Christmas 2011; Christ brings peace in to the world and gives believers His peace.

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Title: Christmas 2011; Christ brings peace in to the world and gives believers His peace.

 

It seems that people are always talking about peace around Christmas time. A lot of Christmas cards have gone out with “Peace on earth an good will towards men.” But that is a misquote of an angel.

 

The peace most people speak of is simply a lack of conflict. There is much more to the word peace.

 

With the Middle East and other conflicts around the world people naturally desire peace. It is when the storm rattles on the window-panes that the family draws closer round the fire, and the mother clasps her babe to her breast.

 

/Peace is not an absence of conflict, but the mental prosperity of the mature in the midst of conflict, adversity, and great prosperity.\

 

Prosperity can be a great source of unrest. The laborer who lives pay check to pay check sleeps easily at night since he has nothing to lose. The wealthy business man tosses and turns because his bulging portfolio is constantly the prey of the thief, the person working to steal his identity, the lawyers always ready to bring any frivolous law suit.

 

 

 

/Ps 4:7-8

Thou hast put gladness in my heart,

More than when their grain and new wine abound.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety. \

 

The word Peace is the Eastern salutation and benediction. When one stranger encounters another, as they meet and part they wish each other peace. The Hebrew Shalom is the word for peace.

 

It was befitting, therefore, that at Christ’s entrance into our world the first salutation to men, as conveyed by the angels, should be “Peace among men.”

 

Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night.

 

Luke 2:9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

 

Luke 2:10And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people;

 

Luke 2:11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

 

Luke 2:12"And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 

Luke 2:14"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

 

That’s quite a bit different than “peace on earth,” so what do the words of the angels mean?

 

John 14:27"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

We must distinguish between “peace I leave with you,” and “My peace I give to you.”

 

/ “Peace I leave with you” - the victory of Christ on the cross. All sin has been atoned so that anyone who believes in Christ will have eternal life, which is victory over death. \

 

/John 19:30

When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. \

 

 

1 Cor 15:54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.

 

1 Cor 15:55"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

 

1 Cor 15:56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

 

1 Cor 15:57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

/ROM 5:1

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, \

 

This is the only place where a lack of conflict truly means peace, and that is a lack of conflict between you and God. By means of faith in Christ, God pronounces you justified, meaning that you are not guilty any longer. The true Judge brings down His gavel with a verdict of not guilty. How is this possible for a sinner? Jesus Christ came into the world and too your guilt upon Himself. Breathe the clean air of freedom. And this justification can never be overruled.

 

EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

 

EPH 2:15by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

 

EPH 2:16and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

 

EPH 2:17And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;

 

EPH 2:18for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

 

EPH 2:19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,

 

EPH 2:20having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

 

EPH 2:21in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord;

 

EPH 2:22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

 

 

Let’s revisit the angelic visitation of the shepherds:

 

/Luke 2:14

"Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."\

 

With who is God pleased?

 

/HEB 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. \

 

/Faith alone in Christ alone gives the believer victory over the second death = peace. Believing that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him = peace throughout life.\

 

God the rewarder is what is in view when Christ mentions the second peace.

 

John 14:27"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

Once I have peace with God through faith in Christ, now what? It’s extremely important that you keep these two peace’s in order.

 

So much damage has been done to the peace left to mankind by Christ by ignorant and arrogant people who have added some form of works to faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life.

 

You see John 3:16 a lot at sporting events.

 

/John 3:36

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." \

 

/ We must have peace with God before we can enjoy the peace of God.\

 

This, perhaps, is one of the perils of the present day Church. So many promises of prosperity and the beautiful life without much emphasis on the death of the Savior on behalf of the believer. More than ever our foundations must be secure. The cross must come before the crown.

 

The child born to the virgin brought a peace on earth to those with who God is pleased - to those who have believed in Christ as their Savior. He was born with one ultimate mission; to die for the sins of the world. He is our peace who has broken down every wall.

 

Once that is established within you, once you can walk into the inner room with God, the Holy of Holies where in the time of Israel no one was allowed enter, and hear Him say to you, “Peace be with you, and peace between you and Me,” can you only then walk through life experiencing peace in every circumstance.

 

Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is mental prosperity from God in the midst of the whirlwind of adversity or prosperity.

 

/ “My peace I give to you,” is a gift for the believer’s life, which must be appropriated and used, or it will be ineffectual. \

 

This peace comes from learning the plan of God for your life through the inculcation of God’s word under the filling of the Holy Spirit.

 

/The humanity of Christ experienced the peace of God by fulfilling His destiny set before Him by the Father. God the Father has given a personal destiny to every Church-age believer.\

 

Christ lays stress on His peace. He must mean the very peace that filled his own heart; not something like it, but the same, always keeping the heart with the affections, and the mind with its thoughts.

 

/This being so, we infer— That his peace is consistent with a perfect knowledge of coming sorrow.\

 

He knew all things that awaited Him.

 

Naturally this morning we think about the first day of the Savior, but all is in preparation for the last day of the Savior.

 

John 18:4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" 

 

John 18:5They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I am He [He is not in original]." And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them.

 

John 18:6When therefore He said to them, "I am He," they drew back, and fell to the ground.

 

Why fall? They’re mostly all unbelievers. They think this man is a cook and just a usurper, a revolutionary, a common man from the no where land of Nazareth with His head in the clouds. “I am” is the title for Jehovah and when He said it, He said it as Jehovah. However, with deity at His fingertips, He will not use it, so that you and I through His death, which only perfect humanity can accomplish, can have peace and experience His peace.

 

He knew the treachery of Judas, the denial by Peter, the forsaking by all, the shame and spitting, the cross and the grave; and yet He spoke serenely of his peace.

 

It is therefore consistent with the certain outlook towards darkness and the shadow of death. You may know from certain symptoms that cancer has struck its fangs into your flesh, and that paralysis has begun to creep along your spine; that your dearest is has death lurking at the door; that your means of subsistence will inevitably dry up: but, facing all these, as Jesus faced the cross, you may still be conscious of a peace that passes understanding.

 

/Phil 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. \

 

Men are disposed to think that peace is one of the last fruits of the tree of life which drop into the hand of the aged. A man says to himself, I shall have to relinquish this active life, to settle in some quiet country home in the midst of nature, and then perhaps I shall know what peace means. A snug home and a competence, the culture of flowers, the slow march of the seasons, tender home-love far away from the hustling throng of the world—these are the conditions of peace. Not so, says Christ.

 

He leaves the comfort of the upper room Passover and heads aggressively towards His torturers, His accusers, and towards the fulfillment of His destiny and our salvation.

 

The chief evidence of this peace is not in the leisureliness of life, but in the storms of life. Christ’s possession of peace was very evident through all the stormy scenes that followed Him on His last night. With perfect composure He could heal the ear of Malchus, and stay the impetuosity of Peter; could reason quietly with the slave that smote Him, and bid the daughters of Jerusalem cease their weeping; could open Paradise to the dying thief, and the door of John’s home to the reception of His mother. Few things betray the presence of his peace more than the absence of irritability, fretfulness, and feverish haste, which expend the tissues of the mind and the life.

 

/Luke 23:34

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. \

 

Oh that you may now receive from Christ this blessed gift! Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart; it is your high privilege, be not backward in availing yourself of it. It will be as oil to the machinery of life.

 

John 14:27"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

If time will allow us, we should look at the sources of Christ’s peace.

 

/(l) The vision of the Father— “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father.” \

 

John 14:28 "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.

 

Almost unconsciously He gives us a glimpse of his self-repression in staying so long away from his Father’s manifested presence, when He says that if we loved Him we would be glad to lose his bodily presence because He had gone to be with the Father. He gives us to understand how real and near the Father was to Him, and how He longed to be again in his bosom! He was so occupied with this thought, that He calmly and peacefully thought of what lay between.

 

/Why fear what life may bring, when the Father has arranged each successive step of your pathway right to His heaven? \

 

Why should Christ dread Judas or Caiaphas, Herod or Pilate, since the Father lies between them and the soul as a rock of deliverance!

 

Why lose heart amid the perplexities and discouragements whose dark shadows lie heavily on the hills of your life, when in the green pastures of the valley the Father’s love tends the sheep!

 

/Look into the mind of Christ and Christ will reveal the Father to you. Listen to his everlasting love and live in it. Learn what He can be amid the storm and tumult and cling to Him who is a very present help.\

             

/(2) Disentanglement from the world—”The ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”\

 

John 14:30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

 

This ruler first motivated Herod to have all the first born males in Bethlehem murdered and at the last tempted Christ to by pass the cross. None of it could budge the face of Christ that was set like flint toward His cross.

 

As long as we are entangled with this world, peace evades us, just like sleep, and the details of life consume us.

 

/2 Tim 2:4

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. \

 

We must stand clear of the ambitions of the world, of the fear or favor of man, of the avaricious craving for wealth, or of the fear of poverty. We must put the cross of Christ between us and the world, which was judged at Calvary. We must be able to say truly that our treasure is in heaven, and our heart also; and that we seek the things where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Then the stock-market may fluctuate; riches go or come; men praise or hate—none of these things which we could never hope to control will affect our peace.

 

/(3) Supreme love—”I love the Father.”\

 

John 14:31 but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

 

Have you ever noticed a young person who finds love and their unknown searching and waywardness seems to find calm and quiet?

 

/Personal love for God calms the heart since the object of your love is supreme and can never disappoint. \

 

/Ps 37:4

Delight [intimate love] yourself in the Lord;

And He will give you the desires of your heart. \

 

/(4)A supreme source of authority—“As the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.” \

 

John 14:31 but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

 

/Every soul must have a supreme source of authority in its life, if it is to have peace. Its own whim, the suggestion of passion, the vagrant impulse of the moment, are inconsistent with tranquility.\

There must be for each of us one voice which is imperative, one command which is indisputable, one authority which admits of no disputing or flip-flopping. If you will search your heart you will see that this is so.

 

Compare the restlessness of our dialectic two party system to the tranquility of reign of Solomon, the wisest man of his time.

 

The true government must rest on the shoulders of Christ. ]