Peace Part I
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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Before you start, some of this may seem old hat and you may want to skim over it. Do not. All that is in this study is needed to obtain all this study can give.
We all want freedom, and to have the peace of the Lord, but did you know they are one and the same? To be free is to have the peace, and to have the peace is to be free.
The peace referred to in the Bible is not the peace we know in this world. It is a form of God Himself. It is revealed from Him to us and in us and brings calm in the storms of life. The peace of God will bring calm and peace in any problem and area of Life.
Look at Stephen in Acts:
Acts 7:55. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Acts 7:56. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Acts 7:57. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Acts 7:58. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
Acts 7:59. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts 7:60. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Even Peter did not have this peace in the presence of Jesus or when confronted the night Jesus was arrested. Otherwise he would never have denied knowing Him once, much less three times.
Jesus had this peace, even on the cross after all that was done to Him. There are accounts of Christians marching into the coliseum in Rome to their death with this peace.
So how do we obtain this peace?
All we obtain comes one way and one way only. It is revealed by the Father in heaven to us. Since Peter had not yet been baptized in the Spirit of God when he was confronted that night, he did not have the peace. The peace comes from above. It comes as a revelation in each of our lives as we grow with God.
We do not learn by man. We are directed by others who are there at that stage how to receive the peace, the knowledge the Love and God Himself teaches us through His Spirit.
John 14:26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
I John 2:27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
So, it comes from the anointing. Christ is a Greek word for the anointing. Jesus was and is our salvation, but He is also the Christ (the anointing). When you are saved you are saved by the blood of Jesus. Then you are connected to God (and that is what this is all about, getting connected to God again, fixing what Adam broke). To be connected we have to be of the same Spirit. Many do not understand this; Satan has done his job well keeping the truth from us, but we are learning fast, and that is a sign of the very end times.
Isaiah 10:27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isaiah even knew over a 1,000 years before that the anointing was coming and what it would do. It would set us free from this world. You could not buy for any amount of money what you are learning now, because it is worth more than all the money in the world. Money is fleeting, this is not.
John 8:30. As he spake these words, many believed on him.
John 8:31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
So how do we start? We are called and we accept the calling and profess Jesus as Lord. Romans 10:9-10.
Matthew 16:15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Matthew 16:16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
In verse 17 is a key the word revealed. In the next verses Jesus says He will build His church on this, on the revealed knowledge of who He is, revelation knowledge from above. Or I should say the Father revealing all to us through His Spirit.
Matthew 16:18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Greek word for Peter in verses 18 is Petros which means a piece of the rock and the Greek word for the rock is Petra the rock or actually bedrock. So upon the Rock, what was Jesus talking about? How Simon Barjona had received or had revealed to him who Jesus was. Jesus started asking, "Who do you say I am?" and when Simon answered, Jesus then stated that this was not revealed of flesh and blood but by God Himself. Upon that He would build His church and that as we receive the revealed knowledge we become a piece of the rock, or a part of the church.
Let's see how we know we are saved.
Romans 8:16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
We have revealed to us from God's Spirit to our spirit we are children of God. A revelation in our lives. Isn't that what this is all about, finding out what we did not know? We did not know Jesus so we were damned to death, Hell, and the grave. Then we had revealed to us that there was another way and that was Jesus.
Matthew 16:19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:20. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
2 Chronicles 5:1. Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.
I Kings 7:51. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord.
I Kings 9:25. And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
In the above verses it talks about Solomon finishing the temple for God. Now bring that to today. We are the temple now; how will it be finished today? Notice when all was built and in place and the offerings were done and the temple was sanctified it was finished.
It was not finished until all was in place and built. The temple today will be finished when all is in place, when all is revealed to us of the church.
No we will not know all, but all we need to have revealed to finish this temple is revealed then it is finished. It has taken 2,000 years to get the truth out about what "Christ" is, and in the past decades more revelations have flooded out than the past 4,000 years.
As the temple of the Old Testament was nearing completion, you could only see it on the outside; only a few saw the inside. From the outside it appeared finished, as will we to others in days to come. It was the inside that had to be done and offerings made to be complete. We are the same; we need to receive all we can of the revealed knowledge and grow and offer ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. Then it will all be done. It is not based on everyone knowing God, but on those who do know Him growing and reaching the place where He wants us so He can use us for His purposes.
John 14:27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Jesus stated He left us His peace, a whole peace.
John 20:19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
The first thing Jesus said was PEACE.
Exodus 21:23. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
Exodus 21:24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exodus 21:33. And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
Exodus 21:34. The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
Exodus 21:35. And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
Exodus 21:36. Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own
Here comes the hard part an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. If you understand the peace you understand it was not taking an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, it was giving (which is a big difference). A person is expected to give back what ever is taken.
After you understand the peace, the Bible reads differently. It reads of love and caring, and of mankind giving not taking. A person comits a crime; they give back what they took, not have something else taken from them. But they should not have comitted the crime in the first place.
Do not get me wrong. I am not advocating anything here. The world has its laws and ways, but God never said "take". He said give, and He gives.
As many are called, and few are chosen it deals with those who are saved and how many go past that. Because not all are saved, but many are, but not many go any further, only a few. Are you one of the few or the many? If you are of the few the next study will really bless you it is the conclusion of this one. But first take your time and let this one soak in.
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