The Lessons of Lent: The Peace Christ Gave

The Lessons of Lent: The Peace Christ Gave!

[My Offline Bible] 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. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
[My Offline Bible] John 16
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Certain realities must never be lost to the believer if he must fulfil the mandate of his Master on earth.

One of such is the distinction between the world and the kingdom of Christ.

Speaking of the world, we speak of a system that runs on the selfishness of man and the decadence of his fleshly nature.

The god of that system is Satan himself. Every department of life is complete in it; be it economic, political, religious, educational, entertainment, social and even governance.

In that system, the will of Satan holds sway. The prince of the power of the air rules, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience locking people within its course of destruction. Ephesians 2:1-3, 2Corinthians 4:4 speaks of the god of this world.

That evil spirit that rules the world system has a counterfeit of everything in God's kingdom. He also has a counterfeit peace.

A kind of peace that is sustained by fear and oppression and not by love. The kind of peace that is filled with suspicion and all manners of intrigues either between nations, within communities,  political parties, churches,families, among friends and even within marriages.

The world peace portrays a kind of quietness, but a quietness like that of the wild with trouble in its belly, in which any wild animal can strike at anytime within the false quietness and serenity! It is a quietness that can't resist the push of selfishness and satisfaction of personal lusts and appetite!

But the peace Jesus left behind is different! You don't need a covenant with evil to enjoy the peace, neither do you need to amass weapons of war to enforce it. Its the kind of peace that defies trouble, the kind that sleeps in a storm and quenches the rage of storms! It's the kind of peace that can't be pushed around! It commands internal stability even in the tribulations the world offers!

Jesus could enjoy such peace because he harboured nothing of the prince of this world within Him. He didn't have his hate, didn't have his lies, didn't have his greed, didn't have his pride and didn't have his lusts, didn't have his inordinate ambitions and so the peace of God could settle within Him untainted!

[My Offline Bible] 1 John 2
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Satan rules his world by the three counterfeits of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. These are those things he uses as baits and as traps and once those occupy the heart the love of the Father has no place and if there's any peace, it will be the satanic species!

So Jesus said, the prince of this world, the agent of the god of this world was coming but unfortunately for him, he had nothing in Christ and so His peace remained in Him in spite of all the trouble He went through.

That's the kind of peace He has left with us not the kind of unsettling peace the world offers but to preserve that peace, we have to empty ourselves of those things the god of this world could lay claims on and fill our hearts with the love of God....

What satan couldn't find in Christ he shouldn't find in us and if he wouldn't find that he can't enforce his kind of peace on us!

When CHRIST gives His peace, no man can make trouble....

[My Offline Bible] Job 34
29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:

[My Offline Bible] Psalms 119
165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Good Morning!

Let this be our confidence this week as we approach the period of the elections in Nigeria. If we can't trust the peace the system offers we can assuredly trust that which Christ has given us... that peace can quench the power of any raging storm!

Speak peace! Peace be still! Be confident in God! Have no fear! There shall be God's quietness! And there shall be no loss!

Peace to you and all yours!

THE ESSENCE OF EASTER
understanding the purpose of His passion....

The teaching and the discussions continue tomorrow

Thursday 26th March 2015

6:00pm

@

The Bible Class
Non denominational Bible Discussion Class

83 Adeniyi Jones Avenue
Opposite Trevo office
Ikeja, Lagos

Come with/or refer friends, let's stoke the fire of the word revival together! We are expecting you!