Online Resources
Peace I Leave With You- Radio Sermon #8
When Jesus was ready to face the grim realities of the crucifixion, among other things, he said to his disciples, "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". I suppose that the 14th chapter of John is considered one of the most wonderful and one of the most comforting chapters in the entire Bible. It wa preceded by a very interesting conversation in which the Apostle Peter asked a strange question of the Lord. Simon had said unto the Lord, "Whiter goest thou?" Jesus made reply, evidently evading the real issue involved when he said, "Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me hereafter". Peter immediately asked the question, "Why may I not follow thee now?" It appears to us that Peter was imagining a trip which his Master was about to take across the country side. He wondered why he could not go with him. He said, "I will even be willing to lay down my life for thee". We doubt not that Peter was sincere but the facts are he did not know his own strength or weakness, for in the 30th verse of the 13th chapter of John, Jesus asked him, "Wilt thou lay down my life for thee." We doubt not that Peter was sincere but the facts are he did not know his own strength or weakness, for in the 30th verse of the 13th chapter of JOhn, Jesus asked him, "Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily I say unto you the cock shall not crow until thou hast denied me thrice." Here is a solemn warning to the self-confident. Well we might remember the words in I Cor. 10:12, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Amid all the confusion and the doubts that had lodged in the minds of the apostles, there arose the comforting voice of the master. He said, "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake." Yes, the master was ready to go away. He was about to leave. He was to be arrested, mistreated, falsely accused and crucified, yet in the face of it all he turned to the Apostles and said, "Let not your hearts be troubled". What strange doctrine is this? Furthermore he let them know that they should be jailed, whipped, stoned and scattered as sheep without a shepherd. Yet he said, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Think of it for a moment. Why should they not be troubled by all of this? Here it is - Ye believe in God, believe also in me. By their very actions they were saying, "We do believe, but what are you trying to tell us?" the wonderful argument is that Jesus Christ, in proving his sonship, liked himself with the God in whom they already believed. He said, "Ye believe in God", and certainly that was the truth. There were very few among the Jews who had doubts that God was what he claimed to be, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of jacob, the creator of the universe and of all things therein. Jesus was laying a foundation upon which he could build a strong case in favor of his own sonship. They knew very well the nature of the god described in the Old Testament. They frequently referred to and admitted belief in such passages as Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," In speaking to Gentiles of this passage, Paul used a different approach. This text was the basis of his sermon in Acts 17. Of Jehovah, who was unknown to his audience, he said, "Him, therefore, declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needeth any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at: but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." This kind of teaching was needed in Athens, but not among the Jews. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God", was a familiar quotation among the chose people. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me", was a fundamental principle of a well known law. Yet because they dared to bow down at the altars of strange gods, they had lost their inheritance in the land of Canaan. I should like to read two verses from the 23rd chapter of Joshua, being the 15th and 16th. Joshua had said that not one thing had failed of all the promises that God had made relative to the land, "Therefore it shall come to pass that as all good things are come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord our god hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you."
Nor was this all, for they remembered the words of their beloved David in Psalms 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." And again the wonderful expression in Psalms 19, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge." Or again the expression from their own Jewish prophet, Jeremiah, "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding." Certainly they believed in the God whom Christ represented to them. Accordingly he said, "Believe also in me." We have noted in previous studies that the Old Testament argues that Jesus Christ is his Son. Jesus said, "Believe also in me." Not so much to believe in the ordinary sense as it means to trust and to have confidence in him. even though I must go away, even thought all these trials, troubles and tribulations must come upon you, have confidence in me and in my sonship and after a while all shall be well with thee. i go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, i will come again and receive you unto myself that where ai am there ye may be also. How precious the promise of the Lord's return. When the Apostles were standing on the Mount of Olive from which our Saviour ascended, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing into heave, for this same Jesus which ye have seen going into heaven shall return in like manner as ye have seen him go." They saw him depart with a cloud for heaven to become the king of kings and heard the promise that he should return to receive those who have been faithful in his service. Knowing all the trials through which they must pass, he said, "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." Nineteen hundred years have passed since Jesus made this promise, yet the world needs much of the spirit of peace. There is a lack of harmony among nations; there are wars and rumors of wars, armament races and disagreement on every hand. How well we might recall the words of Jeremiah. His prophetic statement was most meaningf ulwhen he said, "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying , peace, peace, when there is no peace." (Jer. 6:14)
Human kind is in distress today because no league of nations and no big four conference can allay our fears. T United Nations will fail unless each individual world leader makes of himself a prince of peace and bows in submission to the righteous mandate of the Lord. after all, God did not promise a utopia of peace and happiness in this world. The peace to which Jesus made reference is not a peace among nations except as individual chrisitians enjoy the peace of mind that passeth all understanding and beyond which all the troubles of the world cannot pass. Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Thought the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day." It was our Lord who said, "Fear not him that can kill the body, but rather fear him who is able to cast both soul and body into hell."
Christian friends, we do not have the right to be upset, to be worried and be overwrought about the trivial, insignificant affairs of life. It is an insult to our Master to demonstrate so little confidence in him.
Consider now the challenging statement of Phil 4:6 - The Apostle Paul is speaking. He says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
My dear friends, that's the promise that God has made in his word. If we will depend implicitly upon him, the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall abide within us. There will be no need for anxiety, distress of mind or doubt. Be anxious for nothing and enjoy this peace which cannot be described and which can be had only by one who places his confidence entirely in the Lord. Such an one has "set to his seal" that God is true and will not be deterred from doing his righteous bidding.
"Lest not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
