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Peace · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Let me read our passage, just the last three verses, verses 16, 17, and 18. 2 Thessalonians 3, we'll read, pray, and begin. It says, 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. And God, I pray that you would bless.
• 0:30
  the preaching and hearing of Your Word today. May You do again what we ask for every week. Open our ears to hear the truth. Soften our hearts to receive it. Bend our minds and our wills and our affections. Conform them to Your will, God. We are so grateful that You offer to move among us and to teach us according to the truths of Scripture. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
• 1:02
  Amen. Well, we finish 2 Thessalonians today. And for those of you guys who plan ahead, let me just tell you where I think we'll be going over the course of the next year. Starting this month, we're going to do a study, March, April, and May, through Easter actually, that I'm going to call the hard sayings of Jesus. Some of the things that Jesus said that are maybe famous sayings, but that are difficult either to understand or difficult to apply to our lives. Like, don't be anxious.
• 1:30
  Don't worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. That's not a hard one to understand, but man, that's hard to apply. Go and make disciples of all nations. Like, wait, you mean every single minute of every single day I'm supposed to be making disciples? That's my sole reason for being here? How do I apply that to my life? How do I function under the Great Commission in North Denver? What does that look like? And so we're going to start going through those this month and over the course of the next several months taking some of...
• 2:00
  the sayings of Jesus, which may be either difficult to understand or difficult to apply, the hard sayings of Jesus. And then in June, and I can't wait for this, but in June, our summer series, which will actually go for probably a year, we're going to go through the book of Proverbs together. And especially chapters 1 through 9, which are more of a narrative, and they tell a story personifying wisdom and our pursuit of wisdom. In fact, we're going to call it the beginning of wisdom, our series.
• 2:31
  But then also, chapters 10 to 31, we're going to kind of break into, systematize, break into some topical ideas. What do the Proverbs say about our speech? And what do the Proverbs say about relationships and about our work ethic? What do the Proverbs say about alcohol and the warning against those things? And so we're going to look at that over the course of the next year, starting in June. But today I'm excited to finish our study of Thessalonians, and so here we go. There is a strange phenomenon that occurs at our home.
• 2:59
  It turns out that my wife, Hallie, is the only one who can ever find anything. My boys, you don't have to have three sons. We will. The four of us, the four males of our home, will stand in front of an open refrigerator knowing that contained within that 20 cubic feet is what we are looking for. It's in there somewhere. But for some reason, we can never find it. And so you will invariably hear, Mom! She'll come down and find whatever it is you're looking for. The jar of, right, whatever you can't find.
• 3:31
  Baseball uniforms. We have a baseball family. Our boys practice baseball every afternoon. And even though they wear the same thing every day and they take it off in the same place every afternoon, the next day they can't find it. Mom, where are my cleats? Where are my pants? Hallie comes in and finds them. Last night, it was the remote control. And sometimes I will stand in the middle of the living room and think I am within 10 feet of it.
• 3:56
  I know that I am. It's somewhere, right? I'm within 10 feet and I cannot find it. Last night, my boys and I spent probably five minutes flipping stuff over, looking under things. We could not find it. There is no remote control. Hallie! And I'm not kidding, 10 seconds. She had the remote in her hand, handed it to us, walked out. It's remarkable. Have you ever conducted a desperate search for something that was already found? That's even more embarrassing. You ever looked for your sunglasses?
• 4:28
  only to discover that they were on your head? Has that ever happened? You ever looked for gloves that were in your jacket pockets? You ever searched for keys that were in the pocket of your pants already? And you're just looking and then realize, oh, they're right here. You know, our nation is futilely searching for peace. Peace across political lines. Peace across color lines. Peace across gender lines.
• 4:58
  And what is so infuriating about this search is that genuine peace has already been found. And we have turned our noses up at it. If I could summarize our entire sermon this morning with one simple phrase, it would be this. The presence of God is the essence of peace. The presence of God is the essence of peace. I enjoy John MacArthur's definition of the word peace in his commentary where he writes,
• 5:31
  True spiritual peace is completely different from superficial, ephemeral, fragile human peace. Spiritual peace is the deep, settled confidence that all is well between the soul and God because of His loving, sovereign control of one's life, both in time and eternity. And that calm assurance is based on the knowledge that sins are forgiven, blessing is present, good is abundant, even in trouble and heaven.
• 6:00
  is ahead. Brothers and sisters, we receive a wonderful promise this morning from Romans chapter 5 and verse 1, which says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have it, which means we can stop looking for it. The sunglasses are on our head. The keys are in our pockets. The peace has already been given. We have peace with God, which means we can stop the search.
• 6:33
  You'll notice that our text, the three verses this morning, are a prayer. A prayer that God Himself would give peace and that God would give His presence, assuring that peace could be found. And we know that this is the fourth prayer at this point from the Apostle Paul within this short letter. Three chapters, four prayers. In light of the church's sudden and unexpected sufferings in chapter 1, the Apostle prayed in verse 11 that they would have power.
• 7:03
  He says, may God make you worthy of His calling and may He fulfill every resolve for good work of faith by His power. And as it related to the rise of the Antichrist and the coming day of the Lord in judgment, the Apostle Paul prayed in chapter 2 and verse 17 that the church would be comforted. May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, He says in chapter 2 and verse 17, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
• 7:31
  concerning the onslaught of evil and wicked men, raising their hand against the gospel spread. In chapter 3, he prayed that their attention would be focused on Christ. Chapter 3 and verse 5, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. And now in this morning's text, understanding the context of the challenge of dealing with brothers and sisters who may be lazy, if you recall from last week's message,
• 7:59
  or who, like many of us probably struggle with, may have become weary in doing good, who don't rest properly, the apostle prays for peace. And this, we will see, is the perfect conclusion to an otherwise violent letter. In the last two months, since we've been studying this book, we've talked about eternal punishment. Do you guys remember that sermon?
• 8:28
  That happened to be the Sunday that the Lord lined up the preaching schedule for some random church here in town to send 30 people to come and visit our church. Does anybody recall that? Two months ago, we had all of these people from this other church here in town just randomly show up. They didn't tell us they were coming. We had no idea. We were unprepared. We didn't have enough seats for them, right? Because it was a nice warm day and so everybody showed up, right? We had 278 people in second service that day. We only have 220 blue chairs.
• 8:58
  So we were creative, and you guys will recall, of all of the Sundays that they could have come and visited, which one did they choose? Eternal punishment. Reject Jesus, hell forever. And that's what we did. We talked about it. That was this letter. We talked about the rise of the lawless one, the spiritual apostasy that he will cause. We've talked about the chaos that wolves in sheep's clothing can cause with their false teaching. Remember, there were...
• 9:26
  False letters being circulated in this church and just throwing the church into turmoil. Concernation because they thought maybe they had missed the coming of Christ. Talk about the destruction of the Antichrist, the return of Christ. Last week, a rebuke of lazy Christians. One man said it has up to this point been a tempestuous letter. Feels like a storm has been raging for the last three chapters. But this concluding passage is like the calm sea.
• 9:57
  after a violent storm. He says, peace. Our brief passage is a reminder to the church to stop searching because lasting, conclusive peace has already been offered. We just have to be willing to receive it without qualification. And so allow me, if you would, just to walk through our passage this morning. We're just going to go a phrase at a time, beginning in verse 16, where it says, Now may the Lord of peace himself. May the Lord of peace.
• 10:25
  himself similar wording is found throughout paul's writing in fact this phrase the lord of peace or the god of peace is prolific in the apostles writing romans chapter 16 second corinthians chapter 13 philippians chapter 4 first thessalonians 5 all include similar wording the god of peace or the lord of peace well what does it mean that the lord our lord is the lord of peace
• 10:53
  It means that peace derives from God. If peace, you catch this, if peace has a God, it's our God. Our God creates peace. Our God commands peace to do His will. Apart from Him is chaos, strife, and disorder. There is no peace apart from our Lord. And where the world may define peace as calm,
• 11:26
  Right? Nothing happening. Must be peace. The believer knows better because such worldly calm is easily destroyed. And that veneer within which many of our neighbors and coworkers operate is easily punctured. One bad phone call, one little thing at work that doesn't go their way, and suddenly the peace is over. The calm has been punctured, right? And anger flows out.
• 11:54
  Although the water may seem very still on the surface, below it may be raging. There is. You guys know I'm from Southern California. I grew up there my entire life. And so going to the beach was a relatively normal thing for us to do. And the beach is weird. There's this kind of current that's created called an undertow.
• 12:18
  And so if you're ever there at the beach and you're watching your little ones playing in the water or whatever, you've got to be careful of this because there's an undertow where the water comes in, the wave comes in, it splashes up on the shore, right? And then as it draws back out, it pulls. And actually, it pulls really, really hard sometimes. There are times even when there will be a wave that has come and crashed on the sand, it's pulling back as another wave will be coming in over the top of it.
• 12:44
  and crashing on the sand again. And so although the waves on the top may look like they're going forward, the water beneath them is actually pulling backwards. Does that make sense? An undertow. And it's a little bit scary, especially if you're only four feet tall and only weigh 60 pounds. I mean, it pulls hard. And so those lifeguards are always watching for this undertow. There's a really dangerous thing that happens if waves ever are coming toward each other and collapse in on each other on the beach, because that means...
• 13:13
  Although the waves are coming in this direction, they're pulling doubly hard on their way back. They can actually crash toward each other and create what is called a riptide. And a riptide means that it is drawing out harder than it's pushing in. And if you're swimming or surfing or boogie boarding or doing something like that and having fun, you can get caught in a riptide and it can actually pull you hundreds of yards out into the ocean.
• 13:39
  without you really even realizing it's happening. You can look up and then realize you are way, way, way far away from shore, farther than you're comfortable with, and farther than you have the ability to swim back. And so they'll teach you, if you ever get caught in one of these, that you actually need to swim parallel to the shore rather than swimming in, but parallel to the shore to get out of that riptide in order to then swim back. It's kind of a scary thing. And you guys, the same thing can be true spiritually. Spiritually.
• 14:10
  it can look on the surface like everything's okay. Your neighbors, non-Christian neighbors, your non-Christian friends and co-workers, they may seem fine. Everything on the surface may seem fine, but we know better. Apart from God, there is no peace. And so although it's calm on the surface, it can be raging. There can be turmoil underneath. We must not become inoculated and desensitized to the storms that rage within.
• 14:40
  The human soul. And they do. They do. We can pretend like they don't, but they do. The Lord of peace. What I love about the New Testament is it also reverses the word order at times. The Lord of peace, but also at other times there is the peace of the Lord or the peace of God. Philippians 4 and verse 7 words it this way where it says,
• 15:06
  the God of peace. May the peace of God, sorry, Philippians 4, 7, may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, this text says that not only does the Lord command peace, but that peace belongs to Him, the peace of God. That it defies logic, that it sets a guard over the hearts and minds of God's children. Have you ever experienced this logic defying peace?
• 15:40
  Logic defying peace sets a guard over our hearts. It sets a guard over our minds against worry, anxiety, stress, tension, all of the things that strip us of our peace. Logic defying peace. This last week, Hallie and I had the privilege of taking a couple from church here to dinner. They're missionaries, home for a little while, returning to the field, Lord willing, soon.
• 16:09
  and it was kind of a funny thing because this has never happened before. We thought we chose a place here in town we thought would be quiet. We would just get a quiet booth. We would talk for a couple of hours. Had a wonderful time, but about 30 minutes in or so after we had already ordered, and so it was too late to go somewhere else. And unbeknownst to us, there were no signs. There was nothing, no alert at all. But this restaurant had scheduled for a comedy night. So they had all these local comedians come in to do their 10, 12-minute bits.
• 16:40
  Right? It was loud. You guys, I mean, honestly, the things that they thought were funny and the things they were trying to get everybody in the restaurant to laugh at were absolutely vile. They were vile. It was bad, you guys. And so here's the four of us, right, in our little booth. And what is it that we're talking about? We're talking about ministry. We're talking about God's global economy, what God is doing around the world. We're talking about the strife.
• 17:10
  the tension, the difficulty of serving the Lord, and yet the joy of doing so willfully, gladly, being called and confident in that calling. We're talking about difficult, difficult things, and yet, I'm telling you, some of these comedians were getting up there, and you guys, they were not funny. And the reason I know is because nobody was laughing.
• 17:37
  There was one guy even that was so bad, he was saying his jokes, and after everybody's joke, it was so quiet that he honestly said he was doing this after each joke. Did you guys hear what I said? Yeah, they heard. What was really startling was the contrast between the people sitting on that side of the restaurant enjoying the comedy thing and us, because I'm telling you, we were having a better time. There was laughter.
• 18:03
  There was joy. I mean, we were honestly enjoying one another's company, laughing about how, I mean, what a privilege it is to serve the Lord and to do so in difficult contexts, in difficult settings. And here we are talking about things that should have stripped us of our peace, right? But enjoying it. And here are all of these other people over here talking about what they're trying to make up and think is funny. You guys, it just wasn't funny. Logic defying peace.
• 18:31
  Logic defying joy. Do you see how Philippians 4 says, the peace of God which transcends understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God defies logic. Possessing this peace means that the believer can enjoy an inner tranquility of soul because he or she trusts in the impeccable wisdom and ultimate power of God. Why isn't it scary? Scary.
• 19:01
  To go where God calls you to go, even if that's hard? Because you trust that if God calls, He will also carry. You trust that if God guides, He is going to provide, right? Isaiah 26.3, if you're not familiar with this verse, I'd encourage you to write it down. Isaiah 26.3 says, You will keep in perfect peace Him whose mind is steadfast, because He trusts in you. You will keep in perfect peace.
• 19:31
  Him whose mind is steadfast because He trusts in you. That's first. The Lord of peace Himself. Notice verse 16 continues. May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace. May He give you peace. This peace from God is not won. It's not earned. Instead, it's given. Many of you will be old enough to remember the Cold War. Right?
• 19:58
  Probably most of the people sitting in the middle sections, the crew over here and the crew over here probably don't know what I'm talking about. But other than that, you guys remember the Cold War, right? Why was it called the Cold War? Was it because the Soviet Union, former Soviet Union was cold? It is, right? All of those countries all joined together under that Soviet banner. It's freezing. The coldest places in the world, the worst places in the world are in the former Soviet Union.
• 20:27
  But that's not why it was called the Cold War. It was called the Cold War because no actual shots were being fired. But just because no shots were being fired didn't mean it wasn't a war. The absence of shots fired is not the absence of war. Does that make sense? But most people think it is. Most people, if you talk to them today, think that they are at peace with God simply because they aren't in their minds.
• 21:02
  actively contradicting him. And because I'm not actively contradicting God, I must be at peace with God. But make no mistake, just because shots aren't being fired doesn't mean there's peace. War is a scary thing. I think sometimes maybe we're not scared enough of it. The mutually assured destruction sentiment of the 1960s might be closer.
• 21:33
  to reality than most of us want to admit. Most of us choose to live in relative ignorance, assuming that tomorrow will be exactly like today. And I'm telling you, our non-Christian friends and neighbors believe the same way spiritually. They just put the blinders on. Everything will be fine. There is no war. There is nothing outside of my own existence. What I can see and smell and hear and touch, and that's it. And I just choose not to believe anything else. But this ignorance does not equal peace.
• 22:05
  the almighty creator of heaven and earth, the one who made us and sustains us, the one against whom we have declared war, we have started taking shots, here says gives us peace, gives it to us. Because peace is never given. Peace is only ever taken. Peace is won through victory, right? Through strength of arms. Peace is won, but only for the victor.
• 22:39
  And here, peace is given away. And for us who believe, we understand to an even greater degree this peace offered freely by God because we know not only is the peace given freely, but it actually costs Him something dear. Even the blood of His own Son. Turn to your Bibles with me if you would. I want us to look at these verses together. To the left, Colossians 1.
• 23:08
  About a dozen pages to the left or so. Colossians chapter 1. Look at verse 20. Context is speaking of Christ. So the pronoun him is referring to Christ. It says, and through him, through Christ, to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven. What does the rest say? Making peace by the blood of his cross. Just because the peace was free to us doesn't mean the peace was free. Catch that?
• 23:50
  Not only is this God willing to offer us peace that costs us nothing, He's willing to offer us peace that cost Him desperately. It cost Him, and He offers it for free. Continue turning to the left. Just a few more pages. Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. Look at verse 13. It says, But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We've been brought near by the blood of Christ.
• 24:29
  Not only did this peace not cost us, but this given peace actually cost him. He paid for the peace that he would give away. Scripture says that Christ has brought peace where there was hatred and enmity. We'll go back to our text in 2 Thessalonians. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. At all times in every way.
• 24:59
  This to me sounds like marriage vows. At all times, you can imagine the Lord holding our hands, looking into our eyes and saying, for richer or poorer, better or worse, sickness and health, right? At all times, in every way. This coming April, a couple of months from now, just next month actually, April 9th, Hallie and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary. And honestly, you guys know, I'm not going to get, there's no reward waiting for me in heaven.
• 25:31
  for being married to Hallie, right? Being married to Hallie is its own reward. She's an absolutely delightful wife. I love her to death. We've considered, after being married 20 years now, writing a letter, and I think we're going to do this actually, writing a letter to each of the 50 or so couples whose weddings we've officiated over the course of the years. We've never actually counted them, but it's somewhere around 50 marriages we've done. We just want to write them this letter.
• 25:59
  to remind them of the goodness of God and their faithfulness to their vows. Fifty couples. Fifty marriages. Which I've had the best seat in the house for. Right? It's groom and bride and me. All standing within five feet of each other. I've watched them over and over and over looking at each other and holding hands and reciting vows back and forth. Not all of whom fulfilled them. And every now and again I hear...
• 26:31
  The devastating story of separation and divorce, and it always causes me to reflect on the day that they got married. I remember standing there within five feet of them and giving them, spoon-feeding those vows that they would repeat to one another. You know, in all of those marriages, never, not one time, in all of those vows I've heard, not one time have I ever heard the word, if. I take you to be my wife, if you'll treat me a certain way.
• 27:05
  if you'll do things the way that I like, right? I want you to be my husband if you don't go and do these things and if you only act a certain way, never. I've never heard marriage vows that say for richer and in health, right? But not in sickness and poorer. I've never heard it before. I vow to be your husband as long as we're rich and healthy and you're still pretty, right?
• 27:39
  But isn't that how we treat them oftentimes? Those marriage vows were meant to be unceasing. Every single time I've heard marriage vows, every time it's been until death do us part, unceasing. And those marriage vows are meant to be unconditional. Richer, poorer, sickness, and in health, it doesn't matter. I'll be there. Every time, unceasing and unconditional. Now look back at our text. May the Lord of peace himself give you peace.
• 28:12
  At all times and in every way. Unceasing, unconditional peace. Perhaps the greatest promise of all is that His peace is offered despite our faithfulness. So even if we go off and sin, did you catch this? At all times and in every way, that peace of God can be interrupted by sin, but it will never cease to be offered.
• 28:45
  Even in our rebellion against God, he continues to offer this peace. No matter what, even if peace with God is interrupted through disobedience, it can be restored through repentance. Thomas Watson said this, if you would have peace with God, make war with sin. Those willing to wage war on sin will find peace with God every time, all of the time. And he concludes with this in verse 16, the Lord be with you all.
• 29:20
  The presence of the Lord is the essence of peace. If you want peace in your life, the Lord's got to bring it. The Lord's got to provide it because he's the only one who has it. We can look and look and look and look for peace other places. We will never find it. It's already been offered. It's already been extended through the death of his son. Paul here was praying over the church, the empowering, protecting presence of God over his people.
• 29:50
  Now you'll recall that the church had been sent into turmoil because of false letters. And so in verse 17, the apostle Paul signs off using his own hand, using his own handwriting. It's like he's signing the document at the end. 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. And then he concludes with the perfect words. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Grace extended freely. The merit of God showered upon us.
• 30:19
  who didn't deserve it. And that's what we're going to celebrate this morning in communion. The elements, the bread and the cup are the grace of God. They're a reminder of God's goodness to us, even in our sin. Let me pray, Lord. I ask that as we prepare our hearts for communion now, Lord, that you would remind us of your grace and peace toward us. God, thank you for the sacrifice of your own son. Thank you for his blood so that we could have forgiveness.
• 30:50
  God, be praised in this church as we take communion. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.