The Gift Of Peace!

Well, did everyone enjoy the thrilling event that took place at 3:15 this morning?

At a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter scale, it was the second largest recorded earthquake in East Tennessee!

The largest being almost a 10, when the University of Tennessee actually had a winning season!

Actually, the largest in East Tennessee, was a 4.7 in 1973, near Maryville.

The shaking was felt by residents as far away as Atlanta this morning -- about 149 miles south of the epicenter, which was around Spring City. (Pretty close to home, huh?!)

A 3.3 magnitude aftershock struck about 10 minutes later.

I felt like singing, “Did you feel the mountains tremble? Did you hear the oceans roar? When the people rose to sing of Jesus Christ the risen one!”

Which, that song is based, large and in part, upon ,

Isaiah 64:1–3 NIV

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

But, as the lyrics say, “When the people rose to sing of Jesus Christ the risen one”, I don’t know if people actually ROSE TO SING of Jesus, as much as they were startled and awakened to the shaking of an earthquake this morning!

In fact, on different people’s Twitter and Facebook's postings early this morning, this is what a few people said:

“Wide awake from the earthquake, pictures falling off the walls..CRAZY!”

Judy Day, a University of Tennessee professor, took to Twitter to say she felt the earthquake this morning, but thought her washing machine had just started a vigorous spin cycle.

“Yep. It wasn't a low flying helicopter after all!”

“Woke up at 4:15 this morning cussing my neighbors for whatever they were doing to cause my headboard to rattle. Turns out it was a 4.4 earthquake, but I’m not retracting my profanity. I’m sure they deserved it for something else.”

“Hmmm...and to think I just thought it was someone being really loud when they took out the trash early this morning.”

“Experienced my first earthquake this morning. I honestly thought it was the wife PASSING GAS in her sleep.”

But I did want to mention the timing of the earthquake this morning and use that to lead into my message tonight.

The earthquake took place around the time of the morning, that the Bible refers to as the 4th watch of the night.

In Biblical times, the Romans and Jews, alike, adopted what was called watches for the night.

These watches were military watches, so that regimens of soldiers were always watching over the city and its walls.

The nights were thus divided up into 4 sets of watches, at 3 hours per watch.

So, you had watches from 6-9:00 PM, 9-12:00 AM, 12-3:00 and 3-6:00 am.

Thus, the last of the four watches of the night, was called, “the fourth watch”!

I mention the specifics of the earthquake occurring at the FOURTH WATCH this morning, because it reminds me of another account where something was taking place at the fourth watch that brought fear into the hearts of those involved.

In we read this,

Matthew 14:22–32 ESV

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

The fourth watch of the night is important for us, because of what it is implying, both from this particular passage, as well as in general for the life of a believer.

The fourth watch is the last period of night, before the dawn. That is, it is right before the day starts.

To wake and pray at this point, is to take a military stance against the enemy and cut him off at the pass.

You see the Bible likens darkness to evil and the works of enemy.

, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

, “To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.............”

So, when you and I go to God in prayer, before the darkness has closed out and before your day has officially started, you are taking a military strategical maneuver against the enemy.

You are taking that day before God and entrusting it to Him and into His mighty hands and asking Him to protect you from the works of the enemy that are done in the nighttime, that is, in the darkness, before the enemy ever gets the opportunity that day!

And within this account in Matthew with Jesus walking upon the water during this time of great distress and fear for His disciples who were in the midst of a horrible storm, one could ask the question of, “Jesus, why did you wait until the end of the night to go out and save them?”

And although the Bible doesn’t specifically say why He did this way, it could very easily have been to test their faith and belief in Him, even as He chastised Peter for, over his “little faith”.

But also, and more importantly, to validate to everyone that God does not move when we want Him to and the way that we want Him to to!

Jesus showed up at the exact moment needed. He was right on time, as He came at the darkest point, when the disciples were weary from fighting the storm ALL NIGHT and despondent and without any more hope.

Jesus came, when it seemed the darkest. Like the old saying that goes, “The darkest hour is just before the dawn”, meaning, that there is hope, when everything seems hopeless.

Jesus showed up and the storm instantly ceased and thus, there was PEACE in the midst of the storm!

Inviting the Lord of the universe into your day, especially at the fourth watch and before the day even gets under way and petitioning Him to guide and protect you, is crucial to having the PEACE that surpasses all understanding!

And remember what Jesus said to the disciples when He showed up walking on the water, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

The three words “It is I”, in the Greek, are actually only two words, which are, “ego eimi”.

These two Greek words mean, “I AM”! Jesus was literally saying to them, “Take heart, I AM, do not be afraid!”

The Lord of all, had arrived and with His presence, came complete and total PEACE from all of the storms that raged!

That PEACE that comes with His presence, is specifically what I what I wanted to mention tonight.

We are at that time of the year where sooooooo many people’s time and attention are attuned to buying and giving and receiving and receiving and giving and buying!

There are functions and dinners and parties and plays that people have to plan on attending, extra meals and preparations that have to be made to make all of this happen.

And in the midst of all of the chaos and financial stress and burdens and time constraints, we are told, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”

BUT, to many, many people, this time of year is NOT cheerful and calming and PEACEFUL!

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64 percent of people say they are affected by the “holiday blues,” or experience symptoms of depression and anxiety during this time of year.

However, depression and anxiety and stress and all of the things that go with these traits, are not limited to Christmas and the Holiday Season.

In fact, depression, anxiety and mood disorders are ranked number one among the top five national health conditions across every county of every state in the U.S.; NUMBER ONE!

And this lack of PEACE is not inherent to the secular world, either.

Many, many Christians says that they are battling depression and anxiety each and every day, of their stress filled and topsy turvy lives!

You know, I mentioned this past Sunday, that it was the Advent Sunday of PEACE and I told of what was prophesied about the coming of the Messiah in , “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end……..”

And then I mentioned that Jesus, Himself, before leaving this earth, promised us this in , “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

So, where is the PEACE that we are to have?!

PEACE, as the world typically relates to, is basically the absence of conflict. And when you operate with this type of understanding about PEACE, you have to concede to the fact that it is subject to whatever is happening around you and your life at that time!

In other words, you can only have PEACE with this type of understanding, when the world around you in which you live in has PEACE. (A.K.A. “no conflict”)

In Graeco-Roman days, there was an adage that was used in speaking of PEACE, which said, “ If you wish peace, prepare for war”.

Conflict was inevitable if you wanted to eventually get to some similitude of PEACE!

In fact, as we know and have mentioned before, PEACE, as the world understood it, was not on the agenda for the Son of God.

Jesus made that clear, when He said, in , “ 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.” (Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”)

The TRUTH of the Gospel Message and its declaration that we must separate and come out from the world and the desires of this world, will cause division and conflict everywhere!

53 ‘Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’”

The Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword and it divides and separates and brings about division, between the world and the followers of Christ!

The Word of God does not bring, nor promote violence and aggressive confrontation, but division.

And when a person yields to Holy Spirit and receives the Word of God and gives their life to Jesus the Christ, then the fulfilling work of the Messiah (His birth, life, death and resurrection) bring about a regeneration in that person that makes way for lasting and abiding PEACE!

The PEACE that abides within the believer and follower of Jesus Christ, is a spiritual PEACE that is not inherent to any of us at birth or as long as we live under the rule of this world. And thus it can only come from the source of true and eternal spiritual PEACE. God the Father!

The moment that you give your life to Jesus the Christ, as Lord and Savior of your life, your sins and your past life as a sinner are washed and covered over by the pure blood of the Lamb, Jesus.

And from that day forward, God no longer sees a marred and tainted sinner, but He only sees the atoning blood of His Son that redeemed you and made you right in the eyes of God!

This is how Paul was told to explain this redemptive PEACE, in , “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

And again in , “and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”

Biblical PEACE, for a condensed and abbreviated answer is this: The state of harmony that is available to believers through having a right relationship with God and others and is especially associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

So, the only way that anyone can come to know and have this spiritual PEACE in their life, is from the source of ALL PEACE. Jesus the Christ, Himself and His Father!

Well then, if someone is truly bought with the blood, then how can they end up struggling with depression and anxiety and anger and strife and so on and so forth, you might ask?

And the answer that I will give to this question, is going to be brief and very concise, because we could spend a lot more time on this than we are afforded here tonight, but suffice it to say, that the daily act of SANCTIFICATION is crucial in having the abiding gift of PEACE.

Jesus said that if we abide in Him, He would abide in us and that our JOY would be complete and even OVERFLOW!

This is abundance of JOY that He mentioned is the inward working and presence of Holy Spirit in our lives.

And daily sanctification, that is living each and every day for Him and His will for our lives and desiring to become conformed more and more into His glorious image and less of our own, is what must happen, in order for Holy Spirit to be active within our lives!

And the active presence of Holy Spirit within the believer is made evident through what the Bible calls the FRUIT of the Spirit, as tells us, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

So ,it is kind of like the billboards that many of us have seen, that read, “NO JESUS, NO PEACE; KNOW JESUS, KNOW PEACE!”

I mentioned a week or two ago, about trying to BLEND the things of this world into our lives in safe doses and that it WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER WORK for a believer!

If God said to stay away, because something is a sin, that means that it is a sin and not to be touched or tampered with...........in any measure!

A passage came to my mind just a couple of weeks ago, when I was watching a news video, dealing with all of the liberal mindset and the LGBTQ movement.

That passage is found in two places, and then again , which reads,

Deuteronomy 22:9–11 NLT

9 “You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop. 10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 11 “You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.

And years ago, when I read this, it seemed almost petty to me and hard to relate to and just some Old Testament law that didn’t apply anymore, under the GRACE of the New Covenant!

However, the Holy Spirit brought this passage back to my mind that day, while watching this news video and I re-read it began to think of what He was really saying to us.

He was saying to us, “I have created everything for a designed purpose and use. And when you try to override My created purpose and make it your own, I will not bless it and it will never be fruitful.”

So, whether a woman is 1 day pregnant or 8 months pregnant, SHE IS CARRYING A LIVING CHILD......don’t touch it!

Jesus called His body to be unified and working as one organism, not to operate by man’s definition, because man is not OMNISCIENT AND OMNIPOTENT AND OMNIPRESENT. Only God is and so, don’t try to blend our version of the Body of Christ with His!

That is, don’t add our laws and regulations to His perfect body and then call it His CHURCH!

God said that a marriage is one man to one woman.....period. DO NOT TRY TO BLEND ANYTHING ELSE TOGETHER...............IT WILL NOT WORK!

For this reason, bringing the world into our lives, regardless of how small of an amount that it is, begins to push away God’s Holy Spirit and in doing so, the fruit of the Spirit, including His PEACE, gets pushed away as well!

If God said that something was wrong and sinful, then it was and still is wrong and sinful. Neither God, nor His Word changes! Sin is sin and there are ramifications if we embrace it, at any level!

People try to say that they have it all together and that their lives are complete in this world and many of us look at these people of notoriety and think, “Man, they really have it made”, right?

In a sermon that John MacArthur wrote, entitled, “Leave Me Alone; I Can’t Cope”, he said this about American Author, Ernest Hemingway.

I think of the account of Ernest Hemingway, the well-known author.  A m agazine, at one point, featured an article on him as a man who really learned how to live.  And the article had a by-line that said that, "Hemingway had proven that you could, you could beat sin."  The old, antiquated, Victorian, puritanical concept of sin could be done in very easily, and Hemingway was living proof.  It went on to say that he had done everything possible - traveled everywhere, fought in revolutions,  and so forth and so on. And he was living proof that you can cheat so-called sin and get away with it and really live life to its fullest.

Ten years to the very month later that that article came out, Hemingway took a gun, put it to his head, and committed suicide.   He never learned how to live, and he paid for it a high price.

This is why the world needs to hear and SEE from us about what true and lasting PEACE is and where to get it!

Turn with me in your Bibles to , and we are going to read Paul’s prescription for keeping your heart and mind in line with God’s, so that the PEACE of God and the God of PEACE will be in us and with us wherever we go and for all of the world to see and witness!

ELABORATE on these verses.

I mentioned some time ago about an amazing woman of God, named Annie Johnson Flint who was born in the 1800’s and died in 1932.

She lived a life that not a one of us would wish to experience. (Elaborate)

And yet, she had a PEACE in the midst of her suffering that could only come from an abiding with God and depending upon His strength and grace.

This is one of the many hymns that she wrote in her life,

He Giveth More Grace

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase; To added affliction He addeth His mercy; To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision, Our God ever yearns His resources to share; Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing; The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure. His pow'r has no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

In Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Note that Jesus doesn’t put us in the role of maintenance and passivity, by saying that we are to be, “PEACEKEEPERS”.

No, rather, we are to be “PEACEMAKERS”. We are to be like our Heavenly Father and seek reconciliation with others, just as God went to GREAT lengths to reconcile us to Him!

And by our being PEACEMAKERS, we are thus known by the world as the children of God!

This Christmas, give the gift of PEACE to the world around you, “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven!”