By John Thiel, mp3, pdf

Scripture reading: Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Here is the introduction to this message:

Heaven to Begin on Earth

The life on earth is the beginning of the life in heaven; education on earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven; the lifework here is a training for the lifework there. What we now are, in character and holy service is the sure foreshadowing of what we shall be. {AH 535.1}

The service rendered in sincerity of heart has great recompense. “Thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.” By the life we live through the grace of Christ, the character is formed. The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun. They have Christ’s joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They have the honor of being accepted for the Master’s use; they are trusted to do His work in His name. {AH 535.2}

God desires that heaven’s plan shall be carried out, and heaven’s divine order and harmony prevail, in every family, in every church, in every institution. Did this love leaven society, we should see the outworking of noble principles in Christian refinement and courtesy and in Christian charity toward the purchase of the blood of Christ. Spiritual transformation would be seen in all our families, in our institutions, in our churches. When this transformation takes place, these agencies will become instrumentalities by which God will impart heaven’s light to the world and thus, through divine discipline and training, fit men and women for the society of heaven. {AH 535.3}

We are on this planet to be fitted for the society of heaven. This is what we are here for. It is an education here. And the peace of the heavenly Canaan is something that we need to learn here on earth. This is what we want to meditate upon. The peace that passes understanding is ours to discover and embrace and enter into. Jesus uttered this.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

We want to be the children of God. We need to be at peace and we need to make peace. Isn’t this what the world is yearning for? As you travel up the great eastern highway in Australia, there is a great pink sign “I am for peace on earth”. The people want peace. Everyone yearns for it, but knows not how to find it.

No Peace

What is the reason why peace doesn’t seem to be found? Paul was here asking, Are we, the Jews, better than the Gentiles?

Romans 3:9 What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 16 Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known:

Why have they not known it? Because there is none righteous, no, not one. You know what it’s like: you want peace, and then something churns you and then you respond to something that opposes you, and you create more trouble; because the moment that you murmur and complain about what somebody else is doing, they come back and create more trouble, and there is more lack of peace. And it goes around like a whirlwind. It is because there is none righteous; that is why. It is sin. The condition of this planet is described in the following scripture:

Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 [There is] no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

When you study the prophecies, there is this wind on the oceans and there beasts arise one after the other; and the warfare of these nations warring against each other is the plight of this planet. So while people cry for peace, war continues. Today they talk about peacemakers who are in an army to go and make peace. Isn’t that funny? An army making peace? It only stirs more war.

Jesus came to this planet because He knew that peace was lacking.

Luke 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The angels knew that for those who accepted this beautiful message there would come peace; and it was meant for the planet. Jesus frequently expressed this peace. There on that troubled Sea of Galilee, when the storm was raging and the boat was about to sink, Jesus was in the boat,

Mark 4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

This is the story of what happened to the disciples, but there is a huge lesson in this in conjunction with the fact that the wicked are like a troubled sea. And because of sin there is no peace; there is constant commotion; the waters are not still.

There is another spiritual lesson in this miracle of the stilling of the tempest. Every man’s experience testifies to the truth of the words of Scripture, “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. . . . There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isaiah 57:20, 21. Sin has destroyed our peace. While self is unsubdued, we can find no rest. The masterful passions of the heart no human power can control. We are as helpless here as were the disciples to quiet the raging storm. {DA 336.4}

Here is something to meditate about. They were trying to control the situation, but they were helpless. And we are helpless too. Have you experienced it? When the passions that annoy and frustrate arise and there is no peaceful heart at the time, can you stop it? Can any words quell that? We are helpless here.

Peace, Be Still

But He who spoke peace to the billows of Galilee has spoken the word of peace for every soul. However fierce the tempest, those who turn to Jesus with the cry, “Lord, save us,” will find deliverance. His grace, that reconciles the soul to God, quiets the strife of human passion, and in His love the heart is at rest. “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.” …. “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.”. {DA 336.4}

So here is the provision that is made through Jesus. We cannot produce that peace; it is His declaration “Peace, be still”; it is our meditation upon Him that brings that peace. And for us personally,

Some have stormy tempers; but He who calmed the stormy Sea of Galilee will say to the troubled heart, “Peace, be still.” There is no nature so rebellious that Christ cannot subdue it, no temper so stormy that He cannot quell it, if the heart is surrendered to His keeping. {HP 17.4}

The world is in lack of peace; it’s a troubled sea. When Jesus spoke, Peace, be still; why can this world not come to peace? If the heart is surrendered to His keeping it can happen. To whom do we surrender?

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Do we surrender to that? This helps us to understand whom we are surrendering to:

Hebrews 7:2 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; 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

Who is this speaking about? The Holy Spirit, Melchisedec. If we are surrendered to the Holy Spirit within, who takes of Jesus and shows it to us, then, and only then, can this troubled tempestuous nature of ours be stilled. It needs to be surrendered. The peace that is Christ’s peace is bequeathed to such a person. Jesus said it. “Let not your heart be troubled… My peace I give unto you.” What peace? My peace, Jesus says; that peace which rules in heaven because Jesus is the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and the Holy Spirit is too. We are to be subject to that ruling power, and it will govern and control us as we are surrendered to that.

When we receive Christ into the soul as an abiding guest, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep our hearts and minds. {HP 249.6}

When the tempestuous nature arises within, it is the presence of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, that I receive and open my heart to, for Him to abide there, that can quell it. We can’t work it out; we think, How can I be peaceful in this situation? but it will happen. It is a peace that passes understanding. It comes from a source that doesn’t gel in our rationale, because everything is there to make us upset, to churn the soul. As we know so well, we have different heredities, and if something crosses my path, if something annoys me, up comes this explosion of passion within; but if Christ is the abiding guest, there comes a voice from Him that just quells that – a peace that passeth understanding.

There is no other ground of peace than this. {HP 249.6}

You can’t get it any other way. You can’t get it by wishing that that person would leave you alone. You can’t get it by reasoning with people around you to calm down and get it right. It won’t come that way. We cannot generate that peace; it is a peace that is found only in the abiding presence of Jesus.

The grace of Christ, received into the heart, subdues enmity; it allays strife and fills the soul with love. He who is at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable. {HP 249.6}

Is that true?

The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven and will diffuse its blessed influence all around. {HP 249.6}

It will diffuse it. As the troubled sea is around us and we are at peace because He is an abiding guest, there are influences that begin to allay the other people’s activities upon us. Sometimes they don’t; they get worse. But there is peace within. Jesus went through the terrible experience of the cross, but there was peace within. That which rules heaven is to rule within us. So it is His peace that He gives unto us.

Practical Answers to Receiving the Peace of Heaven

Let us enquire into the practicality of His giving and me receiving. It is not just words, not just an announcement that is going to give it to me; I need to understand the practicality of how this peace can actually take root in the most tumultuous circumstances. Remember, He spoke to the troubled, stormy Sea of Galilee, and it calmed. This planet, and the people in it, are like a troubled sea; and Jesus saying “Peace, be still” doesn’t quench that storm. Why? What is the difference between the Sea of Galilee and this planet with its constant strife?

Christ is “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), and it is His mission to restore to earth and heaven the peace that sin has broken. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. Whoever consents to renounce sin and open his heart to the love of Christ, becomes a partaker of this heavenly peace. {MB 27.2} 

There is no other ground of peace than this. The grace of Christ received into the heart, subdues enmity; it allays strife and fills the soul with love. He who is at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable. Envy will not be in his heart; evil surmisings will find no room there; hatred cannot exist. The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven and will diffuse its blessed influence on all around. The spirit of peace will rest like dew upon hearts weary and troubled with worldly strife. {MB 27.3}

Remember, My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew – the Holy Spirit. Only the hearts that are in harmony with God can receive this voice that produces that peace. The lack of peace is because of envy, evil surmising, and hatred. Those are the things that will be chased out of the soul as we open our hearts to the abiding presence of the Lord. This is further enlarged in the following statement. What is the difference between the Sea of Galilee and this troubled world? The Sea of Galilee was God’s creation; He had control over that. But upon people who will not give Him the control He cannot force peace. He cannot force peace. This is what the peace armies do; they try to force peace. But Jesus can’t do that.

To those who are conscientious doers of the word, it is life and spirit, a vital, quickening power; but if men misinterpret it, if they misstate it through their own perverted heart and clouded understanding, it becomes to them a stumbling-block, and not only to them, but to all with whom they have influence. {BEcho, August 19, 1895 par. 7}

So the very word that is meant to bring peace, if misinterpreted, brings stumbling and discontent.

Those who train their minds to cavil and criticise will have opportunity afforded them to develop their true mould of character, just as Satan was given room to develop the crookedness of his policy. All the heavenly intelligences, all the universe of God, are able in each case to decide in regard to the development of character. They can tell who may safely be permitted to enter the portals of bliss, and who, by their disloyalty to God, would endanger the peace of heaven. God could work a miracle in every word spoken through His Spirit; but this is not His plan. He gives evidence, but leaves the will free. {BEcho, August 19, 1895 par. 7}

Are you getting the answer as to why He could speak peace to the Sea of Galilee but not to the planet? It is those who develop the character by the word of God, by the abiding presence of Jesus, who are permitted to enter the portals of bliss. And those who are disloyal to God would endanger the peace of heaven. No matter how much God can speak and Jesus can speak peace, it wouldn’t enter heaven. Isn’t that interesting? How many people have got this false idea that God will force peace. He won’t; He doesn’t do that.

God Will Not Force Peace

God could work a miracle in every word spoken through His Spirit; {BEcho, August 19, 1895 par. 7}

He could work it; He could enforce peace;

but this is not His plan. He gives evidence, but leaves the will free. {BEcho, August 19, 1895 par. 7}

So to speak peace to this troubled ocean of sinners, it requires for people to choose whether or not they are going to take God’s word and stop cavilling about it and creating more conflict over the Bible. As they said to me when I used to go from door to door, “Oh, religion and politics, I don’t want it; it creates more wars than any other things.” And that is the reason why – because the people are misinterpreting the word and creating conflict over the word.

So the question is, Do we consent? Do we surrender? Do we submit?

Do We Surrender?

Those who take Christ at His word and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering… {HP 249.4}

Here is the practicality of it. We’ve only touched the surface, but now we are getting right into the depth of it. To surrender my soul to His keeping, that we may think is pretty easy. Yeah, Lord, You keep me, please. But then, when He says, I want you to do this and that to order; people say, Oh, I still like this, and I still want that. But no; it says:

Those who take Christ at His word and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude.{HP 249.4}

They will find it.

Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. The Lord says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). {HP 249.4}

This is the practicality of His giving and my receiving. What is it? The difference is whether we surrender to His will or not. He wants to give, but am I surrendering to receive?

When a man is earnestly engaged day by day in overcoming the defects in his character, he is cherishing Christ in his soul-temple; the light of Christ is in him. {4T 346.1}

What is man to be doing? To be day by day engaged in overcoming the defects of his character. And if he does that, if that is what he is looking for, he is cherishing Christ in his soul-temple, and the light of Christ is in him.

Under the bright beams of the light of Christ’s countenance his entire being becomes elevated and ennobled. He has the peace of heaven in his soul. Many give loose rein to passion, avarice, selfishness, and deception, and all the time excuse themselves and lay the blame on the circumstances which brought around the trial to themselves. {4T 346.1}

Why am I going through a trial? “Oh, because of this and that. If that wouldn’t be there, I wouldn’t go through this trial; I wouldn’t be so tempestuous.” This is what they blame.

Making Our Surroundings

This has been your case. God permitted your surroundings to exist to develop character. But you could have made your surroundings; for by resisting or enduring temptation, circumstances are controlled by the might of the will in the name of Jesus. {4T 346.1}

Think about that. “God permitted your surroundings to exist to develop character. But you could have made your surroundings”. How do we make our surroundings? By resisting or enduring temptation. What a statement. If the temptation comes to me and I resist or endure the temptation, I am creating circumstances. This is how my circumstances are controlled – by the might of my will in the name of Jesus. Can you see the practicality?

This is overcoming as Christ overcame. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” {4T 346.1}

We create our circumstances by whether we are bristling against the unpleasant circumstances and creating worst circumstances and lack of peace, or whether we don’t bristle and we endure it. We are not to try to correct the other person; we don’t try to correct our circumstances by artificial means; we simply endure the thing. Are you picking it up? You endure it. You don’t go and mouth off about it. You don’t even churn in your mind about it; you just endure it. O how the Lord has been teaching me this. And I still have to fine-tune that. Something annoys me and I will say something, and it makes an irritated response, and the Lord says, “What did you say that for? You didn’t endure it, did you?” To say nothing, even though it churns inside; to be at peace, and to let it go past you, and it’s peace – that is the practical guideline that is given here. To receive the peace that Jesus gives and bring my stress-troubled heart to rest requires my part. It requires me to respond according to what I am after.

There are four points that we want to consider now. The first one is:

1. When My Sin and Guilt and Condemnation Stress Me

That creates stress, doesn’t it? “I’m no better than what others are.” This is what Elijah said, “I’m no better than my fathers.” And I discovered that myself. “I’m no better than my dad! Oh no…” and it created such stress inside of me. But what must I do to come to peace? When my sin and guilt fill me with stress and guilt – not peace, but stress – and I feel horrible, here is what I must do:

In like manner you are a sinner. You cannot atone for your past sins; {SC 51.1}

Can we? If I can’t atone for them, why do I keep on letting them churn?

…you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. {SC 51.1}

Just as surely as I will do what? Confess my sin, give myself to God in the circumstance, and believe that promise. As you do this, God will fulfil His word to you. It is something I must do so that His word will be fulfilled.

If you believe the promise,–believe that you are forgiven and cleansed, {SC 51.1}

This is the concept here. I am troubled with my sin? Then believe the promise, believe that you are forgiven and cleansed. Believe it. Receive the promise. And if you do this,

God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. {SC 51.1}

Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, “I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised.” {SC 51.2}

This is what you do to come to peace over the troubled thoughts. As the thoughts of what you have done in the past, all those horrible things, come back to you, and it rises up within you as a condemnatory sensation, do something about it. Take the promise that, as I confess that to the Lord, He has taken it away. I still feel terrible, but it doesn’t matter; you don’t go by that feeling; you go by the promise.

We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. {SC 62.2}

He has made a way of escape for us? Don’t you want to take the escape from that troubled-mindedness?

He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. {SC 62.2}

This was the question: how to receive it and how God gives it. What do I do? Here it is.

If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. {SC 62.2}

Do you believe that? Do you believe that when all the practicalities of your sinful life stand in front of you, you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned? You know that you have confessed and you confess it to the Lord again, See, Lord, my sin is always before me; does that have to take away your peace? Not when you practice this. You are regarded as though you have never sinned. Do you believe that? You need to believe it to come to peace. This is what these words in Romans spell out for us:

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

We have peace that passeth understanding. You can’t understand it; how can you have peace when you’ve done such horrible things in the past? Take for instance a crass example: You have murdered someone; you are on death row in an American prison, and you can never bring that person back to life, and the law of the land is going to cause you to die. Can you be free? Can you actually be free and at peace within yourself? You can if you open your heart to those promises. And you mothers who think you’ve spoiled your children because you haven’t trained them properly and the guilt stands over your heart; can you get rid of that guilt? Yes, you can, if you will believe. It’s a peace that passeth understanding. Just believe the fact and you are at peace. This is what we must do to enter the haven of rest.

2. When We Meet with Impossibility of Overcoming

Not only is my sin a problem to me, but now I have problems even with overcoming some of the things that I still have problems with. When I meet the impossibility of overcoming, what do I do to enter into peace?

Will man take hold of divine power, and with determination and perseverance resist Satan, as Christ has given him example in His conflict with the foe in the wilderness of temptation? God cannot save man against his will from the power of Satan’s artifices. Man must work with his human power, {SD 156.3} 

This is where a lot of people miss the point. They say, You can’t do it, so don’t even try; just wait for magic. No; we are not going to get the victory by waiting for magic.

God cannot save man against his will from the power of Satan’s artifices. Man must work with his human power, aided by the divine power of Christ, to resist and to conquer at any cost to himself. In short, man must overcome as Christ overcame. {SD 156.3} 

He set us an example; this is how He did it. This is the path.

And then, through the victory that it is his privilege to gain by the all-powerful name of Jesus, he may become an heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. This could not be the case if Christ alone did all the overcoming. {SD 156.3} 

He overcame everything, but this would never be my peace if it was just done by Him alone.

Man must do his part; he must be victor on his own account, through the strength and grace that Christ gives him. Man must be a co-worker with Christ in the labor of overcoming, and then he will be partaker with Christ in His glory. {SD 156.3} 

The Saviour overcame to show man how he may overcome. All the temptations of Satan, Christ met with the Word of God. By trusting in God’s promises, He received power to obey God’s commandments, and the tempter could gain no advantage. {SD 156.4}

You can see here how important is this practicality that has been pulled out from underneath the feet of God’s people. When they are struggling with this and they know they’re having a hard time, the ministry is not imparting the pure word, and so they’re waiting for magic and nothing ever happens. O how long I have struggled under a “magic” mentality, until the Lord showed what I have just read to you here in other words. I was praying to the Lord, Have mercy on me, Lord; I’ve got this problem, this sin, and I can’t overcome it; and up came these beautiful words from the Scripture, that my sin is the fruit of another sin. What? The fruit? So I’m trying to overcome this one, but I’m doing something else that creates this sin? Lord, show me. And He did. Follow the health reform, and you’ll be more patient. I was eating food that was creating a violent temper, bringing out the worst in me. Then I put that away, and sure enough, things began to calm down, and I could gain strength.

There is something I must do. I must obey the directions of God, and then I will get the victory and I will have the peace.

3. When Our Responsibilities and Duties Overwhelm Us

As I am stressing over my responsibilities, I have duties to perform, and they are hard, and I am struggling through my duties, and I just get so tired; it’s so heavy work; “I can’t be happy here.” Have you ever been unhappy with the labour that are your duties? That’s not peaceful, is it? How to be peaceful and happy in doing your duties?

When we take into our hands the management of things with which we have to do, and depend upon our own wisdom for success, we are taking a burden which God has not given us, and are trying to bear it without His aid. {SD 119.3}

How many times are we burdened with things that God hasn’t given us? and we don’t have peace. It looks like I have to do it, but it’s not what God has commanded me to do.

We are taking upon ourselves the responsibility that belongs to God, and thus are really putting ourselves in His place. We may well have anxiety, and anticipate danger and loss; for it is certain to befall us. {SD 119.3}

Have you ever been in front of something which you have taken on without asking God whether you should take this on or not? And then you think, Oh no, it’s going to crash and go bad; and you can be sure it will. Oh yes, I’ve been through that; and then I come crying to the Lord, Have mercy upon me; forgive me. And this is what He has shown: I must not take the management of things with which I have to do by depending on my own wisdom for success, because I am taking the burden which God has not given me, and I am trying to bear it without His aid. We may well have anxiety, and anticipate danger and loss; for it is certain to befall us.

But when we really believe that God loves us, and means to do us good, we shall cease to worry about the future. We shall trust God as a child trusts a loving parent. Then our troubles and torments will disappear; for our will is swallowed up in the will of God. {SD 119.3}

Isn’t it precious? These are wonderful, practical answers. This is not a pie in the sky by and by; this is not what so many atheists are explaining to us Christians, Oh, you’re just living in a fairy world. This is not poetic fancy. This is down-to-earth material that we are to engage in.

4. When There is Lack of Unity in the Church

Then comes the situation in our church – the issue of unity. Haven’t we seen this? We thought we had peace, but then comes trouble; and there is no peace in the church, until it all settles back down again. Then we shake ourselves and think, What happened? How can peace come?

Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What are we to do? We are to endeavour. The word endeavour is the name that was given to Captain Cook’s ship. He endeavoured to reach the foreign places on the planet, and he did it. We are to endeavour to reach this unity in the bond of peace. Can you do that if you are doing the following?

All the religion a few poor souls have, is to watch the garments and acts of others, and find fault with them. Unless they reform, there will be no place in heaven for them, for with this spirit they would find fault with Jesus and angels. {2SG 287.1}

So what must we endeavour to do? To look to Jesus in our company, to concentrate on the pure truth, and keep on speaking of it and embracing it. This will be the source of our unity, and the Jesus living in the heart of one will not quarrel with the Jesus in the other. And we will not look to each other at all the faults that we see and get churned up about them. That’s not peace. We want peace in the church. Endeavour! Put it into action, and the peace of God will take root. Whatever is the source of our anxiety, deal with it according the following words:

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing;

Don’t worry about anything. Whatever is going to worry you, whether it is your sins of the past, or your problem of overcoming your faults, or the burden of your daily duties, or church unity, don’t worry about anything. What should you do?

Philippians 4:6 …but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And as you do this,

Philippians 4:7 …the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Here on earth we may dwell as Jesus did – with peace in the church, peace in our hearts. We may, even though it is tempestuous around us.

My Peace I Give Unto You

The Saviour’s life on this earth, though lived in the midst of conflict, was a life of peace. . . . No storm of satanic wrath could disturb the calm of that perfect communion with God. And He says to us, “My peace I give unto you.” {HP 249.3}

Because this requires our human input many fail to reach what God wants to give us. My peace I give unto you, Jesus says. Why can’t we get it? Because we don’t understand what I have just shared with you – there are things for me to do.

Jeremiah 12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

It requires human effort, and we become weary. How can we find that peace? Our preparation for heaven and the peace of the heavenly Canaan is to exercise the peace our Prince of peace has come to impart.

The apostle exhorts us, “As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The grace of Christ changes the whole man, making the coarse refined, the rough gentle, the selfish generous. It controls the temper and the voice. Its outworking is seen in politeness and tender regard shown by brother for brother, in kind, encouraging words and unselfish actions. An angel-presence, is in the home. The life breathes forth a sweet perfume, which as holy incense ascends to God. {3SM 239.3} 

Love is manifested in kindness, gentleness, forbearance, and longsuffering. The expression of the countenance is changed. {3SM 239.4}

What does your face look like? The angels behold the face of our Father in heaven. Our face shows what’s going on inside. But as Jesus is there, the expression of the countenance is changed.

The peace of heaven is revealed. There is seen a habitual gentleness, a more than human love. Humanity becomes a partaker of divinity. Christ is honored by perfection of character. As these changes are perfected, angels break forth in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude. {3SM 239.4}

We want to make the angels happy. It will not happen unless we engage in the written word. What is it that I must do? When I am condemned and I have lack of peace because of my sin, I believe the promise; I trust the fact that after I have confessed I am regarded as if I had never sinned. Beautiful peace. And when I meet with the impossibilities of overcoming my sinfulness, my character defects, what do I do? I engage together with my strength and God’s strength and we deal with each situation, and we will get the victory. And when I am stressing because of the responsibilities and duties that lay hard upon me, I don’t take duties upon me that God has not given me, to make it even worse; and the Lord will give me the joy of fulfilling that duty. And when I have problems in the church and there is lack of unity because we have suffered under the attitude of looking upon each other and watching each other, seeing this thing and that thing wrong, is there peace in that? Cease doing it, and look to Jesus, and He will give you strength to stop doing it. And so we are to go forth and do the will of God, and the peace of God will take over. May God help us to this end.

Amen.

(Illustration by Good News Productions, International, used under CC BY)