After the recent election in the United States of Donald Trump for President, continued riots have broken out several states. Rejecting notions like a new border wall, protestors have demanded that Trump step down. Law enforcement officials are calling for hostilities to end so grievances can be presented in a peaceful manner.
The Thessalonian church, so strong in many ways, had been tormented by persecution, false doctrine, fear, and sin. They were threatened by false teachers promising a false peace. The false peace of the unregenerate also has several components. It is the peace of presumption. It is based on pride, not truth, stemming from thinking oneself to be worthy before God. Those who have it are under the mistaken notion that God will accept them because they are good people. It lulls those headed for hell into a false sense that all will be well.
As a people of God we are surrounded with false solutions. Politicians promise more than they can deliver. Advertising allude to benefits that will never materialize. The entertainment industry promises an escape and travel agencies promise a peace (until we look at the travel bill). Only The Lord of Peace can deliver an eternal, unshakeable peace that comes from Him and rests in His unalterable promises.
In 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18, the Apostle Paul calls upon The Lord of Peace to grant four blessings that are essential for spiritual maturity: 1) Peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16a), 2) Strength (2 Thessalonians 3:16b), 3) Truth (2 Thessalonians 3:17), and 4) Grace (2 Thessalonians 3:18).
1) Peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16a)
2 Thessalonians 3:16a 16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. (The Lord be with you all). (ESV)
De (Now) marks a transition, as Paul moves from command and exhortation (vv 6–15) to benediction and prayer (vv 16–18). This passage does not record an actual prayer, but rather expresses the desire of his heart that constantly rises as a cry for God’s blessing. Paul’s first request here, as in his other letters (cf 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 6:23), is for that highly prized, yet elusive reality, peace. The world defines peace as the sense of calm, tranquility, quietness, contentment, and well-being that comes when everything is going well. But that definition, frankly, is shallow. A calm, tranquil feeling can be produced by lies, self-deception, common grace, the absence of conflict and trouble, biofeedback, drugs, alcohol, even a good night’s sleep. Such peace is fleeting and easily destroyed. It can be shattered by the arrival of conflict and trouble, as well as by failure, doubt, fear, bitterness, anger, pride, difficulty, guilt, regret, sorrow, anxiety over circumstances beyond one’s control, being disappointed or mistreated by others, making bad decisions—in short, by any perceived threat to one’s security. But true Biblical peace is completely different from the superficial, fleeting, fragile human peace. Paul’s prayer involved much more than a temporary truce in the conflicts troubling the church. In Paul’s Jewish heritage peace was a broad concept encompassing both the absence of conflict and the presence of well-being. That Paul prayed for a peace granted by the Lord of peace makes clear that he was thinking of a spiritual reality that goes beyond human peace, one that can exist even in the midst of temporal turmoil (cf. Phil 4:6–9). It arises from the knowledge that all that is rests in the hands of the Father. And so it is possessed only by those who have learned to trust their Lord and God (Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 290). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
It is the deep, settled confidence that all is well between the soul and The Lord of Peace because of His loving, sovereign control of one’s life both in time and eternity. That calm assurance is based on the knowledge that sins are forgiven, blessing is present, good is abundant even in trouble, and heaven is ahead. The peace that God gives His beloved children as their possession and privilege has nothing to do with the circumstances of life. The Greek article requires the translation, “Give you the peace” which it is “His to give.”( Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 400). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
That peace has several characteristics. First, it is divine, deriving from the Lord of peace Himself. The pronoun autos (Himself) stands in the emphatic first position in the Greek text. The God who is peace grants peace to believers. It is the very essence of His nature, one of His attributes. God is at all times at perfect peace, without any discord within Himself. He is never under stress, worried, anxious, fearful, unsure, or threatened. He is always perfectly calm, tranquil, and content. There are no surprises for His omniscience, no changes for His immutability, no threats to His sovereignty, no doubts to cloud His wisdom, no sin to stain His holiness. Even His wrath is clear, controlled, calm, and confident. In his first letter Paul wrote of ‘the God of peace’ (1 Thes. 5:23); here ‘the Lord of peace’ means Jesus Christ. For the Old Testament prophets depicted the Messiah as the ‘Prince of Peace’, who would inaugurate a kingdom of peace (Isa. 9:6–7.). And so it proved to be. For ‘he himself is our peace’, who by his cross reconciled Jews and Gentiles to each other, and both to God, ‘thus making peace’(Eph. 2:14–15; cf. Col. 1:20.). Because he is ‘the Lord of peace’, he is uniquely qualified to ‘give peace’, a pervasive peace ‘at all times and in every way’ (Stott, J. R. W. (1994). The message of Thessalonians: the gospel & the end of time (p. 197). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
Scripture makes it clear that peace characterizes and flows from every member of the Trinity. “God of peace” is a common title for the Father (e.g., Judg. 6:24; Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20). First Thessalonians 5:23 calls the Father “the God of Peace”; Jesus Christ is here called the Lord of peace. Taken together, the two passages reveal Christ’s deity and equality with the Father, since both are the source of peace. Isaiah 9:6 gives Him the title “Prince of Peace”; speaking of Christ, Ephesians 2:14 says, “He Himself is our peace.” The Holy Spirit is also the source of peace. Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), while Paul wrote in Romans 14:17, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” In the perfectly harmonious working of the Trinity, the Father decreed peace, the Son purchased it (cf Acts 10:36; Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20), and the Holy Spirit brings it.
Please turn to Ezekiel 13 (p.700)
Divine peace is a gift from God. It is His good pleasure to graciously give you/grant it to those who belong to Him. (cr. Num. 6:26; Ps 29:11. 85:8; Isa. 26:3-12. 57:19. John 14:27; cf 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26; Rom. 15:13). Peace is such an integral part of the New Testament that it appears in the greetings of all of Paul’s epistles, as well as in 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. God however, does not give true spiritual peace to unbelievers, for it is a feature of salvation (Rom. 15:13). The peace the wicked experience is the false peace of delusion.
Ezekiel 13:8–17 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD. 17 “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them. (ESV) (cf 57:21; Jer. 6:14; 8:11; Ezek. 13:10, 16).
• These false prophets prefigure Christ’s opponents and false teachers in the church (2 Pet. 2:1–3; see note on Jer. 14:14) who speak their own delusions. True peace with God can come only through the definitive overcoming of sin in Christ (John 16:33; Rom. 5:1). The false prophets’ word of peace puts a delusive veneer on people’s hopes, for they promise a false peace without repentance and faith. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1516). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• They: “prophesy out of their own hearts” (v.17), telling people what they want to hear, and giving them false hope. Such a hope is dangerous, for it not only impedes true repentance and faith put gives a false sense of security that lends itself to not run to Christ for the only security for what is to come.
The divine peace that God gives to believers is that it is at all times/continually available. Why then does Paul pray for believers to experience it? Because though true peace is always available it can be interrupted. Weak or disobedient Christians may find their peace disturbed by the same sins, doubts, fears, and anxieties that destroy the false peace of the unredeemed. To have it restored, one must trust again in God (Ps. 42:11, 43:5), accept God’s chastening (Job. 5:17-24), live once again in repentant obedience (Lev. 23:3-6; Rom. 2:10.), walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)
Finally, the element of the divine peace that God continually gives the redeemed is that it exists in every way/circumstance. It is unaffected by anything in the worldly realm because it is based on the promise of eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) made by the God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is anchored in the reality that “He who began a good work in [believers] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). This unbreakable, unassailable, transcendent peace, so utterly unlike worldly peace (John 14:27), stabilizes the Christian in every situation (cf Phil. 4:7). Paul longed for God to grant the Thessalonians peace so that no matter what their circumstances were, they would experience settled confidence and unshakable joy amid the storms of life. Peace, for Paul, also encompasses a state of well-being and wholeness characterized by reconciled relationships (cf. Rom. 5:1–11)—with God (cf. Rom. 5:1; 1 Thess. 1:9), with each other in the congregation (cf. 1 Thess. 3:12; 4:9), and finally with those outside the community, to the extent possible (cf. Rom. 12:18; 1 Thess. 3:12).( Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (p. 276). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
Quote: Puritan pastor Thomas Watson wrote: “Peace flows from sanctification, but (the) unregenerate, have nothing to do with peace …. They may have a truce, but no peace. God may forbear the wicked a while, and stop the roaring of his cannon; but though there be a truce, yet there is no peace. The wicked may have something which looks like peace, but it is not. They may be fearless and stupid; but there is a great difference between a stupefied conscience, and a pacified conscience …. This is the devil’s peace; he rocks men in the cradle of security; he cries peace, peace, when men are on the precipice of hell. The seeming peace a sinner has, is not from the knowledge of his happiness, but the ignorance of his danger”. (Thomas Watson. Body of Divinity [reprint; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979], 182)
For spiritual maturity we need The Lord of Peace to grant:
2) Strength (2 Thessalonians 3:16b)
2 Thessalonians 3:16b 16 (Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way) The Lord be with you all. (ESV)
At first glance, this seems like a puzzling statement; since God is omnipresent (cf Ps. 139:7–12), how could He not be with them all? But Paul did not have some benign sense of God’s presence in mind, but rather His presence to empower believers to live for His glory. The psalmist rejoiced over that strengthening presence in Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” It was His enabling presence that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of in Matthew 28:20 when He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”. The presence of the Lord of peace with “all” in the church should serve both to encourage and to unify the entire fellowship (Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 291). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
Please turn to John 14 (p.901)
Believers need God’s strengthening presence to resist temptation (1 Cor. 10:13) because Christ’s strength will open up the path for believers to flee temptation. They need His strength to face Satan and his demon hordes (Ephesians 6:10–13). They need God’s strength to effectively serve Him (Eph. 3:7; Col 1:29; 1 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 13:20-21). They need God’s strength to persevere (2 Tim.4:19; Jude 24). They need God’s strength to endure trials (2 Cor. 12:9-10) and they need His strength to effectively evangelist the lost world (Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 9:22; cf 18:9–10; 2 Tim. 4:17).
How exactly is this all possible through Christ’s presence? He explained how this would occur. He promised the Twelve, shocked and saddened by the revelation that He would soon be leaving them:
John 14:16–18 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (ESV) cf Acts 1:8)
• The Holy Spirit, described here as the Spirit of truth will guide the disciples into all truth (16:13), and will serve as another Helper or “helping Presence, indwelling Jesus’ followers forever (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2053). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Illustration: Strength from the Holy Spirit
A.W. Tozer said: “We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low. We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone…. [We] have imitated the world, sought popular favor, manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the Lord and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the Holy Ghost”. On this, Francis Chan in his Book Forgotten God said: Most people do not connect what is missing or wrong with a particular need for the Holy Spirit… For some reason, we don’t think we need the Holy Spirit. We don’t expect the Holy Spirit to act. Or if we do, our expectations are often misguided or self-serving. Given our talent set, experience, and education, many of us are fairly capable of living rather successfully (according to the world’s standards) without any strength from the Holy Spirit. Churchgoers all across the nation say the Holy Spirit has entered them. They claim that God has given them a supernatural ability to follow Christ, put their sin to death, and serve the church. Christians talk about being born again and say that they were dead but now have come to life. We have become hardened to those words, but they are powerful words that have significant meaning. Yet when those outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God. And can you blame them?. (Chan, F. (2009). Forgotten God. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook.)
For spiritual maturity we need The Lord of Peace to grant:
3) Truth (2 Thessalonians 3:17)
2 Thessalonians 3:17 17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. (ESV)
Paul interrupts his benediction for the church, which resumes in verse 18, to deal with another vital issue. He was deeply concerned that they have God’s truth. Just as the Father is the God of peace and strength, so also is He the God of truth (Ps. 31:5; Isa. 65:16; cf 2 Chron. 15:3; Jer. 10:10; John 7:28; 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 6:10). His words are truth (2 Sam. 7:28), He is abundant in truth (Ps. 86:15), He is true even if all people are liars (Rom. 3:4), and He cannot lie (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). The Lord Jesus Christ, being God, is also the truth. John 1:14 describes Him as “full of grace and truth”; verse 17 says, “grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ”; in John 7:18 He referred to Himself as “He who is … true”; in the familiar words of John 14:6, He is “the way, and the truth, and the life”; Ephesians 4:21 declares that “truth is in Jesus”; Revelation 3:7 describes Him as “He who is holy, who is true”; verse 14 as “the Amen, the faithful and true Witness”; and Revelation 19:11 says that He “is called Faithful and True.”. The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, is also truth. John three times calls Him “the Spirit of truth” (14:17; 15:26; 16:13), while 1 John 5:6 affirms that “the Spirit is the truth.”
Please turn to 1 John 4 (p.1023)
Since Paul was the agent of that truth, he did not want them confused about which were his authentic writings; therefore, he decided to write this closing greeting with his own hand. Many scholars believe these to the Thessalonians were Paul’s first correspondence. So he described from the start what would authenticate the letters as his—his signature (Larson, K. (2000). I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (Vol. 9, p. 131). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
False teachers had come to Thessalonica claiming that the Day of the Lord had arrived (2 Thes. 2:2). They produced a forged letter supposedly from Paul to support their lies. They may also have denied the authenticity of his first epistle, since it contradicted their false teaching. Paul normally dictated his letters to an amanuensis (cf Rom. 16:22), much like a modern business executive dictating a letter to his secretary. But to prevent forgery and affirm their authenticity, he apparently personally signed each of them (cf 1 Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11; Col. 4:18; Philem. 19); his distinctive signature became the sign/distinguishing mark of genuineness in every letter he wrote. In light of the presence of letters falsely ascribed to Paul (2 Thess. 2:2 and comments), it became necessary to authenticate his genuine correspondence in this way in order to help keep the new congregations from being seduced by false doctrine. Much more than being a personal note, the subscript was a weapon in the war against heresy. (Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (p. 359). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.)
Paul wanted the church to be the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). But to do so, it must be able to distinguish between “the spirit of truth and the spirit of error”.
The Apostle John warned:
1 John 4:1-6 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (ESV)
• The only benchmark for doing so is the “word of truth” (Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18), which is why Paul was so deeply concerned to guard, protect, and assure the authenticity of the revelation God gave him.
• We may think that those who habitually oppose false teaching are belligerent and cause dissension and that peace comes by agreeing to disagree. Although this is true about certain things, there are a number of issues about which the church must take a stand (e.g., the deity of Christ, the Trinity, justification by faith).. To gloss over disagreements in these more significant areas is to have a superficial peace at the cost of the gospel, which is ultimately no true peace. However, those who argue for the church’s faith against dissenters must follow Paul’s admonition not to quarrel but to “gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant … repentance” (2 Tim 2:25). Those who contend for the faith must be doctrinally combative but not personally belligerent, certainly a difficult but necessary balance to achieve. (Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 265–266). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
Illustration: Discernment of Error by the Truth
Lloyd Ogilvie in his book Enjoying God recounted one of the most astounding achievements in eye surgery in the implanting of a lens in a human eye. One patient who had this surgery upon removal of the bandages exclaimed, “How wonderful to have new eyes!—…” Our hearts have eyes.… Before conversion, our “inner eyes” are clouded over with cataracts blocking our vision. We cannot see ourselves, others, and life in the clear light of truth. Nor can we behold God’s true nature or see the beauty of the world that He’s given us to enjoy. We are spiritually blinded …Conversion begins the healing of our heart-eyes by removing our spiritual cataracts. We understand what the cross means for our forgiveness, but we still do not perceive all that the Lord has planned for us and the power He has offered to us. We need a supernatural lens implant in the eyes of our hearts …Paul calls this lens the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” … The Spirit is the lens for the eyes of our hearts.( Lloyd Ogilvie: Enjoying God. As quoted in Larson, C. B. (2002). 750 engaging illustrations for preachers, teachers & writers (p. 526). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
Finally, for spiritual maturity we need The Lord of Peace to grant:
4) Grace (2 Thessalonians 3:18)
2 Thessalonians 3:18 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. (ESV)
Paul concludes his prayer wish and the epistle by expressing his desire that all those who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ continue to experience grace. Grace is God’s undeserved goodness and benevolence granted to those who in no way deserve it. Saving grace was decreed by God (Ps. 84:11) and given through our Lord Jesus Christ (cf John 1:17; Rom. 5:15; 1 Cor. 1:4; Titus 2:11).
Please turn to 1 Timothy 1 (p.991)
Grace is essential, not only for salvation (Acts 15:11; 18:27; 20:24; Rom. 3:24; Gal. 1:6, 15; Eph. 1:7; 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:7), but also for endurance (2 Cor. 12:9; cf Prov. 3:34), service (Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7; 1 Tim. 1:12–14; 1 Peter 4:10), growth (Acts 20:32; Heb. 13:9; 2 Peter 3:18), and giving (2 Cor. 8:1). Believers experience God’s enabling, sanctifying grace by trusting Him, obeying His Word, enduring chastening, doing good, walking in the Spirit, and praying.
How can The Lord of Peace, Jesus Christ work His grace through us to achieve His ends? The Apostle Paul explains:
1 Timothy 1:12–14 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
• Paul marvels that God graciously considered him worthy of trust, in spite of His past sins. His ignorance did not excuse his sin or warrant God’s mercy, but God graciously drew Him unto Himself giving him the ability to repent and believe. His past unfaithfulness only motivated him all the more for active obedience.
One cannot read the last three verses of this letter without earnestly desiring for contemporary churches what Paul desired for the Thessalonian church, namely the peace, the presence and the grace of the Lord. Is it possible? Only, I think, if these blessings are read in their context and if we share Paul’s perspective on the primacy of the Word in the life of the church (Stott, J. R. W. (1994). The message of Thessalonians: the gospel & the end of time (p. 198). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
There is a wonderful mystery to living the Christian life to the glory of God. To do so requires all the understanding, obedience, commitment, dedication, and effort that the redeemed can give. But all of that would be futile were it not for the peace, strength, truth, and grace that only The Lord of Peace can supply.
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2002). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (pp. 311–320). Chicago: Moody Press.)
