Sinclair Ferguson

Peace has been declared.

The battle is over.

The war is finished.

And of course, you remember how after the Old Testament sacrifices had been accepted, the high priest would come forth and lift up his hands and bless the people and say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you.

Not that Aaron has come forth to pronounce the benediction, but a greater than Aaron, our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come forth from his death and resurrection, and his first word to us is, Shalom.

Don't you remember that when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the evening of his resurrection, that was actually the first word he said?

Peace.

And this is what the Apostle Paul is speaking about here.

It's the very same thing that the great early Christian theologian Augustine experienced, isn't it?

You remember how he says in his confessions that our hearts are restless.

God has made us for himself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.

I was brought up as a teenager on the Rolling Stones' words, an anthem of the 60s.

I can't get no satisfaction, and I've tried and I've tried and I've tried.

And where there is no satisfaction, there can be no peace.

But here, for the simplest and newest believer, is the privilege and blessing of the gospel that the Lord Jesus says to you.

My peace is now yours.

We've been thinking all week about the importance of remembering in the Christian life.

Years ago, we carpooled one of our sons with another family, and I was driving our son and their daughter home on the very last day of class.

And a little girl was expressing pretty considerable anxiety about how difficult their next year at school was going to be.

And to my complete astonishment, my young son turned to her and said, there's nothing to worry about next year because it's all a matter of revision.