The Peace of God
Part 2
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. (John 14:27)
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; (Revelation 1:4)
And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. (Revelation 6:4)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
When considering the peace of God, it is expedient to have His peace within. This is a peace that the world can not give, for the world has not known the true peace of God since the fall of man. When one is saved in Jesus Christ they receive the peace of God. We, as Christians, by faith have made our peace with the Almighty; therefore, He ministers His grace to us. We are saved by grace and each and every moment of our life (and I might add eternity) we live in that grace. This gives us an immoveable peace with God. The Lord Jesus declares to His own that His peace would be left behind in them. He declared He would leave it with them, and He would specifically give it to His own, my peace I give unto you. This peace is not the hollow peace of the world; for the world knows not true peace. This supernatural peace is from God the Son, and if your heart has this peace of the Son of God you will neither be troubled nor afraid. In the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, Christ is talking to His disciples concerning His peace. If we incorporate verse 26, But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you, into verse 27 we not only embrace the peace of God, but in that peace we receive a Comforter who is the Spirit of God. And what better peace could one have then the witness within oneself of the Spirit of God who brings both comfort and peace from God the Son. In the unity of the Godhead the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ are One.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11)
Freedom
If we consider John 14 and Romans 8 together we would have a wonderful combination of Christ ministering the Spirit to us to set us free from the bondage of the flesh, the bondage of the world, thus giving us liberty and peace in Himself. In Romans 8: 15 -17, we have the Spirit of God witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
The Great Deception
If you have not this witness of the Spirit of God within you Romans 8 states that you are none of His. So, you will not have God’s peace, you will not have the Comforter, and you will not have the Person of God’s Christ dwelling within you. This should explain to you the feeble condition of the professing church and of many professing believers. They have never been cleansed, there is no Spirit of God within them. They have been fed by the deceivers of Satan as Eve was deceived in the garden. It was the lying theologian Satan that perverted the first study of the word of God, Yea, hath God said.
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Genesis 3:2)
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:3)
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:4)
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6)
In this great deception there is one thing that most miss, and that is the attitude of both Eve and her husband, Adam. They were lifted up by the words of Satan. They became more than they really were in their own eyes. They listened to a deceiver tell them that they would become gods, so this lie has flowed throughout the whole world throughout all ages. For in the end of world history there will be a man of sin displaying and showing himself as god in the temple of God. And just as in the garden, peace with God ended in the day of the beast there will be no world peace. It will only be changed when the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes to judge this world, and to set up His millennial kingdom.
The last mention of God’s peace comes in the Book of the Revelation, Chapter 1, verse 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; This peace is addressed to the seven churches of Asia. It is the Spirit of God confirming the peace of Christ. This, of course, comes before the seven letters; one letter to each church. In the letters addressed to the seven churches we have the exposure of the infidelity of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. As these seven letters span the period of Church history, we see in the first church the turning away from Christ, or giving up their first love, which was Jesus Christ. We also see in this first church, the first deception brought in by the Nicolaitans, or the deceivers of Satan. Paul, addressing the Corinthians, he called them the ministers of Satan. As we travel through the seven churches, we are introduced to the deception of man, the deception of Satan, the establishment of Satan’s seat within the church, the perverseness and lasciviousness of Jezebel and her children, and the finality that the church declares it has need of nothing. In reality, in the last time, or the last days of church history, the church possesses nothing, she has given up all for the world, and has turned her back on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Overcomer and The Witness
In all these negatives, there is a positive, and that is to the overcomer. When the Lord Jesus promised peace to the seven churches of Asia, it was to the overcomer, and not the body of professors. Once again, we have to go back to Romans 8:15-17 that if we have the Spirit of God within us, His Spirit witnesses with our spirit, that we are the children of God. This is not a collective witness of the Spirit, but the ministry of Christ through His Spirit to our heart, so that we know we belong to Him, and we have His peace. When He described the Spirit of God as the Comforter His description is fulfilled in Romans Chapter 8, we have a perfect display of this truth in the 8th Chapter of Romans. What a comfort the Spirit of God has brought us, as He enlightens us through the text of Romans 8. Let’s also compare Galatians 4:6 and 7.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:7)
Galatians 4, verses 6 and 7 continues the witness of God the Holy Spirit to our hearts. His Spirit or the Spirit of Christ within us has declared that, I [am] my beloved’s, and my beloved [is] mine: he feedeth among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 6:3) This witness of the Spirit of God has brought the peace of God, the hope of God, the eternal salvation of God, and the ever presence of Christ Himself. In Revelation 1:4, this peace that is given is qualified by the Lord Jesus Himself. He declared that this peace is from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come. This peace is secured by the throne of God. It is secured by the Spirit of God, or to expand the seven Spirits of God which are around God’s throne. In this peace we have the comfort in knowing that it is the peace that our Savior has given to us, and this peace is upheld by Jesus Christ, who is the faithful and true witness of God. In Revelation, 1:4 we have the last mention of God’s peace, and this peace we would apply to all those true believers who have overcome the world in Jesus Christ. Throughout church history there has been a countless number of overcomers who have experienced in their hearts and souls the peace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This peace will be continued as given to every believer until the translation of the Church at the very close of church history.
The 2nd Horseman
In Revelation 6:4 we have the last mention of the word ‘peace.’ This is not God’s peace, but the empty peace of the world. In Revelation 6:4 that peace is taken from the world by the 2nd horseman. Notice that the horse is red, or sprinkled with blood, for the 2nd horseman is given a great sword, and with that sword the nations and the peoples of the world would kill one another. Are we there yet ? Notice, in Revelation 6:4 the Chapter is number 6, this is the number of man, verse 4 or number 4 is the number of the world. It was the 2nd  horseman, the number of witness. And it is in him to spill man’s blood throughout the world. There will be no peace on earth.
The Church and The Spirit Removed
At the end of Revelation, Chapter 3, the Church has been removed, and a great door has opened in heaven, Revelation, Chapter 4. The Body of Christ has been removed from this world before the witness of Chapter 6 of Revelation. The Spirit of God has also been removed, and the present ministry of the Spirit of God is completely changed. Though He will minister to the earth during this tribulation period, it will be amongst those chosen of God for instance, the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. The ministry of the Spirit of God during the course of Church history has been an indwelling in the believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;(2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:5)
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.(2 Thessalonians 2:6)
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:9)
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:11)
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:12)
The Ultimate Politician
This world will now be led by the man of sin, verse 3; he will oppose all that is of God, verse 4. He will sit in the temple of God showing himself to the world as God, yet this world that he reigns over will have no peace. Throughout the regions of the world, we have seen the embryo of future turmoil in our age. On the present path of world politics, the man of sin will come into a prepared place for him; for our politicians are preparing such a world. The man of sin will be the ultimate politician, in fact, he will be worshiped by the world. Have we not already seen some of this worship of some of the current age politicians? Are they not allowing in some way the sword that will be revealed by the 2nd horseman. Are not the victims of tyranny, and religious bigotry being slain by the sword today? They bow to what? They bow to a veil of blood and darkness. There is no light nor life for their souls in any sword of religion. When Constantine drew his sword at the sign of the cross, it was just a political ploy to disenfranchise true believers with the Holy Spirit in their hearts from Constantine’s man-made religion. This was the first state church which has been duplicated many times by the powers of this world. The true believer has no king but Christ, the King of peace. To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;. (Hebrews 7:2) The Lord Jesus is both the Priest of the most high God, and the King of peace. He has an eternal priesthood. And He stands upon the rock that is Himself with the peace that He gives unto His own.
Believers Removed
In 2nd Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. This description is of the Holy Spirit of God. He is portrayed as a restraint to the evil of the world. The Person of the Holy Spirit is the buffer between the children of God, and the evil world. When the Lord descends out of heaven in the air to receive the Church, I believe that those who are left alive on earth will ascend to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit of God; therefore, He, Himself will leave this world with the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:15)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
As all true believers are removed from this world, the Spirit of God will be taken out of the way, at this point, the wicked will be revealed. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:. (2 Thessalonians 2:8) At this point the world will enter into the beginning of the tribulation. This tribulation will be upon the entire world and will commence with Revelation, Chapter 6, the number of man. In Revelation, Chapter 4 and 5 we are not concerned with the earth, but the heaven above. We see ourselves as the children of God gathered around the throne of God, we have the joy of heaven around the throne of peace.
The Universal Evil Kingdom
When the Spirit of God begins Chapter 6 of Revelation we enter into the evil kingdom of man. The number six is the number of man, and from Chapter 6 we watch man’s continual plummet into the eternal darkness. It ends with the tyranny of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. We get a trinity of evil, and in the number of the beast, we have the fulfillment of all evil in that trinity in the number of his name 6 – 6 – 6. I want to make sure that you understand we have in the trinity of evil that old serpent, the devil and Satan in Chapter 12, and in Chapter 13 we have the beast, the man of sin rising up among the nations, or the sea of mankind. The number 6 – 6 – 6 depicts not only the number of the man, but the complete repetition of the trinity of evil. The dragon, the devil, will give his power to the beast. At this point the world will not only worship Satan, but the beast as well. No one will be able to resist him, for they will not be able to make war with the beast. The world will be thrust into a world of slavery, which is foreshadowed in our current democracies of this day, for the more they pledge ‘freedom’ the less freedom the populace receives. I will give you just a few examples: when I was 13, I took my first job, I did not have to have government permission to work. I was free to seek a job so that I could make money to buy clothes for school, or just have some spending money. Today, under the current tyranny, I would not be able to work to earn some spending money. Even tradesmen needs to have all kinds of licenses and permits to do their work. The government gives permission through licensing and permits in order that a man can work.  They can also deny his right to work by taking his licenses away. The government can put masses out of work: example, the steel industry, and the coal industry. Laws and regulations although created under the guise of the better good for society have subtly taken away the right to work. These rules and regulations also affect the independent business owners, or mom-and-pop businesses. If they do not want to serve reprobates, they are forced by government allowing law suits to either take away their businesses or close them . . . so much for freedom.
National Sovereignty Terminated
The kingdom of the beast will control the entire world. Each nation will give up it’s sovereignty to the kingdom of the beast. (A little known fact is that the U.N. demands every nation joining the U.N. must give up their sovereignty — yes, even the U.S.A.— the U. N. asserts that it has the sole right and total authority to determine when a nation should maintain it’s sovereignty, and that the U.N. is the only entity to decide when they must step in take control and rule over the offending people. They, of course, set the conditions of what is offensive; thus, eradicating national sovereignty of offending member nations through the confirmation of the R2P policy first agreed to in 2005, and later developed more in depth in 2013 at the summit of world leaders.) The evil that we see today in our political world will be minor compared to the beasts’ dark world of evil.
A World Enslaved                            
He will reign over the world with an iron fist, he will abuse mankind as I said, it will be a world of slavery. Man will be in slavery both body and soul, and unable to buy or sell without the mark of the beast. We are terribly close today to this wicked slavery. We have allowed our own greed to put us into financial slavery which in turn is government slavery, for nothing runs on this earth without money. All governments, and politicians have laid aside the truth for their own particular deceptions. One day the world will wake up to a world that is in total darkness. Their countries will be taken away, and their wealth and property will be in the hands of the kingdom of the beast. This will all come in God’s time, but man will be so unaware that it will come as a thief in the night.
The True Peacemakers of Truth
While we are yet in a time of grace, the Lord Jesus wants His children to be peacemakers. It is the peace makers, the Lord said, who will be called the children of God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) We have been given the gospel of God’s peace to bring peace to the turmoil of the souls of men. Only the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can give this peace. It is truly a peace that the world cannot understand, for it is centered in the Christ of God. In John 20, verse 21 the Lord again reminds His disciples, and us, of that peace He has given; this peace came by the travail of His soul. (Isaiah 53) We proclaim this peace to a world of evil, yet, we are called to be peacemakers. We proclaim the gospel so that man might find peace with God.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: (Acts 10:34)
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:35)
The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) (Acts 10:36)
That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; (Acts 10:37)
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)
And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: (Acts 10:39)
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; (Acts 10:40)
Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. (Acts 10:41)
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. (Acts 10:42)
To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)
We never tire from the joy of the gospel. We never stop, we never lose hope for in this gospel of God’s dear Son, we have peace with God. (Philippians 4:7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit we gladly share this peace with you, one and all; to encourage those of like faith, and to rescue from the burning fires precious souls. To God be the glory who gives us peace. Amen.
The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. (Proverbs 14:11)
© Copyright 2016, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)