A BELIEVER\u2019S PEACE<\/p>\n
Where does a believer find real and genuine peace? On what foundation can we rest and say in truth, “It is well with my soul?” I\u2019ll tell you; it lies in this, that we are justified by faith and not by works. Christ Jesus stood in my place before God. I was guilty with nothing to pay; doomed to hell, and Christ took my place. He died for me! How can I perish? How can I be punished for sins which have already been laid on Christ and for which He has already suffered? God demands of me that I keep His holy law perfectly. I cannot do it. But Christ has kept it for me. He kept it, magnified it, made it honorable in my flesh. What more can God demand of me? I am washed in the blood of Christ; I am risen and seated at His right hand in Christ. You may ask, “How is all this yours?” I reply, “By the grace of God, through the merits of Christ, revealed by the Spirit of God THROUGH FAITH!” God said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” I do believe, I sincerely believe in Christ; therefore, I have eternal life. Henry Mahan<\/p>\n
God Offers Peace – Man Declares War<\/strong> <\/strong>Joe Terrell<\/p>\n “I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalms 120:7) His call for peace was answered by shouts of war. He stretched out His hands; they raised their fists. He claimed to be the Son of God, and men took up stones to stone Him. He said that none could come to Him unless God had given the grace to do so, and many of His disciples no longer followed Him. He declared that God was free to pass by one and save another, and they took Him to the brow of hill that they might throw Him over. He claimed to be their king, and they shouted, \u201cCrucify Him!\u201d Hear our Lord\u2019s words as He echoes Psalm 120.7: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. (Matthew 23:37)<\/p>\n As Christ goes forth in gospel preaching, the result is much the same as when He was on the earth so long ago: men gnash their teeth at the gospel of peace. How does this Man of Peace affect you? Do His claims enrage you or bring peace to your heart? Does the fact that Son of God has come threaten you or fill you with the hope of God\u2019s salvation? Does the sovereignty of God\u2019s grace offend your pride or stir hope in you that even such a one as you might be saved? Does Christ\u2019s royal claim make you assert your right to choose and do as you wish, or does it make you bow before Him and find peace beneath the His scepter? Those who refuse the Man of Peace now shall find a Man of War in time to come. (Exodus 15.3; Isaiah 42.13; Revelation 19.11-16) “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalms 2:12)<\/p>\n WHAT IS\u00a0 PEACE \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Clay Curtis (extract from what are Grace and Peace)<\/p>\n 2 Peter 1: 2<\/strong>: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you\u2026<\/p>\n A. When God crosses a sinners path with the gospel of grace God reveals his righteousness in the face of Christ Jesus\u2014God begins to make us truly hear\u2014at first we have no peace.<\/p>\n God destroys every false refuge: a man will blame the preacher, the brethren, his dog and his cat.<\/p>\n When God shows the truth of his word, the truth of his law, it makes a lost man\u2014religious or otherwise\u2014to see that HE IS ALTOGETHER SIN.<\/p>\n \u00b7 His lewdness\u2014unrighteous<\/p>\n \u00b7 His decision he made in false religion\u2014unrighteous<\/p>\n \u00b7 The works he thought would commend him to God\u2014unrighteous<\/p>\n God makes him to see that all has only been the lust of his flesh. Sin becomes \u201cexceeding sinful\u201d. \u201cThe law worketh wrath\u201d. Wrath from heaven is revealed against all his unrighteous ungodliness. He looks fearfully into the judgment and fiery indignation of God towards him. And Grace always wins! The poor wretch begins to cry out, \u201cWoe is me, I am undone!\u201d; \u201cGod, be merciful to me, a sinner!\u201d<\/p>\n The Spirit of God takes the things of Christ, and shows them to him. The \u201cSun of righteousness\u201d arises with \u201chealing in his wings\u201d saying, \u201cSon, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee!\u201d Matthew 9:2. His heart is sprinkled and his evil conscience purged from the sin of all his dead and dreadful works\u2014he beholds the lie in his right hand and counts all his former confidence just dung. It is called repentance.<\/p>\n Grace flows and PEACE LIKE A RIVER FLOODS HIS SOUL. Peace with God\u2014<\/p>\n \u00b7 Peace of free justification by Christ\u2019s righteousness<\/p>\n \u00b7 Peace of full pardon and atonement by his blood and sacrifice<\/p>\n \u00b7 Peace of being reconciled to God<\/p>\n \u00b7 Peace that we are complete in Christ Jesus<\/p>\n \u00b7 No more warring against God, no more guilt, no more working for acceptance, no more condemnation<\/p>\n \u00b7 The peace of assurance by faith in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n Romans 5: 1: Therefore being justified, by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.<\/p>\n The Peace Christ gives AND the Peace Christ is\u2014is not the peace the world gives, nor is it given to his redeemed in the way the world tries to give peace.<\/p>\n John 14: 27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.<\/p>\n When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, How so?<\/p>\n My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! The Conclusion of the Whole Matter of Our Salvation<\/p>\n From the beginning, right now, and until we are finally with our God in glory the ultimate end of everything that God has and is doing towards, upon, and in his elect through Christ is:<\/p>\n Ephesians 1: 6:\u2026to the praise of the glory of his grace.<\/p>\n Every believer that has tasted of his grace rejoices that we are \u201csaved by grace\u201d and we say with Paul<\/p>\n 1 Corinthians 15: 10: By the grace of God I am what I am.<\/p>\n And this is all our peace!<\/p>\n Amen!<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Never Separated from God<\/strong><\/p>\n “And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” Yes, LORD, we believe it; we shall never die. Our soul may be separated from our body, and this is death of a kind; but our soul shall never be separated from God, which is the true death — the death which was threatened to sin — the death penalty which is the worst that can happen. We believe this most assuredly, for who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD? We are members of the Body of Christ; will Christ lose parts of His Body? We are married to Jesus; will He be bereaved and widowed? It is not possible. There is a life within us which is not capable of being divided from God: yea, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and how then can we die? Jesus, Himself, is our life, and therefore there is no dying for us, for He cannot die again. In Him we died unto sin once, and the capital sentence cannot a second time be executed. Now we live, and live forever. The reward of righteousness is life everlasting, and we have nothingless than the righteousness of God, and therefore can claim the very highest reward.<\/p>\n Living and believing, we believe that we shall live and enjoy. Wherefore we press forward with full assurance that our life is secure in our living Head.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Charles Spurgeon \u201cFaith\u2019s checkbook\u201d<\/p>\n Peace, peace!<\/p>\n (J. C. Philpot, from his ‘Reviews’)<\/p>\n They dress the wound of My people as though How Jeremiah testifies against those prophets There is no greater mark of false ministers given If we carefully read the book of Jeremiah, we shall If our eyes were fully open to see the effect of the false We would see hundreds of dead professors built up As Christ\u2019s righteousness is the only merit that can exalt us to the presence and to the kingdom of God; so that doctrine alone is to be considered as evangelical which depresses the righteousness of man, and exalts the righteousness of Christ: leading us to trust, not on what we do, but singly on what He has done and suffered for us. The business of the Law is to knock us down from the pedestal of self-confidence, and to grind us small; as Moses ground to powder, and dispersed the materials of the Israelitish idol. The business of Grace is to lift us from the dust, to settle us upon Christ the rock of ages, to put a new song of free salvation inourmouths.<\/p>\n Augustus Toplady<\/p>\n THE PEACE OF GOD There are three words, pregnant with precious and important meaning, commonly used by the apostles in their salutations and benedictions, GRACE, MERCY, and PEACE. These words include everything which man needs or can desire.<\/p>\n Peace is the legacy which Christ gave to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” And after his resurrection, the first time he met with his disciples when assembled together, he said, “Peace be unto you.” He gives peace not as the world gives. He is the PRINCE OF PEACE, and his gospel is the “gospel of peace.” It is called “the peace of God,” because he is its author. It is a sweet and gentle stream which flows from the fountain of life beneath his throne. Happy is he who has received this heavenly gift; it will, in the midst of external storms and troubles, preserve his mind in a tranquil state. It is independent of external circumstances. It is most exquisitely enjoyed in times of affliction and persecution. “In the world you shall have tribulation; but these things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.” It is a fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace.” It includes reconciliation with God. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”<\/p>\n Peace of conscience is a fruit of reconciliation with God. The blood which reconciles, when sprinkled on the conscience, produces a sweet peace which can be obtained in no other way. If the atonement of Christ satisfies the law which condemned us, and we are assured that this atonement is accepted for us, conscience, which before condemned, as being the echo of the law, is now pacified.<\/p>\n The peace of God also includes freedom from jarring, discordant passions of the mind. The wicked, however prosperous externally, can have no true peace within. Their ambition and pride and avarice, and love of ease and carnal indulgence, can never be harmonized. One may be the master-passion, but the others will arise and create disturbance and turmoil within.<\/p>\n The only passion which effectually harmonizes the discordant passions of human nature, is the love of God. Wherever this is introduced, it will not only be predominant, but bring all other desires into willing subjection. The peace of God is not a mere negative blessing, consisting in exemption from the misery of discord; it is a positive enjoyment of the purest, sweetest kind. It is a foretaste of the bliss of heaven. Nothing on earth is so delightful. It is therefore said to “pass understanding.” No one could have thought man’s miserable soul could possess such enjoyment in this world. But why is so little known of the peace of God–in the experience of professing Christians? I leave everyone to answer for himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A BELIEVER\u2019S PEACE Where does a believer find real and genuine peace? On what foundation can we rest and say in truth, “It is well with my soul?” I\u2019ll tell you; it lies in this, that we are justified by faith and not by works. Christ Jesus stood in my place before God. I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2397,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2395\/revisions\/2397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe may judge our hearts, and judge them accurately by this Scripture. When the Lord Jesus came into this world, he came as a man of peace. Jesus Christ, \u201c\u2026came and gospel-preached peace to you who were far away [that is, the Gentile] and peace to those who were near [that is, the Jew].” (Ephesians 2:17) If one carefully reads the words of the Lord Jesus, he will discover that everything he said was designed to bring peace between God and men. Even as He rebuked, His aim was not so much to wound as to correct men and bring them to repent, that is, to stop their warfare against God, and be at peace with Him. But most would have none of His word.<\/p>\n
\nWhen sorrows like sea billows roll;
\nWhatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
\nIt is well, it is well, with my soul.<\/p>\n
\nMy sin, not in part but the whole,
\nIs nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
\nPraise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!<\/p>\n
\n(John 11:26).<\/p>\n
\nit were not serious. “Peace, peace!” they say,
\nwhen there is no peace. Jeremiah 8:11<\/p>\n
\nwho prophesy smooth things\u2014who prophesy
\ndeceits\u2014who know not the way of the Lord,
\nnor have walked in His counsel.<\/p>\n
\nin the word of truth, than healing the wound of God’s
\npeople slightly, saying, “Peace, peace!” when there
\nis no peace.<\/p>\n
\nsee that the great sin and the chief deception of all
\nthe false prophets who sprang up in scores during the
\nperiod of his ministry, was to build up the people in a
\nfalse hope\u2014to assure them that they had no reason
\nto fear the judgments of God\u2014that the Lord would
\nnot execute against them what He threatened. They
\ntherefore hardened the people in sin and disobedience,
\nled them to trifle with and despise the judgments of God,
\nand built them up in a false confidence that, because they
\nwere the people of God by external profession, they were
\nHis also by regenerating grace.<\/p>\n
\nteaching of our day, we would see it equally dishonoring
\nto God\u2014and pregnant with equally awful consequences.<\/p>\n
\nwithout a foundation of repentance toward God. We
\nwould see sin made a little matter of\u2014the awful anger
\nof the Almighty against it, and His dreadful indignation
\nagainst transgressors passed by as a thing of little
\nimportance. We would see the strait and narrow path
\nwidened out in all directions\u2014and the distinguishing
\ntruths of the gospel beaten down and amalgamated
\nwith the grossest errors.<\/p>\n
\nby Archibald Alexander<\/p>\n