In this meditation the peace of God topic is viewed in 7 categories or headings.

         1---How many times the terms peace occurs in God’s Word

         2---Peace is part of the character, even the name of God

         3---Peace is one of the terms God uses to set forth the character, the meaning or content of salvation

         4---God’s peace is not the same thing as the peace the world seeks

         5---WHY God’s peaces is not the same thing as the peace the world seeks

         6---‘Sources’ of God’s peace

         7---The connection between God’s peace and the behavior of  believers

Now let’s look at the topic of this meditation—the ‘peace of God’ that God’s word speaks of.

Let’s begin with a small sample (17) of the many verses that show this constantly repeated theme:

In the New Testament the same blessing is a constantly repeated theme. 

In the New Testament the enormous scale of God’s salvation which was accomplished by an enormous savior is revealed in the following terms. Even in the presentation of the enormous scale of salvation the concept of peace is vital. Speaking of Christ the word of God says,

God’s peace is not a more spiritual form of the ‘peace’ the world understands and seeks. The difference between the two ‘peace’s’ is not that one is more enduring and or more inclusive than the other; the difference is greater than that. The difference is greater than that of night and day.

God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. Different peace’s? Yes. On an entirely different level. The words Jesus spoke to his disciples indicate this difference very clearly. 

• To repeat a previous quote from the apostle Paul: "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;" (Romans 8:6) The sinful man cannot experience the ‘peace of God'.

There is progression in God’s revelations to humankind the same way a ‘professor’ says more to his graduate students than to his children in kindergarten. In the Old Testament the concept of peace did not always have the spiritual and eternal emphasis or dimension as is clear in the New Testament. In Old Testament times the concept of ‘peace’ was most often related to life in this physical world.

What is the connection between the ‘progression’ in God’s revelations and the subject of this meditation: God’s peace? The connection is that the meaning or concept of God’s peace is no longer primarily identified with the absence of physical enemies or with the life in this world that (so far) has always ended in death.

In the Old Testament the enemies of God’s people frequently were physical enemies and salvation was most often pictured as deliverance from those enemies.

In the Old Testament even the illustrations of faith or its absence—frequently were drawn from occasions when the Israelites were not trying to achieve heavenly goals, but earthly ones such as victory over physical enemies.  

How ‘big’ is God? 

• "He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name." (Amos 4:13) The ‘peace’ of God is the peace of the One who did this. 
  

• "You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening." (Psalm 104:20-23) The ‘peace’ of God is the peace of the One who did this.
  

• "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5) The ‘peace’ of God is the peace of the One who did this.
  

• "This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name:" (Jeremiah 31:35)
  

• "God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:17-18)
  

• "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7) The ‘peace’ of God is the peace of the One who did this. God’s peace is totally different from    a  peace that is an absence of open hostilities.

• "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:6-11)
  

• "When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?" (Amos 3:6)

1 "Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

² "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

⁸ Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

¹⁶ Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out
to God and wander about for lack of food? (Job 38:1-41)

In the book of Job the Bible tells us that Job was a godly man (Job 1.1) but it also tells us towards the end of that same book which described the sufferings and tribulations Job experienced how Job’s view of God had grown as the result of his experiences--"My ears had heard of you (the Lord) but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:5-6) God is so big!

Listen to what the psalmist says about this ‘big’ God in Psalm 91.

¹ "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say of the LORD, ‘he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.’" (Psalm 91:1-16)

What peace are we talking about? God’s peace. The peace of the One who is greater than time, space, Life etc. But God’s word says, "With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please." (Jeremiah 27:5) Is this a lie?

• "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord." (Psalm 31:24)
  

• "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) "
  

• The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world." (1 Samuel 2:7-8) )

• "But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another." (Psalm 75:7)
  
  

• In the word of God are recorded the words of his faithful believers: "For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." (Psalm 5:12)
  
  

• "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." (1 Samuel 15:29)
  
  

• "He will bless those who fear the Lord— small and great alike." (Psalm 115:13)
  
  

• "But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." (Psalm 37:11)
  
  

• "All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace." (Isaiah 54:13
  
  

• God speaks: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you." (Isaiah 54:10)
  

Many descriptions of God in the Old Testament occur in passages in which the prophets contrast the false gods that many people in that day worshipped with the true God of Israel, the Creator of the world., saying, "But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. ‘Tell them this: `These (the false gods) gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' "  But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding." (Jeremiah 10:11-12)

What does the eternal God say? "It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts." (Isaiah 45:12)

• "He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment." (Hebrews 1:10-11) It is the one who can do all this that is the one who promises peace. It is his peace.
  

• "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14) It is his peace. 
  
  
  Job said to his wife who had just told him to ‘curse God and die’, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)  
  
  Believers of old spoke about God the Creator, saying, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:." (Psalm 8:3-6)
  Whose peace is being considered? It is the peace of the One who did all this. It is his peace.

What God is able to do and does is not limited by time. "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." (Jude 6)

In the book of Jude the writer speaks to believers about godless men who have secretly slipped in among the gathering of the believers, saying, "They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever." (Jude 13)

Even the death of the Christ which to 'the eye of flesh' seemed like an ‘end’ (and an unsuccessful end at that) was part of God’s ongoing purpose and plan. The death of Christ on the cross was not a ‘monkey wrench’ which interfered with what God had planned. The believers in the early church understood this truth. The Bible says so. After the apostles had returned from being cross examined by the religious leaders of the Jews the members of church in Jerusalem declared their faith, praising God and saying to God in their prayer, "They (the people who put the Christ on the cross) did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." (Acts 4:28)

The topic --the ‘sources’ of God’s peace’—covers much of what was considered under the preceding topic ‘WHY God’s peace is not the same thing as the peace the world seeks’. But it does so from a different angle—why being filled with the knowledge of God produces peace, assurance, confidence. It is no accident that the Bible makes a clear identification of knowing God and having eternal life. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3)

The certainty of God’s control. If God was not an all knowing and an all powerful being being (sic) in his ‘hands’ would be no guarantee of anything and there would be no absolute peace. What is more certain than God’s power, promises and plans. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, beyond the control of the eternal God. Knowing what truth could do more to produce ‘peace’? The apostle Paul’s description of the life and conduct of
Christian ministers reveals how great is this possession: "We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine,yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." (2 Corinthians 6:3-10)

• "God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged." (Hebrews 6:18)
  
  

• "The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." (Psalm 37:40)
  
  

• "But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:11)
  
  

• "The Christ accomplished our salvation, our redemption. "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace," (Ephesians 2:14-15) God's promises, God's peace are God's gift to both Jews and everybody else who believes. The part of God's word in which this truth was expressed was spoken to Gentiles (people whom the Jews considered outsiders to the promises of God)-- "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--  remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:11-13)  
  
  

• "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " (Hebrews 13:20-21) 

The present time is not the pivotal moment toward which all history has been moving.  God acts when the time is ‘right’. His plan is "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." (Ephesians 1:10)

What could be a greater ‘advertisement’ of the quality and benefit of believing the Gospel? Am I going to put a stumbling block in front of people by not exhibiting the peace of God that passes all understanding? (Isaiah 26:3; see also Romans 8:32-35) The apostle Paul wrote to believers in Corinth, saying, "So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." (1 Corinthians 3:21-23) What a statement! What statement of God could be a greater source of ‘peace’ than this?

• For the shaky Christian the apostle Paul wrote, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
  
  

• And this: "And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will," (Ephesians 1:9-11) What more inclusive statement regarding the extent of God’s everlasting ability to ‘overcome’ everything that we could imagine could the apostle Paul make than this?
  
  

• "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3; cf. Jude 1:24)

The eternal Almighty God’s control is not subject to death or the passing of ‘time’. The eternal Almighty God speaks: "This is what the LORD says--Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let him foretell l what will come." (Isaiah 44:6-7)

• "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" (Daniel 4:35)
  
  

• "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing." (Isaiah 40:15-17)
  
  

• "Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?" (Isaiah 43:13)
  
  

• "But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.…God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding." (Jeremiah 10:10, 12)

God’s knowledge is not limited to a moment in time or to the present. "I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass." (Isaiah 48:3)

• "Declare what is to be, present it— let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me." (Isaiah 45:21)

As God’s knowledge is not limited so God’s purposes, ‘goals’, plans are not limited to a moment in time or to the present. "But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:11)

• "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." (Isaiah 46:10)
  
  

• In the New Testament God’s promises are explicit. Jesus said about his people-- "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand." (John 10:28-29)
  
  

• "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" (Romans 8:35)
  
  

• "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Jesus’ own prayer to the Father in heaven spoken on the night of his betrayal point to the awesome ‘union’ that will exist in heaven between God and the individuals God redeemed from the power of Satan. In Jesus’ prayer he said to the Father, "I will remain in the world no longer, but they (Jesus’ disciples) are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.’ (John 17:11; see also 2 Peter 1:3-4)

• "I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
  
  

• "God has said, ‘never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ " (Hebrews 13:5-6);
  
  

• What a beautiful way that God says his concern for his people will never cease: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49:16)
  
  

• "Yet, before the twins (Jacob and Esau) were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she (their mother) was told, "The older will serve the younger." (Romans 9:11-12)

God’s purpose is not altered or defeated by what men or women do or do not do. "In him (in Christ) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-14) This is what believers are to keep in mind—our guaranteed inheritance. (1 Peter 1:3-5, 13)

• "Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath." (Hebrews 6:17)
  
  

• "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations ." (Psalm 33:8-11)
  
  

• "The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." (Psalm 135:6)
  
  

• "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff." (Isaiah 40:22-24)
  
  

• "Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing." (Isaiah 40:17)
  
  

• "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:39)
  
  

• "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Christians have every reason to be at peace, to have the eternal peace despite whatever is happening around them in this world. "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." (Psalm 115:3)

• "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;" (John 11:25)
  
  

• Listen to part of the prayer Jesus addressed to the Father in heaven--"For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him." (John 17:2)
  
  

• "For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;" (Psalm 37:28)
  
  

• "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore." (Psalm 125:2)
  
  

• "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
  
  

• "But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting." (Isaiah 45:17)
  
  

• "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)
  
  

• "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." (John 6:39)
  
  

• Jesus’ awesome words: For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
  
  

• "And this is what he promised us--even eternal life." (1 John 2:25)
  
  

• God’s word says to believers you "who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:5)
  
  

• "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—" (Jude 1:24)
  
  

• " ‘Because he loves me,’ says the LORD, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.’ " (Psalm 91:14-16)

What does God say about the ‘everlastingness’ of his feelings and purposes? "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49:15-16)

What does God say? "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." (Isaiah 45:22)

The promises of God are sure and not to be doubted. But that does not mean that nothing that the believer experiences as painful or distressing will ever happen to him in this world. Not at all. (John 16:33) Even worldly athletes say, ‘No pain, no gain.’ God’s word clearly teaches that afflictions, trials serve a purpose. They serve a purpose God has for his people. The Bible speaks of this truth this way, saying,

• "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:10-11)
  
  

• "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7)

While in this world there is still hatred, conflict, strife that is irrelevant to God’s peace or the goal of salvation. That is irrelevant to God’s promise of ‘peace’. ("I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

•  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
  
  

• "Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:26)
  
  

• "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

Where does the believers ‘peace’ come from? The true believer’s answer is clearly set forth in the hymns "I know whom I have believed" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross". The prophet Isaiah stated the God’s truth so clearly. Addressing God the prophet says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)

• "So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, `Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' (Hebrews 3:7-10)
  
  

• "So I declared on oath in my anger, `They shall never enter my rest.' See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." (Hebrews 3:11-14)
  
  

• "As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." (Hebrews 3:15-19)
  
  

• "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did notjcombine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, ‘So I declared on oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest." ' " (Hebrews 4:1-3)
  
  

• "And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.’ And again in the passage above he says, ‘They shall never enter my rest’." (Hebrews 4:3-5)
  
  

• "It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ " (Hebrews 4:6-7)
  
  

• "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:8-11)
  
  

• "Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’." (Hebrews 12:28)

Whether believers have the eyes of their hearts focused on God, on his character, on his power, on his promises makes all the difference. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah speaks to and about God, saying, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)

• "Psalm 15 A psalm of David.
  LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
  He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart
  and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman,
  who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
  who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
  He who does these things will never be shaken." (Psalm 15:1-5)
  
  

• "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 
  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1)

Nobody is the master of his fate. But be wise: "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you." (Job 22:21)

In the 48^th chapter of Isaiah God is addressing the Jewish people—the descendants of Abraham. (Luke 3:8-9;John 8:37-39) "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel-- but not in truth or righteousness—" (Isaiah 48:1) Might the Lord be saying this of a professing believer today like me or you?

"The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. ‘There is no peace,‘ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’ " (Isaiah 57:20-21)

Of course, for believers the ultimate peace comes from knowing that God has forgiven them their sins (Romans 6:23; Psalm 103:10-12) and it is this knowledge that makes them want to behave (internally and externally) in ways that please God. Conforming one’s behavior to God’s standards is not pleasing to God if it is not done with the motivation to please God—a motivation which, of course, cannot be present in unbelievers. (Hebrews 11:6; see also Romans 8:7-8)) 

Does not the apostle Paul speak for everyone who possesses and knows God’s peace when he says "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20)

• "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever." (1 Chronicles 28:9)
  
  

• "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." (Psalm 55:22)
  
  

• "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." (Psalm 119:165)
  
  

• The Lord speaks: "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea." (Isaiah 48:18)
  
  

• "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!" (Psalm 119:1-5)
  
  

• "Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time." (Deuteronomy 4:40)
  
  

• "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." (Luke 11:28)
  
  

• "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25)
  
  

• "The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:9-11)
  
  

• "Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 12:28)
  
  

• "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)
  
  

• "But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you." (Jeremiah 7:23)
  
  

• "From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, "Obey me." (Jeremiah 11:7)
  
  

• "I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them." (Jeremiah 32:39)
  
  

• "Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." (Psalm 78:7)
  
  

• "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." (Psalm 119:165)
  
  

• "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me (the apostle Paul), or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:9)
  
  

• "Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:11)
  
  

• "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:" (Psalm 37:4-5)
  
  

• "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:17)

Without faith there is no pleasing God. "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." (Romans 3:28; see also Hebrews 11:6) But can faith be present if there is no evidence of it? If there is no conformity to his commands, if there is no fruit or works is faith present? (James 2:17; Matthew 12:33-34)

• "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:10-12)
  
  

• "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)
  
  

• "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Romans 12:12)
  
  

• "When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." (Proverbs 16:7)
  
  

• "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3)
  
  

• "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." (2 Peter 3:14)
  
  

• "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:1-2)
  
  

• "Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." (Psalm 34:9) Behavior is not just physical activity. To fear God is a response to God; to fear God is a kind of ‘behavior’, an invisible kind.
  
  

• "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)
  
  

• What is the apostle Paul’s goal in this life? "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)
  
  

• "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." (Acts 9:31)

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." (Romans 14:19)

"Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:11)

The apostle Paul exhorts believers to follow his example: "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:9)

"Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." (Psalm 34:9) Behavior is not just physical activity. To fear God is a response to God; to fear God is a kind of ‘behavior’.

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:1-2)

The Lord’s awesome words: " I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me." (Jeremiah 32:39-40)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

 

 

The Peace of God is a gift of God. But it is also a truth to dwell upon. It is also a reality to wrap ourselves in as in a soft blanket. One clear way to do that is by drinking at God’s Well—His Word. Because of my constant exposure to his words do I exude peace? Because of your constant exposure to God’s promises do you exude God’s peace?

The word of God speaks many, many, times about peace. Who is the peace with? The almighty God who created the universe(s) of course. "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. " (Romans 5.1-2) Is this peace a great concern or value to me or to you? Do we think about it all the time and praise God for this mercy? (1 Peter 1:4-5) How often do we meditate on the awesome reality that it is the Creator of this universe who has not treated us--and does not treat us--according to our every iniquity of deed or thought which we have ‘committed’ since the day of our birth. (Psalm 103:10-12) The sins we have ‘committed’ includes both doing what God says not to do, and not doing what God says we should do. It is even more humbling to remember that every sin no matter how ‘small’ (in our eyes) deserves the death penalty. (Romans 6:23) You can no more count the sins you have ‘committed’ which the blood of Jesus paid for than you can count God’s mercies to you, or, even the simple task of counting the sands on the seashore!

What could be a greater ‘advertisement’ of the quality and current benefit of believing the Gospel than to be a walking example of the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, that peace which guards my heart and mind in Christ Jesus? What could be a greater witness?