John 14:19-27 – Stop Chasing Peace and Choose It!

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

In John 14, Jesus shared powerful words about living in peace that we should heed so that we must stop coming up empty-handed in our pursuit to live in peace.

Peace Is Wanted

There’s not one person living today who does not want to live in peace.  Peace is wanted, and many of us are chasing after peace only to find ourselves coming up empty-handed.  In John 14:19-27, Jesus tells us why we are struggling to lay hold of peace and what we must do to attain it.

Now, I’m going to be honest with all of you, two of my most preached about and taught about subjects, aside from having faith, are about peace and love.  Is that because those are the only two subjects that I can preach or teach about?  No!

I frequently preach about those two subjects because they are central to what we believe in.  Our faith in the Lord is built on the foundation of His love for mankind.  God’s promise of eternal peace is what we faithful believers live for!  So, I feel it is necessary to teach and preach to both new and old believers about these subjects.

Moreover, we find ourselves in a season when so many are hurting, struggling, and even giving up hope that living in peace is possible.  Yet, I say to you today that nothing is happening in the world, or to you personally, that can destroy the ability for one to live in peace.

True Peace Is Given, Not Bought or Found

Let’s start this study off on this note:  What many of us don’t understand about peace is that true peace is not something that can simply be found.  What do I mean by that statement?

To suggest that peace can be found if one searches hard enough for it would suggest that peace is either hidden from us.  However, true peace, I want you to understand, is not hidden.  

The notion of searching for and finding peace is a worldly notion, along with the notion that peace can be bought–true peace isn’t for sale.  When it comes to peace, we must understand that there are two philosophies on peace.  Now, the peace I desire to help you obtain is the peace that is of God.

The peace of God did come at a price.  God paid the price for our peace by giving His only begotten Son for us.  In both Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels, Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45).”

Because God paid the price for our peace, obtaining peace is free to us.  So, what must we do to obtain this free peace that God has paid the price for?  All one has to do to obtain that peace is believe and have faith in the Lord.  

John 14:21-27 – God Gives His Peace

Let us take a look at what Jesus said in both John 14:21,23.  Jesus told the disciples, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  

Jesus says He will reveal Himself to those who faithfully live by His word.  Now, this may not seem like much to many, but we cannot make light of being loved by Christ and Him manifesting Himself to us.  Let’s pay attention to what is said in John 14:25-26.

Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

The disciples walked with Christ physically.  Yet, He would leave them physically after His resurrection and ascension.  The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Helper.  In John 16:13-14, Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would glorify Him by declaring His word, the truth, to them.”  You and I, disciples of Christ, live by the word by heeding the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

As I have said before, the Holy Spirit is the key to everything in our lives–we need Him!  You see, Christ and His love are manifested in us through the Holy Spirit!  But even more than that, in John 14:27, we see that God’s peace is given to us through the Holy Spirit!

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Jesus tells us that His peace, true peace, is given to us; it is not purchased nor is it found like a child playing hide and seek.  God has not hidden His peace from us, nor does He have it on sale in a marketplace. 

What this means is that one who is of sincere faith does not have to chase after peace; true peace comes to them through the Holy Spirit.  If you are without the Holy Spirit, you will never know nor be able to obtain God’s peace.  John 14:27 is the key verse of this week’s study, and we must dive deeper into it for us to fully understand why so many of us struggle to know what peace is and obtain it. 

Before we do so, I do want to remind all of you sharing in this study that only those who truly believe will receive the Holy Spirit.  This is shown to us through the story of Simon the sorcerer.  The sorcerer saw the apostle Philip’s power and joined others in saying that he believed in Christ.  Yet, his was a profession of faith rather than a confession with both the mouth and heart.

The sorcerer stood before Peter and John with money in his hands to buy the gift of the Spirit.  That was a moment that led Peter to rebuke him for his sin.  You should certainly read the story of the sorcerer as he is a really good example of many who say they believe in God, but don’t have true faith.  You can read the sorcerer’s story in Acts 8:9-24.

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7 – The Spiritual Desire for Peace

As I said in the opening of this study, all of us desire to live in peace.  In order for us to truly live in peace, we must understand that this desire is a spiritual desire, not one that is of the flesh.  You see, the desire to live in peace is a part of our nature.  However, we must understand what our nature is so that we may be able to live in peace.

To understand our nature, we have to go back to the beginning.  In Genesis 1:26-28, we can see the mindset that God had in His making of mankind.  In this scripture, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…Then God blessed [mankind], and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’ ”

Then, in Genesis 2:7, we are told:  “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

I reference this scripture because they are pivotal for us to understand who and what we are.  Mankind was made different from all other life that we find in God’s creation.  The difference is that God breathed a piece of Himself into us.  When God breathed into us, He breathed His character (His nature) into us.  

Let us understand that God breathed His nature of love into us.  This means that He breathed His grace, His mercy, and His kindness into us.  God breathed His peace into us.  We have the capability of being able to love as God loves, move in the same grace as He does, show mercy as He does, uplift as He does, and share the same peace.  

Therefore, your desire to love is a desire that is of God.  Your desire to live in peace is a desire that is of God.  

Romans 7:18-25 – The Corrupted Nature

Now, in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”

The good that Paul speaks of desiring to do is that which is righteous.  What is righteous is that which God determines to be righteous.  So, Paul desired to love, to move with grace, to be kind, and to live peaceably with all people.

However, though the will and desire were present within him to do good, Paul spoke of his struggle to do what was good.  In Romans 7:23, Paul wrote, “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

There was no peace inside Paul.  He speaks of two natures, to laws, being at war in his heart–that is not peace.  Inner conflict, is not peace.  Inner turmoil will keep you from living righteously.  Inner turmoil will keep you from heeding the Spirit.  From inner turmoil will spill from you everything but peace.  This is why James said that a wrathful person cannot produce the righteousness of God (Jas. 1:19-20).

We have two natures within us.  The first nature within is what was breathed into us by God.  The second nature is not a nature of God but of the flesh, and both natures are contrary to each other.  Because the second nature is anti-God, that makes our second nature sinful, as it moves in disobedience to God.  

The nature of sin entered into the heart (soul) of man through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.  It is a nature that, sadly, has become the primary nature of mankind.  Before He sent the great flood, God said that He saw that mankind’s every intent was only evil (Gen. 6:5). Sin, like a virus that is constantly working to corrupt and kill our first nature that was breathed into us by God.  

As Paul was dealing with a spiritual battle within himself, you and I deal with the same battle, and it is a battle that can keep us from living in peace.  Because sin has won out in the hearts of many, the love and grace of many is a shell of true love and grace.  The kindness of many is a shell of God’s kindness.  The peace that many desperately seek to live in is a shell of the peace of God.

A Harsh Truth to be Learned

You have to ask yourself, what is peace to you?  For many, their idea of living in peace is living the best life that money can buy.  They desire to live in luxury and comfort, not having to worry about what they can afford.  

Yet, the harsh truth is that this version of living in peace is a corrupted version of what living in true peace is.  This idea of peace is of the flesh and built on worldliness.  Because this version of peace is built on worldly living, it cannot be true peace!  True peace is of God.

A man who had everything that money could buy once said, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”  This is to say, ‘All of this is pointless and meaningless; it’s all a waste of time.’  He even said that laboring to enjoy life’s pleasures was also vanity (pointless).   

This man said those things because there was no profit in that labor.  Now, when he spoke about profit, he wasn’t talking about monetary gain.  This was a man who had all that money could buy.  To him, profiting was about benefiting the soul, not the flesh.

Now, if you’re wondering who the man was that said those things, it was said by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1-2.  Solomon, of course, was the wisest man to walk the earth, aside from Christ (1 Kgs. 3:12).  He was also a man of great wealth, but he could not find peace and happiness through his ventures.  You see, Solomon stepped away from God and took part in prodigal living, but like the prodigal son, he found no peace and joy in it.  

The reason why so many of us struggle to live in true peace and happiness is because we are searching for the peace and happiness of prodigal living.  Such living, many believe, is obtained through grinding and hustling, toiling and laboring away.  What so many of us are desperately trying to gain today is, again, an illusion of what peace is.  

Many are trying to gain something that Solomon said is like trying to grasp the wind (Eccl. 2:1-11).  One can try to grasp the wind, but their hands will always come up empty.  Therefore, we must stop chasing to ascertain something that is not possible to obtain.

God’s Peace vs. Worldly Peace

The world’s idea of peace is a peace that comes with great burdens in the soul.  There are many today who have obtained much wealth, and they are some of the most unsatisfied people.

Again, a wise man once said, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase (Eccl. 5:10).”  That wise man was Solomon, once again.  The meaning of this statement speaks of those who are never content; they have to have more and have to have better.  I’m sorry, but such a way of living simply does not sound like peace!

Again, I think of all of those who are able to go to their private islands, and many of them appear to be miserable people.  Some love to dwell in gold, but their appetite is never full–they have to have more and more.  Some are of great wealth who crave to be applauded and glorified, or else they realize how vain and empty it all is.

If this is the kind of peace you’re praying to God to live in, God will tell you to search for it in the world because your desire is worldly.  God’s peace, we should always remember, is about satisfying our first nature, not the second one.  God’s desire is to bring peace to our souls and to remove all strife and burden that may be there.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invited all of those who are heavy laden (burdened) to come to Him so that He may give them rest.  Jesus was speaking about giving rest to the soul.  Again, God’s desire is to remove all conflict from and to make us content.  Yes, God desires for you to live in contentment, not always being hungry and craving for more.

As far as the living in paradise stuff goes, we must remember that Paradise is a heavenly reward.  To be clear, God does not promise us that we will live in paradise in this world.  How could we ever live in paradise in this world?  This world is full of conflict and sin!  Jesus even tells us that we will have tribulation while in this world (John 16:33).

Yet, while we are in this world, we can live in peace, in our soul, as Christ promises to lift us up in the day of our tribulation so that we may overcome them.  Then, when we go to be with and dwell with Him in paradise, we will live in a kingdom where there is no sin, sorrow, or death.  In that place, the eternal kingdom, we will live in total peace.