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THE OIL OF PEACE Based on II Peter 1:2By Glenn PeaseYears ago a visitor returning from Dublin told of how he put MacDuncan, thevillage fool, to the test. He poured the contents of his purse out on the ground, andtold him to take any coin he wished. MacDuncan's eyes lit up, and the people of thevillage gathered around for another demonstration of his consistent idiocy. Hewould brush the dust from each coin and study it with indecision and puzzlement.They roared with laughter after he again flung aside the gold and silver, andselected the shiniest copper to keep as his own.A native told the visitor that he always takes the big coin of small value, and that henever learns. Before the visitor left Dublin he got alone with MacDuncan. He said tohim, "People say when they offer you sixpence or a penny you always choose thepenny. Do you not know the difference in their value?" "Certainly," replied theso-called fool." The difference I know, but if I took the sixpence do ye think theywould try me again?" The village fool was really a very clever beggar who madefools out of the rest of the villagers by keeping them convinced he was a fool. Hiswisdom consisted in his ability to see that the slow but consistent flow of smallincome would bring him out ahead in the long run. He was not short sighted. Heknew that success depended on keeping a good thing going.This is essential not only for village fools, but for all those who would be fools forChrist. One of the toughest tests all of us need to pass is that of perseverance. Weneed to keep on going for Christ. Many make a good start for everyone who canendure to the end, and cross the finish line. It is not easy to keep a good thingsgoing. We are often tempted to grab the gold that glitters in the immediate present,and snatch the silver coin of sin, and cut off the consistent slow growth inChristlikeness.In verse 9 Peter warns Christians that if they lack the virtues he lists here, they willbe blind, shortsighted, and in danger of falling. As Christians we must be interestedabout a consistent Christian life of climbing. We must see far ahead, and live for thelong run. It is not enough to own a plane. It must be maintained for continuousflying. If faith is the runway from which we launch into the higher Christian life,and grace is the fuel that empowers us for the flight, then in this analogy, peacerepresents the oil that keeps us going.Peace is the lubricant that keeps a good thing going. It keeps us in flight, andprotects us from the heat of frustration, and the wear and tare of worry and tensionthat can cause us to lose altitude, and even crash. No flight will keep going longwithout oil, and no Christian will climb far without the lubricant of peace. That iswhy Peter is concerned that Christians have peace multiplied to them along withgrace. A solid runway of faith, and a full tank of grace with a low supply of peacecan mean serious trouble. Grace and peace must be together, and must be
 
multiplied.A Kansas cyclone hit a farm house just before dawn. It lifted the roof off; picked upthe bed on which the farmer and his wife slept, and set them down gently in anearby field. The wife began to cry. "Don't be scared," her husband said, "We arenot hurt." "I'm not scared," she sobbed, "I'm just happy. This is the first time in 14years we have been out together." Some partners need a cyclone to get themtogether, but not grace and peace. They are always together, and this is a necessity.They are as close to each other as gas and oil. They are found together all throughthe New Testament. God is a God of grace, and a God of peace. All three persons of the Godhead are connected with peace.Paul says of God the Father in I Thess. 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctifyyou wholly." Rom. 16:20 says "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under yourfeet.." God the Son is called the Prince of Peace, and Paul says of Jesus in Eph. 2:14,"For He is our peace..." One of the fruits of the spirit is peace, and Paul in Rom.14:17 says, "..the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness andpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Paul refers to the whole of the good news inChrist several times as the Gospel of peace. If we had time to quote all references topeace, you would recognize it to be a fundamental Christian word inseparablyunited with grace. Like love and marriage, horse and carriage, gas and oil, so graceand peace go together.Peace is both freedom from outward disturbance and a lack of disturbance within.Both are great values, but Peter and the rest of the New Testament uses the wordprimarily to refer to the inner peace of the soul. Even a pagan recognizes thedistinction between external and internal peace. Epictetus, the ancient philosopher,wrote, "You see that Caesar seems to provide us with great peace; no longer arethere campaigns, battles, great gangs of robbers, and pirates; one can travelwhenever he pleases and sail from East to West. But can Caesar provide us withpeace from fever too...from love..craving? He cannot. From sorrow? He cannot.From envy? No, he cannot secure us against anyone of these at all. Only the inwardpeace of a philosopher's mind.....renders the world a place of peace."The peace of mind cults are nothing new. For many centuries men have recognizedthe power of the mind to produce tranquility. Do not laugh at the principles of thepeace of mind cults, for they are sound, and they do work, even in the lives of unbelievers. They are simply using the principles of Scripture, but they substitutesome other value in the place of God. Biblical peace is a matter of the mind beingfocused on God and His sufficiency, and not on the dark facts of life. Scripture says,"Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Jesus said thatso much lack of peace is due to focusing our minds upon the needs of tomorrowwhen we should be concentrating on our adequacy for today in Christ. Christianpeace, like the philosophical peace of those outside of Christ, is largely a matter of the mind, but the major difference is the object on which the mind is focused. Thephilosopher finds his peace in reason, but the Christian finds his peace in the authorof reason, which is God.
 
The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. It is a comprehensive word, and it expressesthe ideal state of life. It is the life of completeness, wholeness, health, and harmony.One can only have such a life when one is secure in the knowledge that he has a lifein harmony with God. To know God is the essence of peace, as it is the essence of grace. Both multiply, as Peter says, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus ourLord. In Job 22:21 we read, "Aquaint thyself now with God, and be at peace..." Tobe aware of a personal God who cares for us in this infinite universe is the beginningof biblical peace.At peace with God! How great the blessingIn fellowship with Him to be,And from all stains of sin set free,How rich am I such wealth possessing.The Roman year formerly began in March because Romulus so appointed it becausehe loved Mars, the god of war. But Pompilius changed it to January in honor of Janus, the peaceful god of the door and new beginnings. Jesus did more than thisfor peace. He was, and is, the door to new life in peace with God. Jesus instituted anew age of peace in which God and man are reconciled through His death upon thecross.By Christ on the cross, peace was made;My debt by His death was all paid;No other foundation is laidFor peace, the gift of God's love.The Gospel begins as a message of peace. When John the Baptist was born, hisfather, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed his ministry would be one of peace. InLuke 1:77-79 we read of how he is to prepare the way for the coming Prince of Peace. "To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sin,through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hathvisited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, toguide our feet into the way of peace." The Christian way is the way of peace, forChrist is our Way, and Christ is our Peace.The message of the angels in Luke 2:13 is, "Glory to God in the highest and peaceon earth for men whom He favors." Let us not forget the distinction betweenexternal and internal peace, for Jesus says He did not come to bring external peace.On the contrary, His coming brought much trial and tribulation into the lives of Hisfollowers. The peace that can be ours is peace with God, and the peace of God.Peace with God is a matter of salvation, and the peace of God is a matter of sanctification. The latter is the peace that Peter has in mind for multiplication in theChristian life.
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