FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
PEACE
DR. JIM DIXON
MAY 4, 1986
GALATIANS 5:22-25, JOHN 14:15-27
Shalom. That’s what the Hebrews say. The word means “peace,” an ironic word for the people of Israel, because the nation of Israel, since its rebirth in 1948, has known very little peace. The Arab nations hate Israel. Israel is surrounded by enemies. It has very few friends on the earth. In accordance with biblical prophecy, we know that God has a very special purpose for this reborn nation of Israel, but we also know that this reborn nation of Israel will not experience lasting peace in this age of the world.
Two thousand years ago, God offered peace to Israel, but Israel lost that peace because it refused to welcome the son of God. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ stood outside the city of Jerusalem looking down upon it, and He said, “Would that even today, you knew the things that make for peace, but they are hidden from your eyes.” He said, “How often I would have gathered you to myself as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not.” And the Bible tells us that Jerusalem found no peace simply because it did not welcome the prince of peace. It did not know the time of its visitation.
Now every person in this room and every person in this world is just like the city of Jerusalem, and just like the nation of Israel. None of us can know peace until we are willing and ready to welcome the Son of God. He is the Prince of Peace, and He alone offers peace. He offers a threefold peace to His people, and these comprise our three teachings this morning.
First of all, Jesus Christ offers the peace of God’s presence. If you’re a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then God wants you to know that he is always with you. God has made a promise to you alone that He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will be with you always, and his presence with you is meant to give you peace.
Last year, Barb and I went to (we also took Drew and Heather) see a movie called “Cocoon.” We’d read a review of this movie in the entertainment section of the newspaper, and it told us… it said, that this movie was good for the whole family. It also gave this movie a really high review. It gave it four stars out of four stars. That bothered Barb and I because usually when a movie gets a high review, we don’t like it. We’ve often said, “We’re one-star people in a four-star world.” But we like this movie—all of us except for Heather. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like the movie because there was a point in the movie where one of the aliens took off her skin, something that aliens are prone to do. I guess. Now this alien was not presented as an evil terrestrial, but nevertheless, when she took off her skin, her natural appearance was kind of scary, and there was a luminous glow about her. She looked like she had just descended from Mount Sinai where she had encountered the Shekinah glory.
Well, that night, as we were putting Heather to bed, Heather told us that she was kind of afraid and that she couldn’t stop thinking about this, this extraterrestrial. We told Heather that God was with her. The Lord Jesus was with her, and she didn’t need to be afraid, and we prayed with her, and that was good. Heather then tried to go to sleep, but she couldn’t. As the night wore on, she came into our room, and she told us she’d be glad to sleep in our bed with us. She said she’d be willing to sleep on the floor in our bedroom, and she said if she had to, she’d even sleep on the floor in Drew’s bedroom. She just didn’t want to be alone. She wanted somebody with her. That, of course, is very natural for children. We’ve all felt like that, but God wants us as Christians to understand that we are never alone, and He is always with us, and as we grow up and as we mature in Christ, God wants us to sense more and more the reality of his presence with us so that we begin to experience the peace, the peace that comes from knowing that we are never alone and that he is always with us. The Bible says, “Wither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend to the highest heaven, Thou art there. If I make my bed in the depths of Shaol even there thou art with me. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thou are with me. Thy hand guides me, and thy right hand takes hold of me.” God is with his people, and he never leaves us alone.
In 1942, General Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines. He was forced to leave the Philippines by Japanese armies. But before he left the Philippines, MacArthur made a vow, a promise. He said to the people, “I shall return.” It took him two years to make good that promise, but in return, he did, in October of 1944. Between MacArthur and the people of the Philippines, there was mutual respect, even a mutual love, and nine months later, in July of 1945, the Congress of the Philippines enacted a law. They declared that the name of General Douglas MacArthur would be carried forever on the roles of the Philippine Army. When MacArthur heard that he wept, they decreed that whenever the role was called for the Philippine Army, the name of General Douglas MacArthur must be called, and an answer must be given. The highest-ranking non-commissioned officer must respond by “saying “Present in spirit.”
Now, many things have changed in the Philippines today. There’s been a controversial election, and a change of government, but one thing remains the same. Whenever the role is called in the Philippine army, the name of General Douglas MacArthur is shouted out, and the answer is still given, “Present in spirit,” but of course, General Douglas MacArthur is not present in spirit or in any other way. His body has returned to the earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, and his soul and spirit have left this world and gone into the presence and the keeping of God the Father. There is no one on this earth who has the power to make themselves always and forever present with a group of people. But Jesus Christ has that power, and 2,000 years ago, He made a vow to the people of this world. He said, “I shall return” and one day he will return, perhaps sooner than many people think. But in the meantime, He has promised that He is with us. He is indeed present in spirit, truly, and the moment you received Him as Lord and Savior, and the moment you invited Him to come into your heart and be the savior of your life and the Lord of your life, He actually sent His spirit within you. The Comforter, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, and that’s why He said, “I will not leave you desolate. That is why He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” and he wants you to know that no matter what your circumstance of life as a Christian, He is with you, and that’s meant to give you, His peace.
Now secondly, Jesus Christ offers the peace of God’s protection. God, says, “Fear not. I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God. I will uphold you and I will strengthen you with my victorious right hand. In the Bible, it is promised that for the people of God, God gives his angels charge over us, lest we dash our foot against the stone. It is promised that God will not allow the Son to strike us by day nor the moon by night. It is promised that he is our shield and our defender, a mighty fortress is our God. Jesus Christ said, “Peace. I leave with you My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace of knowing that our Lord is taking care of us.
One of my favorite stories tells of an event that took place long ago in the land of Ethiopia. When people think of Ethiopia today, they think of starvation. They think of malnutrition, and they think of death, and that is tragic because Ethiopia is a very beautiful country. It’s a country of high mountains and a country of beautiful fertile valleys of beautiful plains, and of course, also desolate deserts. A long time ago, Ethiopia was called the Kingdom of Abyssinia, and the King of Abyssinia was named Theodore. He had a mountain fortress called Magdalia, built high up in the mountains of Abyssinia. One day, King Theodore took captive a British citizen whose name was Campbell. It took the British government six months to find out that King Theodore had taken one of their citizens captive and that they were holding him in the fortress city of Magdalia. Immediately the British government demanded Campbell’s release, but King Theodore refused, so the British government did an amazing thing, even an extravagant thing. In one of the most incredible rescue efforts in all of history, the British government sent 10,000 men by sea to the coast of Abyssinia or Ethiopia.
Now Ethiopia has a beach that runs 600 miles along the Red Sea, and those 10,000 British soldiers came to that beachhead, and they marched 700 miles on foot over the deserts and over the plains until they came to the base of the mountains of Magdalia, and then they ascended those mountains, and they literally stormed the gates of the fortress city. King Theodore did not resist. He was overwhelmed, and those 10,000 British soldiers literally picked Campbell up and they carried him 700 miles back to the sea. They brought him safely to his homeland. It cost the British government $25 million to rescue one citizen, but they wanted to make a statement to the people of other countries, to the people of Abyssinia, and to the people of the world. They wanted to tell the world that they had the power to protect their citizens and they had the resolve to protect their citizens.
Now, we are citizens of a great country. I believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world today, but if you’re a Christian, you are a citizen of a still greater country, a higher one. If you are a Christian, you are actually a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. You are a citizen of the kingdom of Christ, and the Bible says that “Jesus Christ has all power in the heavens and on earth, and He has the power to protect you,” and if you believe that, you will experience His peace.
When I was in college one summer, I took a job in Los Angeles, a summer job, and that was exciting for me. I liked working in Los Angeles. I liked the crowded streets. It seemed like a lot was happening. I even liked the Jewish delicatessen, the great place to eat. Most of all, I liked wearing a suit. It was the first job I ever had that I was required to wear a suit. I was also required to carry a briefcase, and I felt like it was ‘big time.’ I was working for Mitchum, Jones, and Templeton, which was a brokerage house centered in Los Angeles, and I was what was called a ‘carrier.’ In my briefcase, I would carry documents from our brokerage house to other brokerage houses that were nearby, and most of them were within walking distance. Some of these documents had to be signed and returned. Other documents had to be delivered. Some documents had to be picked up.
On occasion in my briefcase, I would carry stocks and certificates, and negotiable bonds that were valued at more than $2 million. That was sometimes dangerous, and that is why some brokerage houses had their carriers’ briefcases handcuffed to the wrist of the carrier. They did that not to protect the carrier, they did that to protect the briefcase, and that way if the carrier were mugged or even killed, why it was hard for the thief to get away since he’d have to drag the carrier with him. Well, that didn’t comfort us a whole lot, but Mitchum, Jones, and Templeton handled the whole situation another way. Instead of having the briefcase chained or handcuffed to my wrist, instead of that, they would have two guards follow me and some other brokerage houses did this too. These two guards would follow 25 or 30 feet behind me in the midst of the crowd they were armed. And Mitch Jones and Templeton told me that they weren’t there simply to protect the briefcase. They were there to protect me, and it was kind of a good feeling to walk around the city of Los Angeles knowing that two armed guards were following you everywhere just to take care of you. But of course, it’s not possible to go through life like that. You can’t go through life with armed guards following you everywhere, and if you’re a Christian, you don’t need to because God has promised to protect you. He’s promised to give his angels charge over you, and I believe with all my heart that God protects his people.
He doesn’t promise that you’re going to live 80 or 90 or 100 years, but He does promise, I believe, to protect you in this world until your work is through until His purpose for you is complete, and then He promises to protect you for all eternity. And you see, that was meant to give you peace as God protected Noah and his family when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly as God protected Lot, when God brought judgment upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as God protected Joseph from the plots of his evil brothers, as God protected Moses from the Egyptian Pharaoh and the people of Israel, from the armies of the Pharaoh as God protected David from a giant named Goliath as He protected Daniel from the mouths of lions, as He protected Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, so God has pledged to protect you and you might feel like you’re in the midst of a fiery furnace even now,
As Bob mentioned in his prayer, perhaps you’re going through economic struggles. Maybe they’re really, really tough. Maybe you have a physical problem, or a medical problem and you’re concerned for your health or some relational stress, some broken relationship, and you’re really hurting. Maybe you feel like you’re in the oven and you’ve been in there a long time, and somebody forgot to set the timer. But you see God knows what He’s doing, and He’s promised that He is with you and ultimately, He will vindicate you. In the Bible, God says, “Behold your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world, and when you suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who has called you.” “To His eternal glory in Christ Jesus will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you to God be the glory forever and ever,” The Bible says. The promise of His protection is meant to give you peace.
Well, thirdly and finally, Jesus Christ, as the prince of peace offers the peace of God’s provision. Not only the peace of God’s presence and the peace of God’s protection but the peace of God’s provision.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi, and he said, “My God will supply your every need according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” The Psalmist writes, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” God is committed to providing for His people. Jesus said, “I will not fail you and I will not forsake you.” If you really believe God is providing for you, then you’re going to have peace.
About a month ago, Barb and I received a letter in the mail. It was a chain letter and it claimed to be a special chain letter that originated in Europe years ago. This chain letter promised good luck if we would do certain things. If we would xerox the chain letter and send a copy of it to 20 people, then it was guaranteed that we would receive good luck, and the letter cited examples of people who had done this and sent out 20 more letters and immediately received great sums of money or great material provisions, great blessing. On the other hand, this letter warned that if you didn’t send out these 20 letters, you were in big trouble. If you broke the chain, you could die. This letter gave examples of people who broke the chain, didn’t make the copies, didn’t send out the 20, and they died within six days, or their loved one died, or they fell into ill health or horrible catastrophes, and as soon as I read that letter, I threw it in the trash, and I hope that whenever you get a letter like that, you trash it because that’s what it is.
Some people seem to think that there’s almost a kind of supernatural power tied to a letter like that, and for the most part, that’s just superstition, but even if there is on occasion some evil power tied to a letter like that, as a Christian, you don’t need to fear it because “He who is in you is greater than He is in the world” and it’s God who has promised to provide for you. Our provision doesn’t come from good luck. We don’t need to worry about good luck or bad luck. God is our provider, and He is committed to this. He is committed to meeting your needs as a member of the household of God, and that is why Jesus Christ said, “As you all know, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, or what you shall wear. Consider the birds of the air. They neither sewn, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them all. And are not you much more valuable than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to your span of life? So why are you anxious saying, what shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall I wear? Consider the lilies of the field, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin and yet I tell you,” Jesus said ,“Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so raised the lilies of the field, which are here for a day and tomorrow are burned, how much more will he clothe you, oh, ye of little faith. So do not be anxious saying, what shall I eat what shall I drink, what shall I wear, for the gentiles, the nations seek after such things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and He will give you everything you need.”
You notice that the promise of God’s provision given to the Christian is a promise that he will meet your every need. He doesn’t promise to give you everything you want.
Barb and I have noticed that Drew and Heather want many things. They would like to have ghetto blasters and they would like to have Walkman’s and they want to be dressed in just the right way. Drew wants to wear jams, which are cool pants, flowered kind of long shorts, and multi-colored. He’d like to wear high-top Jordan, what are they called, Air Jordan High top shoes. He wants to have his hair feathered. He’s eight years old! Heather wants to have bangs, and she wants her bangs to be just perfect. And for years, she wanted every cabbage patch doll that this world had ever seen or known. You know, Barb and I love Drew and Heather, and so we provide for them by the grace of God, and we get them, we believe, in everything they need, and because we love them, we give them sometimes more than they need.
You see, God is like that. He loves his people. He loves the people of Christ, and he has promised to give you everything you need, and sometimes just because he loves you, he even gives you more than you need. And if you believe in his provision, you will have his peace.
Eddie Rickenbacker and well this will close; was I believe one of the greatest men of this century. In World War I, Eddie Rickenbacker was America’s number-one flying ace. He shot down 22 enemy aircraft. Prior to World War I, he had already become an internationally famous automobile racer. After World War I, Eddie Rickenbacker rose to great heights in the business world. He came to own the Indianapolis Speedway for 18 years, and in 1938, he became the president of Eastern Airlines, and he remained president of Eastern Airlines for 21 years until the year 1959, and during that time, Eastern Airlines rose to great prominence. He continued as chairman of the Board of Directors of Eastern Airlines until 1963. He died in 1973 at the age of 83, but the turning point in the life of Eddie Rickenbacker took place in 1942 during World War II when he took, when he accepted a surveillance flight that Secretary of War, Henry Stimson had asked him to undertake, Eddie Rickenbacker’s plane was forced down over the Pacific. With seven other men, Eddie Rickenbacker found himself adrift on the ocean in a rubber raft. They were helpless for 24 days. When word came to America that Eddie Rickenbacker’s plane had been lost in the Pacific, Christians all over this country prayed hundreds of thousands of Christians prayed. And in that raft with Eddie Rickenbacker, Christians prayed.
But Eddie Rickenbacker wasn’t a Christian. He didn’t believe God would provide for him until, as he put it, a miracle happened because days had passed, and they were dying of hunger and thirst very near to death. When suddenly a seagull began to descend from the heavens. It came down over their raft, and amazingly, this seagull came down gently and landed on the head of Eddie Rickenbacker. He reached up. He was sure the bird would just fly away, but it didn’t. It just stayed there, and he gathered in that bird, and he had what he described as “the greatest meal of his life.” The heavens opened and brought down rain, and they had fresh water to drink, and it was as a result of that incident that Eddie Rickenbacker gave his life to Jesus Christ because he saw the providing power of Christ. He gave his life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He lived 31 more years in this world, and he still lives by the power of Christ. He says that from that day in 1942, from that point onward, he never doubted the power of God to provide for him.
You see, God doesn’t want you to doubt His power to provide for you no matter what your circumstance in life, as God brought manna from heaven that the children of Israel might eat as He brought water from the supernatural rock at Mirabel that the children of Israel might drink, so He promises to provide for you. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, the prince of peace. He offers the peace of God’s presence. He offers the peace of God’s protection, and He offers the peace of God’s provision.
As we close this sermon this morning, I’d like to do something a little unusual. I’d like to ask you all to stand and get out of your hymnal and turn to page 41. I’d like us to say the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for His namesake. Yay. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou prepare us a table before me. In the presence of my enemies. Thou anointed my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me on the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Let’s pray.