Like a river

Paul lays out two vital things that every person is desperate for and it’s two of the great heritages of the Believer. These are two things you have no matter what the circumstances because they didn’t come from circumstances. They aren’t earth-born blessings. They came from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Where’s God the Father at? In heaven. Where’s the Lord Jesus Christ? He’s in exile in heaven. That’s where these things come from; they descend from the Father. They come to you through Jesus Christ, explains Richard Jordan.

By the way, every place in the Scripture that I know of, they’re always in this order. It’s always grace, and then peace. You never see peace and then grace. Grace is the source; peace is the effect of the source.

Grace is all God’s power, love and wisdom that’s available to us. It wraps up all that God is and all that God offers to us. Grace is God at work on our behalf and in our lives.

Peace is simply peace from anxiety; freedom from fear, from worry. When we studied Philippians 4, I tried to show you that peace is that relaxed mental attitude that comes into your life. That tranquility that comes into your soul simply by resting in an intelligent understanding of God’s grace to you in Christ.

Peace is that sense of security; that sense of trust. I just can’t get over the sense of rest; how wonderful it is to be able to rest in God’s grace.

Paul says, “Grace be to you and peace.” Here’s the ultimate thing you’re going to get out of what Paul teaches you. “Grace be to you and peace from God our father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Jesus Christ in John 14:

 [25] These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
[26] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
[27] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Christ says, "I’m gonna be gone.” He knows He’s going to die the next day, then be raised up and spend only 40 days with them before going away, but He’s going to send the Holy Spirit. He’s in essence turning them over to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And He says, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you.”

That expression “my peace”-- Paul uses a wonderful phrase: “The peace of God,” and that’s what that verse is talking about. Peace is that relaxed mental attitude of faith. It’s that inner-man tranquility that results from a total dependence on the will and the Word of the Father. That’s exactly what Christ is doing here.

Watch how it happens. Verse 28: ‘Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.’

So that everybody understands that “I’m totally committed to doing what the Father says to do because I love Him.” He already told them, “If you love me keep my commandments.” I’m living in complete total dependence on the will of my Father, is what He’s saying. Paul has a great phrase for that—he calls it “the faith of Christ.”

He entered into a plan and an agreement with His Father that that’s what He would do and said, “Now my peace I leave you.” He’s completely at peace. He has complete inner tranquility even though He knows the agony He’s going to face.

In fact, when He says in verse 30 and then 31, He’s saying in the vernacular of our day, “Let’s git-er done . . . Let’s get on with it!” The Adversary the prince of this world has come to fulfill the conflict of Gen 3:15 where the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan will be in personal hand-to-hand combat. That day has arrived, so let’s go!

Because He’s got nothing . . . there’s “no weakness in me at all. I’m ready to go.”

He knows about what the Scripture says is going to happen to Him and yet He doesn’t hold back. In Hebrews 12 He says, “Who for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame.” He had in His mind an understanding of what God had promised Him and believed it and trusted it confidently. There’s no rebellion, no hesitation; He has that complete inner tranquility.

When Paul talks in Philippians 4:7 about the “peace of God,” that’s the peace that BELONGS to God. In Romans 5, he talks about “being justified by faith we have peace WITH God.” That’s us and God; there’s not an argument between us anymore. God is no longer against me. There’s a cessation of hostility. No cause for God to be angry with me anymore.

But the peace OF God is something different than that. That’s the peace that God Himself has. God is at peace with His own will. He’s at peace with His own plans. He’s at peace with His own word. And God’s peace; that total tranquility and inner calmness over what He’s doing, He takes that and gives it to me when I trust Him. And I can live, and Jesus lived, in complete dependence on His Father’s will and that gave Him that inner man tranquility that results from that total dependence.

By the way, when he talks about the peace WITH God and the peace OF God, Melchizedek was the king of righteousness and the king of peace. Righteousness is first, peace is second. Because peace can only be based on righteousness; things have to righteously be dealt with. So you have peace with God where the righteousness of God is satisfied; then you can have the peace OF God.

James 3:17 tells Israel, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” First you have the righteousness, then you have the peace.

Isaiah 32:15 (“Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest”) talks about the work of righteousness is peace. Righteousness has to do with being right. God’s word is right and I’m in relationship with it and the peace comes out of His righteousness.

Verse 27 is a great illustration of the peace of God. Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. Here’s God living in our humanity and He has complete and total peace—inner tranquility, inner calmness, a relaxed mental attitude in his heart that results in that faith, that total dependence on the Word of His Father.

Verse 28. Ye have heard, and By the way, that’s how you don’t let your heart be troubled. You know, most trouble comes from fear. There are really two fundamental emotions that we deal with in all of life—one is love (drawing us toward things) and one is fear (pushing us away).

If you take a list, for example, I Timothy 3 where Paul talks about if a man desires the office of a bishop and he gives you a long list of characteristics that this what a mature godly saint’s life would look like. When he does that, he identifies for a man a lot of the issues you’re going to have to deal with and have straight in your life.

I took those things one time and listed them out and began to try to put them into categories and you know more things in that list in I Timothy 3 about what a man has to face and deal with to become a mature godly Christian man, the one category that had more things under it than any other was the issue of anger!

Kind of shocked me. I studied that 2-3 times to see if I got it right. Men especially have to deal with the issue of anger and the reason for that I suppose is only by pride comes contention. And men have that issue.

But when you study anger what you discover is almost always anger is a
disguise for fear. Because you get angry and when you get down to the bottom of where did the anger come from, it’s because you’re afraid of something either to lose or going to happen. Fear is a debilitating thing.

In this context, the fear of men kept people from trusting and believing even when they saw the truth of God’s word by seeing the Messiah in their midst.

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” What does your heart do? With a heart man believes. “Neither be afraid.” Without having that turmoil down inside just have the ability to, “Ahhh,” let it hang out. Relax inside. Relax in the truth of God’s Word about who Jesus Christ is and what He’s accomplished.

Why should you trust it? Look at me; I’m trusting it. Verse 28. You heard it. You heard me tell you. You know why you ought to have your heart trust me and not be afraid? Because you’ve heard my word. The path to peace is dependence on God’s Word. It’s to trust in what God has said to you. “If you love me you would rejoice because I said I go to my Father. Now why is He going to go to the Father?”

He’s going away to receive the kingdom. Remember the parallel in Luke 19? The passage in Daniel 7 where the son of man comes before the ancient of days to receive the kingdom and the power and the dominion? He goes there to receive the kingdom and to return.

Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.” This is a truth that Paul followers should be very clear about and should rejoice in. Paul goes on, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
[7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
[8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

He made himself of no reputation. Who did that to Him? He did it to Himself. Voluntarily He took up a position and took upon him the form of a servant. Though He’s equal with the Father He chooses to function in relationship to the Father as a servant. Did He have to? No. He willingly chose to.

The next verse says, “He humbled Himself and became obedient.” What does a servant do? He does what his master, his lord, tells him to do. So when Jesus Christ says ‘the Father is great than I’ it’s in relationship to Him coming as a servant.

What He’s doing is owning His place as a servant. Verse 31: “I’m going to go do the commandments of my father” and he’s magnifying the one who sent Him: “I’m doing the will of my Father.”

Now that Jehovah was going to send a son to be a servant is in Isaiah 42:1, which looks forward to the Messiah coming: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”

There’s God the Father describing the coming Messiah. He said it there at the baptism: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” I’ve put my Spirit upon Him. That’s how John is told in John 1: “You’ll know who He is because you’ll see the Spirit descending on Him. He’ll come and fulfill that passage.”

He’s going to enable the nation Israel to be exactly the channel of blessing God chose them to be. A blessing to the nations. Verse 6: “I Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and keep thee and give thee for a covenant of people.”

You know where Israel’s going to get her covenant? It’s going to be in Christ. That’s why in John 15 He’s going to say, “I am the vine.” It’s only Israel in Christ. He’s going to make the covenant that allows them to be who God has chosen them to be; enables them to be that. He’s the servant.