The Gifts of Jesus—Peace
First Preached at the Broad Run Baptist Church 12/8/2002
Scripture:
Isaiah 9:1-7 (KJV)
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6For 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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Introduction:
A glance at the headlines this past Friday informs us of how much unrest is in the world today. In December 6th’s USA Today Online we were informed of the following:
Bush economic team out
WASHINGTON — Paul O’Neill, whose outspokenness won him praise as a captain of industry but often landed him in hot water as President Bush’s Treasury secretary, announced his resignation Friday. Senior White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey also resigned.
TV pioneer Roone Arledge dies
NEW YORK — Roone Arledge, a pioneering TV executive at ABC News and Sports who created shows from ’Monday Night Football’ to ’Nightline,’ died Thursday, an ABC News spokesman said. He was 71.
U.S. agents raid software company
QUINCY, Mass. — Customs agents raided a Boston-area software company early Friday as part of an investigation it may have ties to terrorists. The agents are investigating whether a businessman on the list of alleged terrorist financiers owns part of the firm.
Study: War could cost U.S. nearly $2 trillion
WASHINGTON — In the worst case, a war with Iraq could cost the United States almost as much as the government spent in the last budget year — nearly $2 trillion, according to new projections in a study released Thursday.
Plane crashes into Federal Reserve Bank
MIAMI — Federal Reserve Bank officials were celebrating the holidays when a small experimental plane slammed into the sprawling building, crashing in a heap of smoke and fire.
10 dead after Israeli army incursion
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli tanks rumbled into a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, sparking an intense firefight that killed 10 Palestinians early Friday, witnesses and hospital officials said.
Storm devastates South, snow blankets Northeast
The East Coast is looking forward to warmer temperatures as it tries to recover from storms that packed a punch like nothing seen for decades in the South, leaving more than a million people in North Carolina wondering when their their power might be restored.
Mortgage rates rise
WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose for a third week as a pickup in consumer spending depressed bond prices and boosted interest rates, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Thirty-year mortgage rates rose to an average 6.19%, 15-year mortgages inched up to an average 5.60%.
In one day, we were informed of a government shakeup, a famous death, theft of millions that we consumers must pay a looming war, a deadly accident, continued unrest and death in the Middle East, stormy weather, and a rise in mortgage interests’ rates. This is enough bad news for a year let alone a single day.
Unrest, upheaval, and uncertainty increase interest rates, inflation rates, and pulse rates. As these things rise, so does our blood pressure, anxiety, and fears. Notice I have not mentioned the topics of spiraling health care costs, violence, teenage pregnancy, divorce, substance abuse, illegal immigration, social security funding, and pollution.
Getting wrapped up in all of this robs us of one of the blessings and gifts that Christ wishes for us to experience not only surrounding the time of His birth, but all year long—His Peace.
“With all that is going on in the world, not to mention my own life, isn’t peace a bit out of reach for most of us?” you ask. For the vast majority of humanity, I would agree. But to those who are Christians, Christ imparts His peace to us. “Well, I am a Christian” you are thinking to yourself right now, “but I am certainly not experiencing the peace of Christ in my life right now!” Why is that?
Did Christ promise us something that He has yet to deliver or could it possible be that I don’t know how to tap into the peace He offers? Is the lack of peace in my life and heart a failure of supply or is it the failure of proper appropriation of resources? The fault does not lie with Christ as it does with Satan and with our own ignorance of what is ours because we are His.
Are you interested in experiencing the peace of Christ in your life right now? It is yours if you will do these things.
First: Make Peace with God Today.
Have you ever been engaged in a struggle with a person who was bigger, stronger, brighter, better looking, more personable, wealthier, healthier, more gifted, and always right?
Many of you are thinking of other people and events that are a part of your history or even present experiences. For most of us, the sting of defeat or disappointment diminishes over time yet, there are a few of us that can conjure up feelings that are just as strong in us now as when they first reared up in our psyche.
Letdown, second-guessing, doubt, and uncertainty about ourselves usually rise in us after these struggles with others more gifted than what we are. There is always the hope that one day, we as Davids will conquer our Goliaths.
But that will never happen when it is God with whom we struggle. In Genesis 32:24-32, Jacob fought toe to toe with God’s appointed wrestler but he did not triumph over his heavenly adversary. The best Jacob could do was to put up a struggle. And for all his wrestling with his heavenly combatant, all he had to show for it was a messed-up hip joint that made him a cripple for the rest of his life.
This self-assured self-confident man was literally brought to his knees when he went toe-to-toe with God. And you and I will be brought to the same place if we resist Him. But it is there while we are on our knees we will find His kindness and deliverance.
Notice in verses 9-12 of Genesis 32, Jacob prays for deliverance from the hand of his brother Esau who has swore he would kill his brother for stealing his birthright. And as Jacob cries out to God in prayer, God arranges a heavenly-earthly wrestling match. This was done to create the changes in Jacob that would allow God to use him so He could bless Him and deliver him, not because God wanted to take His vengeance out on him.
What we learn in this lesson is that on the heels of humility and submission come victory and blessing. When we submit to God, it is then when we experience the blessings and peace of God.
What is it that you are struggling with God? God wants you to experience His peace and this will only happen when we make peace with Him. We can have this peace if we have faith in God. God has offered His Son as a peace offering for you—will you take it? Put the enmity between you and God at rest.
Second Make Peace with Others Today
“Whenever there is a problem in this group, you are always at the center of it!” she fussed loudly at me in a crowded group meeting. “How in the world do you equate having a few gas cylinders run out over a four-day holiday weekend with all the troubles of the group? I shot back “This is the first time I have had cylinder duty on a long weekend and they were three-quarters filled when I had left Thursday evening. How was I to know they wouldn’t last? Did you or anyone else tell me that I needed to put full cylinders on at the end of the day? If I had gotten that advice, I would have changed them so that they wouldn’t have run out.”
Then another coworker, a friend of the one who had first spouted off, said, “If you believe Jerry is the cause of most of the problems in this group, raise your hands!” Immediately, both her hand and the hand of the first person who complained shot up in the air. But no one else joined them.
“Listen”, I said, “I didn’t do this intentionally and I am sorry it happened. But it was not due to laziness-just inexperience. But for both of you to go off on me like this over this is crazy.”
The next week my supervisor called me in and was fit to be tied over how I handled myself in that confrontation. “I was defending myself against unfair and unrealistic accusations made in a public forum.” I said. “First off, she had no right to accuse me as being the focus of all the group problems. Secondly, I had the right to defend myself publicly when she made her ridiculous accusations publicly.”
As things turned out, the woman who started it all was brought into the group leader’s office (he was my supervisor’s supervisor) and was called on the carpet for the way that she handled herself that day. I was not. I felt justified in my actions because I reacted as most people would do.
But what did Jesus do when all sorts of wild accusations were made against Him? Did He speak up and say these people were nuts? No. He kept quiet. As I thought about the events that happened that day and how Jesus would have reacted, I came to the conclusion that I should have just been quiet and kept my mouth shut. I could see that the woman was hot over nothing and my responding to her probably just added fuel to her fire. And, in all likelihood, if I had said nothing, then the woman’s friend probably would have kept silent too.
I did not like feeling all twisted and turned inside. I did not mistake the absence of overt warfare as being a condition of peace. Finally some ten months after the incident, I knew that I would have to go to her and ask her to forgive me. Sure, one could have argued that she was way more wrong than I, but did that excuse me of my wrong? Does a wrong one person does to another makes a wrong done in return right? Of course not.
I felt guilty that I allowed the situation to escalate, and I finally got the chance to talk to this person alone. I asked her to forgive me because I did not handle the situations as wisely as I could have. Tears came to my eyes as I relayed to her how I had allowed my rights to stand in the way of God showing grace in this matter. When I asked her to forgive me, she said she would. I never heard her asked my forgiveness, but I cannot deal with her conscience, only mine.
To think of all that wasted energy that was spent fueling the discombobulation I was feeling that I used to justify my actions was both alarming and shaming. Jesus shares with us in the book of Matthew whose responsibility it is to make peace when there is a dispute between two individuals:
Matthew 18:15
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
We usually have no trouble confronting people who have offended us but the next few verses are more eye popping
Matthew 5:23,24
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
These few verses tell us if we know that someone has a problem with us, even if we do not have a problem with them, it is our responsibility to seek out those who might be put out with us and try to patch things up.
If there is one thing I cannot stand as a father, it is when two or more of my children, whom I love, have problems getting along with one another. Do you think it is any different with God?
God can’t stand it to see us fighting and feuding with one another. Life is too short to hold grudges. A person, who is made in the image of God, is not to be hated or despised or is to be treated as anything less than human made in the image of the divine.
Who is it that you know that has a problem with you or you with them? Don’t allow another minute go by with relations between you both strained whether it be with parents, children, brothers and sisters, teachers, former friends, coworkers, neighbors, in-laws or outlaws. Enjoying God’s peace requires being at peace with one another. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” as Paul exhorts us in Romans 12:18
Third Make Peace with Yourself Today
Making peace with God and with others is an activity that we need to be involved in often in life as Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. I have, on occasion, run into people with very sensitive spirits who will go the extra mile being careful not to offend God or anyone else yet, when it comes to how they treat themselves, they have a terrible problem of continually beating themselves up for wrongs, sins, transgressions, and trespasses committed long ago. It seems that while they are able to forgive others, they cannot forgive themselves.
This inability to make peace with oneself is tied in with an individual’s unwillingness to experience personal forgiveness. They think that they are such a bad person that they don’t deserve to be forgiven for the horrible things they have done whether these things be real or imagined.
Most people caught up in this trap don’t realize that the basis for their thinking this way is wrong.
First of all, there is only one unpardonable sin in Scripture and that is found in Matthew 12:31—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And if you are here today thinking that you may have committed such a sin then you have not because those who have committed this sin are not interested in living right or concerned about their relationship with God or with anyone else. Conviction of sin will be absent in these individuals because it is the Spirit of God who convicts us of sin. And since the Spirit has given up on these people, there will be no conviction of sin or feeling of guilt because their conscience is dead.
Second, the feelings of contempt that you feel concerning yourself is not the guilt that heaven sends as a result of sin but is destructive in nature and comes from the pit of Hell itself. How can you tell the difference between the two? Take a look at the lives of Peter and Judas.
When Peter denied the Lord three times he felt that He had let the Lord down. He wept bitterly and was sorry for the sin He committed against Jesus. Notice, however, the guilt he felt led him to Jesus. When Jesus forgave Peter his sin, He restored him. The guilt that one feels from heaven leads to repentance and restoration. Because God has forgiven the sin and has covered that trespass with the Blood of His Son, there are no longer feelings of guilt being given to us by the Holy Spirit because there is no more sin in God’s mind. As soon as we confess our sins, He not only forgives us but forgets about the sin we just asked for forgiveness.
This is not the case when we feel the damning conviction that arises from Hell however, as Judas’s life and subsequent suicide points to where this type of conviction and guilt leads. Judas had sinned against Jesus as well because he sold out an innocent man for money. Yet his feelings of guilt did not lead him to repentance. Sure, he felt remorse for his sin and was sorry for it. He even tried to make things right by going back to the priests who gave him the money saying that he was wrong for what he did. But the guilt and shame he felt did not lead him to seek God’s forgiveness but drove him on to self-destruction.
Perhaps even one of you here today, feels that you would be better off dead because you have made a wreck of things. Perhaps we know family members, friends, or close associates who are contemplating destroying themselves just as Judas did. Just know this—that Jesus can take away the terrible feelings of guilt and shame that you or those you are concerned about are feeling. Many try to numb these feelings with drugs and alcohol. For some, the only way to escape them is to take the final route that Judas did—suicide. But know this—it doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus will give you the peace you are seeking for if you submit your lives to Him! He will forgive the sin that causes the guilt and will wash away the stain of sin that causes the shame you are feeling. He will replace your despair with hope and your self-abasement with love for God, for others, even love for yourself. He will replace the turmoil that you are feeling with a peace that surpasses any human understanding will be yours because Jesus will give it to you if you give yourself to Him.
Conclusion:
The key verse printed in our bulletins this morning is John 14:27. Please read it in unison with me:
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.
You can receive Jesus’ gift of peace right now. You don’t even have to wait for Christmas! You can experience peace with God, peace with others, and peace with yourself by simply taking that step of faith by giving Christ control of your life right now. The moment you do, Christ’s peace will be yours.
