WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:31.920 Do any of you have that uh that one family member, or maybe it's it's two family members that comes at Thanksgiving or Christmas and you just can't wait until they leave? 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:47.920 That one family member that is always the person that stirs the pot, that causes problems, that makes a peaceful gathering unpeaceful. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:50.719 Why is that? 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:52.960 Why does that happen? 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:00.880 Why is it that we want a Christmas, excuse me, that is full of peace? 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:07.519 Why is it that we do not sometimes get that Christmas that is full of peace? 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.280 I invite you to take your Bible with me to the book of Isaiah in chapter 9. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:21.280 So this morning we begin considering three passages of Scripture that speak about the peace of Christmas. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:29.519 This morning we're going to consider for a few moments the Prince of Peace and that passage that you are likely familiar with. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.799 We'll look at another familiar passage next Sunday about the Shepherd of Peace. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:41.280 And then Christmas Eve, we'll consider the coming of peace. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:02:03.359 That moment where you have a Christmas where it is disturbed, the peacefulness is disturbed by an argument, by a frustration, by a family member that just is out of sorts. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:07.439 It's pretty normal. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.199 It's pretty common. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:15.680 What is uncommon is what happened on Christmas in 1914. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.400 Anyone around, been around in 191, was around in 1914? 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:22.319 I figured there might be one. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:23.120 Maybe two. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:24.319 No, I don't see any hands. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:25.599 1914. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:30.159 Christmas in 1914 was unlike any other Christmas. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:50.960 It was so unusual that today it's difficult to tell which stories recount accurately what happened and which stories were attention-seeking, maybe not quite telling things as they were. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.479 Some details, though, are a matter of historical fact. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:03.599 Christmas in 1914, battle lines were drawn across much of Europe as the world was five months into World War I. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.520 Many thought that the war would be short-lived. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:16.400 Perhaps that was a small foundation for the strangeness of that Christmas season. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:25.680 A British machine gunner named Bruce Bern's father recorded his memories of that Christmas in 1914 in his published memoirs. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:45.599 As was the case with most of the infantrymen fighting in Belgium, Bairne's father spent a good deal of the Christmas season crouched in a trench three feet deep by three feet wide, mostly sleepless and fearful. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:48.400 Here's what he wrote. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:04:03.599 Here I was in this horrible clay cavity, miles and miles from home, cold, wet through, and covered with mud. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:11.439 There didn't seem the slightest chance of leaving except in an ambulance. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.839 Then on Christmas Eve, on Christmas Eve in 1914, something unusual happened. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:29.199 Barron's father records that a strange sound came across the ground of no man's land between the English and German armies. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:36.720 And the English soldiers realized that the sound coming from the German front lines was the singing of Christmas carols. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:46.560 That was followed by a shout to meet in the middle of no man's land. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:59.680 And suddenly a spontaneous truce occurred in the middle of No Man's Land in Belgium on Christmas Eve of 1914. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.439 Opposing soldiers shared what little they had with one another. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:07.120 They helped one another. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:09.519 They partied through the night. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:18.879 There are even stories of soldiers from opposing sides working together to gather the slain and the wounded from the battlefield. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:26.000 One story even recounts a soccer game taking place in the middle of no man's land. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:39.920 Even though the truces angered commanding officers on all sides, several of these Christmas truces are said to have occurred in 1914. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:45.279 World War I would drag on for four more long years. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.199 And that Christmas truce never happened again. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:06:00.480 For a little while, for a little while there was peace on Christmas in 1914. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.319 But not everywhere. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:08.079 Some parts of the battle line still saw fighting. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.240 But there were areas of the world war where there was hope that someday there would be peace for the world. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:26.079 And as strange as this might sound to our ears, Bruce Bern's father looks back on that Christmas and he wrote, I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird Christmas for anything. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:43.680 And it lacks a key component that is integral to Christmas. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:51.120 You see, the events leading up to Christmas in 1914 in Belgium occurred because of the killing of a ruler. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:57.199 The real Christmas began with the birth of a ruler. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:05.279 Christmas in 1914 displayed an underlying international lack of peace. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:13.360 The real Christmas came about because of the reality of a universal lack of peace. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:21.600 And Christmas in 1914 contained moments of peace that quickly returned to war. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:26.480 But the real Christmas brought eternal peace. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:34.959 And to simplify those parallels, we might say that the peace of Christmas in 1914 was an illusion. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:41.279 It was an interruption in the reality of war on earth. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.600 But the true Christmas is not an illusion. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:08:00.079 You see, in the midst of their rebellion against God, God's gift to mankind provided true peace offered to all who believe in God's gift of a perfect Prince of Peace. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:21.439 Now, as we look for a few moments at God's promise of a Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9, I want to shatter any human-shaped perceptions that we have about peace in our world, about peace in our families, even peace in ourselves. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:29.199 And I hope to shatter those human-shaped perceptions with a single reality. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:31.600 What is that reality? 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:41.919 That reality is that Christmas peace is only an illusion if you don't have the Prince of Peace. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.360 It doesn't matter what the context is that we're speaking of. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:51.200 If it's an individual, if it's a family, if it's a state, if it's a country, if it's a world. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:57.360 If you lack the Prince of Peace, any kind of peace that exists is only an illusion. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:06.960 The hope of Christmas can only be grasped by seeing the hopelessness without the Prince of Peace. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:19.600 We're going to see this truth first by noting the biblical anticipation of a perfect ruler, then by acknowledging the universal lack of peace to lead us to the promise of a Prince of Peace. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:25.039 So the portion of Isaiah 9 that I want us to consider is a familiar one, beginning in verse 6. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.480 If you have your Bible, it'll be on the screen as well. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:30.799 Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:50.879 Isaiah writes, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.120 He doesn't end there though, he goes on. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:09.919 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. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.919 The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:21.120 A prince is coming. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:28.799 And he will be a wonder of a counselor, guiding the government and the military. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.200 He will be all-powerful. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.919 He will be the mighty God who is the eternal, loving, caring Father. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.879 He will be a prince who will bring peace. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.679 And that is precisely where Israel got sidetracked. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:53.039 In this verse, they saw someone who would bring peace to Israel's borders through military might and Solomonic wisdom. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.720 See, they failed to grasp what we too need to understand. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:07.039 Terminating war by military victory does not bring about everlasting peace. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:15.679 A pause in the fighting, even on Christmas Eve, does not imply peace. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:29.120 Removing the invader, removing the suppressor, removing the homebreaker, removing the abuser does not usher in love and peace. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.879 It merely subdues the conflict for a while. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:42.960 The Jewish people have a long, have long had a well-rounded way of speaking of peace. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.519 In Hebrew, it's it's called shalom. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:52.320 Shalom could be used like a greeting, like saying hello to one another. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:12:05.200 Or shalom could be used to designate the result of a treaty that ends a years-long war, a treaty that results in peace, or in that case, the lack of fighting. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:11.279 That ought to tell us that shalom is a very broad term. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:21.360 It can be a noun that refers to a state of peacefulness, like a coexistence between two countries. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:27.440 It can be an adjective that describes the condition of peacefulness. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:35.759 If you have a restful and relaxing Christmas season with no interruptions, that's shalom. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:43.039 It can be a prayer that expresses a desire for peace. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:44.159 So you get the idea. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.759 It can refer to many different kinds of peace or peacefulness. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:55.919 And when we bring all of those concepts together, we get a little closer to what shalom means in the Bible. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:08.720 When this word appears in Scripture, it has the sense of wholeness or of well-being, of completeness, satisfaction, contentedness. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:11.440 Everything's okay. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.200 It's the opposite of being divided. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.279 It's the opposite of division. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.639 It's the opposite of covetousness. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:29.759 And when Isaiah recorded these words about a child to be born, he described this child with the name. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:35.120 Notice he will be named, he will be called Prince of Shalom. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:41.679 It might even be translated without the of, as in Prince Shalom. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:53.039 Now, for the ancient Israelite, that might have conjured up national memories of Israel's history under the rule of King David. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:14:02.320 You remember God promised King David that his kingdom would be established forever and ever, and he would always have a son sitting on the throne of Israel forever. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:12.879 So near the end of David's life, the people celebrated the announcement of which one of David's many sons would rule in his place. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:25.919 And it was announced that it would be Prince Sholomon, Prince Solomon, the Prince of Peace. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.600 That memory was appropriate. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:35.279 You remember of David's desire to build the temple. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.279 And God said, No, you can't build the temple because you are a man of blood. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:42.559 You've shed too much blood, you've warred too much. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:48.559 Your son, the son of peace, will build the temple. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.480 This was a national memory. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:01.519 It might be like going to the through the Lincoln Memorial for Americans, remembering a national time of the end of war. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.840 And the ushering in of a time of peace. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:12.000 So that memory is likely coming into play here. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:13.919 But this is not Solomon. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:16.879 Solomon is already dead and buried. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.440 This is another, a greater Prince of Peace. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:31.600 So it describes for us the anticipation of a perfect ruler who will establish the boundaries of true peace. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:42.799 As World War I began with the death of a ruler, true peace was initiated with the birth of the Prince of Peace. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.120 Boundaries were important in ancient Israel. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.080 David expanded Israel's territorial boundaries. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.720 And Solomon grew them even more. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:16:07.840 And the more expansive the borders, the larger the area that experienced the peace brought by Solomon, that Prince of Peace who was the son of David. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:14.000 But by the time of Isaiah, those boundaries had significantly shrunk. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:19.600 And the peace of Solomon's reign was long gone. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:29.039 Now dominating war machines were far larger, and more powerful nations were constantly banging on the doors of Judah's kings. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.200 Israel to the north is already gone. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.000 Taken away by the Assyrian kings. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:46.799 So you can feel the hope within these words in verse 7 of the increase of his government and of peace. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:52.080 But the anticipation here is not only Solomonic. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:59.519 It not only brings the hope of a return of the peace that existed in Solomon's time, it says it's going to even go beyond that. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:04.480 There will be no end to his government and no end to his peace. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:16.640 So all at once, the boundaries are established in governmental terms, on one hand, this will be a prince of peace who will rule. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:29.119 He will lead a government that will last forever, and it will not be bounded by the boundaries of Palestine, for this Prince of Peace is the mighty God who has no limits. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:36.400 He's not even limited by time, for he is everlasting. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.839 You may be longing this Christmas for a peaceful home. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:50.720 Maybe a peaceful workplace. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:59.200 Maybe you're hoping for another Christmas truce of some kind. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.599 Well, those things are good to hope for and to pray for. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:11.839 Do you see that you have set your sights too low if that is where you stop? 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:21.279 For God has said that there is a perfect ruler who will usher in a peaceful universe. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:30.960 Not limited to Israel's borders, not limited to Israel's people, but to all creation. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:39.279 The boundaries of peace established by this child to be born are unlimited. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:43.680 And there's a part of all of us, I think, that longs for something like that. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:51.920 But there is this problem of a universal lack of peace. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.960 It's everywhere. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:06.079 And it's only when we grasp the reality of this universal lack of peace that we can begin to see the nature of what true peace really is. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:16.240 And we know that peace is an illusion without the Prince of Peace. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:23.599 Because everywhere we go, there's a lack of peace. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.319 Shalom occurs 29 times in Isaiah. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:30.160 It's quite a bit. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.720 Quite a bit for a book filled with war. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.559 Shalom occurs 29 times in Isaiah. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.160 The first two instances are here in chapter 9, verse 6, and chapter 9, verse 7. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:56.400 The third time we see it is in Isaiah 26, verse 3, where Isaiah says, Of God, you keep him in perfect shalom, whose mind is stayed on you. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:02.400 Because he trusts in you. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:12.079 In Isaiah 32, verse 17, we read, the effect of righteousness will be shalom. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:17.359 And the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:30.400 You see, God established this idea of shalom, of wholeness, of well-being, of peace within the act of trust in a sovereign God. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:34.640 The object of our faith is Him. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:37.359 It is the Prince of Peace. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.359 It is Prince Shalom. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:46.480 And peace exists within the heart of the one who trusts when we let exercise our faith in him. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:50.880 And it's not merely shalom, it's perfect shalom. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:21:04.000 But if we keep going in Isaiah, when we get to Isaiah 48, we realize that not everything is shalom in God's creation. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:10.960 For God said to his people in Isaiah 48, 18, Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.359 Did you hear that echoing in your mind from telling your children? 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.599 Just listened. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:24.400 Then your shalom would have been like a river. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:28.559 And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:33.119 They had not paid attention. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.039 So there was no shalom. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:47.039 Just a few verses later, Isaiah would write, There is no shalom, says Yahweh, for the wicked. 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:51.440 And in the context of Isaiah 48, that wickedness is not listening to God. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:53.920 It's not paying attention. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.759 Again in Isaiah 57, verses 20 through 21, but the wicked. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.680 Are like the tossing of the sea, for it cannot be quiet. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.680 Its waters toss up mire and dirt. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:13.200 There is no peace, Isaiah says of his God, for the wicked. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:19.119 Now that may feel, that may feel far away and long ago to our modern ears. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:35.519 So lest we misunderstand, perhaps it would be good to hear what the Apostle Paul said in the book of Romans, beginning in chapter 3, verse 9, he asks the question, what then? 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.200 Are we Jews any better off? 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:40.640 He asks of himself and his people? 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:49.359 No, not at all, for we've already charged that everybody, all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:59.359 For as it is written, quoting multiple passages in the Old Testament, none is righteous. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:02.160 And what did we just read? 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:09.440 We just read that shalom is the result of righteousness. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:17.599 So if none is righteous, how many have that shalom? 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:19.519 None. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:22.160 No, not one. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:24.400 No one understands. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:26.240 No one seeks God. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:27.200 All have turned aside. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:29.440 They've together become worthless. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:31.920 No one does good, not even one. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.400 Their throat is an open grave. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:39.759 They use their tongues to deceive, the venom of asps is under their lips. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:44.079 Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:51.519 Their feet are swift to shed blood, and their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.160 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:08.240 My friends, we see that the true nature of peace is not about one generation of people over another. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:14.880 It's not between nations or groups of countries, or even about the ceasing of hostilities on Christmas Eve. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:21.519 To have true peace, we first have to contend with the cause of hostility. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:26.880 That's my own heart. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:41.279 Only, only when sin is removed can there be true lasting peace. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:47.680 Because everywhere we go, there's no one who has not sinned. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.960 For man's sin to be removed, there must be peace between God and man. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:58.559 Man must be at peace with God, and God must be at peace with man. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:04.480 The enmity that exists between God and man, constantly butting heads must be removed. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.359 That is the nature of true peace. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:11.680 True peace is spiritual. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:23.599 It is the abolishing of the enmity between God and sinners, and that is precisely what Isaiah 9:6 intends to address. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:46.000 When we were dead and our trespasses and sins, having no experience of the righteousness that comes from peace, God sent a prince of peace. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:26:01.759 That prince of peace was promised not merely to bring national peace for Israel, but that promise of a prince to come would establish the hope of true peace. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:11.039 It's not just the ceasing of hostilities, not just a pause and the bullets flying across no man's land. 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:17.759 It's not just everybody getting along for 24 hours so we can open presents and have food together. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:27.119 This is taking away the cause of hostilities so that our hearts are first right with God, so that our hearts can then be right with one another. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:35.519 It's an ultimate, a complete, and eternal peace that only the mighty God and the everlasting Father can provide. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:55.119 God Himself would be this prince, the one greater than Solomon, who would bring peace with God by paying the ultimate price to remove the cause of war. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:10.000 That's why we read in the New Testament in Romans chapter 5, therefore, being justified by faith, we have shalom with God. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:12.559 How? 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:17.920 Through the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:31.279 Ephesians church in Ephesus would hear it as He Himself is our peace. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:34.640 Are you looking for some peace in your life? 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.799 Are you seeking genuine, authentic peace? 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:41.920 It's already come. 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:45.599 Just receive him. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.960 Eternal peace is offered as a gift from the Prince of Peace. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:54.240 Place your trust in him alone. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:01.519 For when you have this child, you have true peace, no matter what your circumstances are. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:09.759 You see, it was the assassination and the death of Archduke Ferdinand that led to the First World War. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:17.920 Christmas of 1914 provided a very brief respite from the hostilities. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.880 But when fighting resumed, it showed the nature of mankind. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:25.599 We are ruled by sin. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:31.440 And as long as we are ruled by sin, there can be no lasting peace. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:46.000 But while the death of the heir to the Austro-Hungary Empire led to war, the death of the heir of the universe, that prince of peace, paved the way for eternal peace. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:53.119 I think Clement of Alexandria was right when he wrote around 200 AD. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:59.839 Most people have a disposition that is unstable and heedless, like the nature of storms. 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:04.480 That's why we so often lack peace. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.720 And we have no shalom. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:17.039 But God's promise of a prince of peace is no illusion like the Christmas of 1914. 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:20.880 And Gene Viet was right. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.839 He wrote, It should not be possible for Christians to be disillusioned. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:38.160 It should not be possible for Christians to be disillusioned, for we should have no illusions in the first place, because our faith is in Jesus Christ alone. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:54.400 For it's Jesus, the one greater than the Prince Solomon, the true Prince of Peace, who brings eternal peace through reconciliation of sinners with God. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:11.920 In a few moments we're going to celebrate together as we introduce some new members to our fellowship who have chosen to identify with us by their faith in this Prince of Peace. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.359 A few moments we're going to celebrate together. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:25.119 Some individuals declare publicly to you that they have received the Prince of Peace and are now ruled by that Prince of Peace. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.599 What a wonderful day to put all of this together. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:28.400 Would you pray? 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:33.359 Lord Jesus, we commit ourselves to you. 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:50.559 That you would rule in us, that your peace would rule, that we would be led by the Spirit who leads us to be like Christ, that we might live lives of peacefulness. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:56.319 Lord, thank you that you came, the true Prince of Peace. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:59.200 May we be peacemakers. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:01.359 For you said, Blessed are the peacemakers. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.160 That means we are like you, the Prince of Peace. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:08.400 Work through us and in us this Christmas time we pray. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:09.440 In Jesus' name. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:10.319 Amen. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:15.759 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:22.799 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:27.119 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.