Peace (2 Thess. 3:16A)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/12/2014 10:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                      Focus:  Peace

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Thess. 3:16A

            Message of the verse:  “16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.”

            Before we begin to study what is one of God’s attributes, peace, I want to quote what is an actual short review of 2 Thessalonians that is found in John MacArthur’s commentary on 2 Thessalonians.  “This brief letter has been filled with high drama.  Its three short chapters have described God’s retribution on the wicked rejecters of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their eternal destruction in hell (1:6-10).  It has discussed God’s judgment on the sinful world in the Day of the Lord (2:1-2).  It has also predicted the coming of the final Antichrist, the blasphemous abomination of desolation he will commit, and his ultimate destruction at the return of Jesus Christ (2:3-12).  It has warned of deceiving wolves in sheep’s clothing (2:2-3) and rebuked lazy Christians (3:6-15).  In short it has up to this point been a tempestuous letter.  But this concluding passage is like the calm sea after a violent storm.”  I suppose that peace being on of God’s attributes should be no surprise to me, and yet I do not remember studying about peace as an attribute of God in the books that I studied that spoke of God’s attributes.  We will take a brief look at this attribute in today’s SD.

            MacArthur calls peace as being “highly prized, yet elusive,” and I would hardly agree with that statement, for peace seems to be a difficult thing to maintain in my life, but hopefully after doing this short study on peace that I will be able to have peace that passes all understanding so it will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). 

            If one would think about peace and what a worldly definition would be they would miss the mark as far as what God’s definition would be, for one can have peace in the world’s definition by having a restful night’s sleep, or by doing drugs or drinking alcohol.  This surely is not a description of God’s peace.  I remember something that I heard about a very long time ago that has to do with God’s peace.  An artist was asked to paint a picture of “peace” and after he spent time in his work it was time for the painting to be revealed.  As the canvas came off of the painting it revealed a bird, a mother bird sitting on her nest with her baby birds under her.  The amazing thing was that the bird’s nest was situated in a tree branch over a raging waterfall, and left the audience wondering why the artist could call his painting “peace.”  This is the perfect description of peace.  John MacArthur writes “It (peace) is the deep, settled confidence that all is well between the soul and God because of His loving, sovereign control of one’s life both in time and eternity.  That calm assurance is based on 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 circumstances of life.”

            We will now look at an outline, with some descriptions of what the characteristics of peace are.

1.      Peace is divine, deriving from the Lord of peace Himself.  Just as when we look at some of the other characteristics or attributes of God we find that God is peace, and in this case He is the One who gives His children peace, for that is the only way we can receive it.  As we look at God’s peace we know that just as His other attributes it is perfect.  We know that God is never under stress, never worried, never anxious, never fearful, never unsure, or He is never threatened.  As we look at all of these “never” statements in the sentence above we know that the reason that we can say this is that because of His other attributes.  Now as we search the Scriptures we find out that the trinity, the Father, Son, and the Spirit all have the quality of peace for they are in essence One.  MacArthur writes “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.”

2.      “Divine peace is a gift from God.  It is His good pleasure to graciously grant it to those who belong to Him.”  Numbers 6:26 says “The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’”  In all of Paul’s letters we find that peace appears in the greetings of them, and not only his letters, but in Peter’s letters, 2^nd and third John, Jude, and also Revelation.  Now let it be known that God does not give His peace to unbelievers.  In his commentary John MacArthur quotes Puritan pastor Thomas Watson who writes:  “Peace flows from sanctification, but they being 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 is 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.” 

3.      “A third element of the divine peace that God gives to believers is that it is continually available.”  We may wonder if it is continually available why would Paul pray that the Thessalonian believers continually have peace.  MacArthur writes:  “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. 

a.       We will now look at reasons as to “How believer’s interrupted peace can be restored, and the first is by trusting God.  Let us look at Psalm 42:11 for an example for this:  “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”  The psalmist teaches us to hope in God. 

b.      The peace of God can be forfeited by sin.  1 John 1:8-10 says “8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  Here is another quote from Thomas Watson “If you would have peace, make war with sin.”

c.       “Third, peace may be restored by accepting God’s chastening as seen in Job 5:17-24.   “17 "Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 18 “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal. 19 “From six troubles He will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you. 20 “In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword. 21 “You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes. 22 “You will laugh at violence and famine, And you will not be afraid of wild beasts. 23 "For you will be in league with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. 24 “You will know that your tent is secure, For you will visit your abode and fear no loss.”  I also think that what we find in Hebrews chapter twelve goes well with this point:  “"My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not son (NKJV).”

d.      “Fourth, peace may be restored by walking in the Spirit, since peace is an element of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).”

e.       “Fifth, peace may be restored by loving God from the heart and avoiding legalism.”

f.        “Sixth, those whose peace has been interrupted need to pray that the God of peace and the Prince of Peace will restore it.”

4.      “A fourth element of the divine peace that God continually gives the redeemed is that ‘it exists in every circumstance.’”  As we are learning more about God’s peace we have to notice that the peace that He has, that He gives to us is for every circumstance that we will face in our lives.  As we look back to the picture that the artist painted in which he called peace, we can see that the mother bird was completely at peace even though the waters were ragging around her, and not only her but her little birds she was caring for. 

MacArthur finishes this section with the following words: “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.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can praise the Lord for what I have learned from this short section that is found in 2 Thessalonians, for there were some things in this section that not only taught me some new truths, but also reminded me of truths that I had forgotten.  God’s timing is always perfect.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “If you would have peace, make war with sin.”

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, but the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In Tarsus” (Acts 22:3).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who were Noah’s sons?”

Answer in our next SD.   12/12/2014 12:59 PM