"The peace of
God, which passed all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" Phil. 4:7
There are three great phrases in which peace
and God are brought together by the Apostle Paul. They are "Peace from God," "Peace with God,"
and "Peace of God." They are all the
result of a truth enshrined in another, "the God of peace." The FIRST, Paul
constantly employed in the introduction to his letters. It reminds us that our
PEACE COMES TO US A GIFT FROM GOD. The SECOND describes the RELATIONSHIP INTO
WHICH WE ARE BROUGHT WITH GOD, THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. The THIRD refers TO THE
PEACE WHICH IS THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD HIMSELF, because of WHAT HE IS IN
HIMSELF, THE GOD OF PEACE. At once it admits us to a realm which this
particular passage indicates. The peace of God is beyond "all mind"; that is,
beyond our POWER OF THINKING. That means two things: first, that the peace of
God is so wonderful that we are not able fully to apprehend it; but second, it
means that the peace of God, being the result of the wisdom and might of God,
is far more wonderful than any cleverness of our own. That is the main value of
the whole declaration of which this phrase is a part. It is that peace which
will GUARD, as with a garrison of defense, OUR HEARTS AND THOUGHTS IN CHRIST
JESUS. If we by our own cleverness attempt to guard our hearts and thoughts, we
shall fail. The forces opposed are too strong for us. They will break through
upon us. They can never do so, as we are guarded in "the peace of God."
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