The peace of God, John 14:27-31

The two biggest themes of the 60’s generation, aka, the hippie movement, were peace and love.  When you look at images from that era, whether they be concerts or sit ins, or protests, or whatever, you often see them holding signs professing their desire for both. In fact, it was trendy in those days to espouse both of those as ideals.  I remember very well as a young person holding up two fingers in a peace sign and saying “Peace, man,” in place of the usual hello and goodbyes. It was the thing to do. Young people drew peace signs everywhere.  It was a popular concept, but unfortunately, they had a much different type of peace in mind  than that which was traditionally thought of up until that point in society.

I have spoken many times in my messages concerning love, and the biblical view as opposed to the world’s view, particularly as expressed by that generation, but I have not said as much about peace.  However, today we find ourselves at a passage of scripture when Jesus Himself speaks of peace.  The peace which He offers though, He said is not as the world gives.  So once again, we see biblical principles co-opted by the world, and a need to define our terms according to sound doctrine in contrast to that of popular conceptions.

In the 60’s, peace came to mean a lot of things.  Peace came to mean a state of mind, like “a peaceful, easy feeling,” according to the Eagles, perhaps induced by drugs or dropping out of society and forming a commune.  But I would suggest that it’s origin as a mantra of the hippie movement stemmed from their desire to see the war in Vietnam come to an end.  And that ideal seems to still be most associated with the concept of peace in the world today.  For many in the world, peace is an ideal that is worth any cost, even the loss of many freedoms.  Many people just feel that peace, or the absence of war or hostilities or violence is an end that justifies any means necessary.

My goal here today is not to debate that kind of idealism, or the politics of appeasement in the name of peace.  But my goal is to explain what kind of peace Jesus was referring to.  Because it is important to note that Jesus is making a promise of peace. He is leaving them a promise of their inheritance.  He has said repeatedly that He was leaving the disciples.  He was speaking here in this passage on the night before His crucifixion.  This whole passage of several chapters is called the Upper Room Discourse.  And as the disciples begin to understand that He has been betrayed by one of their own, and that He is leaving them to go back to heaven, they are troubled.  They are understandably upset.  So He begins this chapter by saying, “Let not your heart be troubled.”  He offers them assurance and comfort that He will be with them in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  And that one day He will physically return for the church and they would be with them for ever.

Last week we looked specifically at the promise and purpose of the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus refers to Him as the Helper, or the Comforter. So today’s passage must be considered in that same context.  Jesus’s promise of peace is given in the context of “don’t let your hearts be troubled.”  It’s the context of “I will send you a Helper, I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you.”

So in that same train of thought, Jesus says, ““Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” It’s an echo of verse one, to some extent.  I would say that it is an extrapolation of verse one.  You should not be troubled in heart because Jesus leaves you peace, He gives you His peace.

So within that context we can be pretty certain that Jesus is not talking about the cessation or absence of war.  He is speaking of a peace of soul, of the heart, of the mind.  It is the peace spoken of in Philippians 4:7, which says, “And the peace  of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Now that is the peace that we all need, is it not?  That is the peace which Christ promises.  And yet I would suggest that is not the daily experience of most of us.

I believe that most doctors would agree that stress and anxiety are at the root of many of  our health problems today as a society.  And I can assure you that Christians are not exempt from it either.  I read an article the other day that claimed antidepressants showed up in significant, measurable amounts in most cities tap water in the United States. That gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “drinking the  koolaid,” doesn’t it? I don’t know what that means for the safety of our drinking water, but I will say that it indicates that our society is still trying to find some sort of peace through drugs.  So I believe that this promise of Christ is one that is especially pertinent today.  And it’s especially pertinent for Christians whose hearts are troubled by the trials and tribulations that we endure in this world.  That we might find the peace that Christ spoke of at the end of this Upper Room Discourse, in chapter  16:33, saying, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

So as we consider this vital text, I would like to break it down into four points, which hopefully will help us to see it in the light it was intended.  First let’s look at the principle of peace, then the promise of peace, then the possession of peace, and finally the practice of peace.

First the principle of peace.  And I deliberately use that phrase because it is sort of a play on words.  See, the principle of peace belongs to the Prince of Peace.  Jesus says, it is “My peace.”  It belongs to Him.   It is His to leave to us, and it is His to give.  It is His peace.  We just inherit it, if we are His disciples.

This title for Christ is found in the prophecy made familiar by Handle’s Messiah.  It finds it’s origin in Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness, From then on and forevermore.The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”  Now that is obviously referring to the Kingdom of God, of which Christ rules. In this present age we experience the Kingdom of God spiritually, but upon Christ’s return we shall see it in glory.  But for now, Christ rules over His people, through whom He rules the world.

But there is a rebellion against the Kingdom of God.  That rebellion began in ages past when Lucifer desired to be like God and took with him in his rebellion one third of the hosts of heaven.  And then Satan seduced God’s creation,  the crown of His creation - man who was made in the image of God, to be like God, who was to rule the world with God - Satan seduced mankind to join him in that rebellion, and so mankind fell and has become a slave of the kingdom of darkness, even willfully participating in that rebellion against God.  So that James 4:4 says, the world is an enemy of God.

Christ then is the Prince of Peace because He came to earth to reconcile mankind to God.  To make peace with God through His atonement for their sin.  Hebrews 2:14 says, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”  Christ defeated the power of death, and Satan, so that whosoever believes in Him, would be saved from their sin and be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of LIght, being born again as sons and daughter’s of God.

That transaction, where God places the punishment for our rebellion against Christ, and transfers Christ’s righteousness unto those who by faith believe in Him, is what Ephesians 6:15 calls the “gospel of peace.”

And that is how Christ can refer to it as His peace.  It is His gospel, it is His good news, it is His victory which produces that peace, it is His to give to those who by faith believe in Him, because He won it, He purchased it with His blood.  So because He purchased peace with God, we can have peace of mind.  I have made a statement for the last couple of weeks, and I will say it again this morning: The greatest comfort in life is to know God, and to be known by God.  Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker which says, “Know God, know Peace.  No God, no peace.”  Because we are His, and He is mine, I can have a peace that passes all understanding.  Because I know Him who knows the future.  I know Him who triumphed over Satan.  I know Him who stilled the storm, who raised the dead, who healed the sick.  I know Him who was from the beginning, and who always will be, even through eternity.

Now there is so much more that I could say, but let’s move on to the next point.  But that first point, the principle of peace is foundational.  All the rest build upon that rock.  So we had to establish our foundation for peace, which is the principle of peace, made possible by the Prince of Peace.

Secondly, there is the promise of peace.  Really, it is our inheritance.  This is in effect the last will and testament of Jesus Christ.  He who had no earthly goods, left us the most priceless treasure that no amount of money can buy.  He leaves us peace.  You know, a will is only a promise while the person is living, but when they die, the executor acts in accordance with the will and makes it so.  However, I’m sure you have all heard of cases where the people who were supposed to receive an inheritance ended up getting cheated out of the will of the deceased.  And in such cases, it is possible to hear someone say, “Oh if so and so were alive, he would have wanted this person to get the inheritance, and he would make sure that they did.”  But of course, the person is dead, and that sometimes doesn’t happen.  But we have an inheritance made sure, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead and lives and rules from heaven.  We can be sure of our inheritance because He lives to make intercession for us.

We are entitled to this promise because we are the children of God by faith in Christ. We are not of this world, as Jesus says His peace is not as the world gives.  But a peace from God. Rom 8:16, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Our promise then is not founded upon wishful thinking.  The world cries for “peace, peace, but there is no peace.”  But peace is promised in God’s word.  And His word cannot fail.  His word is forever settled in heaven.  HIs word is doubly guaranteed by the Father and by Jesus Christ, and He has given us the Spirit of God as a pledge of that promise, the same Spirit who is called the Comforter.  The very presence of God is our peace.  The Comforter is who Jesus was promising would come, who would testify of Him, who would indwell His disciples and be with them forever.  That is why He could say in vs.28, “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.  Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.”

We know that the promise is sure because we know that Jesus died and rose again and is now seated at the Father’s right hand.  Because God raised Him from the dead, we know that we have the things that He has promised us.  Because Christ was counted righteous, and His sacrifice was sufficient, and the penalty was paid in full, therefore God did not allow Him to stay dead, but raised Him to show that He had triumphed over the devil and sin and the grave.  That is why Jesus says in vs.30, “the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.”  His resurrection proved His words were true, and thus we can have the assurance that His promise to us of peace will be true. Thus, I am His and He is Mine, and nothing can touch us without His approval.

Thirdly, not just the promise but we have the possession of peace.  How do we go from the promise to the possession?  I would submit to you it is by the same principle found in all of our salvation.  The just shall live by faith.  It is by faith that we possess the promise of peace.  That is how we receive peace with God.  And that is how we will achieve peace of heart and mind.

The best example of having that kind of peace is found in the life of Jesus. What kind of peace did Jesus have? Did he have the peace of a placid, stress free existence? Did he have the peace of an emotionless, stoic kind of life? Well, no, he had  peace born out of the confidence that He was God’s Son. But if you look at our Lord’s experiences, his experiences were anything but emotionless or stressless. He was a man of griefs, of sorrows, of emotions like anger and heartache and feelings of rejection and unbelief. Often we have seen that Christ was troubled in spirit.  Yet in HIs troubles He had peace.

It’s interesting to note that at the very time that our Lord talks about peace and presents this peace as His own peace that He’s granting to His followers, He is at the most dramatic, disturbing, distressing moment in His life.  He is leaving the world in hours through the means of execution on a cross, and He knows that, and He knows the details of it full well.  And yet He is at peace.

Why?  Because He knows that He is in the will of God.  He knows that He is working in conjunction with the Spirit of God.  He believes in the sovereignty of God.  He believes in the Word of God which prophesied all that happened and would happen to Him.  He had peace because He knew that He was the Son of God and all that happened was working according to the plan of God.

But, you might protest, “that was Christ.  Christ was sinless.  I am not.  How can I have that same peace?”  Well, we can have that same peace when we abide in Christ.  That is what Jesus goes on to teach in the next chapter.  As we abide in Christ, specifically, as we walk in the Spirit of Christ, as we follow His leading, as we live by His teaching, we have peace knowing that we are in accordance with God’s will, and He hears us in whatsoever we ask of Him. Jesus was confident, at peace, in spite of the circumstances, because He knew that the devil had nothing on Him.  He had not given the devil a foothold in His life.  He had not lowered the armor of God to allow the devil an opportunity in any way.  He knew that He had been faithful to the word of God, that He was living in the will of God.  And that confidence is available to us as we abide in Christ.

Listen, you may not be able to say that today.  I think all of us will find ourselves from time to time compromised in our spiritual situation.  That is why we need our feet washed on a regular basis.  We need the daily cleansing and confession and restoration every day to maintain that peace with God.  Our possession of peace is tied to our perseverance in our faith.  That is why we are commanded to be sanctified, to be holy even as God is holy.  That is why James says we are to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts, so that we might have a clean conscience before God. That the devil will have no hold on us, no part in us. That is how we possess the promise of peace.

If God is the source of peace, then we need to draw near to God and He will draw near to us.  When you know that you are right with God, then you will know the peace of God.  You will know that peace which transcends our circumstances, without the fear that we are experiencing sin’s consequences.  There is a great difference between the two.  Those who are out of step with God and running after the lusts and passions of the world suffer the consequences of doing wrong.  And there is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord.  But those who walk in the Spirit, know the peace of God which transcends whatever circumstances that may come.

And that brings us to the final point, the practice of peace.  About 20 years ago, I found myself at a point where I had no peace.  I almost lost my mind.  I went through about 4 years of daily anxiety attacks which were absolutely crippling.  In the process, I lost my home which I had built with my own hands, I lost my career as a nationally recognized antique dealer and authority, and I lost all my money, furniture, and cars eventually.  During that time, God used those circumstances to prune away all those things which were keeping me from communion with Him.

I wanted nothing more in those days than peace.  I wanted mental peace.  And so I turned to the source of peace, the word of God.  But it wasn’t just as easy as name it and claim it. It was a long process of proving scripture to be true and trustworthy.  There was one passage of scripture in particular though that came to mean a lot to me, and through it I found the formula for peace.  We like formula’s, don’t we? “Three ways to prosperity.”  “Five ways to peace.” “Ten steps to marital reconciliation.”  Pastor’s obviously love them too.  But this passage really does seem to be a formula from God specifically to help us find this peace that Jesus promises.

It’s found in Philippians chapter 4, and I will read from vs.6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  Well, that sounds an awful lot like the first  verse of John 14, doesn’t it?  “Let not your heart be troubled.” And also vs. 13 and 14, when Jesus says, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Maybe there is a pattern here. Peace starts with prayer.

Then Paul says in vs.7 of Phil.4, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Well, that’s what Jesus promised in vs27, isn’t it?  That’s what we want, our hearts and minds at peace.  Notice that Paul says that peace is found in Christ Jesus.  But then Paul goes from the theological, to the practical, as he so often does in his epistles.  First he gives us the doctrine, and then he gives us the application.  And so he does in vs8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”  So the formula so far is pray, praise, and ponder.  Ponder means to think on these things.  Meditate on them.

So peace comes as we think on those things, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, worthy of praise, let your mind think on these things.  Listen, there is so much there that I could preach on that list for a week.  But let me just highlight one, briefly.  Our trouble is in our minds.  The mind is the battlefield, more often than not.  And where we get off track usually is in the first one on the list; truth.  Whatever is true.  We need to start practicing peace by telling ourselves the truth.  The devil is the father of lies.  And he has engineered the world system to be a system of lies.  So that the average person doesn’t or can’t tell the truth from a lie.  They want to believe the lie because it sounds so appealing to the flesh.  A person becomes a drug addict because they have bought into the lie that drugs are fun, that they won’t hurt you.  A person becomes an adulturer because they believe the lie that a little flirtation is harmless, or a little pornography isn’t such a big deal.  You get the picture.

I believed the lies of “what if’s” that constantly bombarded my mind during my anxiety attacks.  If I believed the lies, I was crippled and couldn’t work or travel.  But when I believed the promises of God, then I found deliverance.  So let your mind dwell on the truth.  And I can assure you that the truth is found in God’s word.  And all of Paul’s list can be found in God’s word.

Then Paul says in vs.9, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”   Practice what things?  The things which are taught in God’s word, the truth, the right things, the honorable things, the principles of sanctified Christianity.  Those things.  Practice the application of sound doctrine.  Practice those things.  Oh my!  Sounds like legalism doesn’t it?  You mean peace doesn’t come by just giving lip service to God but living like the devil?  No, I’m afraid not.  If you are truly a child of God, then He says He chastises those He loves when they disobey.  So instead practice righteousness.  Practice holiness. You say, well I’m not very good at it.  I sin a lot.  I can’t help it.  Well, Paul says practice some more.  It’s like learning to play the piano.  It takes practice.  And the more you practice, the better at it you will get.  Practice makes perfect.  And Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”  So practice what we learn by pondering God’s word and we will have perfect peace.


Heb.5:14 tells us, “that because of practice we have our senses trained to discern good and evil.”  Peter tells us in  2Peter 1:10, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.”  So we practice the things which Paul and Peter and John give us as applications of righteousness in their epistles. and when we do them, Paul says, the peace of God will be with you.”  “The peace that passes all comprehension.”

Listen, in this world you will have trouble.  If we get caught up in the lies of this world, we will not have peace.  But I can assure you that Jesus has left us His peace, it is a gift of God.  By faith in Christ we have peace with God.  And then practically we let our minds ponder on the truth of God, and we practice the doctrines of God, so that we might have our hearts and minds fixed by the peace which only God can give, in spite of whatever circumstances we might find ourselves in.  We know we are His, and He knows us.  That is the comfort which we can all appropriate through faith in Christ.

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”