Meeting the Prince of peace
Selective verses
Good Morning Everyone,
Illustration-
I am about to give away my age-
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, (that gives my age away) threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?
Now this morning, I am not advocating violence, but how much better would we get along if we had unity and peace?
In over 3500 years of recorded history, we have only been at peace with each other 286 years. There’s been over 8000 peace treaties made- and 8000 broken.
We quickly see and know that the world does not do a very good job at keeping peace and being friendly to each other.
As we enter the second week of Advent, let me draw your heart to some scripture that ought to bring you peace- Biblical peace
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call him Immanuel.(God with us)”
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
“Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah the Lord.”
“Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord. They were badly frightened, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone!””
God with us
God for us
That will preach this morning!
Jesus…Our peace and our Joy even when we are in troubled times!
Jesus…Our Peace even when we are in circumstances beyond our control.
We live in a world that knows no peace- Yet we can have peace
Let’s pray-
Father, today I ask you to speak to each one of us who desires to know your peace. The ones who desire to live in harmony with you even amongst a world that does not know or want peace. May you open our eyes to you in a fresh and new way and we will give you honor and glory. In Jesus Name! Amen.
If I was to ask each of you to give me your idea of peace, I am sure that it would be a little different for each of us.
Finding true peace can be a challenge. Peace is not the absence of problems. (Repeat)
We think if all of our problems go away, we would have this magical peace we have been looking for – just not true. Inner and outer factors in our lives would cause us to stumble with peace.
God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us is our power and strength with God’s presence to live above the problems in our lives.
God is the only one who gives us wholeness and completeness.
Hebrew Word Shalom means peace with wholeness.
We are desiring the world to have peace and many Christians do not know God’s peace.
You cannot give what you yourself do not possess.
There are many bible believing Christians who struggle with peace-
Have tough nights staying up worrying,
Hard time getting a grip on their fears
Take anxiety medicines to help them cope with life.
Now if you need these things, please continue but somewhere the peace of God ought to bring us peace in a way that we can live our lives the way God intended.
Jesus desires that we have peace in our lives- do you believe that this morning?
On this side of heaven it won’t come without problems, but we can still have the peace of God like He has promised.
That is the comfort and peace Jesus brings and desires for each of us-
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace in this world. You will have trouble, but take heart! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”
What I want you to see this morning is that there is a big difference between the world’s idea of peace and God’s peace intended for the believer.
The peace offered by the world is empty and at best brings temporary peace and comfort.
God’s peace is offered by God to God’s children and is permanent because God’s peace is based upon the fact that God can be trusted and His Word is truth.
It is not based upon the situations or circumstances you are in right now.
There are many celebrities who would pay all they have for a moment of peace that would come from God.
They fight to let everyone know them and then when they are famous spend the rest of the time hiding and trying to get a minute to breath.
They would tell you that money does not bring peace but actually can make you more anxious because you are always trying to keep it and make sure it does not go away.
The world’s peace is based on a weak foundation-
There are so many factors that can destroy world peace that are out of the control of the average person.
God told the Israelites that they were not to marry outside of the faith that it would create problems and steal their peace.
He tells us that to be yoked to an unbeliever would cause problems.
Many people have been kept up all night with problems from being unequally yoked. Yet, we do not listen to God’s warnings and advice.
World peace does not address the root of the problem.
We think it is the stock market, government, healthcare, families broken, overcrowding- these are symptoms but the root of the problem is sin and the lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sin is the root of the problem and it the reason that Jesus came to this mess up world to fix properly what was needed for our lives.
Only Jesus can fix sin.
Scripture says
“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace.” The words of the prophet Jeremiah
The world at best can offer temporary peace and we do our very best as parents and leaders to keep people as safe as we can , but lasting peace has one source and that is from God- You will never have Godly peace without God and it comes to us in three areas of our lives.
Peace with God
Peace of God
Peace with others
Grab a piece of paper and a pencil-
Peace with God
You will never be at peace with God as long as you are rebellious and not living out His Word. We try to have peace with God without God and that is impossible.
People say that they have peace without a relationship with the Lord, it is at best temporary and the factors of the world will at some time come crashing in on them and they will lose what they thought was peace.
Billy Graham for 60 years of ministry shared that the peace of God came only after you begin a relationship with the Lord.
One that is more than just a casual relationship, it is being sold out to Him in every area of your life.
To understand that God has a plan for your life and as long as you are doing your own thing without Him, you miss the blessing of His presence, which is our peace during those hard times in life.
Complete life full of purpose- “The thief (Satan) comes to steal, kill, destroy, I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Here’s the problem, people have sinned and separated themselves from God. Jesus has come to bridge that gap.
That precious Jesus in the manger is now the savior that went to the cross for each one of us.
God demonstrated that love for us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans )
God sent His Son Jesus!
“I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me.”
The only way to have peace with God is to be right relationship with God.
Everything begins with peace with God- The Lord Jesus Christ coming in our lives for our salvation.
Peace of God
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way.”
Let me explain the difference between peace with God and the peace of God.
Until you have a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you cannot have peace with God.
Your sins keep you from having God’s peace. Once you have asked Jesus into your life, God’s peace and blessings begin to flow into and through your life.
You cannot have God’s peace without God.
“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)
Peace is a gift from God- say Amen!
It is the only way that we can make it in a world that so much needs Jesus and this world crumbles without Him.
Grab this-
We are right with God and we receive His peace.
We have a heart for others as God had a heart for us.
We should want others to experience His peace.
Before I was a Christian, I thought all believers faked it until I watch some go through things unimaginable and kept that peace that only God could give them and I realized it was for real.
Peace means much more than simply not being at war. At the heart of the Christian message is the belief that the life and death of Jesus gives people peace with God and peace within themselves. These are the people who try to continue the work which Jesus died to secure.
Jesus said to His disciples three times Peace be with you- did you know that He did not say that to them until after His resurrection.
Until there was a way of salvation
Until He would go so the Holy Spirit of God could come and be in our lives.
Peace of God comes after peace with God.
Peace with God is a spiritual peace- the Bible says that God the Father sent Jesus the Son to make peace between Himself and us (2 Cor. 5:18)
God does not want us to live disconnected or fearful. Peace with God comes from what Christ did on the Cross.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” Col. 3:15
There are more than 700 verses of scripture on peace- God desires for you and I to have peace with Him and through Him.
When you have Jesus, peace becomes the awareness of God’s presence in your life and that gives you an inner peace that can only come from God.
“And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus says
“Peace I leave with you, peace I give you.”
Peace is the one thing most people do not have right now- because they need Jesus!
Peace with others
If you do not have peace with God and you have no inner peace, it is any wonder why this world cannot get around with each other.
We can sing about unity and speak about world peace, but we will not see that until we see God’s people showing God’s love to break the cycle of hatred.
As we close,
My prayer is that you will find lasting peace this Christmas
It goes something like this-
Wake up tired
Drink coffee-if you don’t like coffee, maybe your first problem.
Spend 5 minutes with God.
Rush to get ready.
Handle work/do your thing and think about lunch
Work/ think and worry about things you need to do. Fear steals Joy from you.
Come home
Eat supper
Pay bills/ think about family/ worry some more
Sleep
repeat
It is no wonder that we don’t feel “lasting peace”. Life feels like a rat race that never ends. And, our minds are like a gerbil that goes round and round and round in a wheel that is constantly spinning.
Day after day, we hurry hoping that something changes.
Hoping that maybe we will get enough, buy enough or eat enough, to make ourselves feel enough. But, no matter how much we consume, life never seems to satisfy.
Close with this verse-
Isaiah 26:3-
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
Prayer-
