Prince of Peace

Good morning! It's a good morning. So we are in a series, in fact this is part three of the series, and we'll be entering into Christmas Eve service next week. So this is kind of the finale of this series called Silent Night.

And the idea of Silent Night is that for many people around the Christmas season, it's not so silent. In fact, many of you are feeling that right now, right? You're still thinking about all the Christmas gifts you have to buy, and then the travels you have to make, and we've got to get prepared, and we've got to get ready for Christmas, and the things I'm behind. And for some people, it's a very anxious time of the year. For some people, it's a very lonely time of the year, because maybe this is the first Christmas you're not spending it with a loved one.

Or maybe it's just a time where you don't, you know you're coming to that day where you really don't have anybody around the season. So it can be a very, in fact, statistics show that we have a higher depression rate around Christmas time. The most joyful time of the year, depression actually is higher among people than any other time of the year. And we can see that in Scripture. In fact, in week one, we looked at this theme verse here, and it was God.

See, God relates to us, right? How does He do that? Because He came in in a time of chaos. We sing Silent Night to the top of our lungs. We just thought, Silent Night, Holy Night.

And we think about this silent night where Jesus came into the world, but it was all but silent. Because there was a lot going on. You had this teenager who was pregnant with a child that was from God. And she had to explain that to her husband, who was probably about 15 years older than her, you know. And he wasn't quite sure about it, right?

And all the world was taxed. And you know what tax time's like, right? In general. And these people, well, they were going all over the place. The roads were packed.

The ends were packed. All the things were going on. They couldn't even find a place. And where did they have to go? They had to, the birth of Jesus had to happen not in a king's palace, not in a big fancy house, not in a warm cozy bed, but it happened right there in an animal's shelter, in a barn, probably a cave on the side of a hill.

And it was probably very cold. And it was miserable for poor Mary. With cows and sheep and everything around them. It sounds wonderful, the nativity scene. We look at the nativity scenes.

It warms our hearts. But it wasn't very warming to Mary that night. It was all but a silent night. So why would God do that? And week one, we learned that because he wants to relate.

He wants us to relate to him. He wants to show you that, listen, I get it. I know what you're going through. I was there. I sent my son, the father says, I sent my son to earth among those conditions, among what you're, what you're dealing with.

And in Luke 2, 13 and 14, we see this and, and, and we talk about peace on earth. And we hear Charlie Brown sing peace on earth, right? And we sing peace on earth, goodwill toward men. But did you know that peace on earth is not anywhere in the Christmas story? It isn't.

In fact, it, it, it, the only time you hear peace on earth is when Jesus says, you think I came to bring peace on earth? You're wrong. I came to bring division because what I'm going to do, because what I'm going to bring, the news I'm going to bring, it's going to actually divide. The good news I bring actually divides. It's, it's tough, it's hard, you know?

And, and, and, uh, but in, here in scripture, we see in Luke 2, it says suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts and appeared with the angels, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. Not peace on earth, on earth peace. So in the middle of the chaos, in the middle of all the things that are going on, Jesus didn't suddenly set the world at peace. The world was still in trouble. But on earth, something came into the world.

Someone came in the world to bring peace. In fact, John 14 says this, I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace of the world gives. Because the world, we're always searching for peace. We're all searching for peace, right?

We're hoping that, that governments will come up with a solution. But in, in, in, in thousands of years of recorded history, which we learned last week, thousands of years of recorded history, we still do not have peace. There's war. Why? Because people are going to be people.

If you put your trust in people, what are they going to do? They're going to fail you. Because people will always be the issue. The church will be perfect without people, right? Because we're all messed up people trying to figure this thing out, right?

God is, is bringing us to a place where we're growing in him. And, and, and he's working in us. But we're people. And there will always be war. Because the fragility, the world gives us, it's, it's, it's, it's loose.

It, the peace that the world gives us, it, it, it fades away. It's a counterfeit peace. So, Matthew 5 says, blessed are the peacemakers. So, and we need to be peacemakers. And how do we do that?

The difference is between peacekeeping and peacemaking. Because we can come up with resolutions all day long. We can sit at tables and talk and, and divide these things out. But really what it comes down to is we've got to be peacemakers. How do we do that?

Reconciling rather than resolving. We need to be people that reconcile. Brings the balance to zero. Just like your checking account. When you reconcile your check account, what do you do?

Bring the balance to zero. We need to bring the balance to people for zero. So, that's a recap of the last two weeks. This week I want to hit on, on, on, uh, the one last thing that brings it all together. And we've been hitting on this every week.

But this is where it really gets down to what it really means. What, what, what everything really means. How do we really experience peace? Because many people are walking this world. And you can even, we're even calling ourselves Christians.

And we're living, you know, we live for Jesus. And we're with Jesus. But we're not really experiencing peace. It's still, it's still chaotic down in here. How, how do we How do we experience that?

Well, 700 years ago, there was a prophecy given about Jesus by the prophet Isaiah. But before I share that scripture, there's a lot of people that say, you know, this prophecy thing, you know, I don't necessarily get that. And a lot of people argue maybe it was just coincidence that all these things came together. But let me just help you understand, there are 300 prophecies in the Bible, 300 prophecies. And there's this mathematician named Peter Stoner, Peter Stoner, that decided he was going to investigate the probability of these prophecies.

Now, I have a, my undergrad is business and I have a business degree and there was this class that we took about statistical methods called quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis. And I hated quantitative analysis because I just hate math. And it's about probabilities. The probabilities of how your customer base would work and looking at numbers and, and, and, and, and what are the chances?

You can cut that out of the feed for the web. No, it's okay. I think people like real stuff. So you could just leave it in there. Authenticity is what it's all about, right?

So there's this theory called quantitative analysis that we, we studied in business school. Uh, it's a statistical methods class about behavior and patterns. And, um, Peter Stoner was, was a famous mathematician who decided he was a Christian mathematician who decided to look at prophecies. What are the probability of prophecies of all 300 of these prophecies taking place? Because throughout thousands of years, many prophets and many different stories, Jesus, prophecies of Jesus about his birth, about his resurrection, about his life.

They all came true. 300 of these prophecies. What are the chances of that? Well, he looked and said, if eight of these prophecies, just eight of these prophecies were fulfilled, chances are one in 10 to the 17th power that just eight of these prophecies happen by random chance. What is that?

That doesn't make a lot of sense to, to many of you. What is that? The 18th power, the 17th power, what does all that mean? Well, that's a hundred thousand trillion, one in a hundred thousand trillion that just eight of those prophecies would come true. And that's, that, and all three of them actually, actually came, came to pass.

If just 48 of them happen, and that's, that's well off three, 300, one in 10 to the 157th power, that's 157 zeros behind a one, guys. I mean, that's the chances that just 48 of those prophecies would come true. Someone once said that it's like taking a quarter and tagging it, and then filling the entire state of Texas with quarters. And then walking down, just randomly picking up the right quarter in the middle of Texas, being dropped in the middle of Texas, just randomly picking up the right quarter. The probability of just 48 of those coming to pass.

And we got this, uh, prophet Isaiah. And here's what he says in, in 9, 6, for to us, a child is born to us, a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father. And here's the phrase, prince of peace. So our subject is on peace. Our series is on peace.

And we see here the prince of peace. But what does that really mean? Because the, the, the, the translation of this isn't exactly right. In fact, the, the original language, the Hebrew language, those of you who are Jewish probably know this. Uh, uh, uh, but the prince of peace is actually char, char, shalom.

Many of you know the word shalom, you know, shalom. Well, char, shalom. What does that mean? If you're following your notes, sar is the one in charge. It's, it's the Lord chief.

It's a general. It's more than just a royal subject. It's more than just a prince. It's actually someone who is completely and wholly in charge. And that's where we get the name.

The name is rendered czar, which we get Caesar from. So the Roman Empire actually used sar to explain their Caesar, the one in charge, the one in rule. And then shalom. And then shalom. What does that mean?

It means rest, tranquility. If you're filling in the blanks, rest, tranquility, wholeness, completeness, contentment. So what does that mean? He, he is the Lord of rest and peace. And he is peace.

He's not just some idea. It's not just a guy that came and brought peace. He is peace. Peace. And if you know him, if you really know him, if you have an authentic relationship with him, you can actually experience peace.

In fact, John 14 says this, peace I leave with you. And let me just give you a number of these. And this is rendered. We've already talked about John 14, but this is, this is just another version of that peace. I leave with you my peace.

I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. I do not let you. So do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.

Romans 5 one says, therefore, since we have been justified, what does that mean? It needs to be made right. We've been made right positionally through Jesus Christ and by faith. That means that the person of Jesus, we have been made positionally through the person of Jesus who is peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then Psalm four, eight says, I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone. That's underline that for you alone. Oh, Lord, make me dwell in safety for you alone. You can't find peace in anything else and anyone else. You can't find peace in your friends.

You can't find peace in your family. You can't find peace in your government. You won't be able to find peace. You'll never. Your search will be endless.

Really, our peace comes in the person of Jesus Christ. Psalm 29 11 says the Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace. With peace. So Ephesians says this and this is where it all comes together.

Ephesians 2, it says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away, have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he Christ, for he, for Christ. I put in parentheses Christ there. For Christ himself is our peace. He is our peace.

So here's what I want to say. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus. I mean. I mean, not just know Him. It's more than just knowing.

It's more than just filling out a card. It's more than just, you know, saying, hey, I'm in and raising my hand. But if you don't have an authentic relationship, if you're not walking with Him, if you don't know Him at a deeper level, then you cannot experience peace. Because He is peace. Peace isn't the absence of conflict.

Peace is the presence of someone. And Jesus is that someone. And when we have peace in Jesus, the Sar Shalom, we walk in peace. We live in peace. We breathe in peace.

When the conflict is all around us, when the chaos is all around us, when everything's going on and we don't know where to go, or what to do or who to go to, because everyone and our closest even has failed us, we can find peace in the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, Acts 17 says, for in Him we live and breathe. We live and breathe. So what's the secret to peace? What do people that have real everlasting peace know?

They know that peace isn't found in anything else but the person of Jesus Christ. That's the secret. That's what it comes down to. Your best friend, your protector, your savior, your king, your Sar Shalom, prince of peace. So if you can do these three things, I'm going to give you three things that are in your notes here that you can fill in the blank too.

If you can do these three things, you will not have to work for peace. You will not have to find peace. You will not have to resolve for peace. And all those things we talked about throughout this series. But you will be at peace in Jesus.

So the first thing is you've got to submit to the lordship of Jesus. Submit to the lordship of Jesus. What does that mean? Submit. What does lordship even mean?

Why do we even call Him Lord? What is this about? You know, we say Lord Jesus in our prayers and Lord, but do we really understand what the lordship of Jesus is all about? Here it is. It's putting ourselves under Jesus' rule.

It's basically putting ourselves under His covering. And it's a lot like this. People, you know, kind of say they have, I believe and I know Jesus, but they're refusing to actually walk under His covering, walk under His rule, walk under His lordship. And as a result, they're living in chaos and unpeace and unrest and disastrous lives. And if you're like me, we like to compartmentalize Jesus.

You know, this is my spiritual life over here. And, you know, here, you know, this is the real world. You know, I can't bring Jesus into everything. But He's asking us, He's asking us, He's calling us to submit to Him. It's like this.

Here's a great example. Say a rainstorm comes in. You're out in a storm and rain just starts pouring down. And you're like, where do I go, right? And there's a shelter over here.

Somebody set up a shelter, you know, just a nice canopy campus kind of thing. And they're calling you in. Come on under here. Come on under here. What do we often do?

We say, but I'm okay out here. And then we complain about being wet, right? You know, just pictures. I'm like, come under here and dry off and be protected from the rain. Well, I don't want to.

But why am I so wet? Why am I wet? Why is all this happening to me? But I refuse to come under the canopy of Jesus. I refuse to come under here because we are hard-headed people.

Well, and it's hard for us to submit to a chief, a Caesar, a ruler. And I think partly because we're Americans and it's hard for us to understand lordship, the Lord being, having a Lord over our lives because we're people who like to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and make ourselves right because we're taught that was the American dream. And that's not a bad thing. It's just that we forget the one who gave us what we get, given us the gifts that we have, given us the jobs that we have, given us the abilities. Well, I'm, you know, I made this myself because I have this mind.

Well, who gave you that mind? I have this heart and this drive and this ambition. Who gave you that dream? Who gave you that heart? Who gave you that ambition?

And we're, and lots of times we just refuse to come under the lordship of Christ. And then when we get wet, we wonder why. Why in the world am I wet? Why in the world am I sick? Well, it's probably because you sat out in that rainstorm all that time.

And then you wonder and you look back. How did this happen? We need to be under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Acts 2, 36 says this. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

We know the good news. We've heard it. And the great example is many of you who have children kind of understand this. I mean, if my kids listen to everything I said, because obviously I care about my kids, right? And I want them to be safe, and I want them to be secure, and I want them to have, if they would just respect me and listen and do the things I ask them to do, man, they would be extremely blessed.

They would have really happy lives, right? Because I would buy them things. I'd do things for them if they just understood that. But what happens, you who have children, you who have teenagers, teenagers, you probably understand it yourself. It's just hard for us to come under the rule, under the lordship of our protective parents.

And in the same way, it's really challenging for us. I mean, it's not just, you know, going to church and praying that after you had a chaotic week and everything's going to be all right. It just doesn't work that way. It's not yelling at your spouse. Can I just yell at my spouse and then go to my room and read my Bible and everything will be all right?

No, no, you got to live in peace. You got to, it's, it's, it's got to be, it's got to be an everlasting. And this is a great example of righteousness coming under the lordship of Jesus is a great example of righteousness because people think that it's all about what they do. You know, a relationship with Jesus is all about how I do it and where I do it and when I do it. And, and, and, and Jesus is saying, just come under my protection, come under my righteousness, build your life under me.

I am the person, I am peace, I am the Sar Shalom, come under me, come under my protection. And that, that's what God is calling us to do, become righteousness. Leads me to my second point. In Isaiah 32, 17, 18, it says the fruit of righteousness will be peace. The effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places and secure homes and undisturbed places of rest. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want to live and dwell in security and protection and peace and rest? Who doesn't want that? So what do we do?

Our next point, don't just know Jesus, come under his lordship. And the second one, invite Jesus into every situation. Invite Jesus into every situation. I heard someone once say in a sermon that I was listening to, or maybe it was an event, I can't remember exactly where it was at, they're like, I don't want you to put God first this year. I was like, what are you talking about?

That sounds heretical. You know, you got to always put God first in everything, right? He says, I don't want you to put God first in things this year. I want you to put God in the middle of everything that you do. We need to put God in the middle.

Here's a story. I kind of shared this with some of our small group leaders. We were training up for next semester. And about a year ago, I was in North Carolina at my dad's senior pastor of a church there. And I was working with his CPA to try to get some accounts ready and getting things ready, you know, for the church.

And, you know, we had a great meeting. And then I was on my way home. And about halfway home, I reached into my back seat to pull out my computer, just to kind of touch it. You know, sometimes you kind of got this weird feeling, so you reach back there just to make sure stuff is there. So I reached back there to touch my computer, and it wasn't there.

And I'm like, what the heck is going on when my computer's not? So, you know, what's the first thing that goes through your mind when your computer's not in your back, in the back of your car? Somebody stole my computer. Oh, my gosh. Somebody stole my computer.

So I start calling. I call my dad. He's looking around his office. And I call my mom. She's at home.

And I got Miranda, you know, kind of like on alert about it and all this other stuff. I said, man, this is my computer. I've got everything on here, everything with the church, everything with personal business, all this kind of stuff. I got private numbers on this stuff, you know. So I was worried to death.

And I'm just like, oh, man, you know, it was over at, I remember stopping at this gas station. Maybe somebody reached in the car and took off. And that's the first thing I'm thinking. Somebody stole my computer, and they're going to get all the information off of it. And I'm just freaking out.

And as I'm talking to my mother about it, which my mother is an extremely heavy prayer warrior. She believes in pulling Jesus and inviting Jesus into everything. She says, we're going to pray about this right now, and God's going to find your computer. And, you know, what I'm thinking, you know, with this compartmentalization, nah, this is just too small for God. You know, it's a computer, for crying out loud.

And just being very practical, she says, no, we're going to pray for this right now. And she says, in the name of Jesus, we're going to find this computer, and it's going to come to, and we're going to, we're going to, it's just going to come up. We're going to have it back in your hands before, before this weekend. It's going to be, you're going to know exactly where it is. And right as that was happening, I got a ping on my phone.

And I'm like, what in the world is going on, you know, here? What is this? And as soon as I get off the phone, I see my buddy, one of my best friends I knew from elementary school that lived in a completely different town, a completely different area, probably about, you know, 30, 45 minutes away from where I was at, leaves me a message. And he says, give me a call. You're not going to believe this.

I'm like, I don't know what's going on here. He never calls me. We haven't talked in six months, you know. We talk a couple times a year, maybe see each other around Christmas or whatever, but what's he calling me about? And he calls me.

So I call him back. He says, you're not going to believe this. But I was doing a service at this house. And this guy's talking about, you know, he does internet, fiber optics, stuff like that. And he's talking to this guy.

He says, you know what? I found this computer in a ditch out in my yard when I was cutting my grass earlier today. He's like, huh? He says, do you have any clue what I could do with this? Like, do you guys want this?

Because I don't know what to do with it. I don't, I'm not a computer guy. And he looks at it and he sees Salt Church on the back of that computer. And he says, I think I know who this computer is. So he calls me up.

He says, I've got your computer, man. I mean, come on. What are the chances? Oh, is it just circumstantial or happenstance that he just happened to be a guy from another town working in that area that day to come to that exact house that was my best friend growing up and finds my computer? I mean, it sounds silly that we're like praying about computers, but God is concerned about every detail in our life and wants to invite us to invite him in.

And we refuse to invite him in because we're standing out in the rain and we're enjoying being wet, right? And he is asking, invite me in to every situation. If you want a great family life, invite him in. If you want great finances, invite him in. If you want great co-workers, if you want great friends, if you want your relatives to get along with your relatives, if you want, you want, you need to invite Jesus to the table.

Hey, Jesus, you're welcome. What is your thoughts on this, Lord? What do you want me to do in this, Jesus? I want to invite you into right into the center of the situation. 2 Thessalonians says this, now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.

What does that mean? In every situation, absolutely every situation, in every way, at all times. I heard it said, we like what the master has on his table, but we're not concerned about the master himself. And that's often us. We love what God can give us and how God can bless us.

But oftentimes, we don't really desire and want him because we're comfortable in the rain. We'd rather be miserable in the rain than peaceful under the shelter. And he's calling us, invite him in to every situation. And number three, and I'll close on this point, you've got to fix your thoughts on Jesus. Fix your thoughts on Jesus.

Keep your mind and your thoughts on Jesus. Philippians 4, 8, and 9 says, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. Had too much coffee this morning. Speed reading. If anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things.

Think about such things. Whatever you have learned and received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice. And God and the God of peace will be with you. Which leads us to fix your eyes, your thoughts, your mind, your heart, your everything. On Jesus at all times.

You know what's interesting? There are 31,103 verses in the Bible, and notice that's an odd number, right? That odd number lands on the verse, and it's found in Isaiah 26.3. It says, You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

The question is, do we trust in Jesus? Are our minds fixed on him, our hearts, our thoughts, every day, not just on Sunday, Monday through Saturday as well? Do we keep him? Do we invite him in? Do we allow him to be the Lord of life?

Do we come under his shelter? He's calling you to come out of the pouring rain. Come out of the pouring rain. The lightning and thunder is all around you. Come out.

There's a safe haven. There's a safe place here. He's inviting you in, and I want to leave you with this final verse, church. It's Romans 15,13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with the hope of the power of the Holy Spirit.

So let's bow our heads today, and I want you to take that in, and I want you to just allow the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, just to fill your heart here for a minute, for a second, just as you think. Just give God your mind and your attention right now. Just let him know, and with all heads bowed, and all eyes closed, and everybody just kind of with one heart, just praying. Those of you who are praying, just take this time and just meditate on him for a minute. Perhaps some of you are going through life right now, and you're wondering, where is peace?

Where is peace? Well, I'm not experiencing peace. I'm not experiencing hope. I'm not experiencing life, and I'm, you know, I'm following you, God, but I'm not experiencing. And perhaps you haven't submitted completely to Jesus.

Maybe you're somebody who maybe walked closely with Jesus one time, but you're just, you know, you've made some decisions in your life, and you've kind of walked and released yourself from his submission. And maybe some of you, you've never been completely submitted to Christ, but this is the fact. You're in the person of Jesus Christ. It's more than just signing a card. It's more than just raising a hand.

It's, it's, we can believe, but do we really know him? Do we really have a relationship with him? Because the devil knows him. The devil believes in him. Satan believes in him.

Satan knows him. But do you have a relationship with him? So that's what being a Christian is all about. That's what being a follower of Christ, our mission statement, the fully devoted followers of Christ. Our heart is to be fully devoted, completely committed followers of Christ.

And I promise you, if you are not experiencing peace, if you devote and submit yourself under his covering, you will have a peace that you've been longing and looking for. A hope that you've been longing and looking for in the person of Jesus. Not some idea, not some hope for peace, a world order for peace, but God himself. The peace that we can find in Jesus positionally under the peace and hope that we have in Jesus. And if that's you today, with all heads bowed and all eyes closed, I'm not going to embarrass you.

If that's you, I want to pray for you. Will you just lift your hand and just say, look, I'm in. I'm in. Amen. Amen.

Thank you. Anyone else here? Amen. Just say, I'm in. Give him this opportunity, this chance.

Just say, God, I haven't completely submitted to you. I'm going to give you my life. I want to give you my heart right now. Today is the day. The time is the time.

There's no other time in history. If you pray together, church, as those who raised their hand, we'll all just pray this together. Father, in the name of Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God. You died on the cross for my sin. I believe that submitting to you is the only way to have hope and peace because of what you've done and who you are.

A loving Savior, a loving God that desires the best for his children. So today, Lord, I surrender my life. I've done it my way for a long time. I surrender. I submit.

I come under your Lordship and authority in my life. And I walk from this day forth with you. So come into my life. Come into my heart. Change me from the inside out.

Make me new. In your name. Be close with me. Thank you. Okay.