Lesson #71 Jesus Gives Real Peace John 14:27-31 Presented Live on May 27, 2018 I. Introduction and review A. We have seen the first part of Jesus answer to Judas as to why He does not intend to reveal Himself to the world 1. Jesus will be revealed by His church 2. And His church will be enabled to do that by the Holy Spirit B. In addition to that, the Holy Spirit will be there to teach the disciples and empower them to write the New Testament II. Now Jesus turns in a different direction a direction that leads to peace A. John 14:27 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. 1. Questions we should ask: a. Why does Christ say that He is going to leave peace with us and then He is going to give us peace? b. How is the peace that Jesus gives different than the peace the world gives? c. How does one give you this kind of peace? d. How do we acquire this peace? e. Is that acquisition process similar to the nation of Israel s process of acquiring the land that God promised to give them? f. Why would Jesus tell them not to let their hearts be troubled? 2. Why does Christ say that He is going to leave peace with us and then He is going to give us peace? a. The words He uses: Page 1 of 8
(1) Leave avfi,hmi aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee} Meaning: 1) to send away 2) yield up, to let go, let alone, 3) to go away leaving something behind, to leave so that what is left may remain, leave remaining (2) Give di,dwmi didomi {did'-o-mee} Meaning: 1) to give 2) of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage b. Jesus says it this way, because he bestows two different type of peace upon us (1) First there is positional peace, that is the peace He leaves us, much like a bequest or devise (a) That is peace with God as a result of our salvation (b) Prior to our justification, we were at war with God (c) (d) (e) (f) We were enemies of the Most High Consider: Romans 5:9-10 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, And Ephesians 6:15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; c. Secondly, the Lord gives to us experiential peace (1) A peace that is inward and driven by God (2) A peace demonstrated by Jesus throughout His life 3. How is the peace that Jesus gives different than the peace the world gives? a. First remember that we now speak of the peace that Jesus gives us, not that He leaves to us b. This peace that Jesus promises is an inward peace c. Peace eivrh,nh eirene {I-ray'-nay} (1) Meaning: 5) the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is 6) the blessed state of Page 2 of 8
devout and upright men after death (2) We get the English word eirenic or irenic from this word (3) Irenic tending to promote peace or reconciliation; peaceful or conciliatory d. Consider for example, the concept of happiness and joy (1) Happiness is what the world seeks or at least all that they can really attain (2) Happiness depends on the happenings (3) If the happenings are good, one can be said to be happy (4) If the happenings are bad, one would be relegated to unhappiness (5) Joy, on the other hand, is not based on externals but is instead internal in its origin (6) God s joy, which He gives to us, does not depend on one s circumstances but on the presence of one s Lord and Savior and His Holy Spirit e. The peace that God gives to us works the same way, it is internal in origin and therefore not controlled by outward events f. Consider: Matt. 8:23-27 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, Save us, Lord; we are perishing! 26 He said to them, Why are you afraid, you men of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him? g. Does the description of the storm describe your life at times? h. Do you face the storm as Jesus did or as the disciples did? i. You can face storms the same way that Jesus did j. You may respond that if you had advance warning about the storm you might have been able to handle it differently k. Well you rarely get advanced warning 4. How does one give you this kind of peace? a. This gift is part of what the Holy Spirit who indwells us brings into our lives Page 3 of 8
b. Consider: Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.... (1) Fruit karpo,j karpos {kar-pos'} Meaning: 1) fruit 2) that which originates or comes from something, an effect c. God supplies us with this inward peace that then manifests itself in our out responses to storms d. This peace is so different from that which the world knows that it is not fully comprehendible to us e. Consider: Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. f. But those who have experienced this peace, know that they may not be able to fully understand it, they do know that it is very real 5. How do we acquire this peace? a. Philippians 4:9 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. b. Consider Philippians 4:9 in conjuncture with John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him. c. Part of that disclosure is to know experientially that peace which He gives to us 6. Is that acquisition process similar to the nation of Israel s process of acquiring the land that God promised to give them? a. When God s people went into the promised land, the land God had promised to give them, did they have to fight or struggle to obtain it b. Was God there to empower their struggle c. In fact, was not the struggle what made the land so special and significant to them d. Next week we will speak more fully on fruit production by the believer 7. Why would Jesus tell them not to let their hearts be troubled? a. The words He uses: (1) Troubled tara,ssw tarasso {tar-as'-so} Meaning: 1) to agitate, trouble (a thing, by the Page 4 of 8
movement of its parts to and fro) 1a) to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity 1b) to disquiet, (2) Fear deilia,w deiliao {di-lee-ah'-o} (a) Meaning: 1) to be timid, fearful (b) Origin: from deili,a deilia {di-lee'-ah} Meaning: timidity, fearfulness, cowardice b. Consider for a moment these two English words: fear and timidity (1) The natural reaction of a human when timidity strikes is to do nothing (2) the natural reaction of a human to fear is to run or hide c. The peace that Jesus gives to us will enable us to do neither (1) When we want to be timid, we will stand up and speak (2) When we want to run, hide or panic, we will instead recognize that our God is in control of all things and proceed with what He has instructed us to do (3) A personal example B. John 14:28 "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. 1. Questions we should ask: a. What event is Jesus speaking of that He is going away and then returning? b. Why should we rejoice? c. What does Jesus mean that the Father is greater then He is? 2. What event is Jesus speaking of that He is going away and then returning? a. Jesus is speaking about His ascension and then the coming of the Holy Spirit b. We have already learned how when the Holy Spirit indwells us, Christ Jesus is living in us also (see Gal. 2:20) 3. Why should we rejoice? a. He is going to the Father b. That is a time of rejoicing, one day we will learn that fact experientially c. He is also going to be restored to his rightful place in the universe being coequal with God the Father 4. What does Jesus mean that the Father is greater then He Page 5 of 8
is? a. There are many cultists and purveyors of heresy which love to quote this verse, one of them would be Jehovah s Witnesses b. They believe that Jesus is inferior to God and even a created being c. This passage does not say that Jesus is inferior to the Father in either essence or nature, but in His role or position at the time when He is speaking d. Consider first what Jesus has said about Himself just in this gospel (1) John 10:30 I and the Father are one. (2) John 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; e. Or Philippians 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (1) Grasped: a`rpagmo,j harpagmos {har-pag-mos'} Meaning: a thing to be seized upon or to be held fast, retained C. John 14:29 Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 1. Why is Jesus doing this? 2. Although the disciples have believed in Him their faith is weak 3. Jesus wants to strengthen their faith 4. So He makes these short term predictions so that so that when they become fact, the faith of His disciples is sure to grow D. John 14:30-31 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; 31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here. 1. Who is the ruler of this world? 2. How is He coming? a. He is coming in the person of Judas Iscariot b. He is now the son of perdition [John 17:12] c. Consider first: John 13:2 During supper, the devil Page 6 of 8
III. having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, d. And then: John 13:27 After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." 3. Consider John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. 4. I believe that Jesus is having His disciples prepare to leave in verse 31, that is stand up and not recline at the table any longer [John 13:23-24] Final considerations A. In order to understand how to appropriate these principles we need to examine our focus 1. When are doing anything other than sleeping, we are focusing on one of the five potential parts of our life a. They are all real and cannot be ignored b. The first area on which we tend to focus is our self (1) When our world revolves around self, we become conceited and self-centered (2) But eventually we become discouraged (3) We tend to see life and the world we live in as we see ourselves (4) When things happen or circumstances go awry, we tend to believe it is due to our own goodness and bad natures c. The second such perspective of focus is circumstances (1) The easiest way to be overwhelmed is to focus on your circumstances (2) People who focus on circumstances tend to think they can do nothing to change their world and the forces that propel it (3) As a result they tend to feel either helpless or victimized d. A third area of focus is possessions (1) Sometimes we substitute the acquisition and maintenance of things for what really satisfies (2) We feel at times that relationships with things are much easier to manage and less anxiety producing (3) We are then driven to fill our lives with things, none of which really satisfy e. A fourth area of focus is people (1) We need people, God made us that way Page 7 of 8
(2) Relationships are prime candidates for idolatry (3) We allow the voices or desires of those around us to overshadow the Truth (4) As a result, the internal prompting of the Holy Spirit is often ignored (5) As this focus grows we become engulfed in a storm of other peoples opinions and recommendations f. The final area of focus is on our Lord and Master (1) He is sovereign over self, circumstances, possessions and people (2) When those areas are subordinated to Him, our life comes into balance (3) And we see our lives as we ought; (4) Circumstances are seen as tools for God to use in our lives; (5) Possession are relied on for fulfilment but are instead seen as blessings from above; and (6) People become joint heirs with us before our God 2. How do we accomplish that: a. Acknowledge our source of power b. Begin and end each day with prayer c. Correct any habits of doubt, pessimism or anxiety d. And devote yourself to radical obedience www.believersbibleclass.com and/or www.believersbibleclass.podbean.com 2018 Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 8 of 8