Wonderful Peace

John 14:27 says, “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.”

Satan would like to rob us of this peace. Spiritual warfare is real. I like the attitude of “Uncle Bud” Robinson in his famous prayer: “O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a sawlog and ribs like the sleepers under the church. Put iron shoes on my feet along with galvanized britches. Hang a wagon load of determination upon the gable end of my soul and help me to sign a contract to fight the devil as long as I’ve got a fist and to bite him as long as I’ve got a tooth and then gum him ’til I die. Amen.”

I want us to think for a moment of the peace Jesus gives—not from the battle, but in the battle. When Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you” it was after the Last Supper—after He had washed the disciples’ feet, after acknowledging Judas as the betrayer, after foretelling Peter’s denial and telling the disciples He was going to leave them. The garden, the judgments, the beatings, and the cross all loomed up before Him. He was not thinking about Himself but His disciples. So what kind of peace was Jesus leaving them?

First, He was giving them His peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 states, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” When the angels declared His birth they said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Satan is also a prince. Ephesians 2:2 says, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

Second, the peace He gave them became theirs. Matthew 5:9 states, “Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.” Jesus told His disciples in John 9:50 to “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” How does this happen? 

The Colt single-action revolver was made in 1872 to be used by the U.S. Army as a service revolver. It was known as the “peacemaker.” When the greatest commandment is love, how does this fit in with peacemaking by force? Like “Uncle Bud” we may need to fight the devil more seriously. 

Third, the peace Jesus gave them involved a sword. In Luke 22:36 Jesus said, “…he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” Again He said in Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” 

Lasting peace will never come on this earth until Jesus comes back and stands on the Mount of Olives and fights for Israel. Revelation 19 describes the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when Jesus will come on a white horse, with His white horse army, and cast the devil into the lake of fire. His sword will proceed out of His mouth. Holiness will reign with WONDERFUL PEACE!