is a mind at war with God. Peace is something the lawless one will never have (2 Thessalonians 2). Peace flows from Christ like a river flows into the sea. The depths of the peace of Christ fill the need for the emptiness in the soul of man.
Any peace that is not true peace will fail in the sight of God. The peace that God is concerned about is a peace born of Him. He is the One who brings a comforting-peace to His spiritual children. It’s a divine peace; a peace devoid of worldliness, but a peace founded on Christ, Our Righteousness. If Christ is our righteousness, we have the treasure of treasures; the depths of divine purity, and therefore, we have a peace that transcends our troubles, and sin.
Eternity brings a picture of true peace; a land where it flows with the milk and honey of peace and righteousness. A life lived in light of eternity is a life that is concerned with a divine peace.
The Old Testament saints had a divine peace of Christ, because they look ahead to the atonement of Christ the Lamb of God. The New Testament saints possessed a divine peace of Christ, because they look back at what Christ has done in our place. He who knew heavenly peace took Himself the calamity of our sin, so we would have His peace in Him. The Son gives to His children a peace that is from the Father and born of the Spirit.
Sin is an offense against a Holy God. If we live in His presence, we will obey His law, and have a mind of peace. Lawlessness is the opposite of an abiding peace, and loving God’s holy law is about loving what is right.
The hateful rebel of God is an enemy of peace (Psalm 120:6). Sometimes peace can be misused. The tools of goodness are exploited by those who are malice. Peace at the expense of truth is a compromise. Peace at the expense of truth is also deceitful. However, peace in conformity to what is right is an example and picture of Christ.
God says in His Word that we ought to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). The New and Heavenly Jerusalem is a picture of peace. It is where the glorified saints, and elect angels will know a perfect peace, and transcend the misery of sin, Satan and hell.
Christ is the spiritual David who says “My peace be within you” (Psalm 122:8). Christ was about speaking peace (Luke 24:36). He offers the spiritual peace of the Gospel to His people. The war between God and man is over through Christ and His all-acceptable sacrifice (Ephesians 2:16) “by one offering He perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14 NASB).
CHAPTER 2:
PEACE THROUGH THE LORD CHRIST
How is peace acquired? By God the Holy Spirit. What is the way peace is gained? By the reading of the Holy Word of God. Through whom do we gain peace? We gain peace by the Lord Christ. It is through Him by which we have true peace. False religion offers a false peace. People have false grounds for their peace. There is a counterfeit peace, and its way is destruction. But, peace comes through the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual realities of Christ bring peace to the soul of man.
Justification means how we become right with God. The peace of justification is a peace that the world cannot offer. It is the peace that only God the Holy Trinity offers to His people. The mechanism of justification is faith; it is the sole instrument of how we are declared right before God. Grace fits into the hand of faith, and faith is something born of the Holy Spirit. That which is born of the Holy Trinity is a faith that endures to the end, and enters the Holy City. We ought to rest in our faith; and the peace of God will posses our souls. We may face great tribulations, troubles and hardships, but the peace gained by Christ for His beloved, is a peace that no earthly dwelling can undo.
Such that is wrought by the Holy Spirit is irrevocable, and immutable; because Christ’s work was in behalf of His people, and what devil is strong enough to undo it? There is nothing on earth that can damn the Christian; who can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus? We are saved from sin, the Father’s wrath and we ought not to continue in sin. Once the Spirit of God quickens our hearts anew, we are instruments of life, and if we submit to sin, we unite life and sin. Death is the consequence of sin, but Christ produces life.
Any position that says that a moral sin can break our position with God is a way of self-destruction and it has no life in it. But, what fellowship has light with darkness? What agreement has sin with the Spirit? What partnership has the promise of God in spiritual salvation with the sins of rebellion? But no sin can bring death to the peace of the forensic declaration. The death of Christ broke the power of death: sin will not triumph over us nor break our position with God through Christ. The Bible speaks about how no condemnation can be charged against those who have been truly redeemed: the true Christian is immutably fixed to a non-condemned life of redemption in and through Christ.
There was war in heaven when Satan rebelled. He was cast out of heaven, and for him is revised eternal condemnation. There is no Redeemer for the angelic race of fallen angelic criminals.
However, when Adam sinned, and rebelled, the promise of the divine Messiah was prophesied in Genesis 3:15.
Peace was promised by the death of the Divine Scapegoat. Peace was obtained by the Lamb of God. Peace was given to poor sinners by the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace is an everlasting attribute that transcends the darkness of sin, and rests in the promise of God in the forgiveness of sin in victory over the world, sin, Satan and hell. Peace is the song of the righteous in the midst of raging waves on the dark waters, and peace will get His people through the wrath of the lions by the clear testimony of the Divine Word. Peace is the light that shines in the darkness of despair, and by the peace of Christ we shine His beckon as bright as the sun. Who, then, can provide peace like Christ can; as the matchless Redeemer?
Man is a sinner, and he is radically corrupt. Compared to God, we are infinite sinners, and because of sin we deserve punishment. God’s children have their sins placed on Christ who bore their punishment. Christ gives us His righteousness, and this is the basis of all spiritual peace. There is no peace in sin; there is no peace in darkness; there is no peace in the flesh; but the peace of the unified, imputed righteousness of Christ alone is the way of heaven. Who can compare with the purity of His righteousness? Who can compare with the stainlessness of His righteousness? Who can compare with His perfect merit? There is not a soul on earth that equals the eternal righteousness of Christ. The key to eternal peace is the complete righteousness of Christ alone (His perfect life and His perfect death). Any other grounds for spiritual peace with God the Father with whom we were reconciled by Christ, is a fading peace, and a fleshly vanity. The peace of Christ’s righteousness is our clothing. Without it we would be spiritual nude, but Christ covers our spiritual nakedness as He covered Adam and Eve with garments that prefigured the atonement of Christ that covers our shame, our sin, our pain and misery, our spiritual load.
What an indescribable peace! What a heavenly peace! By the price of the death of Christ we have assured peace this day. Even so, amen.
CHAPTER 3:
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
We must remember that the local church is a house of learning. Heaven is a place where the Bible is studied unlike anything on earth. It is a place where the saints spend time to understand the Bible for all eternity. We should imitate this by taking heaven as an example.
Do we spend time in the Word of God? Do we let distractions keep us from the spiritual meat of the Word of God? We will do well if we keep ourselves in diligence of the Divine Word by the example of the little Lord Jesus. He went about His Father’s business, and He asked questions to the religious authorities: the will of God the Father took first priority in His life. Christ grew in wisdom as touching His humanity, and we ought to seek wisdom ourselves. Divine wisdom is not human wisdom: Christ was and is Incarnate Wisdom.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9 NASB). Who is the One who made peace? It was Christ Jesus who made peace between God and man. Christ was and is the God-man: He represents God to man, and man to God. No one less then Incarnate Truth could reconcile God and man. Christ is the ultimate, spiritual peacemaker. He made peace by His all-appeasing sacrifice for His spiritual children. It is because of Christ that we are able to call God’s children the sons of God. We ought to imitate Christ, and make peace where peace is possible. The brothers of Joseph were concerned that he would be vindictive after their father died. In the end Joseph was at peace with his brothers. Christ is the spiritual Joseph who makes peace by His death in behalf of His elect brothers to God the Father.
The Spirit comes in peace to His elect children. He applies the work of Christ to their account in sovereign regeneration (that is, being made spiritually alive). The Triune King is all about Trinitarian peace to His elect children. Are you a peacemaker after the all-true sacrifice for peace for God’s lambs?
CHAPTER 4:
PEACE TO THIS HOUSE
Christ spoke of peace to those who accepted the God-approved ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 10:5-6). Those who rejected the peace of the Gospel rejected Christ. Those who rejected the followers of Christ in proclaiming peace were pronounced with wrathful woes.
The seventy returned with joy (Luke 10:17). The power of Christ in the Gospel of peace conquers Satan and his minions. We ought to live in light of a transcendent, cosmic victory over the evil one. The battle was won by Christ at the Cross, but Christians must continue on with repentance unto remission of sin, and by the cleansing fountain of the blood of Christ.
Do you have the peace of the Gospel in your home this day? Do you share the peace of the Gospel with those who have no peace?
The work of God the Holy Trinity is about bringing about the spiritual salvation of the elect. It is all about the monergistic work of Trinitarian God.
There was a day when I sought assurance or confidence that I was a true Christian. Assurance (without presumption) is gained by the Spirit of God and the Word of God by the reading of the Scriptures. It is able to make one wise unto salvation. It nourishes, uplifts and builds the spiritual strength of the soul.
I gained confident assurance by this passage of Scripture, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them” (Luke 10:23-24 NASB).
CHAPTER 5:
THE PEACE AMONG MEN
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14 NASB).
Let us learn what peace is all about:
· Peace with God. We have seen that peace with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of peace is by faith alone, and the way of faith alone is a life of peace. If you question whether you have peace with God, have you mourned over your particular sins? Contrite mourning brings the joy-filled peace in the morning. Peace is among men because of Christ. Christ is way of peace in relation to God but also in terms of man with man.
· Peace with man. We ought to pursue peace if at all possible. Christ provides us peace, and we ought to take His example. Christ died for sinners, and how have we gone after peace? Eternal matters have eternal consequences, and have we shared the Gospel of Peace with those at war with God? The greatest gift we can offer to human beings is the peace of God in the Gospel of Christ. “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11 NASB).
· Peace to end wars. Christ ended the war between God and man by His work, and the peace of the Gospel is the solution to man’s sin. The peace of the Gospel can end wars of men, and conflict among nations. The Psalms speak of the nations of men coming to worship before God. It can only happen by the embracing of the Gospel of Peace.
Righteousness is the father of the fruits of the Spirit, and the Spirit of peace bears the children of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV).
CHAPTER 6:
PEACE OR DIVISION?
We know that Christ procured peace by His redemptive work for His people in relation to God the Father. The question is, is there room or place for division?
Within the Godhead there is no division between the Three in One. Theologians refer to when Christ was forsaken on the Cross, but at the same time, there was no division in the Godhead between the Father and the Son.
God is at war with Satan, and his demons. There will never be room for peace. God is for good, and Satan is for evil. The most uneducated person probably knows this much.
God is not the friend of Satan, and Satan is not the friend of God. God has the advantage because He controls all things. There is nothing that does not have purpose. God ordains all things for the good of His people: this warrants from Satan the highest hatred of God. If the problems Satan causes results ultimately for the good of God’s people, because of God alone, his plan is thwarted. No one has the right to use God’s plan of the ordering of goodness for wrongdoing.
Herein are the grounds of division: Satan sinned by cosmic treason in trying to make himself above the Most High. The devil and his demons have their wills bent to sin, and it has consumed them. They are forever fixed to changeless punishment with an infinite degree of condemnation.
51"Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; 52for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53"They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (Luke 12 NASB).
Contextually, the above passage has never been in question. It is what Christ said. It is in reference to the Christian life: it is a life of cosmic conflict with evil. We are in a battle with spiritual forces, and reckless rebellion. The weapons of our warfare are the Word of God, and prayer. We ought to fight with God’s armor of true light.
Satan came to the Lord Christ in His temptation. The devil used Scripture to attempt to catch Christ. Christ rebuked Satan by the testimony of the Word of God. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NASB).
The background of heretics is the work of Satan. He is behind the self-destruction of false religion. The combat involves an apologetic to rightly handle the Word of truth. “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).
We do not sin when we stand against heresy. We do a good work (Ephesians 2:10) when we fight for the words of the true Scriptures. Christ is the spiritual Elijah who fought the prophets of Baal by sarcastic statements and the power of God (1 Kings 18:27).
The sheep and the goats shall be divided at the Last Judgment. Everyone’s life is an open book to God the Holy Trinity. The sheep shall be separated from the goats; the elect from the damned; the just from the unjust (Matthew 25:32-33).
CHAPTER 7:
HEALING AND PEACE
Sometimes we need to grieve to begin the process of healing. We need to give our load of pain to God. “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NASB).
With healing, comes peace. However, with the rocky roads of tribulation, can peace be maintained in the mind of a Christian? I believe in a sense it surely can. I was under great attack but I had a calming, abiding peace. Though torment and torture comes, true peace will triumph in the end.
Sin is the pain that hurts the peace in the mind. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NASB).
In one sense, I was spiritually healed when Christ became my Savior. “and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20 NASB).
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16 NASB).
CHAPTER 8:
THE PEACE OF TRIUMPHANT CHAMPIONS
Peace is mine though devils strike and bark on! Peace is mine though torment is shoved in my face! We ought to conquer Satan by the very thing he opposes: the victorious peace of Christ over sin, Satan and hell.
We are Christians who have hope, because Satan is flooded by the blood of the Lamb of God who was crucified before the foundation of the world. We are triumphant Christians, living in the hope of eternal life. Because of the peace of Christ, we should have boldness on the Day of Judgment: we are forgiven if Christ took our place.
A heart that hates evil, and loves good, is a heart that is about the peace that Christ gave us by His Cross. I see the peace of God in my life, because of the gift of faithful repentance by the blood of Christ. He is faithful to forgive sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, defilement and evil. Repentance is the way we get remission (1 John 1:9). Repentance is the pathway to peace of the mind before God. Repentance makes a Christian a triumphant champion. We are commanded to repent (Mark 1:5; 1:15), but it is Christ who saves us, because the Cross is all about complete, redemptive grace.
We ought to repent of our particular sins, and general sins. We must live in conformity to righteousness, holiness and purity. This is the opposite of the evil one who hates true, contrite repentance to God the Holy Trinity.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:3 NASB).
