Peace
Notes
Transcript
[LOTTIE MOON VIDEO]
Announcements
Good morning. Welcome to Southern Hills Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.
If you are a first-time guest with us, you will find a Connection Card in the pew rack in front of you. We would appreciate it if you would fill that out and place it in the offering plate. That gives us a record of your visit and allows us the opportunity of reaching out to you this week to answer any questions that you might have.
Online giving is available at our website, southernhillsbc.com. By clicking on GIVE, it will take you to our giving page where you can easily give by electronic check or credit card. You can also give during our offertory time or in the box at the info table. If you are a guest, please know that we do not expect you to give. Our members and regular attenders provide for the ministry of the church.
For those of you who missed our Lottie Moon Breakfast this morning, know that this is the time of year when Southern Baptist churches give a special offering to international missions. Our International Missions Board, or IMB for short, has a goal of $210M this year. Our goal, as one of the 47,000 local churches that are affiliated with the SBC, is $21,000. You should have received a Lottie Moon giving envelope in your bulletin this morning. If not, there are more available at the Info Desk. Please take it home with you and pray about what God would have you give to help our 2,500 missionaries proclaim the Name of Christ to the nations.
See bulletin for Calendar Updates
If you are a guest with us, know that this is our weekly Family Worship service. Our children will remain with us for the entire service. We do have a nursery available for children under 4 just down the hall if you would like to use it.
Please stand as I read our Call to Worship. This morning, we will be doing a responsive reading. I will read the verses in White and we will all read the verses in Yellow.
Call To Worship
Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
Opening Hymn
Advent Reading & Prayer: Dave & Jolene Meyer
Song #1
[OLSEN VIDEO]
Offering & Prayer
Song #2 (Open the Eyes of My Heart)
Lord’s Supper
Please be seated.
(beat)
Unto us a child is born. A son is given. God’s Son, Jesus, came by way of a young Hebrew girl from an obscure village. And Jesus would grow into the role of the Son of Man, where He would take on the sin of the world to bring those who were loyal to God back into communion with Him.
That is what we celebrate in the Lord’s Supper. That by His death and resurrection, Jesus has restored us back into relationship with our Creator. That we can sit in God’s presence and walk and talk with Him as we go about this world seeking to fulfill the mission that He has given us.
We’re going to continue our reading about Jesus from the book of Mark. Today we will begin chapter 15:
And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
At this time, I am going to have our ushers come forward. If you are a follower of Jesus, in that you have accepted Him as Savior, bowed to Him as King, and been baptized in obedience to His commandment, we invite you to participate with us. In just a moment, we will pass the plates. Please take a piece of bread and a cup and hold it until we take together.
Pass
Instruction from Jesus: Read Matthew 26:26-29
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Prayer of Blessing on bread and cup
Song #3
Pastoral Prayer
World -
Country-
State-
City-
SHBC-
Introduction
Last week, we began a new series called Waiting with Isaiah. We set the stage for the world that Isaiah lived in—a world where everything seemed to be falling apart. The Northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the mighty Assyrians, and the Southern kingdom of Judah was walking in their footsteps: turning their backs on Yahweh God, the One who had created them, called them, rescued them, and brought them into the land of blessing.
Even the priests and kings of Judah had wandered away from the God who had given them more than they could have ever hoped for. Some in Isaiah’s time were apathetic, and others were downright wicked. They served other gods. But, mostly, they served themselves. All had seemingly had put their hope in something other than Almighty God.
Last week, we explored Isaiah giving the people hope in the form of a promised Righteous King that would come from the line of David. That, though David’s line would be conquered, leaving nothing behind but a stump, there would be a shoot that would come from its roots to restore God’s kingdom on earth.
As we began to apply Isaiah’s prophecy to Jesus as the Messiah, we found that the coming of the baby in Bethlehem was only the beginning of the rising shoot that was promised. Ultimately, we saw that the prophecy led us to understand that Jesus would grow up into a mighty cedar—a true and faithful king—and that He would fulfill His calling by being the good and better Adam. He would complete the mission that Adam was called to and failed to complete in the garden. Jesus would pick up his mantle and extend the walls of the garden of Eden—God’s holy mountain, His throne room and dwelling place—to cover the whole earth. In short, Jesus’ mission was to restore Eden by redeeming the fallen world and creating a new heaven and a new earth.
Jesus’ goal of conquering sin and death has been accomplished, but the work of reclaiming the nations has been given to the Holy Spirit and the church. As the kingdom is being built out on earth, Jesus is resting and ruling at the Father’s side. Because of this fact, we have hope—not “one in a million hope,” but “it is a sure thing” hope, because God has spoken. And God never fails.
Today, as we continue our Advent series, we will look at the idea of Peace in the book of Isaiah.
[TITLE SLIDE]
What is peace? Our world would probably define peace as the absence of war. They would say that where there is no conflict, there is peace. And I think that can be true, in some sense. There is this sense of calm within us when wars are not raging around us or within us. But I think there are varying degrees of this kind of peace.
Just because our country is not involved in a declaration of war against another nation does not mean we, as Americans, are at peace in any real sense. And even if we weren’t involved in conflicts around the world, both physically and politically, would we be at peace in the United States? In our communities, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches—and even in our homes—we find conflict. And even when we are alone, removed from the chaos of the world and relationships, are we really at peace? Is there not conflict there—within us? Even those of us who have put off the flesh and put on the new nature of Christ constantly fight a war within us of putting sin to death each and every day; really, each and every moment. Can we really be free of the chaos of this sin-scarred existence short of passing into the next life? Can we truly find peace anywhere?
Well, according to the Bible, peace means more than the absence of chaos. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word shalom meant not only the absence of hostility, but a desire for the welfare of others. It included the ideas of giving service and loyalty to another, usually within some kind of covenant relationship. Like love, the Bible describes peace as more than just a noun. Peace is not only a feeling or state of being; it is a heart posture that desires wholeness, both within us and in the lives of others. And, specifically for Isaiah, the idea of shalom was focused on a restoration of Israel with Yahweh God.
Even in the midst of dwelling in chaos, Isaiah’s prophetic voice was attuned to God’s promise of this future righteous king who would restore peace once and for all, not just with the people of Judah, but with Israel and through Israel, as the people of God, to the rest of the nations.
If you have your Bible this morning, please turn with me to Isaiah 57.
In chapter 57, Isaiah is speaking of Israel’s faithlessness and pride. He has foreseen that these hard-hearted imagers of God will continue to refuse to humble themselves. They are filled with selfish ambition and chasing after the gods of the nations as they seek to bring themselves glory. God has had enough of their wayward hearts and their constant sin. In verse 13, Yahweh speaks:
Isaiah 57:13 “When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.”
Here, God promises that the ru’ach, or the breath and the wind, will take the faithless away forever, out of the presence of God for eternity.
(Beat)
But those who trust in Him will inherit His holy mountain.
This is the hope that we spoke of last week. Remember that God’s holy mountain is both Eden and the future kingdom of heaven on earth; It is the place that He dwells throughout all of time and space. And there is hope for the faithful son and daughter of God that they will get to share that space with Him, for He will give them eternal peace on that mountain.
We’ll pick up today’s passage there, in Isaiah chapter 57, starting in verse 14. Read with me:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x5]
And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” (/)
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (/)
For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. (/)
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt. (/)
There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
God offers peace here to His faithful imager through this prophecy. And while it is not clear in this particular passage, the book of Isaiah—and God Himself later on in this speech—leads us to believe that this will be accomplished through the Anointed Redeemer to come, the Messianic King that will come from the line of David.
This Messiah—as perfect imager and physical manifestation of Yahweh God—will engage in three activities to bring lasting peace to the faithful on behalf of the Father. That is what we will explore today. As spoken from the mouth of God, the Coming King will provide Preparation, Revival, and Order for His people.
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
Preparation (v 14)
We will start by understanding His preparation for bringing peace to those who give God their loving loyalty. Look with me back at verse 14 as we dig into the passage:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
In 1842, a man by the name of Asa (A-sah) Whitney boarded a vessel sailing to China. He was a distant relative of Eli Whitney of cotton gin fame. Asa had moved to New York years prior and started a successful mercantile business. This trip to China was an opportunity to grow his trade business and he was willing to endure the travel for the sake the future of his business.
On June 18th, 1842, Asa climbed aboard the Oscar, a merchant vessel leaving Sandy Hook, New Jersey. There, the ship left berth and traveled around the Southern tip of South America as it headed to the Far East. It took 153 days to reach China. Can you imagine being stuck on a ship for 5 months? Asa knew there had to be a safer and faster way to get to China.
When he returned 2 years later, he began to lobby Congress to build out a railway to the West Coast. While Congress would continue to rebuff his proposals, in 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, which put the wheels into motion for what would become the Transcontinental Railroad.
Two railroad companies were commissioned to complete this task. The Union Pacific Railroad would build track from Omaha heading West. And the Central Pacific Railroad would build track from Sacramento heading East. Both crews started off easily laying track in their endeavor to meet, but it wasn’t long before the Central Pacific crews encountered the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
On the Western side, the Central Pacific workers spent a majority of their time digging and tunneling and blasting granite cliffs and rock with dynamite. In fact, during the first 5 years of construction, they spent less than 40% of their time laying track.
It was difficult work to remove the obstacles that lay in the way of joining the two tracks. After 7 years, the two companies finally met in Utah and the Transcontinental Railroad was completed with a final golden spike.
This is the kind of difficult work that goes into building a road and preparing a way for others to follow. It is clear, here, by God’s statement in verse 14, that there are obstacles in the path of God’s people. And, just like the Central Pacific Railroad did in the Sierra Nevadas, this is the kind of obstacle-clearing work that God is calling someone to do in preparing the way of His people. But what are the obstacles? And who is it that is called to do the work?
The first thing we notice is that God says to “build up.” And not just once. He repeats it to emphasize it. The Hebrew word means to lift up, elevate, or exalt, depending on the context.
Here, God is calling someone to make a way, or to prepare a road. Prior to the Romans, roads in the ancient world were not always well built. Most of the time, they were simply paths that had been trod down by humans and animals as they traveled along. But there were occasions when a road called for more.
For instance, if you pay close attention to the maps in your Bibles, you may see a route called the King’s Highway. It was a major trade route along the East banks of the Jordan river, running North and South from Damascus to the Sinai Peninsula. It was constantly filled with trade traffic from the Far East to North Africa and Egypt. It was not only protected by Kings and their armies, but they also traveled the highway in their caravans.
It couldn’t be built like a regular road. It needed to be built up, elevated off of the plain with mounds of earth, gravel, and stone. This would help widen and smooth out the road and avoid any potential issues with flooding or washouts. Think of the way that we pave today. We smooth out the land, compact it, and install base as a firm foundation before we pour concrete or lay pavement.
The description of this “highway” in the passage is a metaphor for those on their way to inherit God’s “holy mountain.” Look at what King Solomon has to say about this in Proverbs chapter 15:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,
but the path of the upright is a level highway.
God is calling for this level highway to be built up for His holy ones, for His loyal children. And as the road is built, any obstructions will need to be removed. The granite walls that block the way will have to be demolished. Rocks will need to be moved. So, what are these obstacles that stand in the way of God’s people?
The word “obstruction” in verse 14 means an occasion of stumbling, or a ruinous obstacle. It is not that this obstruction is an inconvenience that will need to be walked around or stepped over. Rather, like the Sierra Nevadas, there is a mountain in the way. Look at the kind of obstacles Jeremiah speaks of in regard to God’s highway:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
not the highway,
God’s people are surrounded by these obstacles. They cause them to stumble into ruin. They have walked the highway until they came to the occasion of stumbling, and now they have gone off road. They are blazing a new trail in the wilderness by their own power.
And in God’s mercy—because of His great love for His people—He is calling for the obstacle to be removed and for the highway to be built the rest of the way to His “holy mountain.” But who is it that is called to remove these obstacles? Who is it that is called to build up the highway?
Let’s go back to verse 14:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
Notice that it is not the people removing the obstructions. Nor is it God Himself. He is calling another to come and “remove every obstruction from” the way of His people. God is preparing the call of the Anointed One. The Messiah will prepare the way for His people.
Just two chapters later, as God continues to speak to Isaiah, He clarifies this by saying that “a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.” This is the promised Messiah who will come and prepare the way for God’s people.
Today, when we look back and think of one preparing the way, we tend to think of Isaiah 40, which is later attributed to John the Baptist by the synoptic gospel writers. But might it also be referring to this road-clearing redeemer? Look at it with me:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Here, God says that the valleys will be lifted up and the mountains and hills be made low. That someone will make the ground level. Surely, John the Baptist goes into the wilderness and prepares the way for Jesus, but it is Jesus—the Messiah—who prepares the way for the loyal people of God. It is He—and only He—who levels the mountains and valleys and builds up the highway to God’s holy mountain.
Jesus, God in the flesh, had to come and be born of a virgin and fulfill the law and the prophets by living a perfect life, so that He could remove the obstructions of sin and death. These were the mountains and rocks preventing the travel of God’s people to His holy mountain. Jesus had to come to remove them. He had to come in order to cure the curse that had been placed over all of creation. Creation was slowly dying, and there was only One who could restore it back to life.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Revival (vv 15-19a)
The Messiah would first clear the highway of obstructions and make the path straight. Then He would go to work in bringing revival to the people of God. We’ll pick up in verse 15:
[PASSAGE SLIDE x3]
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (/)
For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. (/)
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
creating the fruit of the lips.
We now see Isaiah reminding us of who is speaking. He says that it is the “One who is high and lifted up—that is, exalted. Isaiah uses this same terminology about God in chapter 6, verse 1. Look at how he describes God.
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
He sees Him in His temple, sitting on His throne, “high and lifted up.” This is obviously who Isaiah is referring to in verse 15:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
This is the God whose name is Holy. He is high and lifted up above all things. And because He is holy, He is completely set apart from His creation. He is unlike anything else. These descriptions speak to the His power and authority to fulfill the word that He is speaking to Isaiah.
God then speaks. He says that He dwells in the High and holy place, that is far above creation. In theology, we call this idea transcendence. God transcends all of creation because He is higher than it. He is beyond our understanding. He is perfectly holy and perfectly good. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He knows not only which decisions we will make in the future, but also those that we could have made and what those outcomes would have been. These are the qualities that make Him transcendent.
But God is also all-present. Notice what He says next. He dwells high above, but also with man. He dwells with the contrite and lowly. He lives in the midst of the humble and will bring revival to them when they are contrite of heart. In theology, we call this idea imminence. This means that God is present and active within His creation, working through both natural and supernatural processes.
This is the paradox that is God. He is both “high above” His creation and “with His creation.” Man was designed for communion with God, and God is not satisfied with allowing mankind to be separated from Him forever. Look at what He says next:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
He says that He won’t always be angry with His people. He has contended with them, or enacted His discipline with intentionality. But the time will come when the anger will subside. So, why was God so angry with His people? Look at the next couple of verses:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
creating the fruit of the lips.
God was angry about injustice. He is a just God. But, in their fallenness, HIs people had learned to take advantage of one another. They had scorned His just laws and oppressed their neighbors for their own gain. And so, God’s discipline for them will be harsh. He wants His children to learn from the consequences of their sin. He will remove His presence and His hand of protection. This is what He means by saying that He “hid His face.”
And even though He is angry for their disobedience and failure to keep the covenant, He will offer them grace and mercy. He will heal His people and bring restoration and comfort to them. He will revive the hearts of those who are contrite. Even though he knows the depths of their depravity, He will heal them.
He knows that they no longer have the capacity to image Him in the way that He designed them to. In keeping with His holiness and justice, He will have to do something drastic to restore humankind to the ability to image Him well. Without His help, they can do nothing good at all. But God has a plan to bring them peace once again.
You see, in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, he took the formless matter that He had made and He began calling it into order. He created light and separated it from darkness. He then separated the land and the sea. God made order out of chaos. And, within that ordered world, God created and placed mankind.
But when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s law and violate His order, mankind was plunged into chaos once again. Only the restoration of God’s order could bring peace back to His human imagers.
[POINT 3 SLIDE]
Order (vv 19b-21)
Just as dark is the absence of light, chaos is the absence of order. Light and order both come from God the Creator. They are not only intrinsic in His creation, but they are part of His character. Creation must be filled with light and order because God is light and God is ordered. Anything dark or chaotic then speaks to the absence of God.
God desires His children, who have strayed into darkness and chaos by their disobedience, to be restored to Him. And He knows how it must be accomplished. He must do it Himself. He will restore peace and revive humankind to life.
Let’s pick up in the second half of verse 19:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
God says “peace, peace, to the far and to the near.” Notice again the repeating for emphasis. This correlates with “build up, build up” from verse 14. In fact, there can be no peace offered until the highway is built and cleared. The promised Redeemer must come and prepare the road to the “holy mountain” before peace can be re-established.
And how far will His peace reach? He says “far” and “near.” To the very ends of creation. Every place where the contrite children of God dwell, His peace will find them. Unlike other “so-called gods” who were assigned to specific regions as middle-management, God is not constrained by borders. He has authority over all of creation because He created it.
So what is peace, then? Is it the absence of war and conflict? Yes.
Is it the absence of darkness and chaos? Yes.
But it is also restoration with God. Notice that His words indicate that peace comes from healing. Not self-healing that we learn from meditation and mantras and self-help sections in book stores. God Himself will be the healer. He cares about the welfare of His human imagers. And He cares so much that He would be willing to do whatever His holiness and justice demand in order to see healing come to His human creation. He desires a relationship with us. He desires a relationship with you.
This God loves you so much that He would come and suffer for your disobedience so that you could have a relationship with Him. He loves me so much that He would root out the darkness and chaos in my life and set me on the highway and point me toward His holy mountain.
God accomplished all of this through the Redeemer Messiah Jesus. Paul says that God the Son—though He lived on the Holy Mountain of God and ruled alongside His Father—emptied Himself of His power, humbled Himself to step into creation, and was obedient in subjecting Himself to death—all so that creation would be restored. That peace would come. That every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 2 of his letter that Jesus “himself is our peace” and that “he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” This has implications beyond geography. Paul is saying that the peace of God has been delivered by Jesus to those who were spiritually close to God and to those who were far away from Him. His peace is for all people. Paul continues:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x2]
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, (/) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
God brings peace to His human imagers by offering them restoration to their original design through Jesus. While we are set on the cleared highway by the Anointed One and He has cleared the path for us to walk towards the Holy Mountain, God is with us even now. Even as we walk to the dwelling place of God, His Holy Spirit dwells within us, encouraging us forward and correcting us when we begin to stray toward the ditch.
Jesus is the promised Messiah, the prophesied Redeemer, the Prince of Peace. He has been raised up victorious and given all authority. He is King over creation and, Hebrews tells us, a Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Just as Melchizedek was the Priest King over the city of Salem—the city of peace—so is Jesus the Priest King over shalom. He is the bringer and the sustainer of the peace of God.
Asaph sings of this in Psalm 76:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x3]
In Judah God is known;
his name is great in Israel.
His abode has been established in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
Glorious are you, more majestic
than the mountains full of prey. (/)
The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.
But you, you are to be feared!
Who can stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
From the heavens you uttered judgment;
the earth feared and was still, (/)
when God arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth.
God will bring the peace of His holy mountain to those who no longer dwell on His mountain. And He will also bring His justice from the holy mountain to establish it on earth. He will bring both judgment and peace through the Messiah. Back to Isaiah:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
In the ancient world, the sea represented chaos. It was unpredictable and savage. It would break a ship into pieces, grind rocks into dust, and steal the lives of seafarers. In their minds, only to Most High God could control something as chaotic as the sea.
This is why Jesus calming the sea and walking on water were such mind-blowing moments for the disciples. By these actions, Jesus was declaring that He was the Most High God in the flesh. That He was the promised Messiah. Only He could bring peace to the waters. Only He could bring God’s order to the world that was corrupted by the chaos of sin.
Jesus has come. He has defeated sin and death and offered restoration to all who would come. The chaotic waters have been stilled for those who are contrite and seek forgiveness. Peace is now available to any person who will bend the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord.
But the wicked will continue to live in chaos. They have chosen to dwell in it and many will choose to dwell in it for eternity. And God ultimately gives people over to their desires. If they desire chaos and darkness, He will not force His peace upon them. “There is no peace for the wicked.”
[PREVIEW SLIDE]
Application
(Beat)
Most of us here this morning have chosen to receive the peace of restoration that God has offered us through His Son. How has Jesus quieted the waters of chaos in your life? That is your testimony. That is your story that you should be sharing with others as you share the gospel. When you share the story of Jesus and your story of how God brought you peace, you are being a faithful evangelist. Then, you are beginning to fulfill the great commission.
Making disciples starts by introducing people to Jesus. It starts by offering them peace.
Invitation
Or, maybe you are here this morning and you are still looking for peace. You can search the world to find it, but there is only one thing that will bring you peace. There is only one thing that will clear your road of obstacles and calm the chaos of your life. That one thing is a person. And His name is Jesus. Don’t leave here today without truly knowing Him. I invite you this morning to leave your chaos at the foot of the cross. Jesus will bring you order and peace.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN
CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
