I Give you MY Peace: A Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent
John 14:27 NKJV
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
We continue in our study in the four themes in Advent, a time in which we prepare ourselves for the return of the Lord. For those who are ready, it is a time we greatly hope for. But for those who are not prepared, it is a time of judgment. Peter tells us to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). Even if we hold to the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, we realize that one can be saved and still lose their reward as one snatched from a burning house, Scripture reminds us of this. So, it is good, then, to reflect on our preparation for His return. It is a time to carefully build on the Christian foundation adding sound materials rather than hay and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
We are asked to build our Christian lives in turbulent times in this world. It is a time in which people are crying out for peace and safety ( 1 Thessalonians 5:3). We also are tempted to be shaken by our current wars and rumors of wars. We are beset by pandemic threats. We are concerned about the economy. We are like Martha who are troubled by many earthly things. Rather than choosing Mary’s part in sitting peacefully at the feet of Jesus, we are in constant agitation. (Luke 10:41). To this is added the threats of persecution which is increasingly hostile to the Christian faith. Will we suffer deprivation or even martyrdom for our faith. there is good reason to be concerned. But what do we do about it.
When we think about “peace” this morning, we need to define peace in a Christian context. It is not wordly peace, as we can read from this morning’s text. It is a gift of God to the Christian. The world cries “peace! peace! but can find none (Jeremiah 6:14). There might be a temporary relief from the trouble, but no lasting peace. There is peace, then there is perfect peace (shalom shalom) This perfect peace is only for those whose hearts are stayed upon the Lord (Isaiah 26:3). all other means of achieving external or inner peace of the soul is bound to leave one dissatisfied. These means can only cure the hurt slightly.
When I first started developing this Advent series this year, I had originally intended to take the texts from the First Epistle of John. But I could not find the word “peace” in it. So I went to John’s gospel fro this morning’s text. It comes from Jesus’ final sermon to His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion. When Jesus told them what was about to happen in the 13th chapter of John, it caused a great deal of fear among the disciples. Jesus tries to calm them down, starting in John 14:1. He told them to stop being troubled and afraid, He commands them to believe in God and in Him. He was going to prepare a place for them and return to take them home. This would happen at the advent. He also tells them the Father would send them another advocate in the place of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. He does not take away their fear by removing the cross. Neither will He take away the troubling times the disciples would undergo. They were to find peace in spite of the external circumstances. They would do this by remembering the time of Advent. It is then, and only then, that all the things which trouble the Christian shall be forever removed.
to the church to which John writes in 1 John, we saw from last week’s message “The Hope that Transforms” that there was not a lot of peace in the congregation. apparently, some of their teachers had left them. It is implied that the teachers saw these Christians as hopeless because hey could not grasp their sublime teachings. Believers were troubled and agitated. So John helps bring peace to the congregation. He hoes not do this be being an intermediary and begging these “teachers” to show more patience. In fact, he sells the congregation that these teachers had left because they were not Christians at all. Good riddance! There can be no compromises with the truth of the Gospel. This does not bring meaningful peace at all. sooner or later, the truce breaks and the conflict resumes. In fact, the fact these disruptive teachers had left brought healing to the congregation. False teaching is not to be tolerated.
But what should we do if the leadership of a church or denomination refuses to abide by the truth of the Gospel? They have entrenched themselves in positions of power and refuse any appeal to be faithful to the Gospel. this happened at the Temple in Jesus’ day. The power structure refused to believe Jesus and obey the Gospel. After the early Church in Acts stirred up the people at the Temple and won many to Christ, the authorities imprisoned and beat the leaders. their way of bringing peace was to silence the apostles. Censorship is always a favorite tool of those in power who want stability so that they can continue to exploit the people. whether or not their “inferiors” are agitated and troubled does not matter to them. The Church had to break from the Temple, which it slowly did. So after some time spent appealing to these power structures, the only thing left is to leave. In these cases, the Lord will grant peace. But we must make sure that it is because of irredeemable apostacy.
there is lot of dis-ease in our family structures as well. We are at our wits ends at times as our families fracture. On top of these fractures which affect everyone in society today, the parents which would enforce Christian teaching some under additional pressure. their is a tendency for children and spouses to rebel against what they feel is a constraint to their freedom. Jesus deals with this in Matthew 10:34-36:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
This is not to say that Jesus desires strife within the family. After all, Jesus is called “The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) At this time of year, we think about the message of the heavenly army (hosts) singing “Peace on Earth” in response to the birth of Jesus Christ, So is Jesus contradicting Himself when here he says that he did not come to bring peace but a sword? Of course not! We are reminded of the Law. Paul tells us that it is good and holy. It is meant to create a just society which properly reflects upon the character of God and His desire that His children be like Him. The fact that the Law was abused by our proclivity to sin does not change this fact. Likewise, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to be a message of peace to all mankind. The fact that it is rejected by some sinners does not change this. If all would accept the Gospel, there would be nothing but peace. And if all accepted the teachings of the Law, there would be nothing but justice. As these are both the will of God, the time will comes that this will be fully realized. God’s will cannot be ultimately thwarted.
In the meanwhile, there is conflict at all levels of society. From the time of the fall of Adam until the end of this current evil age, it always will be. We as Christians are not exempt from this turmoil. Even Jesus when He walked this earth suffered conflict after conflict and rejection after rejection. He was subjected to the humiliation of crucifixion by the very people whom He came to save. This was not the end of the story though. He rose on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He shall rule over all nations with a rod of iron and shatter the powerful and mighty like pottery being broken into shards. He has graciously given the rulers as well as all people the opportunity to kiss the Son instead (Psalm 2). Peace will come when the Lord Jesus has unchallenged authority in the universe.
So in these times, Jesus offers us His peace. He offers this peace to the Christian first. The message of peace is of course offered to all, but it only can be realized in Christ. So we offer Christ to the world one person at a time, calling them to believe on Him, This peace is not the peace of compromise. It is the peace of submission to the Lord and obedience to the Gospel. But this peace cannot be ultimately shaken. We face real difficulties and tribulations. We groan when it seems that we are rejected, even by those who are close to us. But we must not compromise. Even if Christians are hated because they refuse to back down from the truth, at least they are in a strange way respected for being true to their convictions. But the compromising Christian is also hated and despised. But in addition to this, they are mocked for being weak. the world is glad that the “Christian” has come to his senses and now sees things their way.
Jesus gives you His peace. This is the only peace that matters. So let us not be troubled nor afraid. our faith is in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us continue to hope in His infallible promise that He will one day return and receive us unto Himself, forever. Let us stand on the promises of God
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