THE OUTCOME OF GODS PEACE

Jesus shows us the proper response to His promise of peace, "Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27). We ought to be able to lay hold of this peace. It is there, it is ours; but we must take hold of it. It is interesting that He says "I give you peace," then He says, "Do not let your heart be troubled." The peace He gives has to be received and applied in our lives. If we lay hold of the promise of the very peace of Christ, we will have calm, untroubled hearts, regardless of external circumstances.

If you have a troubled heart, my friend, it is because you do not believe God—you don't really trust His promise of peace. Anxiety and turmoil seldom focus on present circumstances. Normally, anxiety is trouble borrowed from either the past or the future. Some people worry about things that might happen. Others' anxieties come out of the past. But both the future and the past are under the care of God. He promises to supply our future need, and He has forgiven the past. Don't worry about tomorrow or yesterday. Jesus said, "Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34). Concentrate on trusting God for today's needs.

The peace of Christ is a great resource in helping us to know the will of God. Colossians 3:15says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful." The word translated "rule" is the Greek word brabeuo, which means "to act as umpire." Paul is urging the Colossians to so depend on the peace of Christ that it becomes an umpire in the decisions they have to make in life.

Do you have a problem, or a decision to make? Let the peace of Christ make that decision for you. If you have examined a planned action in the light of God's Word—and His Word does not forbid you from going ahead with it—if you can do it and retain the peace of Christ in your heart, then do it with the confidence it is God's will. But if you find you do not have a sense of peace and God's blessing about it, don't do it.

Don't try to rationalize about your decision; you may find it makes good sense from the rational point of view. But will it rob your soul of rest and peace? Do you have a sense of confidence that God is in this? If you don't have peace, it is probably the wrong thing to do. Let Christ's peace be the umpire that makes the calls. That is how we are to govern our behavior.

There are two conspicuous reasons I don't like to sin. One is that sin is an offense to the holy God I love. He hates sin, and my love for Him makes me want to please Him. The other reason is that I don't like the way I feel after I sin! Sin destroys my sense of peace, and it breaks my sense of communion with God.

Look again at Colossians 3:15. Paul says here that peace belongs to every Christian. He calls it "the peace of Christ...to which indeed you were called in one body." Our peace with God and the peace of God that rules our hearts is a foundation of Christian unity. If we disregard that peace, if we refuse to let it be the umpire, we cannot have unity in the body of Christ, for everyone will be doing his own thing, and the body will be divided.

The peace of Christ is also an unending source of strength in the midst of difficulties. As Stephen sank bleeding and bruised under the stones of a cursing mob, he offered a loving, forgiving prayer for his murderers, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" (Acts 7:60). Paul was driven out of one city, dragged almost lifeless out of another, stripped by robbers, and arraigned before ruler after ruler. Yet he had an uncanny peace. He wrote,

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? (2 Corinthians 11:24-29)

That is the same peace you and I have; he just applied it. Paul also said,

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:8-11)