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The Way of Peace - March 2025
Vol. CVII Number 1 March 2025.
Contents
THE WAY OF PEACE
PEACE
By Thomas Watson
EDITOR’S LETTER
A TESTIMONY OF PEACE
By Mrs Jessie Penn-Lewis
THE PRINCE OF PEACE
By Gordon B Watt
THE CROSS
By David Hamshire
THE WAY OF PEACE, WALKED IN THE POWER OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT
By Dr Marion Ashton
PEACE PERFECT PEACE
By J C Metcalfe
“So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it
The Lord is Peace”
(Judges 6 v24)
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PEACE
By Thomas Watson
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1 v2).
What are the types of peace?
Firstly, there is external peace, which is peace in a family.
Secondly, political peace in the state. “He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat” (Psalm 147 v14). How pleasant it is when we see peace.
Thirdly, peace in the Church. As unity in the Trinity is the greatest mystery in heaven, unity in truth is the greatest mercy on earth. Church peace stands as the opposite to division and persecution.
Fourthly, a spiritual peace, which is twofold, peace with God and peace within us. Other peace may be lasting, but this is everlasting.
Where does this peace come from?
God the Father is “the God of peace” (1 Thessalonians 5 v23).
God the Son is the “Prince of peace” (Isaiah 9 v6). The Lord Jesus Christ is the purchaser of peace. He made peace by His blood. “By making peace through His blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1 v20). Christ purchased our peace, for His soul was in agony, while He was labouring to bring peace to the world.
Peace is the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5 v22). The Holy Spirit places peace in the human conscience. He enables our conscience to understand the real work of grace, and so peace flows into the soul. Therefore, peace comes when the Father decrees it, the Son purchases it and the Holy Spirit applies it.
How will we know that we have true peace?
True peace flows from union with Christ. So we must first be joined to Christ before we can receive peace from Him. By holiness we are made like Christ, by believing we are made one with Christ, and being in Christ we have 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 v33).
True peace flows from submission to Christ. He gives peace and sets up His government in the heart. “Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9 v7). Christ is called, “a priest on His throne” (Zechariah 6 v13). Christ as a priest makes peace, but He will be a priest upon His throne, and He brings the heart into submission to Him. If Christ be our peace, He is our Prince (Isaiah 9 v6).
True peace is after trouble. Many say they have peace, but is this peace before a storm or after it? True peace is after trouble. “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper" (1 Kings 19 v12). God pours the golden oil of peace into broken hearts.
What do we need to do to get this blessed peace?
Let us ask for it from God. He is the God of peace and He stills the raging soul. As the desert cannot water itself, but remains dry and parched until the clouds drop their moisture, so our hearts cannot have peace until He gives it to us by His Spirit. Therefore pray, “Lord you are the God of peace, create peace. You are the Prince of Peace, command it. Give me that peace.”
If you want peace, make war with sin. “When Joram saw Jehu he asked, ‘Have you come in peace, Jehu?’ ‘How can there be peace,’ Jehu replied, ‘as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?’” (2 Kings 9 v22). There is no peace when sin remains. If you want peace with God, break the covenant with sin. He has promised us victory, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6 v14).
Go to Christ’s blood for peace. Some go to get their peace from their own righteousness, not Christ’s. They go for peace to their holy life, not Christ’s death. If your conscience is troubled, don’t try to make it quiet by duties. This is not the right way to peace. Duties must not be neglected, but not idolised. Look to the sprinkled blood (Hebrews 12 v24).
Walk closely with God. Peace flows from purity. “Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule” (Galatians 6 v16). God’s Spirit is a cleanser as well as a comforter.
From ‘A Body of Divinity’.
THE EDITOR’S LETTER.
Dear Friends,
The theme of this edition is “The Way of Peace”. Our Lord Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross of Calvary shalom, that is in Hebrew “the peace and prosperity of the soul”. It is both peace with our Creator, knowing that our sins have been forgiven, and it is rest to our soul, knowing that we have a relationship with our God and a home in Heaven. Our articles in this issue are primarily on the subject of Biblical peace, with one article about the Cross.
In Christ,
Mark
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A TESTIMONY OF PEACE.
By Mrs Jessie Penn-Lewis
I was brought up in the heart of the religious life of Wales, for my grandfather was a well known Welsh preacher. My father’s house was a meeting place for the ministers as they passed by on the Master’s work. My childhood memories gather round their visits and the great meetings of the Sunday schools, when I often sat as a tiny child in middle of the elders in the “big pew”, listening with interest to the sound of the minister. “From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children” (Psalm 103 v17). But as it is sometimes with children brought up in the Church, the true inward change of heart did not come until I had married and moved away to England. Then it occurred without the help of any human, but the day, New Year’s Day, and hour are imprinted on my mind.
I had a deep, inward desire to know that I was a child of God. I took down my little read Bible from the shelf, and I turned over its pages, and my eyes fell on the words, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53 v6). Then again, a casual turn of the sacred pages, and the word, “the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6 v47). A quick facing up to the fact of whether I did believe that God had laid my sins upon the Lamb of God on the Cross. A pause of wonder that it really said that I had eternal life if I simply believed God’s Word. A quick cry of “Lord, I do believe”, and one more soul had passed from death to life, a trophy of the grace of God, and the love of Him Who died. The Spirit of God instantly bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God, and deep peace filled my soul.
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THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
By Gordon B Watt
This is the last name given to the Lord Jesus Christ by Isaiah, and this is appropriate, for it is the name which signifies the completion of His work and the crown to His victories.
It is when He comes as Prince of Peace that the governments of earth will cease. With the establishment of His Kingdom, these words will become literally true, “Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9 v7).
The need of the world today is for the Prince, who is wonderful in counsel, strength, love and power.
The pages of the Old Testament glow with the glory of the future. It will indeed be the Day of the Son of Man. Alone He trod the path of sacrifice for the world’s redemption. Kings, rulers and people conspired and combined to put Him to death, but in that Day, which is surely not far off, the monarchs and presidents of the nations, with their subjects and fellow citizens, will bow before Him and hail Him as Prince and King.
It will be the Day of Rest for the suffering world. Cursed by sin, ravaged by war, burdened by sorrow, and stained with blood, its deliverance will be realised at His advent.
As the Prince of Peace, Christ will usher in that golden age of which the nations have so long dreamed, and which the Old Testament prophets pictured, as one long and unclouded day called the Sabbath of the world. Lord Tennyson, sang of it:
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold,
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace,
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, and kindlier hand,
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
The heart of humanity longs for an end to the wars of the nations, the troubles of peoples, and the bitterness of tribes, which have caused such distaster. To answer this cry, to banish disease, whether physical or moral, and to deal with selfishness, and the sin that destroys, that will be part of the great strategy of the Prince of Peace.
Everyone who intelligently and honestly faces the facts of the hour will say, “That is what we want and need.”
The Gospel of God beats with this message of hope in its proclamation that the Prince is coming. The advent of Christ will create pure joy. With His appearing the dark clouds will be lifted, and the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings.
The word “Prince” in the Hebrew means “Head”, or “Leader”. This is exactly what the world needs today. A Head who can guide, and a Leader who will lead. The root meaning of the Hebrew word is “to hold dominion.”
That is not true of any earthly ruler. Crowns and thrones have fallen like autumn leaves, and no king, president or statesman has any guarantee of security in their position. The idol of the people may soon become the target for their hated.
There is only One who truly holds dominion. He is the coming Prince of Peace, whose kingdom is everlasting. The world is His birthright. God gave to the first Adam absolute sovereignty over the earth and all that it contained, but he failed and his crown fell from his head. The Second Adam was the Lord from Heaven and He has succeeded where the first Adam was defeated.
By His death on Calvary, He has undone the troubles of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, and on the ground, He shed His blood and has won back dominion. His advent will finally break the usurper satan’s power, throwing him into the Abyss.
Nothing can deprive the Lord Jesus of what is His right of conquest.
The prophet mentioned two great blessings that will be the result of His appearing as the Prince of Peace.
Firstly, a government which by its greatness will magnify every part of the glory of God, and the true happiness and prosperity of humankind. The greatest need of the world is strong, stable and righteous government. Today this is nowhere to be found, nor does the condition of the nations offer much promise that such a government will come about.
What humans are now grasping at are only shadows, and they can be nothing else until the Kingdom is set up on the earth which alone can guarantee security and righteousness. Politicians see a glimmer of light for the future. Socialists are not wrong in some of their ideals, for they are revealed in the Word of God, but they are mistaken in their methods of reaching them.
Divine perfection can never be achieved in natural ways, because of the inevitable clash of self-interest, human pride and prejudice. An ideal state can only be the result of ideal government. Therefore, the only hope of the world lies in the advent of the Ideal Governor.
He is coming, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. His title is the Prince of Peace, and when He appears, there will dawn the birthday of the new world, when these words will be true:
His name forever shall endure,
Last like the sun it shall,
Humans shall be blest in Him, and blessed
All nations shall Him call.
A further important fact regarding the government of the Prince is that it will be marked by continuous greatness. Nothing about His ruling or laws will be reactionary or limited. His government will control the nations as His Spirit deepens His hold over humankind.
The ruled will be energised by the aims of the Ruler. Then these wonderful laws of the Sermon on the Mount will be put into full operation and obeyed perfectly. They belong, in their truth, to the day of the Kingdom of God upon earth. That Kingdom can only possess the nations when the King comes. Wars will cease, and the highest ideals will be attained.
Secondly, another result of the coming of the Prince will be the gift of a Peace that never ends.
If the nations could be asked today, what they most desired, their answer would likely be, “real and lasting peace.” The need in our own country is such a peace in order to solve the urgent problems that are so serious.
The world is not in a state of peace. There are forces around intent on harm, and hidden forces are working up to a catastrophe. It does not need a prophet to see that behind this unrest, and the clash of peoples, powers are at work, which are not human but satanic. And one should compare the visible condition of the world with the prophecies of Scripture to understand that there can be no lasting and universal peace until the return of the Prince.
The Hebrew for “peace” means completeness, wholeness, soundness and safety.
Any present peace treaty has in it little of these elements, being neither complete, whole nor sound. They all are weak and cannot produce safety. The world at this moment is on the edge of a volcano. But the peace of the Prince will be perfect, and His peace will have no boundary. It will be a peace, steadily developing peace, for it will be due to the presence of the King Himself, and only then will the message of Christmas be really true, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rests” (Luke 2 v14).
A late Bishop of Durham wrote in connection with the sermon preached by him at a church conference, “Somewhat deliberately I confessed my expectation that before very long the Return, in majesty, of the risen and ascended Christ, the one true King of humanity, will rise. No symbolical mystery, but a supreme event.”
The Return of Christ is not a fact because some distinguished person believes in it and proclaims it. Nor is it a fantasy because others deny and ridicule it.
It is a fact because God declares it, and His Word asserts it. Of that fact the Lord Jesus Christ, in the most solemn words, has said, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Matthew 24 v44).
Hark what a sound, and too divine for hearing,
Stirs on the earth, and trembles in the air!
Is it the thunder of the Lord’s appearing?
Is it the music of His people’s prayers?
Surely He comes, and a thousand voices,
Shout to the saints and to the deaf and dumb,
Surely He comes, and the earth rejoices,
Glad in His coming Who has sworn I come.
This has He done and shall we not adore Him?
This shall He do and can we still despair?
Come let us quickly fling ourselves before Him,
Cast at His feet the burden of our care.
Flash from our eyes the flow of our thanksgiving,
Glad and regretful, confident and calm,
Then thro’ all life and what is after living,
Thrill to the tireless music of a psalm.
Yes thro’ life, thro’ death, thro’ sorrow and thro’ sinning,
He shall suffice for me, for He has sufficed,
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning,
Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ.
“Therefore keep watch. If He comes suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping” (Mark 13 v35, 36).
From ‘The Name That Shall Endure’.
* * * * * * * * *
"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 v27).
* * * * * * * * *
THE CROSS.
By David Hamshire
Having listened to countless sermons over the last eighty years, I recall only one when I disagreed with the speaker. The speaker said, incorrectly, that Eve and Adam had eaten fruit from the Tree of Life. God had said to Adam, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2 v16–17). When God then banished Adam and Eve from the garden, it was to prevent them from having access to the Tree of Life. God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat” humans would “live forever” (Genesis 3 v22). Note, the identification of “Us”, which records the plurality of God.
What, therefore, was the purpose of the Tree of Life, and why was it necessary to protect it from Adam’s sinfulness, the lust of his flesh, the lust of his eyes, and his pride of life?
The next major Biblical reference to the Tree of Life comes at the end of the Bible. In Revelation chapter 22, the last chapter in the Bible, we are told:
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb [The Father and His Son]. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22 v1–3).
A curse is translated as “anathema”, which means alienation from God in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which was used by the early Church.
In this account there are a number of depictions which for the new Christian may be confusing. For example, why is the Tree of Life said to have born twelve fruits, and each tree yielding fruit each month? Is there one tree, or are there twelve trees? And why is there no more curse? From Genesis, we know there was a curse following Adam’s disobedience. So why is the Tree of Life featured at the beginning of time, and at the end of time?
The Cross on which Jesus died is a type of the Tree of Life. His Cross was never a curse. God said trees were “good”, and one of the reasons is because they produce oxygen for us (Genesis 2 v9). This is why trees were created before people. It was the One who was nailed to a tree who became a curse. It was His inability to take in sufficient oxygen that caused the death of Jesus. Deuteronomy 21 verses 22 to 23 explains why.
“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.”
When the book of Deuteronomy was written, crucifixion was not a means of execution. It was not until hundreds of years later that crucifixion was used as a means of putting people to death. So why is there such uncertainty among many Christians about the relevance of Jesus’ Cross? For some, it is an item of reverence for which they see it as being symbolic of their faith. For others, including many evangelicals, the Cross ranks among other forms of punishment, such as the gallows or the guillotine. They feel the Cross has no major significance, other than it was how Jesus was put to death.
Please note, I’m not saying Jesus’ Cross was formed out of the tree which is described in Genesis as the Tree of Life. However, what I am saying, is that I see the Cross as being of equal function to the Tree of Life because of the One who died on the Cross, namely, The Prince of Life, or as stated in a Biblical margin, “The Originator”. See Acts 3 verse 15.
Although Jesus’ Cross is featured in the Gospels, Paul, the apostle, often wrote about the Cross and how it is central to the Gospel message. For example, in Ephesians 2 verse 16, Paul writes about us being reconciled to God “through the Cross”. And when writing to the Corinthians, Paul recalls that when Jesus sent him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, He did so because Paul did not excel in words of wisdom, “less the Cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1 v17). And when writing to the Galatians, Paul says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” i.e. The Cross (Galatians 3 v13).
Today we are faced with the same choices which Adam and Eve faced. We can either seek after the things of knowledge and good and evil, or we can look unto Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith”, whom God “has appointed heir of all things and through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 12 v2 and Hebrews 1 v2). Jesus was in the beginning with God His Father, and so I find there is something truly compelling both about the Tree of Life, and the Cross on which Jesus died.
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THE WAY OF PEACE, WALKED IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
By Dr Marion Ashton
One of the loveliest things that was said about the Lord Jesus just before He came into this world is recorded in Luke 1. It says that He shall “guide our feet into the path of peace” (v79). There is a “way of peace”. I used to think of peace as a “thing” which I could ask God to give me. “O God, give me your peace and send your peace into my heart”. But now I think that the more important thing to realise is that there is a way of peace or path of peace, and that if I want God’s peace I must learn to walk in that way.
The best way for us to understand that way of peace is to see it illustrated in the life of the Lord Jesus. Nowhere else do we see the way of peace perfectly demonstrated. His life was lived in the midst of tension, and it was not a quiet, sheltered life. He knew the stress of circumstances, and the pressure of the demands of the crowds so that at times He did not eat or sleep. He knew the antagonism of enemies and of His own relatives. He knew the particular tensions connected with living with a group of men. He knew the stress of every kind of physical and mental suffering which culminated on the Cross. And on top of all this He had the strength of the powers of darkness against Him. Yet in all of this He walked in perfect peace.
As we look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps the greatest overall principle that we see is that the way of peace is walked in the power of the Holy Spirit.
After His baptism we read in Luke 4 that “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil” (v1-2). Then in verse 14, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” and again in verse 18 He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me”. And so on through all His life He was full of the Spirit. He was led by the Spirit, He lived and worked in the power of the Spirit and it was evident that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, until at last it was through the eternal Spirit that He offered Himself without blemish to God (Hebrews 9 v14).
Now if the way of peace is walked in the power of the Spirit it is not walked in the power of the flesh or by human effort. Very often young Christians after being born again of the Spirit, try to live their lives in the power of their own efforts, and this brings no peace, life becomes more striving, and more laboured. I have heard it called the law of diminishing returns. To begin with there are certain results from a certain amount of effort, but as time goes on there is greater and greater effort and less and less results, until the place is reached where the Christian cries out in despair, “If this is the Christian life, I’m going to give it up.”
If you want to know peace in the midst of tension you must learn the secret of a life lived in the power of the Spirit and not by your own efforts.
Only the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you this secret. You may not be sure whether you are living in the power of the Spirit or not, and so it is helpful to look at two things in the life of the Lord which show the fact that His life was lived in the power of the Spirit. These two things will be increasingly evident in the life of any Christian who is learning in experience to live by the Spirit.
(a) The life of the Lord Jesus was supernaturally natural. Often at the beginning of our Christian lives we make great efforts to produce an unnatural kind of life. The Lord Jesus was totally natural, there was no insincerity or putting on unnatural attitudes. He was at ease, and He was natural, in the right sense of that word. I’m not using the word in the way that Paul used it when he spoke of the “natural" person (1 Corinthians 2 v14). I’m using it as a contrast to the insincere person.
Those Christians who try to walk in the power of human effort are insincere, and those who have learnt to walk in the power of the Spirit are supernaturally natural, the life they live is the natural outcome of the inner life of the Spirit. We were made to be dominated by the Spirit of God, our whole being runs smoothly under the control of the Spirit. This is the reason why the Christian who is living in the power of the Spirit is walking in the way of peace. The way of peace for any machine to work is the way it was made to work. We were made to work naturally and peacefully under the power of the Spirit of God.
It is possible to have a wrong idea about what we mean when we talk about “self”, and “self” needing to be crucified. We mean the principle of self-centredness not the personality. God has made each of us with a distinct personality and that is not to be crushed or put to death, it is to be set free by the Spirit of God, so that if I am living under the control of the Spirit I am free to be myself as God means me to be and this is the way of peace.
(b) The Lord Jesus was utterly dependent on the Father. This complete dependence on the Father can be summed up in His own words, “I live because of the Father” (John 6 v57).
It meant that He was in slavery to nothing and no one except the Father. When we learn to live our lives in the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly freed from bondage to things and people, and become increasingly dependent on the Father alone. This is the way of peace, for it is so often this bondage to things and people which takes away our peace. When I look at myself, especially as a young Christian, I see someone in bondage to the opinions of others. My mind was not free, I was in bondage to the feeling that I must think and believe certain things because they were the right things for Christians to believe. I was not free in my habits as far as the Christian life was concerned. I wanted to conform to a pattern in quiet times, Bible reading, prayer and witnessing, but when I couldn’t keep to the pattern I lost my peace and felt frustrated and guilty. In these and other things I was very much in captivity to the opinion of others.
When I look at the Lord Jesus, I see something entirely different. He was free from the opinions of others. His mind was free to be controlled by the Father alone. If you think of the religion of His day, full of formality and tradition, it is wonderful to see how utterly free He was from bondage to it all, He was free to keep the formalities if it was the will of His Father, or to break with them if it was not. He was free to accept tradition or to break with it. Then thinking of His habits, there was order but not slavery to order. No one looking at His life would get an impression of disorder. There was order in His prayer life, order in His eating and sleeping habits, but He was not controlled by that order. He remained peaceful and calm when circumstances broke up His ordered life, cutting short time for sleep and for food and interrupting rest.
So it is in a life lived in the power of the Spirit. Our minds and thoughts are free to be led by the Father and not to be moulded by what others think and speak. There is no disorder, God is not a God of confusion. There is order, but not slavery to order. We are dependent on the Father each moment, so when our ordered lives are broken up we do not react with resentment and frustration. We are free to be influenced by the opinions of others, but we are not in bondage to those opinions, because the Spirit sets us free to be finally dependent on the opinion of the Father alone.
If the way of peace is walked in the power of the Spirit and not by our own effort, how does the transfer take place? If you have tried to live the Christian life by human effort and have found this impossible, how are you going to make the change and start to live in the power of the Spirit?
I’d like you to look at Ezekiel 37 verses 1 to 10. In this vision of the valley of dry bones I think we get a perfect picture of the way that the transfer takes place.
The Lord showed Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones and asked him the question, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel’s reply was, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know” (Ezekiel 37 v3). It seemed so impossible that he couldn’t give an answer. Then the Lord told him to speak to the bones and to tell the bones to do one thing only. They were to “hear the Word of the Lord” (v4). And the Word of the Lord to them was, “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life” (v5). They were to hear the Lord telling them that He would do something, He would cause breath to enter into them.
The principle underlying all God’s dealings with us is this one of hearing the Word of the Lord. We are born again when we hear His Word to our hearts concerning our salvation, and all those who have found the secret of living and walking by the power of the Spirit have found it as a result of hearing the Lord say something to them.
If you long to know this secret I suggest that you stop looking for some special kind of experience, and get away quietly by yourself, take a verse such as, “I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow“ (Ezekiel 36 v27). Then meditate upon it until the Lord speaks it to the depths of your heart. This is something that He will do, not something you are to do. He will put His Spirit within you and cause you to follow. Many people have heard the Word of the Lord in this way through John 15, the parable of the vine and the branches, or through, “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11 v13). It is as we hear Him telling us that the Christian life is lived by Him doing something in us by His Spirit, and not by our efforts, that we stop our own efforts and start to walk in the power of the Spirit.
We have to remember that Ezekiel was prophesying of that which still was in the future, that is Pentecost, the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. To us, who have been born again by the Spirit, the Lord will say, “I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow” (Ezekiel 36 v27). All we need is to lay hold by faith of that which is ours, of that which is in us. A J Gordon said, “Not what we have, but what we know that we have by a conscious appropriating faith, determines our spiritual wealth.”
In that passage in Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel was told to do another thing. The Lord said to him, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live’” (v9). Ezekiel did this and as a result the breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet.
Perhaps there are some of you who do know the secret of living a life in the power of the Spirit, but you have friends who need your help in finding this secret. Perhaps this is a word to some who long to be able to help others in this way. You have done what Ezekiel was told to do, and in your own words you have told them to hear the word of the Lord. So, the other thing to do is to go into your room and prophesy to the Breath, the mighty Spirit of God and you have the Lord’s permission to say, “breathe into these slain, that they may live” (v9). God will answer that prayer of faith and you will see those you are seeking to help learning to live and walk in the power of the Spirit.
From ‘The Way of Peace in the Midst of Tension’.
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PEACE PERFECT PEACE.
By J C Metcalfe
The wonderful words of the blessing which God commanded Moses to cause Aaron, the High Priest, to pronounce to the people of Israel has meant a great deal to me over the years. It is found in these words, “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6 v24-26).
Here the love and mercy of God for sinful men and women are displayed, and His desire that we would know, and enjoy fully, peace in Him.
When I settled down to study this subject I decided that I needed to restrict myself mainly to the Psalms and Luke’s Gospel. So, our first stop will be Psalm 4, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (v8).
And, “The Lord will give strength to His people, The Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29 v11). There is no doubt here. He will bless His people with peace, and He cannot break His word.
Psalm 34 encourages us to, “Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it” (v14). We must remind ourselves that all God’s gifts to us need to be sought after, with all our heart. They are so great that they cannot be given unless they are humbly received, and acted on.
In the next Psalm, we find David saying of his enemies, “They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land” (Psalm 35 v20). There is one thing that is certain, that the enemy of our souls will do all he can to destroy the peace of God’s people, but we can always rest in the knowledge that, as we trust Him, the peace that God gives cannot be taken away.
This is confirmed in Psalm 37 where we are told, “Consider the blameless, observe the upright, a future awaits those who seek peace” (v37). There is no question of sinless perfection here. The Lord knows, and so do those who will fully trust Him, that there is no such thing for sinners such as we are, but that this is what our aim is to be if we are going to truly glorify Him. This in itself will bring us peace.
Next we turn to Psalm 55, “He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me” (Psalm 55 v18). This reminds me of the incident when the Syrians sent a large army to capture the prophet Elisha, and how Elisha’s servant almost panicked. But Elisha prays, “‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6 v17). It did not matter that there were many against the writer of this Psalm, because the whole strength of God is on the side of those, who will trust Him. This is not an easy lesson to learn as I know well in my own life, and yet it is true. God never leaves unassisted those who will place their trust in the Lord Jesus. He is our Saviour and “He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2 v14).
In Psalm 119, we find a statement of fact, “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble” (v165). A comment on this in an old book says, “Those who love the law find in it a spring of constant inward peace with God, not through our own efforts, but through the Lord Jesus, crucified for us, and alive forevermore.” In this way “great peace” is ours.
We must never forget that we live in a world which is hostile to the Gospel, and this is the thought behind Psalm 120. “Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war” (v6-7). As I write, a verse of a lovely old hymn keeps coming to my mind:
Peace perfect peace in this dark world of sin?
The Blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Whatever goes on in the world around, nothing can rob those who belong to Him of this legacy of peace.
Three verses in Psalm 122, verses 6 to 8, reveal the longing of the writer for the blessing of peace upon Jerusalem, but the people of Israel missed the way altogether and brought on themselves the destruction which He so clearly and sadly announced, as recorded in Luke 19. “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you” (v42-44).
Just as the Jews at that time failed to receive the Prince of Peace, so the tragedy of our modern world is that He is pushed aside, and the nations of the world have sadly missed their way.
In Psalm 125, the passionate longing of the writer is expressed in this way, “But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be on Israel” (v5). We need to be of the same mind and long to see His Church growing, prospering and at peace, in our day.
Psalm 147 provides us with a simple thought, which we can turn into prayer for our day and generation, “He grants peace to your borders” (v14). It is only Him to whom we can turn, and only He can accomplish this.
Luke’s Gospel
In chapter one, listen to the priest Zechariah making his prophetic speech after the birth of his son John. He said, “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (v76-79). There is a beautiful translation in which the term “rising sun” is translated as “sunrising”, and this speaks to us of the dawn of abiding peace. In this way a new possibility became open to humanity. God was to come in the person of His Son to bring peace to sinful hearts in a way that was impossible before. It is not surprising then that we are told in chapter 2 that, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rests’” (v13-14). God could never have revealed His love for humankind more fully and amazingly than that.
In the same chapter we have Simeon’s song of praise. He had been waiting a long time for the promised coming of the world’s Redeemer and King. When he saw the child Jesus, “Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel’” (Luke 2 v29-32).
In Luke chapter 7 we read of the occasion when Jesus had been invited to a meal in the house of a pharisee, and how during the meal a sinful woman came and washed His feet, drying them with her hair. In answer to the Pharisee’s protest the Lord Jesus not only rebuked him, but told the woman to “go in peace” (v50). Before this she only had her shame troubling her day by day. Now a whole new life opened up before her, and for the first time she could comfort her heart with the knowledge of complete pardon, and through that forgiveness know deep and abiding peace.
In chapter 8 the story of another woman, who had been ill for years, and no one could do anything for her, but she tells herself that if she can just touch the Lord it will be enough to ensure healing. When she did this the Saviour stood still, and said, “Someone touched Me, I know that power has gone out from Me” (v46). Both He and the woman knew that her healing was complete, and when in fear and trembling she confessed to what she had done, very gently and kindly she is told, “Go in peace” (v48). She, like the woman in chapter 7, had a door opened before her into a new life of freedom and peace.
The Lord gave instructions to His disciples, when He sent them on a preaching tour, and they carried His gift of peace, in chapter 10. They were to take nothing with them, but were to be dependent on the hospitality of those they met. They were told, “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them if not, it will return to you” (v5-6). Peace is a valuable possession that is not to be lightly given or received.
In chapter 11 we find a statement that cannot be denied, and which speaks of quietness and peace. It reads, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armour in which he trusted, and divides his spoils” (v21-22). This is a picture of how satan holds people in his power, with false peace in their hearts, but when the Lord of Glory receives a lost sinner into His care, this cannot happen. He has all power in heaven and on earth. We can, it is true, prefer to go our own way, and face the consequent loss, but He can never be robbed of His own children, who have yielded to Him, and are trusting Him. He gives them His peace.
Peace for Today
In chapter 12, we see the kind of world we all live in. It is dominated by evil. In the light of this we can understand something of what the Saviour has to say, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (v51), and He goes on to point out that in finding peace with Him, this shall also bring division in families, religions and nations, because humans are determined to go their own way, and set aside His claims.
This is underlined in a slightly different way in chapter 14, verse 32. We can never be satisfied by anything in a fallen world. If we desire real peace, it is only by accepting the call to follow Him on the same path of complete self-denial, on which He walked. We cannot be at peace with God, and with the world at the same time. This could not be more clearly stated. To decide whether the world or the Saviour is most powerful will determine our eternal destiny.
Chapter 19 gives the story of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The crowds that accompanied the Lord shouted with joyful praise to Him, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (v38). This did not please the Pharisees, who said, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And He answered and said, ‘I tell you that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out’” (v39-40).
As He looked at the city spread out before Him, we are told that He wept and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you” (v42-44).
The historian Josephus wrote of the utter destruction that was made of the city by the Romans, which was the fulfilment of these words. They would not receive the King of Peace, and crucified Him, and in so doing had robbed themselves of any hope of peace.
The Living King
One final incident recorded in this Gospel shows that the Cross was not the end. On the third day the King rose again from the dead, and we find the glorious fact recorded in chapter 24. The frightened disciples were gathered together wondering whether they themselves could possibly be safe from the anger of the chief priests, when the two from Emmaus came, and told them how they had seen the Lord in their own home, “While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’" (v36). Later He sent them out on their world mission to proclaim “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v47).
Paul as well as these first disciples went everywhere preaching the Gospel, and tells us simply and plainly, “He Himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2 v14).
Today centuries later in these days of such deep need, it is for us to point continually to Him, and carry this vital message to the ends of the earth in our generation, “He is our peace”.