Obtaining Peace: Living Right

 Peace 11

 

          In this series on peace we are spending the bulk of our time examining different scriptural means of obtaining this greatly desired commodity. We come today to yet another method, namely this: the peace of God comes when we are living right.

          The prophet Isaiah tells us, The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever (Isaiah 32.17). What is righteousness? Doing right in the eyes of God. What does righteousness work in us? Peace. What is the effect of righteousness? Quietness (a sense of peaceful calm) and assurance (confidence and faith in Him). We see here a clear linkage between doing right and having or being at peace.

          This holy wedlock between the two is likewise emphasized by the psalmist. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85.10). At the close of the wedding ceremony I turn to the groom and announce, “You may kiss your bride.” That kiss is symbolic of their union. It is not wrong to say that peace and righteousness are married. They are one flesh. Where you find one, you find the other. You cannot separate the two. No wonder the writer of Hebrews labeled Melchizedek, who was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus or at least a type of Christ, King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace (Hebrews 7.2).  

          Elsewhere in Isaiah the prophet likens peace to a river, and links it again there with righteousness. O that thou hadst hearkened unto my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48.18). What is he saying? Very simply, when I obey God the result is the aforementioned presence of the union of peace and righteousness.

          I live a few hundred yards from the mightiest river on the North American continent. In the two years I have been in Dubuque I have spent much time along its banks. I have learned a few things. A river is constant; its flow is ceaseless. A river is refreshing to all the men and animals and plants along its banks. A river is a smooth path for commerce and travel. A river is a barrier to keep out the unwanted. A river is a delight with its song and its scenery. A river is smooth on top but powerful underneath the surface.

          …and that entire paragraph is true of peace as well, the peace that comes like a river when I keep His commands and live in righteousness.

          The aforementioned psalmist calls our attention to the righteous man. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace (Psalm 37.37). At the close of the day, when the toil we have endured through the heat of the day is laid down, the righteous man is at peace. He has done his duty to the best of his ability. Now he can rest both body and soul. And just as the end of the day so the end of a life. I am, just now, working away hammer and tongs at God’s will for my life. But if He tarry His coming the time will inevitably arrive where I will put down those tools for the last time. My books will be closed, my fingers on the keyboard stilled, my voice will no longer ring out from the pulpit. My life’s work will be done. Will I be at peace then? Will I be content with that life’s work? Will I rest easy waiting at the last finally to go home? It depends entirely on whether I live in righteousness between now and then or not. In the end, we will see. The end always tells.

          One of the mightiest Baptist preachers of the twentieth century was Lee Roberson. Longtime pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church, and the founder of Tennessee Temple University, his ministry was enormous in scope and impact. He has always been special to me for my father trained under him. Many years ago now, I heard him tell the story of the night he surrendered to the gospel ministry. He was a singer and a good one, classically trained, with a bright future ahead of him in radio. When God called him to preach he struggled to lay that aside. It was not easy for him. Yet he did.

The night duly came where he walked the aisle in that Kentucky church, and informed them of his yielding to the call of God. As the custom of the day was, the church formed a line at the end of his service as one by one the members came by to congratulate him on God’s call in his life. An old man lingered long in the auditorium until everyone else had gone. Finally, alone, he walked up to a teenaged Lee, took him by the hand, bent down, and whispered eight words in his ear: “I didn’t, and I have had no peace.” Turning, the old man walked out of that auditorium tormented with the knowledge he would never know peace this side of eternity.

How about you, my friend? Have you yielded to Him? There will be no peace until you do. But as you do, no matter what else there is, there is peace.

 

You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed.

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

 

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

-E. A. Hoffman