How to Stuff a Wallet
 
fbc-stuff-wallet.jpg

How to Stuff a Wallet

Last week we heard Jesus say that “the Spirit gives life,” which He explains by saying that “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)


There is an important connection between four things here: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and us having lives with life in them.

Jesus develops this connection later in John. Here's the verse; it's one of our favorites:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

This is a counter-point to John 6: there Jesus was eager to give us “real living,” but here He’s anxious to leave us with true peace.

But, again, how does Jesus’ peace come to us? Listen to the previous verse:
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 that I have said to you. (John 14:26)

Jesus doesn’t “leave us His peace” in a mystical-magical way. He leaves us His peace through two very real, very present, very available gifts. First, we have Jesus’ peace in the Holy Spirit. Second, we have Jesus’ peace as the Spirit helps us remember what Jesus said. (see also, John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.”)

Put plainly, Jesus gives us peace, by His Spirit, who uses Scripture. Or, His peace is the result of the Spirit using the Bible.
 
In summary:
We all want this peace—untroubled, unafraid, hearts full of heavenly, unshakeable, peace.
Jesus wants us to have this peace, His peace—the Shalom-Grace of God which Jesus died to bring us into.
The Father and the Spirit want us to have this peace—all the persons of God are in on this!
Scripture was written by God in part to deliver this peace to us.
We can therefore have this peace—presumably whenever, wherever, we are and in whatever condition we’re in.

The application of this seems plain, but let me state it plainly.

We get this peace through the work of the Holy Spirit. So, first of all, we should ask the Spirit for it. This, Jesus says, is part of what the Spirit is here to do.

We get this peace by remembering the Words of Christ. Second, then, we should ask the Spirit to teach us, and then open our Bibles and look for peace-giving promises and truths.


A common assumption is that the promises of the Gospel travel to us by unknown means—like, having inherited a great deal of money, we’re also given a magic wallet that produces whatever crispy bills we need whenever we need them. But Jesus says that the peace He wants us to enjoy will only come to us through the means He has ordained—like, we have inherited a large amount of money, but we still must make withdrawals from the relevant accounts in person, and pack the money in our own wallets, in order to have those crispy bills when we are at the store.

Friends, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, aren’t the only ones who want you to know God’s Peace. I do too. We all do. So please, let's invite the Spirit to get involved in our hearts, and open our Bibles with hope.

And let not your hearts be troubled.

Photo by Emil Kalibradov on Unsplash

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David GriffithsFellowship Bible ChurchGod, Theology, Covenant, Gospel, Discipleship