No.5. Peace that passeth all understanding.


We have seen the beginning (grace) and the end (glory) and have learned that the beginnings of our calling spring from superabounding grace, while glory is associated with love that exceeds knowledge. During the interval, we might perhaps assume, that superlatives would be conspicuous by their absence, that if we have but the assurance of “bread and water” we should be thankful. The children of Israel however, while in the wilderness did experience some of the superlatives of the Lord, even though the great miracle of the Red Sea was past and the equally great miracle of the River Jordan was yet to come. So, too, the believer to-day will discover that the waiting period is not wholly devoid of superabundance, he will be able to say, not once nor twice as he passes along life’s journey “my cup runneth over”.

The very fact that we need redemption implies the presence of sin and bondage. In the background of all the Lord’s dealings, in grace, we shall discover an enemy at work, and enmity in action. Yet such is the grace that calls, and saves us, that even here in this life we may know Superlative Peace.

“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. iv. 5-7).

Dr. Weymouth’s translation is suggestive and is as follows:

“Let your forbearing spirit be known to every one—the Lord is near. Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your requests be unreservedly made known in the presence of God and the peace of God which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in union with Christ Jesus.”

The world we live in is ruled by cause and effect. For everything there is a reason. Where, to us there may seem the operation of blind chance, a greater knowledge would perceive the remoter causes. A peace that transcends all our powers of thought is a boon to be devoutly sought—but there is no quick cut to this happy state, it is at the end of a sequence of causes and effects, for grace while superabounding and supernatural is not irrational. We must in the first instance distinguish between that peace which is ours by reason of redemption and justification “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. v. 1), and the peace of God which acts as a garrison in a world of anxiety and strife. Such a peace is far more experimental than that which arises from the sinners’ acquittal at the bar of God. It is the blessed crown upon a series of spiritual qualities, and will never be experienced where these intervening steps are omitted.

Dr. Weymouth, at the word “forbearing” in his translation puts a footnote, which reads:

Forbearing spirit. “Not only passively, non-contentious, but actively considerate, waiving even just legal redress” (Ellicott).

A contentious person will never experience this superlative peace with God, for he carries the seeds of enmity within him, and sows them at every turn; and as Ellicott observes, the positive active meaning must be understood before the first condition is complied with, there must be active consideration for others, there must be that waiving of rights, which the Apostle himself has so fully exemplified, when he said “All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient”. This “moderation” or “yieldingness” is a first step towards surpassing peace, but there is another. Not only must there be great consideration for others, there must not be too great consideration for ourselves. Many a believer’s testimony has been ruined by a fussy, selfish spirit. Households have been unduly disturbed, servants caused to murmur and rebel, and bitterness manifest where fellowship was ardently expected, simply because of this fault of “over anxiety”. Anxiety about our affairs, would naturally lead us, if believers, to make our requests to God, but the omission that would prove fatal to the enjoyment of peace that passeth understanding, would be to omit the mingling of thanksgiving with our asking. We have but to cast our minds back over the days that are past, to see much cause for thanksgiving. We have but to compare our lot with that of others, to see many reasons for grateful praise.

When there is this unselfish moderation, this lack of selfish anxiety, this mingling of thanksgiving for past blessings with requests for present needs, then the “Peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought” will be ours.

In what way this peace will be experienced is expressed in the words that follow:

“The peace of God . . . . . shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

The word “keep” which Paul uses here, has a specific sense, and its first occurrence in the N.T. makes that sense clear:

“In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me” (II Cor. xi. 32).

Here the word is translated “kept with a garrison”.

In the world of strife and enmity, with many causes for natural anxiety, the believer who is obedient to the heavenly wisdom of this passage in Phil. iv., will be garrisoned by a power beyond his comprehension, and be kept in a peace that surpasses his understanding. He will find his table spread in the presence of his enemies. His head will be anointed with oil, he will be enabled to say:

“My cup runneth over.”

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(From The Berean Expositor Volume 37, page 125).

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