Peace We Can Know
Christmas Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Today is the second Sunday of Advent, last week discussed the subject of hope. We found that hope is the cutting edge that we have that gets us through life. And we have a sure hope, an assurance of what God has done for us. He is ultimately faithful beyond compare. Hope carries us through like nothing else can.
The question is, will we trust Him? Losing our hope is like losing the ax head. Do you still have your ax head? If not, where did you lose it? Tell God, He’ll take you to that place and restore your hope; all you have to do is take hold of it. Christmas is not just the story of the baby in the manger, it is the story of the man of God, God Himself, restoring our hope.
This week we take a look at the next theme of advent, that is peace.
Just the word conveys wonderful concepts...
This is how it is described in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
peace \ˈpēs\ noun
a : a state or period of mutual concord between governments
b : a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity
c: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
d: harmony in personal relations,
e: a state of concord or tranquility.
In the Bible, the word peace is used to translate the Hebrew word Shalom (completeness, soundness, welfare, peace) and the Greek word Eirene (inner tranquility and poise of the Christian whose trust is in God through Christ)
Peace is a quality and virtue that is sorely needed in the world and church today. Wouldn’t you agree? I mean with the state of the economy, the state of relationships between men; terrorism, crime, hostility etc. In fact, if you don’t think the world needs peace, just take a drive near the mall or a Best Buy during the next few hours.
Even though the constant theme of the Christmas Season is Peace on Earth, we know that very few enjoy true peace. Why?
Well the Bible makes it clear that not all are entitled to peace.
“There is no shalom,” says Adonai,
“for the wicked.”
God straight up tells us that there is no peace for the wicked. I know what you’re thinking, “Pastor, that’s good news!” and yes it is good news. In fact, Isaiah tells us why this is.
Rather, your iniquities have made
a separation between you and your God.
Your sins have hidden His face from you,
so that He does not hear.
So that He does not hear.
Look at the last six words there: so that HE DOES NOT hear. It doesn’t say that He can’t hear- it says that he doesn’t hear, WON’T hear! Did you know that God will actually willfully not hear and give people the silent treatment? Well that’s what Isaiah is telling us! It is sin that has hidden the face of God from us. “But Pastor, I thought you said that He only hides his faith from the wicked?”. Yes I did, but I’m not preaching a sermon to the wicked, I’m preaching a sermon to the saints of God, but I ask you this, do you sin? Is it not a good idea to hear what the consequence to that sin is so that we can avoid it? Well then, let’s take a look at what the Word of God says about how sin affects our relationship with God.
Now the deeds of the flesh are clear: sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, just as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.
We’ve talked about some of these severe character flaws before, let’s look closely at a few of them and tell me if they sound very peaceful. Verse 20: hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and dissensions. Sounds really peaceful huh? It says that those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God! That is pretty harsh, but why is it so specific? Well, look back verse 19. What kinds of works are these? Right, works of the flesh. Now let’s be completely honest, how many of us are completely free from any of these works? We are not interested in flesh works. We are interested in works of the spirit. The closer we get to God, the less the works of the flesh are allowed to flourish and the more spiritually minded we become.
The thing is, sin prevents true peace of mind:
But the wicked are like a troubled sea,
for it cannot rest,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
“There is no shalom,” says my God
“for the wicked.”
Sure, that’s the sinner, but what about us? What about Bible believing Christians, can we become troubled?
Anyone remember Martha? What did Jesus say to her when she was so busy being “busy”?
But answering her, the Lord said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and bothered about many things;
So we can and often do worry. Let’s stay with Martha, and look at why she lost her peace:
But answering her, the Lord said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and bothered about many things; but only one thing is necessary. For Miriam has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Just like Martha, we can lose our peace when we fail to simplify our priorities. The truth is the Christian life is very simple yet we make it into much more than it needs to be. We add so many layers of works. We then turn those around and add them to others. Really, Jesus wants people to come to them just as they are. What was Martha doing that Jesus told us that she had not chosen the good part? Martha was busy trying to earn the approval of Jesus the way she knew how- with works. Mary on the other hand, just wanted to hang out with Jesus. Jesus is relational, which do you think He values most? Sure, Martha could get an attaboy for all her hard work, but it was Mary who was willing to sit and learn from Jesus that got what Jesus said, “could not be taken away from her”
Simplified priorities can also take the form of seeking the things the world has to offer.
Now that which fell into the thorns are those who were hearing; but as they go along the way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear mature fruit.
When we focus on the cares of this world, we are deceived into forfeiting our peace because the world’s rewards are fleeting.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—some, longing for it, have gone astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. So then if God owns everything, why do we break our necks trying to get it all? Have we not figured out that God takes care of us? He really does, we see it week in and week out amongst our brothers and sisters here in this little church! We might be small, but our God is not! In the end it’s about misplaced faith, we put our faith in our finances and not in God. How many times have you heard it said, “if only I had more money, a better job, a nicer car, a smarter husband…” whatever it is, somehow we think that we are better versions of ourselves when we have the “stuff”. There is no doubt about it, God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory, but His provision is just stuff. We don’t put our faith in stuff; we only put our faith in Him.
What causes us to lose our faith? Well, Paul identifies two of these impediments in the book of 2 Corinthians; conflicts and fears:
For even when we came into Macedonia, our body had no rest. But we were hard pressed on every side—conflicts outside, fears within.
Sometimes we lose our peace out of genuine concern over someone else.
But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and aide to my need. For he was longing for you all and troubled because you heard that he was sick.
But as well-meaning as his distress was, Epaphroditus was still exhibiting a lack of faith of sorts.
His distress was because the brethren had heard a bad report about him, it wasn’t the only time the early church distressed at the curves life threw at them. Remember when Paul left Ephesus? Look at the book of Acts.
They all began weeping and falling upon Paul’s neck and kissing him, grieving most of all over the statement he made that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
The people were weeping and kissing Paul, they knew they weren’t going to see him anymore. In fact, just prior, they attempted to keep him from leaving at all.
“And now, look, bound by the Ruach, I am going to Jerusalem—not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Ruach ha-Kodesh bears witness to me from city to city, saying that bondage and afflictions await me.
Paul knew about these things that were about to happen to him yet He had peace.
Even the most dedicated servants find themselves in need of God’s peace. But that is what the Christmas season is all about. It is about the good news that God came to bring peace.
Looking at the various prophecies about Messiah we see that Jesus’ peace was foretold to Isaiah.
Of the increase of His government
and shalom there will be no end—
on the throne of David
and over His kingdom—
to establish it and uphold it
through justice and righteousness
from now until forevermore.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot
will accomplish this.
Zacharias, Mary’s uncle prophesied to his own son who would later come to be known as John the Baptist. Through the power of the Holly Spirit he said,
And you, child, will be called a prophet
of Elyon.
For you will go before Adonai to prepare
His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His
people
through removal of
their sins.
Through our God’s heart
of mercy,
the Sunrise from on high
will come upon us,
to give light to those
who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
in the way of shalom.”
Finally, the host of heaven declared the Peace of God on earth.
Now there were shepherds in the same region, living out in the fields and guarding their flock at night. Suddenly an angel of Adonai stood before them, and the glory of Adonai shone all around them; and they were absolutely terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I proclaim Good News to you, which will be great joy to all the people. A Savior is born to you today in the city of David, who is Messiah the Lord. And the sign to you is this: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly a multitude of heavenly armies appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth shalom to men of good
will.”
There is a catch and it is found in the last line in verse 14. And on earth, peace to men of goodwill” I think this is a more correct translation than the more traditional “goodwill toward men” that we see in the KJV.
The key is in order to have the peace of God, we must have his favor. The reason for this is that the peace that God gives is not given the same way the world gives it.
“Shalom I leave you, My shalom I give to you; but not as the world gives! Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid.
The only way we get that peace is through Jesus because tribulation comes through the world. The problem is that we are unable to overcome the world, only Jesus can. The good news is:
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have shalom. In the world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!”
The apostles taught this as well:
You know the message He sent to Bnei-Yisrael, proclaiming shalom through Messiah Yeshua—He is Lord of all.
The bottom line is this, only the Prince of Peace offers peace that the world cannot give!
God’s Peace
God’s Peace
How is it different than the peace the world gives?
The most basic and fundamental peace – the peace from which everything else flows is peace with God. Only Jesus makes it possible for us to be a peace with God.
Therefore, having been made righteous by trusting, we have shalom with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Without peace with God, no real peace is possible.
Peace with each other
Peace with each other
Once we have peace with God, we must move on to having peace with each other.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.
In a world in which class warfare and racism runs rampant despite our most sincere efforts, it is not hard to see that the only way these judgments can be overcome is by the peace that only Jesus can bring.
Peace with yourself.
Peace with yourself.
Finally, there is a peace that one must learn to make with oneself. I think this is the hardest level of peace to achieve. Only God knows the real us, but next to Him, we are the ones who know our faults best. So much of our inability to relate to each other and to God comes directly from our inability to make peace with ourselves. We are very good at punishing ourselves for our mistakes. In fact, long after God has forgiven us, it is not uncommon to find that we cannot. This is an affront to God because He is the only one who can forgive sins. If He forgives us, then who do we think we are - refusing to forgive the sins He has already paid for?
It is this inner strife that often keeps us from believing that we are worthy to receive God’s forgiveness and by extension His peace. It causes anxiety within us. If we just remember to do what the Apostles Paul admonished the Philippians then we get a very special blessing.
Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.
Pastor, you preach that scripture a lot! You’re right I do, and there’s a reason for it. It is so key to having a healthy Christian walk. Jesus came for a reason, and it was proclaimed by the hosts of heaven. We talk about it and give it good lip service during this season, but do we live it?
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Do you have God’s peace? Or has sin prevented you from finding peace? Maybe misplaced priorities have robbed you of your peace? Have Bona fide concerns filled your heart with anxiety?
Well I’m happy to tell you that this holiday season, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is willing to give you His peace. As Paul prayed...
Now may the Lord of shalom Himself give you shalom at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all!
Let us pray…
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