Perfect Peace

God has a strong city whose walls and ramparts are salvation. He commands that the gates may be opened so the righteous nation may enter and live by faith. This nation is God's nation, God's holy people. It is a prophecy of the church, the Kingdom of Christ, of us as Christians today.

And God makes a covenant with this strong city. One of the great covenant blessings is peace. Augustine, who described in his great work the city of which Isaiah speaks, said that the borders of God's city are peace. But if God's people act in peace, it is because peace is in their hearts. And that is one of the greatest of covenant blessings!

Isaiah says that God "will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you" (Isaiah 26:3). God promises a perfect peace. Jesus described this peace that he would give as comparable to nothing that is available in the world (John 14:27).

People seek peace; oh, yes, they most certainly do! We keep psychologists and psychiatrists busy with our anxieties. We buy tranquilizers and take doses of Kava Kava to calm our nerves. We look to our investments for some kind of financial security. We hope to have a stable job, but know that there really are few that are stable. We know that health can leave us in the wink of an eye, that a car crash can end our lives before the day is over, that a loved one can die suddenly, that our whole world can be turned upside down in a second. How then can we have peace, much less perfect peace in such a world and in such a life as this?

Isaiah tells us what Jesus tells us: the peace comes from God; it is not of us. Paul writes the same thing in Philippians 4:7 when he speaks of "the peace of God that transcends all understanding, (which) will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." God can and does provide such a perfect peace that nothing in the world can provide, and that cannot be understood. It will withstand the gravest blows of life. It will be there in the darkest night. It is that deep awareness that "all is well with my soul."

But covenant blessings require covenant obedience. Note that Isaiah says it is available for those whose mind is steadfast. The King James version reads "whose mind is stayed on Thee." Isaiah is simply saying that our minds need to be focused on God. Our churches, evangelists, pastors, and teachers should hold the cross before us so that Christ and his perfect work on our behalf may ever be brought to our minds.

It is a shame to think of Christians who truly trust Christ for their salvation, but due to ignorance, due to lack of Biblical study and meditation on their part or the failure of being exposed to good teaching, have no clear perception of their salvation, and whose mind thus is focused not on God but on themselves. From them such perfect peace is withheld.