Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Isaiah 26:1-4; Judges 6:11-26; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:11-14

Theme: Our God gives peace to those whose mind steadfastly trust in Him.

Date: 12/23/2018 File name: AdventOfPeace.wpd

ID Number:

A man by the name of Gideon finds himself in a difficult situation.

He is youngest son of Joash.

He comes from an obscure family of an un-noteworthy clan of the Hebrew tribe of Manasseh.

One day while he is threshing wheat an angel suddenly appears to him.

"When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The LORD is with you, mighty warrior'" (Judges 6:12) The angel commands Gideon to ". . .

Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand.

Am I not sending you?" (Judges 6:14) He promises Gideon, ". . .

I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were but one man" (Judges 6:16)

In spite of God's promise to be with him, Gideon is--to say the least--apprehensive.

He's not a warrior, He's a farmer.

He's not particularly brave and he's not even overly confident in God.

"'But sir,' Gideon replied, 'if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?'

But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midain'" (Judges 6:13).

Gideon does what believers throughout the ages have down when they feel they are in a tight spot.

They ask God for a sign.

This is exactly what Gideon does (Judges 6:17-23).

Gideon goes and bakes some bread, kills and roasts a young goat and brings the items back as an offering to his heavenly guest.

He places them upon a rock as he is instructed and pours the broth from the roasted goat over the items.

Then the angel of the LORD touches the meat and the cakes and fire shoots up out of the rock and consumes the offering.

Gideon exclaims, "Ah, Sovereign LORD!

I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" (Judges 6:22) He assumes he is about to die.

He has seen God--and according to Scriptures, no one who sees the face of God can live.

But the angle's voice rings out, "[Shawlome]-Peace!

Do not be afraid.

You are not going to die."

Gideon's response is to build an altar as a memorial of his encounter with the living God and as an act of worship.

He gives the altar a name: It is Jehovah-Shalom — The Lord our Peace.

In his experience with God, Gideon caught a glimpse of Jehovah's character.

This is not a Lord who seeks to put the fear of God into the hearts of His people.

Instead, He seeks to infuse us with a peace that gives us confidence regardless of the outward circumstances we may find ourselves in.

Here in Isaiah, God says to the prophet that In that day God promises to give perfect shawlome — peace to Israel.

The “that day” of Isaiah 26:3 refers to the time when God’s Anointed One — Messiah — will enter the world.

Thirteen hundred years after God reveals Himself to Gideon as Jehovah-Shalom, and seven-hundred years after God promises “perfect peace” to His chosen people, angels appear to Bethlehem’s shepherds announcing, ““Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.””

(Luke 2:14, NIV84)

I. JEHOVAH-SHALOM PROMISED HIS PEOPLE A PRINCE OF PEACE

1. our God desires that His people experience peace

“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

(Psalm 29:11, NIV84)

2. and yet, many believers live in a troubled world where peace is hard to come by

ILLUS.

In China, the Communist government has instituted a major crackdown on the nation’s 100 million Christians just days before Christmas.

Chinese police have arrested prominent pastors, raided churches and charged followers with ‘subverting the state’ — the most severe charge that can be leveled against a Chinese citizen.

It’s all part of an effort to bring the religion under Chinese Communist Party control.

Researchers for Open Doors ministries estimate 1 in 12 of the world’s Christians live where their faith is “illegal, forbidden, or punished.”

And you don’t have to travel to a Communist-led or Islamic-led nation to find Christians struggling to live out their faith.

Evangelical believers in Mexico are regularly persecuted.

Criminal groups persecute believers and churches, issuing death threats and murdering Christian leaders to silence them.

These groups view Christian ministry as a threat to the criminal agenda.

Meanwhile, indigenous Christians are often punished for abandoning tribal customs, resulting in expulsion from their homes.

And Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church experience discrimination as minorities.

3. but a lack peace can be sourced in other events

a. there are believers, even in this auditorium this morning, who are struggling with anxiety, or disappointment or fear or apprehension

b. you see troubles on every side and peace of mind and soul is not one of the blessings you consistently experience

1) perhaps, like Gideon, you find yourself saying, 'if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?'

But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midain'" (Judges 6:13)

4. perhaps we need to re-acquaint ourselves with what the peace of God is all about

A. THE PEACE OF JEHOVAH-SHALOM IS NOT AN ABSENCE OF WORLDLY CONFLICT

1. in the secular culture of 1st century Israel, peace was the absence of conflict, and the presence of prosperity

a. that definition goes to prove the old adage, “That the more things change, the more they stay the same”

b. in Western culture our concept of peace remains the absence of conflict, and the presence of prosperity

1) when there is tranquility, economic prosperity, and social stability in our lives we consider that peace

2. that is not the peace of the Scriptures

a. God’s peace is attitude of the soul were the believer experiences a sense of well-being even when tranquility, economic prosperity, and social stability are absent from our lives

3. true peace is a gift from God, and is part of His redemptive work in our lives

a. Jesus promised his disciples a peace that was wholly unlike anything the could find in the world

“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, NIV84)

b.