John chapter 14, our text will
be found in verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. The title of the message is,
A Testament of Peace. A Testament of Peace. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ is
giving His last sermon to His disciples. His last instructions
here in His humiliation, in His body of humiliation before He
goes to the cross. He says, henceforth, I won't
speak much with you anymore. Because now is the time that
I'm to be crucified. Now is the time I'm to die and
to be buried. But I will come again. I won't
come again like this. I won't come again in humiliation. I'll come again in my glory.
And you'll see that. And so this, my friends, is the
Lord's last will and testament. You know, every one of us, before
we die, we should have set in motion some will. I don't even
think I have enough to put it on paper, but it would probably
be a waste of paper if I did. But if we have things that we
want to pass down, then we would have a will. Because once we
die, that will is then enacted. So the Lord is here giving His
will. And this is His will. This is
the will of the Son of God. Peace, I leave you. My peace,
I give you. That is the last will and testament
of the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples. He gives us a legacy
of peace, an inheritance of peace. I know that if somebody were
to go to the reading of a will, and they were to be giving out
of a rich, and you were going there expecting to receive something,
I do not suppose you would rejoice if someone says, I give him peace. I leave to my son peace. No money,
but peace. No estate, but peace. That would
be worthless, wouldn't it? It would be worthless. Now, you
can leave him a wish of peace. You could leave him a desire
for peace. But one thing you can't do is
you can't give him peace. You can't give peace. This peace
of our Lord Jesus Christ that he gives is much more than just
any salutation like, peace be with you, or I wish you peace,
I wish you well. That's not what he's saying.
It carries much more weight than that. Because it takes power to give
peace. It takes power to give peace. We can shed our desires, we should
have a desire to have peace among men. Is that what the Scripture
tells us? That we should seek peace and
pursue it? That we should seek peace among our neighbors and
with the governments and things like that? That we're not to
be rebel rousers or we're not to oppose governments? That's
not for us. For us, peace. Peace. We desire peace. But we truly cannot give peace.
I just can't give it to you. I can wish you could be peaceful.
I wish your heart could be at peace. I wish you could be content
with such things as you have. I want that for you. But one thing about it, I can
desire it, I can explain it to you, but I cannot give it to
you because it is not mine to give. And I don't have the power
to give it. Even though I have it, I can't
give it. I can't give it. It's not mine
to give. How many times have men swore peace in this world?
How many covenants, how many treaties through the centuries
have been made with blood? They swear, no more, peace, we'll
have peace here. To me, every man that tries to
make peace in the Middle East is an idiot. And anyone who believes that
they ever make peace over there is more of an idiot. There is no peace there. And
friends, even in this country where we don't see the outward
warfare, I tell you that there is no peace in this nation. There
is no peace to be found in this world. No peace. No true lasting peace. It's not peace from the heart. You see, men make peace because
it's beneficial to their flesh. Even if I offend my friend and
I go back and make peace, usually I'm doing it for my conscience
sake. I'm not even doing it for my friend's sake. So we always have a motivating
factor. A man has a motivating factor
to make peace. He needs one. Otherwise, he won't
make peace. If there's nothing in it for
us, we won't make peace. Carnal peace, the only peace
that we can do. Because it's not peace from the
heart, it won't last. And besides all this, peace is
something we cannot seek. Desire for we can seek and desire
for others, but we can't make it We can't make peace Nor can
we give peace because peace belongs only to God He is called the God of Peace
for a reason Because peace is not just something God has. Peace is what God is. He is peace. He is peace. I love the way the Lord Jesus
Christ walked on the earth. He walked without anxiety. He did. He walked without anxiety. I remember when he left the five
thousands, my favorite part. He left them sitting there on
that beach, told the disciples to go away. He went up and prayed
and left them there. And they looked around for him
and followed him all the way across the sea. And they had to seek him out
and say, Lord, give us more of that bread. He said, no, no,
you seek physical bread, but I'm not here to give physical.
I am the bread. I am the bread of life. And I can imagine him speaking
as though they were trying to follow him, and he was just talking
as he was going away from them. He didn't have any there, any
of his people. It's only God that can give peace.
The Scripture says, "...and the peace of God which passeth understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ." peace
of God. When God had finished his work
of creation, when God made all things by the power of his word,
he had created a world of peace. Everything was in harmony. The
animals were in harmony with man and the earth was in harmony
with man and man ruled over all of creation. And it was an accepted
thing. Adam could have walked up to
a lion and touched him, played with him, pet him, and it wouldn't
have done anything to Adam because there was harmony. There was
peace. And most of all, Adam had peace
with God. Man had peace with God. He was
created in the image of God. He had peace with God. But when
our father sinned, when our father rebelled, peace left this earth. There was no more harmony. There
was death. There was no more peace between
man and animal. There was no more peace between
man and the earth. The earth was not yielding her
substance but thorns. You that work, is it not difficult? I mean, you know, you could work
at the post office and all you have to do is just stamp one
thing all day long. But I promise you, You're going
to think that job is a hard job. Why? It's work. It's not fun. It's work. Otherwise, we'd call
it fun and nobody would get paid for it. But. We work. We work because there's no harmony.
There's no peace. There's no peace in this earth,
there's no peace in this world. There is no peace in our hearts
by nature. And the reason for the loss of
all peace was because of our sin. Because man offended a holy
God. I rose off my tongue really easy. But to really understand that,
if God give us just a bit of grace to understand His holiness, that we have offended God. Stop
thinking in human logic and reasoning, because you, if you're lost,
you blame God for everything. You blame God because there is
no peace. You think you are the offended
party and somehow God should make peace with you because you
deserve it. No. No. God is the offended party. If someone owed you money, they
owed you a thousand dollars and they came up to you and said,
you know, I want to make peace with you. I'm going to I'm going
to pay you two dollars and then we'll have peace together. Wait
a second, you owe me a thousand dollars. Well, I know, but but
you know what? Two dollars is good enough. It
should be good enough. It's the thought that counts.
I had good intentions of paying you. I just can't. So here's
two dollars. That should make up for it. You
would be offended at that. How much more so, God, when men
bring their filthy rags they call works, the decision of their own wills,
and say, God, do you accept this or else? And God says, or else. God won't accept that. He's the
offended party and he makes the rules as to how peace is made. We've offended a holy and living
God. Yet man by nature thinks that
God's at fault. Was that not the excuse our Father
gave, the woman you gave me? He blamed God and so does every
lost sinner blame God. I'll tell you what, before God,
when you stand before a holy God, and you will, make no mistake
about it, every one of you and every one of us here will stand
before a holy God. And I promise you, you won't
want to have one word to say about blaming Him. by nature, a corrupt view of
peace, a corrupt view of peace. Man thinks that he can make peace
with God at any time he chooses. This is a lie. You cannot make peace with God. You cannot make peace with God. Men think by being religious,
that God has somehow extended a peace offering, that God sent
His Son as a peace offering, and all you have to do is either
accept it or reject His peace offering. It's up to you. No,
that's a lie. That is a lie straight from the
Father of lies. God is the one that gives peace,
and He gives it to whomsoever He pleases. This is grace. Does this offend
you? It doesn't me. No way, because
I can't make peace with God. I need Him to give me peace with
God. I need Him to make peace with
God for me. What ignorance and stupidity
is it to believe that we can, by will or decision or deeds,
Make peace when all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And I'll tell you this, truly,
no man desires real peace with God. No man by nature desires
peace with God. You know what? I didn't desire
peace with God when God gave me peace. I wasn't looking for
it. I wasn't searching for it. I
didn't want it, and God gave it. That's grace. That's grace. Why? Because the carnal mind
is enmity against God. Your natural mind is so set in
hatred against God. that you are not subject. You
won't be subject. You will not be subject to the
law of God. Neither, indeed, can you be subject. That's ability. You have no ability
to be subject. And you don't want to be subject
to the will of God, to the law of God. Why? You hate God in
every way possible. Oh, no. I love God. You liar. If you're lost and you're not
in Christ, you are a liar. In this flesh, we cannot please
God. Who's trying to please God? Because
if you're trying, you need to stop. You just need to stop. That's just foolishness. Trying
to please God? Really? By your works? Do you realize that they stink
in the nostrils of God? That our best deeds are nothing
but filthy, bloody rags? Corpses? They're nothing. They count for
nothing. If any man believed that he has
some merit, that he's merited some peace or made some peace,
either by his devotion or his zeal of religion, he's deceived and has no peace
with God. at war with God. And I'll tell you what, that
would be really foolish, wouldn't it? To kick and spit against
an almighty God. But yet, this is our nature.
This is what we're born doing. Because we cannot make peace,
we are rebels and sinners by nature, and we would rob God
of his glory if we could. Well, then, what is this peace,
then, that Christ leaves us? Well, it is the gospel of peace. Here in our text is the gospel
of peace. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you." Here we see the disciples receiving the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His will, that they have peace. And friends, let me tell you,
Christ gives them peace because He alone possesses it. He is the God of all peace. We know God is the God of peace
because He, from the beginning, promised peace. When He came
to Adam, how did He come to Adam? Did He come to Adam in judgment,
in justice like He should have? Like He was right to do? He could
have come to Adam and killed him without saying a word and
annihilated the whole human race in one stroke. But how did He
come? He come in peace. Adam, where
art thou? That sound harsh? mean? No. He came seeking peace. Adam wasn't seeking peace. He
was running. But God came seeking peace because
God purposed to have peace. And that peace He had promised
in the offering of His Son, the seed of the woman, that He would
make peace. And He sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
into the world to make peace with God for us. make peace,
to reconcile, to bring the two opposing parties together. And this was done by the blood
of His cross. You know, I asked a woman this
week, she was talking about, I asked where we were with church
and all the polite questions people ask you when they find
out you're the pastor of a church. Just ask all the right questions
and stuff and religious things they want to talk about. And
I just asked her, is her pastor, have she ever heard the word
blood from her pastor? And she said, blood? No. I said, you need to run as fast
as you can from that man. If he does not preach blood,
you need to run. Why? Blood is the only thing
that makes peace between me and God and not just any blood. It is the blood of the Son of
the living God that made peace for me. That is the gospel. That is the good news. That peace
is not something I must make with God. It's something that
God has already made for me. He's made peace with God for
me by the blood of His cross. and Colossians 1.20, and having
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself. And you who were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by the 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. He hath. Now, you genius English
majors, you guys that know all the English language, hath is
past tense, isn't it? Reconciled already. He hath already made peace with
God. You who were aliens, you who
were strangers, you who were sinners, rebels in your mind,
haters of God, God had already made peace for you. All that God required for peace,
He made. All that He required righteousness,
He made. all that he required blood, he
gave. And through his blood we are
holy. In your sight, no. I'm not holy
in my sight. I say it because God says it.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have any inkling of saying that I'm righteous.
But I am, because God said so. As He is, so are we in this present
world. That's the gospel. He hath made peace, and therefore
I am holy and unblameable and unreprovable in the sight of
God's holy eye of justice. That's what I am. That's how
at peace with God I am, that He finds no fault in me. He finds no fault in me. Because of the Prince of Peace. Is He not the Prince of Peace?
Is that not His rightful name? And not only this, not only has
Christ made peace by His blood, He's also left us and gives us His peace. He's left us His peace. Remember the proclamation of
the angels that glory to God. And on earth peace. Why can they
say that? Because on earth was peace. Christ
was there when he came in the flesh. There was the peace of
God on earth. So then how can sinners have
peace with God? If Christ has made peace, how
can I know I have peace? Well, because he has left us
the word of peace. This book is the word of peace. It is the word of peace. The gospel of God's grace has
been left unto us, and it is vital that we take this book
and understand it, because it is a book of peace. And I bring
to you peace. I show you now, God has already
made peace. Why would you be at enmity with
God? Believe on Christ and you'll find peace. You'll find peace
with God. How do I know that God says it?
How many times and how many ways does God say it? I can find it all through the
book. Peter said that they had a more
sure word of peace than even hearing the audible voice of
God. He had the written word. We have the written word of God. The gospel of God's word is peace
and declares to us how that God can be just and still justify
ungodly sinners. Now, there are not many ways
of peace. This book points to only one way of peace, to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one way of peace.
It is in Jesus Christ. If you are not in Christ, you
don't have peace. This is the message of peace
that is applied by the Holy Spirit of peace. He leaves us not only
His Word. This Word would be no good to
us if the Holy Spirit were not left and given. He said, the
Comforter, I will send Him and He will teach you all things.
He will bring to remembrance all things that I've spoken unto
you. What for? For you. For you who believe
this Word is for you. Because I'll tell you what, I
don't feel at peace. Do you? I'm glad feelings have very little
to do with anything. But I know this, I have peace
with God. Because God made it. God gave
it. And God showed it to me by His
Spirit. He gave it to me by His Word.
And this Word became real. Christ became real. And now I preach unto you the
gospel of peace, peace purposed by the Father from eternity,
peace accomplished by the Son, and peace applied by the Holy
Spirit. Have you believed the Word of
God, the Word of peace? Have you seen that you are helpless?
Have you known that? Do you know that? Then cry out for mercy that God
give you peace. That God, that Christ be your
peace. And you'll find peace with God.
You'll find peace with God. Hear again the sweetness of the
gift. My peace I leave. My peace I give. My peace. The spirit of peace. is a spirit that dwells inside
of us. This is what he says in verse
23. He says, and we will make our abode with him. See, I know
I have peace with God, not only because the Word of God says
so, but because the Spirit of God testifies of this. Why is there such a great difference?
between those who love the gospel and those who hate it. Those who despise it. Because
the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
dwelling in us. How do I know this is real? Because
the Holy Spirit says it's real. The Holy Spirit speaks through
this word to my heart. That's how I know. Well, you're
crazy. Okay, whatever. Whatever. Go on your way. See if you find
peace in this world, because I have peace. Would to God that people would
stop trying to find peace here. Stop trying to find peace in
your marriage. Stop trying to find peace in your good deeds. Stop trying to find peace in
your profession of faith. I mean, you can profess you know
Christ all along, but if you don't have the Christ, if you
don't have His Spirit, He that hath not the Spirit of God, He
is none of His. I'll tell you, this is a good
litmus test. Do you enjoy worshiping God?
Because and I'm not talking about the outer man, the outer man
hates it and still does. Outer man, he's he's always trying
to defy us. He's always weighing us down
like a dead corpse, and I hate him. I hate him for it. But I know this, I love worship. I love seeing you. I love you. I love you. the most unlovable group of people
in all the world, and I love you." Is that not testimony?
The most unlovable pasture in all the world, and yet you love
me still. Is that not testimony enough
that the Spirit of God dwells in us if we love one another
as He has given us commandment? John says, if you don't love
the brethren, how is it that you can love God? You can't. You're a liar, and the truth
is not in you. So if you don't love being with us, then something's
wrong with you. I tell you, I love being with
you. I'm content with what we have right now. If I could just have this right
here forever, just as long as I live, if we can just stay As long as we can talk about
Him. As long as we can speak and commune and fellowship. I can say, J.D., my sins are
gone. And He says, yeah, mine's gone too. We can fellowship around one
common mercy seat. This is heaven. This is as close
to heaven as you're ever going to get at this earth. It's to
be together. And if you hate this, how do
you think you'd feel with heaven? You would hate it. Heaven would be hell to you. Not to me. Not to me. He's made my peace. And I've
made none of it. I've done just the opposite.
Done just the opposite of making peace. Christ made my peace and
I have peace. He gave me His peace. He testifies
of His peace. And by grace through faith I
receive with an empty hand His peace. I have it. It's my legacy. It's my inheritance. Is that not a great inheritance? Oh, how men are so... It has got to be the saddest
thing in the world to look for the next best thing, isn't it? I just can't wait until I get
to this point. Oh, then I'm going to find peace.
Then you get there and you have to wait to the next point. Oh,
I can't wait till this thing happens. Then, then, then I'll
have real, I can't wait till this happens and then I'll have,
no, no peace. No peace here, only in Christ. May God richly bless you. May
God apply his word to your heart. Let's stand and we'll be dismissed.