Let us turn to God's Word once
again in that portion of Scripture that we read in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 3 and directing you to words that we find at the end
of the chapter in verse 16. As the Apostle comes to the conclusion of the
epistle as was his wont So he turns to the Lord to pray for
them. And the words in verse 16, Now
the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.
The Lord be with you all. And the theme that I really want
to address is that of the peace. The peace that he desires to
be the portion of the church at Thessalonica. And it's interesting
because there seems to be an emphasis upon this word. It occurs twice, and each time
it's prefixed with the definite article. Now, the Lord of the
peace himself give you the peace always by all means. Considering then the peace that
is being spoken of, peace is an attribute of God Himself. We see several references to
Him in Scripture. He is the Lord of Peace, as we
have it here in the text, and then also in the first epistle
to the Thessalonians, and there at the end Paul refers to Him
as the very God of Peace, the very God of Peace. writing at
the end of 2 Corinthians 13, he refers to the God of love
and peace. God reveals himself, and in revealing
himself, ultimately, we have to recognize that that revelation
is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
is that one who is spoken of as the image of the invisible
God. How in these last days God has
spoken unto us by his Son and in that revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ we have the the full and final revealing of God's
character. We see the wonder of all the
attributes of God and amongst them these attributes of peace. Remember how we're told concerning
the Lord Jesus and the work that he has accomplished John writing
in his first general epistle says here in his love not that
we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. So, he speaks of propitiation
in terms of a manifestation of God's love, here in his love,
that God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It's a long word, it's a technical
word, a theological term, but it's a Bible word, of course,
so we do well to take account of that word and the The significance
of it, the implications of it, propitiation, as I've said previously,
refers us to the Godward aspects of the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross.
There is a manward aspect, of course, when we think of the
dying of the Lord Jesus. He dies bearing that punishment
that was due to his people, all their guilts. is placed upon
him, and he dies as their substitute. And by that substitutionary death,
bearing the punishment that was due to their sins, he has reconciled
sinners unto God. He has redeemed them from all
the curse of the broken law. He has paid the price that God's
holy and righteous justice demands. There is that man-wood aspect
there, the Lord Jesus bearing the punishment, and the word,
the technical word that we would use in reference to that aspect
is the word expiation, the expiation of our sins, Christ bearing the
punishment that was due to us as the guilty sinners. But when
we think of propitiation, we have to think more in vertical
terms. We have to think in terms of
the sinner's relationship to God. We have to think in terms
of God who is angry with the wicked every day. that God is
that One who is holy and righteous and just and can by no means
clear the guilty. And what does the Lord Jesus
Christ do? Then He makes peace. He makes peace by the blood of
His cross. He propitiates all the wrath
of God here in His love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son. to bear the propitiation for
our sins. That Son who was ever the Son
of Islam, how God speaks of Him as that One who is His Beloved
Son. Behold, He says, My Beloved in
whom my soul delighteth, and yet God deals with Him. and visits upon him all that
was due to the sins of his people." All this is that peace of God
that is revealed to us in Christ and the work that he has accomplished. The peace of God is seen in how
in the Lord Jesus Christ all the other attributes in God come
together, harmonize. God is seen in the Lord Jesus
to be a holy, righteous, just God, and yet at the same time
to be a gracious, merciful, loving, compassionate God. the harmonizing
of all those divine attributes. As the psalmist says, mercy and
truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is just and
yet God is the justifier of them that believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This then is the peace that is
being spoken of here in the words of the text, now the Lord of
peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord
be with you all as we think then for a little while about the
peace I divide what I'm going to say into two parts first of
all to consider the nature and something of the experience of
this piece, and then secondly, the knowledge and the expression
of this piece. First of all, the nature, the
experience. Now this piece that is being
spoken of in the text is spiritual in its very nature. By nature,
what was the condition of these Thessalonians to whom the Apostle
is addressing him? So, what's the condition of all
men? By nature, all of us are dead
in trespasses and in sins. By nature, sinners are in that
state of spiritual alienation. We are all enemies of God. Remember the carnal mind, as
Paul describes it there in Romans chapter 8, that is the mind of
the flesh, a natural mind, it's enmity against God. It is not
subject to the law of God, says Paul, neither indeed can be. He speaks of us as those having
the understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in us because of the blindness, or the margin
says, the hardness of our hearts. This is how man is described
in his natural condition. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. their foolishness to him, neither
can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." It's
that solemn truth of the sinner's total depravity, that sin has
permeated every part of man's nature. And therefore, the peace
that we stand in need of must be a spiritual peace. and there
are many who come with a message of peace we see it in scripture
in the days of the prophet Jeremiah he speaks of those who were false
teachers who were coming and speaking peaceful words to the
nation of Israel or remember how he describes them they have
healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people saying peace peace
when there is no peace the faithful servant of God will speak plain
words and tell sinners what their real and true condition is by
nature. He will spell out the solemn
truth of the sinner's total depravity. He won't speak a false piece
to the people. He will speak plainly of sin,
because it is sinners that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to
save. Christ himself says, I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And the peace
that the sinner stands in need of is found only in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, this is that peace that Paul
desires for these Thessalonians. This verse that we're looking
at is part of the closing prayer, the benediction of Paul. He goes on to say at verse 18,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. All this peace then is associated
with that grace that is seen only in Christ Jesus. And we see him in his own person
as that one who ministers peace to his people. As I've said many
times, we have to see our salvation not simply in terms of the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the work that he came to do, He's
made of a woman. He's made under the law. He's
subject to the law. He must honor the law. He must
obey the law. He must satisfy the law. He must
pay that redemption price that the law demands. The law must
be satisfied. The work of Christ is important.
We'll come to that presently. But we must also remember the
person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of the language
of the prophet there in Micah 5 and verse 5. And this man shall
be the peace. Oh, this man. Oh, behold the
man. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This man shall be the peace. When Isaiah speaks of the great
mystery of the Incarnation, there in Isaiah chapter 9, he tells
us the name of that child born, and that's ungiven. His name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. That is His name. He is the Prince
of Peace. or this man shall be the peace.
This is that one who is God, manifest in the flesh. This is
the God-man. And so we see him as that one
who comes between heaven and earth. Did we not think of him
just now? in our opening hymn as that one
who is the daisman. Remember how Job desired a daisman,
one who could lay his hand upon us both, upon Job and upon his
God. Well, that's the Lord Jesus,
the one who is the umpire, who stands, as it were, between heaven
and earth. And we sang those words in the
hymn, the sinner's peace, the daisman he, whose blood should
set his people free." This is the Lord Jesus said in His very
person. And so, in the fullness of the
time when God sends forth His Son, when we think of the coming
of Christ, the Incarnation, remember the message of the angels to
the shepherds, on earth peace, goodwill towards men. that is, peace and grace, God's
goodwill towards men, God's favor towards sinners of mankind. There was, we know at that time
of the birth of the Lord Jesus, a certain political peace. It
was the days of the mighty Roman Empire and how the legions of
Rome would ensure that there was peace and order in every
part of the empire. It's not a political peace. The
Lord Jesus says to Pilate, who was the Roman governor there
in Palestine, my kingdom is not of this world. No, that peace
that the Lord Jesus Christ brings is spiritual peace. And we see
it in the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man.
For as much as the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he partakes of the same. He is made in the likeness of
sinful flesh and for sin, says the apostle. This man then is
the peace. But then the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. As I said, this word propitiation
reminds us, you see, of peace with God. God's righteousness
and God's justice being satisfied. And what does John say there
in the opening words of the second chapter of that first general
epistle? And he is the propitiation for our sins. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the propitiation for our sins. But we see it so wonderfully
really in the language of Paul when he writes in Colossians,
Colossians 1 and verse 20 you know the passage, having made
peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all
things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight if ye continue in
the faith grounded and settled and so he goes on. Oh it is so
important that we recognize the significance of faith it's being
justified that we by faith, have peace with God. That's what the
Apostle says there in Romans chapter 5. We come to experience
the blessings of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when we
are brought to trust in Him, to look to Him, to rest in Him,
all that faith involves. no more tormented by our sins,
no more Satan and conscience able to accuse us, as God embraces
sinners in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
so the sinner can embrace the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Well this is that faith, this
is the nature of it then, it's a spiritual peace that we stand in need of
and it comes to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord
of peace himself give you peace always by all means the Lord
be with you all see how there's there's an emphasis here upon
the fact that this peace is so much the gift of God the repetition
of the the pronoun himself the Lord of peace himself give you
peace the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ well having said something
with regards to the the nature of it and how we come to experience
it by the gift of faith secondly to say something with regards
to the knowledge and the expression of it and we see this really
when we take account of the of the context We're not to look at this 16th
verse in isolation. I suppose I want to repeatedly
emphasize that fact. We must always, of course, when
we come to any portion of God's Word, take account of the setting,
the circumstances. the words and the verses around
it, but not only that of course we we also refer sometimes to
what they call the analogy of faith, how that all of the scripture
is to be brought to bear upon any particular scripture. We
see it not just in its immediate context but in the context of
the wholeness of the Word of God. But look especially here
at the at the immediate context and what he's spoken of previously.
We read the chapter through and you will notice how from verse
6 following through to verse 15 at all section leading up
to our text in verse 16 he speaks about there was much disorder
amongst the Thessalonians and there was a need for discipline
in that church Verse 10 he says, Even when we
were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work,
neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some
which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus
Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. Now, what was, what was happening? Well, In the epistles to the
Thessalonians, the Apostle does make much of the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the great comfort that can be gathered
from that precious truth, the certainty of the Lord's return. He speaks of it in the first
epistle, and there in chapter 4, verse 11 following, he says
that you study to be quiet and to do your own business and to
work with your own hands as we commanded you, it's the same
sort of problem that he's addressing that you may walk honestly toward
them that are without and that you may have lack of nothing
but I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning
them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which
have no hope For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall
we ever be with the Lord." Now he's speaking of the coming again
of Christ and speaking of it as something that is it would
seem imminent. What he's saying is they should
be living their lives in the light of that blessed expectation.
Now He does indicate in the 2nd epistle, in the 2nd chapter,
that there were certain things that must come to pass before
the Lord returns. But, I don't want to go into
that now, but you know, he does make that quite clear in the
2nd chapter. He speaks of the manifestation
of that man of sin, that son of fiducia. He speaks really, I suppose,
just briefly about, at the moment, imperial Rome was there, but
imperial Rome would fall, and then the man of sin, that's papal
Rome that he's speaking of. It's a prophecy of the papacy
that would arise, the perversion of true Christianity, that's
what he's saying. So there were certain things that were to happen.
But nonetheless, he is emphasizing the importance of them realizing
this blessed expectation that the Lord himself was to return. Even in the first chapter of
the second epistle, he mentions that The Lord shall be revealed from
heaven, he says in verse 7, with his mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as there's this
emphasis upon the Lord's coming, it seems that some were abusing
that, and they were saying, well, what's the point? What's the
point of work and labor? We just have to look and wait
and watch for the Lord? and they were doing nothing to
make provision for themselves and they were therefore bringing
disorder into the church they were busy bodies there was much
work you see for idle hands to do this is the reason then why
he has to point out to them the great dangers of all of this
disorder and he exhorts them He exhorts them. Verse 6 he says,
We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you withdraw yourselves from every brother which walketh
disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of
us. Oh, he makes it quite clear.
Again, just previous to our text, look at verse 14, If any man
obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company
with him that he may be ashamed yet count him not as an enemy
but admonish him as a brother and then the text now the Lord
of peace himself give you peace always by all means this is the
is the context now it's interesting he several times uses this word
disorderly verse 6 every brother that walketh disorderly And then we see it again at verse
11. We hear that there are some which
walk among you disorderly. It's an interesting word because
it's a military word really. It's a word that's associated
with soldiers. and literally it means walking
out of step, breaking the ranks as it were. If there's an army,
of course, there must be proper order and discipline. And this is the word that Paul
quite deliberately uses. Now, what is one of the descriptions
that we have of the Church? Well, the Church is likened to
an army. Remember the language that we have there in the Song
of Solomon, chapter 6 at verse 10, fair as the moon, clear as
the sun, terrible as an army with banners. And that's a description
of the Church. The Church is as an army, and
there should be proper order and discipline in the Church. This is what Paul is saying then,
rather than all that disorder and all those problems that come
with those who are just busybodies, he says he desires peace. This is the context then in which
he speaks of the Lord of Peace, giving you peace, always by all
means, the Lord be with you all. And as we draw to a conclusion,
I just want to note these expressions. See how he speaks here in verse
16 of always, by all means, and with you all. This peace, always,
by all means, and with you all. First of all, peace, he says,
with you all, at the end of the verse. Believers, They are those
who are at peace with God, they are reconciled to God, they were
once alienated, they were enemies in their mind by their wicked
works, but now they are reconciled. But believers are to be at peace
also with each other. And though in the epistles of
Paul there is this constant emphasis upon the importance of that peace,
Romans 6.18, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, it says,
live peaceably with all men. Live peaceably with all men. Again to the Galatians, Galatians
6.10, as we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith. We're
to do good to all, we're to live at peace with all, but we are
to be particularly mindful of those who are the household of
faith, those who are brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again, look at the language of
the Apostle, Romans 14, 19, let us follow after the things which
make for peace. We're to follow after not just
peace, but those things. which make for peace, and the
things wherewith one may edify another." Desiring to see one
another being built up, edified, instructed, built up in the faith. Again, the familiar words of
Ephesians 4 and verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. Oh, not disorder, not breaking
the ranks, but the unity of the Spiritau in the bond of peace. This peace, then, he desires
to be with you all. That's with each and every one
of those who were the saints, those who were in the church
there at Thessalonica. But then also he speaks of this
peace always. give you peace always, he says. Give you peace always. How can
this be? Well, we have to pray, do we
not? If we want this peace, we have to pray. We have to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem. The language of David there in
the 122nd Psalm, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall
prosper that love thee, peace be within thy walls. What is
Jerusalem? Well, Jerusalem, Zion, that's
a type of the church, is it not? God's spiritual Jerusalem, God's
spiritual Zion. How we should desire that there
might be that peace, it's what we have to pray for, always. The God of peace. We read the
border going from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep for the blood of the everlasting covenant make
you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you
that which is well pleasing in his sight. Oh, we're so dependent
upon God and the grace of God if we're to be those who are
living at peace. Here is the The Apostle expressing
his great desire for them, he wants God to give you peace always. Well, how do we obtain it? We
have to ask. Ask and it shall be given you, says the Lord Jesus
Christ. With you all, always, and he
says, by all means. Look at the language here in
this verse, give you peace always, by all means. All things then should be tending
to the peace and the welfare of the church. That should be
our aim and our objective. But the spiritual peace is something
that is so much beyond us. As I said at the beginning, what
sort of peace is it? It's not something man-made. It's not a political peace. It's
a spiritual peace. To the Philippians, Paul speaks
of the peace of God which passeth all understanding. We cannot begin to understand
the wonder of this peace. How then can we obtain it? We must be those who are always
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to look to Him for every
grace, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Paul says there in Hebrews 12, and there we have to look to
him for the grace of peace. Now that the Lord of peace himself
give you peace always, by all means, the Lord's be with you
all. The salutation of Paul, he says,
with mine own hand Doubtless, he'd used an amanuensis. Someone
had written this epistle for him, but at the end, as was his
wont, he signs the letter, the salutation of Paul, with mine
own hand, which is the token in every epistle, so I write,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Well, let us leave God's word at that point
and sing now our second praise in the hymn number 925 and the
tune is Samson 408 pleased by his cross as Jesus
made the church's everlasting heads, o'er hell and sin as victory
won, and with a shout to glory gone. 925.