Peace of God, Not of This World
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author
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.
Strong's Ref. # 1515
Romanized eirene
Pronounced i-ray'-nay
probably from a primary verb eiro (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication, prosperity:
KJV--one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.
To gain the true peace Jesus spoke of there are a few steps one must follow first.
Step 1 Understanding
You must understand peace can only come to a stable and quiet mind/soul. Know that all thoughts come from one of two places only. One forces, the other must be sought.
Satan forces his thoughts on us while God is a gentleman and shares His with all that seek.
The hardest thing to understand is that we do not have an original thought of our own. If you think about it you will start to see the truth in this. Every thought you have had or will have has already been thought and will be thought again.
Now know Satan is not omnipresent as God is, so he uses his demons and plants thoughts into those who will reach the most people. Then he sits back and lets us do the rest because most believe that if they thought it then it must be their thought, but it is not.
Remember Satan is the king of liars and prince of deception. Satan has done all he can to convince us that he does not exist and that God, Jesus, etc is a crutch for the weak.
Remember the truth is pure the lie is not.
John 8
44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Understanding the source of thoughts lets us gain control of the thoughts we have. Until we do we are doomed. Even the best of us can fall into temptation that could condemn us to Hell itself if we do not control of the thoughts we have.
This is where it gets involved.
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.
We know God told Adam the day he ate of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil that he would die, but Adam lived physically and had a soul so that which died was the spirit in him or his spiritual connection to God.
Jesus did not come to save the flesh because it is impure and can not be saved, but the soul could be saved. To save the soul (mind, will and emotions) we must have that which Adam threw away, a spiritual connection. Here is where we see more lies of Satan, "We can not hear from God" or "The spirit and faith ended in the first century church".
Why would Satan expend so much energy keeping us from knowing what Christ meant? It was a mystery or at least misunderstood for centuries. People either considered "Christ" to be the last name of Jesus or His title when it was neither. In English "Christ" means "anointing", and the anointing is the Spirit of God. For those of you who do not know what anointing is, think of a sponge that is dripping wet with water; that sponge is anointed with water. That is how we are to be with the Spirit of God.
Luke 4
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
John 4
23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Here are just three examples how Satan has perverted the truth and gotten people off track.
Matthew 3
11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
1. Water baptism over the one true baptism of the Spirit (God).
Strong's Ref. # 2842
Romanized koinonia
Pronounced koy-nohn-ee'-ah
from GSN2844; partnership, i.e. (literally) participation, or (social) intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction:
KJV--(to) communicate(-ation), communion, (contri-)distribution, fellowship.
2. Notice above the word Koinonia is the Greek word for communion. Communion is to have an intimate relationship with God not a public one.
Matthew 6
6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
3. Prayer is the same as communion something private, one on one, not corporate.
As you can see we have a lot of misunderstandings due to two problems in the church of this world.
Hosea 4
6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
(Before you think you are not priests read Rev 1:6)
How are we to gain knowledge?
If you answered number 2 you got it but if you did not read the next few verses.
1 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.
You are not to be taught by man but by the anointing (God) only. So why read this? If you are not taught yet directly by God, I mean actually hearing His voice, then you need to learn how. I am here to reveal the lies of this world only.
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.
Step 2 Hearing
You must hear from God directly. If you still do not believe me search the Old and New Testaments about hearing a still quiet voice. Remember Jesus is the shepherd and His sheep will know His voice.
It helps to know that hearing and growth is showing in the physical that you are responsible with little so you can have more to be responsible for and to grow. What I am talking about is the tithe. Most people only think of the tithe as a protection of one's income and it is only when it is tithed to the right place for the right reason. The word of God has two sides to it; this prevents Satan from ever understanding; there is a physical and a spiritual side.
Remember God is a spirit and He would write in both physical and spiritual senses. Until one understands this hearing and being guided by the Spirit is most important. Until that happens one will interpret the word not understand it.
For more read Malachi 3:8-12 and Mark 4:1-20 or the study "The Truth About the Tithe" on line at godsgifttoyou.com.
Step 3 Obtaining Peace
To fully obtain the true peace of God we must have control of our soul (mind, will and emotions).
Remember the peace of God is rest in the middle of a tempest, like the eye of a hurricane but with life. Satan keeps us from peace with the thoughts we have or our emotions. The will is what is needed to control all of this and later we will talk about that more, but first to control the thoughts we must cast down imaginations that go against the knowledge of God.
2 Corinthians 10
5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Some might think "why not just take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ?" For most that would be impossible until they get the imagination under control.
You see the imagination can get you to run wild with all kinds of wild thoughts you normally would not have. Notice that if the imagination is not against the knowledge of God it does not have to be cast down. It is not imagination that is the problem but the type of imaginations.
Here are a few examples:
I saw an episode of the television show "Las Vegas" the other day. In it the main character found out that his wife did not go where she said she was going. So he had her followed and the report he got made his imagination run wild to the point of thinking she was having an affair with a younger man. In truth she was setting up a surprise for him for their 30th anniversary. I use this one because it incorporates many situations I have had to deal with in life for others or myself. It was not his thoughts that were the problem but his imagination of what she was doing. Thoughts can start out as facts but imaginations can take facts to the impossible.
This morning I got up at 7 AM my wife was having trouble lighting a burner on our stove. We have a gas stove and the electric igniters are out and I have not gotten them fixed so we use a lighter or match to light the burner on the stove. When I went over to light it for her, she was already frustrated over the problem, so she got mad at me. When I asked why she was mad at me for helping she said it was the way I did it and the look I gave her. I reminded her that the first thing in the morning I am not able to look up, so I could not have looked at her and that if she saw anything it was the pain I am in every morning when I get up.
She thought about it a minute and then realized I was right and apologized in her own way which is not a real "I am sorry" but more of an explanation of why she did what she did. I have only heard her say "I am sorry" to me twice in 18 years, but that is ok because she says it in other ways. It is like the man who can not say he loves someone but still says it in other ways.
In regards to my pain and not looking up - it is my fault because I have counted on healing for everything from diabetes to pulmonary hypertension and have gotten it except my back. I have allowed 4 major back surgeries and now in the morning I pay the price until I get control of the pain.
Once we have started taking our imaginations under control we start taking each and every thought into account and into the obedience of Christ.
Most Common Examples of things that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and steal our peace:
Mark 11
25. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
(we are saved because we are forgiven, without forgiveness we can not be saved)
Two things about forgiveness a lot miss are one must forgive one self and true forgiveness is forgetting. If you still remember then you have not forgiven.
Matthew 7
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
John 3
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Uncommon Examples:
Strong's Ref. # 2356
Romanized threskeia
Pronounced thrace-ki'-ah
from a derivative of GSN2357; ceremonial observance:
KJV--religion, worshipping.
Religion is something physical like water baptism and mankind needs a way to save themselves and this makes Jesus’ death on the cross in vain.
The only way we are saved is through grace by faith in what Jesus did for us, not anything that we can do. This is what makes all religions of this world dangerous.
Below is the Greek word for Church used the few times the word Church is used in the NT. You will notice it talks about a calling out and that is just what the church is. It is a person who has been called of God and has heard God tell the person who Jesus is not just as savior, but also as His Son and The Christ.
Strong's Ref. # 1577
Romanized ekklesia
Pronounced ek-klay-see'-ah
from a compound of GSN1537 and a derivative of GSN2564; a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):
KJV--assembly, church.
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.
Jesus asked in verse 15 "whom do you say I am" and Simon Barjona answered and from that answer in verse 16 Jesus replies "for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Flesh and blood means no man or woman revealed this to Simon. The main key is that it was REVEALED to him. So when one hears from God who Jesus is as the Son of God and the Christ that person becomes a piece of the rock or church. That does not mean a building, (non) denomination or religion, but a relationship with God.
In verse 18 above the word for Peter is Petros which is "piece of the rock"
Now read it as it should have been:
18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art piece of the rock, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The problem is even the King James (which is the most accurate of all translations) was off here and there due to the Latin Vulgate. Without the revelation of God, hearing Him via the Holy Spirit you can never be sure that what you are reading is what it really means.
Do not be as the apostles and Jews back when Jesus walked the earth. When Jesus spoke of the temple they always thought He meant the building, so many still do today even though they say they understand they are the temple.
Matthew 21
42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
Matthew 24
1. And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
We are no better than the apostles who went with Jesus and saw Him talk to Moses and Elias.
Matthew 17
1. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2. And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
5. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
We build big beautiful buildings with all the bells and whistles but miss the main point of it all. It is not about us as a church under man but as the temple where God dwells in and is the church. If we come together it should be as it was the first century to share all the great blessing of God, to uplift one another, edify each other and help each other with all we are and have.
Those who know me say that I am generous to a fault and a lot of times I have endangered our own finances because of my giving. I do not believe the tithe is where it should end but where it should start. Even the best can miss the blessing in this, the depth of giving above and beyond the tithe. Of course there are those who do not even tithe. It must be because they do not fully understand or they would tithe.
Abraham tithed least 500 years before Malachi where we read we should tithe.
Genesis 14
18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20. And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
WARNING
There are many false religions and beliefs:
Matthew 7
15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Verse 20 above the fruit Jesus spoke of is:
Galatians 5
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Much of what Jesus spoke of below has come to pass if not all.
Matthew 24
4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
I could go on and on, but the truth is that Jesus did not come to create another religion but to bring deliverance, love, and peace to us all.
Do you actually hear from God, hear His voice? If not, start trying now.
One last warning - many religions teach many falsehoods and many have false prophets and a false Christ or prophet can just be an impostor of almost any sort.
Strong's Ref. # 5578
Romanized pseudoprophetes
Pronounced psyoo-dop-rof-ay'-tace
from GSN5571 and GSN4396; a spurious prophet, i.e. pretended foreteller or religious impostor:
KJV--false prophet.
One religion teaches that Jesus did not come in the flesh but spirit only.
I John 4
3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Another teaches that their members will become Gods and have planets of their own.
Another teaches one must confess their sins to a man and that a single man is the go between mankind and God.
If you read the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 and study the following you may be shocked:
If you study just these two chapters completely you may be surprised.
One last revelation is in II Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 2
3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Strong's Ref. # 646
Romanized apostasia
Pronounced ap-os-tas-ee'-ah
feminine of the same as GSN0647; defection from truth (properly, the state) ["apostasy"]:
KJV--falling away, forsake.
The falling away has already started. It is a falling away from God, morality,and truth not religion.
2 Thessalonians 2
7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
Strong's Ref. # 2722
Romanized katecho
Pronounced kat-ekh'-o
from GSN2596 and GSN2192; to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively):
KJV--have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.
That which is restraining the antichrist is the power in Christ as explained in:
1 Corinthians 1
24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Understand that if you are of Christ you are of the power and wisdom of God. Do you really believe you are of the power and wisdom of God? Think about Solomon and his wisdom; it was a man’s wisdom blessed by God, not God's wisdom imparted as is with Christ.
1 Corinthians 1
11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Catholic; and I of Baptist; and I of ENTER THE CHURCH YOU ATTEND HERE; and I of Christ.
13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Yes I updated verse 12 you can look it up and read it as Paul wrote it.
Just remember Satan wants nothing more than to keep us tied up in the lies, to keep us from truly forgiving, and to keep us where we judge, condemn, envy and lust after one another. He will use our thoughts against us. Think of this when you hear of a mother who kills her babies and says she did what she was told. She is telling the truth as far as hearing except it was not God with a capital "G" that told her.
Then there are those who have thoughts pop in that are evil, hateful, lustful, etc. A lot cast them down and some try, but in time accept them. They believe if they thought it, then it must be their thought. Some are even priests, pastors, teachers, leaders; no one is protected until they learn how to get control of the thoughts.
If this could happen now we would have world wide peace but I am sad to say the world may be too far gone for all, but that does not mean you are too far gone.
Remember you are in the world but not to be of the world.
For those who have not figured it out yet, salvation does not mean you are of the church or Christ. Yes you have the spirit in you and you are saved. Think of it this way Saved is like being in elementary school; of the church is being promoted to junior high or middle school and to grow into Christ is like high school and college, but in this life never getting out of college. The lost are those still in pre-school and that is why Jesus said on the cross "Forgive them for they know not what they do".
It may seem I come down on or judge people when talking about religion, but I did not. I believe most people are like those in pre-school. Religion is something Satan is manipulating and controlling and my anger with sin and Satan will never set, but I will not let him steal my peace.