My Peace I Give Unto You Series

2) There’s another fact which makes this passage even more meaningful than it appears at first glance. (Cell 8 #2) He experienced this peace on the night before the crucifixion. In other words, the peace He wanted them to have was the same peace He depended upon during the most difficult moments of His life. What He taught them here wasn’t based upon theory, it came out of the challenge He was facing at the very moment He challenged them with it. Let me tell you, someone who can be at peace in the midst of what He was about to go through, is either out of touch with reality, or He has real peace.

Jesus wasn’t the only character in the Bible who illustrated peace like this. There are many examples of peace in scripture, but let me briefly mention two stories where people experienced peace at a time in their lives, when peace looked highly unlikely. There was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who boldly told King Nebuchadnezzar that he could throw them in the furnace, but that they weren’t going to bow before his false god. They believed God was strong enough to take care of them, but they informed the king that even if He should chose not to rescue them, they still wouldn’t bow to his idol. Move to the NT for a moment & consider Peter in the book of Acts, King Herod had already killed the Apostle James & everyone knew it was the night before Peter was scheduled to become a martyr. Do you remember what Peter was doing? That’s right, he was chained between 2 guards. That’s only what you would expect but the story says that He was asleep." Now how many prisoners do you suppose sleep well the night before their execution? I think it’s fairly safe to guess not very many.

Cell #9--

II. The Secret of True Peace

1. I believe true peace is both more complicated and more simple all at the same time. It is involves more than most people think as well as less than they think. Perhaps that sounds confusing, so let me explain a bit farther. When something is confusing, the best way to deal with it is to break it down into separate parts and examine each part on its own, so let’s do that with this.

2. Let’s begin with the complicated part of peace. I’m indebted to Philip Kenneson for pointing out that peace and righteousness are often connected in scripture. We don’t often think of the two things together, because there doesn’t seem to be a connection, but upon closer examination there is.

Cell #10--

1 Righteousness and peace often go together in the Bible:

2 Isaiah 60:17, "I will make peace your governor & righteousness your ruler." (NIV)

3 Psalm 85:8-10,

8 I will hear what God the LORD will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; But let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Lovingkindness & truth have met together; Righteousness & peace have kissed each other." (NAS)

4 Isaiah 48:22, "’There is no peace for the wicked,’. Says the Lord." (NAS)

3. When you think about it and look at various scriptures where this connection is made it begins to make sense. I’m going to move fairly quickly through the various passages so just follow along with me on the screen. Let’s begin with Isaiah 60:17 (Cell 10 #2). "I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler." For there to be peace, righteousness needs to be in charge.