1 00:00:20,740 --> 00:00:23,260 Will you kindly turn with me to the 2 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:25,560 Word of God in St. John, chapter 14, 3 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:29,080 and we are going to meditate a while 4 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:35,740 on verse 27, where our Lord tells the 5 00:00:35,740 --> 00:00:40,840 twelve disciples, Peace I leave with you. 6 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,000 My peace I give you. 7 00:00:45,820 --> 00:00:48,980 I do not give to you as the 8 00:00:48,980 --> 00:00:50,120 world gives. 9 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,040 Do not let your hearts be troubled, and 10 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,220 do not be afraid. 11 00:01:00,610 --> 00:01:03,050 Christ's legacy of peace. 12 00:01:04,790 --> 00:01:07,350 To say that peace is one of the 13 00:01:07,350 --> 00:01:10,790 most elusive of all human quests, I guess, 14 00:01:10,910 --> 00:01:12,210 is to say the obvious. 15 00:01:14,540 --> 00:01:21,760 Despite all social amenities, all our organizations were 16 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:26,240 tackling the problem of dis-peace, whether in 17 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:31,980 individual hearts, on the domestic or social, national 18 00:01:31,980 --> 00:01:33,660 or international fronts. 19 00:01:35,140 --> 00:01:41,040 Despite the kind of modern drugs that we 20 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:48,640 have to bury our fears, and to sleep 21 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:55,470 away through our troubles, we have come to 22 00:01:55,470 --> 00:01:57,290 a point in life where I believe we 23 00:01:57,290 --> 00:02:00,050 are realizing more than ever before that peace 24 00:02:00,050 --> 00:02:03,430 is one of the most elusive of all 25 00:02:03,430 --> 00:02:04,030 phenomena. 26 00:02:06,370 --> 00:02:10,150 I guess all that I have indicated now 27 00:02:10,150 --> 00:02:15,770 is a humbling commentary upon human nature on 28 00:02:15,770 --> 00:02:19,110 the one hand, and upon the real measure 29 00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:20,830 of human progress on the other. 30 00:02:22,210 --> 00:02:27,430 Dis-peace reigns all over the world, as 31 00:02:27,430 --> 00:02:31,130 you and I meet in this peaceful house 32 00:02:31,130 --> 00:02:32,250 of God this morning. 33 00:02:33,890 --> 00:02:35,610 Dis-peace rules. 34 00:02:37,750 --> 00:02:40,110 Time was, of course, when men thought of 35 00:02:40,110 --> 00:02:43,830 peace all too largely in terms of simply 36 00:02:43,830 --> 00:02:46,210 the absence of hostility. 37 00:02:47,990 --> 00:02:49,410 Peace includes that. 38 00:02:50,930 --> 00:02:53,970 I came across, some of you know, we 39 00:02:53,970 --> 00:02:57,290 are going to change our residence fairly soon, 40 00:02:59,090 --> 00:03:01,750 and I've been packing some books. 41 00:03:02,830 --> 00:03:05,950 I came across an old book written by 42 00:03:05,950 --> 00:03:11,630 a theological liberal who thought better of things 43 00:03:11,630 --> 00:03:13,470 and went on to write a book called 44 00:03:13,470 --> 00:03:15,050 On to Orthodoxy. 45 00:03:15,890 --> 00:03:18,810 A very clever man, really, D. 46 00:03:18,890 --> 00:03:19,130 R. 47 00:03:19,250 --> 00:03:19,770 Davies. 48 00:03:20,470 --> 00:03:24,030 He was writing back in the thirties, and 49 00:03:24,030 --> 00:03:26,070 in the course of writing he said this. 50 00:03:26,950 --> 00:03:28,810 He was bewildered at things, and this is 51 00:03:28,810 --> 00:03:29,370 what he wrote. 52 00:03:30,670 --> 00:03:35,250 There have been 286 wars in Europe during 53 00:03:35,250 --> 00:03:37,170 the last 300 years. 54 00:03:38,630 --> 00:03:40,830 But if you go further back, he says, 55 00:03:40,910 --> 00:03:45,410 since the year 1100 A.D., England has 56 00:03:45,410 --> 00:03:48,170 spent half her time in war. 57 00:03:50,980 --> 00:03:56,060 During 6,000 years of human history, there 58 00:03:56,060 --> 00:03:59,740 has not been one single day of universal 59 00:03:59,740 --> 00:04:00,280 peace. 60 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:07,660 Since the year 1500 B.C., over 8 61 00:04:07,660 --> 00:04:11,560 ,000 peace treaties have been signed and sealed 62 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,899 and documented, and they've remained in force for 63 00:04:15,899 --> 00:04:20,019 an average of approximately two years before being 64 00:04:20,019 --> 00:04:20,380 broken. 65 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:30,840 It's amazing, it's amazing how elusive peace is. 66 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:35,320 Now, Davies there seems to be thinking of 67 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:37,680 peace, of course, almost exclusively in terms of 68 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,320 the absence of evident hostilities of warfare. 69 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,140 All that he says, of course, bespeaks of 70 00:04:45,140 --> 00:04:48,240 unbelievable tragedy, but we have long learned that 71 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,880 the absence of organized warfare between nations does 72 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,320 not necessarily mean peace. 73 00:04:56,790 --> 00:05:01,230 We know of such a phenomenon as the 74 00:05:01,230 --> 00:05:05,430 Cold War, and it can be as unnerving 75 00:05:05,430 --> 00:05:12,350 and as horrifying as anything involved or involving 76 00:05:12,350 --> 00:05:13,130 hostilities. 77 00:05:14,710 --> 00:05:16,850 Some of us have lived through one or 78 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:21,170 even two world wars, and I, for my 79 00:05:21,170 --> 00:05:23,130 part at any rate, having passed through one 80 00:05:23,130 --> 00:05:26,650 of them, would say that the terrors of 81 00:05:26,650 --> 00:05:30,850 the Cold War can be as devastating as 82 00:05:30,850 --> 00:05:34,170 the tragedies of the Hot War. 83 00:05:35,150 --> 00:05:38,370 Not all will agree with that, but at 84 00:05:38,370 --> 00:05:42,850 any rate, a Cold War can be a 85 00:05:42,850 --> 00:05:44,530 very horrible experience. 86 00:05:45,250 --> 00:05:48,510 Despite all this, however, our text enshrines the 87 00:05:48,510 --> 00:05:51,630 words and promise of one who claims to 88 00:05:51,630 --> 00:05:53,970 be the donor of peace. 89 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:57,880 It's a remarkable claim, really. 90 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,720 Did we not come to the New Testament 91 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:01,800 via the Old? 92 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,040 Had we not been introduced by the Holy 93 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,020 Spirit in such places as Isaiah and I, 94 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,140 to one who was going to come into 95 00:06:10,140 --> 00:06:13,400 the world, who would be indeed the prince 96 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:14,880 of peace? 97 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,480 This might take us by surprise. 98 00:06:19,420 --> 00:06:21,960 But God had promised that one would come 99 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,780 into the world who would rule over peace, 100 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,040 and who would dictate peace or its absence. 101 00:06:30,700 --> 00:06:33,520 So the same prophet Isaiah says, There is 102 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,240 no peace, says my God to the wicked. 103 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,620 The peacebringer and the peacemaker and the peacegiver 104 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:42,620 does not give his peace to the wicked. 105 00:06:45,750 --> 00:06:47,990 That is one reason why many people do 106 00:06:47,990 --> 00:06:49,190 not have peace today. 107 00:06:49,190 --> 00:06:51,190 They're fighting God. 108 00:06:52,490 --> 00:06:54,810 They're at loggerheads with their Creator. 109 00:06:55,110 --> 00:06:56,890 They're moving in the wrong direction. 110 00:06:57,230 --> 00:06:58,610 They're doing the wrong things. 111 00:06:58,870 --> 00:07:00,550 They're the wrong kind of people. 112 00:07:00,830 --> 00:07:04,330 They haven't been remade and reborn according to 113 00:07:04,330 --> 00:07:04,890 His image. 114 00:07:07,380 --> 00:07:11,680 But our Lord says, Peace I leave with 115 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:11,920 you. 116 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:18,160 My very own peace I give you. 117 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:20,920 And to make it quite sure that they've 118 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,460 got the point, He says, I don't give 119 00:07:23,460 --> 00:07:25,000 you the kind of thing the world gives 120 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:25,320 you. 121 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:28,840 But I'm giving you something on the basis 122 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,380 of which I command you, Do not let 123 00:07:32,380 --> 00:07:34,060 your hearts be troubled. 124 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:36,660 Cease being afraid. 125 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:40,620 May I remind you, my friends? 126 00:07:40,860 --> 00:07:42,440 May I remind you to the glory of 127 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:42,780 God? 128 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,340 And eleven of those twelve disciples were never 129 00:07:46,340 --> 00:07:46,880 afraid. 130 00:07:48,700 --> 00:07:50,580 At least as far as the record goes. 131 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,760 And if the human history that we have, 132 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,040 it may in measure be apocryphal, I don't 133 00:07:58,040 --> 00:07:58,300 know. 134 00:07:58,740 --> 00:08:00,920 But the tradition that we have speaks of 135 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,020 the eleven of them, each in his own 136 00:08:03,020 --> 00:08:05,880 way, laying down his life deliberately for the 137 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:06,700 cause of the gospel. 138 00:08:09,510 --> 00:08:12,870 They took their Lord at His word. 139 00:08:14,130 --> 00:08:16,410 Let's look at this passage, let's look at 140 00:08:16,410 --> 00:08:18,190 this word, it's a very precious one. 141 00:08:18,810 --> 00:08:20,210 First of all, we must say a word 142 00:08:20,210 --> 00:08:24,490 about the challenging circumstances that surrounded the disciples 143 00:08:24,490 --> 00:08:26,470 when Jesus gave them this promise. 144 00:08:28,580 --> 00:08:31,520 Some of you may be facing challenging circumstances 145 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:31,980 today. 146 00:08:32,620 --> 00:08:36,799 Well, of course, someone or other is always 147 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,799 moving the difficult way, the difficult road. 148 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,240 But the wonderful thing is that our Lord 149 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,900 Jesus Christ has provision for the difficult path. 150 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,340 Here, the circumstances are familiar to most of 151 00:08:52,340 --> 00:08:54,540 you, but I ask you to bear with 152 00:08:54,540 --> 00:08:56,740 me nevertheless as we just face what we 153 00:08:56,740 --> 00:08:57,260 have here. 154 00:08:57,980 --> 00:09:00,060 The glory of the Savior's promise, you see, 155 00:09:00,100 --> 00:09:03,840 can only be properly appreciated insofar as we 156 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:09,040 share and bear in mind the peculiar circumstances 157 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,400 in which they were uttered. 158 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,860 First of all, He had recently announced to 159 00:09:14,860 --> 00:09:19,640 His disciples His own pending departure from them. 160 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,540 To quote His own words, to be with 161 00:09:24,540 --> 00:09:25,560 the Father. 162 00:09:28,890 --> 00:09:33,250 Their once bright sky had become ominously overcast 163 00:09:33,250 --> 00:09:38,270 and deeply clouded when their Master broke their 164 00:09:38,270 --> 00:09:42,390 peace one day and announced quite seriously that 165 00:09:42,390 --> 00:09:44,090 He was leaving them. 166 00:09:45,670 --> 00:09:47,930 For all their lives had been built around 167 00:09:47,930 --> 00:09:51,750 Him, that is, around His physical presence, not 168 00:09:51,750 --> 00:09:52,310 spiritually. 169 00:09:54,290 --> 00:09:56,790 It was He in person who called them 170 00:09:56,790 --> 00:09:57,390 to Him. 171 00:09:58,490 --> 00:10:01,030 He in person had led them along. 172 00:10:01,030 --> 00:10:04,950 He in person had spoken to them, heard 173 00:10:04,950 --> 00:10:09,110 their own problems, disentangled many of them. 174 00:10:10,030 --> 00:10:13,650 He had been with them physically, close at 175 00:10:13,650 --> 00:10:14,070 hand. 176 00:10:15,630 --> 00:10:17,990 And now it shook them to the very 177 00:10:17,990 --> 00:10:21,410 core when He says to them, I'm going 178 00:10:21,410 --> 00:10:21,830 away. 179 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:26,980 Looking at the facts from the remote and 180 00:10:26,980 --> 00:10:30,340 more objective vantage point of history, we may 181 00:10:30,340 --> 00:10:32,300 well conclude that the dread and fear that 182 00:10:32,300 --> 00:10:35,840 gripped these men was not only unnecessary but 183 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:36,740 even wrong. 184 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:39,340 That's hindsight. 185 00:10:40,620 --> 00:10:41,540 They were in it. 186 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,180 And when He said to them, I'm going, 187 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:51,160 to my Father, it was more than they 188 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:51,700 could take. 189 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:56,300 The fact is that the announcement of our 190 00:10:56,300 --> 00:10:59,000 Lord's imminent departure seems to have had such 191 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,780 a disturbing effect upon the company that they 192 00:11:01,780 --> 00:11:05,760 scarcely heard anything else He went on to 193 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:06,080 say. 194 00:11:08,830 --> 00:11:11,670 And I find here an important principle quite 195 00:11:11,670 --> 00:11:13,030 apart from the truth itself. 196 00:11:16,090 --> 00:11:19,190 It always pays us, it always repays us 197 00:11:19,190 --> 00:11:22,010 to let our Lord finish what He's saying. 198 00:11:23,230 --> 00:11:24,590 Hear Him through. 199 00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:32,280 Don't base what you believe on one little 200 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,600 bit of information unless you've got the whole 201 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,640 passage and the whole thread, may I say, 202 00:11:38,860 --> 00:11:41,460 the whole tapestry of the gospel as your 203 00:11:41,460 --> 00:11:42,080 back closet. 204 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,980 See that Jesus has the opportunity to say 205 00:11:47,980 --> 00:11:50,180 all He wants to say and then understand 206 00:11:50,180 --> 00:11:54,560 the significant one statement in the light of 207 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:55,060 the whole. 208 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,100 You know what happened here? 209 00:11:58,940 --> 00:12:01,900 They were so thunderstruck by these words, I'm 210 00:12:01,900 --> 00:12:06,380 going away, that their ears became absolutely closed. 211 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:08,820 Do you wear earplugs, any of you, at 212 00:12:08,820 --> 00:12:09,240 any time? 213 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,300 Well, okay, they put their earplugs in. 214 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,900 They didn't hear anything else He said. 215 00:12:18,510 --> 00:12:20,570 And He Himself had put this in a 216 00:12:20,570 --> 00:12:23,790 context which made it even beneficial to them 217 00:12:23,790 --> 00:12:26,330 if they only accepted it. 218 00:12:26,330 --> 00:12:29,090 He says, it is expedient for you that 219 00:12:29,090 --> 00:12:29,750 I go away. 220 00:12:31,070 --> 00:12:34,150 It's even for your profit, men, if you 221 00:12:34,150 --> 00:12:38,490 believe me, I'm going to make it profitable 222 00:12:38,490 --> 00:12:38,910 for you. 223 00:12:38,930 --> 00:12:39,790 But they didn't hear that. 224 00:12:40,910 --> 00:12:43,150 Had not the Holy Spirit brought back those 225 00:12:43,150 --> 00:12:47,110 words to them again, they might well have 226 00:12:47,110 --> 00:12:47,730 been forgotten. 227 00:12:50,850 --> 00:12:54,490 They became so absorbed with what they deemed 228 00:12:54,490 --> 00:12:57,110 of as a pending tragedy of His departure 229 00:12:57,110 --> 00:12:59,030 they heard no more. 230 00:12:59,490 --> 00:13:04,590 And so we have this very dark and 231 00:13:04,590 --> 00:13:07,190 dismal picture at this point in the Gospels 232 00:13:07,190 --> 00:13:12,270 of the comforted remaining uncomforted. 233 00:13:14,850 --> 00:13:19,430 The comforted acting as comfortless. 234 00:13:20,650 --> 00:13:23,130 Largely because they did not hear what He 235 00:13:23,130 --> 00:13:23,410 said. 236 00:13:24,390 --> 00:13:26,010 He'd made the provision. 237 00:13:26,810 --> 00:13:28,630 He'd made the promise. 238 00:13:28,970 --> 00:13:30,450 He'd repeated the promise. 239 00:13:31,130 --> 00:13:33,070 And He built so many things, as it 240 00:13:33,070 --> 00:13:36,350 were, building blocks of truth one above the 241 00:13:36,350 --> 00:13:38,890 other to make an edifice of truth that 242 00:13:38,890 --> 00:13:41,030 should sustain them in any exigency. 243 00:13:41,150 --> 00:13:41,830 They didn't hear it. 244 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:43,610 I'm going away. 245 00:13:45,730 --> 00:13:48,490 That's the one thing that they heard and 246 00:13:48,490 --> 00:13:51,630 they couldn't now hear anything else. 247 00:13:54,540 --> 00:13:58,720 It was therefore a desperately dispirited group that 248 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,520 Jesus was addressing in our text. 249 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,280 I shall not add words to words this 250 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:05,740 morning in order to bring that out. 251 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,480 I trust it is obvious just from the 252 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:08,300 little that we've said. 253 00:14:08,620 --> 00:14:09,700 They were dispirited. 254 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:10,980 They were sad. 255 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,120 Their spirits were sagging. 256 00:14:15,140 --> 00:14:18,680 And our text is a jewel set in 257 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:20,680 the midst of a whole series of precious 258 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:25,820 and comforting words that were aimed at bringing 259 00:14:25,820 --> 00:14:33,120 hope to them, making provision for them as 260 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,060 He goes to be with the Father. 261 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,740 God be praised that the Savior did not 262 00:14:40,740 --> 00:14:42,900 leave them to stew in their own fears. 263 00:14:45,180 --> 00:14:47,560 Unnecessary though those fears were, He didn't say, 264 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,000 Oh my, you're always the same. 265 00:14:50,100 --> 00:14:52,440 You don't hear what I'm saying to you. 266 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,240 So just go on. 267 00:14:54,340 --> 00:14:56,220 Just stew in your own troubles. 268 00:14:56,300 --> 00:14:57,080 He didn't do that. 269 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,360 Isn't it wonderful that we have a Savior 270 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:00,000 like that? 271 00:15:01,060 --> 00:15:03,320 I know of many times He could well 272 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,300 and justifiably have said that to me. 273 00:15:05,380 --> 00:15:07,840 All right, if you're deaf to me, go 274 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,220 on, you stupid fellow. 275 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:11,520 But He doesn't do that. 276 00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:15,840 And out of His infinite grace and compassion, 277 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,120 He bears with them and He kind of 278 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:23,440 adds words that are unnecessary to the sheer 279 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,020 grammar of the occasion. 280 00:15:26,540 --> 00:15:29,140 People would charge our Lord with tautology here, 281 00:15:29,220 --> 00:15:30,740 with saying the same thing more than once, 282 00:15:30,780 --> 00:15:31,540 and it's unnecessary. 283 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:35,680 Just as a preacher is often charged. 284 00:15:36,580 --> 00:15:39,860 But however, He had His reason, and one 285 00:15:39,860 --> 00:15:40,720 reason was this. 286 00:15:40,940 --> 00:15:42,080 They hadn't heard anything. 287 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,580 And He wanted the word to get right 288 00:15:44,580 --> 00:15:48,340 through because He wanted them to be the 289 00:15:48,340 --> 00:15:51,760 comforted people of God. 290 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,000 So we have this, this, this, this word 291 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,720 about the glorious, the generous gift of peace. 292 00:16:01,420 --> 00:16:03,600 Peace I leave with you. 293 00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:07,920 Oh, you silly people, why are you so 294 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:08,600 distracted? 295 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,880 The words that were meant to bring you 296 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:14,920 peace have brought you the opposite. 297 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,240 Look, look, He says, listen, listen. 298 00:16:17,740 --> 00:16:20,040 Open your minds and open your heart. 299 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,460 I want you to have peace. 300 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,340 Peace I leave with you. 301 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,200 My peace I give to you. 302 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,320 I'm not giving you what the world gives, 303 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:31,540 which is the very opposite. 304 00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:36,160 But I'm giving you something infinitely better. 305 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,240 So don't let your hearts be troubled and 306 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:40,100 do not be afraid. 307 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:41,640 Now let's analyze this a little. 308 00:16:42,740 --> 00:16:45,300 First of all, mark the simple statement concerning 309 00:16:45,300 --> 00:16:46,480 the gift He bequeathed them. 310 00:16:47,140 --> 00:16:48,660 Peace I leave with you. 311 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,620 My peace I give to you. 312 00:16:53,580 --> 00:16:58,640 It is left as someone would leave something 313 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,680 in his or her will to a relative 314 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,099 or a friend, and it is given as 315 00:17:06,099 --> 00:17:10,380 you would give something significantly valuable to a 316 00:17:10,380 --> 00:17:10,980 friend. 317 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:13,619 And the two thoughts are brought together. 318 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:15,859 Peace. 319 00:17:18,180 --> 00:17:21,220 Possessors of the divine revelation in New Testament 320 00:17:21,220 --> 00:17:24,599 times, that is, the Jewish rabbis, had long 321 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,380 recognized what Greece and Rome had not, that 322 00:17:27,380 --> 00:17:30,280 peace was a far bigger thing than the 323 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,820 absence of hostility between people. 324 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,380 The leading Jews had gone well beyond that, 325 00:17:38,420 --> 00:17:42,840 and their own great salutations and shalom meant 326 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:44,400 infinitely more than that. 327 00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:46,120 But I'm not going into that this morning. 328 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:53,140 Even they, even they had no real understanding 329 00:17:53,140 --> 00:17:54,920 of what Jesus was saying. 330 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:57,760 However versed they might have been in the 331 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,940 Old Testament, however well they understood something of 332 00:18:00,940 --> 00:18:05,100 shalom, they fell short of the knowledge of 333 00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:07,460 what our Lord was really saying. 334 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,000 Peace I give you. 335 00:18:10,260 --> 00:18:12,060 My peace I give to you. 336 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:18,460 In the New Testament, this positive content became 337 00:18:18,460 --> 00:18:22,840 gradually spelled out, so that peace was seen 338 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,420 to include much more than anyone had ever 339 00:18:26,420 --> 00:18:27,120 conceived of. 340 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,040 I just want to throw two or three 341 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,060 thoughts out together this morning, and I cannot 342 00:18:33,060 --> 00:18:33,860 dwell on them. 343 00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:38,140 In the first place, peace meant being in 344 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:42,860 a reconciled condition with God, a reconciled relationship 345 00:18:42,860 --> 00:18:43,500 with God. 346 00:18:45,650 --> 00:18:47,110 Peace is the end of hostility. 347 00:18:49,090 --> 00:18:53,430 And basically, basically, biblical peace is the end 348 00:18:53,430 --> 00:18:54,790 of hostilities with God. 349 00:18:55,010 --> 00:18:56,170 We're not fighting Him. 350 00:18:57,750 --> 00:18:59,470 There is a title to a book, Fighting 351 00:18:59,470 --> 00:19:00,090 God. 352 00:19:00,210 --> 00:19:00,990 Have you ever read it? 353 00:19:01,790 --> 00:19:02,990 Fighting God. 354 00:19:03,850 --> 00:19:07,910 Well now, peace starts when you down arms, 355 00:19:08,690 --> 00:19:14,070 and you stop fighting, arguing back. 356 00:19:15,230 --> 00:19:16,570 You stop fighting. 357 00:19:17,490 --> 00:19:20,530 You hand over your sword, and you let 358 00:19:20,530 --> 00:19:23,310 God be God in the sense in which 359 00:19:23,310 --> 00:19:25,650 God alone is God. 360 00:19:25,810 --> 00:19:27,790 And you take the place of a creature 361 00:19:27,790 --> 00:19:28,930 and of a sinner. 362 00:19:29,350 --> 00:19:30,190 God is God. 363 00:19:30,190 --> 00:19:32,910 And you, through the blood of the cross, 364 00:19:33,510 --> 00:19:35,970 through the work of Christ, and the ministry 365 00:19:35,970 --> 00:19:39,690 of the Holy Spirit, you become reconciled to 366 00:19:39,690 --> 00:19:40,010 God. 367 00:19:42,860 --> 00:19:44,900 You know that word atonement. 368 00:19:45,180 --> 00:19:46,760 We speak of the death of our Lord 369 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,700 Jesus as the atonement for our sins. 370 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,560 Just say it slowly, and you can see 371 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:53,180 what it means. 372 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,260 It means at-one-ment. 373 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,380 That's what atonement means. 374 00:20:00,380 --> 00:20:05,900 Our Lord died to make us at-one 375 00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:07,940 with God. 376 00:20:09,580 --> 00:20:13,080 And peace is being at-one with Him. 377 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,840 We are united in our thinking, in our 378 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:19,320 spirit. 379 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,880 We have turned around to be moving in 380 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,360 His direction, living the kind of life He 381 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:27,680 wants us to live, serving the kind of 382 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,580 purpose He had for us, even when we 383 00:20:29,580 --> 00:20:30,960 were born and before that. 384 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,420 And very significantly when we were reborn. 385 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,600 But peace is more than that. 386 00:20:39,020 --> 00:20:41,860 It starts there, being reconciled to God. 387 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,040 Peace means now, fellowship with God. 388 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,980 It's not just God and I moving in 389 00:20:50,980 --> 00:20:52,240 the same direction. 390 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,640 But we're talking together. 391 00:20:56,180 --> 00:20:58,920 Not as equals, because I'm still a creature. 392 00:21:00,460 --> 00:21:02,220 And I know of no one else who 393 00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:04,100 is any more than a creature. 394 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,980 And if you're walking with God, it's good 395 00:21:07,980 --> 00:21:09,460 for you as it is good for me 396 00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:11,800 to remember that we're creatures still. 397 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,200 But we're walking with God. 398 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,540 And He means us to be walking, not 399 00:21:17,540 --> 00:21:21,940 in the peace of silence, but in the 400 00:21:21,940 --> 00:21:23,720 peace of getting on together. 401 00:21:26,820 --> 00:21:31,100 He being the Lord, we being what He 402 00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:31,860 meant us to be. 403 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,880 His children sharing in His thoughts, listening to 404 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,140 His wisdom, going His way. 405 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:39,960 This is peace. 406 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:44,520 But there is even more to it than 407 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:44,860 that. 408 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,540 Believing in God and communing with Him, this 409 00:21:48,540 --> 00:21:52,100 peace expresses itself in terms of hope as 410 00:21:52,100 --> 00:21:53,260 it looks into the future. 411 00:21:54,860 --> 00:21:57,320 And you see, this is where peace flourishes. 412 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:09,920 Walking with God, talking with God, communing with 413 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:10,500 God. 414 00:22:11,100 --> 00:22:13,780 What has the future to frighten us? 415 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,600 Because years ago when I heard an American 416 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,260 preacher speak about the little girl going in 417 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:28,020 the train across the country, coming to the 418 00:22:28,020 --> 00:22:30,200 Rockies, and little kid was sitting in the 419 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,300 corner of the carriage and someone said, she 420 00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:37,300 was alone, aren't you afraid going through these 421 00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:38,100 dark tunnels? 422 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,140 Oh no, she said, my daddy's at the 423 00:22:41,140 --> 00:22:41,500 engine. 424 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,520 He was the driver apparently. 425 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:47,260 And of course she didn't mind going through 426 00:22:47,260 --> 00:22:47,800 the dark. 427 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:50,140 What can there be on the way? 428 00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:51,760 What trouble can there be ahead? 429 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:53,860 Her daddy was at the engine. 430 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:55,840 Sweet simplicity. 431 00:22:56,340 --> 00:22:58,920 But she expected all to be well. 432 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:00,500 And there is a hymn we have in 433 00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:02,220 our Welsh Presbyterian hymn. 434 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,800 We expect a bright tomorrow. 435 00:23:06,140 --> 00:23:08,260 All will be well. 436 00:23:11,540 --> 00:23:11,880 Why? 437 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,820 Because our Father is at the controls and 438 00:23:15,820 --> 00:23:17,740 our Savior is at the right hand of 439 00:23:17,740 --> 00:23:20,160 the Father and the Holy Spirit is given 440 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,160 to us to bring us home according to 441 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:22,660 the promises. 442 00:23:23,060 --> 00:23:27,580 All must be well or God is not 443 00:23:27,580 --> 00:23:28,160 God. 444 00:23:32,340 --> 00:23:34,820 Jesus bequeathed such a gift to his disciples. 445 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,040 He left it behind. 446 00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:37,860 This is his dowry. 447 00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:39,060 This is his gift. 448 00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:41,140 This is what he made out of them 449 00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:41,820 in his will. 450 00:23:44,950 --> 00:23:49,830 Dear old Matthew Henry, oh there are some 451 00:23:49,830 --> 00:23:52,150 great modern commentators today. 452 00:23:52,310 --> 00:23:53,270 Thank God for that. 453 00:23:54,390 --> 00:23:58,730 Quite a large number of excellently gifted men 454 00:23:58,730 --> 00:24:02,170 and women who write about Scripture, who expound 455 00:24:02,170 --> 00:24:02,550 the word. 456 00:24:03,170 --> 00:24:04,530 But some of the old ones are very 457 00:24:04,530 --> 00:24:04,830 good. 458 00:24:06,690 --> 00:24:10,130 Dear old Matthew Henry is one of them. 459 00:24:10,250 --> 00:24:11,810 You know he has a way of saying 460 00:24:11,810 --> 00:24:14,710 things occasionally that really take your breath away. 461 00:24:16,050 --> 00:24:17,030 Listen to this. 462 00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:21,530 When Christ left the world he made his 463 00:24:21,530 --> 00:24:21,810 will. 464 00:24:24,060 --> 00:24:28,100 His soul he bequeathed to his Father and 465 00:24:28,100 --> 00:24:31,180 his body to Joseph of Arimathea. 466 00:24:34,300 --> 00:24:36,720 His clothes fell to the soldiers. 467 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,680 His mother he left to the care of 468 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:41,180 John. 469 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,640 But what should he leave his poor disciples 470 00:24:46,380 --> 00:24:48,200 who had left all for him? 471 00:24:49,420 --> 00:24:50,960 Silver and gold he had none. 472 00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:54,020 But he left them what was far better, 473 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,500 says Matthew Henry, his peace. 474 00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:01,860 My peace I donate. 475 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,800 I will to you my followers. 476 00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:14,480 Now then this gift that is bequeathed by 477 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,320 Jesus is doubly qualified. 478 00:25:17,020 --> 00:25:18,420 Positively and negatively. 479 00:25:18,460 --> 00:25:20,340 You notice how careful Jesus is here. 480 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:21,980 He really wants to get it across. 481 00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:26,300 Positively he qualified the initial statement with the 482 00:25:26,300 --> 00:25:27,400 pronoun my. 483 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,380 My peace I give to you. 484 00:25:31,060 --> 00:25:32,480 It's not I'm just giving you peace. 485 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:34,740 But I'm giving you my peace. 486 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,340 Now they all knew what he was talking 487 00:25:38,340 --> 00:25:41,340 about because they had seen that amazing peace 488 00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:44,880 of his exemplified throughout his life situations even 489 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:45,360 in death. 490 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,840 Sorry, not in death at this time but 491 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:48,900 in prospect of death. 492 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,780 He knew that death was astride his pathway 493 00:25:52,780 --> 00:25:56,660 and they saw how he still had peace 494 00:25:56,660 --> 00:26:00,800 and composure and was determined to see it 495 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,340 through even from this vantage point. 496 00:26:04,060 --> 00:26:08,400 That simple qualification would suffice to disabuse any 497 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,080 of them of any notion that he was 498 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:16,880 thinking of an external condition which implied the 499 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,600 absence of turmoil or even of a subjective 500 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,520 condition without turmoil. 501 00:26:22,980 --> 00:26:28,640 Because you see the circumstances surrounding Jesus were 502 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,720 always full of turmoil after the opening few 503 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:32,780 months of his ministry. 504 00:26:33,620 --> 00:26:37,000 It was reasonably peaceful for the first four, 505 00:26:37,180 --> 00:26:38,400 five, six months maybe. 506 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:41,420 But when the first four, five or six 507 00:26:41,420 --> 00:26:43,360 months had gone we cannot say exactly. 508 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:44,300 Turmoil began. 509 00:26:44,420 --> 00:26:46,860 People began to argue and bicker and question 510 00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:47,520 and doubt. 511 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:49,820 And not only that, they threw stones and 512 00:26:49,820 --> 00:26:50,880 they tried to get rid of him. 513 00:26:51,220 --> 00:26:53,160 Even in Nazareth, his own home, they tried 514 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:53,820 to kill him. 515 00:26:57,140 --> 00:26:59,240 They did all sorts of things to waylay 516 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:04,520 him until at last the very leaders of 517 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,360 the nation plotted that he should be put 518 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:07,880 to death. 519 00:27:08,020 --> 00:27:10,800 They decided they must get rid of him. 520 00:27:11,660 --> 00:27:14,620 His circumstances were circumstances of turmoil. 521 00:27:17,530 --> 00:27:21,210 You know, you and I often miss this 522 00:27:21,210 --> 00:27:23,610 other ingredient in our Lord's experience. 523 00:27:24,510 --> 00:27:26,470 He was troubled in his own soul. 524 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,080 And we've got to understand this reference to 525 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,160 peace against that background. 526 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,260 Jesus himself often experienced inward turmoil of a 527 00:27:39,260 --> 00:27:39,560 kind. 528 00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:43,340 Listen to this, John 12, 27 and 28. 529 00:27:43,940 --> 00:27:45,880 My heart is troubled. 530 00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:48,300 And what shall I say? 531 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,220 Father, save me from this hour. 532 00:27:51,380 --> 00:27:52,640 You see, he could see the cross. 533 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:54,020 He knew what was coming. 534 00:27:54,620 --> 00:27:56,920 He knew all the horror of it before 535 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:57,620 it was there. 536 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,540 And we read that his heart was troubled. 537 00:28:02,700 --> 00:28:03,640 He said so. 538 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,520 It isn't the commentary of the disciples. 539 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,500 It's the confession of Jesus himself. 540 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:12,900 His disciples recognized this fact more than once. 541 00:28:12,980 --> 00:28:14,900 And they referred to it themselves as, for 542 00:28:14,900 --> 00:28:18,180 example, in John 13, 21, where we read, 543 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,620 after he had said this, Jesus was troubled 544 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:25,360 in spirit and testified, I tell you the 545 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:27,720 truth, one of you is going to betray 546 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:28,100 me. 547 00:28:28,860 --> 00:28:30,320 He was troubled in spirit. 548 00:28:31,740 --> 00:28:34,480 He acknowledged in Gethsemane that his soul was, 549 00:28:34,540 --> 00:28:38,300 quote, very sorrowful, even unto death. 550 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,380 Matthew 26, 38. 551 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,760 Whilst the inspired record refers to that also, 552 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,060 as a condition of being sorrowful and troubled. 553 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:55,440 Evidently then, Jesus was not immune to inward 554 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:56,340 commotion. 555 00:28:58,670 --> 00:29:01,330 And we sometimes equate peace with the absence 556 00:29:01,330 --> 00:29:02,450 of inward commotion. 557 00:29:04,050 --> 00:29:07,490 What then was this heart of his peace? 558 00:29:09,030 --> 00:29:11,010 Brothers and sisters, I believe it is this. 559 00:29:11,070 --> 00:29:12,490 If you quarrel with me, tell me some 560 00:29:12,490 --> 00:29:12,990 other time. 561 00:29:12,990 --> 00:29:14,950 But I believe it was this. 562 00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:18,980 It was the fact that he walked with 563 00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:23,180 the Father, spoke the Father's word, went to 564 00:29:23,180 --> 00:29:26,380 do the Father's will, and he knew that 565 00:29:26,380 --> 00:29:28,800 the Father was pleased with what he was 566 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:29,100 doing. 567 00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:34,860 This was the heart center of his peace. 568 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,020 It was the knowledge that he was pleasing 569 00:29:39,020 --> 00:29:40,380 to the Father. 570 00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:42,300 Men scowled at him. 571 00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:44,560 They got angry. 572 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,400 But he saw beyond men's scowling faces. 573 00:29:47,780 --> 00:29:50,460 He saw the Father's smile upon him. 574 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,420 And because the Father smiled, because he was 575 00:29:53,420 --> 00:29:55,560 well-pleasing to the Father, and he knew 576 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:01,000 that, and the Spirit witnessed to that in 577 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,490 his human experience, that was peace. 578 00:30:07,870 --> 00:30:10,050 There was a commotion within him of being 579 00:30:10,050 --> 00:30:13,490 troubled, and outside it was dark and dismal 580 00:30:13,490 --> 00:30:14,810 and horrifying and terrifying. 581 00:30:15,310 --> 00:30:17,430 Nevertheless, he had peace. 582 00:30:18,890 --> 00:30:20,610 And so he was able to plan his 583 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:21,110 own death. 584 00:30:21,510 --> 00:30:22,970 He set the motion. 585 00:30:23,330 --> 00:30:24,950 You read through the Gospels and you see 586 00:30:24,950 --> 00:30:27,150 that it's Jesus that determines the plan. 587 00:30:27,790 --> 00:30:30,210 Of course, he arranges it to coincide with 588 00:30:30,210 --> 00:30:32,310 the feast in Jerusalem, but it's he who 589 00:30:32,310 --> 00:30:33,250 arranges the program. 590 00:30:33,490 --> 00:30:35,930 He moves forward step by step according to 591 00:30:35,930 --> 00:30:36,650 his will. 592 00:30:36,890 --> 00:30:38,730 You see, he had this peace. 593 00:30:38,970 --> 00:30:41,670 He was moving with God, and God was 594 00:30:41,670 --> 00:30:42,350 pleased in him. 595 00:30:42,510 --> 00:30:43,930 And of course, this is what God said 596 00:30:43,930 --> 00:30:44,790 at least three times. 597 00:30:45,110 --> 00:30:48,750 This is my beloved Son, in whom I 598 00:30:48,750 --> 00:30:51,690 am well-pleased. 599 00:30:52,310 --> 00:30:54,010 Peace is the knowledge of that. 600 00:30:55,870 --> 00:30:57,690 You can take the turmoil, you can take 601 00:30:57,690 --> 00:30:58,370 the sting. 602 00:30:58,910 --> 00:31:01,010 I have letters every other week that are 603 00:31:01,010 --> 00:31:03,790 very stinging, and some that are quite opposite. 604 00:31:05,010 --> 00:31:06,690 I had one waiting on my desk this 605 00:31:06,690 --> 00:31:06,910 morning. 606 00:31:06,950 --> 00:31:08,090 I didn't like it at all. 607 00:31:10,510 --> 00:31:12,370 But listen, my friend, there is a place 608 00:31:12,370 --> 00:31:17,300 of peace if you're doing what God has 609 00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:20,720 called you to do, going where God has 610 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,860 called you to go, being what God has 611 00:31:23,860 --> 00:31:26,160 called you to be, you can be at 612 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,500 perfect peace and sleep in it. 613 00:31:35,220 --> 00:31:37,000 The gift of his own peace, which he 614 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,480 thus bequeathed, he also qualified negatively. 615 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,940 Not as the world gives goodbye to you. 616 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,000 I'm not going into that because my time 617 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:45,760 is running through, but let me come to 618 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:46,280 say this. 619 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,200 I believe that what he really meant there 620 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:50,700 was this. 621 00:31:50,980 --> 00:31:53,480 The world can't give you anything like this. 622 00:31:54,820 --> 00:31:57,480 Now, if you don't quite accept that exegesis, 623 00:31:58,000 --> 00:31:59,820 well, we'll talk it over sometime, all right? 624 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,020 But I think that's what he meant, that, 625 00:32:04,020 --> 00:32:08,820 you see, the peace he gives has an 626 00:32:08,820 --> 00:32:10,080 impact on the recipient. 627 00:32:13,180 --> 00:32:15,380 You can't carry this peace around like a 628 00:32:15,380 --> 00:32:20,220 little parcel under your arm or in your 629 00:32:20,220 --> 00:32:22,180 heart and say, I've got God's peace. 630 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:23,700 You go your own sweet way. 631 00:32:23,860 --> 00:32:24,580 You can't do that. 632 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:26,880 It's not a parcel. 633 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,620 It's not something distinct from yourself. 634 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,760 When the peace of God comes into you, 635 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:33,660 it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit 636 00:32:33,660 --> 00:32:36,860 in you, and it impacts upon mind, heart, 637 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,560 conscience, will, and every fiber of your being. 638 00:32:40,820 --> 00:32:43,160 In other words, it makes you peaceful. 639 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,120 And there are many people, you see, who 640 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:51,520 want the peace of God, but they're not 641 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,580 willing to be peaceful in relation to others. 642 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:55,580 You can't have it. 643 00:32:57,790 --> 00:33:00,310 The jagged edges of God go in you 644 00:33:00,310 --> 00:33:01,790 and in me if we would have the 645 00:33:01,790 --> 00:33:02,710 peace of God. 646 00:33:02,850 --> 00:33:04,470 Of course, we'll be at war with sin, 647 00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:08,170 at war with evil, but not with people. 648 00:33:10,810 --> 00:33:13,090 Jesus put up with Judas for three and 649 00:33:13,090 --> 00:33:14,090 a half years. 650 00:33:14,650 --> 00:33:15,730 Just imagine that. 651 00:33:16,550 --> 00:33:18,610 At war with the very sin of Judas 652 00:33:18,610 --> 00:33:19,810 and everybody else's. 653 00:33:22,050 --> 00:33:23,590 But he could put up with Judas. 654 00:33:26,900 --> 00:33:29,920 Peace makes you peaceful towards people. 655 00:33:31,140 --> 00:33:34,380 You're never going around through your life thinking 656 00:33:34,380 --> 00:33:36,140 that your business is to step on other 657 00:33:36,140 --> 00:33:39,820 people's toes, socking everybody else theologically under the 658 00:33:39,820 --> 00:33:42,860 skin, putting everybody else in his place, and 659 00:33:42,860 --> 00:33:45,260 you as a kind of judge of all. 660 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:46,380 No, no. 661 00:33:47,020 --> 00:33:48,220 You become peaceful. 662 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,740 And you can't have God's peace without becoming 663 00:33:53,740 --> 00:33:54,780 peaceful. 664 00:33:55,260 --> 00:33:59,400 Peace-making, peace-giving, peace-imparting. 665 00:34:01,620 --> 00:34:03,900 I well remember how this lesson first came 666 00:34:03,900 --> 00:34:07,040 home to me in something that's now history. 667 00:34:09,659 --> 00:34:11,780 It was ten years after the massacre of 668 00:34:11,780 --> 00:34:12,920 the Yorker missionaries. 669 00:34:13,340 --> 00:34:16,940 One of them, named Chemo, was in England, 670 00:34:18,179 --> 00:34:20,060 and he was talking to a group of 671 00:34:20,060 --> 00:34:23,020 Christian people, and they were asking him questions 672 00:34:23,020 --> 00:34:24,280 after he had spoken. 673 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:27,580 And one of the men present asked him 674 00:34:27,580 --> 00:34:28,920 a question something like this. 675 00:34:29,739 --> 00:34:32,719 What was it that impressed you that really 676 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,340 brought you to Christ? 677 00:34:35,940 --> 00:34:39,480 And this dear man had no doubt at 678 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:39,699 all. 679 00:34:39,940 --> 00:34:42,840 Oh, he said, it's the way the widows 680 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:43,580 came back. 681 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:50,040 Not with a spear under their cloaks, or 682 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,020 some plan to get rid of us, or 683 00:34:53,020 --> 00:34:53,980 to hit us back. 684 00:34:54,500 --> 00:34:56,380 But what they had under their cloaks, if 685 00:34:56,380 --> 00:34:58,020 they had anything, was a gospel. 686 00:34:59,740 --> 00:35:01,780 And the widows of the very people that 687 00:35:01,780 --> 00:35:03,640 we had killed came back, and they stood 688 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,960 there, and they were happy in Jesus, and 689 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:08,700 they preached forgiveness to us. 690 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:12,280 They were peaceful. 691 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:15,680 And because they had the peace of God, 692 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:17,060 they were peace-making. 693 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:20,620 They were spreaders of peace. 694 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,400 Brothers and sisters, this is the way the 695 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:25,520 gospel moves. 696 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,420 If you would have the peace of God, 697 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:29,780 somehow or other, it has to have an 698 00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:34,800 outlet through your life, and breathe peace upon 699 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:38,420 those who are seeking peace in God's way. 700 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,280 John Macefield's poem, The Everlasting Mercy, is worth 701 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:43,640 reading. 702 00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:45,740 Now, I don't quote a lot of poems 703 00:35:45,740 --> 00:35:46,460 from this pulpit. 704 00:35:46,460 --> 00:35:48,500 My brother, Don McLeod, reads more than I 705 00:35:48,500 --> 00:35:49,060 do, I'm sure. 706 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,800 But I can't bypass this, because it meant 707 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:53,640 so much to me. 708 00:35:55,680 --> 00:36:01,720 He describes the drunkard that was Saul Cain. 709 00:36:01,860 --> 00:36:02,580 He was converted. 710 00:36:04,060 --> 00:36:06,080 And you know, there are two stanzas there. 711 00:36:06,180 --> 00:36:08,240 They really are worth their weight in gold, 712 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:09,840 or if you think dollars are more than 713 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:10,700 gold, say dollars. 714 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:12,060 But here they are. 715 00:36:13,500 --> 00:36:16,100 Oh, the man's converted now, you see. 716 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:16,880 He's a Christian. 717 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,280 And he was an ugly man before, spiritually. 718 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:24,120 Oh, glory of the lighted mind, he says. 719 00:36:24,420 --> 00:36:28,980 How dead I'd been, how dumb, how blind. 720 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,380 The station brook to my new eyes was 721 00:36:32,380 --> 00:36:34,380 babbling out of paradise. 722 00:36:35,100 --> 00:36:37,760 The waters rushing from the rain were singing, 723 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,580 Christ is risen again. 724 00:36:39,580 --> 00:36:44,780 I thought all earthly creatures knelt from rapture 725 00:36:44,780 --> 00:36:46,360 of the joy I felt. 726 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:48,220 That was conversion. 727 00:36:49,420 --> 00:36:51,960 It was not, however, an end in itself, 728 00:36:52,180 --> 00:36:54,720 a maze filled with true insight proceeds. 729 00:36:57,450 --> 00:36:58,710 I did not think. 730 00:37:00,050 --> 00:37:01,730 I did not strive. 731 00:37:03,070 --> 00:37:10,070 The deep peace burned my me alive. 732 00:37:12,110 --> 00:37:15,010 Oh, brothers and sisters, have you got that? 733 00:37:16,590 --> 00:37:19,230 I would give all the money I've got. 734 00:37:19,370 --> 00:37:20,030 There isn't much. 735 00:37:20,750 --> 00:37:22,230 But I'd give it all to be the 736 00:37:22,230 --> 00:37:24,150 author of those two lines. 737 00:37:25,390 --> 00:37:27,010 I did not think. 738 00:37:27,170 --> 00:37:28,410 I did not strive. 739 00:37:28,890 --> 00:37:33,890 The deep peace burned my me alive. 740 00:37:34,710 --> 00:37:35,950 I became a new creature. 741 00:37:37,690 --> 00:37:39,970 The bolted door had broken in. 742 00:37:40,210 --> 00:37:42,150 I knew that I had done with sin. 743 00:37:42,890 --> 00:37:45,110 I knew that Christ had given me birth 744 00:37:45,110 --> 00:37:47,450 to brother all the souls of earth. 745 00:37:47,970 --> 00:37:51,830 And every bird and every beast should share 746 00:37:51,830 --> 00:37:55,410 the crumbs broke at his feet. 747 00:37:56,270 --> 00:37:57,170 That's peace. 748 00:37:58,850 --> 00:38:00,010 Christ's peace. 749 00:38:02,090 --> 00:38:03,950 And so the command with which I close. 750 00:38:04,850 --> 00:38:08,050 Do not let your hearts be troubled. 751 00:38:09,510 --> 00:38:10,910 Don't be afraid. 752 00:38:11,950 --> 00:38:15,170 Now this is not a slick philosophy. 753 00:38:15,370 --> 00:38:18,130 I remember hearing during the war and at 754 00:38:18,130 --> 00:38:20,570 other times people singing pack up your troubles 755 00:38:20,570 --> 00:38:22,470 and well, I mustn't try singing or you'll 756 00:38:22,470 --> 00:38:22,830 run out. 757 00:38:27,010 --> 00:38:30,090 In your own kit, bag and smile. 758 00:38:31,090 --> 00:38:35,430 And you know it's the most baseless, irrational 759 00:38:35,430 --> 00:38:36,930 song ever sung. 760 00:38:38,130 --> 00:38:41,230 For there's no reason giving for smiling. 761 00:38:42,830 --> 00:38:44,150 And packing up your troubles. 762 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:47,900 There's no basis for it. 763 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,660 It's just sheer emotional guts. 764 00:38:52,260 --> 00:38:53,060 Sounds nice. 765 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:54,600 But baseless. 766 00:38:55,460 --> 00:38:56,280 Foundationless. 767 00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,360 But here you see there's foundation for this. 768 00:39:03,780 --> 00:39:05,220 I'm giving it to you. 769 00:39:07,180 --> 00:39:09,240 I'm going to die to procure it. 770 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,380 I'm going to rise again to seal it. 771 00:39:12,900 --> 00:39:14,800 I'm going back to the Father and the 772 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,000 Holy Spirit who is a counselor no less 773 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:18,760 than I. 774 00:39:19,220 --> 00:39:21,100 Co-equal with the Father and with the 775 00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:21,300 Son. 776 00:39:21,700 --> 00:39:24,100 He will come and he will be the 777 00:39:24,100 --> 00:39:25,340 other paraclete. 778 00:39:25,460 --> 00:39:27,400 Not only to walk with you and talk 779 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,780 with you but to live in you and 780 00:39:29,780 --> 00:39:30,560 that forever. 781 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:34,880 And peace is the fruit of the Spirit. 782 00:39:35,860 --> 00:39:37,100 Jesus bought it. 783 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,460 He paid for it. 784 00:39:40,980 --> 00:39:42,420 It was made. 785 00:39:42,980 --> 00:39:45,940 Hours on Calvary's cross by his blood. 786 00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:49,420 And he says I've made full provision not 787 00:39:49,420 --> 00:39:52,160 only for that but to bring it from 788 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,900 heaven into your heart. 789 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,620 So he says it's very wrong for you 790 00:39:58,620 --> 00:39:59,320 to worry. 791 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,540 Set your troubled hearts at rest. 792 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:03,740 Stop worrying. 793 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:08,840 Because I have made provision. 794 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,860 And if you believe in me then you 795 00:40:11,860 --> 00:40:15,260 should have this expectation of faith and move 796 00:40:15,260 --> 00:40:17,860 out into life however restless or full of 797 00:40:17,860 --> 00:40:20,020 commotion it may be. 798 00:40:20,220 --> 00:40:21,040 Trust me. 799 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,500 Have you received the Christ who is the 800 00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:28,720 author of peace? 801 00:40:33,420 --> 00:40:34,400 Is he your Savior? 802 00:40:35,980 --> 00:40:37,660 If so, thank God this morning. 803 00:40:38,900 --> 00:40:40,580 Bless God this morning. 804 00:40:44,810 --> 00:40:47,350 In your heart let music ascend. 805 00:40:49,730 --> 00:40:52,290 Let the melody of worship ascend to the 806 00:40:52,290 --> 00:40:56,990 throne of God who loved me and gave 807 00:40:56,990 --> 00:40:59,190 himself for me. 808 00:40:59,470 --> 00:41:00,830 Let that happen now. 809 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,100 But what if you haven't? 810 00:41:08,060 --> 00:41:10,060 My friend, this is still the day of 811 00:41:10,060 --> 00:41:10,580 salvation. 812 00:41:11,540 --> 00:41:12,860 I'm so glad of that. 813 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:17,420 And it is my great privilege today to 814 00:41:17,420 --> 00:41:19,720 be able to say that Jesus has not 815 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:23,240 withdrawn yet those words which say him that 816 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:25,500 cometh to me I will in no wise 817 00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:27,180 cast out come to him. 818 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,420 And make the seat on which you're sitting 819 00:41:32,420 --> 00:41:35,620 the altar on which you place yourself body, 820 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:40,100 soul and spirit to be his and all 821 00:41:40,100 --> 00:41:45,620 the redemption his blood purchased and all that 822 00:41:45,620 --> 00:41:47,560 is involved in it is yours as a 823 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:53,600 gift and peace is part of it. 824 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,420 It's a wonderful privilege to meet like this, 825 00:41:59,540 --> 00:41:59,940 isn't it? 826 00:42:00,580 --> 00:42:02,820 To proclaim and to hear a gospel such 827 00:42:02,820 --> 00:42:03,300 as this. 828 00:42:04,300 --> 00:42:06,240 May it be ours as we go our 829 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:09,640 several ways and may we become peaceful to 830 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:13,140 spread it for the world is languishing in 831 00:42:13,140 --> 00:42:16,240 need of it and if we do we 832 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:19,220 shall find that gradually it will percolate and 833 00:42:19,220 --> 00:42:22,780 penetrate into the segments of society and perhaps 834 00:42:22,780 --> 00:42:24,940 some of us will have the opportunity of 835 00:42:24,940 --> 00:42:30,460 influencing governments, local, national, international bodies in the 836 00:42:30,460 --> 00:42:31,740 way of peace. 837 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,740 God grant it to his glory. 838 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,580 Our Heavenly Father we thank you for your 839 00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:45,360 word and we ask that it might please 840 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:47,040 you to lead us in the way of 841 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:47,620 its truth. 842 00:42:50,050 --> 00:42:52,070 If you find rebellion in any of our 843 00:42:52,070 --> 00:42:57,190 hearts please be merciful to us and yet 844 00:42:57,190 --> 00:43:01,530 we'd rather have your hand be ruthless with 845 00:43:01,530 --> 00:43:06,150 us in exterminating sin now than that we 846 00:43:06,150 --> 00:43:10,710 should be left in our natural state to 847 00:43:10,710 --> 00:43:11,370 die. 848 00:43:13,580 --> 00:43:21,450 Spirit of God breathe upon us therefore and 849 00:43:21,450 --> 00:43:25,250 lead us in the way of life and 850 00:43:25,250 --> 00:43:32,490 light and peace through Jesus Christ your Son 851 00:43:32,490 --> 00:43:33,170 our Lord. 852 00:43:34,390 --> 00:43:35,010 Amen.