Speaker 1: Isaiah 9, 1 through 7,.
Speaker 1: There will be no gloom for her who is in anguish.
Speaker 1: In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, galilee of the nations.
Speaker 1: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness.
Speaker 1: On them has light shone.
Speaker 1: You have multiplied the nation.
Speaker 1: You have increased its joy.
Speaker 1: They rejoice before you, as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder.
Speaker 1: The rod of his oppressor you have broken, as on the day of Midian, for every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment of rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Speaker 1: For unto 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.
Speaker 1: Mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace.
Speaker 1: Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
Speaker 1: The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Speaker 2: Well, during the Advent season we read the scriptures about peace that have to do with Christmas.
Speaker 2: We sing carols about peace coming to earth.
Speaker 2: We send Christmas cards out that boast of the peace.
Speaker 2: That is part of the Christmas story.
Speaker 2: But if we're honest, how many know that this season, during this season, perhaps more than any other time of year, peace seems quite elusive?
Speaker 2: I mean, let me just stress you out for a moment.
Speaker 2: Between the decorating, hanging of Christmas lights, office parties, church events, family gatherings, endless shopping, endless baking, endless cooking, listen, doesn't it seem very difficult just to find a moment of peace?
Speaker 2: Some of you, this morning, you would give your right arm for five minutes of peace.
Speaker 2: Well, I've come with great news.
Speaker 2: Not only will the Lord Jesus give you five minutes of peace, beloved, he will give you a lifetime, yea, an eternity of peace.
Speaker 2: How many believe that?
Speaker 2: Now you may argue when I say that you, you may say, pastor, you don't know what I'm going through.
Speaker 2: You don't know how difficult it is financially for us right now.
Speaker 2: You don't know what's going on at work.
Speaker 2: You don't know what's happening with in my children's lives right now.
Speaker 2: You don't know the loss we've experienced this year.
Speaker 2: You don't know the diagnosis that I just received, and while I do not want to diminish the pain that you are going through, I don't want to make light of the tragedies of your life.
Speaker 2: I will say to you as much as to anybody else Jesus' peace is available for you today.
Speaker 2: You can walk out of here today in perfect peace.
Speaker 2: See the English word peace simply means the absence of conflict or despair.
Speaker 2: But when the Bible talks about peace it uses a wonderful kind of loaded Hebrew word.
Speaker 2: Anybody know it Shalom, and it can mean the absence of conflict.
Speaker 2: But it means way more than that.
Speaker 2: Shalom is not just about what's absent, but what is better and present in its place.
Speaker 2: The word shalom means wholeness, it means completeness, it is to be whole body, soul and spirit, and the good news is that the Prince of Shalom has come.
Speaker 2: In John 14 27 we read about peace now.
Speaker 2: To be sure, again in Advent we look back to Christ's first coming and we look ahead to his second coming.
Speaker 2: And when Jesus returns, we see this in isaiah 9.
Speaker 2: Before I get to john 14, let me just read this or so in chat.
Speaker 2: In verse 7 he says isaiah says of christ, the, the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of david and over his kingdom, to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness, from this time forth and forever more.
Speaker 2: The zeal of the Lord will do this.
Speaker 2: Isaiah is talking about, first of all, the Prince of Peace coming to the earth, but then he looks ahead to another coming of Christ, in which perfect peace will come upon the world.
Speaker 2: I just challenge you to go read Revelation 21 and 22.
Speaker 2: Talking about the new heavens and new earth, the day when the Lord returns and we receive our glorified bodies.
Speaker 2: Anybody looking forward to that Beloved?
Speaker 2: There's a day of perfect peace coming, where perfect justice will come to the earth, where God will reign holy and fully.
Speaker 2: Sin will be eradicated.
Speaker 2: Every tear will be wiped from your eye, there will be no more pain.
Speaker 2: Sin will be eradicated.
Speaker 2: Every tear will be wiped from your eye.
Speaker 2: There will be no more pain, there will be no more sickness, there will be no more death.
Speaker 2: And so we cry even so.
Speaker 2: Come quickly, lord Jesus, amen.
Speaker 2: So perfect peace is going to come, but right now, while we're waiting that that peace hasn't come yet, but while we're waiting, we can have unbelievable peace, unbelievable shalom in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: So now let me take you to John 14, 27.
Speaker 2: Jesus says to his disciples peace, I leave with you.
Speaker 2: My peace I give with you.
Speaker 2: My peace I give to you Now.
Speaker 2: I think that promise is for you today.
Speaker 2: The Lord left his peace for you.
Speaker 2: His peace he'll give to you Now.
Speaker 2: Watch what he says.
Speaker 2: Not as the world.
Speaker 2: What's he mean there?
Speaker 2: Listen to me.
Speaker 2: Worldly peace is based on your circumstances.
Speaker 2: That means when things are going well in your life and there's no conflict, it's like, how often does that happen?
Speaker 2: If there's no conflict in your life, no despair, then you've got peace.
Speaker 2: But the moment something changes, with one phone call, your life can change, your circumstances can change and if you're depending on the worldly peace, then that peace will flee in that moment.
Speaker 2: But Jesus says that's not the kind of peace I'm giving you.
Speaker 2: Jesus said my peace is not like the world.
Speaker 2: In other words, his peace, his shalom, transcends circumstances.
Speaker 2: That means that no matter what you're going through, you can experience the peace of Christ.
Speaker 2: So let me say it like this.
Speaker 2: I'd love for you to write this down the peace that is available to believers now is not about the absence of problems.
Speaker 2: It's about the presence of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Do we have that on the screen?
Speaker 2: I think we do.
Speaker 2: It's about the presence of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Do we have that on the screen?
Speaker 2: I think we do, maybe not, that's all right.
Speaker 2: Let me say it one more time the peace that is available to believers now.
Speaker 2: It is not about the absence of problems, but it is about the presence of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: That peace for every one of you, that peace is available to you today.
Speaker 2: Well, I want to ask a question today and try to answer it.
Speaker 2: Why is the world void of peace?
Speaker 2: It's a big problem for people who do not believe in God or do not trust God will not come to the Lord Jesus Christ, because they argue, if God is good, then why is there so much chaos in the world?
Speaker 2: If God is all-powerful, why is the world in such disarray?
Speaker 2: Well, to understand that we have to go back on a little journey to the very first pages of your Bible.
Speaker 2: So if you would go with me to the book of Genesis let's just have some fun with this God designed the world to be a world of peace.
Speaker 2: In the first two pages of your Bible, you will see the world, you'll get an idea of the world that God designed, number one in the creation account.
Speaker 2: There was peace in the Garden of Eden between God and man.
Speaker 2: Look with me at chapter 1, verses 27 and 28.
Speaker 2: God created man in his own image.
Speaker 2: In the image of God, he created him Male and female.
Speaker 2: He created them In verse just the first part of 28,.
Speaker 2: And God blessed them.
Speaker 2: Listen, adam and Eve were able to be in the full presence of God in the Garden of Eden.
Speaker 2: They were able to walk with him in the cool of the garden and they were able to converse with him, and God blessed them.
Speaker 2: There was perfect peace between God and man In the Garden of Eden.
Speaker 2: There was also inner peace for Adam and Eve.
Speaker 2: Look at chapter 2, verse 24 of Genesis verses.
Speaker 2: Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and shall become one flesh.
Speaker 2: Back up one verse when God made Eve out of Adam.
Speaker 2: Here's what Adam said in verse 23.
Speaker 2: This at last, like he's so happy at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
Speaker 2: She should be called woman because she was taken out of man.
Speaker 2: God made a help meet for Adam and listen, beloved.
Speaker 2: Imagine this a marriage without any conflict.
Speaker 2: There was no tension, there was no arguing, there was no nagging.
Speaker 2: Come on somebody Glenn is not here this morning.
Speaker 2: Glenn, if you're watching online, we'll pray for Bill before he leaves today and we'll pray for Bill before he leaves today.
Speaker 2: So there was peace in the garden.
Speaker 2: There was peace between God and man, peace between excuse me, adam and Eve had inner peace.
Speaker 2: I just totally messed that up.
Speaker 2: I'm glad I stopped here.
Speaker 2: There was inner peace.
Speaker 2: Look again at verse 224.
Speaker 2: So I totally I wrote down this verse wrong, but anyways, let's just say this.
Speaker 2: Somebody can find oh, here it is Verse 25.
Speaker 2: The man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed.
Speaker 2: So Adam and Eve had no shame, no guilt.
Speaker 2: Did you ever feel guilty?
Speaker 2: Wish you'd been a better father, better mother, better husband, better wife, better Christian, better pastor, better worker.
Speaker 2: Adam and Eve in the garden, they had no shame, they had inner peace.
Speaker 2: And then, as I've already said, they had peace with one another.
Speaker 2: My point is this that Genesis 1 and 2 paint a beautiful picture of the world.
Speaker 2: God created a world of peace, void of darkness.
Speaker 2: That's pages 1 and 2 of a beautiful picture of the world.
Speaker 2: God created a world of peace, void of darkness.
Speaker 2: That's pages 1 and 2 of your Bible, but then page 3, it doesn't take long for man to mess it up, does it?
Speaker 2: So sin, man's sin, robbed the world of peace.
Speaker 2: The world is broken.
Speaker 2: The world has darkness, wickedness, malevolence, because of sin.
Speaker 2: It's the greatest problem.
Speaker 2: Adam and Eve disobeyed in the garden.
Speaker 2: The Lord had told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and yet they decided to be, to disobey, to listen to the serpent whispering in their ears.
Speaker 2: They decided to, at that moment, become their own gods, to make their own decisions, to rule their own lives, and it cost them and us dearly.
Speaker 2: That choice broke man's relationship with God.
Speaker 2: Go with me now to chapter 3, page or, excuse me, verse 8.
Speaker 2: And they heard the sound of the Lord of God walking in the garden in the cool of day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God.
Speaker 2: Do you get this?
Speaker 2: What's happening?
Speaker 2: They were with the Lord, god was blessing them, they were able to commune with him and all of a sudden, because of sin, they hid themselves from the Lord, because sin has caused a chasm between man and our holy God.
Speaker 2: That decision to sin caused Adam and Eve to forfeit inner peace.
Speaker 2: 3, verse 7, chapter 3, verse 7, their eyes were both open and they knew that they were naked.
Speaker 2: They sold fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Speaker 2: Adam and Eve were remember.
Speaker 2: They were naked and not ashamed.
Speaker 2: They had no shame, they were innocents.
Speaker 2: But now, after sinning, their eyes were opened and they realized that they are naked.
Speaker 2: That's a common nightmare for somebody right that they're going to be caught, you know, on stage, and they forgot to put their clothes on or whatever.
Speaker 2: They were so nervous Like that's a Really what this means.
Speaker 2: Nakedness is your most vulnerable position means nakedness is your most vulnerable position.
Speaker 2: They become adamantly vulnerable, exposed and they try to cover their shame.
Speaker 2: They lost their peace.
Speaker 2: Then sin broke their human relationships.
Speaker 2: In chapter 3, verse 12, adam just throws Eve under the bus, right, he's like she made me eat the fruit.
Speaker 2: In verse 16, this is interesting.
Speaker 2: God says to Eve your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.
Speaker 2: God made Eve as a helpmate for Adam.
Speaker 2: They were supposed to have what's called a complementarian relationship.
Speaker 2: God had put the man.
Speaker 2: We read this in other parts of the scripture, God made man the head of the wife, but it wasn't this domineering leadership.
Speaker 2: Man and wife were to complement each other and work together to lead their homes and to cultivate the beauty of their work.
Speaker 2: But because of sin here's what God says to Eve You're going to desire to rule your husband and usurp his authority and we see this all the time today and, husbands, you're not going to want to gently lead your wife, you're going to want to domineer her.
Speaker 2: Sin has broken relationships.
Speaker 2: In chapter 4, cain we know the story kills Abel.
Speaker 2: The bottom line is this why do we need peace in the world?
Speaker 2: Because sin has brought darkness and evil and wickedness upon the land, robbing it of peace.
Speaker 2: The good news of the Christmas story is that God was not content to leave the earth how it was void of peace, because he said I'm sending in Isaiah.
Speaker 2: He said to his people I am sending you a prince of peace and I'm going to come again and and I'm going to establish my kingdom of my peace.
Speaker 2: There will be no end.
Speaker 2: Go with me again to isaiah, chapter 9, to our main text, and let's just look at verses 1 through 3.
Speaker 2: But there will be no gloom for her who is in anguish, talking about the people of God, israel.
Speaker 2: In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter times he's made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, galilee of the nations.
Speaker 2: The people who walked in darkness, in other words, void of peace, they've seen a great light.
Speaker 2: People who walked in darkness, in other words, void of peace, they've seen a great light.
Speaker 2: Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness on them is a light shown.
Speaker 2: You've multiplied the nation, you've increased its joy.
Speaker 2: They rejoice before you, as with the joy at harvest, as they were glad when they divide the spoil.
Speaker 2: In our text, just to give you a quick background, god's people are under the threat of Assyria.
Speaker 2: It's a nation in disarray.
Speaker 2: Their defeat is sure and on the outside it looks like Israel's problem is first and foremost Assyria, this tyrant empire.
Speaker 2: But it's not.
Speaker 2: Their conflict is first and foremost with their God.
Speaker 2: So I want you to go back a few chapters with me in the book of Isaiah.
Speaker 2: Isaiah, chapter 1.
Speaker 2: And look at verse 4.
Speaker 2: Isaiah 1, verse 4.
Speaker 2: Isaiah writes to the people O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly.
Speaker 2: They have forsaken the Lord.
Speaker 2: They have despised the Holy One of Israel.
Speaker 2: Their main problem wasn't Assyria.
Speaker 2: The reason that Assyria was a threat to them was because of their sin.
Speaker 2: It was judgment from God.
Speaker 2: And I'll just say to you today our biggest threat is not some Middle Eastern country, it's not China, it's not Russia.
Speaker 2: The biggest threat to our nation is sin.
Speaker 2: It's to be in conflict with God, and that is true in your life as well.
Speaker 2: Your greatest problem is the problem of sin.
Speaker 2: The good news is this In the book of Isaiah, god promises to end Israel's darkness.
Speaker 2: A great light has shone.
Speaker 2: The prophecy says and how would this peace come?
Speaker 2: Interesting, not through this great military leader who would come and crush Assyria or crush, in the first century, the Roman Empire.
Speaker 2: It would come, in verse 6, through a baby.
Speaker 2: Unto us, a child is born.
Speaker 2: Unto us, a son is given.
Speaker 2: In verse 7, he calls this child, amongst many things, the prince of peace.
Speaker 2: Verse 7, he calls this child, amongst many things, the prince of peace.
Speaker 2: In Isaiah 53, we see why he sent a child, because his goal was not to come and conquer Rome, he would come to defeat the powers of darkness, the powers and principalities, but Jesus would come to save his people from their sins.
Speaker 2: Isaiah 53 talks of the one who would come as a suffering servant and bear the sins of his people.
Speaker 2: Luke 2,.
Speaker 2: After announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds, the angels proclaim famously Glory to God in the highest and peace with those whom he's well pleased.
Speaker 2: Beloved, the prince of peace has come, which means a great light has broken into the darkness, which means you and I can have peace every day.
Speaker 2: Through Jesus, we number one, we get peace with God.
Speaker 2: I'm going to read for you Romans, chapter 5, verse 1.
Speaker 2: Says therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Through him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Speaker 2: Beloved, you and I, like Israel, because of our sin, we were separated from our holy God, doomed, and there's nothing you can do to save yourself.
Speaker 2: You know so many people think you know, if I want heaven, if I want eternal life, I've got to just be a good person.
Speaker 2: Well, that would be fine, except you're not a good person, you can't be good enough because God's standard is his law and none of us meet God's perfect standard.
Speaker 2: But the good news is this God sent a baby in a manger to come to live a perfect life, one who would bear our sin, bear our guilt, the suffering, service, the God man who would come and do for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Speaker 2: Jesus came, jesus died, jesus rose again, and it's only by grace, through faith in Christ, that you and I can be saved.
Speaker 2: In peace, or today in Christ, you can have peace, repent and be baptized.
Speaker 2: Today, come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: Follow him all the days of your life and you will get peace with God.
Speaker 2: There's no greater need and there's no greater blessing.
Speaker 2: Through Jesus, we can also have inner peace.
Speaker 2: Matthew 11 28 said jesus makes this great offer come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest for your souls.
Speaker 2: I hear that and I just want to breathe in.
Speaker 2: Come on, do it with me and breathe out.
Speaker 2: And the hustle and bustle of the season.
Speaker 2: Today was a stressful morning, wasn't it?
Speaker 2: Christy Connor was supposed to come and lead these songs some of them and he was ill this morning and trying to get everything together.
Speaker 2: And here I am preaching on peace and I just look at these words Matthew 11, 28,.
Speaker 2: Come to me, you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest for your souls.
Speaker 2: You know, it's only because Jesus has made us right with God that we can have inner peace.
Speaker 2: Augustine said it like this our hearts are restless until they rest in God.
Speaker 2: Peace with God leads to inner peace.
Speaker 2: The world is on a quest for inner peace.
Speaker 2: If you type in Google how to get inner peace, it'll come up with probably billions of results at least multi-millions, but probably billions.
Speaker 2: Experts will tell you to breathe deeply, meditate, practice mindfulness, do yoga.
Speaker 2: But, jerry, as much as you love yoga, it's not going to work for you.
Speaker 2: I don't care how much yoga.
Speaker 2: You could go to a monastery for a full year, you could practice yoga, you could do mindfulness extra routines 20 times a day, but if you don't have the Lord, jesus Christ, in your life, you will never have lasting inner peace.
Speaker 2: What would it look like in your life today if you didn't walk around in shame for your past decisions, for your choices, to have a cleansed conscience?
Speaker 2: It's available to you today.
Speaker 2: Jesus also has healed our relationship with other people.
Speaker 2: You know, it's one of the marks of Christianity our love for one another.
Speaker 2: Jesus said that in John.
Speaker 2: He said by this everyone will know you're my disciples, your love one for another.
Speaker 2: Romans 12, 18,.
Speaker 2: As far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Speaker 2: We are people of the Spirit and Jesus has reconciled us to God and we are to be reconciled to others.
Speaker 2: We're to have a radical love for one another and even we're to love our enemies.
Speaker 2: In Anglicanism, the old historic tradition, there's a part of liturgy that's called the passing.
Speaker 2: It's called passing the peace, and so we call it.
Speaker 2: In the modern church we call it meet and greet.
Speaker 2: You remember the meet and greets?
Speaker 2: We don't do that as much anymore.
Speaker 2: Studies have shown like new folks makes them uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: But as I study this out, I think we might want to start this again, because it was a liturgical practice and it was called Passing the Peace and what it was.
Speaker 2: Churchgoers would physically greet one another during worship service by shaking hands, hugging, and it was very purposeful.
Speaker 2: It wasn't just to say hi, it was to signify a moment of reconciliation with others and to share the peace of Christ with one another before taking communion.
Speaker 2: If they had ought with their brother, they'd take that time and say you know what?
Speaker 2: I need to address something with you, or I need to ask your forgiveness for something and it prepared their heart to receive the Eucharist.
Speaker 2: It occurred often after a confession of sins and absolution.
Speaker 2: You know the Lord wants us to be reconciled to people right, we're to be reconcilers and to be reconciled ourselves.
Speaker 2: Through Jesus, we get peace with God, we get inner peace and we get peace with others.
Speaker 2: Let me just say something real quick and then I'm going to tell you how you can walk in this peace, something the Lord just laid on my heart yesterday as I was praying.
Speaker 2: You and I remember peace is shalom, wholeness, completeness, complete body, soul and spirit.
Speaker 2: When the Lord returns, he is going to bring perfect shalom.
Speaker 2: Remember no more sickness, no more pain, no more sin.
Speaker 2: You and I live right now in the state of the kingdom.
Speaker 2: We are in the already, but not yet, state of the kingdom.
Speaker 2: Christ has come.
Speaker 2: He has inaugurated his kingdom and his peace.
Speaker 2: When he comes again, he's going to consummate his kingdom and his peace and we're in the in-between.
Speaker 2: But we're not to just sit here and wait to escape the world.
Speaker 2: It's not our call.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're to cry, come quickly, lord Jesus, but in the meantime, you and I are to be agents of the kingdom, agents of peace.
Speaker 2: When Jesus went around in his earthly ministry, every time he healed the sick, it was a foretaste of the peace to come, the peace to come.
Speaker 2: When Jesus preached the gospel, he was being, at that moment, an agent of shalom, because the gospel is what makes us whole and complete.
Speaker 2: Every time Jesus fed the hungry, he was acting as an agent of shalom.
Speaker 2: And Jesus said to his disciples I won't get deep into this because I preached a whole series on it this summer, but in John, chapter 14, 15, and 16, you'll read that Jesus told his disciples when I leave, you're going to do even greater things than I'm going to do, and it's not greater in quality but greater in quantity.
Speaker 2: He says what you've seen me do in quality, but greater in quantity.
Speaker 2: He says what you've seen me do, disciples, you go out and do the same thing.
Speaker 2: And he said in John 15, he said if you're in me, you're going to bear fruit.
Speaker 2: And what it means to bear fruit is we're going around continuing the ministry of Jesus that he did on the earth.
Speaker 2: And we are working as agents of the kingdom, signposts of the kingdom to come.
Speaker 2: I know there's times that we pray for people and they don't get healed, but sometimes they do, and when that happens it's just a foretaste of the kingdom to come.
Speaker 2: It's a foretaste of shalom wholeness that's coming perfectly one day.
Speaker 2: Every time you feed somebody I think we're taking jackets, coats for the homeless right now you clothe someone who is cold.
Speaker 2: You are working as an agent of shalom, agent of peace.
Speaker 2: That's what you and I are to be signposts of the kingdom to come.
Speaker 2: And the greatest thing we can do is share the gospel, because that's when people receive the gospel, that's when shalom really comes, the good news of Jesus.
Speaker 2: So sit with that.
Speaker 2: That's extra this morning.
Speaker 2: But I'll close by just talking about how to walk in peace, because I know many of you have been in church a long time and you're quite aware of the concept of the peace of God.
Speaker 2: But look at me.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you an honest question?
Speaker 2: Is the concept of biblical peace a reality in your life, or are you ridden with anxiety, ridden with worry and fear?
Speaker 2: Are you walking in shame, guilt?
Speaker 2: So how do you walk in peace?
Speaker 2: I just preached about peace in our Fruit of the Spirit series and I talked about how important prayer is.
Speaker 2: You know, paul in Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, let your requests be known to God.
Speaker 2: And he says then the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: So you got to pray, okay, but there's something else that I see in Isaiah, chapter 9, in our text, that you're going to have to grasp if you want to walk in peace.
Speaker 2: Look at verse 6.
Speaker 2: We find four names given to Jesus.
Speaker 2: Let's say them together Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace.
Speaker 2: Now listen to me, don't miss this.
Speaker 2: In order for us to experience peace, we must receive Christ in His fullness.
Speaker 2: In other words, listen to me, if he is going to be your Prince of peace, he also must be your wonderful counselor, your mighty God, your everlasting father.
Speaker 2: Everybody wants his peace, but do you want his counsel?
Speaker 2: Let's just take these quickly, one by one A wonderful counselor I have people ask me all the time do I know of a good, licensed Christian counselor?
Speaker 2: And honestly, in this area, for whatever reason, they're few and far between.
Speaker 2: But I've got great news.
Speaker 2: There's a counselor who's not just good, he's wonderful, and his name is Jesus.
Speaker 2: His counsel will never steer you in the wrong way, in the wrong direction.
Speaker 2: And listen, you can pray and receive the counsel of the Lord, but the main way you in the wrong way, in the wrong direction.
Speaker 2: And listen, you can pray and receive the counsel of the Lord, but the main way you receive the counsel of the Lord is right here.
Speaker 2: If you don't open the Bible, you're not going to know the counsel of the Lord.
Speaker 2: In Psalm 1, 2, it says this blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way.
Speaker 2: You've got to read your Bible.
Speaker 2: You've got to seek the counsel of the Lord.
Speaker 2: But watch this, you've got to obey it.
Speaker 2: You know I get real frustrated.
Speaker 2: I do quite a bit of counseling as a pastor.
Speaker 2: I do what's called just biblical counseling and I'll have somebody come to me and they'll have issues, and so we'll meet for 30 minutes or an hour and I'll give them some homework and I'll say listen, if you do this it'll help and they'll call me in another week.
Speaker 2: Pastor, can I meet with you again?
Speaker 2: Well, sure, and my first question is did you do this?
Speaker 2: Don't waste my time Now I'm trying to think which of you I'm speaking to.
Speaker 2: I can't remember.
Speaker 2: Listen.
Speaker 2: It's not enough to go to the Lord for counsel if you're not going to listen.
Speaker 2: Beloved, he's a wonderful counselor and you know sometimes.
Speaker 2: We know what the Bible says, but we think you know times have changed and I know a little bit better.
Speaker 2: Let me just give you a really good example.
Speaker 2: Okay, single people, listen to me.
Speaker 2: The Bible says not to be unequally yoked.
Speaker 2: That means you don't marry an unbeliever if you're a believer, which means, by the way, pastor Ben and Pastor Jerry back me up on this you don't marry an unbeliever if you're a believer.
Speaker 2: Which means, by the way, pastor Ben and Pastor Jerry back me up on this you don't date an unbeliever.
Speaker 2: Yes, you tell your students that all the time.
Speaker 2: Right, there's something called missionary dating.
Speaker 2: You know what it is.
Speaker 2: Oh, if I date him or if I date her, I'll win them to Jesus.
Speaker 2: Don't be so sure.
Speaker 2: See, in that moment you think you know more than God does and you say I know what the word says, but I'm in love and this is just different this time.
Speaker 2: This is different, like I know.
Speaker 2: Generally this isn't good, but it's different and I've seen this time and time again.
Speaker 2: And a believer will marry or date an unbeliever and it crushes them because you did not listen to your wonderful counselor.
Speaker 2: His ways don't seem fair sometimes, they don't seem right sometimes, but beloved Isaiah says in another part that his ways are what Higher than our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts.
Speaker 2: He knows what you do not know, so seek the Lord.
Speaker 2: The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord.
Speaker 2: So you want his peace, take his counsel.
Speaker 2: Secondly, he's got to be mighty God.
Speaker 2: He's got to be mighty God.
Speaker 2: We're reminded here of the deity of Christ.
Speaker 2: He wasn't just a child in a manger.
Speaker 2: He was, by the way, fully human.
Speaker 2: We shouldn't sing the song away in the manger because it's got some really bad lyrics in there.
Speaker 2: Some of you are freaked out right now.
Speaker 2: No, crying he makes.
Speaker 2: He was human.
Speaker 2: Babies communicate by crying.
Speaker 2: It's not a sin for a baby to cry.
Speaker 2: Jesus cried.
Speaker 2: He was fully human.
Speaker 2: But that was not just a fully human baby.
Speaker 2: That little child in the manger was fully man, but fully God.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 2: He is mighty God.
Speaker 2: Here's what that means.
Speaker 2: You don't just go to Jesus for counsel.
Speaker 2: You make him the center of your life.
Speaker 2: You know so many people.
Speaker 2: They want to keep on living their lives the same way and they just want to tack on Jesus to their lives.
Speaker 2: But if you want his peace, beloved, he's got to be your, everything In him.
Speaker 2: Acts says we live and we move and we have our being.
Speaker 2: It's all about Jesus.
Speaker 2: It's not somewhat about Jesus.
Speaker 2: He's not part of your life, he is your life.
Speaker 2: If he's your savior, he's it.
Speaker 2: So you got to structure your life around Jesus.
Speaker 2: And then finally he's called everlasting father.
Speaker 2: Now, this is not to muddy the waters of the triune God the Trinity.
Speaker 2: You have God the father.
Speaker 2: You have God the son.
Speaker 2: You have God the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: You have God the Father.
Speaker 2: You have God the Son.
Speaker 2: You have God the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: So that's not the point here.
Speaker 2: Jesus is not God the Father, god the Father is God the Father.
Speaker 2: All right, you confused when Isaiah calls Jesus everlasting Father.
Speaker 2: Here the point is he's tender like a father, he's loving like a father, which means this If we want peace, we've got to trust him.
Speaker 2: You know, when my kids were young I would say to them Son, just trust me.
Speaker 2: Just trust me.
Speaker 2: If there was a storm outside and they felt unsafe, baby, come here, sit in my lap, just trust me, I'll protect you Through many Dangerous toils and snares.
Speaker 2: We will come.
Speaker 2: But you can trust the Lord through it all.
Speaker 2: He's not just a mighty God to be served, he's like a tender father who can be trusted.
Speaker 2: Trust and obey.
Speaker 2: Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
Speaker 2: Isaiah 26.3 says you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts you.
Speaker 2: You trust the Lord today.
Speaker 2: If you want the peace of Jesus, you must go to Him for counsel.
Speaker 2: You've got to center your life around Him and you've got to trust Him.
Speaker 2: I will close, dean, if you don't mind coming to the keys.
Speaker 2: I'll close with a story that I actually used when I did talk about peace several weeks ago, but it's a story worth repeating and, by the way, I printed something from Pastor Ron's hymn book that he published.
Speaker 2: It's got some of the words, the greatest hymns, in it and it's got stories behind the hymns, and so that's available on Amazon.
Speaker 2: It's a great, great resource and beautiful book.
Speaker 2: So I want to tell a story that Ron tells in there that you've heard me speak about before.
Speaker 2: It's about a guy by the name of Horatio Spafford, 1828 to 1888.
Speaker 2: 1828 to 1888, horatio married Anna Spafford as a young man and they had five children, four girls and one boy.
Speaker 2: Horatio, he was a businessman, he was a senior partner in a law firm, he owned a lot of real estate there in Chicago.
Speaker 2: He loved the Lord and he was a friend and strong supporter of the evangelist DL Moody, and his life went quickly from one of prosperity to one of great tragedy, beginning in 1870.
Speaker 2: It was that year that Horatio Spafford lost his only son, who was only four years old at the time.
Speaker 2: A year later, in 1871, tragedy struck again when the Chicago fire took his business.
Speaker 2: He lost his real estate holdings.
Speaker 2: November 22nd 1873, another terrible loss took place for Horatio and Anna.
Speaker 2: The family was planning a holiday and they were going to attend the DL Moody meetings while in London.
Speaker 2: So they were going to go from Chicago across the pond to London, but Horatio was delayed because of a business commitment, and so he sent his wife and four girls ahead.
Speaker 2: So they went on a ship across the sea when it was struck by a steam liner, killing 226 people.
Speaker 2: Anna, in the tragedy, as the ship was struck, gathered her daughters together and they prayed.
Speaker 2: And she somehow Anna, amazingly survived.
Speaker 2: But her four little girls drowned, little girls drowned.
Speaker 2: When she arrived to Europe, she sent a wire to Horatio with two words Saved alone, horatio Spafford got on the next ship, sailed across the sea to meet his wife and at a certain point in the water the captain came up to Horatio and dropped anchor and said this is the spot where your four little girls died.
Speaker 2: And it is in that spot where Horatio Spafford penned the words to the beautiful hymn it Is Well when peace, like a river, attendeth my way.
Speaker 2: When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou'st taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul.
Speaker 2: I hope that your lot is good.
Speaker 2: I hope you don't experience that level of tragedy.
Speaker 2: But I can say today, if you are in Christ, whatever your lot, you can say today, if you are in Christ, whatever your lot, you can say it is well, it is well with my soul.
Speaker 2: The peace of God is available to you today.