On more than one occasion I have mentioned in this space how “interesting” God’s sense of timing and provision are, even in regards to something as small as this newsletter. I am frequently amazed at how the subjects selected correspond directly with something happening at the moment that I sit down to write. And that amazement is my experience again this month.
We have been discussing over the past several months the believer’s relationship to the world around him. And while we have enjoyed discovering several relationships and truths that are ours because of Christ, I have been looking forward to sharing with you what the Word of God has to say about our relationship to the world and our peace. And that is why I am once again amazed at God’s provision, because I really need to consider and know and feel His peace at this particular time.
In a nutshell, the Lord Jesus provided for us a very clear idea regarding the relationship of our peace and a relationship with the world when He said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). What the Savior makes so clear is that HE ALONE is the source of peace. But this also means quite concretely that the world around us is never a source of peace for the disciple of Christ. Jesus is our source of peace and the supplier of peace for everyone who turns to Him in faith. As D.L. Moody said, “A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it.” And we do this through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Please note, this is not speaking of just our eternal peace in heaven. Oh, no! Jesus was making it plain that He offers peace while we are alive in this world, and His peace is in contrast to the troubles that His disciples will have in the world. The peace Jesus gives is for living right now and right here! Every genuine believer is either overcome by the troubles of this world or he is an overcomer of those troubles. “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4 ). The world wants to overcome us; the world wants us to conform; it does not want us to be different. When we yield ourselves to Christ and trust Him, He enables us to be overcomers. And it is by faith that we must claim our spiritual position in Christ and believe Him for victory and peace.
Now, do not forget that Jesus is the One who contrasted His peace with the troubles that are all around us in this life. He never promised a peace that is the absence of problems. But, as a missionary statesman from long ago once wrote, “The convert has laid upon him an obligation like no obligation in all the world because he has been loved with a love like no other love in the world; but the convert has also been given a peace like none in the world, for he knows that God loves him, not for what he is, but for what God is.” What a great truth!
The other aspect of what Jesus said in John 16:33 is that God’s peace is not like the “peace” that the world attempts to offer. The world bases its peace on its resources, while God’s peace depends on relationship—a right relationship with Him as outlined in His Word. To be right with God means to enjoy the peace of God. This is true in salvation, and it is also true for daily living as a child of God.
The world depends on personal ability or personal status, but the Christian depends on spiritual adequacy in Christ, knowing that peace comes only as he stands in the Savior. In the world, peace is something pursued; but to the Christian, peace is God’s wonderful gift, received by faith. Unsaved people think that they know peace only when there is an absence of trouble; but the child of God knows that his enjoyment of peace happens even in the midst of trials because of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. People in the world walk by sight and depend on the externals, but Christians walk by faith and depend on the eternal! The Spirit of God teaches us the Word and guides us (not drags us!) into the truth. He also reminds us of what He has taught us so that we can depend on God’s Word in the difficult times of life. The Spirit uses the Word to give us His peace (John 14:27), His love (John 15:9-10), and His joy (John 15:11). If that does not bring peace as opposed to trouble, nothing will!
So, what we come to know is that not only is the world NOT the source of peace for a believer, but we also recognize that the trouble the world creates is NOT a problem for the child of God. As we read in 1 John 5 above: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
So, how do we make this happen in our lives? That is, what can we do to make sure that we receive the peace that Jesus offers as opposed to being troubled by the problems of the world? Obviously, as we stated above, we must cling to Jesus Christ in faith. The same way in which we received eternal life we must receive the grace for daily living. Perhaps this closing illustration from Charles Spurgeon’s excellent work, All of Grace, will draw the picture clearly for us:
“Faith exists in different persons in various degrees, according to the amount of their knowledge or growth in grace. Sometimes faith is little more than a simple clinging to Christ; a sense of dependence and a willingness so to depend. When you are down at the seaside you will see limpets sticking to the rock. You walk with a soft tread up to the rock; you strike the mollusk a rapid blow with your walking-stick and off he comes. Try the next limpet in that way. You have given him warning; he heard the blow with which you struck his neighbor, and he clings with all his might. You will never get him off; not you! Strike, and strike again, but you may as soon break the rock. Our little friend, the limpet, does not know much, but he clings. He is not acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he clings. He can cling, and he has found something to cling to: this is all his stock of knowledge, and he uses it for his security and salvation. It is the limpet’s life to cling to the rock—and it is the sinner’s life to cling to Jesus. Thousands of God’s people have no more faith than this; they know enough to cling to Jesus with all their heart and soul, and this suffices for present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a Savior strong and mighty, a Rock immovable and immutable; they cling to him for dear life, and this clinging saves them. Reader, cannot you cling? Do so at once.”
Posted on August 8th, 2007 by Pastor Larry
Filed under: From the Pastor’s Pen
