If you turn in your copies of God’s Word now to 2 Thessalonians, we’re in chapter 3. We’re actually at the end of chapter 3. I believe that’s on page 1,261 of your pew Bibles. Let’s give attention to the word of God. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 16. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine. It is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. be with you all as far in the reading of God’s Word. Amen. Please be seated. Would you pray with me?
Our Father and our God, we come to a passage which many of us might just skip over in order to get to the next letter. Common. Common verse. Common words. Lord, help us not to think that way. Guide and direct our hearts this morning to recognize these are your words. Precious words. Deep words. and guide us into all understanding. Convict us, Father, of all that you have to say to us this morning.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Are you at peace? It’s a good question, a question I think we should be asking ourselves quite frequently, am I at peace? That’s why we read that passage from Genesis 26 with regard to Isaac. It seems that Isaac was searching for peace.
Certainly it was very physical in terms of the wells and finding water, and in that environment, in that place, water was really important. And so they needed water, and to not have water would mean that you would not be at peace, at least physically. And so as we went through that passage, we saw time after time as Isaac would dig a well, and there’d be quarrels with those around him, and say, no, that’s my water, and so he’d have to move on to another place and dig another well. And they’d say, no, no, no, that’s my water, and he’d have to move on to another place and dig another well.
Isaac was seeking peace. And the thing was, he actually achieved it because the Lord was with him, and that was recognized by those who were pushing him from place to place and from well to well. You see plainly that the Lord has been with you. And so they wanted peace with Isaac. That’s why they came, those who had been pushing him from place to place. at least physically, achieved peace as he continued to pursue it, well after well after well, and all because the Lord was with him.
That brings us to the end of this second letter by Paul to this fledgling church at Thessalonica. As we’ve been learning about these letters and about Paul’s missionary work and his planting of churches. He was called there by the Spirit and spent three Lord’s Days, three Sabbaths with these people. And as the Lord worked in their hearts, they changed.
They were changed from idolaters to those who were following Christ. but he had to leave because of the persecution. And so instead of being there in person, he writes these letters, these one after the other, and keeps on encouraging them in their persecution and in their faith, and to walk after Jesus. Now he’s ready to leave, as if he’s leaving again. And he wants to leave them with these words.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. That’s the verse we’re gonna be focused on this morning, this benediction, this blessing, this prayer, this final prayer of Paul to these new suffering believers. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.
Very simply this morning I’d like us to see and understand that the Lord Jesus possesses and freely gives peace. That’s it, the Lord Jesus possesses and freely gives peace. We’ll see that in three points this morning. First, the Lord of Peace is Jesus Christ. Secondly, the Lord of Peace is ready to grant peace continually. And finally, the Lord of Peace is ready to grant peace in every way. As we go through this passage this morning, I’d like you to be asking yourself that question. Am I at peace? Am I at peace?
Well, first, Jesus is the Lord of peace, or the Lord of peace is Jesus Christ. Once again, we come to another benediction or a blessing. There are more than one in these two letters, and now Paul ends with one more. this blessing, this prayer that ends this second of two letters to this church. And so now we have what I like to consider to be a real prayer, a real deep heartfelt prayer for these new believers. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way the Lord be with you all. This is not a promise. This is not a guarantee. He’s not writing them doctrine at this point. It’s the end of the letter.
It’s a plea by Paul for this church, for this particular church, for these new believers, that as they trust, as they believe, as they walk in faith, that they will be blessed with peace. That’s really what it is. And so we have to ask ourselves as we begin to take this apart a little bit, who is this Lord of Peace that Paul refers to, that he is actually asking that he would bless these people, this particular church, with peace. Indeed, this blessing, this prayer, is directed to and founded upon this Lord of Peace.
Everything’s founded upon this Lord of Peace. just like a concrete or rock foundation for a house, which won’t stand if the foundation is no good. And that’s exactly what Jesus preaches in the end of his Sermon on the Mount. Everyone who then hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And that rock we know is Jesus Christ.
So we might say, as Paul ends this letter now with the Lord of peace himself, we might say, may the Lord who defines peace, or maybe the Lord who promotes peace, or very particularly, the Lord who possesses peace. Nothing in this prayer stands unless it stands on this Lord of peace. So who is it? Who is this Lord of peace in John’s gospel?
Jesus speaks of his peace. In chapter 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Jesus is saying I have peace. It’s in my possession. It’s something you need, it’s something that you want. Peace belongs to me, I own peace and I’m going to leave it with you. And in chapter 20 of the same gospel, Jesus grants peace.
On the evening of that day, on the first day of the week, the door is being locked. The disciples were there for the fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. The idea is that within that room, as the disciples, as the apostles are meeting, there’s no peace there. But as he enters the doors, he brings it with him and he grants it to them and he says, Peace be with you. Peace which he brought.
Paul refers to that peace in Philippians chapter four. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. He’s making a connection between the peace of God and Jesus. But that’s where it resides. And then in his letter to those at Colossae, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Paul clearly speaks of Jesus as possessing, as having this peace. And so now as he writes of the Lord of Peace, it’s no surprise, it should be no surprise to us that he’s referring to Jesus Christ. It’s a title that he’s giving to Jesus. It’s based not only upon the person, but also upon his work. And so let’s just consider that for a moment, the person of Jesus Christ, his nature.
And Jesus’ nature is not one of consternation or agitation or tribulation. He is one who has experienced and has been subject to much affliction, and yet that never seems to have infiltrated into his heart. Consider all that he went through. experiencing the sin and miseries of this world, the attacks, the constant attacks. But we never read about him being agitated or disturbed or troubled. Jesus’s nature is one of peace. Now, what do I mean by that? We can certainly speak of it in the negative, I already have. It’s not one of consternation or agitation or tribulation. But what about the positive? What does it mean positively that Jesus’s nature was and is a nature of peace?
In one sense, it means that because Jesus’s communion with his father was so full, there’s a satisfaction, there’s a settled quality within Jesus’s heart, that he had everything he needed. by and through his communion with his father. Even as we read in the gospel accounts that he didn’t have a place to lay his head, he had everything he needed spiritually and physically in and through his communion with his father. He lacked nothing. And so we can define the peace of Jesus’ nature as being that which was in full communion with the triune God.
Think of it this way. As the human nature of Jesus worshiped his father and his God, his worship was pure and righteous and full and complete. There was one exception to that. He still needed to bring in more sheep into the sheepfold, the rest of those true worshipers, and make them blameless. But except for that, his communion was complete.
And thus, in his human nature, Was at peace. He lacks nothing. A lack of peace arises from striving after that which you need and you lack and you can’t obtain. Jesus strove after nothing. For he had everything he needed in his communion with his father.
That in one sense defines the peaceful nature of Jesus Christ as he walked upon this earth and now even as he sits as king and mediator over all things. That’s his nature. What about his works? How do the works of Jesus Christ identify him as the Lord of Peace? That may be an even easier question for us to contemplate and answer this morning and meditate upon.
First we must begin with the truth that you were at war with God. because of your sins, because of your inclination to sin, because you enjoyed your rebellion against our creator and maker, because you reveled in disobedience and transgression, you were at war with God.
Our transgressions were darts and arrows and spears and ballistic missiles that we were shooting off at God constantly. We hated God and wanted nothing to do with his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. because they were righteous and we loved our unrighteousness. We were growing in our sinfulness. We were increasing in the depth of our depravity, if we can put it that way. And as a result, God’s wrath was positioned and poised to be poured out upon each one of us.
His weapons of war were positioned such that we were, as Jonathan Edwards put it, God holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or loathsome insect over the fire. He abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like fire. He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire.” I don’t think anyone else can put it the way Jonathan Edwards did. Jehovah’s anger for our sins was constantly pointing and positioned against us. You were children of wrath.
And so the battle lines were drawn. And God’s victory over his enemies is and was sure. So what did Jesus do? What were his works in relation to this war, this battle? Jesus knew the righteousness of God. He knew the righteous wrath of his father. Your God had had to be satisfied. Jesus knew that there was no sweeping your sins and the punishment for them. Under any rug, he knew that the glory of his father must shine forth.
So what did Jesus do? I think most of us would be pointing and crying out, Jesus went to the cross to satisfy the eternal judgment of his father for my sins, not for his. Yes, he did. But then you have to take one step further, don’t you? And continue to ask the question, well, what really did Jesus do?
He accomplished peace. By and through his death on the cross and his defeat of sin within the tomb, and as a result of his resurrection or triumph over death and ascension to the very seat at the right hand of God the Father, Jesus has accomplished peace. By and through his work on the cross, his ascension, and now his mediation, Jesus himself has and is accomplishing peace between God the Father and you if you’re trusting in him this morning. You see, it’s not only the nature of Jesus Christ, but his works accomplished peace and brought about and continues to bring about peace between you and the triune God. You see, without his works, there is no peace. The battle still rages and God will pour out his wrath But with his works, the works of Jesus, and your trust in him, the battle is over. For the just wrath of God has been poured out, has been satisfied in the very body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Do you see there’s no other? We learned that this morning in Sunday school. There’s no other. There’s only one who can be referred to and called the Lord of Peace. For Jesus Christ is the only true peacemaker. By his nature, and also by his works. There’s no other who can actually bring about and give you peace. Without Jesus, you’ll constantly be at war with God and you will lose. But with Jesus, you will enjoy everlasting and eternal peace because he is The Lord of Peace. Brings us to our second point, that Jesus is ready to grant peace continually. Now, may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times.
That’s the idea. The New American Standard reads this way, now may the Lord of Peace himself continually grant you peace. Or the new King James, give you peace always. That’s the idea. That’s what Paul is praying for. He’s asking the Lord to bless those, these new believers with this peace flowing out and from the Lord of peace at all times, always, continually. Which means in all circumstances, without stop. So what does that mean?
In what circumstances did these in Thessalonica need peace? Well, they were being shot at, not with guns, but with persecution, hard persecution. They needed peace. And Paul was praying for peace in that situation, in that circumstance, that the Lord would grant them peace now in their condition. What about you? In what circumstances do you lack peace? In what circumstances do you need peace? Lack of peace raises its ugly head most often when we’re challenged like those in Thessalonica by someone or something. Consider the circumstance of temptation just as an example.
When Satan shoots off his fiery arrows at your heart seeking to lead you into sin, What happens, what’s going on in your heart? When you’re challenged by the devil to transgress the law of God, what’s he ultimately seeking to sow in your heart? Regardless of the particular sin that he’s trying to lead you into, Satan is tempting you to raise your fist, your fist of rebellion against the living God and tell him, not your way, Lord, but my way every time. Satan is not sowing peace with temptation, but he’s sowing discord and hatred and treason, such that he may report back to God, you see, I told you so.
These so-called followers of Jesus Christ do not obey you because they don’t truly love you. So how can you respond in peace and with peace to the temptations of Satan? How can you sidestep or run away from this discord, this hatred, this treason, and walk in peace. Remember what Jesus did when he was tempted.
When he was tempted by Satan, he was tempted with immediate gratification. He was challenged, wasn’t he, to gratify himself physically and emotionally. Satan set bread before him. He set the freedom from pain and the miseries of life before him. He even offered up the entire world before Jesus if he would only give up his purity and his righteousness and his communion with his father. But Jesus refused because his will was completely aligned with his father’s will. His sole desire was to do his father’s will, that was his food. And so Jesus’s nature of submission and alignment warred against Satan’s temptations such that they were in one sense easily cast off.
What can you do? You can go to the one who has defeated Satan and ask for peace every single time he’s tempting you. Oh Lord Jesus, I know you’re victorious over this one who’s sending this fiery arrow my way. Please help me respond in peace. Not with hatred, not with rebellion, Not with treason, but in peace.
And then, when you’re confronted with friends or coworkers or classmates who hate God, maybe those who hate God, and they all stand in opposition to you, in those times, in those situations, we tend to lack peace, don’t we? As we’re receiving from them argumentation and offenses and nasty words and we tend to respond not in peace.
Once again consider Jesus as he interacted with those who opposed him. Think of how he spoke to and he answered the Pharisees and the scribes who constantly sought to trap him as they came to Jesus putting on a show and and pretended to want his theological insight or teaching, but were always seeking to trap him. How did he respond in those situations? Without question, Jesus responded in peace.
Now you may say, well, Jesus called out the sins and errors of those religious leaders, and sometimes he used really strong language. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Few are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness, full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. That was harsh.
Where was the peace in that? How can I say that he responded in and with peace? Because once again, Jesus was at peace or in harmony with his father. And as a result, he responded with the insight, the knowledge and wisdom and compassion of God. He was faithful every single time he was being attacked and he responded in such a way that would reveal and glorify his father. As he used his father’s wisdom and nature to respond to their errors and their sin, not seeking to defend himself, but seeking to proclaim the good news, which included warning them of their sin and their dangerous position. being dangled over the fire.
So his response was peaceful. It really was. It was a friendly response, seeking to show them their errors and sin. It was compassionate. And as it was compassionate, it was peaceful. Now you may be thinking, okay, so what? Jesus’ response was peaceful. How does that have an effect upon me? Well, the answer is clear. What happens when you’re confronted, opposed, and argued against? Peace is usually absent. Anger, strife, turmoil, unrest flow from your heart immediately. I know.
And that’s the time, especially the time when you need the peace of Jesus Christ, the one who has known and does know how to give you his peace. He is the Lord of peace. And from the throne, he’s seeking to give you his peace, even in those hard situations.
It brings us to our third point. And Jesus is ready to grant peace in every way. Now this is slightly different. This is slightly different from at all times. And I think I can say that because Paul uses different words. May the Lord of peace give you, himself, give you peace at all times, in every way. In every way. In every manner. Not only in all circumstances, not only with the living God, but now in every way. Well, let’s just think for a moment.
Where do we lack peace? We might say, well, I lack peace because I’m not quite sure what the future is going to bring. And so I’m worried. I’m anxious. Will I get the job? Will I have enough money? Will I pass the exam? Will my retirement be enough? Will the doctor tell me good news or not so good news? I’m not quite sure what tomorrow is going to bring. I’m concerned, I’m worried. That is a significant aspect of our lives, isn’t it? In which you spend much time pondering.
But you see, there is peace for the Christian in knowing the future. Not that we know exactly what’s gonna happen tomorrow, but we know and believe that the Lord has planned the future. He not merely knows the future. He not merely looks down the halls of time and sees what’s going to happen, but he actually plans it. God plans your future. He’s planned it for the good of you if you’re trusting in him.
Jeremiah 29, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. And not just the Old Testament, the New Testament as well. In Romans chapter eight, we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purposes.
So you can rest. Not because you know exactly what’s happening tomorrow. You can be at peace because you know that the Lord has planned and purposed it for your good. Everything, whatever it is. So you can go to sleep tonight and say, you know what? Tomorrow, everything’s gonna happen just the way the Lord has planned it. And it’s gonna be good for me because I’m trusting in Christ.
But what if you’re not trusting? What if you’re here this morning or listening on the stream or the recording and you’re not trusting? You should be thinking about the future. You should be concerned. And you should be asking that question, is Jesus returning for me? None of those other temporal things really compare, don’t they? Do they? Whether or not you’re gonna have enough money, whether or not there’s gonna be food in the fridge, whether you’re gonna get the job. Is Jesus returning for me? That’s the question you should be asking.
See, if you’ve not placed your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, your tomorrow is actually in peril. You have reason to be in fear of Christ’s return. He is coming. And as he does, unless you put your trust in him alone, he is not returning for your good. but He’s returning to send you to hell and damnation, to eternal misery, a fire that can’t be quenched and the worms which do not die. So as you think about tomorrow, I plead with you, even today, turn to Christ, turn to Jesus, place your trust in Him, and then you will know the answer to that question. He’s returning for me.
There are other instances in which we lack peace. But the Christian can be at peace in knowing that the righteous will prevail. Sometimes we turn on the news and we’re seeing sin and wickedness that’s prevalent and pervasive throughout the world, not just in Massachusetts, but throughout the United States and across our borders. And it seems as though evil can’t be defeated. It appears at times that the battle will never end, but the Christian can know and believe and trusted that peace will be brought by Jesus Christ because he has truly defeated Satan and his righteousness will prevail. We see that throughout the scriptures.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, you shall bruise his heel. Immediately after Adam and Eve’s sin, the Lord tells the serpent, he tells Satan that you will be crushed by my son.
In Colossians, again, as Paul writes to, those saints there. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. And then in the last book of the Bible, Revelations 20, the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Jesus Christ wins. It’s not in doubt. And as one who’s walking with Jesus Christ, while you strive against your own sins and continue to radiate the righteousness of Jesus and lament the fact that there is evil in this world, you can be and should be at peace. For this is not striving without knowing the end. Jesus wins. Righteousness will be ushered in. But I want to leave you with this last point.
And that is a peace of conscience. That might be the highest level, if we can put it that way, the highest level of peace that the Christian has and should have. If you’re trusting in Christ this morning, in Jesus Christ, your conscience should no longer be burdened or in turmoil. The Apostle Paul spoke to Governor Felix, so I always take pains to have a clear conscience. How does he do that? Only by trusting in Christ.
Yes, you’ve sinned against God, and as a result of breaking his law, you’re guilty before him. a holy and pure God, you know that you’re a lawbreaker, you know you’re guilty, and this guilt, the knowledge of breaking law and the punishment that follows from it, can and does hang like a dark cloud, a heavy weight about your neck.
Your conscience may be weighed down, even now. The weight of sin can be so heavy, Even if you’re in Christ, even as Cain said, my punishment is too great for me to bear. And outside of Christ, that would be your condition. The guilt of sin would bring about a constant turmoil within your heart, an unbearable turmoil that you couldn’t ultimately bear. But in Christ, that burden is removed.
It’s gone. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. He could have said, I will give you peace. Because in Christ, you’ve been cleansed and been made free from the guilt of your transgressions. They no longer weigh you down because he’s taken that burden upon himself. He’s taken your guilt upon him. And in its place, he’s given you the lightness of his load, which is pure righteousness. And thus your conscience is at peace in Christ. You enjoy a conscience that is free from the weight of your sins.
That weight that’s been replaced by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And in Christ, I could say it another way, in Christ, you’re no longer at odds with the law. You know with Paul, the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. There’s no unrest or war with the law. You don’t fight against it. You don’t hate it. In Christ, you’re at peace with the law. You actually love it. Psalm 119, oh how I love your law. It’s my meditation all the day. And great peace have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble.
You see, brothers and sisters, what the Lord of Peace does in all these various ways, with your conscience, with knowing the future and certainly knowing that the righteous will prevail, he’s granting you, he’s giving you peace because he possesses it and he gives it to you freely, if you ask.
Isaac had to dig many wells. But all you need to do is go to Christ. All you need to do is believe that he is the possessor. It’s his nature. It’s his work. And he stands as king over all things, mediating for you and ready to give it to you. day after day, temptation after temptation, opposition after opposition, in all circumstances and in every way.
Praise be to the Lord. Amen. Father and our God, we do lack peace in our sinfulness, in our corruption. Lord God, we find ways of pulling ourselves into turmoil and strife, help us, guide us out of it, guide us to Christ. We thank you that his nature and his works are of peace, such that we can call him the Lord of Peace. And so Jesus, even now, we ask. Pour out your peace upon us, that we may glorify your most holy and perfect name. We ask this in your name.