Happy fourth Sunday of Advent. Christmas is just a few more days away! He is coming. He is here. He is always close. Welcome to afaithtalk.com. I’m so glad you’re here to join me in this walk through several Scriptures about His Peace.
Lord Jesus, You handed me all of these, so I know You’re going to lead us through them and reveal any and everything we need to see so that we all can experience peace with one another as well as You’re extraordinary Peace. All the glory to You, Lord. Lead on.
Four of them. Four Scriptures to walk through today. None are long, but we’re going to see Him all over them. This is a walk for treasure. The best and only Treasure worth every second’s search. The best way I know how to do this, is get paper and something to write with, or your NIV if you have one and don’t mind writing in it. We’re going to really study today. It’s more than a walk. It’s a treasure hunt.
Isaiah 9:6-7a
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, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
On your paper, write: (or in your Bible underline or highlight) everything in Isaiah 9:6-7 that spoke to you. Like this:
a child,
a son,
the king,
wonderful,
mighty,
everlasting,
Prince of Peace,
great everlasting kingdom.
No end.
The most amazing thing about the promises of God I can think of at the moment is their never ending-ness. They’re eternal promises and once we reach the Kingdom, there is no time, it’s all eternal. We are eternal creatures. God has done amazing things in us through Christ. This child in Isaiah is our very own Wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He came, he gave up all the glory He has with the Father and came to be among us and die for us to bring us back to God the Father, and then God set Him above all of everything for us. His congregation. I stand amazed. Yes, you need to think on these words till you find the thing that amazes you about them.
Let’s go now to John’s gospel, these words come direct from Jesus while He was on earth.
John 14:26-27
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
His Peace, it’s not like the peace of the world, if the world even knew peace. Alright, in the words of Jesus, what spoke to you the most? Read it phrase by phrase…
The advocate = the Holy Spirit
The Father will send in Jesus’ name.
will teach you all things
will remind you
of everything I have said to you. vs. 26
Peace I leave with you
My Peace (Jesus’s peace) I give you
not as the world gives
do not let your hearts be troubled
do not be afraid. vs 27.
Write what you think about this. If you have a question, write it. If you want to praise Him, write it. If you just wonder about something, make note of it. Hand it to Him and wait.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Ooh the reason behind that echoes in my soul. In Matthew 15:18 Jesus said this: “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.” Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Do not be afraid.
What about His peace gives you the confidence to not fear?
How can He say that? He is God. He’s already given His Peace. Not too terribly long after He said these things He died and rose again thereby conquering death, overcoming death and leaving us with the only way to God. There’s no reason to fear. Often our fears are displays of a lack of trust.
If you have the Holy Spirit then you have His Peace. And if You trust His words, there is no reason to fear, no reason to be troubled in your heart. You have God himself inside You with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Truly He who is with us is greater than he who is in the world.
He has done all this, let’s read Ephesians 2:14-18 now and see some implications of what He’s done.
Ephesians 2:14-18
For he (Jesus) himself is our peace, who has made the two (Gentile and Jew) groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Jesus is Peace. He is our peace. He is the solution behind every conflict, every difficulty. His plan was to bring all of us to God, which He will do, just have the faith required to be among those He gathers. There is now no, or at least there shouldn’t be, any hostility between us. We are all one in Christ. Unity. That is His purpose, His desire, His plan. Unity of us, with us. One new humanity = Peace. Among each other and with God. What a gift.
In light of this gift from Jesus, what can we do but be at Peace, Rejoice, Christ has come. Rejoice, the King has come. Rejoice, He will come back and gather all the ones He knows love Him. into His everlasting Kingdom.
Philippians 4:4-7Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
According to this, we need to rejoice, because He is near. Do not be anxious – trust Him
In every situation by praying and asking, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and somehow in doing so, the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Peace
Oh yes, we could break this one out too, but I’ll leave that for you to do and we’ll just bring this all to a close.
Peace He Gave.
Peace with one another – Restful relationships.
Peace with God – Eternal restoration.
Rejoice.
Thank You, Lord, for Your Peace. Thank You for Your eternal presence which brings us peace at all times. Thank You for all these words and all these assurances. Thank You. Amen.