Jesus is the Prince of Peace

Peace Candle Lighting

— Lord, I come before you ready to pour out my worries, anxieties, and fears at Your feet.

— I am claiming and declaring Your promises for blessings of peace and strength over my life.

— Bring peace into our souls that passes all worldly understanding and make me a light for others to see Your strength.

Peace...

— How many different ways can we talk about peace?

— There is a traditional definition… Listen

Peace - A state of tranquility or wholeness; Shalom.

Nonviolence; Reconciliation; Serenity; Spiritual Peace; Tranquility; Truce

— IF you do a simple google search of “peace,” this is what you come up with...

— 2,170,000,000+ pages that mention, “Peace.”

— There either is a great deal on “peace” this week at Safeway or Walmart.

— Or “Peace” according to our definition is VERY DIFFICULT to find, There are 2 Billion+ web pages looking for it

— It is NOT for sale anywhere… No matter how much or little you have,

Quotes about “Peace”

— “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

— “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” —John F. Kennedy

— “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.” —Lyndon B. Johnson

— Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” —Albert Einstein

What’s missing...Jesus!

— All of those quotes are great, they are helpful for understanding our world and the people in it.

— But they miss the mark...

— Listen to this verse

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

— We are justified, the world is justified by Faith alone in Jesus Christ.

— Because of that work once for all we have “Peace.”

Real “Peace” is impossible without God.

— For the Jew peace with God is summarized like this...

Sh’alom...

— This word means soundness and peace also refers to wholeness and well being

— If we were in Israel or speaking with Hebrews we would use “Shalom” as a greeting!

— Shalom also refers to “quietness,” “rest”

— Refine a bit.... Let’s look at the Bible… for Biblical Peace.

In the Old Testament

— In the Old Testament, “peace” carries the fundamental meaning of welfare, prosperity, or wholeness.

— It is also the absence of hostility

— The term is frequently used as the antithesis of harm. and as a synonym for what is good.

— Let me give you a couple of examples

Genesis 15:15 ESV

15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

and

Joshua 9:15 ESV

15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

— In the Old Testament Peace is given in this verse.

Isaiah 54:10 ESV

10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

“New Testament” Peace

— “Peace” is very elusive.

— It is hard to come by peace in the world of the 1st century Christian.

— I don’t think Peace is any different for us today. Everyone wants it but “the world” does not know where to get it.

— This peace is not natural but must be a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

— This is a truth that Paul affirms writing that “the fruit of the Spirit is…PEACE” (Gal 5:22)

— We received the “Spirit of Peace” with our salvation… And then we just go on worrying about EVERYTHING!

— It follows that we can possess “ONE HEART” because God is able to give us His peace even when our lives seem to be “falling to pieces.”

Have you experienced His supernatural peace that passes all human understanding?

— It may be happening right now, after you have heard some really hard news. BUT there is peace

— A friend or relative dies, it will leave a BIG hole right in your heart. BUT there is a peace...

— A difficult health diagnosis… Lots of questions, very few answers. BUT there is peace.

We experience this “Peace” by learning to surrender to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit...

— It’s so easy to stand up here and talk about “Peace.”

— It could be said… “IF You were just closer to God you would embrace His Spirit and you would have “Peace.”

— That is really very destructive!!!

— Peace is given to us a “Gift of the Spirit.”

Peace as a Gift of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22–25 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Frequently, “Peace” is used as part of the GREETING in Paul’s letters.

1 Corinthians 1:3 ESV

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

— And this one

1 Peter 1:2 ESV

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Think about this way… backwards

— Grace and Peace is given and multiplied in you

— By your obedience to Christ and your trust in the sprinkling of His blood,

— By your sanctification… your participation in the process of growing up in Christ.

— Finally by the “Fore knowledge” of God… God’s foreknowledge of the nation Israel as a chosen people. AND by extension… All believers!

Let’s move forward… Here’s what Jesus has to say.

Let’s look at John 14.27

John 14:27 ESV

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

— Jesus as usual makes it simple and really understandable.

— Peace I leave and peace I give

— Not like this worlds “Peace”

— But the Peace I give you will not let your hearts be troubled

— Neither let them be afraid...

So What..!

— The bible gives all the “right answers”

— But our hearts are still troubled

— Our very souls are crying out… And we don’t feel a peace about anything..

— Our world is mess… we have let “the world” take over “our world.” There is no peace

— The result is chaos… The result is chaos! And of course we have no peace.

What can we do?

— When there is death, injury, sickness all around us… Show patience with those grieving, show them your peace and let them borrow some of yours

— Walk always in “peace.” You never know when someone needs to see that peace. Your Peace.

— When asked why you are so peaceful in this or that situation, tell them you aren’t peaceful except for the Holy Spirit that dwells in you.

Jude 3 (ESV)

3 to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

— It is that faith, that hope, that trust that we have in our Great God,

— That seeing us in our particular situation will lead and guide and comfort us by His Holy Spirit.

— Yes, God gives peace, it is an example of the Gift of Spirit. When you accepted Christ you are given The Spirit, 100% of Him, for now and always.

‌— God’s main purpose is to remind us of the “Peace” that the Garden of Eden offered to Adam and Eve. God is preparing the world of believers to return to that “Peace,” in the New Heaven and New Earth.

‌‌NO GOD, NO PEACE. KNOW GOD, KNOW PEACE.

— We are going to move to our time of communion .

— As we do I’d like us to pause for a couple of minutes…

— Confess your sins to the only one who can really forgive them and make you white as snow.

— Talk to God, ask Him to show you where sin is in your life. Confess it and He’ll choose to remember it no more.

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–29 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Closing Song