II Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all
On a scale from one to ten today, how much peace do you have? Would you be a three or a ten? That may be a silly question and maybe it is hard to quantify, but how many people do you know who are genuinely at peace? How many countries do you know that are genuinely at peace? So many times, you look at foreign countries and think, “Why can’t they just get along?” Or you see two people in an argument and think, “Why can’t they just get along and be decent and honest?” Don’t you know the answer to that question?
We want to say that peace is something outside and external and that problems are outside and external, but the fact is that peace is an inside matter. There are so many political theories that pretend to have the answer to peace and when they are foisted on people, they only make the fighting worse. The fact is that peace is not a thing; it is a Person.
In II Thessalonians 3:16 it says, “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.” So, here, as in a number of places in the Bible, God is called “the Lord of peace.” Jesus is called the “Prince of peace” and God is called the “God of all comfort.” It is a Person. “The Lord of peace himself give you peace.” This is something that He has and you can have. Something that He has and you can accept or reject. That may sound simplistic and perhaps it is, but peace is something that is through a Person.
In this short verse you find that God’s peace is all-sufficient. In the first place, it is always. God’s peace is available always. Does that include difficult times? That is the entire context of these words. Paul was preaching in a day when there was pushback, problems, and persecution, and Paul says in verse 1 to pray that they would be able to give the gospel and to have free course. Verses 2-3 says, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful.” Not all people have faith in God, but the Lord is faithful and worthy of our trust.
So, “always” means in good times and bad this peace is available. What kind of peace is peace if it is only available when the sun shines and you have no problems? No, peace is an inside job. If you were to escape the country, the world, the people, the problems, and live in a cave, you would probably be beating yourself over the head with a rock because the problem is inside. The Bible says in James that we war within our own bodies, and then that war extends to the world beyond us. So, God’s all-sufficient peace is always.
Second, God’s peace is by all means. “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.” That is to say that this is supernatural, but God is perfectly fine with using everyday means to provide peace to me. Oftentimes that is through other people. In I Thessalonians the Bible talks about the truth of our future and the God of peace. Then it says, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Philippians talks about both the peace of God and the God of peace, and you cannot have one without the other. But this God of peace who gives us the peace of God sometimes uses everyday means. Maybe it would be a song, something from God’s Word, or a word from a friend or even a stranger. God is perfectly capable of giving us peace directly, but do not divorce God from the world that He has created.
So, this peace is available always and by all means, and then it is available to all people. It says, “The Lord be with you all.” So, though the Lord can use other means, ultimately the Lord is Himself offering this peace. It is something that He Himself gives. In II Thessalonians 2:15 it says we are to “stand fast” in the truth that we have been taught. Then verses 16-17 say, “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself…comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” So, this peace is always, by all means, and for all people who will take it from the One Who offers it.
Today, there may not be peace in the world; there may not be peace in the office; and there may not always be peace as far as an absence of problems in your day, but peace is not an absence of problems. Peace is the presence of a Person, the Lord of peace who gives when we ask and act on the guidance that He provides.