In this post you will learn

✔️ Adamic nature has been toiling since the Garden, with no rest and no peace.
✔️ Lack of peace forced man to seek it. He found it, but not the ‘true peace’, only that which is the result of the dictates of his own heart.
✔️ Man, instead of looking for true peace, He tried to define life by the works of His own hand, find a false peace. Despite this so-called peace, his soul will continue to undergo the narrowness and pressures of life.
✔️ Lack of peace for the soul of man creates tribulation for the soul.
✔️ Human Soul has been experiencing Tribulation from the beginning.
✔️ Tribulation is narrowness, confinement, being pressed down and under pressure. It is not sickness and pain.
✔️ Jesus undoes what Adam did, so that the pressing can go away, and human soul could fine rest and peace. That's why He said: "Take heart, I've overcome the world". He overcomes every Tribulation and because we are in Him, we can experience the same victory: MY PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU.
✔️ Tribulation is not the Will of God, overcoming it, is.
✔️ Jesus came to rescue this human soul. He first needed to break the false peace, and hence, He used the analogy of using a Sword.
✔️ The Sword is the Word of God, the Logos. It is energized, active Word of God, that can separate, and make division between the false peace and the true peace.

All right, Let's dive in.

[The following is the full transcript of this teaching from YouTube series 'What Jesus Meant'.  Please note that this video features Rose and Masoud speaking unrehearsed – They are unscripted and unedited, filmed in one take.]

Rose: So, maybe we can start with this question that some have asked. Why did Jesus, in John 16: “In Me you'll have peace, in the world, you will have tribulation - but take heart, I have overcome the world.” So, you know, sometimes, when we come to Jesus, maybe we have a wrong understanding that has taught us that the moment we come to Jesus it's the end of troubles. It's the end of every issue and all of a sudden everything is great, which could be true in some cases.

But on the other hand, Jesus said that in the world you will have tribulation. What did He mean by tribnulation? Maybe we should take a look at the John 16. It is in verse 33 and I'm just going to read it, and Masoud will open it up for us a little more:

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Masoud: All right! So, two things. He speaks concerning Tribulation and Peace. Then, He says that tribulation is in the world, but peace is in Me.

We have to realize that He talks about 'the world' and 'in Me' or 'in the world' and 'in Me'. So, He's separating the two from one another.

Now, why is He saying this? What does He mean by the world?

Where is the World? 

The world is anything apart from Christ. It's a part from that position that has been given to you, to me, to mankind in Christ. The world is a place that man was created into. It's a place that the soul of man lives in. It's a place that all the storms come to mankind.

Now, in Christ, it’s a different story. It's a different position. It's not a living soul anymore. It's actually a spirit that lives. Now when Jesus says in the world and in Me, He's technically trying to put a division between the two, and show that you can either live in the world or in Me.

Now, when we say in the world, we don't talk about a planet called Earth or even the universe.

The world is a place of reality of consciousness. It's a place of awareness. It's a place that our mind lives in. It's a place that our soul lives in. It's a place that, we deal with that internal reality. So, if our internal reality is based on what we call the world, we're going to live like the world. We're going to live like anybody else that lives in the world. Now, that means we are going to be impacted and influenced by everything that others live in this world are already influenced by.

So, now Jesus says, "but in Me, you will have peace". So, what are we having in tribulation? No peace! Because He says there is a place that actually you can be in tribulation, but then you can all of a sudden change into peace.

What is Tribulation?

Now we have to see what this tribulation, first of all, is. And then, what that peace actually is. So let's go and look at couple of verses. If you go to the book of Romans, Paul explains this a bit more, when he talks about the Gospel, and he lays the foundation in the beginning. In chapter 2 verse 1, he says:

Therefore you are inexcusable, O Man…

So, he's talking to man, he's not talking to a believer. He's not talking to a non-believer either. He's not talking to anyone specifically. He's just talking to mankind in general. And he says, O Man, you are inexcusable. Why? He adds:

...whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

So, he's talking to mankind that have chosen to live in a certain life. And that life is based on a certain judgment. That judgment comes from their own understanding, their own perception, their own wisdom, which is gained over the years in the world through tradition and forefathers.

So, a man that lives according to the tradition of forefathers according to that knowledge and wisdom and discernment, and counsel has come to a place that has a judgment about everything.

And he says, when he has this judgment, he has a sense of right and wrong, but it's his own right and wrong. That's why he can't actually do what he says is right and he can't stop doing what is not right.

So now Paul says, if you live this way, let's see what's the result of this? Look at chapter 2 verse 6. Talking about God, Paul says:

Who will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.

So, let's go back one step. He says, God gives to every man according to his works. Now he defines what man's work is by saying, if you are self seeking…so what are we trying to say? Self-seeking is man's work. That's exactly what I was talking about, when I pointed at mankind living according to his own wisdom, his own perception, his own realization and his own consciousness. All he knows is 'self', all he knows is the knowledge that for years he has gained, or has been imparted to him by different teachers, whether by parents or teachers outside of the family.

So, what's happening here is that there is a person, a living soul, whose soul is suppressed under a certain knowledge, a wisdom.

Now, in that place, man is under tribulation. His soul doesn't have any rest. He still lives in the curse of the garden that got pronounced over Adam: He said to Adam that he will never have peace. He will never have rest, but will eat from the sweat of his face.

So, what is tribulation?

It's a place that man lives without the help of God.

It's a place that man lives without the grace of God.

It's a place that man separates himself from God and he doesn't have any peace with God.

So, what did Jesus say? He said, in Me you will have peace, in the world you'll have tribulation. So why not coming to Me so that you can have that 'peace'? Now the question is, how do we cause this peace to come to us? What is the thing that causes this tribulation to go away and peace to come?

First of all, I want to make sure that we understand that when we say tribulation, we’re not talking about sickness, we’re not talking about disease, we’re not talking about pain, we’re not talking about anything like that, because all those things Jesus came to set you free from. So, He came for healing. He came for health. He came for deliverance. So those are not the subjects. 

As I said, the tribulation is a place that the soul of man is suffering. It's a place that the soul of man lives under stress, under worry, under fear, under judgment or condemnation. The soul is not free, is not refreshed, it's thirsty.

Rose: Also, when we were recording our YouTube series, Ascension Nights series, we went through the Book of Revelation and talked about the tribulation as well. We don't have time here to go deep in this subject, but when we looked at the parable of the sower and the seed, about the four types of hearts that the word of God is sown, we saw that there is one type of heart that doesn't reach to fruit-bearing. Now, in one of the gospels, Jesus uses the word “tribulation” as the reason, and in another, He refers to "temptation". So tribulation is temptation, or the result of temptation.

There's something that we believe and temptation comes to work against what we believe, to test it. And when man thinks that he can do it without God, he falls into a tribulation or into that stage of soul where it is separated from the life of God. I believe the question you asked is really good. It applies to every single concept that is in the Bible.

We know the scripture talks about all these good things and promises of God or even peace but how can we really have that and receive what is in Christ?

Masoud: The tribulation is for the soul, and God is changing the condition of the soul of man out of tribulation into peace. There is a verse in Isaiah 66 where God says:

Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river…

So, there is that change that God is causing to happen. Now let's go to Romans 8 just to see and understand that tribulation is not the will of God for mankind. Look at verse 35:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

So, what is Paul saying? Can Tribulation? Can tribulation separate us from the love of Christ? Obviously, the author is looking for the answer “No”. That means nothing can! Because right after that he says that “I'm persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” So, tribulation can not. What needs to happen is coming out of tribulation and being in the peace of

 God.

I have not Come to Bring peace but a Sword on earth

Now, let's go to Matthew 10 to look at what Jesus said in a symbolic language. He used a metaphor just to explain what we say about peace that we need to have. So Matthew 10, look at verse 34. He says:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

But John 16:33 says “in Me, you’ll have peace”. So, what is He saying? Is this a contradiction? Or maybe we have to understand through the spirit of God what Jesus is trying or expecting us to understand?

He Destroys the False Peace

If you go back to the scriptures, especially in the book of Jeremiah, God constantly says that (false) prophets "they falsely speak peace, while their word is not from Me, they follow the dictates of their own hearts".

So, they are trying to make peace over their own soul by saying peace, when there is no peace. Therefore, there is a place that the heart of man, or the soul of man tries to use lies to bring peace to himself. But Jesus says, I have not come to bring that kind of peace. In fact, right after that He adds, "but to bring a sword". Not peace but a sword!

So definitely He is bringing a sword to a place is already at peace, but false peace. Through that sword, He can cut through, remove the false, and then bring a different kind of peace.

The Sword that Destroys Peace

Now we know what the sword is. According to the scripture, in Hebrews 4, "the word of God is alive and sharper than any two edged sword".

The word of God is a sword.

So, what did Jesus come to bring? The Word.

And that Word takes away the false peace that the soul of man has made with lies. In fact, it says that sword comes to bring division between spirit and soul.

So, what was falsely accepted through a soulish understanding, through a soulish or natural wisdom, God removes, then through the Spirit, He brings the truth out. Then, the heart of man finally comes to that place of peace.

Living in Christ is actually living in His Word. So if you have His word, that word starts bringing a division between lies and the truth and we can understand our identity. We can comprehend what we were predestined for. We can realize that our life is not limited to what we see, what we taste, what we hear or what we touch.

Our life is in Christ. What is in Christ? The truth of God.

So, in that place, tribulation, all of a sudden, is replaced by the peace of God.

The Peace that Destroys Peace

So, now, let's go to chapter 5 of the book of Romans to look at both tribulation and peace once again. I want us to see that tribulation is a place of narrowness. It's a place that the soul of man is pressed upon. It's a place that it's like you're going through a confined area. It's like a very small hole that you're just going through it. It's a place that the soul of man is going through it. But the thing is you go through it and you come out of it. So your soul doesn't need to be stuck. Our soul doesn't need to be stuck in that place. Now let's see how this happens. Romans 5:1 says:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So once again, we have peace with God. Why? Because we are not justified by ourselves. We are not looking for self-justification. We are not self-righteous. We actually listen to what God says.

How are we justified? By faith. But faith in what? What are we trusting in? In the work of God, accomplished through Jesus Christ, on the Cross and in Resurrection, causing the old man to die and the new man to rise, and through this the work of God is finished and man enters into His rest. And then the prophesy of Day 7 of Genesis is finally fulfilled.

Therefore, peace is a place that the soul of man, created in Day 6, grows into full maturity of sonship and rests in the love of his Father in Day 7.

Now, Paul adds in the following verses:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only [that], but we also glory in tribulations…

Once again, right after peace, we see the word tribulation. First of all, the word “glory” should have been translated as “boasting”.

Therefore, Paul says: “we boast in tribulation”. Why? Because in the past, when tribulation would come, we would be in death immediately. But we have now realized that the love of Christ is so huge for us that nothing can separate us from this.

So, when all pressures come over my soul to cause me to, just as the psalmist says, that it may touch the ground, become full of dust, and take the nature of the first man, Adam, all of a sudden, I realize 'NO! I'm not that person anymore'.

I'm no longer a living soul. I'm not a person that is under weakness.

I'm not a person that will give into depression and hopelessness and discouragement.

I am in Christ.

I am the child of God.

I am justified by faith.

It's not up to me.

It's not based on my works.

It's by His Mercy.

It's by His grace. 

So, once I realized that I stand in the place that belongs to me, that is called “in Christ”, in that place, I have peace. You have peace in Him. That's why Paul says: “I boast in tribulation”. It's like 'bring it on'. 'What else? What do you want to bring over me to try to cause me to go into all those negativity'.

I'm not anymore going to go into those places. Actually, I'm going to walk through it because I know God is with me. What can separate me? What can separate me from the love of Christ? He gave His Son for me, just as Romans 8 says, shall He not also with Him give me all other things?

That's why he says: “but we also boast in tribulation”. Why? Why should I boast in tribulation? Because right after that it says:

Because we know...

So, there is something that we know!

Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance…

So, tribulation is not supposed to cause me to have anguish of soul anymore. Tribulation is not supposed to push me back that I may fall, but actually I realize that when tribulation comes, the word of God is still the same. I persevere. I run in the same pace that I started. I continue, I keep the constancy, I keep the consistency. I still go on, I still move on. Nothing is changed. I still believe.

Tribulation is not that God, all of a sudden, changes His promise. No! Promises are the same. All the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ. Tribulation or temptation comes to cause the soul of man to become sorrowful, and lose sight of the end of this process. But instead of this, suddenly, the soul can realize 'No, God has already proved to me that He loves me and I know He loves me and I know He's not going to love me in future. He has already proven that He loves me and He has told me all the things He has to reveal to me, His will, His purpose, His plan'.