Somebody came to a preacher once
and asked this question. Is Christ really all I need? And the preacher replied. Yes. He is, if he's all you got. Well, he's all I got. But that's plenty. Would you
turn back to John chapter 20? Then, the same day at even, being
the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst
and said unto them, Peace be unto you." The disciples certainly did not
feel peace at this time. They felt filled with fear and
turmoil and guilt and anxiety. And the doors were shut. That's
very strong imagery. Fear shuts us down. It closes doors. Whatever peace
is, it's a feeling you have and they did not have it. They were filled with fear and
turmoil and unquietness. You ever been there? But these barred doors did not
keep Christ out. I'm so thankful for that. You
see, His glorified body does not have the limitations it had
during the days of his time on earth. And somehow he came in
through these barred doors and he stood in their midst and said,
peace be to you. Not shame on you. And he could
have easily said that with their unbelief and their fear and their
failure to confess Him, and they're denying Him with oaths and curses. You know, Peter did that. He
could have very easily come to them and said, shame be on you. But our Lord says, peace be to
you. And then He did something I think
that must have seemed strange. He shows them the hole in His
side. And He shows them the print of
the nails in His hands. Peace be unto you. And then He shows them His wounds. Now, in doing this, He is giving
them the ground of this peace. Now this peace they had wasn't
in any way because they had done well. No, they had been utter
failures. But he shows them the only ground
of peace. The reason for peace is his wounds. There is no other reason. But in this reason we have such
peace. Now the reason for the absence
of peace is sin. Sin on the conscience, sin on
the heart, sin. That's the reason for a lack
of peace. If you don't have peace, if you have turmoil and anxiety,
I guarantee you sin's in there somewhere. It's because of sin. But here's what our Lord did. He took away the reason for the
fear. 1 John 3, 5 says He was manifested
to take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. That sin that causes me such
fear, He's taken it away. He's removed it. He's removed
our reason for fear. Turn to Colossians chapter 1.
Now he says, peace be unto them. And you know, the only one who
can really speak peace to our hearts is the Lord himself. If
I say peace to you, you don't have any peace. You don't know
if it's real, but if he says peace, your heart receives it. And that's what I want him to
say to me and to you this morning. Peace be unto thee. I want to
hear him say it. I don't want to hear you say
that everything's all right. Well, that doesn't do me good. Doesn't do me good
if you say it. But oh, if he says it. in Colossians
chapter one, beginning in verse 20. And 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."
Now there is the ground of peace. Any peace that does not have
what I just read as its ground is a false peace. Do you have peace? Why do you
have peace? Well, I just think everything's
going to work out. I think God's going to be merciful.
That's a false ground of peace. The only ground of peace is the
wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ. is what he actually did on the
cross, having made our peace. And then we read in verse 20,
then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord, then
said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you. Now, just a few
days earlier, before his death, turn back to John chapter 14,
look what he said. John 14, 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. My peace I give Now, I want you
to think about the Lord's peace. Peace is a perfectly harmonious
relationship. That's what peace is. A perfectly
harmonious relationship. Nothing to jar, nothing to strain. Perfect. Now, you think of the
perfect peace that exists between the Father and the Son. The Father is well pleased with
the Son. The son is well pleased with
the father. Perfect harmony between those
two. And the Lord says to us, my peace,
the peace I have with the father, where he's perfectly pleased
with me, I give to you. Now, after his resurrection,
perhaps they understand what he was talking about. God is
called the God of Peace. Christ is called the Prince of
Peace. The Gospel is called the Gospel
of Peace. Now, I want to attempt, with
the Lord helping me, I hope, and pray to preach on the subject
of peace. Peace. is a feeling that arises from
something God has done for you. Peace is a feeling. I'm all for feelings. I love
good feelings, don't you? And while the gospel is not a
feeling, it sure produces feelings. Faith is not a feeling, but there's
feelings that arise from faith. Feelings of peace. Feelings of
joy. And peace is a feeling. You know what it is to feel the
opposite of that, to feel turmoil and anxiety and fear and stress. Peace is a feeling. that arises from something God
has done for you. And what a wonderful feeling
it is. Now, the Old Testament word is shalom. You've heard
that. Shalom. Peace. And the word means wholeness,
completeness, welfare, health, and tranquility. a harmonious
relationship. It's the opposite of fear and
strife and war. Peace. I love the way the word
sounds, don't you? It's a wonderful word. Peace. David said in Psalm 37, verse
37, mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end
of that man is peace. Who has peace? The man who's
perfect. and the man who is upright. The end of that man is peace. Every believer is perfect in
Christ Jesus. Every believer is upright. Every
believer is justified. Every believer is sanctified.
The same thing. And the end of that man is peace. Now this peace is a supernatural
fruit of God, the Holy Spirit. I'm not talking about the peace
that an unbeliever feels because an unbeliever can feel peace.
They really can. I'm sure there are many people
who really believe that they've made their peace with God and
that everything's all right with them. And when they stand before
God in judgment, everything's going to be fine. They've got
a peace, but it's a false peace. There is such a thing as a false
peace. This peace is the supernatural work of God, the Holy Spirit,
and only the perfect and the upright have it. Now, I could spend. A large amount of our time describing
what a false peace is. But really, it would be a waste
of time. There's so many different kinds
of false peace. And what I want to do, if the
Lord is pleased to help us, I want to sit down the straight stick
of peace. And you'll see the crookedness
of a false peace when you see the straight stick of a true
peace. That's what Spurgeon said. Spurgeon
said the best way to describe error is not to describe it is
to lay down the straight stick. And everybody will see the crookedness
of the other sticks when they see that straight stick. So I
want to try to talk about what the Bible has to say about this
thing of peace, a well grounded peace. Now, there are things
that are needed for our peace. The Lord said as he beheld Jerusalem
and wept, if thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the
things that belong to thy peace, but now they are hid from our
eyes." Now what belongs to our peace? How can this sinner have
a peace that is a well-grounded peace that is real? Here is the
first thing I want to say. Peace comes from being in. the
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to John chapter 16, verse 29. His disciples said unto him,
Now speakest thou plainly, and speakest thou proverb? Now are
we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that
any man should ask thee? By this we believe thou camest
forth from God." Oh, they've got great faith now. Now they're
affirming the Lord, but we believe you now. I love the way the Lord
responds. Verse 31, Jesus answered them,
Do you now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea,
is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own,
and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with me. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world."
Now, our Lord said, in me. In me, you have peace. Now, before I talk about this
peace, what is in the Lord Jesus Christ? Who is in the Lord Jesus
Christ? God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. And in the Lord Jesus Christ
is all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, there's fullness of power. There's fullness of grace. There's
fullness of mercy. There's fullness of forgiveness.
There's fullness of wisdom. Of all that's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's fullness of righteousness.
There's fullness of acceptance. There's fullness of perfection.
That means if I'm in Him, everything's fine. I have peace. Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this peace that's in Christ,
I'm not talking about the subjective feeling of peace. I'm talking
about the fact of peace. In Christ, I have peace. Now, let's go back to the Ark. Remember Noah's Ark and the eight
souls in it. The water's coming down, the
rain's coming down, the flood's coming up. Were they completely
safe in that ark? Absolutely. Everybody in that
ark was completely safe. Now, I try to put myself in their
place. I guarantee you some of them,
some of them, maybe all of them, at one point or the other thought,
what if we're not safe? I guarantee you that happened.
What if we're not safe? Now, that wouldn't be a very
good feeling, but the fact of their safety was still secure,
whether they felt it or not. What about the house with the
blood over the door? I guarantee you some of the people
in that house with the blood over the door, some of them were
thinking, God's going to get me. He's going to get me. They were
in the house with the blood over the door, but I guarantee you
they felt some insecurity. Maybe all of them. Some of them,
at any rate. Maybe all of them. And I tried
to put myself in their place. I would have wondered, am I really
safe? I know he said I am, but am I
really safe? I would have wondered. Now, that's
unbelief. It's wrong. But I guarantee you some of them wondered about
it. And there were some people, I guarantee you, in some of those
houses that were such scumbags that people were thinking, God
will get them. Even if they are in the house,
there's no way the Lord's going to let them. Now, you had all
that going on, where there were probably not feelings of peace,
feelings of fear, but were those people secure anyway? No matter
how fearful they felt, were they secure anyway? You see, we're
talking right now about the objective fact of their security. In Christ,
I'm secure. Whether I feel it or not, all
God requires of me, I have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And from
that, we have peace. If I'm in Him, whatever He did,
I did. Wherever He is, I am. Wherever He goes, I go. When He went to the Father, I
went to the Father. As He's seated at the right hand
of the Father, I am too. Is He secure? I am too. You see, our security, our peace
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't get any peace from anything
that I do. I really don't. Matter of fact,
it scares me. Here's where my peace is. In
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, He says to His disciples,
He said, Do you now believe? You're talking big. Do you now
believe? Now, you fellows are all going to deny that you even
know me. You're going to run scared. These things have I spoken
to you that in me, you might have peace. In the world, you'll
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world.
Now, this thing of being in Christ and being united to Christ is
the exact same thing. Union with Christ. I want to
hammer this every time I preach. I really do. I want to say something
about union with Christ every time I preach. But how close
is this union? The union is this close. The
two are one. It's an absolute union that a
believer derives peace from. This is how close this union
is. God the Father calls me Jehovah God the Father calls me the Lord
our righteousness. Now that's the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah 23, this is the name
wherewith he shall be called. But it also says in Jeremiah
33, this is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord
our righteousness. Now that's my name and that's
my security. That's my safety. In Christ,
there is peace. Now to have this peace, something
had to be done about our sin. Because the thing that causes
fear and unrest and unquietness is sin. Turn with me to Romans
chapter 4. Verse 25, last verse of the fourth
chapter. Who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. In order to have peace, God's reason for anger has to
be removed. And here's what happened on the
cross. He was delivered for our offenses. My offenses, my sin,
all my sin actually became his so that he was guilty of it.
And he put away my sin. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Now, if I'm justified,
that means I'm not guilty. That means I haven't done anything
to be condemned for. That means I stand before God's
holy law without fault. That's what justification is.
He was delivered for our offenses. My sin became His. He was raised
again for our justification. When were you justified? When
Christ was raised from the dead. That's when I was justified.
When were you justified? In the Lord Jesus Christ, I've
always been justified. eternally. That's when I was
justified. When were you justified? When
I believed. Those things are contradictory.
Well, I can't explain that, but they're all true. They're all
true. Now, look in chapter 5, verse
1. being justified, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And when he says we have this peace with God, he's not
talking about the feeling of peace at this time. He's talking
about the objective fact of peace. Having been justified, cleared
of all guilt, standing perfect before God, we have peace with
God. By faith, we have peace with
God. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is justification? It's
being not guilty. It's a perfect standing before
God's holy law. Now, if I have that, I have peace. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
32. Isaiah 32, verse 17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness
is the feeling of peace, quietness and assurance forever. Now the work of his righteousness
is peace, and the feeling of it, the effect of it, is quietness
and peace. Now turn to Romans 14. Verse 17, For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. So, peace is from being in Christ. Peace is from having God's reason
for anger taken away. And I stand before God righteous,
altogether righteous. Now there's peace that comes
from that. And in the Bible, peace is always
connected with grace. How many times does Paul open
up his epistles with this? Grace be unto you and peace. Every time. grace and peace. And the only kind of grace that
gives peace is the only kind of grace there is. Saving grace.
Saving grace. Grace. The grace of God. Now
listen real carefully. The grace of God is not an offer.
God doesn't offer you grace. It's out there for you to take
it or reject it. That's not the grace of God.
That's salvation by works. Grace is God saving you by His
grace. By grace you are saved. Grace is not an offer that God
throws out there. If that's what it is, I don't
have any confidence. I don't have any peace. There's something
missing. But no, God's grace is saving
grace. By grace ye are saved. Every
aspect of salvation is by grace. That is the absolute free favor
of God. God's grace is unconditional
in the sense that there's no conditions I need to meet in
order for him to give it to me. He gives it to me freely, simply
because He wills to do it. The reason for God's grace is
grace. Isn't that wonderful? His reason for grace is He's
gracious. Now, salvation really is all
about grace. And it is. You've got to begin
with electing grace. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. You've got justifying grace.
As an act of His grace, He justified us. He redeemed us. He called
us. He keeps us. He preserves us
by His grace. He does it all. It is a righteous
grace. It's a grace that reigns through
righteousness. There's nothing unjust about
it. There's no lessening of the guilt of sin. No sin is put away.
Sin is dealt with. It's a righteous grace. But thank
God, it's grace. And if salvation is all of grace,
all of grace, I have peace. If any part of salvation is dependent
upon me in any way to any degree, I have no peace. But if he did it all by his grace,
there's peace. Look in Romans chapter 15. Now,
this peace. And I've been talking about the
objective fact of peace, what he's accomplished for us, this
peace is only felt and experienced in believing. Look in Romans
chapter 15, verse 13. Or Romans 15, I'm sorry, Romans
15, verse 13. Now, the God of hope. Philly. with all joy and peace
in believing, in believing that you abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Spirit. Believing what? That's a good
question. Believing what? Listen to this scripture from
Romans 4 verse 5. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Do you believe on him who justifies
the ungodly? Do you believe that he actually
justified the ungodly in his death? Do you? Are you relying on him justifying
the ungodly as your only ground of peace? Are you relying? Then you experience the joy and
the peace of believing. Now, you can't believe and not
have peace. You can't do it. If you believe,
On Him that justifieth the ungodly, you will feel and experience
this peace of God that passes all understanding. It's a great
feeling to know that all God requires of me, He looks to His
Son for, and to really believe that I'm complete and accepted
and beloved in Him. This feeling of peace is experienced
in believing the joy and peace of Believing. Believing what?
Believing that He is our peace. Been talking about peace. Ephesians
2, 14 says, He is our peace. You reckon that's so? He is our peace. I believe that,
and I feel peace. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body, and you are complete. That's what
peace means, complete. Nothing lacking. Nothing to stress
about. Nothing missing. You are complete
in Him. Now, this peace, this feeling
of peace, is only experienced in believing in Beloved. God
has called us to peace. 1 Corinthians 7.15 says God has
called us to peace. Not fighting, not turmoil, not
stress, not anxiety, but peace. God has called us to peace. Peace with Him. You be reconciled to God. He's
reconciled to you. You be reconciled to him. You
be at peace with him because he's at peace with you. He's called us to peace of conscience. Where does that come from? The
blood of Christ. Now, does the blood of Christ
satisfy your conscience that if he died for you, everything's
fine? You don't have anything to worry about. You have a clear
conscience through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
called us to peace with our brethren. You see, we're not in competition. We're really not. We're fellows
in the same ship, saved by the same grace, looking to the same
Lord with the same desire, his glory. And we're not competing.
People who are competing, they get in fights and wars and so
on, but we're not competing. In any way, we're saved by the
same Christ. We're one in Christ Jesus. We're at peace with our brothers
and sisters in Christ. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Same mind. We're at peace with
God's providence. Whatever God has brought our
way, He did it. He did it. Everything that's
happening, He's in absolute control of. If you watch these news things,
you'll get upset. You'll get, oh, what's happening
in this country? We're going down the tubes and
all that kind of stuff. And you start getting stressed.
That's why I don't watch them. I don't watch them. But listen
to me. God reigns. And He's in control
of everything. And knowing He's in control of
everything, I have peace. Peace with God's providence. Peace in our homes. You know
how I love to be in a peaceful home, where the Prince of Peace
reigns. And you can feel that peace.
Every home of every believing home is to have the peace of
God. He's called us to peace. And we're at peace with the world
in this sense. Why do nations fight one another? Why do people get in arguments?
What's behind the fight? Well, if I'm fighting with you,
it's because I'm either protecting something I don't want you to
get or you've got something I want. That's what's behind these fights
and so on. But you know, in Christ, regarding
this world, this world has nothing that I want because I am complete
in Christ. I'm just satisfied to be in him.
You can have it. You can have it. This world has
nothing I want. I am completely satisfied in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this thing of peace, this
is the subject of our preaching. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Here's a summary of apostolic
preaching. Acts chapter 10. Verse 34, Then Peter opened his
mouth, and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted with him the word which God sent unto the children
of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Now, that's the subject of our
preaching. By Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. Now turn to Colossians chapter
3. Colossians chapter 3, verse 15. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body.
And be ye thankful. Let the peace of God rule in
your hearts. Now that word rule means let
the peace of God be the umpire. Let the peace of God be the decision
maker. If you don't have peace about
something, then it's wrong. If you don't have any peace about
it, it's wrong. It may be okay for somebody else,
but it's not for you if you don't have any peace about it. Let
the peace of God be the umpire. Do you have peace about it? If you don't, don't go that direction. Let the peace of God rule. and umpire in your heart. The writer to the Hebrew said,
follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man
shall see the Lord. Follow, pursue peace with all
men. As much as life in you is, live
peaceably with all men. I know you can't do it with all
men, but as much as you can, do it. I mean, the world's no
friend of grace and you're going to make enemies believing the
gospel. I realize that. But as much as life in you is,
live peaceably with all men. Be men and women of peace. Now, the last scripture I want
to quote regarding this thing of peace is something the Lord
said several times. After He healed somebody, He
said, Go in peace. Go in peace. Regarding everything you do, Go in peace. God is at peace
with you. He doesn't have any reason to
be mad at you. Go in peace. David said, and let's close a
look at this Psalm 4. This is a peace that you can
have when circumstances are so wretched that it doesn't make
any difference. Psalm 4, verse 8. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. For thou, Lord, only, makest
me dwell in safety. So I'll lay down my head in peace
and sleep. Go in peace. Oh, may each one of us hear the
Lord say to us, peace be unto thee. Let's pray together.