PEACE
John 20: 19-21
Colossians 1: 19-23
1 Peter 3: 8-12
Philippians 4: 4-9
DCW We have been speaking about some of the great things of God, and we cannot enjoy any of these things except in an atmosphere of peace and of love. So, we know well that wars disturb everything. When you have peace, prosperity usually goes along with it; but when you have war, sorrow and suffering, death, distress and destruction come as a consequence. Then in the end people try to patch up a peace, and of course they are left with a country and an economy that are impoverished, and conditions are less favourable than when they started off. In men’s affairs, there are many examples of that. At the end of the First World War, there was what was called a peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles, but it simply laid the foundations for greater conflicts to follow, and those conflicts are still continuing as a consequence of that.
But this peace that the Lord has made, and has purchased at such cost, is something that cannot be changed or broken in upon. So, He comes in on this resurrection evening among His own, this little fearful company; and how reassuring it must have been to them, not only to see the Lord, but also to have this gracious word from the Lord Himself, “Peace be to you”. And then He repeats it, and He shows them His hands and His side. I thought, then, that we might consider what it has cost Him to make that peace, “having made peace by the blood of his cross”. It is something for us to contemplate and enjoy, I believe.
DMW You would say we would find this peace by experience, over against the world, as we are in it but not of it? Would it be because it is from another world?
DCW Yes; there is no peace in this world. Jeremiah quotes those who say, “Peace, peace! when there is no peace”, Jer 6: 14. So there never can be a lasting peace among men generally in a scene which has cast out and rejected the Lord.
DMW And there are various attempts, of course, in the alliances, the bundles referred to in Matthew 13: 30. They shall be burnt up, taken for judgment; but this is peace, a lasting peace, is it not? Was it seen first in Himself, as He experienced what was so against what was in His spirit? We have had, “Jesus wept”, John 11: 35? He was the only One who could do anything about the whole weight of things, and bring in something that man has never known.
DCW So, “he is our peace”, Eph 2: 14. And one of His titles in Isaiah is, “Prince of Peace”, chap 9: 6.
DMW So the world, literally, needs its Prince, its true Prince, and He will bring that in His righteous reign; there will be peace, there will be balance even in the lower orders of creation. How wonderful it is that we can have everything from Him in having His Spirit, which He imparted to the disciples. This can be known now in the circle where eternal life is.
DCW Yes; I was just thinking as we sang the hymn that our brother gave out, about those ideal conditions to which we look forward, such as rest. We sang about the paradise of God, Hymn 206. The great longing and yearning of each one of us, I am sure, is that we should know something of those conditions even now.
TRV So is that why, in the portion you have read, it is on the resurrection day? It is after death: we can have part with Him beyond death. So we have the environment in which it can be enjoyed; it is behind the closed doors. The doors were shut through fear of the Jews: is that the area in which we enjoy it?
DCW I think so. So, tomorrow morning, as we come together to remember Him, I trust that we will experience something of that. It raises practical issues with us: if we are not at peace amongst ourselves, how can we rightly enter into these things? There may be brethren in this company, or other companies, who are at odds with one another, and yet if we come together tomorrow morning, we are all professing to come together on the same ground. So the exercise is to come as those who have proved - or examined - themselves. There is always that possibility, is there not, that we can get right, and get right quickly because of what the Lord has done? So, in Paul’s writing about the Lord’s supper, conveying the truth that he received from the Lord Himself, there is no indication that people are to stop breaking bread: “let a man prove himself, and thus eat of the bread, and drink of the cup”, 1 Cor 11: 28. There is therefore no excuse for persons to stay away from the Lord’s supper; there is the ability, and facility, and the help of the Holy Spirit, to get things right.
APD Is there a connection, therefore, between righteousness and peace?
DCW Yes. There certainly is. These things are really cumulative, are they not - “righteousness, faith, love, peace, 2 Tim 2: 22? We have “the righteousness of faith” (Rom 10: 6), and we have been justified. All these things are for our help and for our enjoyment; for our establishment. The enemy constantly seeks to break in and disrupt that peace. That is one of the things that Paul warned against in Acts 20, and obviously the enemy had succeeded to an extent. Not only would there be the grievous wolves, but he says also, “from among your own selves shall rise up men speaking perverted things”, Acts 20: 30. We have got to be careful about what we listen to, and how we react.
DTH Can you help us about what the Lord says, “I leave peace with you; I give my peace to you”, John 14: 27? He really gave them what was their inheritance before His death.
DCW That is helpful; He says, “I leave peace with you; I give my peace to you”. Peace is a general term, but then the question is whether each one of us knows what it is for His peace to be with us and in us; and being enjoyed by us.
DMW One of the scriptures read says, “The Lord is near”. And in the same epistle, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both the willing and the working according to his good pleasure”, Phil 2: 12, 13. So would that help as to being careful, and the exercise not to intrude into the peace that I think we have typically in Psalm 133, the area of eternal life?
DCW Yes; and then there is the exhortation to “seek peace, and pursue it”, Ps 34: 14. We read in our first reading about “those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart”, 2 Tim 2: 22. If we have bad motives in our heart, if we have wrong feelings in our heart towards others, we cannot have a pure heart.
DMW What you say is helpful; just to look at that phrase, “pure heart”, as having no mixed motives at all.
DTH Would that be a demonstration of “the meekness and gentleness of the Christ”, 2 Cor 10: 1? There is no mixed motive there. I noticed in the scriptures you read that the sufferings of Christ are alluded to, or are witnessed. I wonder how much the sufferings of Christ are considered in the care meeting?
DCW Well, that passage goes with my exercise, that we should be affected by these things, and to think of what it cost the Lord that there might be peace. It is also said, “coming, he has preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off, and the glad tidings of peace to those who were nigh”, Eph 2: 17. The whole thrust of the glad tidings is that there might be peace; in order that persons might have peace towards God, and that we might enjoy that peace, and we might have peace within ourselves, and that there might be peace with one another in the company to which we are privileged to belong.
AML Would it be right to say that “my peace” gives a touch of what is mutual?
DCW Well, His peace is distinct, but then we are to share it mutually.
AML I wondered if the Lord would have delight in a mutual way, if we are in the enjoyment of it; because it comes from Himself and He has joy in seeing this taking form in His own.
DCW That is right. So there must have been great joy in His heart at this time. If we read at the end of Mark’s gospel, we might despair because “he reproached them with their unbelief and hardness of heart” (chap 16: 14); and there is very little said about the activities of the Lord after the resurrection in Mark’s gospel. There is a great deal more, of course, in Luke and in John. So this must have delighted John’s heart; he may have been writing up to seventy years after the Lord said these things, and yet the words, the enjoyment, were as fresh as on the day when the Lord spoke them. So it should be for us too.
DJW Does the way He goes on to show them His hands and His side have a particular bearing on the peace that He speaks of? In Luke, it is His hands and His feet (chap 24: 40); I suppose that relates more to what He has done, and where He has been. But are His hands and His side in John more connected with, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand”, John 3: 35? Do you think His side represents what has come to light that cannot be disturbed?
DCW I think so; and then we might see in it an allusion to the assembly, going back to the type of Adam and Eve - “this was taken out of a man”, Gen 2: 23. So I think there is a distinct allusion there to “the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it”, Eph 5: 25.
DJW I think that FER taught us that peace was everything in complete order as under Christ (see vol 14 p284). It is not just the absence of conflict; His hands bring everything into subjection to Himself.
DCW So one definition of peace is ‘security without fear’. If you are in peaceful circumstances, you are secure, and there is no fear of an enemy coming and disturbing that peace.
KDD I am reminded of what Mr Warren Lock used to say, that men think of peace as being without war or conflict, whereas peace really comes from the atmosphere and conditions of another Man in another world.
DCW That is just it. There is an expression that ‘we have made peace but created a desert’; but the Lord, by making peace, has created a whole area of things in which we can be restful, and in which we can enjoy His presence and enjoy the fellowship of those who call upon Him out of a pure heart.
MJK I am thinking of what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians,“But the Lord of peace himself give you peace continually in every way”, chap 3: 16.
DCW That was a good aspiration on the part of Paul; I am sure each of us would echo that; it is what we would desire for one another.
DJK And that which is born out of His side is Himself - which would link with “the Lord … himself”.
DCW Yes, “the Lord … himself”. These references to “himself” are important, when He Himself comes into any situation everything changes. Maybe we see that particularly in Luke 24: there was speculation; there were doubts and fears. The two had returned from Emmaüs and were recounting their experience, but “as they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst, and says to them, Peace”, v 36.
CJB Does peace then require the Lord’s presence? I was wondering about what we were saying. In a way, we have His Spirit, which brings in an atmosphere of peace. I would like to know more about what that atmosphere of peace means.
DCW It is something that is available to us; it is not something we have to aspire to, or wait for. The exercise is that we might be in the present enjoyment of peace and restful conditions. So it is important that relationships should be right; otherwise things will not be as mutual as they are where there is confidence in one another, love amongst ourselves, all being of one mind and thinking one thing.
TRV To connect with the last question, and the remark that peace is not just the absence of conflict, I was thinking of the garden of Eden. You could not think of a much more pleasant environment, and there was no conflict there, but we would connect peace rather with what you opened up with in this portion: when He showed to them His hands and His side, the disciples rejoiced. So peace is always connected with Christ, is it not?
DCW It is, yes. In the garden there was an intruder; we sang in that hymn about conditions where there is no intruder. So the Lord comes in and we have this area that is spoken of as the paradise of God. What a wonderful prospect that is -
Free, our peaceful feet may venture
In the paradise of God.
MTH You mentioned earlier about seeking peace, pursuing peace; and I was thinking in a practical sense that we may find peace for a while, and it gets away from us; we may be distracted. Would peace involve movement and exercise on our part?
DCW Well, I suppose that comes in that other scripture: “seek peace, and pursue it”. That would require movement; but then, peace having been secured, there is rest, so it is,
Rest - where toil shall be no more.
GMC Peace is linked with sacrifice in Leviticus, the peace-offering; I wondered if that links with what we are speaking about, that it requires exercise on our part? It was slaughtered at the entrance of the tent of meeting; it would have been seen.
DCW Yes; so that was a reflection of something that that offerer was enjoying. It was not just a mere gesture or token that he was sacrificing for other people to see, but in so doing he was expressing his own feelings, and the security and peace that he enjoyed.
GMC The expression of that is really the outward enjoyment of Christ, is it not?
DCW So I suppose those who brought the offerings had to be selective, and look for what was the best. God has to rebuke the people in the time of Malachi’s prophecy about the lame and defective animals they were bringing (chap 1: 8); but He exhorts them to “Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith”, chap 3: 10. He promises to open the windows of the heavens. So God is not indebted to any of us, is He?
SWS I was thinking about the comment as to nearness; it has come to mind that there was one who was in the bosom of Jesus, John 13: 23. I can think of no more peaceful place than that, to be in the bosom of Jesus. It says of us in Ephesians, “having no hope, and without God” (chap 2: 12); we were “afar off” but we “are become nigh by the blood of the Christ”, v 13. It says, “he is our peace”; it is a very precious thing to lay hold of that.
DCW So, as well as being restful there, John was finding support; he was leaning on His breast, v 25. We find that we can rely upon the Lord, not only enjoying His company, which is very precious, but also enjoying the reliance and confidence and trust we can repose in Him.
DJW I think you had more in mind about how the peace was made? I think you were thinking about “the blood of his cross”.
DCW Yes, we think of the terrible agonies that the Lord suffered. We have those agonies in the Gethsemane; and there were sufferings at the hands of the chief priests, and the Roman soldiers, those who buffeted and spat upon him; but none of those sufferings could make atonement. Atonement could be made only by the offering of Himself. It says, “this he did once for all in having offered up himself”, Heb 7: 27. So through the sacrifice of Christ God is enabled - we speak reverently - to be restful in His own circumstances, but He would have us enjoy that peace and rest that have been secured at such a cost to the Lord Himself. I think we do well to ponder these things. One of the scriptures we read was “consider well him who endured so great contradiction from sinners against himself”, Heb 12: 3.
DJW I thought that the setting in Colossians suggested that what was made was for the Godhead itself. We may confine the thought of peace to what we enjoy, but there is something far transcending that; there is what has been done for God Himself.
DCW Yes; I am glad you bring that out because the greatness of this Person is emphasised. This chapter is akin to what we have at the beginning of Ephesians; it is difficult to know where to stop as we go down it. I was thinking of this verse, “in him all the fulness of Godhead was pleased to dwell”. And yet, “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness in him”, 2 Cor 5: 21. Think of the enormity of what man did to the Lord; no greater crime was ever committed, but then there are two sides to this whole great matter: “him, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of lawless men, have crucified and slain”, Acts 2: 23. So this was all in mind, was it not? Peter speaks of our being “redeemed, not by corruptible things … but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot … foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world”, 1 Pet 1: 18-20. So all God’s counsels and purposes were looking forward to this, and God had the remedy in view before sin came in.
GMC Several of the scriptures you read speak of “the God of peace”. In what the Lord gives us in John, He is acting as “the Prince of peace”. I wonder if it helps us to see that that is where the source of peace is. It is not our idea of peace, but it is all in Him, is it not?
DCW So as we said at the outset, all these four things we have spoken about - “righteousness, faith, love, peace” - of necessity have their origin in God Himself.
HWJ I was thinking about the matter of the Lord saying, “I leave peace with you; I give my peace to you”. The remarkable thing is that He was at peace, knowing all the time the suffering that was ahead of Him. And I was wondering if it does not help to think of that in view of the saints and the suffering they have had all through the dispensation - He was leaving that kind of peace for the saints to have in spite of the suffering that would come in. There are many that are suffering at the present time, and it is wonderful to get the sense of the Lord’s peace when there is suffering going on.
DCW Yes; He is the great Exemplar in all these things; He has suffered as none other has suffered, so He can sympathise with us in all our infirmity. The Lord showed true affections when He was here; we read often of His having compassion on persons. We speak reverently about His Manhood, of course, but He was a Person with sincere and deep and true feelings, was He not?
WSC Do you think that Stephen got a sense of this peace when the heavens were opened for Stephen, Acts 7: 56? He saw the Son of man standing at the right hand of God, and then suffered awful martyrdom. He exhibited a non-belligerent attitude.
DCW Yes, that was even visible: they saw his face as the face of an angel. I do not think this was taken away by the pain and suffering that followed. It was a face that was pacific in its appearance, and an expression of the inward peace he was enjoying.
KRO In connection with that, in the scripture referred to in John, the Comforter is brought in just before that; the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Comforter, and that would not be coincidental. He would bring the sense of that peace, the realisation of the peace that has been made.
DCW So the Lord uses language that I suppose we would not have used: “It is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you”, John 16: 7. The service of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is therefore vital to the enjoyment of these things. He has many activities and functions; we were speaking earlier of what we owe to the Spirit by way of restraint, but think too of His guidance: “he shall guide you into all the truth (John 16: 13); “and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you”, John 14: 26.
HTF A feature that is especially linked with peace is prosperity. I wondered if that was particularly illustrated in the establishment of Solomon’s reign; and the result of that. You spoke about a desert after a war, but what the queen of Sheba saw is described in detail. It took her spirit away; it was substantial: it was what had God’s service in mind and the enrichment of it, 1 Kings 10: 4-9.
DCW So it was when she saw “his ascent by which he went up to the house of God”, it was then that “there was no more spirit in her”.
MTH I think what our brother has brought forward is helpful. I was thinking as well that there is wonderful blessing in the Lord’s own words, “Blessed the peace-makers, for they shall be called sons of God”, Matt 5: 9. I was thinking that that is particularly associated with the pursuit of peace, and are peace-makers particularly connected with the thought our brother has brought up?
DCW We read of somebody being “a son of peace”, Luke 10: 6. You could go along with that person, could you not, one who was “a son of peace”?
We might move to 1 Peter. He says first, “be of one mind”; so that is vital if we are to enjoy peace. We have made reference to that already; we have that exhortation in Philippians, where two sisters who were not of one mind. They were exhorted individually: “I exhort Euodia, and exhort Syntyche”, chap 4: 2. If persons are not enjoying relationships, each of them has to make a move.
TRV Yes, that portion you refer to is very helpful: “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”, chap 2: 5. It is not some mind we agree to have, some set of rules, or creed; but it is the mind in Christ. So it is the mind that is referred to here: “finally, be all of one mind”; it is really the mind of Christ.
DCW It is; so that has been described as the mind to go down. We naturally like to fight our corner, to get an advantage over somebody else. We like to feel we are right and the other person is wrong, but if persons were of one mind there would not be such divergences. The question is, “Whence come wars and whence fightings among you?”, James 4: 1. Joseph knew the measure of his brothers, did he not? He told them, “Do not quarrel on the way”, Gen 45: 24.
SWS The thought of unity is extremely important in relation to your exercise as to peace: “using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace”, Eph 4: 3. It is a principle that God has established.
DCW Yes, so it is not to be an inactive matter; maintenance involves effort on our part - “seek peace, and pursue it”. We are not just to let things lapse; if there is something to settle, it is better to go and seek it out. The Lord spoke about the offering by the altar and something was at work in the conscience of the offerer. Well, he is to “leave there thy gift before the altar, and first go, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift”, Matt 5: 24.
DMW I am glad you said that; I was thinking about the two examples in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew 5 and 18, where you are not waiting for the other party; you are taking it up yourself. So, as has been brought out by our brother, the principle of reduction, seen in the going-down mind, results in peace, and expansion into a fixed matter which is the unity of the Spirit; that is what it results in.
DCW Yes, “in the uniting bond of peace”; it is uniting not dividing. So our brother spoke about Gideon last evening, and Gideon had to learn that there had to be reduction; he was not going to have to rely on the largish army that he had assembled. It was reduced and then a test was applied to find those who would be worthy to engage in the conflict.
DMW There could not have been victory otherwise; and so it is with ourselves in our relations, that there is no victory unless each of us take it upon ourselves to reconcile, or be in the gain of reconciliation.
DCW So what good is it for us to establish a point, what profit is it, or what do we gain from it?
DTH Is this the value of the Lord’s supper and the way Paul speaks of it? He says, “the communion of the blood of the Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of the Christ?”, 1 Cor 10: 16?
DCW Well, that brings us back to, “having made peace by the blood of his cross”. The Lord says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”, and He speaks of it being “poured out for you”, Luke 22: 20. There is no reserve, no possibility of reserve on His part, or of retaining anything or holding anything back. He “gave himself over into the hands of him who judges righteously”, 1 Pet 2: 23. He “by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God”, Heb 9: 14.
DMW The cup bears contemplation on our part, does it not? It suggests a disposition to go all the way, a disposition of love personally by Christ, a divine disposition of God; and we are brought into that area of things. Should we not therefore be disposed in our thinking to be in the gain of reconciliation? The Supper helps us in our relations with one another.
DCW Can we take it lightly? We would have to ask ourselves, if we were not in the gain of reconciliation.
DJK It goes much further than that, does it not? We might have said in relation to Onesimus that seeking peace would have put him back in the place of a bondman, but pursuing it recognised him as a brother in the Lord, do you think, Philem v 16?
DCW Yes, so Onesimus was not only to be restored as a brother, but he was also to be profitable. That would raise another question with us: how profitable are we? Why do we have silences among brothers?
MJK In this section you have read, it speaks of blessing; can you help us as to the connection there? It says in verse 9, “blessing others, because ye have been called to this, that ye should inherit blessing”. 1 Corinthians 10 speaks of “The cup of blessing which we bless”.
DCW I am sure there must be a connection with that, so that it is a very rich inheritance that we have. It is something too that we can share with others.
DMW Is the way this scripture presents reconciliation really what we are getting at? It is necessary for a new creation response; new creation follows reconciliation.
DCW The old man could never be reconciled; “our old man has been crucified with him”, Rom 6: 6. If new creation comes in there is a new creature, somebody different. Physical character may not have changed, although Christianity often brings a change even in a person’s appearance; that is the outward man. But “the inward is renewed day by day”, 2 Cor 4: 16. That would not doubt be the work of the Holy Spirit.
DJW Would this little touch that he brings in - “tender-hearted” - link with our previous conversation about love? Is love not very sensitive to anything that might disturb peace? It is easy to get hard-hearted; the course of the testimony may make us insular and hard-hearted in relation to difficulties, but we can remain “tender-hearted”? The presentation here is really about how it would affect the Lord’s feelings.
DCW Quite so. The Lord takes account of these things. Remember that man Nabal; he spurned what we might call a gracious overture (1 Sam 25: 10), and his heart became as a stone, v 10. So we have got to be careful that sometimes conditions can become fixed. Paul says, “if ye bite and devour one another” (Gal 5: 15); well, what happens?
DMW The Lord eventually had to say, “your house is left unto you”, Luke 13: 35.
DCW He adds the word “desolate” in Matthew 23: 38.
APD Do you think the teaching of the year of release would help us, Deut 15: 9? It speaks about relaxing the hand, v 12. I am thinking of the reference to Onesimus and Philemon.
DCW So we are not to be grasping, are we? To relax the hand might well have had to be forced on the person who was the master. It might have been a very reluctant relaxation, but the Lord loves tender-heartedness and free giving; free and open relations with one another. And in those conditions, we can prosper. Reference has been made to Psalm 133, brethren dwelling together in unity, and “there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore”, v 3.
APD Paul says, “put this to my account” (Philem 18), as if he is wealthy in the Spirit, do you think?
DCW And he reminded Philemon what he owed to Paul, v 19. It is a very interesting little epistle, as we study the various ways in which Paul approaches the question. He leaves it as a sort of obligation or duty upon them, but then there is another obligation in the fellowship, as a brother.
APD He is able to meet the matter because he has got wealth in his soul: “if he … owe anything to thee, put this to my account”. If we are poor, we are unable to administer grace, and then peace, are we not?
DCW That is right. I might mention as an aside, going back now to 1945, we had once had a reading after the prayer meeting in our locality with Mr James Taylor on the Epistle to Philemon, and I remember that the theme was the value of a brother. So it is important that we should value one another, is it not?
DTH Paul could withstand Peter to the face and adjust him; the brotherly covenant was not broken: it was strengthened.
DCW So that comes out in Peter’s epistle: “according as our beloved brother Paul also has written to you” (2 Pet 3: 15); there were no hard feelings left behind. I suppose that is one of the desirable features of getting things right with one another; every matter should be dealt with and no root of bitterness left, but a full and total and deep appreciation of the value of each one to the Lord.
RG The effect of love in practice brings out enrichment, does it not?
DCW Yes; so we can speak about these things, but my exercise is that we should operate them, apply them, enjoy them, and share them together.
AML In Philemon, Paul says, “above a bondman, a beloved brother” (v 16); he adds that affectionate term.
DCW Yes, “a beloved brother”. The epistle to the Colossians may well have been carried by the hand of Onesimus. I have often pictured the way he might be received, this runaway slave going to the door of the master he had wronged and presenting this letter of commendation from Paul. But Philemon was also commended, and his wife; and I suppose the other person mentioned, Archippus, might have been their son. So there was a household that was going to be enriched by the great matter of forgiveness.
DJW I was thinking of the way in which Paul addresses most of his letters to the saints - “grace and peace”. Is grace the resource to maintain the peace? We might wonder how it is going to work out, but there is a resource in grace to establish the peace.
DCW Yes, that is good. I had thought of that, that almost every epistle opens in that way; so that everything is set at rest even if there are perhaps some harsh things to be said. Some adjustments had to be brought in; he could not always commend what was in a place to which he was writing, but he would assure each of his hearers that he was thinking in a positive way about them. His intention was that they should come into the enjoyment of that grace and peace.
Our next chapter is in Philippians. This starts off on a good note: “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice”. So he emphasises this, and we should be joyful people: Christianity may be thought of in so many quarters as a sort of gloomy religion; in days gone by some believers used to dress in a gloomy fashion and put on a gloomy appearance, but it is to be a matter of rejoicing. But we cannot rejoice properly unless we are at peace.
TRV So in the portion you began with in John, the disciples rejoiced; but this passage was written to those who had not seen the Saviour, and we are still to rejoice:
Hark, happy saints! (Hymn No 7)
we often sing.
DCW Yes:
Hark! happy saints! loud lift your voice,
Tell to the world how we rejoice.
So the great thing then is love for the Lord: “whom, having not seen, ye love, on whom though not now looking … ye exult with joy unspeakable and filled with the glory”, 1 Pet 1: 8.
DMW Does it stimulate a state to be free with God? It says, “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God” - that is His side. Does it not give liberty with God to be in that state of rejoicing? And then we are able to carry everything, which includes eating the sin-offering in a holy place, and making the thing our own, Lev 10: 17.
DCW Yes indeed. So that is in the Old Testament: “make them joyful in my house of prayer”, Isa 56: 7. The prayer meeting is an occasion when we can lift up our hearts. Very often, we forget the thanksgiving part of it. We may all be good at making requests and receiving things, but very often we do not show the gratitude even in practical things. In everyday matters if somebody gives us a gift, we should be thankful for that. It is a common feature of the age, and particularly among younger people, that things are taken for granted, and they do not think it is necessary to thank the donor.
TRV So would you suggest then that it is correct for us to announce the prayer meeting as a time for prayer and thanksgiving? And would this portion before us be a guide as to our thoughts - a note of praise and thanksgiving before we touch on the practical needs in the Lord’s assembly?
DCW Yes, if I am announcing the prayer meeting, I always announce it as a meeting for prayer and thanksgiving.
KDD One of the ten lepers that was cleansed returned giving thanks, Luke 17: 16. The condition he was brought into would have given him a lot pf peace.
DCW That is right. He was a stranger; the Jews took things for granted, but the stranger was the one who returned to give God thanks.
PRM We often find in the prayer meeting that we get through to the peace of God. We have a lot of cares, and a lot of troubles that we lay out before God, but we get through to the fact that He is over all these things.
DCW Yes; I think from experience that we find the prayer meeting a restful occasion, and an occasion for mutuality. I think it would be a rare meeting where we had a silent brother who could not get to his feet, and say even five words.
DJW I was thinking of what you said as to rejoicing, along with your subject to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace”; that is normal Christianity. We are in the profession, which may answer to what Paul refers to as “a great house” with vessels to honour and dishonour; and there are now very mixed conditions in the profession, but what you arrive at is normal Christianity, is it not?
DCW Exactly. We should not be occupied - or at least over-occupied - with what may go on in Christendom in general. Our first occupation should be with the Lord, and we share that joy, that peace, in the company of others.
DTH What do you think Paul’s objective was when he said, “The Lord is near”?
DCW Well, for one thing, he speaks in 1 Thessalonians 4: 17 of “we, the living who remain”; that is one view. But then it is so that the Lord is near now, and the Lord is observing things. The Lord is near to each one of us; Paul had that personal experience when he had the “thorn for the flesh” (2 Cor 12: 7), and the Lord spoke to him in an affectionate way. When he is writing to Timothy, he says, “no man stood with me … But the Lord stood with me, and gave me power, that through me the proclamation might be fully made”, 2 Tim 4: 16, 17. I am sure each one of us has had - or should have had - such an experience of the Lord; particularly in times of trouble. He gives us His own comfort and his reassurance; and a fresh sense of His interest in us.
RG This really helps us in our thinking. It goes on to say, “and the peace of God, which surpasses every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus”. It should really help us in how we think about things.
DCW So, do you think peace with God would make a peaceful person? Many nations have leaders who think in warlike terms; and that affects not only their immediate circle but it affects the whole country as well.
RG So “your hearts” has to do with our affections.
DCW That is a good word for the young people: “remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Eccl 12: 1); and we also have, “My son, give me thy heart”, Prov 23: 26.
MTH Do you think it is helpful to understand that the cause of issues is not just persons: “our struggle is not against blood and flesh”, Eph 6: 12? Knowing that the Lord is near is the guard, the place of peace?
DCW So he tells us there that our struggle is “against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies”.
JRB I was thinking of the list of things here that we are to think upon: I think it is worthy of note that they are all positive; it is negative thinking that brings in discouragement, and troubled hearts and thoughts. I think there is a weakness with us that we allow what is negative in our thoughts, which affect our hearts. It is what is positive here that we are to focus upon.
DCW Yes, I am glad you bring that in; so these thoughts would lead to a pure heart, would they not? We have been speaking of what comes out of the heart of man, dreadful things; the Lord speaks of them. But these things having entry into the heart would ensure that the pure heart is there.
MTH Do you think this would be the occupation of the “one mind” that you read of in Peter’s epistle - “be all of one mind”? They would be thinking on these positive things that our brother has brought to our attention.
DCW Yes, and Paul goes on to say, “think the same thing … thinking one thing”, Phil 2: 2. This would be “the same thing”?
MTH I was thinking of that earlier; you spoke in your opening remarks about treaties of men and so on, but peace is not a matter of whether we agree to disagree, but, “think the same thing”.
DCW Yes; so the people who make those treaties are all thinking different things; they profess to have a certain common end or objective, but in practice each one of them retains his own thoughts.
AML When Paul draws attention to the features “both learned, and received, and heard, and seen” in him, would that really be his spirit and affection? It is not so much the authority as the spirit of Paul: “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”?
DCW Yes, so Paul speaks about his ways as they are in Christ, 1 Cor 4: 17.
APD Would it promote our peace to be submissive about judgments arrived at among us?
DCW Oh yes; I would say that is bound to apply; we have to honour the authority and responsibility of a local meeting. We must be prepared for the Lord to make manifest if a judgment is wrong. We have quoted earlier that “righteousness and peace have kissed each other”, Ps 85: 10. So there is a coming together of all these wondrous features, for the advancement and blessing of each one of us; so we are all to be of one mind about these matters.
BS Would these things characterise what we have in “a man in Christ”, 2 Cor 12: 2. We have there what cannot be touched by the enemy: we have that in “a man in Christ”. I was thinking of Paul and Silas in Acts 16, they were bound in prison and beaten, and their lives were at stake; and yet they were singing praises to God and worshipping Him, v 25. The “man in Christ” cannot be touched; the enemy may be able to touch what we have physically: they touched Paul and Silas but they could not touch what they had as “a man in Christ”.
DCW That is right. So, as we have peace within ourselves, and are conscious of these other great matters of which we have been speaking; these are things that cannot be taken from us. These are possessions that have been given to us by the Lord Himself, and nothing can disturb the peace of a believer who has his mind centred on Christ.
BS I was thinking too that these are the things that are important for our peace: what we have as “a man in Christ”. Other things are not so important. Even if Paul and Silas were beaten in prison, they had “a man in Christ” which could not be touched. They had it and that was important.
DCW So “a man in Christ” brings a great many things before us. Paul heard things that could not be uttered, 2 Cor 12: 4. No doubt he heard much that shaped and guided and coloured his thinking, and his expressions in his epistles.
JRB We get a very positive suggestion when Ruth and Naomi came to Bethlehem, and Ruth found herself in the allotment of Boaz. It says that “Boaz came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, Jehovah be with you! And they said to him, Jehovah bless thee!”, Ruth 2: 4. What a happy atmosphere there was in that local meeting; you can see how the Lord’s interests would prosper in that kind of an atmosphere.
DCW That was a place that the Lord had visited, was it not? “Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread”, Ruth 1: 6. God has visited us also and given us some sustenance, something to carry us forward.
TRV Is that why, in these verses you have had us read in Philippians 4, “the God of peace” is mentioned? It is not the Lord of peace, and it is not my peace; why is it “the God of peace”?
DCW I suppose everything proceeds from that One, but I thought it might be a fitting conclusion to what we have had before us, that the God of peace might be with us.
Reading at three-day meetings in Denton
26th March 2016
Key to Initials:
J R Bellamy, Vancouver; C J Brien, Aberdeen ID; G M Chellberg, Wheaton; W S Chellberg, Wheaton; A P Devenish, Edmonton; K D Drever, Calgary; H T Franklin, Grimsby; R Gardiner, Aberdeen, Scotland; M T Holland, Calgary; D T Howie, Edmonton; H W Jensen, Los Angeles; D J Klassen, Aberdeen ID; M J Klassen, Aberdeen ID; A M Lidbeck, Aberdeen ID; P R Mason, Warrenpoint; K R Oliver, Denton; B Selman, Denton; S W Selman, Denton; T R VanderHoek, Denton; D M Welch, Denton; D C White, Londonderry, D J Willetts, Birmingham