God's Perfect Peace

God’s Perfect Peace

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - When we look at the condition of the world today and we see Mass shootings, road rage, Covid, Monkey Pox, people killing people because someone got their order wrong at the drive thru window it is hard to envision peace. Maybe you are facing a situation in your personal life right now like the results of a medical report, a nasty divorce, grief due to the loss of a family member, instability in the workforce or any adversity and you find yourself struggling to muster up any amount of strength. Sure, we understand that we are children of God but when trials and tribulations, hard times and disappointments come how are we able to stand strong like the Shunammite woman and say, “It is well”. 2 Kings 4:26.

Those 3 words “it is well” during trials, tribulations, disappointments, hard-times, sadness, grief, and confusion can only be said when you understand God’s Perfect Peace.

On this week a friend of mine and my wife lost her battle with cancer and of course I was sad because of the loss of my friend. I assisted is marrying her and her husband and both her and I loved foreign missions. We never went on mission trips together, but we talked about our experiences a lot. My trips were to the Ukraine and her trips were to Russia imagine that. When I learned of her passing, I was able to say, “It is well” because of the perfect peace of God and like the song says I knew she was “Safe in His arms”. Rest in Him Gloria.

PRAYER:

SCRIPTURES: - Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee”.

DEFINITION: - Peace is something everyone wants, yet few people really seem to find. It can be defined as “tranquility, harmony, security, prosperity or well-being”. Perfect peace is the condition of freedom from disturbance within the soul; it is perfect harmony reigning within regardless of what is going on around us.

Various forms of the word peace are found 429 times in the King James Version of the Bible. The Hebrew word “shalom” portrays the idea of soundness of health. The word Shalom is often used in terms of making restitution. In Exodus 22:4, for example, it talks about if a man stole an ox or a sheep from his neighbor, he was to restore or shalom what he had taken under the law. So, understanding that to be filled with perfect peace is to be spiritually healthy and free from all discord within the soul to have restitution. There can be no room for any disturbing factors in the heart that is filled with the perfect peace of God. Mark 4:39 says, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm”.

The peace which God offers, and we by His grace are privileged to experience is none other than a great calm which He commands down in the depths of our souls. In Romans 7 Paul talks about the desire to do good but evil is ever present he states that in verse 23 “the law in my members is warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” however, the perfect peace of God settles that warring.

John 14:27 says, “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”.

The World’s Idea of Peace.

The peace that the world gives is dependent on uncertain and shakable things. Things may appear peaceful on the surface but when circumstances change, when people get hungry, when prices keep rising, when inflation is at an all-time high, when death saddens us, when pandemic runs rampant, when people disagree the world’s peace disappears.

That is imperfect or false peace, if things seem good and calm then there is a sense of peace. This is known as the peace of Stagnation; the water may seem calm and peaceful, but underneath it is deadly, destructive, unsettled, the undercurrent will pull you to your death. Many people of the world only know this type of false peace. This peace is based upon or depended upon something or someone. When that thing or person fails then peace disappears. Let a storm rise, let circumstances change, let grief strike, peace is nowhere to be found.

The problem is the world’s peace ignores the root of the problem - SIN.

If you ask someone, “What’s wrong with the world today?” most people will answer something like the inflation is unreal, gas prices are too high, the current administration has everything messed up, stocks are crazy, school shootings, mass shootings, road rage, drugs, violence, etc. So, then what the world attempts to do is it tries to fix these problems by passing certain laws, trying to do good, installing all kinds of programs, raising interest rates, creating vaccines, and other bandages trying to achieve peace. They try to fix the symptoms of sin but fail to see how the root of the problem is the sin itself, something that can only be healed by Jesus Christ, there is no amount of money, no judicial regulation, or political reform can offer perfect peace. No amount of man-made laws and regulations, no amount of money poured into a system, no politician or political party will be able to bring peace until the problem of sin is dealt with.