His Name Shall Be Called…“The Prince of Peace”
Chuck Sligh
Series: His Name Shall Be Called
December 16, 2018
A PowerPoint slide presentation of this sermon is available upon request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
INTRODUCTION
We have been in a series on the titles Isaiah assigned to the promised Messiah in Isaiah 9:6. Over the last few weeks, we have investigated the meaning of the four names given in this text: Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, and The everlasting Father.
We’ll close the series today with the final title: “The Prince of Peace.” But I found that this was a difficult one to deal with because it seems on first investigation that we receive mixed messages when it comes to Jesus and peace.
On one hand, Isaiah, clearly speaks of the Messiah as the Prince of Peace, and when the angel host announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, their message was: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
On the other hand, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 10:34-36 – “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
Not only that, it’s clear to see that as we look around today, there is no peace on earth. Year after year we see the absence of peace in our world. Man’s inhumanity to man grinds endlessly onward.
So how do we reconcile this? The answer is found in our understanding of the word “peace.” In the West, the term peace is mostly connected with the absence of conflict. There have been protestors calling for peace in every war in every war in our country’s history, and especially since the Viet Nam War. But you don’t have to be a pacifist to want peace. The truth is that even soldiers and their families long for peace in our world.
So, in our minds, peace is connected with quiet, or a lack of conflict. It’s almost as if we define peace by what it is not—war. If there is no war, there is peace.
But the Hebrew word Isaiah used for peace—shalom—is very different from that. Shalom is indeed used to describe the cessation of hostilities, but the word itself also pictures health and wholeness. It denotes harmony and completeness. To have shalom is to have not only a quiet life but also to be fulfilled in every way. In fact, it’s possible to have shalom spiritually and personally in the midst of war or conflict or problems or troubles.
So how is Christ the “Prince of Peace”? Using Isaiah’s understanding of peace as shalom, I see two distinct ways that Christ fulfills His title as Prince of Peace now, and we’ll also see the promise of a third future shalom as well.
I. FIRST, JESUS IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE BECAUSE HE OFFERS LOST SINNERS UPWARD PEACE, THAT IS, PEACE WITH GOD.
The message of salvation the Bible teaches is sometimes called “the Gospel of PEACE.”Paul says in Romans 10:15 – “…How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace…!”
In Ephesians 6:15 Paul commands the believer to have his “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Why is the salvation message called the “gospel of PEACE”? You see, the Bible teaches that man is at war with God, and more worrisome— God is at war with man. Why?—Because of a nasty three letter word—S-I-N.
We’re told in Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Because of our sin, Isaiah tells us that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6)
We have all turned away from God and disobeyed God’s commandments. This waywardness has separated us from God who cannot look upon sin and who must judge all sin.
That’s where Jesus comes to the rescue! At Christmastime, we’re reminded that Jesus came to earth as a tiny baby—but that’s not where the story ends. That babe was GOD THE SON who grew up, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross to pay the penalty of your sin in your place.
Listen to a prophecy about Jesus by Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, in Luke 1:79, who said Jesus came…“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Those without Christ ARE IN SPIRITUAL DARKNESS. Jesus came to give us spiritual light and guide us to the way of PEACE—the way of shalom, of spiritual harmony and wholeness that is found only in God.
How can you experience this peace with God?—By trusting in Christ as Savior. Romans 5:1 shouts out the answer: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul says that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are “justified,” a big theological word that simply means “just-as-if-you’d-never-sinned.” A person who is justified is one who stands before God with no sin because God has already judged our sin in Jesus as our substitute on the cross. If you are a believer today, you stand before God as PERFECT— JUSTIFIED—“just-as-if-you’d-never-sinned”!
But it’s not by anything in us or by our OWN goodness or any works we do that God justifies us. Paul clearly states that it is “through the Lord Jesus Christ.” God saves us solely because of what Jesus did on Calvary. And if you will just trust that truth, and trust in Jesus to save you, you will be justified in God’s sight—declared everlastingly “Not guilty” before the holy God of heaven.
Then there will be no barrier between you and Holy God. Rather, you will be reconciled to God, and therefore you will no longer be at war with Him nor He with you, but you will have “peace WITH God.”
Oh, listen!—Turn from sin and believe in Jesus today! Put your faith in HIM and HIM ALONE as your ONLY hope of salvation and forgiveness of sins and acceptance before God. Jesus is the Prince of Peace because He offers the lost sinner peace with God.
II. SECOND, JESUS IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE BECAUSE HE OFFERS BELIEVERS INWARD PEACE—WHAT PAUL CALLS THE PEACE OF GOD.
Whereas upward peace—peace WITH God—has to do with being reconciled to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, inward peace—the peace OF God—refers to tranquility of the heart and soul in the midst of life’s adverse winds, and having serenity of mind despite the stabbing pangs of fear, doubt, depression, temptation, and all other attacks to our emotional well-being.
Shortly before leaving His disciples to go to the cross, Jesus gave us a wonderful promise. In John 14:27 He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Unfortunately, many Christians do not experience this inner peace Jesus refers to because they do not understand how to activate it. The reason is found in the little word “let” in this verse. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The problem for believer is that they “let” their hearts be troubled. Jesus implies that when we lose our shalom, there’s something we do in ourselves, something totally unnecessary.
Illus. – A man went to a psychiatrist and said, “Every night when I get into bed, I think someone is under my bed. I then get up and look but there’s never anyone there. This goes on all night, up and down, up and down. It’s driving me crazy. Do you think you can help?”
The doctor said, “I think I can. All you have to do is visit me twice a week for the next two years, and I think I can cure you. It will cost you $75 per visit or around $7,500.00.”
The man said, “That’s pretty steep for a working man like me. I’ll talk it over with my wife and let you know.”
The next week the man called the psychiatrist and said, “Thanks, Doc, but I won’t be coming back. My wife didn’t like your price per visit, so she just solved the problem.”
Startled, the doctor asked, “How did she do that?”
The man said, “She cut the legs off the bed.”
God wants to saw the legs off our worries and anxieties. But we can only do that if we “let” Him. We’re not to “let” our hearts be troubled!
How can we do that?—The answer is found in Isaiah 26:3 which says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” I memorized this verse as a child and have quoted it a thousand times in sermons and in counseling. But a deeper study of this passage this week helped me understand God’s inward peace in a way I never did before. The words in the Hebrew Isaiah used hold the key.
1) First, he used the word “keep,” which means to guard, protect, hide.
Isaiah is teaching us that those who meet God’s conditions are protected by the Lord because they are hidden in, guarded by, protected by Him. That doesn’t mean that we’re kept from TROUBLE, but we’re hidden in the One who walks with us THROUGH trouble.
Illus. – Jesus didn’t keep the disciples FROM the storm, but He was with them IN the storm and hid them FROM its harm. – The storm could only do to them what He allowed, and He would only allow that which was for their good.
2) Second, note the word “perfect” in Isaiah 26:3.
Actually, the word perfect is not in the Hebrew text. When I read that in one of my commentaries, I thought, Wait a minute! That cannot be. I looked it up, and it’s true, and yet every Bible translation I consulted inserts the word perfect before the word peace.
Why did all these translators put it there? It’s because of an unusual pattern used by Isaiah when writing this passage in Hebrew. Isaiah actually put the word peace in the sentence twice. So, it actually reads, “You will keep him in peace-peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in You.”
We don’t do it often in English, but in English grammar, saying a word repeatedly for emphasis is referred to as “reduplication.” For instance, Winston Churchill famously said, “Never, never, never give up!” – You could hardly miss his emphasis!
The French do it too: “Bon” in French means “good.” A special candy, one that is really, really good is called a “bon-bon,” which literally means “good-good,” And did you notice that I used reduplication when I said that a bon-bon is “really, really” good?
So, Isaiah literally was saying that God would give those who meet His condition “peace-peace.” This peace-peace is not like the world’s peace.
Listen again to John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Did you notice that Jesus repeats His peace in this verse? He says it twice in the same sentence. He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.”
This is not just peace as the world gives, this is bon-bon peace; this is good-good peace; this is peace-peace; this is perfect peace—which is why every version I consulted chose to translate it as “perfect peace.”
3) BUT—and here’s the key—there is a condition to obtaining this peace. Who does Isaiah say will have this peace?—“He whose mind is stayed on [or “steadfastly fixed on”] Thee…because He trusts in Thee.”
Our minds have a tendency to be fixed on our circumstances that go wrong and people in our lives who rub us the wrong way. Isaiah says that we have to steadfastly fix our focus on the Lord. If we don’t, we will allow Satan to build mental strongholds which can only be taken captive by divine power, bringing every thought into captivity and making them obedient to Christ.
But here’s the MOST important word in Isaiah 26:3—“Trust.” God’s “peace-peace only comes to those who steadfastly fix their minds on the Lord because they TRUST in Him.
This word is THE KEY to not letting our hearts be troubled. We are to trust in Him, in the Lord. To trust means to let go and depend upon something or someone else.
Illus. – When you were a child, did you lose any sleep worrying about the bills or your job or health or having enough food? No, because your parents took care of that. You trusted in them to take care of these things. Real peace means trusting Jesus to take care of the details of life.
I find it ironic that at Christmastime—when we’re celebrating the birthday of the Prince of Peace, when the universal sentiment is “peace on earth, good will toward men,” that Christians are often in great turmoil and trouble and disquiet—the tree to find, buy, put up and decorate; fighting traffic and crowds to buy everyone’s special gift; Christmas cards to special people in our lives; the Christmas parties that must be attended; and assembling Johnny’s gizmo at 3AM that comes in 300 pieces and instructions written by a Chinese with strange syntax and limited English vocabulary!
Is it any wonder that so many Christians lose their peace at Christmastime? We’re celebrating the birthday of the Prince of Peace, but we’re about to pull our hair out with frustration and turmoil. It’s not “peace on earth, good will toward men” you feel, but sometimes it’s something a little closer to MURDER!
You laugh, but did you know that more suicides take place during the Christmas season than at any other time during the year, or that more people become depressed in this season than any other time in the year, or that marital problems tend to become more pronounced during this season? For some, Christmas is a recipe for exasperation and distress—certainly not shalom. This Christmas fix your focus steadfastly on God and put your trust in Him and experience God’s peace-peace!
III. BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT SOMEDAY JESUS WILL BE THE PRINCE OF PEACE IN A LITERAL, FUTURE KINGDOM.
The peace the Prince of Peace gives us now is spiritual and emotional on a personal level. Yet outside of our hearts and minds, the world we live in is filled with war, hate, conflict, political infighting, social division, injustice, greed, and murder. The longing of the hearts of people around the world is “peace on EARTH”—not just peace in our hearts.
Unfortunately, mankind can never usher in peace on earth, no matter how hard they try. But someday Jesus will establish everlasting peace. One day the Prince of Peace will come back. One day the Lord of Glory—who came as a little baby, was placed in a manager, and was held in Mary’s arms—will return as a reigning Lord on a white stallion.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that the return of Jesus to bring peace on this earth is mentioned no less than 318 times in the Bible. As Jesus kept the first promise to come, He will keep the second!
And it will be a GLORIOUS time—a time unparalleled in human history. Jesus is coming to set up a Kingdom of Peace on this earth!
• Swords will be beaten into plowshares.
• The Middle East problem will be permanently solved.
• There will be no injustice, for Christ Himself shall rule on the earth.
• There will be no racism, no corrupt government, no terrorists.
• There will even be peace in the natural world wherein Isaiah says that lions will lie down with lambs; leopards will lie down with baby goats; cattle and bears and lions will be herbivores; babies will be able to put their hands down into the holes of asps and vipers without harm.
After 1,000 years of Kingdom rule on this present earth by the Prince of Peace, God will destroy this present universe and create a new heaven and a new earth where Christ’s kingdom of peace will last forever. It’s wonderful already to know Christ, but let me tell you—the best is yet to come!
CONCLUSION
As we close, let me ask you…
Do you long for peace with God?
Are you still at war with God because of the sin that separates Him from you? You can have peace with God by trusting in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to be saved today; don’t delay! Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [in other words, ‘I will give you peace.’].” (Matthew 11:28)
Christian, are you troubled and tossed about in your soul because you have not trusted in God in the midst of your trials and you have not focused your mind upon Him? – Why don’t you slow down and reorient yourself to what is REALLY important at Christmas—your relationship with God—and steadfastly focus on Him and place your trust in the God of the Universe to take care of your problems.
And never forget—Though you can experience peace WITH God and the peace OF God, the best peace of all is yet to come! Someday, Jesus will bring peace to this troubled world once and for all. Keep your eyes on the future king. Like a little child, trust in Him.
