A Message of Peace

Big Idea: Christ’s peace is available to those who are willing to host him, not just visit Him..

Sermon File Type

Sermon

Passages

Text

Topics

Peace;

Tags

Sermon #787

Speaker

Rev. David Thomas

Venue

FHCC;

Date

12/23/2018;

Introduction:

This time of year, many of you will send greeting cards wishing peace to those you know and love.

I think everyone is looking for peace. We want it politically, we want it in our relationships, we even want it in our personal lives.

Imagine if uninvited houseguests showed up at your door this afternoon. Would that add to or take away from your sense of peace?

In the video segue to today’s message we were exposed to the idea of a home with an upper loft above an area for protecting costly animals.

Perhaps you’ve heard the idiom, “if a camel gets his nose under the tent, his body will soon follow.” I’ve seen videos of, otherwise normal, people who permit cattle, moose, pot-belly swine and other vermin into their homes as pets. The most bizarre pets that our children ever kept were a Hedgehog named Tilly and a Chinese Bearded-dragon named Abe. Abe even has his own Facebook page that you can still find by searching Abe Thomas. But in the 1st Century we have archeological evidence of cattle, goats & sheep in homes.

Does this idea contribute to your idea of peace, or are you wondering, Does Rumba make a robot sturdy-enough to clean up that mess?

Sometimes peace is found by reducing or eliminating irritants. Other times true peace is only found when we open ourselves to something that first appears painful or difficult.

Medication or meditation may have short-term effects of masking pain and faking peace, but true peace does not appear until the underlying cause is dealt with.

To the shepherds, they were told they would find the Christ-child over there. To the Magi, they followed the star to find Christ over there. But to those who hosted Mary and Joseph that first Christmas, they had to ask themselves “Is there room for Christ in here?” The question we each must ask ourselves is not will I go to Christmas service, but will I host the Christ in me?”

1. My friend Tim at the Bible Project have created a brief explanation of the Bible concept of peace that is as clear as I could ever put is.

2. In case you missed it and you won’t be able to relax until all the blanks are filled in – Shalom is Hebrew and Eirene is Greek for “peace”

Transition: With this broader idea (not absent of bad, but seeking flourishing) of peace, let’s look as some of the specific mentions of peace in the Bible.

(ESV) — “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

1. Mercy, purity & peace were the 3 outcomes that we studied in our Beatitudes series this Fall.

2. This is one Scripture we need to make sure that we are not forcing a personal teaching upon a government. A common cry among younger adults is that defunding the military would provide more than enough money for their projects.

3. When Jesus comes in the 2nd coming to establish peace, He will do so with a bow in His hand (). Peace is impossible until the authority of that bow is acknowledged.

Media mogul Ted Turner wanted to see if anybody has a real vision of a future world at peace and in harmony with the environment. He said his quest ended in disappointment. Turner told an Atlanta gathering of contributors to his CNN's World Report 25 years ago that he funded a competition to find a book that gave a workable plan for a world of peace. "With 10,000 manuscripts, we did not have one plausible treatise on how we could get to a sustainable, peaceful future," Turner told the gathering. The board chairman of Turner Broadcasting System Inc. said that, without a feasible plan, the prospects of creating peace are grim. "You've got to have a vision," Turner said. "We can achieve it." It's too bad that Ted didn't read the manuscript about the Prince of Peace.

After the verdict in the Rodney King case there was wide-spread vandalism and looting in parts of Los Angeles. The violence was quieted, but peace was not put in place, because when the O.J. Simpson case came to a close military and police were put on alert of a possible recurrence of the same violence. Then racial tensions, gun-control attempts, antifa-protests, marches and demonstrations all tell me that people want power, more than they want peace.

(ESV) — And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

1. Most wars have been fought over borders. When we start to truly believe in righteousness, justice and freedom will we ever have a chance at peace.

(ESV) — So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

1. In the last point I mentioned that righteousness is necessary for true peace so many of us may choose to surrender that as an unattainable goal.

2. But Paul wrote as much as is possible with you, live at peace with all people.

Transition: IF God says that peace flows out of righteousness, I need to ask myself if my hunger for righteousness is judgmental or sacrificial so that others would want to pursue it as well.

(ESV) — The Lord bless you and keep you; 25the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

1. After the Babylonian captivity may Jewish people never learned Hebrew. Aramaic was the common spoken language and Greek became the common trade language. 70 scholars took it upon themselves to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into the common trade language of Greek. The Hebrew idea of shalom is so close to the Greek word for salvation that 3 places in Genesis “shalom” is translated as “salvation”. Just as God is our only source for salvation, He is our only source for true peace.

(ESV) — 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. 7Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…

This week I ran across an old gospel song, and I found recordings in both black gospel style and Gaither’s southern gospel style. The main thrust of the chorus is “The world didn’t give it to me, and the world can’t take it away.”

(ESV) — For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

(ESV) — and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

(ESV) — Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The story is told of a young dockworker who heard a minister named Henderson deliver a sermon based on . Although impressed with the truth that one can have peace with God only through the merits of the Lord Jesus, he did not trust Him as his personal Savior.

The next day that man joined the crew and sailed on the steamship London. A short time later it met with disaster on the high seas. Several months passed, and a sailor came to the clergyman and inquired, "Are you Pastor Henderson?" "Yes, I am," he replied. "I've come to tell you that I talked and prayed with a young man on board the London who had heard you preach on . He was concerned about his soul but didn't quite understand the plan of salvation. I finished what you began and led him to the Savior. Only a few minutes later we were shipwrecked, and he and I were told to launch one of the lifeboats. While doing so, he said to me, 'Mate, if you get to shore, be sure and tell Pastor Henderson that I've been saved.' Somehow he failed to get into the lifeboat in time, and we had to row away immediately to keep from being capsized by the suction of the sinking ship. The last I saw of him, he was up in the rigging of the doomed vessel, waving his hat and shouting to me above the noise of the waters, 'Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!'"

(ESV) — I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

In answer to a recent interviewer's question on how a person can be happy, Rush Limbaugh said the following:

Regardless of what you think of his politics, this answer he got right.

Jesus. Jesus holds the answers to all of the everyday problems that you face. I am talking about an acceptance and belief in Jesus, heaven, and God.... With those beliefs, you realize how insignificant the budget deficit debate is in comparison with the big picture.

The quest for happiness is too often centered on materialism and wealth. Anyone who has had those things will tell you that they don't contribute to internal happiness or self-satisfaction at all. The comfort of a firm belief is probably the single greatest gift you could give somebody who's really seeking self-satisfaction and internal happiness.

Happiness is an elusive thing, but the contentment and peacefulness are the real focus.

-- Bookstore Journal, December 1993, p. 12.

(ESV) — For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Transition: Politicians won’t bring peace; Generals and Admirals won’t bring peace; Psychiatrists won’t bring peace; Holding hands and singing “we are the world” will not bring peace.

Conclusion:

The problem with Ted Turner’s proposition about finding a path to peace is that true peace is not something that we create or negotiate. True peace is a by-product. It is similar to humility, for the second that you think it is in your grasp is the moment it disappears.

True peace is a by-product of having Christ’s righteousness. And Christ righteousness belongs to those who move aside all our selfish desires and make room for Him on the thrones of our lives.

Closing Song #127.. Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

A Message of Peace

Introduction:

Words used by God’s Messengers

Messages sent by God

Peace is a result of hungering for personal righteousness ()

Peace is a result of righteousness ()

Peace with other people is a worthy pursuit ()

The Source of Lasting Peace

God is the only source of Lasting Peace ()

Shalom includes both Eirene (peace) & Soteria (salvation) (LXX)

God’s promised Messiah would bring peace ()

Christ is our Peace

Conclusion:

Closing Song #127.. Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

Benediction: (ESV) — And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.