Gen 43:23, And he said, "Be at ease, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them. 
	We return to our current discussion of our reading of Genesis 43, dealing with the fact of the peace of God that is before us. The brothers were terrified of what awaited them upon their return to Egypt as they had to bring their youngest brother with them as well as the money that they had found in their bags and more gifts for the Egyptian official. They were very much fearful of the wrath of the Egyptians, and yet had no choice in the situation. If they did not go back, their entire family would starve to death and Simeon would languish in captivity. It took the very surety of Judah to finally convince Israel to allow Benjamin to accompany them back to Egypt to get food and Simeon.
	We, as well, traced the peace of God as it covered the Children of Israel throughout the Old Testament. There are countless passages that describe how peace is to be in the heart of those who know and worship and love God Almighty. The prophets declared it to the nation as they were sacrificing and bringing their offerings unto God and as they chose to do all those things that would please and honor Him above all else. 
	As a final aspect of this quick review, we then began our consideration of the fact that this peace of God is the very person of Jesus Christ. The Prophet Micah boldly announced this in Mic 5:2-5a. Please turn to it. Mic 5:2-5a, "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." Therefore, He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. And this One will be our peace. 
	The Promised One will be the Shepherd King Who will gather together His flock with the strength of the Lord in the majesty of that name. He will be great in all the earth and He will be the peace of all His people. This was a pledge that brought comfort to the people in all their times of trial and tribulation and servitude and suffering. The Old Testament was focused on the One to come as the very essence of the Peace of God. 
	Thus we come into the New Testament as we will further rejoice in and contemplate the peace that is ours in Jesus Christ. His earthly ministry was filled with all those times of speaking peace to His disciples. When they were being tossed by the waves of the sea and in dreadful fear of sinking, Christ calmed the waters with but a word. Whenever they were afraid or dismayed it was the voice of Christ that soothed their qualms and gave them the courage to go on. Then, everything seemed to collapse around them. The Lord was crucified on that cross and laid into that tomb. They were afraid and hid themselves away behind locked doors. They were paralyzed in utmost terror and anguish, waiting to suffer the same fate.
	It was at this point that the Peace of God was most evident in the very Person of our Lord as He came into their presence to bring His Word of comfort and assurance upon them. Luke 24:36-39, And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 
To that point, everything had seemed to be in absolute ruin. All their plans and all their schemes and all their ideas of what place they would have in the earthly kingdom of the Messiah had been destroyed. They were utterly distraught and sullen in their loss of every earthly hope. Then, on that third morning, up from the grave He arose and became their eternal peace.  
	The Beloved Apostle painted an even clearer picture of the effects of this momentous embrace of the Peace of God personified in John 20:19-22. John 20:19-22, if you would follow along. John 20:19-22, When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 
	We see that the presence of the Lord brought rejoicing into the midst of the disciples as they heard Him speak the word of peace into their hearts. Not only this, but He breathed upon them to receive the Holy Spirit, the very Being of Comfort and Encouragement and Strength to go forth in the Name of the Lord God Almighty. They were strengthened to minister with the full peace of heart that the One in Whom they believed had fully vanquished their worst fear, the fear of death.
	Then, the Beloved Disciple further described what this means for you and for me. To this point, the peace was given to the hearts of those who believed because they saw the risen Lord in the flesh. However, Christ, in John 20:26-31, speaks to your and to my need for peace and safety and assurance and power and comfort and faith. 
Please continue along with me as we read it together. John 20:26-31, And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name… Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." 
	This is recorded in scripture for you and for me and for all the generations after generations of believers. We have been included in the Peace of God Who is Christ Our Savior. This is true from the beginning of the proclamation of the Good News of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem through the unending ages of eternity. We are blessed with the Peace of God Who indwells us in His vital and glorious eternal life. 
	This is what has motivated the very spreading and reception of the Good News. He is the living peace of God to all who will open their hearts to believe that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God. 
This blessing of the Peace of God was so cherished that it became a very cherished greeting among the early saints. We read often in the letters of the New Testament. As the Apostle Paul so wrote in Eph 6:23+24, Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible. 
Notice that is was not just peace, but love with faith and grace and a love incorruptible. We are so fully lavished with all the joy and blessing of God in Jesus Christ when we believe upon the Only Begotten Son of God Who very literally is our every peace.   
	The Writer to the Hebrews ties up the whole morning’s consideration with the reference back the Old Testament of the great Shepherd that was so promised from the Prophet Micah, Heb 13:20+21, Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
	We are not to frustrate nor worry about how to live the life that God has given us on this earth. We have not only received eternal life in Jesus Christ, but in the Person of God’s peace, we have been equipped by God, in the Omnipotence and Omniscience and Omnipresence of the Holy Spirit, with the strength and the courage to do all that is pleasing in His sight for the sake of His glory filling all of His creation. There is no greater peace than to know that God so loves us that He makes every way for us to honor and to please and to bless and to reverence and to trust and to have faith in and by Him to do His will.
	The Apostle Paul further encourages us with the truth that we do not have to worry about the issues that are part of this daily life. In the Peace of Jesus Christ, we are held securely and firmly and eternally through all that would otherwise serve to ruin and to destroy us. 2 Thess 3:16, Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! 
There is no circumstance in which the peace of God in Jesus Christ will not reign supremely and absolutely! It matters not how hopeless we may be in ourselves, Jesus has all things well in hand! We can rest in the fact that no matter what befalls us on this earth, we are the Beloved of God and fellow partakers in the joy of His Omnipotent peace ruling and overruling in the every detail. 
As we so often read for encouragement and for uplifting in the midst of the trials and the dilemmas of life on this earth, Phil 4:6+7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 
It is such a joy to know that when we look to God and count on Him, He guards us with Himself as our shield and our protector. Nothing can come into our lives that should cause us to doubt or to question Him. He rules and overrules, no matter what the outward appearance to show Himself mighty over every scheme of destruction and annihilation. He is the guard of our hearts and our minds. He brings us the heavenly vision of what is really happening around us as we keep our eyes and hearts and minds focused on Him. 
We are further encouraged by the Apostle Paul, in Col 3:15-17, in the fact that the peace of Christ Jesus should cause us to offer thanks to God in all things. Please mark this passage in your Bible for further sustenance and study. Col 3:15-17, And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. 
Our outward expression within the realm of our sojourning should be one of joy and thankfulness as the peace of Christ does rule in our hearts. There should be evidenced those hymns of rejoicing and satisfaction in all that God has done, is doing, and will continue to do, as He manifests His peace in our earthly lives. 
As well, we should be encouraging one another in the same course of thanking God and rejoicing in His so awesome salvation. There is nothing in this passage that allows for us to hold unforgiveness or anger or dissension against one another. Rather, we are to be the living expression of His peace in our words and our deeds and our joy and our honoring of Him in all that we do.
Please turn to Eph 2:14-18 as we draw this consideration to a close. Eph 2:14-18, For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 
The peace of God in Jesus Christ has brought unity and fellowship into this realm where once there was only the self-righteous expression of looking out for our own interests and our own concerns. In the manner in which Christ laid down His life for you and for me, so are we to have that same heart in which we place the interests of one another over and above our self-interests. When that is in place, then we will know what it means to experience the peace of God which passes all human understanding.
Yes, in Christ, we have our Peace with God. As well, we will find that we have our peace with one another as He expresses, in our lives, the manner in which His peace has been established. As He laid down His life for us, so will we learn that true peace on earth is found as we lay down our lives for one another. No more criticism, no more anger, no more frustration, no more attitudes of superiority. Let us seek to know what it means to live in the Peace that is the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. So be it!
And he said, "Be at ease, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks... Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 48:1+2. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King. Amen.