Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14
Some of us remember the peacenics and flower children of the late 60s and early 70s, those anti establishment activists who insisted they were all for peace and wanted the world’s powers to throw away all of their guns and bombs because peace is better than war. In one way, their message sounded good, because war is such a terrible thing. Nobody in their right mind wants war. No argument there. But if you dig a little deeper, you will find something sinister about that peace movement: the symbols that those so-called peace activists chose to represent it. The ‘V’ sign that children everywhere flashed with their hands as a sign of peace is not a sign of peace at all. It originated as part of the satanic benediction at satanic rituals. It represents the Hebrew letter for V, which means Nail. And Nail is one of the secret titles for Satan in the Brotherhood of Satanism. And we all know the so-called peace symbol, the circle that contains a cross with the arms pointed downward. Where did that come from? Primarily, it is the Teutonic rune of death, and was a popular pagan symbol at the time when the Roman emperor Nero had the apostle Peter crucified upside down on a cross. For 2000 years, it has been a symbol of hatred against Christians. It is also popular in the Hindu religion, as the symbol for the term Aum. According to the Hindus, chanting ‘Aum’ is supposed to help awaken ‘the serpent power of Brahma’ at the base of the human spine. Yes, serpent power! Is it any wonder the devil delighted in seeing these symbols chosen for the peace movement that has served his purposes so well? That is not the kind of peace that our verse is talking about.
We can all quote the verse ‘There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked’ (Isaiah 57:21). And we know its truth, as we see the lack of peace in the world today, not only among the world’s quarrelling nations but also in the lives of all the people all around us. But peace is one of the great accompaniments of our salvation. ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). It is also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (Galatians 5:22). One of the most obvious ways in which Christians differ from those who are not saved is the evidence of peace in our souls. And our text declares that we are to share that peace with everybody else.
Following peace with all men is far more than simply refusing to take up arms in wartime. It means harmonious relationships with all of the saints with whom we gather in the Lord’s presence. It means loving and caring relationships in our families. It means getting along well with our neighbours and workplace companions. It means allowing our peace filled personalities to be a testimony for Christ in our everyday lives. It means that we become as much as possible the followers and imitators of the Prince of Peace.
It takes only five words to say it: follow peace with all men. But it takes 24 hours every day to show it. – Jim MacIntosh