Peace: August 2010
Table of Contents
Peace
Peace begins with and comes from God. He is the God of peace. “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer. 29:11). Paul and Peter always begin their epistles with grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We all want peace with God, peace in our hearts, peace with our neighbor, peace for the world. We all know what it is to be without peace, so it is well to be reminded, as we are in this issue, of the foundation for peace and how we may live in that inner peace that our Lord Jesus had each day and which He has given unto us to have as well: “My peace I give unto you.”
When troubled, we know what it is to turn to the Word and seek verses of comfort, peace, rest and encouragement for ourselves and for others. The Word is full of them, and we thank God for them. Two that have been a help to many of us are:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa. 26:3).
“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
A trusting, submissive and thankful spirit promotes a peaceful heart.
Peace With God - the Peace of God - the Peace of Christ
I would like to say a word on three different characters of peace: peace with God, the peace of God and the peace of Christ.
Peace With God
“Peace with God” is that which the sinner possesses and enjoys in believing. He is justified by God on the ground of the blood-shedding of Christ, who has “made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). Faith lays hold of and believes in an already-completed work, which has answered for the sinner and has satisfied the claims of God, and thus has peace — cloudless, never-ending, unalterable peace. This peace does not depend upon the enjoyment of its possessor, but upon the work of Christ who made peace by the blood of His cross. A God of judgment went into the entire question of sin to its very depths with Christ on the cross. It was a God of peace who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant (Heb. 13:20). A risen Christ is our peace in the presence of God (Eph. 2:14). Now all this is true for the believer, without his feelings or his enjoyment of it entering into the matter at all. It depends, not on his enjoyment of it, but on its reality before God. It was the parting gift of Christ to His people: “Peace I leave with you.” “Peace be unto you” (John 14:27; 20:19). The God of peace had brought Him again from the dead, and He had nothing but peace to leave them.
The Peace of God
Now, the “peace of God” means something which God dwells in Himself. It is God’s own peace in which He dwells — the peace of that God whom nothing can change, who knows the end from the beginning, and who has ordained everything from the beginning to the end. Though man may strive to hinder His purposes, they will all eventually be brought to pass. Can we not for a moment contemplate the perfect, unruffled, conscious peace in which God dwells? And yet this peace is promised, that it shall keep the believer’s heart and mind who has committed all his anxieties, all his cares, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving to God. “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). And what is promised? “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” God’s own peace, in which He dwells, keeps guard over the heart, and the heart rests in the midst of every trial and every difficulty. The mind is not on the rack of anxiety, but is filled with God’s peace, when all has been laid out before Him and committed to Him.
The Peace of Christ
The peace of Christ is another thing. To be sure, Christ is God, but still God’s peace and Christ’s peace are not the same. Hence, the difference in John 14:27 between “Peace I leave with you” and “My peace I give unto you.” Christ did not need peace with God, as we do as sinners. He gives us this through His precious blood, but He did not need it for Himself. The spotless Lamb of God “did no sin” and was “separate from sinners” while among them. He “knew no sin.” But as a Son with His Father, He passed through the world in the conscious communion of perfect peace (“My peace”) in every step of His way. His was a life of sorrow here below, but there never was a cloud during His whole pathway between Him and His Father. It was a life of perfect unity of thought and object, as He lived by His Father. “I live by the Father” (John 6:57). This, then, is the peace of Christ.
The first (peace with God), then, is the portion of the sinner who believes: his unalterable portion.
The second (God’s peace) is that which the Christian has when he has unburdened his heart of every care and committed every thought to Him who knows the end from the beginning.
And the third (Christ’s peace) is what we enjoy when living by Him, even as He enjoyed when living by the Father. “I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me” (John 6:57). This is communion with Him and with the Father, who has been revealed in the Son. And also, when we are thus enjoying Christ’s peace, we have the enjoyment, too, of that peace with God, which, as sinners, we possess through His work on the cross.
“The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:13).
Words of Truth, 1:1
My Peace
“My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27).
Mark the extent of the peace — “My peace” — and how thoroughly well He knew what He had, that He could give it to them! He had been tried, rejected, and had suffered; He had nowhere to lay His head, hunted like “a partridge in the mountains,” “the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” and yet He knew so well the blessedness He had that He could speak of it, in order to leave it to them. There was an unclouded rest in God, and God an unclouded source of blessing to Him, in all His path of sorrow and trouble, so unlike that which anyone else ever had. But “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee” was known experimentally by Him, and was there ever uncertainty as to whether His Father heard Him? No, there was an unclouded certainty. Nothing could bring it into question. He need not put it to the test by throwing Himself down from the temple; this were tempting God.
If the Lord came this moment, would you have peace and be able to say, “This is our God, we have waited for Him?” If you have the consciousness of liking anything that God does not like, you cannot be at peace. Even if you have found peace of conscience about your sins, through the blood of the cross, it will destroy your communion and peace of heart if you like anything that God does not like. If there is anything not given up in the will, there cannot be peace; if you have peace, then if God came in, your peace would stay.
J. N. Darby, adapted
Toiling in Rowing
The Lord Jesus and His disciples had had what we would conventionally call “a long day”! After having gone away privately by ship in order to have some rest from the incessant demands made on them, they found that the crowds had outrun them around the lake and were waiting for them. The Lord Jesus’ compassion never failed, however, and instead of rebuking these thoughtless people, He willingly taught them, for they were “as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Then, when the day was “far spent” and there was nothing to eat, He worked a miracle and fed five thousand men from five loaves and two fishes. Even from a natural point of view, the energy involved in first rowing across the lake, then teaching the people, and finally organizing and feeding such a crowd must have taken its toll on all of them.
The Lord then sent the disciples away by ship, while He went into a mountain to pray. They went by His command, yet found the conditions most difficult. The “wind was contrary,” and as a result they were “toiling in rowing.” It was no easy job to row, for they evidently departed during the daylight, but then, as time went on, they found themselves in darkness and making very little headway. Already tired from the day’s activities, they were now compelled to row all night, with the wind against them. We can easily see why they might become discouraged and wonder if the Lord cared.
The Lord’s Care
But the Lord’s eye was on them in all their distress. Satan no doubt had his hand in this storm, for he hates to see blessing for mankind, but the storm was allowed of the Lord. Although standing alone on the land and at night, He saw them in their plight — “toiling in rowing.” The fact that circumstances are against us — “the wind contrary” — is not in itself a sign that we have missed the Lord’s mind or are acting contrary to His will. No, they were in the ship at the Lord’s command, and the difficulties were allowed of Him. He was well aware of their distress and wanted to teach them a most important lesson.
During that long night He no doubt had prayed for them, as He spent time in the mountain with His Father. They were dear to His heart, and He longed for them. Finally, in “the fourth watch of the night,” He comes to them. The Roman watches were three hours long, beginning at six o’clock in the evening, so the fourth watch would be from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. — the most difficult watch in which to keep awake. Yet the Lord waited until then, allowing them to row against the wind and waves. Why did He wait so long, and then, when He did come, made as if He would pass them by?
He cared for them, but they wanted another miracle. They wanted easier circumstances: perhaps freedom from the press of the crowds, freedom from the constant demands made on them, freedom from the toil of rowing against the wind. When they saw the Lord, they cried out, fearing a spirit. But then His words are so significant and so precious. He does not say, “Do not worry; I will calm this storm.” No, He simply assures them of His presence: “It is I; be not afraid.”
The State of Soul
Their state of soul comes out in verse 52 — “they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.” They had doubtless seen the Lord perform many miracles, including healing as well as feeding the hungry. They had also seen His power over a storm in chapter 4, where the sea was calmed instantly at His command. Yet their heart was hardened, for they did not realize in whose presence they were. The Lord could easily have stilled the wind and made it easier for them, yet He allowed them to toil most of the night, in order to draw them to Himself.
What the Lord Is to Me
It is one thing to recognize and value the Lord’s power, but He wants more than that; He wants us to value Himself. Had they considered the miracle of the loaves, it would have enlarged their faith in the Lord, as to who He was. A miracle might prove His interest in His people, but the real effect should be to draw us to Himself. No amount of working of miracles will take the place of Himself, and when we have Him, His power is there for us. What God is to me is far more than anything He does for me. As soon as He comes into the ship, the storm ceases, and this time without any direct command. On a previous occasion, He had rebuked the storm and stilled it with His word. Now, it was His presence that made the difference.
So it is in our lives. Many dear believers go through life “toiling in rowing,” and all this, too, even in service for the Lord and in the pathway of His will. They sometimes wonder why He does not intervene and smooth things out for them and make life easier. They wonder why, so to speak, they are compelled not only to feed the hungry, but then row all night afterward. If we really must forego our well-deserved rest in order to minister to thoughtless and self-centered people, should we not at least be entitled to a calm sea on which to row afterward?
But the Lord does care, and He cares so deeply that He wants to draw us closer to Him. If we value the Lord’s company and value Him for who He is, we may still face difficult circumstances, but we will find that His company calms our spirits and calms the storm too. There are thus two ways of going through life as a believer. One is constantly to be “toiling in rowing”; the other is to invite the Lord Jesus into the ship.
W. J. Prost
The Peace of God
“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
Prayer
The great importance of prayer is not that you may get your request, but that you may have the sense that God is attending to your affairs. You have a sense of what it is to go to Him and be heard. I have taken the whole of the contents of my heart and poured them out before Him. I say, I know He has them; I need not tell Him about them again. We often spend our time saying a great many words to relieve our consciences and not asking for what we really need. When I ask anything according to His will, I know that He hears me and that I have the petition that I desired of Him.
The first great parable about praying is in Luke 11. The man would not go away without his friend giving him the loaves, because he wanted them and had no other way of getting them. Do not go to God if you have any back door; do not have any plan of your own if you are going to pray to Him. That is the principle of real prayer. What makes people so often not gain in prayer is that they have some plan in the background. They go to some place for their health and pray about it, but all the time they are thinking that if this place does not cure them, they will go somewhere else and try another.
An Audience With God
Well, how can you know when you have had an audience — when you have gained God’s ear? You can know because you will have the peace of God. Have we any troubles at this present time? We have. And why are we troubled with them? Because we do not go to God with them. When I go to God with my troubles and get an audience with Him, He gives me His own peace about them. I am in the state that God is in. What a wonderful thing! Here is a man who was troubled this morning; he has gone to God and got an audience. And has he got his prayer answered? Perhaps not. But he has come out in the state of God.
Circumstances are not to wear you down. We all fret and worry until we can go to God with it and say to Him (without irreverence), “Settle it as You like,” and then we can go out with the peace of God. The effect of it is, first, to bring us into a calm from a state of perturbation, and, next, into the peace of God.
Joy and Peace
Now, if your own state is not right, you cannot rejoice. Your own state, which you find in Philippians 3, must come first. You must have Christ as the one object of your heart to replace everything else. Then as to the things around that tend to afflict you, if you tell them all to God, you get rid of them. The point is, Have you had an audience? What a blessed sense it imparts! A man can go about in the world saying, I know I have the ear of God! And thus this most wonderful favor that ever God conferred on a man on earth is his. It is the most wonderful favor, because God might have given me all the world and not have given me peace.
And “the peace which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Amen.
Food for the Flock, 1:27
The Peacemaker
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matt. 5:9). “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 6:23).
The beginning of the life of the two sons of Joseph was bright and blessed. Manasseh was the elder son, but the aged and experienced Jacob blessed Ephraim over Manasseh. Jacob was the second son, and he had learned something of God’s way of blessing. Joseph thought this was a mistake, but Jacob refused to change the blessing. Rivalry in the family may start from small things, but it easily carries on for generations. May we benefit in learning this lesson. Jacob had a hard time learning that real blessing comes from God. When God is left out of our lives, self-asserting zeal easily spoils the peace among the brethren. In the Book of Judges, we have two examples of rivalry between Ephraim and Manasseh.
Gideon
When the Lord called Gideon to deliver Israel from the impoverishment of the Midianites, he said, “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man” (Judg. 6:15-16). We see in this that though Gideon was tested with poverty, he was content, showing no aspirations to leave his family heritage. He took the lowest place in his family. Human reasoning would discard this type of person, but the Lord our God has a special way of using those that are humble. For one thing, they are not likely to fall into the snare of family rivalry.
As Gideon prepared the thousands of Israel to fight against the Midianites, the Lord told him that they were too many, “lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me” (Judg. 7:2). Because of their low spiritual state, it was necessary to keep those that went to the battle from seeking a claim to fame. But the children of Ephraim, who were not called at first to go to the battle, did not witness this lesson. They chided with Gideon after the victory over Midian. They did not understand God’s purpose in working through human weakness to magnify His glory.
“The men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that” (Judg. 8:1-3). Here we see Gideon as a peacemaker. Three things are noteworthy. First, he takes the low place, at the beginning and ending of his response: “What was I able to do in comparison of you.” “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth” (Prov. 26:20). Second, he distinguishes the heritage of Ephraim from his own in Abiezer (Manasseh). He turns their focus on the heritage the Lord had given them, magnifying their heritage. While recognizing the abundance given to Ephraim, Gideon holds fast to his own portion from God. There is ample blessing for each and every one within the bounds of our own heritage. We need not go elsewhere for better things. Third, he acknowledges what God had done through the men of Ephraim. Gideon had not forgotten how insignificant he and the three hundred men had been in the battle. The Lord had gained the victory. Gideon could easily recognize the same with the children of Ephraim. His words were not mere flattery; he sought to pacify them in their wrong attitude by pointing out what the Lord had done through them. “Then their anger was abated.”
It does the heart good to read at the close of the chapter, “The country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judg. 8:28). This is the result of a real peacemaker.
The Sons of Gideon
In the sequel of the story, we have the sad ending of the sixty-nine sons of Gideon who were put to death by their half brother, Abimelech. One cannot help but think that all those sons will be among those called “the children of God” that the Lord spoke of when He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Those who, like Abel, laid down their lives for their brethren, in the resurrection with Christ will be in God’s family. Jotham, who survived, spoke against the wrong done but never took into his own hands the vengeance of their lives. The Lord returned upon Abimelech the innocent blood he had shed.
Jephthah
A second case of rivalry between Ephraim and Manasseh happened while Jephthah was judge. “The men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites” (Judg. 12:1-4). In this case, we see that personal anger and self-defense take predominance over the deliverance from the enemy. Personal insults become confused with faithfulness in preserving the heritage God had given them. Jephthah is provoked to go to war against the men of Ephraim. He was faithful in defending their heritage from Ammon and is mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 for his faith, but where was the peacemaker among them? Where was the intercessor who would lay down his life for his brethren?
In the battle, the anger deteriorates to vengeance. “The Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand” (Judg. 12:5-6). It certainly was wrong for the men of Ephraim to go up to Jephthah as they did, but what started as an insult against Jephthah, because he was the son of a harlot, now prompts the men of Manasseh to pick on a faulty trait in the speech of the men of Ephraim and judge them on that basis. Peace is difficult to come by when words and speeches are confused with haughty and vindictive attitudes. The wrong attitude of the men of Ephraim should have been dealt with, not their faulty speech. The result of such indiscriminate judgment is that 42,000 men of Ephraim die. Some of them, perhaps, deserved to die; the Lord alone — their Peacemaker — knows how many died through lack of judgment.
These things “were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). May the Lord give us to hold mercy and truth together, that righteousness and peace may kiss each other. This is the blessed role of a peacemaker.
D. C. Buchanan
Peace With Gibeon Joshua 9
If acting faithfully, to every step of faithfulness the Lord will surely add more light; only we must be careful to take counsel of the Lord at every step. Peace with Gibeon only deprives us of victory and brings upon us other wars and troubles, for the presence of what is not of God always opens the door to Satan. This, perhaps, is not so much felt when all is in vigor in the soul, but when there is decline, then the evil and consequence is felt. In the days of David, there was a famine three years; it was for Saul and for his bloody house, because he had slain the Gibeonites. All this arose from the little act of not taking counsel with God. When all was war, it appeared a convenient thing, a blessing, to find some peace and recognition from those who said, “The Lord your God.” It sounded like Rahab’s believing voice, and in appearance with these far distant travelers, there was nothing wrong in peace — they were not of the forbidden and accursed race. But they asked not counsel of the Lord, and it turned out they were of the accursed race, and it almost caused a separation between Joshua and the people. So cunning is the enemy that it is almost as bad or worse to lean for one’s wisdom on the ways of God as on one’s own strength for the battles of God: Peace with Gibeon and war with Ai in self-confidence end in confusion and shame or in defeat.
The Christian Friend, 1:124
The Counsel of Peace
This expression occurs in Zechariah 6:13 and was written after the return of the Jews from Babylon. They were seeking to rebuild the temple, and this was intended to encourage them in that work. But “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” and as with many other scriptures, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is looked forward to as the ultimate point, the true consummation. So here the prophet comforts the hearts of those who had returned with a direct prophecy of Christ.
Christ, the Central Object
Christ is the great object of the love of God, and the Spirit of God in Scripture always looks on to Him, seeing all things as they concern Christ and His future glory. And so here, “He shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne” (Zech. 6:12-13). It is “the man whose name is The BRANCH” (vs. 12) who shall do all this. Zerubbabel is merely a type. Nothing is spoken casually, but all with a view to the ultimate purpose of the glory of God in Christ. Whether it affects the destinies of man, of Israel or of the church, all centers in Jesus.
It must have been a great comfort to the saints of old to have future glories thus opened to them, for whenever the Holy Spirit had awakened spiritual desires in any heart, those desires could not be satisfied with temporal deliverance or blessing. Even in the days of Josiah, when such a Passover was kept that the like of it had not been since the days of Samuel, yet even then Jeremiah was uttering denunciations against the evil of the people, and the Spirit of God, in denouncing their sin, always referred to the new covenant, holding out the Lord Jesus as the only One in whom the fullness of blessing was to center.
So it is with the church now. We have indeed greater blessings and clearer revelations, but still there is evil, for we are yet in the body. In times of the greatest revivals, there has always been a mixture which tended to evil. We have surely much cause to thank God and rejoice, but nothing really to satisfy. We must still look onward to the future blessings in Christ. Never, till He appears, will the full desires of our hearts be given us; never, until we “awake in [His] likeness,” shall we really be “satisfied.” Nothing less will suffice, because the Spirit of Christ is in us. Our hopes run on to God’s ultimate purpose of complete blessing. Both earthly and heavenly glories meet in Jesus and will be manifested when He comes. “The counsel of peace” is between Jehovah and the Messiah.
But where is Jesus now? He does not yet rule; peace is not yet established upon the earth. But there is a throne upon which He does sit, and thus is given to us a plain revelation of “the counsel of peace.” We have this peace in our souls, while waiting for its establishment on the earth and the time of the manifested glory. There is a “counsel of peace” which belongs to us, an assured peace, peace indeed in the midst of present trouble, but still God’s peace. If it were not God’s peace, it would be good for nothing. I may, it is true, have my spirit much disturbed and know trial of heart, but still I have a title to perfect peace amidst it all—not only peace with God, but peace concerning every circumstance, because God is “for us” in it all.
Had not man been in rebellion against God, there would have been no need for “the counsel of peace.” But man has rebelled, and rebellion against God is still the characteristic of the unconverted heart. Such was his rebellion that peace between man and God seemed impossible. But now we see that there is not only peace, but a “counsel of peace” — thoughts of God concerning peace, thoughts which Jesus alone could meet. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God!”
It Is Between God and Jesus
But now “the counsel of peace” is between God and Jesus, instead of man, and hence security. It is not merely peace, but “the counsel of peace.” The word “counsel” implies deliberate purpose. What solidity must there be in that peace which God had a “counsel” about and all the engagements of which the mind of Jesus fully entered into and accomplished! It is most important to see that “the counsel of peace” is entirely between God and Jesus. The moment we begin to rest our peace on anything in ourselves, we lose it. And this is why so many saints have not settled peace. Nothing can be lasting that is not built on God alone. We must not rest on anything, even the Spirit’s work, within ourselves, but on what Christ has done entirely without us. In Christ alone God finds that in which He can rest, and so it is with His saints. The more we see the extent and nature of the evil that is within, as well as that without and around, the more we will find that what Jesus is — and what Jesus did — is the only ground at all on which we can rest.
Our peace is established in what He did, and “the counsel of peace” is “between them both.” There are two great characters in the sacrifice of Christ: the one, that of the burnt offering; the other, that of the sin offering. We lay our hands on Him as the “burnt offering,” thus identifying ourselves with Him. “Accepted in the beloved,” all His perfection — all His “sweet savor” unto God — is ours. But then as to the “sin offering,” it is just the reverse with the hand laid upon the victim; it became identified with my sins, charged with my guilt. He has completely accomplished the purpose of God, all that which was in “the counsel of peace.”
Accomplished, Sure and
Everlasting
Here then is “the counsel of peace” which was purposed between God and Jesus. Here, and here only, we have peace. If our souls have any idea of rest except in that which is the perfect rest of God, we have gotten off the ground of this “counsel of peace.” He has not called us into “the counsel,” which really is entirely independent of ourselves — ”between them both” — accomplished, sure and everlasting. Nothing can ever touch it. God has publicly owned His acceptance of Christ’s work by seating Him at His own right hand. The Holy Spirit is sent to witness to us that Jesus is now on “the throne of God,” having “by one offering ... perfected forever them that are sanctified.”
We may have a great deal of trial from circumstances around, trial from within, exercise of conscience, and the like, but still we have the perfect certainty of God’s favor, and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” This is the true way to reckon upon His kindness: ”Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus.” Observe, he says, “The peace of God.” Again, the word is, “Be careful for nothing”; if one single thing were exempt, God would not be God. If exercised and troubled in spirit, tempted to be “careful,” let us go to God about it. Our wishes may possibly be foolish wishes. Still, let us go and present them to God. If they are so, we shall very soon be ashamed of them.
Our Need
We have need of this “counsel of peace,” because all that we are in ourselves is enmity against God. I cannot go out of this “counsel” to look at my own heart for a moment; it is “between them both.” Is the Christian to make the cross of Christ less complete? On that alone his peace can rest.
Who or what shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Shall tribulation or distress or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? No, these things shall, as means for mortifying the flesh, only minister to Christ’s glory. Shall death? It will only bring us into His presence. Shall life? It is that by which we enjoy His favor. “Nothing shall separate”! He is “on the throne” as the eternal witness of peace accomplished, and thence He ministers it to us.
J. N. Darby, adapted
World Peace
At the time of the writing of this article, the U.S. and Russia have just signed another disarmament treaty, seeking to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons in each country. Other nations like Japan have applauded this move, and once again there is optimism that progress is being made toward world peace. However, all this is being done against a backdrop of continued anxiety over Iran, the constant threat of terrorist attacks in many areas, and very strained relations between some of the world’s great powers. Several years ago, the U.S. used its military might to deal with Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but now finds itself saddled with an unstable and explosive state of affairs for which there is no good solution. These are major problems, but there are many more minor “trouble spots” in the world, any one of which has the potential to flare up and cause serious difficulties. One thing that keeps it all in check is the realization that the world economy of today is very interdependent and that any serious conflict would disrupt the well-being of every nation. Also, the major powers know that there would be no winners in such a conflict, for an all-out war would be waged with frightful weapons of mass destruction.
Rhetoric and Ideals
Over the centuries, many men have issued so-called “words of wisdom” on the subject of peace, with high-sounding rhetoric and lofty ideals. However, Mark Twain, an ungodly man, made the following observation with singular insight:
“Peace by persuasion has a pleasant sound, but I think we should not be able to work it. We should have to tame the human race first, and history seems to show that that cannot be done.”
Another has aptly remarked that very few people choose war. Rather, they choose selfishness, and the result is war. Unhappily, this has been the history of mankind, for since the fall of man, he has been characterized by selfishness, a selfishness that will go to war to achieve its ends. The Word of God recognizes this too, for we read in Ecclesiastes 3:8, “A time of war, a time of peace.” This in no way implies God’s approval of war, but rather is the observation of Solomon as to the normal course of events in this world, as men seek to do their own will.
The World Wars
As the world has developed more devastating and lethal weapons, attempts at world peace have become more strenuous. When the awful carnage of the First World War shocked the world (military casualties were more than thirty million, to say nothing of civilian deaths), U.S. President Woodrow Wilson spearheaded the creation of the League of Nations to try and settle disputes between nations in a peaceful manner. When it failed and the Second World War resulted in even greater casualties (more than sixty million, including military and civilian deaths), the United Nations was formed.
It must be admitted that the United Nations seems to have been somewhat successful, in that the world’s major powers have not engaged in direct armed conflict since its formation. They have come perilously close, as in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, but have avoided actual war. However, it is questionable whether the United Nations has been the main deterrent. The knowledge that any conflict would likely involve nuclear weapons has likely done more to keep the major powers from all-out war, and the formation of organizations like NATO, with its massive military power, has tended to keep any one nation from significant aggression.
All of this, however, has not changed man’s heart. Smaller wars have taken place from time to time, and more recently nations like Iraq, Iran and North Korea have indicated their willingness to practice “brinkmanship” in their attempts to make their mark in the world. In some of the events of the past fifteen or twenty years, it is clear that it is only God’s intervention that has prevented a disaster from occurring.
God’s Son Came Into the World
When the Lord Jesus was born into this world, the angelic hosts could say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men” (Luke 2:14 JND). God had not had pleasure in man since the fall, for he was a sinner, but now that Christ had come into the world, God’s eye could, for the first time since the fall, rest with pleasure on a man in this world. More than this, God had purposed in a past eternity that Christ should inherit all things as man, for as Son of Man, God has “put all things in subjection under His feet” (Heb. 2:8). If man in the first creation had utterly failed, God was going to set His Son as Head of new creation.
But man rejected the Son of God and said, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). The Lord Jesus offered Himself as the rightful King to the Jewish nation and ultimately to this world, but the response was, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). The words spoken at His birth by the angels are often sung today in so-called Christmas carols, but in view of man’s continued warfare, they have a hollow ring. But are God and man to be denied the peace that His Son came to give man? Was it all for nothing?
Peace in Heaven
No, for God will never be frustrated in His purposes. As the rejection of Christ became more and more pronounced, He had to say to His disciples, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division” (Luke 12:51). Shortly before He went to the cross, when the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt, the multitude of His followers gave vent to their praise, no doubt by the leading of the Spirit of God, saying, “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). This would be the immediate result of His work on the cross, for if there were to be peace on earth, the question of sin must first be settled. Thank God, as a result of that work, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psa. 85:10). Peace has been made in heaven, for the righteous claims of a holy God have been fully satisfied.
Preaching Peace
As a result of this propitiation of God, He has sent out His servants “preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all)” (Acts 10:36). He has “made peace through the blood of His cross” to “reconcile all things unto Himself” (Col. 1:20), but in the meanwhile, God is preaching peace to those who will come, owning themselves as sinners and accepting His Son as Saviour. As the blessed result of there being “peace in heaven,” all who believe can have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Those who belong to Christ in this day of His grace will inherit heavenly blessings and spend eternity with Him there.
World Peace
But what about world peace? Is the world to go on in conflict and bloodshed? Yes, until iniquity is fully ripe and God intervenes. We read in Isaiah 26:9, “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” God has decreed, concerning His Son who was once rejected as King, “Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion” (Psa. 2:6). When the time has come, the Lord Jesus will deal with this world in judgment, a time often referred to in Scripture as “the day of the Lord.” It will be a day of solemn judgment, as God deals with those who rebel against His Son. But then, as the result of that judgment, “the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness,” and “the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever” (Isa. 32:17).
This is the only solution to this world’s problems — problems that increase year by year and defy man’s ability to solve. But when Christ has His rightful place, He will bring in a lasting peace that none will be able to disturb.
For us who now live in the time of His rejection, we can have peace about our sins and peace about all our circumstances, while we wait for the Prince of peace to bring about the peace on earth that is the result of His work on the cross.
W. J. Prost
The Source of Peace
You ask, my friend, how is it,
With every changing day,
That I can see so calmly
Earth’s prized things pass away?
My most abiding Treasure
Is with me though unseen,
And He will never leave me—
The One on whom I lean.
The world once smiled before me,
But quickly changed its tone,
And much I feared to travel
O’er life’s rough paths alone!
But soon my best Friend sought me—
A Heavenly Guide; unseen
And strong and firm and faithful
Is the Arm on which I lean!
Though riches, all uncertain,
Though health, with youth were gone;
Though poor and weak and aged
I had to journey on;
Though all earth’s dear ones vanished
From life’s still varying scene—
Yet Jesus ever liveth!
The One on whom I lean.
And since His grace has led me
To shelter at His side,
Since He has undertaken
My whole course to provide,
His own clear word proclaiming
How changeless is my Friend!
(For “whom Christ Jesus loveth,
He loveth to the end.”)
What shall prevent my singing?
Not life nor death nor power;
Naught but the sin within me
That grieves Him hour by hour;
Even sin! He has subdued it,
And soon all conflict o’er,
His praise alone shall fill my song
On Canaan’s blessed shore!
M. A. T.