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False Peace Vs Biblical Peace - Part 2

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• We stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And then Colossians 3 and verse 15, the Scripture says, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body; and be ye thankful." This is the second message, which is actually "False Peace Versus a Biblical Peace." And last week I dealt primarily just with a false peace. And I made the statement that unhappily many professors of Christianity possess only a false peace. Scripture came from Jeremiah 6 and verse 14 and Jeremiah 8 and verse 11, where peace was being promised to those people who were living in open rebellion against God and sinning against Him. And I made this statement, I said, mark this truth down: any peace that you possess or profess to possess while you are living in open rebellion against God and His Word is indeed a false peace.

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• You are being deceived and led to slaughter by your own wicked ways. It is impossible to have a true, genuine biblical peace while living in rebellion.

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• Now I pointed out last week several sources of a false peace. Sometimes a false peace comes from the world. Sometimes it comes from your own flesh. And sometimes it comes from your own wicked heart. The Scripture says in Jeremiah 17 and verse 9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

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• Now, obviously, I cannot repreach the message that I preached last Sunday, but I do want to cover and remind you of the four main points. So I tried to point out the characteristics, or at least a few of the characteristics of a false peace, and I gave you four. First of all, I said a false peace does not flourish in or with righteousness. So those who have a false peace are really not concerned with holiness. They're not concerned with righteousness. They have a peace, but it's not a peace that is flourishing with righteousness and holiness and obedience. And the second point was closely connected to the first point. And that is this, that those who have a false peace usually only have what you and I would call an intellectual faith.

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• That is, they have assented to a certain truth or certain proposition. They say, "I believe certain doctrines," and all they have is just simply a head or an intellectual faith. It never filters down in their life. There's never any applications. It's just simply, "Well, I believe this." And the third characteristic was a false faith—or a false peace—had a faith as well. Usually takes sin lightly. They can joke about it, they can laugh about it, they can participate in it and it will really not bother them at all. And so they take sin very lightly because they are really not interested in righteousness or holiness or obedience. And then the fourth one I pointed out was usually a false faith or a false peace is never ever disturbed.

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• In other words, the counterfeit is too wonderful, it is too good to be true. And I pointed out how that a message that I preached last week sometime would upset a real genuine believer, but it would not upset someone who held to a false peace. And their false peace is never shaken because not only they are deceived, but they refuse to face the truth. And they refuse to entertain anything that would shake their peace, teach them something other than what they have assented to. So today the focus is going to be on a biblical peace. And the Word of God has a great deal to say about peace.

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• There was a greeting in the Old Testament and a greeting in the New Testament. And that greeting was based on a Hebrew word, Shalom. And usually when you hear the word Shalom, or you see it, so many people just say simply it means peace, and that is true. But it means more than that. It means to be whole. It means to be complete. It means complete health, complete prosperity, complete justice, complete faithfulness in one's relationship to God, and in relationship to others as well. It means peace with oneself. And of course, such a broad spectrum of peace can only be derived from the God of peace. Let me just simply point out a number of scriptures very quickly that God is known in the Bible as the God of peace. For instance, in Romans 15 and verse 13, He's called the God of

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• hope, but listen to what he says: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." When you get to Romans 15 and verse 33, the Scripture says, "Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen." There He is called specifically the God of peace. In 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23, He said, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly," W-H-O-L-L-Y, that is completely. "Now the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And of course then in Hebrews 13 and verse 20, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." So over and over in the Bible God is called the God of peace.

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• Now just like in the Old Testament peace was a greeting, so it is true in the New Testament. This is a different word. It's eirene. I'll talk about it just a little bit later. But you're going to find that in all of the epistles just about, the Apostle Paul and others would always salute with greeting and the greeting always included peace. For instance, in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 2, Paul said, "Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." In 1 Timothy 1:2, he said unto Timothy, "...mine own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." In 2 Timothy 1 and verse 2, "To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." And then in Titus 1 and verse 4, "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour."

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• And then Philemon 1 and verse 3, "Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus." So God is the God of peace. New Testament greeting was a greeting of peace just like in the Old Testament. Now we're going to be talking about peace with God and we're going to be talking about the peace of God. There is a slight distinction between peace with God and the peace of God. But our text is Romans 5 verses 1 and 2, and I want you to look closely at this text because I'm going to begin to develop it. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Now, I want you to note primarily that peace with God is the result of justification by faith. Peace with God involves God and man. And this peace is not just merely subjective, it is objective as well.

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• And peace is between two people, or two persons. In this instance, it is between God and man. Peace must necessarily involve two persons at a minimum. In order for peace to occur, something had to happen on both sides. Since we are talking about God and man, something had to happen on the side of God, and something had to happen on the side of man. So it is important to note at the very beginning the connection between peace and justification. And according to our text, justification and peace are so intimately connected that you cannot have one without the other. You cannot have a biblical peace without having been justified by God the Father. So there can be no real genuine saving peace apart from God and apart from justification by faith. So allow me to point out a very clear implication of this truth. It is impossible to hold, to have, and maintain a biblical peace apart from an understanding and comprehension of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. If you do not understand the doctrine of justification, it is impossible for you to hold and enjoy what you and I would call a biblical peace.

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• One of the reasons so many professing Christians are tossed hither and yon, and are turned about with every wind of doctrine, is because they do not understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Martin Luther, the Reformer, said that justification was the article of the standing or the falling church. What he meant by that was simply this: as far and as long as the church understands and comprehends and stands for justification by faith alone, it is a standing church. But when it leaves the doctrine of justification by faith, either through ignorance or rejection, it is a falling church. And I suppose the same could be said of individual Christians as well. Now, I've preached on justification by faith alone numerous times.

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• But just for clarity's sake I want to just review just momentarily a definition of justification and give you a breakdown of that definition. The quote I'm going to give you is basically from the Westminster Confession 1643. You will find basically the same definition in the Old London Confession, the Philadelphia Baptist Confession, they're basically all the same. But listen carefully. If I were to ask you, what is justification by faith? Here's the answer.

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• "Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but solely or only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed unto them, and received by faith alone."

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• Now, let me just try to break this down for you. This is a very definitive definition. When you stop and think about this, justification is an act of God. First of all, there you have the author of justification. It is God and God alone. Secondly, the source of justification. Justification is an act of God's free grace. The source is the free grace. And the word free there does not simply mean it doesn't cost us anything. It simply means that there is nothing in us that merited or drew forth the grace of God. So the source is God's free grace. Then notice, if you would please, the essence of justification. That is that God pardons us and accepts us in Jesus Christ. That's the essence of it. Ground of justification: not for anything wrought in us or done by us, but only for the obedience and full satisfaction of Jesus Christ. The method of justification is imputation, and the instrument in justification is received by faith alone, or the means is by faith alone. So peace with God comes only through justification by faith alone.

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• So apart from justification, apart from that which the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us and in us and through us, there is no peace with God. There is no peace between God and man. There is no peace either on God's side or man's side, apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ. Because the Bible tells us, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men."

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• Now, you're going to ask, why is justification so important? Well, here's why. Because God cannot violate His law. He cannot lower His standard of justice. He cannot accept anyone except on the terms that He has laid out. There will be no exceptions. Someone says, "Well, I'll be safe somehow." No, you will not. You will either be saved according to the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ and His work, or you'll not be saved at all. "Well, I'll get in heaven somehow." No, you will not get in heaven somehow. There will be absolutely no exceptions. In other words, sin is oftentimes forgiven, but it is never overlooked. Sin has to be dealt with and it has to be dealt with in a biblical manner. Sin has to be paid for, the wages of sin is death. That's what the Bible says. And Jesus Christ came as our sacrifice and died in our stead.

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• Now stop and think about this. So many people tend to think that they will be the exception. If God spared not His only begotten Son when our sin was imputed upon Him, what makes you think that He's going to spare you when you've been a rebel against Him all of your life? Obviously, He will not. This is why I'm saying there cannot be any exceptions. So how does God justify a sinner?

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• Just like I answered earlier, He pardoneth all their sins, and accounteth their persons righteous in His sight, not for anything wrought by them or done in them, but solely, or only, completely, for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Jesus Christ, imputed unto them and received by faith alone. So in other words, on God's side, God pardons and God accepts us as righteous. Why? Because Jesus Christ became our surety, our substitute, our sacrifice, and our satisfaction. And God accepts us because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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• He does not accept us based upon our righteousness, for we have none. He does not accept us based upon our faith, for we had none until He gave us faith. And the reason He gave us faith was because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so the only way that God justifies anyone is because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, God the Father then has reconciled us to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaimed peace to us through Christ alone. All other forms of peace, all other kinds and types of peace are nothing more than mere delusions and false peace. The real biblical peace comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, on God's part, to establish peace, He forgives us and He accepts us based upon the personal work of Jesus Christ.

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• As convicted and converted and saved sinners, once God works in our hearts and our lives, we willingly, readily, and speedily throw down all of our weapons of warfare against Him. We turn from our sins. We turn from our rebellion. We turn from our fleshly desires. We turn from our stubborn wills and we submit ourselves unto Him. So in order for there to be peace, God moves here and God enables a sinner then to turn from their sins and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible says concerning those Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9, "...how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." So peace can be established because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you. If you will turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3 and look at verse 18. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. You see the truth of the matter is it is Jesus Christ alone that has brought us back unto the Father.

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• You will remember that when Adam sinned, Adam and Eve had hidden themselves in the garden. They ran from God. God asked him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I was afraid and I hid myself." A fallen man has been running from God and away from God ever since the fall. Jesus Christ came to bring us back to the Father. So in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18 the Bible says, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust," watch now, "that he might bring us to God."

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• "...being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." So Jesus Christ came to bring us back to the Father. We ran from God in the first Adam. We run back to God in the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's the person and work of Jesus Christ through which God justifies the ungodly. Let me give you two quotes. The first one is by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He said this, "None but God would ever have thought of justifying me.

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• I am a wonder to myself. I doubt not that grace is equally seen in others. Look at Saul of Tarsus, who foamed at the mouth against God's servants. Like a hungry wolf, he worried the lambs and the sheep right and left. And yet God struck him down on the road to Damascus and changed his heart and so fully justified him that ere long this man became the greatest preacher of justification by faith that ever lived." And then Roger Nicole said it like this, "Justification is that blessing whereby our sin has been expunged, that is done away with, in the work of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! Justification is that blessing whereby the righteousness of Christ is placed upon us, so that we appear in the presence of God clothed in it. Hallelujah! Justification is the redemptive blessing of God whereby through Jesus Christ we've been entitled to all the blessings that God has secured by his death and resurrection. Hallelujah, amen."

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• Now, I don't know if you noticed that or not, but he just gave three parts. He said, justification number one expunges or washes away, does away with our sins. Number two, justification gives us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And number three, justification secures all the blessings that Jesus Christ purchased through His work. So, no wonder he said, Hallelujah.

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• Now the Bible says, "...being justified we have peace with God." The Greek word for peace is the word eirene. It literally speaks of a state of tranquility, an exemption from rage, an exemption from warfare, and an absence of fear. Now notice if you would, "...being justified by faith, we have peace with God." Those who are justified by faith have real genuine peace. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. So here is the first characteristic of a real genuine saving peace, and that is those who are justified by faith are secure in their relationship with God the Father. They are secure in that relationship because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They stand solely upon Christ and His work. And since Jesus Christ has been accepted by the Father, all of those who are in Jesus Christ have also been accepted by the Father.

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• Now, let me point something out. I could ask this question. How do we know that Jesus Christ pleased, placated, and satisfied God the Father? And how do we know that Jesus Christ is fully and completely and totally accepted by the Father? Here's the answer. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 3, Acts chapter 3, and notice if you would please verses 14 and 15. You see the resurrection of Jesus Christ is attributed in the Bible not only to God the Father but to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But here particularly it is attributed to God the Father. So notice Acts chapter 3 and verse 14.

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• Peter says, "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses." So here is the answer. If God the Father was not completely totally satisfied with the person and work of Jesus Christ, He would have never raised Him from the dead. And if you will turn right over to the book of Romans chapter 1 and look again, please, at verses 3 and 4, notice what the Scripture says. Romans chapter 1 verses 3 and 4: "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." So our Lord's resurrection not only demonstrated that He was approved by God the Father, His work was accepted, it pointed Him out, it singled Him out as being the Son of God.

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• Now I want you to stop and think about the implication. If Jesus Christ pleased and placated and satisfied God the Father, and God the Father raised Him from the dead, that means all of those who are in Jesus Christ have now been accepted by God the Father as well. And His resurrection from the dead guarantees our resurrection from the dead. So if you will look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8 and look at verse 11. Romans 8 and verse 11. Here's what the Scripture says: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Did you get that? "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead," that is the Spirit of God the Father, "dwell in you, he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies." In other words, His resurrection guarantees our resurrection. The very fact that He was accepted by God means now, therefore, that we are accepted by God.

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• So we can be secure in our relationship. If you would turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 3. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. Look in 1 Peter 1 and verse 3. Look what the Scripture says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." So the living hope is this: just as God the Father raised Jesus Christ, He shall also raise us up from the dead. Skip down to verse 21. 1 Peter 1 verse 21: "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." What is he saying? Well, God raised up Jesus Christ from the dead. So our faith and our hope is in God who raised Jesus Christ, who's also going to raise us. So obviously.

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• We have now, according to Scripture, a living hope. We have peace. Since God raised up Jesus Christ and gave Him glory, He will do the same for everyone who is in Jesus Christ. So, our relationship with the Father is secure because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, let me say this again. Peace is the inevitable consequence of being justified by faith. I want you to note the Bible says this: "...being justified by faith, we have peace with God." It does not say being justified, we hope we have peace, or we think we have peace, or we're looking for peace. No, no, no, no. It says being justified by faith, we have peace with God. And he goes on to say in verse 2, we rejoice in it. So the first characteristic then of a real biblical peace is that we have an assurance that our relationship with God the Father is absolutely steadfast and secure, because it is based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. So I don't come to God the Father and say, "Now God, I've done this for

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• you, and I want you to do this for me." No, no, no, no. I want to come to God the Father and say, "I'm coming to you because of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, what He has accomplished." Because our relationship is not based on what we have done or what we're going to do. It's based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. OK, which brings me to a second implication or the second characteristic of a real biblical faith. Just as we are absolutely sure that our relationship with the Father is secure by the personal work of Jesus Christ, the second one is this: since we are now justified by faith, there is no fear of death. Now, not fearing death does not mean that we want to die. It just means that we're ready to die.

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• Someone sent me this week a little cartoon, and I could not help but laugh. It said, "I know I'm going to die. I'm not afraid to die. What I'm afraid of is that after I die, I'll vote Democratic." Well, you understand. But the truth of the matter is this. We are going to die. We know we're going to die. But for the child of God who's been justified by faith and has peace with God, there's no fear of death because we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. You know, I thought about this yesterday and I thought about it this morning as well. Now, I said we're not afraid to die. We don't necessarily want to die, but we're not afraid to die. But you know, I got to thinking, if we really knew as Christians what was on the other side, we might really want to die as well. But I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. You're in 1 Peter, so just turn back to Hebrews chapter 2.

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• And look, if you would please, at verses 14 and 15. Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15. This is in reference to Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2 verse 14: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

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• So, the child of God who has been justified by faith, who has peace with God, knows that his relationship with the Father is secure and therefore he is not afraid to die. We've been delivered from the fear of death. So we can talk about death and have no fear of it. This brings me to the third characteristic of biblical peace, how it differs from a false peace. The third characteristic of a biblical peace is that we now have an answer for our accuser.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12 and look at verses 9 and 10. Revelation 12 verses 9 and 10.

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• "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." So here is the accuser of the brethren. You remember how Satan accused Job before God. Finally, every time that Satan attacked Job and he held fast to his integrity, finally Satan came and said to God, "Yea, skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life. You let me touch his body and he'll curse you to your face." God said, "You may touch him, but you can't take his life." And of course, Job still held on to his integrity. The point being, here was Satan accusing Job before God, accusing him of being a hypocrite, accusing him of serving God for wealth and prosperity, accusing him of all kinds of things.

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• Not only is Satan our accuser, our own conscience is our accuser. You know, sometimes you're praying and your conscience will come up and say, "Yeah, why should God listen to you? I know what you did. And you remember what you did. You know, the thoughts in your heart, you know what you were thinking, you know, your desires, you know, you're a hypocrite." And your conscience condemns you because yes, you're a sinner. And yes, you've sinned against God. And, you know, it is true that God often forgives our sins, but we still remember them. God may not, but we do, and they come back to haunt us. Well, we have an answer for that. I want to quote a poem, which is actually a song, a hymn, written by John Newton. Remember John Newton was an old slave trader, drunkard, foul-mouthed rascal, wrote "Amazing Grace" when God saved him.

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• But he also wrote other hymns, and this one is "Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat." There are five stanzas to it. I want to really emphasize the last two, but listen to these stanzas. "Approach, my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer. There humbly fall before his feet, for none can perish there. Thy promise is my only plea. With this I venture nigh. Thou callest burdened souls to thee, and such, O Lord, am I."

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• "Bowed down beneath a load of sin, by Satan sorely pressed, by war without and fears within, I come to thee for rest." Now listen to these last two. "Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered by thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, and tell him thou hast died. O wondrous love to bleed and die, to bear the cross in shame, that guilty sinners such as I might plead thy gracious name." So when Satan accuses us, when our conscience condemns us, we say, "Yes. We did that. Yes, we sinned. Yes, we're wicked. Yes, we're vile. Yes, we were rebellious. But yes, Jesus Christ died and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Jesus Christ is my hiding place." So the answer to Satan and our conscience is that Jesus died, He paid the price, our sins are covered by His blood, and we're now clothed in His robe of righteousness.

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• When a man grasps and understands in some degree the doctrine of justification by faith alone, he not only knows his relationship with God the Father is secure, he has no fear of death, he can face his accuser and give a correct answer. Augustus Toplady wrote a hymn, "A Debtor to Mercy Alone." I'm just going to give you one stanza. I want you to listen: "A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing, nor fear with thy righteousness on my person an offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do.

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• My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view." So, what we must understand is this, that although we are sinners, and although we have sinned, we are sinners, and we will sin, not because we want to, because we fall short of God's glory. We are not perfect in this life. We will sin, but when God looks at those whom He has justified in Jesus Christ, He does not see us, He sees His Son, and His obedience, and His righteousness. Therefore we can say, "The terrors of law and of God with me have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view." God does not see them. He sees the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. Now I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to Philippians chapter 4 and then Colossians 3 and verse 15. So look in Philippians chapter 4, because now we're going to be talking momentarily about the peace of God. Philippians chapter 4, notice if you would please verse 7. Philippians 4 verse 7. The Apostle says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

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• shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." The peace of God. Once we have peace with God, we may experience the peace of God.

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• Now, I want to point something out. He says, "...the peace of God which passeth all understanding." I can give you an illustration of that. Can you understand how a man be tied to a stake, doused with a flammable liquid, with wood piled all around him, and sing while he's being burned to death? Or quote scriptures. Or pray. And yet martyrs did that over, and over, and over. Read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. And how some who went out to face the lions, to be torn limb from limb, would sing praise to God as the lions attacked them. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

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• I heard a preacher this week talking about Samuel Rutherford, who wrote Lex Rex, who was imprisoned for the faith's sake. And he wrote and talked about the blocks and the stones in his cell being like rubies and sapphires and diamonds. And he would write from my palace, Lord, he viewed his jail cell in that dungeon as a palace because he had the peace of God. And then if you look in Colossians 3 and verse 15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.

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• I want to give you just a couple of quotes. Matthew Poole said, "It is the peace of God, in that he is the object, the donor, and the author of it by his Spirit to those who persevere in the communion of Christ, as in Philippians 4:9, have the God of peace with them, and a sense thereof in their own spirits." In other words, he's saying we have the sense in our spirits of the peace of God. John Gill went on to say, "...by the peace of God is meant either the peace believers have with God, which is His gift and passes all understanding, and flows from a comfortable apprehension of interest in the blood of righteousness and atonement of Christ, or rather that peace which does or should subsist among the saints themselves, which God is the author of, calls for, and requires and encourages them in."

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• And John Calvin says basically the same exact thing. So, the interesting thing is this, in Colossians 3 and verse 15, when he says, "...let the peace of God rule in your hearts and minds," the word there literally means let the peace of God be an umpire. You know what an umpire does? He calls the shots. He calls the plays. He rules the game, so to speak. So, the Apostle is saying let the peace of God rule in your heart. The interesting thing: this actually is taken from a metaphor of someone who wins a race or wins a wrestling match. The word is "he has the crown." I could not help but think of this: if the peace of God is our umpire, and as long as we are obedient and doing that which is right and holy and godly, we're always going to come out the winner. Because the Holy Spirit and the peace of God, who are the umpire so to speak, are always going to rule according to the Word of God. With that in mind, look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14. This is why I'm saying if the peace of God is your umpire, you're always going to come out the winner. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14: "Now

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• thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." As long as the peace of God rules in our hearts and minds, we will always come out the winner, regardless of the circumstance, regardless of the situation. Now, let me make a couple of applications. I want you to think with me on everything that I've just shared with you. We cannot have peace unless it is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• It is through Him and Him alone. He is the only mediator. There are no other mediators. When He justifies us, we cast away our rebellion and our warfare against Him and we submit to Him as conquered rebels. We ask His forgiveness. We beg His pardon. We swear allegiance to Him as the only King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and God of gods. And we claim Him as our own. We lost everything in the first Adam, but we got back more than we ever lost in the last Adam. The only peace that exists that's real and genuine is the peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• The second application is this, and you need to muse upon this. It is this peace that delivers us from the fear of judgment, the fear of death, and the curses of the law. We can face eternity. We can face death. We can face judgment with confidence because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. "In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling." He is our answer.

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• The third one is this. His peace gives us tranquility under persecution, trials, afflictions, and temptations. His peace rules our hearts and leads us into obedience and teaches us further obedience as well. We're to be content and satisfied in every situation and every circumstance. Why? Because we understand Romans 8:28, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Real peace comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. So anyone who says, "I have peace," it must be through the Lord Jesus Christ, or it is a false peace. It must be based upon justification by faith, or it is a false peace. It must have assurance of a secured relationship with God the Father, or it's a false peace. It must have assurance that there is no fear of death, or it's a false peace. It must be able to face an accuser with the proper answer, or it's a false peace. Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is peace.

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• That's why He said, "My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." We rejoice in the peace of God. I would challenge you this day to think and meditate on Romans 5, verses 1 and 2. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Moreover, we rejoice. We stand in that faith and glory in that faith because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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• Father, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your help today. We pray, Lord, that you would teach us what real peace is. Help us to see and understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Help us, Father, to rejoice in all that you have done for us through Jesus Christ. May we see Him, stand in Him, rely upon Him, trust in Him, cling to Him, and claim Him and Him alone. And Father, we will give Thee the praise and the honor and the glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we ask and pray. Amen.

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• so so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T18:45:22Z