The Peace of Advent

Sovereign Grace Family Church iconSovereign Grace Family Church

2 views

0 comments

00:00
I invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to Luke chapter 2.
00:22
In Luke chapter 2, we're going to read verses 1 to 14, but we're going to be focusing our attention in the sermon on verse 14.
00:30
But I want to read the opening verses because they provide for us the context of this passage.
00:36
So Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 1.
00:44
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
00:50
This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered each to his own town.
00:59
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary his betrothed, who was with child.
01:14
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
01:17
And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
01:28
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
01:33
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
01:37
And they were filled with fear.
01:40
And the angel said to them, Fear not.
01:43
For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
01:48
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
01:55
And this will be a sign for you.
01:58
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
02:04
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
02:25
Father God, I thank you for your word.
02:27
As I preach it now, may you keep me from error.
02:30
May you glorify yourself.
02:33
May you edify your people.
02:35
May you save the lost.
02:37
In Christ's name.
02:39
Amen.
02:43
The title of today's message is The Peace of Advent.
02:50
We are constantly being reminded that we live in a world that is anything but peaceful.
03:01
In the city of Chicago alone, at the end of November 2019, there had already been 424 murders and over 2,000 shooting victims.
03:20
According to the World Health Organization, around the world every day, one person commits suicide every 40 seconds.
03:28
One person is murdered every 60 seconds.
03:33
And one person dies in the midst of armed conflict every 100 seconds.
03:41
Days ago there was an attack in Pensacola.
03:45
A gunman opened fire on a military base, killing three people.
03:50
My son, who is stationed in Texas, called me that night and said his entire base had to go on lockdown as a result of that situation.
04:04
And often what we hear from those in politics and other things, they say, well, what we need is we need stricter laws regarding things like gun ownership, and that will curtail the violence.
04:17
And then we look across the sea at other lands and we see that criminals are there, still killing, just using other ways.
04:24
Not just a week ago, there was an attack that was carried out on the London Bridge.
04:30
The person didn't use a firearm, didn't use an automobile.
04:33
No, he used a knife.
04:38
And as I read that story, I was so amazed at the tremendous amount of irony in that story.
04:46
The man who went about killing was a former prisoner.
04:50
The two people that he killed were advocates for prisoners' rights.
04:58
One of the men who defended himself, because he didn't have any weapons, used the tusk of a narwhal.
05:06
It's the strangest story you've ever heard.
05:10
And one of the men who actually took down the attacker was himself a convicted murderer.
05:19
Ten years ago, killed a 16-year-old girl.
05:26
I'm going to quote Brother Andy.
05:27
This world is a mess.
05:31
He says oftentimes, Andy will say, I'm a mess or we're a mess.
05:33
This world is a real mess.
05:38
It is a seemingly endless array of acts of hatred and incivility and brutality.
05:46
As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, men become inventors of evil.
05:56
As one author said, war is natural and peace is the accident.
06:01
War happens in a moment.
06:02
Peace can take hundreds of years to achieve.
06:08
Isaiah the prophet describes the condition of man in Isaiah 59, verse 7.
06:13
Their feet run to evil and they are swift to shed innocent blood.
06:19
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.
06:22
Desolation and destruction are in their highways.
06:25
The way of peace they do not know.
06:28
And there is no justice in their paths.
06:31
They have made their roads crooked.
06:34
No one who treads them knows peace.
06:39
The natural heart of sinful and depraved man is not that of peace.
06:47
It is that of war.
06:48
It is that of enmity.
06:50
It is that of strife.
06:52
It is that of jealousy.
06:53
It is that of destruction.
06:54
It is that of hatred.
06:55
And that is what we see around the world every day.
06:58
We live in relative peace and comfort in our homes.
07:01
But it only takes a minute for violence to find us.
07:05
And when it does, our entire world changes.
07:09
When your front door is kicked in.
07:12
When your automobile window is bursted through.
07:16
When your child doesn't get off the school bus.
07:21
It only takes a moment to be visited by the violence of this world.
07:28
And be reminded that there is no peace in the heart of sinful man.
07:38
And yet, as Christians, we believe that God has visited this world with peace.
07:55
We believe that in the midst of this turmoil, death, disease, and destruction laden world, there is a peace which is available.
08:09
And today, my goal is to show you how in the midst of the strife of this world, you can find a peace that passes all understanding.
08:24
Let us go back to Luke 2.
08:26
And let us look at the proclamation of the angels.
08:32
We read a very familiar text, chapter 2, where it tells the narrative of Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem because of the census that was being taken.
08:45
We've read of how they ended up in the stall of the animals rather than in a comfortable room.
08:52
We've read how the baby was laid in the manger.
08:55
And we've read how in the field nearby there were shepherds.
08:59
And we're very familiar with that story.
09:01
We even have banners that have photos of those things as how we might picture them happening.
09:10
But in the midst of this event, we hear the cry of the angels.
09:18
And the cry of the angels, glory to God in the highest, which is a praise announcement.
09:26
It's an announcement of praise to God.
09:28
Glory to God in the highest because He's done something amazing.
09:33
He has sent forth His Son.
09:35
He's done something truly unique in all of human history.
09:39
Jesus Christ coming into the world is the unique moment of human history.
09:42
It changed the world.
09:45
In fact, when we look at our calendar, we even consider it everything that happened before Christ and everything that has happened since.
09:51
Jesus Christ split time.
09:54
He split the world.
09:55
He is the moment.
09:58
In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem those who are under the law and give us the adoption of sons.
10:07
This is the moment.
10:08
This is the fullness of time.
10:09
This is this great, tremendous moment.
10:10
And so the angels, as if it were they had been released from a leash to go and proclaim, proclaim loudly glory to God in the highest.
10:23
And then they say this phrase, and on earth peace with whom He is pleased.
10:35
Now, right away, if you are like me and you grew up in church, hearing the language of an older way of translating this text, you probably are familiar with it a little differently than this way.
10:56
Most of us are not used to hearing peace among those with whom He is pleased.
11:00
What are we used to hearing? Peace on earth, good will to men.
11:08
It makes sense.
11:09
That's the actual verse.
11:11
And it came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old.
11:16
Peace on the earth, goodwill to men from heavens.
11:20
We know it because of the song, but we also know it because of how it's translated in the King James Bible.
11:27
Peace on earth and goodwill to men.
11:34
So why then the change? If you have a modern Bible, if you have an ESV or you have an NIV or you have a New American Standard Bible, your Bible does not read peace on earth, goodwill to men.
11:48
Your Bible reads peace on earth with whom He is pleased.
11:54
And that is different.
11:55
Would you agree that that's a different statement? Because if I say peace on earth, goodwill to men, there is a universality in that.
12:06
It seems to be speaking, in a sense, to all men.
12:10
To all men, peace.
12:13
But when you read it in the different translation, and it says peace to those with whom He is pleased, that provides more of a limitation, doesn't it? That actually does limit the idea of who this peace is for.
12:36
And people ask me, well, which one is correct, Pastor? You've studied the original languages.
12:40
What's the original language? Well, there's more than an original language issue here.
12:44
This is actually a textual variation issue, which we could discuss at a different time.
12:49
I've taught on that extensively in other times.
12:51
But ultimately, I do believe, based on my study, that the better rendering is the modern rendering.
12:58
Dr.
12:59
Bruce Metzger, who is a Greek scholar, has said this.
13:02
He says, the meaning is that at the birth of our Savior, God's peace rests on those whom He has chosen in accord with His good pleasure.
13:13
Let me say that again.
13:14
His peace rests upon those with whom He has chosen for His good pleasure.
13:20
As Christians, this should actually make sense to us.
13:25
Because I want to say something to you, and I hope this doesn't send you running for the door.
13:33
But this is the truth.
13:35
The peace that Jesus brought is not universal.
13:41
The peace that Jesus brought was not universal peace for all mankind.
13:50
You say, Pastor, are you just making that up out of whole cloth? No.
13:54
Turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 10.
13:59
Now hold your place because, well, I guess we've read Luke.
14:02
Let's go to Matthew 10.
14:03
We're looking at a few verses.
14:04
So go to Matthew 10 and look at verse 34.
14:20
Now this is Jesus Christ speaking.
14:22
This is a direct quote from our Savior in verse 34.
14:27
And He says this, Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth.
14:35
I've not come to bring peace, but a sword.
14:40
I mean, stop right there.
14:41
We're going to read the rest, but just stop right there.
14:42
The angels proclaim peace on earth.
14:48
Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword.
14:54
So is there a contradiction in Scripture? No.
14:59
We believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and it does not contradict itself.
15:04
But there are times where we have to understand the text in light of other texts, and we do what is called the analogy of Scripture or comparing the Bible with the Bible.
15:14
The angels say peace among those with whom He is pleased.
15:18
Jesus said, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
15:21
Now He gives us what He means by that in the next verse.
15:24
He says this, For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law and against her mother-in-law.
15:33
And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
15:39
Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.
15:41
Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
15:44
And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
15:49
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
15:54
What's the point Jesus is making? The point is this, when a man comes into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, he finds peace with God, but he often finds enmity with men.
16:12
He finds peace above, but war below.
16:19
And that's why Jesus said, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
16:23
And my sword will divide even families.
16:27
Beloved, let me ask you this.
16:29
Do you have unbelieving family members? Do you have unbelieving family members that hate the scriptures? And when you try to talk to them about the gospel, they seem to hate you too? Now they're happy when you're watching the Dallas Cowboys with them, or they're happy when you're able to sit down and eat turkey dinner with them, and they're happy as long as you're not talking about Jesus.
16:56
But the moment you bring Christ into the conversation, a sword, as it were, divides, and slams down, and creates a division that's almost irreparable.
17:14
I would go as far as to say it is irreparable unless they come to Christ, because there is no unity in that relationship, no true unity.
17:25
There is only division.
17:28
I mean, we have family members I love.
17:31
My wife and I, we pray, and oftentimes we just go down the list.
17:37
God save this person.
17:40
God save that person.
17:41
God save...
17:42
And not for my sake.
17:43
Not because I want them to have peace with me.
17:47
Not because we want them to have peace with our children, or peace with my wife, or peace with our family.
17:52
Not because we want a little bigger Christmas, or a little bigger relationship, or some bigger family reunion.
17:59
We want them to have peace with God, because we know that is the only thing that has eternal significance and consequence for them.
18:06
But this verse makes perfect sense to those who live in that conflict.
18:17
When Jesus says, I have not come to bring peace, but a sword, and I will divide families.
18:24
And I tell you, it's hard.
18:25
I know some of you have told me your stories.
18:28
And some of you have families that don't even want anything to do with you, because you're a Christian.
18:34
Or the only time they want anything to do with you, is if you don't talk about Christ.
18:40
I know that's a difficult life.
18:41
That's why I honestly say this, this family, this church family, this is our family.
18:49
You are those with whom we are closest.
18:52
You are those upon whom we rely.
18:57
You've heard the phrase, blood is thicker than water.
19:02
People often think blood is thicker than water means, family relationships are closer than other relationships.
19:09
But actually, the entire quote phrase is this, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
19:18
Which means, the relationships formed through the covenant with Christ, are stronger than the bonds that are simply formed through the family.
19:32
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
19:38
Look around you, these are the people you're going to spend eternity with.
19:41
This is why I hate church infighting.
19:43
You can't handle each other for 50 years here.
19:45
You think you're going to have eternity? Honestly, we've got to love each other, because this is our family.
19:53
And again, what do we do to our other family? We love them, and we should be the best relatives to them.
19:59
We should be the ones upon whom they know they can count.
20:01
We should be the ones that they know they can go to in their times of need, because we are representatives of Christ.
20:07
We are ambassadors of the reconciler.
20:11
So we stand on our porch like the father or the prodigal son, waiting, hoping that they will come, and we run to them with mercy if they come.
20:21
And we open our arms and we love them.
20:24
We don't stand upon our high horse and say, Oh, look at me, the believer.
20:27
No, we sit on our knees and we say, God, you saved me and I don't know why.
20:33
You can save them as you saved me.
20:37
I am no better.
20:38
I am no more righteous.
20:41
And I am no more worthy.
20:43
God, save them as you've saved me.
20:51
So that is how we experience strife and frustration and difficulty and lack of peace.
20:58
And Jesus said, I've not come to bring peace, but a sword.
21:04
But yet we go back to Luke 2, and we see the angels proclaim peace.
21:09
And we say, well, if the angels proclaim peace, and Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace, then we have to reconcile that.
21:18
And I believe the reconciliation is found very easily in Romans 5, verse 1.
21:24
So I want to invite you now to turn there.
21:26
And I know this is sort of a jump around message today.
21:29
I usually go verse by verse, but these passages so stuck out to me this week.
21:34
And in Romans 5, Paul tells us the peace that comes.
21:40
The peace that came when Jesus was born.
21:42
The peace that was introduced to the world through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
21:47
And it is not a peace with men.
21:50
But listen to what he says in Romans 5, verse 1.
21:53
And I've always said this about this passage.
21:55
If I ever was invited to preach, where I had no preparation time.
22:00
If I was just sitting in a congregation, they said, you're a doctor of ministry, you're a pastor, we need someone to preach.
22:06
Stand on this platform and preach the Word.
22:09
I would open to Romans 5, verse 1.
22:12
This would be the passage.
22:14
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
22:27
Therefore, having been justified.
22:31
Justified means that we have been declared righteous.
22:35
Not made righteous by something that we've done, but declared righteous from the judge himself.
22:41
The judge has made a legal declaration of righteousness to me.
22:45
And he has done it upon the merits of Jesus Christ.
22:48
And he has declared me righteous based, not by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
22:57
I trust in what he did, not in what I have done.
23:00
I trust in him and his work alone, not in me and my work.
23:05
In fact, I've been teaching on this at Set Free.
23:08
We've talked about it a lot over the last few weeks.
23:10
You cannot have the law and the gospel for your salvation.
23:14
I'm going to have a little law and a little gospel.
23:16
You have to turn and say, the law cannot save me.
23:19
The law is not a savior.
23:21
And nothing I do following the law, even though following the law is good, and there is a third use of the law, there is a purpose of the law, but that law does not save.
23:32
And if I try to climb Law Mountain, I will never reach the top.
23:36
I will always fall short.
23:38
But Christ picks me up and he puts me on Gospel Mountain.
23:41
And that's the mountain upon which I sit.
23:45
And I am saved by his grace alone, through faith in his work alone, not by anything that I have done.
23:56
I sit upon Gospel Mountain by his work alone.
24:00
And because of that, having been justified by faith, by the way, that's past tense.
24:05
It's a work that's already accomplished.
24:06
Having been justified by faith, I have peace.
24:10
Have peace is in the present tense.
24:12
I have it.
24:13
I possess it now.
24:16
It's not something I look forward to, even though I do look forward to an eternity of peace with God.
24:21
I have that now.
24:26
I have peace with God right now.
24:32
But here's the question, and this is how if I were preaching this text, I would really focus more on this.
24:37
But because of time today, I just want to mention it.
24:40
Why was that peace necessary? Why was the peace that's promised in 5.1, that I possess, why was the peace necessary? Here's the answer.
24:55
Peace was necessary because prior to coming to faith in Jesus Christ, I was at war with God.
25:07
I was not God's friend.
25:10
I was not God's pal.
25:14
I was in no way His servant, follower, chum, or anything else.
25:22
I was an enemy of Almighty God.
25:27
I grew up in church, an enemy of God.
25:30
I came to church every Sunday, sat in Pat Hoffman's Sunday school class for the majority of my formative teenage years.
25:40
For those of you who don't know, I've always been in this church.
25:42
I've never been in another church.
25:44
And I sat in that Sunday school class, and I learned, and I never believed in my heart, and I never trusted in Christ, and I never submitted my will to Him until I was 19 years old.
25:56
For 19 years, I was an enemy of God, and had God chosen to take my life in those 19 years, I would have become a child of hell for eternity.
26:09
But God, being rich in mercy, gave me grace and saved my soul.
26:17
And that's when the peace came.
26:20
Before that, it was war.
26:22
Before that, it was enmity.
26:23
It was strife.
26:24
Even though I didn't realize it, I was at war with Him.
26:27
I want to read to you a quote.
26:29
It's a little bit of a lengthy quote.
26:30
It's not too long, but it's a little long.
26:32
This is from Jonathan Edwards.
26:34
And if you don't know who Jonathan Edwards is, Jonathan Edwards was one of the greatest theologians ever born in the United States.
26:38
He was a tremendous preacher.
26:41
He was responsible in part for the Great Awakening, which happened, which was a great evangelistic and revival movement that broke out in the 1800s.
26:50
And Jonathan Edwards wrote about the war between God and man, the relationship that is between them before God saves the soul, before regeneration happens.
27:04
And I want you to read this.
27:05
He talks about the natural man, the natural man.
27:09
He said, This is the state of the natural man towards God.
27:14
They entertain very low and contemptible thoughts of God.
27:18
Whatever honor and respect they may pretend and make a show of towards God, if their practice be examined, it will show that they certainly look upon Him as a being that is but little to be regarded.
27:32
The language of their hearts is, Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice? What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? And what profit should we have for praying to Him? They count Him worthy neither to be loved nor feared.
27:47
They dare not behave with that slight and disregard towards one of their fellow creatures when a little raised above them in power and authority, as they dare and do towards God.
27:58
Basically, what he's saying there, it's kind of a hard, old-timey sentence.
28:00
What he's saying, he said, You'll treat somebody who is just a little higher than you on the social scale really well because you're afraid of them.
28:07
But you don't think about how much higher God is than you and you'll treat Him with great disdain.
28:12
You see somebody with a little more social position than you, oh, maybe a movie star or an actor or maybe somebody in your social circle who's a little bit richer or a little bit more astute or somewhere, and you'll treat them really well.
28:23
But with God, who is the highest of all, we treat with little to nothing but contempt.
28:29
They value one of their equals much more than God and are ten times more afraid of offending such a person than of displeasing the God who made them.
28:41
They cast such exceeding contempt on God as they prefer every vile lust before Him.
28:49
And every worldly enjoyment is set higher in their esteem than God, a morsel of meat or a few pence of worldly gain is preferred before God.
28:59
God is set last and lowest in the esteem of natural man.
29:09
God is last and lowest.
29:13
See, most people don't walk around saying, I hate God.
29:17
Most people simply put God in a closet and bring Him out around Christmas and Easter or when things get tough.
29:27
They esteem Him less than they would esteem an equal.
29:36
They are at war with God.
29:40
The Bible uses the word enmity.
29:42
Now, that's not a word we use a lot, but that word enmity means this, hostile.
29:48
Hostile toward God.
29:50
And you don't think men are hostile to God? Preach the gospel to them.
29:54
Go out and share the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ with them, including that men are sinners deserving of hell and that they need to be saved by Christ.
30:03
And outside of Christ there is no salvation.
30:05
And you will find the hostility of men.
30:07
You will experience their hostility.
30:11
George Whitefield, as he preached the gospel, would have eggs and vegetables and pieces of dead cat thrown at him.
30:24
You've got to really hate somebody.
30:27
John Calvin would have people's dogs named after him.
30:32
And they would send their dogs to bite his ankles as he walked down the street.
30:42
Men who are at war with God will hate those who proclaim the truth of God.
30:49
But here's the thing about that, and this is the part that's hardest to hear.
30:57
We are at war with God and that enmity that we have is mutual.
31:05
For God's wrath is upon the evildoer.
31:11
Until we be reconciled to God, we be objects of His disdain.
31:24
I don't like to hear that.
31:25
God loves sinners.
31:27
He just hates sin.
31:29
Well, God doesn't send sin to hell.
31:33
He sends sinners to hell.
31:36
And though there is a love for God which is demonstrated in what we call common grace to all men, the love of God that saves is not to all men.
31:51
The love of God that saves is not universal.
31:56
And we know this by the simple fact that faith in Christ is not universal.
32:06
There is war between men and God.
32:11
And into that war steps the Reconciler.
32:15
And He makes reconciliation and He says now, trust in what I have accomplished.
32:24
Don't try to accomplish it yourselves.
32:27
Don't try to make your own reconciliation.
32:30
Don't try to be your own Savior.
32:33
But trust in what I have done.
32:41
Turn to your Bible.
32:42
This is the last time I'm going to ask you to turn.
32:44
Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
32:47
Now, my favorite passage of Scripture is Ephesians 2.8-10, but that's not what we're going to read.
32:54
We're actually going to start at verse 11 because that's where a lot of people miss.
32:58
A lot of people don't go on to verse 11.
33:00
You know, Ephesians 2.8-10.
33:02
For you are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, the gift of God not of works, lest anyone should boast.
33:07
We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
33:11
But then he says in verse 11 this, Therefore, based on that, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands.
33:26
Remember, listen to this.
33:28
You were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
33:43
That is where the unbeliever sits.
33:45
The unbeliever sits separated from Christ, no hope, no God.
33:54
Some people have tried to find peace in that.
33:57
You go out and read the writings of atheists, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and others, and you read what they write, and they try to find peace with no God.
34:10
And it's a broken-hearted thing to read their writings.
34:16
I have come from nothing and I'm going back to nothing, and ultimately everything means nothing.
34:30
They have no hope and are without God in the world.
34:32
But now, verse 13, In Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
34:41
You know what you keep far off? Enemies.
34:45
You know what you bring near? Friends.
34:50
You keep far off those who are dangerous.
34:53
You bring close those who you love.
34:55
You keep far off those who you hate.
34:56
You draw forth those who you want to be close to you.
35:00
And that is what has happened.
35:02
Christ, we were far off and Christ brought us near by His blood.
35:09
And notice verse 14, For He Himself is our peace, who made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
35:23
That's the blessing of the Gospel.
35:26
We were separated from God.
35:29
Isaiah tells us that.
35:30
Isaiah says that we were separated from God.
35:32
Our iniquities have separated us from God.
35:35
And Christ came as the great reconciler, the great peacemaker, and He brought us back.
35:43
He broke down the wall of hostility between us and God.
35:50
He took upon Himself the great burden of our sin and He died in our place.
35:56
And when He was on the cross, He yelled out, It is finished.
36:01
Paid in full.
36:02
It no more needs to be added to.
36:04
It cannot be added to.
36:05
His work alone is all that saves.
36:11
And His work alone is what brings peace.
36:15
Notice I want to just read a few more verses.
36:17
By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
36:34
What did we say in enmity means? Hostility.
36:38
That's what we have before coming to Christ.
36:40
Hostility with God.
36:42
Enmity with God.
36:43
And what did Christ do? In His flesh, He came and killed the hostility.
36:49
There's a word in Hebrew.
36:51
You all have heard it.
36:52
The word shalom.
36:55
And that word is used often among Jewish people.
36:57
Shalom.
37:00
But shalom is often misunderstood because we think of shalom simply as meaning peace in the same way we might use peace in some sort of a flippant way.
37:10
We say peace to you, or peace on your way, peace on your journey.
37:14
But shalom is so much richer and so much more powerful than simply a greeting of peace.
37:21
Shalom means an absolute peace.
37:25
A perfect and final.
37:27
It's not just a ceasefire.
37:28
In a war, you can have a ceasefire.
37:31
In fact, there's a great story of many years ago where both sides laid down their arms on Christmas Day and just didn't fight because it was Christmas.
37:39
Next day, they're right back at it.
37:44
The shalom of God is not a temporary ceasefire.
37:48
It's not just a moment of peace.
37:51
It's not something that can erupt again into battle.
37:57
But it's perfect and final and complete peace because it's based on the perfect peacemaker who is Christ.
38:09
He is the one who brought the perfect peace because He is the Prince of Peace.
38:18
If you have peace with God through Jesus Christ, you have eternal peace.
38:24
You don't have a peace as some believe that can be here today and gone tomorrow.
38:28
I can be saved.
38:29
I can be lost.
38:30
I can be saved.
38:30
I can be lost.
38:31
And they live their Christian life as if it were a yo-yo.
38:33
Up and down and up and down.
38:36
No.
38:37
The peace which passes all understanding, as Philippians 4 tells us, the peace that comes through Jesus Christ is a peace which lasts because it's based on the work of Jesus Christ alone.
38:58
Several years ago, former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, made a statement about his own eternal destiny.
39:11
This was recorded in a newspaper.
39:14
I am not embellishing this one bit.
39:16
This is a direct quote.
39:19
He had been a hero fighting for gun control and anti-smoking and healthy eating.
39:25
And he was the one with the drinks, you know, can't have a big gulp.
39:28
And he had really been proud of the work that he did in trying to bring healthy eating, no smoking, no guns.
39:36
He was very proud of himself.
39:38
So he was interviewed in a paper, and this is what he said, quote, I am telling you, if there is a God, when I get to heaven, I'm not stopping to be interviewed.
39:49
I'm heading straight in.
39:50
I have earned my place in heaven.
39:53
It's not even close.
40:06
There is a man desperately in need of peace with God through Jesus Christ, because he is relying on a peace that doesn't exist.
40:18
He's relying on a peace between him and God that's founded on something he did, and that peace is not existent.
40:28
I want you to know this.
40:30
If you believe that you have peace with God because of something you have done, you are dangerously mistaken.
40:39
But I want to add a thought to that.
40:42
If you think it's impossible for you to have peace with God because of something you have done, you're also mistaken there as well.
40:52
The Bible said, Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who draw to God through him.
41:00
You are not so good you don't need Christ, and you are not so bad that you cannot have him.
41:09
He can save anyone.
41:13
He is a much better savior than you are a sinner.
41:19
Therefore, I encourage you today, if you do not have peace with God, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
41:29
Trust in him.
41:31
Repent of your sins and turn to him.
41:34
For there is no peace outside of him, but in him there is a peace that passes all understanding.
41:45
Let us pray.
41:48
Father, I thank you for this opportunity to study the subject of peace.
41:54
Oh, what a subject.
41:55
What many weeks we could spend just thinking about the peace that we have through Jesus and the work that he made for us on the cross.
42:03
Lord, for the believers today, I pray that they would be comforted in the peace that they have.
42:10
And Lord, for those who do not know Christ, I pray that they would be...
42:15
Lord, that they would understand the hostility, and that they would run from that and run to Christ, the great reconciler.
42:25
But we know, Lord, that that kind of a change of heart does not come by the will of man, but it comes by the work of the Holy Spirit of God.
42:35
For only the Holy Spirit of God can change a man's heart to be a true believer.
42:41
So I pray to you today, Lord, if there are those who are here who do not know Christ, that you would give them the gift of regeneration, which leads to life.
42:51
For that is a work that only you can do, and we leave that with you to do.
42:55
In Christ's name and for his sake, amen.