Audio - Peace on Earth
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The Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 23, 2007
Peace on Earth
TEXT: NKJ Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.
As we approach Christmas day this seems like an unusual text to consider—it is a
short text—but it contains a powerful lesson for us Christians—Paul instructs us
to pray for each other and to pray for thanksgiving—thanksgiving for the gift of
God—Jesus Christ—God’s Son—Paul says we have the peace of God—and that peace is
beyond human understanding—but does this conflict with the words of Jesus
Himself?—Jesus told us that He did not come to bring peace to the world—yet all
around us we hear requests for peace on earth—and some think Jesus brings that
peace—listen to the words of Christ
NKJ Matthew 10:34 " Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not
come to bring peace but a sword. 35 "For I have come to 'set a man against his
father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law'; 36 "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' 37
"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
If Jesus did not come to bring peace why did He say to His disciples—“Peace be
with you” after the resurrection?
NKJ John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the
disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again,
"Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had
said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples—He put life into the one
Church on earth—much like God breathed life into the one man on earth when He
created Adam from the dust of the ground—and He said “Peace be with you”
It is through the eyes of faith that the disciples would see Jesus and
understand that He is the resurrected Son of God—and these eyes could only be
opened by the Holy Spirit Jesus breathed into these gathered disciples
NKJ 1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except
by the Holy Spirit.
The disciples now would have the Holy Spirit—and the Holy Spirit would reveal
all things to them—and the comfort and peace Jesus wants the disciples to have
on this frightful evening is the peace of knowing that they are now citizens of
heaven living on earth
NKJ Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
What greater peace could there be—no matter what will happen in the future—they
have this peace and the Holy Spirit in their hearts—most of the men in this room
will die violent deaths because they followed Christ into heaven—yet the peace
Jesus gave them this night extends beyond even violent death—look at the example
of the stoning of Stephen—he was stoned to death while he preached the truth of
Jesus the Christ to the Jews
NKJ Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they
gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed
into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God, 56 and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God!" 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their
ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and
stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man
named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying,
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud
voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he
fell asleep.
That peace of knowing that this body in this world is only temporary—we
Christian believers are in this world but we are not of this world—the things in
this world—including death—have no power over us—we are here at the pleasure of
our Lord—to do whatever He has planned for us—until He calls us home
NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our
habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not
be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because
we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up
by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has
given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that
while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by
faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent
from the body and to be present with the Lord.
The peace that Jesus speaks of is not an earthly peace—it is a peace on earth of
God’s children knowing they are citizens of heaven—and earth is their temporary
residence until they are called home
When our Lord Jesus gave His disciples the Holy Spirit on that resurrection
night—Jesus spoke of the forgiveness of sins—which is the difference between
those who will spend eternity in heaven and those who will spend eternity
separated from God—Christians are forgiven—unbelievers have no hope
Jesus consistently taught His disciples how to apply the Old Testament
Scriptures—consider this lesson of forgiveness in the Old Testament
NKJ Numbers 5:6 "Speak to the children of Israel: 'When a man or woman commits
any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the LORD, and that person is
guilty, 7 'then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make
restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the
one he has wronged.
Jesus made restitution—once—for all
NKJ Romans 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,
certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this,
that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been
freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.
Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to
sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you
also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Being alive to God in Christ—is being alive for eternity with God in heaven—and
that is the true peace that is with us as Jesus spoke of peace to the
disciples—there can not be peace on earth in the way worldly people understand
peace—as long as there is a devil on earth and God dwells on earth—there will
always be conflict—and God does dwell on earth—Paul says our earthly bodies are
the temple of God the Holy Spirit
NKJ 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Jesus gave the Holy Spirit so the disciples could properly understand the events
that they witnessed on the day of the resurrection—Jesus paid the price for
man’s sins—Jesus made restitution—as God the Father demanded in the Old
Testament—the early Christians understood this as recorded in the Book of Acts
NKJ Acts 13:29 "Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him,
they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 "But God raised Him
from the dead. 31 "He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from
Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. 32 "And we declare to
you glad tidings -- that promise which was made to the fathers. 33 "God has
fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is
also written in the second Psalm: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.'
34 "And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He
has spoken thus: 'I will give you the sure mercies of David.' 35 "Therefore He
also says in another Psalm: 'You will not allow Your Holy One to see
corruption.' 36 "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; 37 "but He
whom God raised up saw no corruption. 38 "Therefore let it be known to you,
brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39
"and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses.
John summed all this up in his first epistle
NKJ 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Jesus did not come to bring peace to the world—He came to bring peace to those
who are His in this earth—therefore—peace be with you in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!