Author Archives: reveds

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About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

Finding Peace

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“I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33)

Stressed? Anxious? Frustrated? Lost? Worried? Afraid? Chaotic? Busy? Tired?

In the past week have you used any of these words to describe your life?

What about the word “Peace”?  How often have you described your day, your week, your life, as “peaceful,” “calm,” “contented”?

We long for peace, we hunger for it, but nothing in this world can offer it.  We may know a momentary cessation of hostilities, but not an abiding peace. The vacation can only last so long, and you’re guaranteed to have a double load of work to do when you get back.  Just when you’ve paid all the bills and balanced the checkbook, you know they’ve already printed next months bills.  Don’t even try to turn the TV on; every five minutes there’s a new something to be afraid of.

Boy, aren’t I just a ray of sunshine?

Jesus, in His upper room discourse, reminds us all that in this life we will have tribulation.  We have been warned.  There will be sorrow (John 16:20).  There will be struggles (Heb 12:4).  If the world rejected Him, how will it treat those who follow Him (John 15:20)?  We are called to take up our cross (Matt 16:24).  When slapped, are are to turn the other cheek (Matt 5:39).  As our hearts break for the lost, we will carry their burden before the Lord in prayer (Rom 9:1-3).  As we strive for faithfulness we will wrestle with temptation and battle to put to death the old man (Col 3:5-17).  We will suffer the fiery arrows of the enemy, we will face the opposition of the principalities and powers (Eph 6:10-18).  Yes, indeed, all this world has to offer is tribulation.

But we are not to take what the world gives.  We have a greater gift, the gift of Christ’s peace.

What is this peace?

The peace of Christ is this:

  • In Christ we have peace with God because we have been reconciled through His blood.
  • In Christ we have peace with one another, the dividing wall of hostility has been broken down.
  • In Christ we have peace through our Sovereign King who reigns over His people.
  • In Christ we have peace as our eternal security is guaranteed.

Jesus has come that we might have peace, a peace that endures, a peace that overcomes, a peace that does not waver.

Why then, do we seldom enjoy that peace? Why are we not filled with peace and joy in believing?  While by no means a complete list, here are some thoughts:

Sometimes we don’t experience the peace of Christ because we are the cause of our own tribulation.  There are times when we don’t stumble into sin, we dive in headfirst.  We flirt with the flames of temptation, only to get burned by the fires of sin. We hold on to envy, anger, and our selfish desires and become the drama that we sought to avoid.  There can be no peace when we take hold of sin.

Sometimes we don’t experience the peace of Christ because we are slow to faith and do not believe His promises.  Doubts and despair are a disastrous combination, because they cause us to fix our eyes on the problems rather than the solution. When the waves are crashing around us, we look to the sea rather than Christ who has called us to walk with Him (Matt 14:30).  We become practical atheists, we say we believe that Jesus has promised us peace, but we act like we are on our own.

Sometimes we don’t experience the peace of Christ because we don’t think His promise applies to our particular situation. When we tell ourselves that this thing we are facing is beyond Christ’s control, or too small for Christ to care about, what are we saying about our Savior?  We forget that He is One who can “sympathize with us in our weakness… [because He] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).  How does the old hymn go?

Oh what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer.

So how do we return to the peace of Christ?  His sermon in Mark 1:15 says it best, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

Repent: Turn from your sin and to the Lord.  Remember, when our hearts condemn us, “God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19). To find peace we must turn from that which causes the strife, and rest in the grace of Christ.

And Believe: Christ has overcome all things. He has overcome, He is victorious. His victory is over every sin, every power, every dominion.  There is nothing that He has not conquered.  Abraham Kuyper once wrote, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” He has indeed overcome all things, so believe and rest in His peace to strengthen and comfort you in all things.

May the grace, and peace, of Christ rule in your hearts!

SDG

Presence more than Program

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Still thinking about worship this week, and I came across this gem from A.W. Tozer that I thought I would pass along.

The fast-paced, highly spiced, entertaining service of today may be a beautiful example of masterful programing – but it is not a Christian service. The two are leagues apart in almost every essential. About the only thing they have in common is the presence of a number of persons in one room. There the similarity ends and the glaring dissimilarities begin.

Whether it be a communion service, morning worship, evangelistic meeting, prayer meeting, or any other kind of true Christian gathering the center of attention will always be Christ. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mat. 18:20)… Never do the disciples use gimmicks to attract crowds. They count on the power of the Spirit to see them through all the way. They gear their activities to Christ and are content to win or lose along with Him. The notion that they should set up a “programed” affair and use Jesus as a kind of sponsor never so much as entered their heads. To them Christ was everything. To them He was the object around which all revolved; He was, as He still is, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end… Christ was everything in the minds of those first believers and that mighty fact dictated not only their conduct but their inner attitudes as well. Their mood, their demeanor, their expectations sprang out of their childlike conviction that Jesus was in the midst of them as Lord of creation, Head of the Church and High Priest of their profession.

The point we make here is that in our times the program has been substituted for the Presence. The program rather than the Lord of glory is the center of attraction. So the most popular gospel church in any city is likely to be the one that offers the most interesting program; that is, the church that can present the most and best features for the enjoyment of the public. These features are programed so as to keep everything moving and everybody expectant.

We’ll do our churches a lot of good if we each one seek to cultivate the blessed Presence in our services. If we make Christ the supreme and constant object of devotion the program will take its place as a gentle aid to order in the public worship of God. If we fail to do this the program will finally obscure the Light entirely. And no church can afford that.

Tozer, A.W. The Root of the Righteous (Harrisburg, PA; Christian Pub, Inc., 1995) Pg. 92-96.