Peace.
·
Definition.
Jesus provided peace for those who follow Him: 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, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). Envy, selfish ambition, dissensions and
heresies all are contrary to His peace, whether it be peace with God (Phil.
4:8-9), our neighbor (Phil. 4:2-3) or within ourselves (Phil. 4:6-7).
o
Several years ago, in How Should We Then Live,
Francis Schaeffer wrote about peace from the perspective of our society. Here is how he described it:
Personal
peace means just to be left alone, not to be troubled by the troubles of other
people, whether across the world or across the city – to live one’s life with minimal
possibilities of being personally disturbed.
Personal peace means wanting to have my personal life pattern
undisturbed in my lifetime, regardless of what the result will be in the
lifetimes of my children and grandchildren.
o
A basic dictionary definition goes something
like this: the absence of war, general well-being; contentment; rest from
works or burden-bearing.
o
I want to quote from W. E. Vine, but before I
do, you should know we are going to look at three terms: peace, contentment and
rest. These are all critical to the
peace that overcomes the sins of selfish ambition. Now, from Vine, on “rest”:
Christ’s
rest is not a rest from work but a rest in work, not the rest of inactivity but
of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections – of will, heart,
imagination, conscience – because each has found in God the ideal sphere for
its satisfaction and development.
o
The opposite of peace is conflict. But we should also note that in Scripture,
especially the OT, peace (shalom) has the sense of general well-being,
the state we are in when the LORD is our Shepherd (Ps. 23). While the Greek term for peace did not always
carry this fullness, in the NT it did. The
peace Jesus gives is not just absence of combat. He is our Shepherd. Thus, peace is rest, as opposed to
restlessness, stress or anxiety. And,
peace is contentment, as opposed to covetousness.
o Let
us also note the underlying principles at work here, by which we mean the truth
about our God that calls us to and makes it possible for us to be at peace,
rest and contentment. We are at peace
because He is our Shepherd. We are content
because He is El Shaddai, the all-sufficient One (Heb. 13:5-6). We are at rest, because we have access to His
throne of grace to find mercy and grace in times of need (Heb. 4:11,14).
Do you not yearn to be at peace, the peace
that Christ gives? Scripture has much to
say to help us. As always it begins with
repentance, a turning away from trying to bring satisfaction into our lives
through the sins of selfish ambition.
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