Shaun Rossi // The Gospel of John

We can rejoice that Jesus returned to the Father, sent the Holy Spirit to teach us, and leaves us His peace for our troubled times.

“27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

— John 14:27-31

Sermon OutlineI. Our Need for Peace v 27a

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

— James 4:13-15

II. Our Need for Jesus’ and Not the World’s Peace v 27b

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;”

— Isaiah 53:3

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

— 1 Peter 2:24

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

— 1 John 4:18

What is Peace?

Jesus said in v 27 of our text “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” Peace is a word that we hear a lot about in a variety of contexts today, but what exactly does Jesus mean by offering us His peace?

“Peace” comes from the Hebrew “shalom,” which refers to general well-being or contentedness which comes from God (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. by Colin Brown). Therefore biblical peace is closely related to joy and since it is rooted in God, it comes to us irregardless of our circumstances unlike many of the worlds ideas of peace.

D. A. Carson points out (The Gospel According to John p. 505), “Peace is one of the fundamental characteristics of the messianic kingdom anticipated in the Old Testament (See: Num. 6:26; Psalm 29:11; Isa. 9:6-7, 52:7, 54:13, 57:19; Ezek. 37.26; Hag. 2:9). This peace is fulfilled in the New Testament (See: Acts 10:36; Rom. 1:7, 5:1, 14:17)

So receiving Jesus’ peace is tied to recognising and believing on Him as the Messiah. Or, we enjoy peace with God because Christ bore the penalty for our sins on the cross. As Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If you have trusted in Christ to save you from God’s judgment, you have eternal peace with God.

The Story Behind the Hymn “It is well with my soul”

In todays sermon we have considered the Peace that only Jesus Christ can give. This peace is well captured in the hymn “It Is Well” which comes from the unspeakable suffering of its author, described below.

The author, Horatio G. Spafford (1828-1888), was a Presbyterian layman from Chicago. He had established a very successful legal practice as a young businessman and was also a devout Christian. Among his close friends were several evangelists including the famous Dwight L. Moody, also from Chicago. 

Spafford’s fortune evaporated in the wake of the great Chicago Fire of 1871. Having invested heavily in real estate along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, he lost everything overnight. In a saga reminiscent of Job, his son died a short time before his financial disaster. But the worst was yet to come. 

Hymnologist Kenneth Osbeck tells the story: “Desiring a rest for his wife and four daughters as well as wishing to join and assist Moody and [his musician Ira] Sankey in one of their campaigns in Great Britain, Spafford planned a European trip for his family in 1873. In November of that year, due to unexpected last-minute business developments, he had to remain in Chicago, but sent his wife and four daughters on ahead as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Havre. He expected to follow in a few days.
 
On November 22 the ship was struck by the Lochearn, an English vessel, and sank in twelve minutes. Several days later the survivors were finally landed at Cardiff, Wales, and Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband, ‘Saved alone.’

Spafford left immediately to join his wife. This hymn is said to have been penned as he approached the area of the ocean thought to be where the ship carrying his daughters had sunk. His words are challenging and word giving to any struggling with the brokenness and suffering which comes to us form our sinful world, and who are clinging to the peace of Jesus Christ:

“It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.”

— Horatio Spafford

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