The night before His crucifixion Jesus gave His disciples an amazing promise:
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27).
He wasn’t saying that all their conditions would be serene, easy, and comfortable.
On the contrary, He was telling them they would have peace of mind and heart even though
their circumstances were painful, difficult, and uncertain.
And this is the same kind of peace Jesus promises to all of us who belong to Him.
SERMON POINTS
The peace Christ gives is a settled sense of satisfaction in Him. It’s not dependent upon good conditions
but on a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We can be confident that no matter what we face in life,
He is with us and in us through the Holy Spirit. And one of these days, whether we die or Jesus comes first,
all the troubles of this life will be over, and we will be in heaven with Him forever.
Then everything will be made right just as He promised, but until then, we have His peace within us
as we live in this world’s pain and trouble.
Christ’s peace is not like that which the world offers.
This age is not characterized by peace, whether external or internal. People are anxious about their jobs,
finances, relationships, and situations because the world cannot give them the peace that
transcends circumstances. The only thing it can offer is counterfeits, which falsely promise that
peace will come when they can have whatever they want. In the days when Jesus lived on earth,
Rome was doing its best to keep external peace in the empire by subjecting everyone in two ways—
through power and pain. But the peace Christ gives doesn’t come through coercion.
The Greek word for peace is eirene, which means to bind or join together, signifying oneness
without strife or consternation. Jesus Christ’s offer of peace comes when a person is bound together with Him.
Without that relationship, genuine peace will always be missing no matter how many other good relationships
one may have. Furthermore, anxiety and a lack of tranquility may result in physical ailments.
Although people oftentimes seek relief in other alternatives, they will never truly find peace apart from Christ.
Jesus is the source of this peace.
Christ’s peace is not something we can work to attain but a gift freely given to all who belong to Him.
It’s actually the gift of Himself that is acquired at salvation. At that moment, an eternal relationship
with Christ is established, and where He is, there is peace. One of the evidences of this relationship
with the Prince of Peace is that we become peacemakers (Matt. 5:9).
And the most basic way of doing this is by connecting other people to the ultimate Peacemaker, Jesus Christ.
There is a narrow path that leads to peace.
The world offers a wide selection of ways to find tranquility, but they are all false.
Yet this is the path most people choose. They move from one false hope to the next but
are never able to satisfy the gnawing need for peace in their hearts.
When Jesus sent His disciples out to proclaim the kingdom of God, He said to them,
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house’” (Luke 10:5).
This verse is a good reminder for us to pray for those whose homes we visit.
Although we may not know the circumstances of their lives, the Lord does,
and we can pray that they will receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, and experience His amazing peace.
On the narrow path to peace, there are obstacles that steal our peace.
Having Christ’s peace does not mean that we will never have any trouble, suffer pain or illness,
or feel afraid. But whenever these experiences come our way, we will be able to respond
with absolute confidence and certainty in the sufficiency of Christ. He is adequate for every situation
and will always carry us through it. In fact, sometimes the most difficult, painful,
and trying circumstances can become the seedbed for the awesome peace God gives to us in those moments.
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