CHRIST’S COMING PRODUCES PEACE
Isaiah 2:1-5 - November 30, 2003
ISAIAH 2:1-5
21This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
5Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
The Prophet Isaiah invites us as the house of Jacob to walk in the light of the Lord. May our Lord guide us in that light which comes only as the light of the knowledge of Christ our Prince of Peace.
As we look at the Scriptures before us, we realize that the Lord is talking about a peace that the world does not understand. Last Sunday was the last Sunday of the church year known as Christ the King. In many churches they looked at the fact that Christ was and still is King, but His Kingdom was not of this world. Because of that, the world sometimes misunderstood that Christ is the King. It is very much the same this morning. We are told in the Prophet Isaiah about the peace that comes from Christ. In a sense His peace is not of this world. At times this peace is misunderstood, as the world understands peace. This misunderstanding began already when the angels announced to the shepherds in the Gospel of Luke: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests"(LUKE 2:14). The world around us often takes that angelic announcement and tries to make it into a worldly peace. Our Lord reminds us that it is a spiritual peace. This spiritual peace the world cannot and does not provide.
We will concentrate on this diving peace of God this morning. Today when Isaiah speaks to us, he speaks to us very much in spiritual terms not the physical, worldly idea of peace.
Our theme this morning—CHRIST’S COMING PRODUCES PEACE
I. It is a peace not necessarily for the world.
II. It is a peace that always belongs to every believer.
I. A peace not necessarily for the world
Isaiah begins in the second chapter by including all of those who are important in this message of salvation. Verse l: 21This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He mentions these two places. We might not think much about them. Judah, of course, was the tribe of Judah, the kingdom of Judah. From the kingdom and tribe of Judah would come the Savior. So Isaiah includes them in this message. Then he says "Jerusalem." We probably remember Jerusalem a bit more by the fact that Jerusalem became the center of worship. This is where the temple was and where the people went to worship the Lord. This included all of God’s people. Isaiah says, "Here is the message for all of God’s people," those who are chosen to believe.
As we look at the last days we look at them in two ways: First of all in the last days for the children of Israel they were looking ahead to when the Savior would come. They looked at this as the last days. Actually, there was another time, wasn’t there? It was the last days before Jerusalem was destroyed. We heard in our lessons (JEREMIAH 33:14-16; 1 THESSALONIANS 3:9-13; LUKE 21:25-36) the meaning of the last days. These are the last days, which are the very last days--the end of time. As we look at these words in our text of Isaiah, they are very fitting. They apply to both cases of the last days, especially for us as we look beyond to the very last days. 2In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. The children of Israel worshiped in Jerusalem. They also worshiped on Mount Moriah. In the last days, as he says, that mountain will be raised above the hills. As we look at that, we are reminded that this is in a spiritual sense, isn’t it? The Lord is not going to magically make Mount Moriah taller than the mountains around it. He isn’t magically or miraculously going to make Jerusalem rise higher than the rest of the cities. They are going to stay at the same elevation. But the importance in Jerusalem is going to become spiritually much greater. Isaiah says, all the nations will flow to it. We are reminded of Pentecost. We are reminded of the time before Jesus was born. We are reminded of all different times in the history of the children of Israel. Even still today many make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
As we understand this verse of Isaiah in a spiritual sense helps us to understand the last portion of our Scripture, too. Isaiah writes: They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. The world takes this and says there will be a great time of peace. Nations are not going to fight against nations anymore, and there are not going to be any weapons. Yet, that is not the case. The Lord does not speak here in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. He says the enemies that oppose us are overcome. Those that would battle against us with their weapons are overcome. Nations will still fight against nations in this world. There is not going to be worldly peace. Rather, there is going to be wars and rumors of wars. We think of that in our day and age--there are hostilities of one nation going against another. We ourselves are involved in different skirmishes around this world, and it will go on that way until the end of time.
The Lord Jesus did not bring peace in this worldly understanding of peace. The fact is as Jesus came to take a stand on what is true, there was not going to be peace; but there will be those who are going to be on one side of the truth and those on the other. In the Gospel of Matthew we are told the words of Jesus: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword"(MATTHEW 10:34). We might wonder to ourselves here is the Prince of Peace, and yet He is not going to bring peace but a sword. What is that sword? That sword is His Word, isn’t it? It is the Word of God, living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing even joints and marrow, thoughts and attitudes of the heart. That is the sword of the Lord that the Lord Jesus brings; and because that sword of the Lord says there is a right and wrong, there are going to be many who will stand on the wrong side of God’s Word. They are not going to find peace. When you look up that passage in Matthew where it says that even family will stand divided against family because of the truth that sword of the Word.
Yet, we know at this time the world says that we all ought to get along, that we all ought to be peaceful (by Christian living, we should be peaceful). The world tries to wrest from this a worldly peace, which is just not going to be. On this side of heaven, there will be lots of discontentment, lots of disagreements, lots of arguing and wars and fights, and lots of people going down the wrong path. We have a sense of that already and especially in our society with our affluence. Many are trying to get the best deals already before Christmas is here. Isaiah later on describes it: "The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace"(ISAIAH 59:8) The world around us has sometimes perverted God’s peace into crooked roads. The world tells us we are going to find peace and contentment in the things that we buy for ourselves. We are going to find peace and contentment by getting that perfect gift for that perfect person. Yet, there is no perfect gift. There is no perfect person.
The Lord warns us. Advent begins today. This means there are only four Sundays before Christmas is here. This means there is barely enough time to properly prepare for the birth of our Savior. It reminds us how suddenly that celebration is coming upon us. It reminds us, too, as we look beyond that to the last days which are suddenly coming upon us. We are to watch and pray and stand firm, not be secure in this life, so secure and so safe that we forget the last days that are yet to come. In Thessalonians: "While people are saying, ’Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape"(1 THESSALONIANS 5:3). So it is in this world around us that many will perish because they think they have found their peace and safety, their contentment in this life.
Yes, Christ’s coming produces peace, peace which the world doesn’t always understand and which isn’t necessarily for the world; but Christ’s coming produces peace which is always provided for you and I and every believer.
II. It is a peace that always belongs to every believer
Remember how Isaiah describes Jerusalem. He says it will become great. It will become elevated. It will become important in the history of the world. Many peoples will come and say, "Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob." The God of Jacob is another term for a church. It is another term for the assembly of believers. He says, "Many will say, ’come; let us go worship where the children of Israel had worshiped.’" As you read Scriptures, you will find that time and again, the unbelieving nations came to see that the God of Israel was the true God. We think of Daniel in the lion’s den who didn’t give up his faith. He wasn’t going to bow down to a false god and finally the leader said, "This God of Daniel is the true God and everyone should bow down to the God of Daniel." There were many who would see in the house of the God of Jacob the true God.
Why? Isaiah says: "He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Isaiah describes the fact that many who will come to the house of the God of Jacob will indeed come to learn from that Word of the Lord. They will learn from that Sword of the Spirit that is a dividing sword between what is right and what is wrong. The Sword of the Word that also will change man’s hearts.
Isaiah goes on to add: 4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. Again, always think about a spiritual sense. In Bible study we have been going through the Book of Acts and there we see that after Pentecost how the church begins to spread. It begins to spread through the region. It begins to spread not just among the Jews anymore, but it begins to spread among the Gentiles. The Lord calls in those who were once considered unbelievers, those who were once considered untouchables, to be members of His Kingdom. He will provide for them salvation, so He provides it for all of mankind.
Verse 5 of our text in Isaiah that extends the invitation by saying: 5Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. We are invited to walk in the light of the Lord, the light that came into this world with the birth of our Savior, which cannot be extinguished. Even though the world might try to put out that light, even though from time to time Satan thought he could put out that light, even though once in awhile our own sinful flesh darkens that light, it cannot and will not ever be extinguished. Christ is the Light of the world. He is our Prince of Peace, and He provides us with peace in knowing that our sins are forgiven.
So in the rush of Christmas that is yet to come, I hope that you would find time to sit back and contemplate the Prince of Peace and enjoy the fact that He provides us with all that we need. Certainly, we live in troubled times. We live in a troubled world and sometimes even our own lives are troubled. It was no different for the early disciples. We think of them in the Upper Room. The Lord appeared to them and what did He say? "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid"(JOHN 14:27). The world would have us fret and worry that we cannot find the right gift and there are only so many shopping days left. Then the Lord reminds us, "I give you peace which the world can not give. Don’t be troubled by the things of this life. Don’t let the world and its worries and cares diminish that light of the knowledge of salvation."
We learn that. We believe it. We know it. We confess it simply because of God’s Word, the Sword of the Spirit. In Psalm ll9 (verse 105) the Psalm talks about the fact that the Word of the Lord is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path. He continues in Psalm ll9: "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands"(PSALM 119:165,166). We have great peace, a great peace that the world may not understand. It is a great peace that causes us not to stumble but to walk boldly and confidently following the commands of God. We walk down the straight and narrow path lit by the light of God.
That peace of course is God’s favor upon us: that we who bring only our sins are given forgiveness. Paul writes in Romans: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"(ROMANS 5:1). We have peace with God not because of ourselves. We have peace with God not because of what we have done. We have peace with God because of Christ our Savior. In verse 2 of Romans 5 it also adds, "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
Preparing for Christmas is a blessed and joyous time. It is a time to reflect on the peace of God, which comes to us through Christ our Lord. It helps us to look forward to His birth, the birth of our Savior. Preparing for Christmas helps us to remind ourselves that the end of time is also coming. We look forward to that time: preparing ourselves, realizing that Christ’s coming as an infant and Christ’s coming on the last days as the Righteous Judge produces peace. It is a peace, which is not necessarily for the world as the world cannot and many times does not understand it. But it is a peace, which is meant to uplift our souls, to refresh our spirits, the peace found in the forgiveness of sins.
Paul reminds in Colossians with a prayer of encouragement for us: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful" (COLOSSIANS 3:15). That is right, isn’t it? When we are thankful, it shows that we understand God’s peace for us, peace of salvation, the peace of eternity, which the world cannot give us. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
