Christian Message Boards: THE PEACE OF GOD

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Posted by Found in Him (Member # 7596) on :

The Peace Of God
Grant Richison

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Prayer and peace go hand in hand. This is the blessed result of leaving everything in the hands of God by prayer.

AND THE PEACE OF GOD

"Peace" is harmony after the removal of all disturbing elements. The disturbing element in this context is the disagreement of Euodia and Syntyche. If a person enjoys rest and contentment, there is less likelihood that they will enter into conflict with others. If our harmony with God is foremost our harmony will people will follow.

"Of God" means that God is the source of this peace. It is the peace of God because he is the source of it. John 14:27. This is not the imputed peace of justification but the imparted peace of sanctification. This is not the peace with God but the peace of God. Peace with God is the result of casting our cares on him.

God gives unruffled calm within, an inner tranquillity. Prayer puts us at rest. This eliminates religious St. Vitas' Dance of the soul. We are able to sit down on the inside. We sit at ease in our soul. We no longer strain, pull and tug. When we leave something in the hands of God, we walk away from the situation in perfect peace.

WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING

The word "surpass" means to have above, over top, exceed or rise above. This transcends the faculty of the mind. It is not a mind distracted by hurts. It is a disciplined and discerning mind. The peace of God eclipses the mind as a preventative for worry. The mind is the seat of anxiety. Lack of peace of mind drives many to psychologists and psychiatrists. The peace of God surpasses every human device as a means of securing tranquillity of heart.

The phrase "passes all understanding" reminds me of Eph 3:19,20, "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." The love of Christ is so far beyond our capacity to take in that we cannot fathom it all. It is the same with the peace of God. The peace of God surpasses all understanding. It not only passes all understanding it also passes all misunderstanding as well. The peace of God is divine. That is why it defies all understanding. It is inexplicable and inscrutable.

"Understanding" is the seat of reflective consciousness. It comprises the faculties of knowing, perceiving, judging and determining. This peace will surpass all thinking power. It is humanly inexplicable. This peace surpasses human understanding. Psychology cannot explain this.

PRINCIPLE: Inner friction of soul often results in outer conflict with people. Keeping peace in our heart will keep peace in the church.

APPLICATION: The peace of God is a promise to the believer, not a prayer. What is eating at you today? It is not what you eat that kills you; it is what is eating at you. There is a direct correlation between our antagonism and our failure to pray by faith.

Our enemies are not people, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12). We can dismiss people as the ultimate problem right off. We fight a spiritual war. Only by placing the battle in God's hands by faith can we have inner peace.

WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS

The word "guard" is a military term. It means a mounted guard. This image was familiar to Philippians because the city was a military outpost of the Roman government. This word is used in II Cor. 11:32 of a garrison guarding a city, "In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me (Paul)." In I Pet. 1:5 this term in Philippians is used of God, "Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." God guards our salvation until we go to meet him in eternity.

The peace of God stands guard over our soul. God protects our hearts and minds from inner disturbance when we present anxieties to him in prayer. The sentinel of God's peace will stand mount guard over our hearts and thoughts.

The future tense here is the future of assured results. God's peace patrols before the heart's door like a sentinel defending it from assaults of temptation, anxiety, and bitter resentment. If we have the peace of God in our hearts and minds, we will not be full of anxious resentment. We will not enter into conflict with an Euodia or a Syntyche of our lives. We cannot live in conflict with others and possess the peace of God simultaneously. The peace of God and personality conflict cannot coexist.

The word "heart" is used in the Bible for the mainspring of moral and spiritual desire that determines the entire character. The peace of God will guard the whole person.

There are times we are anxious in our hearts and then there are times when we are anxious in our minds. The word "mind" is the product or result of thinking. If we focus our mind on the Lord, he will keep us in peace,

Isa. 26:3, "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You." (Isa 26:3).

THROUGH CHRIST JESUS

The word "through" should not translate as means but sphere--"in." Union with Christ is our sphere for peace. The more we appreciate our union with Christ the more we understand that God guards our hearts and minds.

PRINCIPLE: We cannot have the peace of God and antagonism toward someone else at the same time.

APPLICATION: God will guard our hearts against antagonism toward others if present our problems to him in prayer.