The Promise of Peace

The Prince of Peace rules not by power but by presence. God’s people longed for security, but peace came from the most unlikely place—a child born in Bethlehem who still speaks peace to shaken hearts today.

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Chapters

• 0:26 Introduction to God's Peace
• 35:09 Let Go and Let God
• 36:41 Surrendering Worries to Jesus

Transcript

[0:17] About God's peace in Christ becoming a part of your experience, the peace of God.

[0:26] And so I'm aware that all of us in this room, we live very full lives. There's a lot going on. There are careers, businesses, marriages, responsibilities with raising children, sports leagues with kids, dance recitals, many, many demands on our lives. But how many of you know you can live a full life and have a weak faith? And having a strong faith is important for many reasons. And Jesus addressed some of those reasons very specifically, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount, when there's a promise he gave that we often overlook. And he said in the Sermon on the Mount that it is definite that.

[1:15] In all of our lives, there will be times when storm clouds arise, when there will be difficulty, when rain would beat on the house and it would test the foundation of our lives. Jesus is sharing with us in a fallen world, there are going to be seasons of difficulty, pain, complexities, hardship, death, loss, bereavement. And when those times come, which are inevitable, if you have a strong faith, if you've built your life on the foundation of Christ and the revelation of who he is in communion with him, you're going to have a strong foundation. If our life is strong, we can stand. If it's not, Jesus declares it will be shaken. And he does that. He shares that out of love for us to build us up so that we're wise in our walk with the Lord. But when people are shaken, we're all aware this is what drives people into all kinds of escapist behavior, abusing alcohol, drugs, other escapist behaviors. And when that happens, loved ones, you miss something very significant. You miss the development that God is seeking to weave into your life. You're missing opportunities that God is seeking to cultivate in you. So you miss opportunities, you miss development.

[2:44] How many of you realize that in God's love for you, in his sovereignty, that God will allow mountains in your life for the sake of developing you? He will allow mountains in your life so that you understand and grow into how to climb mountains as in your walk with God. In other words, God will allow mountains because there are certain things nobody can hand to you. Nobody can take the quality of godly courage and just hand it to you. That has to be developed. Nobody can hand you, here's a developed prayer life. That's something that you've got to grow in. You get to grow in, but nobody can do that for you. Nobody can hand you the pattern of how to feed on God's word and grow in God's revelation. That's something that you have to take the responsibility before God and allowing God to develop you. So in light of what Jesus has taught in Scripture, it is not a question of whether you and I will face difficulties and trials at certain times in our lives. Those are coming. But a strong faith, a developed believer, this will determine how you respond when those times come. A strong faith, a developed faith will determine whether you cave in or whether you stand.

[4:13] And this brings us to the book of Micah, because in the book of Micah, the people of God are under incredible pressure, and it parallels what we covered last week. I was in the sanctuary last week, but it covers what we covered, because in this day, when Micah writes these words to the people of God, there is no peace on earth. There is no goodwill to men. They are under incredible pressure because the nation of Assyria is bearing down on them. And so the children of Israel in the southern kingdom of Judah are fearful because they know there is an invading army that's coming upon them. They are languishing in fear. This is a grim day. They feel the weight of the pressure. And so what happens when we're under pressure, oftentimes what's inside begins to come out. They had leaders who were very corrupt. They had been worshiping idols and making other things in their lives far more important than the worship and the magnification and the preeminence of Yahweh. And so what happened is the people of God had drifted from God. And as they drifted from God, trouble has come.

[5:29] God, in his love for them, is correcting them. And he's using the nation of Assyria to do the correcting. And so when we see verse 2 that we're going to lift up this morning, what happens here is Micah is saying that while God is correcting you, he's not correcting you without hope.

[5:52] And he says these words here that can seem a little obscure to us, but yet he writes, But you, O Bethlehem, Apathra, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is the ruler in Israel, who's coming forth from of old, from ancient of days. Now, this is a verse you may or may not be familiar with, but it's also in the New Testament.

[6:19] This is the verse that the scribes take to King Herod when Jesus is born and say, here's the prophecy that there's a ruler coming, there's a Messiah, a king coming. And this was the impetus of why King Herod had all the firstborn males in the nation alive.

[6:40] Killed at two years old and younger because he heard the words of this prophecy. Now, loved ones, I think all of you, you may or may not know that Bethlehem is not a premier city. And this is more significant than you realize, because what we're seeing here is a pattern in Scripture that unfolds from Genesis all the way to Revelation. And that is, God often chooses to manifest his glory in what he's doing from unexpected places. This is sometimes referred to as the lowest place. And we see this, again, in a myriad of ways all over the Bible.

[7:24] For instance, we could think about leaders like Jacob or Joseph and David who were not the firstborn, who were supposed to inherit everything as the firstborn in the family, according to the book of Deuteronomy. But God raises these three men up as great leaders, even though the older brother is supposed to have the birthright. And yet you note that the youngest is chosen where Jacob gets the birthright and the blessing. Joseph is exalted over his other brothers and all of which are older. And David is overlooked as Samuel comes by and examines all the brothers, and David, who is the most unlikely, the most insignificant, is exalted. Now, the reason that's relevant is because this theme shows up in Micah 5, 2, where the word says.

[8:18] When Micah's referring to Bethlehem, one of the little clans of Judah. There is nothing particularly significant about Bethlehem. Bethlehem's not a big city. It's not Chicago. It's not Paris. It was insignificant nationally, insignificant globally. Only thing that made it even remotely relevant is that David was from there. Now, why is this worth noting? Well, we often see in the Bible God taking what seems in the natural insignificant things and turning them into astounding things. God often takes and develops his best from what's perceived in the natural as being the worst or the least. Think about it. Saul, worst, persecutor of Christians, But God gets a hold of his heart and develops him as one of the best. Babies who would become rulers. David, the little ruddy boy who becomes king. And church, if you will allow the word of God to speak to you in this way, there's a lesson for all of us here.

[9:31] Because for many believers in your self-talk, you often say, I'm not sure God can develop me into this or develop me into that. And what we see all over the pages of scripture is God taking what seems insignificant in the kingdom and developing it with great, or persons with great kingdom velocity and force. You see this with children. Jesus says, let the children come to me. You see this with teenagers, Mary, who is a vessel to bring the Savior of the world into creation. You see this with young adults, as David is called forth as a king when he's a very young man. You see this with adults of all ages. You see this with people in their 80s and 90s, in Abraham and Moses and others, that God is still doing new things in their lives in their senior years, which the lesson for all of us is this.

[10:31] Do not underestimate what God is willing to do in your life, whether you are a child that's in the sound of my voice, a teenager in the sound of my voice, a mom or a dad, young, single, or you're more in your senior years, because the testimony of the scripture illustrates that God raises up newness, new life, new waves of his grace, new waves of his movement among people who feel insignificant or may not recognize the bigness of what God is desiring to do. Don't underestimate what God may choose to do in this church and through this church. Don't underestimate, even though Memphis may not rank in the top five in some categories, loved ones.

[11:27] Don't underestimate. I'm being very serious when I say this. Don't underestimate what God may do in Memphis. I know I'm around people who pray for our city. There are many of them are in this church family who intercede at every level, education, economic development for kids to read and be educated because they recognize the injustice that when a boy or a little girl cannot read the lid that's put on their lives. We have people who are not indifferent to the challenges in our city, and they are prayerful people, people who are touching the hem of Jesus' garment in prayer and aligning practical steps to break some of the bondages that exist in our city. Do not underestimate what God may do as the people of God align with the heart of God. I could say much more about that, but I want to wet your spiritual taste buds with that reality. So we're aware in Micah's day that the people of God had drifted from God.

[12:30] Now, I don't know about you. I would rather learn from somebody else's mistakes rather than making the same mistakes myself. Can anybody say amen to that? Okay, you identify. Me too. And so don't get me wrong. I mean, I've had learn from the mistakes of others and apply and integrate what's right and healthy and God-honoring into my own walk. And so what we want to do for a moment is we want to ask or make this statement, what can we learn from past mistakes of God's people out of this passage? And what I'm going to do as we learn from the mistakes they made is I'm going to weave in here how to weave the reality of the Prince of Peace of Jesus himself into our lives so that it gets Jesus as peace gets into our experience. So what can we learn? Here's the first thing. Here's what Mike was going south in Micah's day. First.

[13:31] The people of God were finding security in the wrong things. They just were looking to the wrong things for their security. And that was primarily manifested in the context of they had trusted in their army, the size of their army, their national defense, rather than the Lord. And this represented a breaking of covenant with God. And the result, Micah 4.11, is that God said as a part of judgment, Because he's correcting them. His motive is still love, so know that. But he's correcting them. And as he's correcting them, he says, Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, Let her be defiled, let our eye gaze upon Zion. Now, this wasn't the only thing Israel did wrong. But they were finding their security in the wrong things. And Micah, in the third verse, I'm not going to read it, gives a picture of a day when Jesus comes the second time and that armies would beat their swords into plowshares and there would no longer be adversarial relationships on earth. But what Micah's doing, church family, is he's pointing to the reign of Jesus. And that's what we need to pay attention to. Because Jesus one day, the Bible does teach, he will reign forever in a new heaven and a new earth. But what's important for us not to miss is that he's reigning now.

[14:58] He's reigning at the right hand of the Father. Can I take the submarine a little bit deeper? Can you go there with me? I'm going to go there anyway, but I'm just checking.

[15:08] Because Ephesians 2 teaches that if your life is in Christ, you're seated with Christ in the heavenly places. And this means as a believer, you have access to Jesus. He is reigning. Now, one of the descriptions for Jesus is that he is the Prince of Peace. And this illustrates for us that a person is our peace.

[15:33] And so what's happened in Micah's day is that people are putting their confidence in the wrong place for security. So believer, let's be mindful that Jesus, you're our ultimate security, no matter what shakes around us. Let me just validate that. That's a little point. Our second point's a little, it's going to take a little while. Here we go. Here we go. Number two, the second problem in Micah was that the people of God had engaged in false worship. They had worshiped and engaged in idolatry of false gods of their neighbors and also trusted in false counsel. And because of that, God was correcting the people in Micah's day, God's people. But Micah also points that a day is coming when Jesus is going to reign. And when that day comes, there will be no more temptation to worship a false idol or anything else. But what we're reminded of is to keep Christ preeminent in our lives. Now, in light of that, let me talk to you just for a few moments about how to renew God's presence in your life and his peace in your life. And you don't have to respond out loud. I'm not asking you to raise your hand. But I know that when I ask people, do you have a sense of the peace of God?

[16:56] Oftentimes, I don't hear that people say, I know the peace of God in my circumstances, the way that we see that God has designed it. So I want you to know these next few moments, I'm trying to help you. So here's the first thing, first pattern, reroute myself in the gospel. I want to remind you that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only for unbelievers, it's for believers. It's for you, Christian, to be reminded that in Christ that your sins are forgiven. Romans 5.1, that in Christ you're at peace with God because Christ took your sin there. Ephesians 1.7, that he forgives your trespasses when you turn to him in faith and repentance, that God forgives. And we recognize out of 1 John 2.1, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That word advocate means that Jesus is your defense lawyer. He is standing at the right hand of God. You are seated with him, Ephesians 2 teaches. And as you're seated with Christ, he's defending you as you call upon the name of the Lord in Jesus Christ. And loved ones, what this creates is, and I don't know who said it originally, is this, A clear conscience is a soft pillow.

[18:19] Pathway to peace, that your sins are forgiven, your conscience, your heart is cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. You reroute yourself in the gospel to the glory of God and being satisfied in who Jesus is. Secondly, I commune with God through meditating on his word. I remind you that Jesus shared with us, if you're going to know him intimately, if you're going to journey with him and grow, Jesus said this, loved ones, man, women, women.

[18:52] Shall not live by bread alone. Now let's stop right there.

[18:56] Now notice Jesus is making a parallel around food. Most of us eat three square meals a day. And so you understand that Jesus is saying there's a pattern here. Just as you eat food regularly, you need to feed off God's word regularly. And so man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And if I'm going to walk in the peace of God that passes understanding, then I need to meditate on his word. And the Bible teaches there's a correlation between our joy and meditating on the word of God. Psalm 1, the word says, how happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, that word means a person who distorts things, or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers. Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. In other words, I think about the Word of God. I commit it to memory, and it helps me. I kick it up in my thoughts and apply it into my life. It's not enough just to hear it on Sunday, but I want to feed on it and apply it into my life. Nobody else is going to do that for you. That's something, that's one of the mountains God gives you the opportunity to learn to climb with the Lord in prayer, in knowing him and walking with him.

[20:25] But thirdly, I not only commune with God meditating on his word, but I commune with God through prayer. Many of you remember the story of Martha and Mary. You remember Martha is in the kitchen and Martha is preparing a meal. She and Mary are hosting Jesus at their house. So it's kind of an important meal. You've got a really important guest. It can't get more preeminent than that. And Martha is busy in the kitchen.

[20:54] Now, what is Mary doing during this time? Well, the Bible says that Mary is at the feet of Jesus, and she's communing with Christ. She's talking with him. She's communing with him. Jesus, I'm sure, is talking to her. And there are the deepest longings of her heart are being ministered to, because when you draw near to your designer, you draw near into your design. And so she's finding a satisfaction of living water that you can't find anywhere else. Martha's busy fixing dinner. Now, here's the way it goes down. Many of you know the story. Martha sees Mary at the feet of Jesus, and Martha is audacious enough to tell Jesus what to do. Jesus, tell my baby sister, that's a paraphrase, tell her to get up and come in here and help me fix dinner. Martha might be a type A personality, amen? But here's the thing. Listen to what Jesus says to her. He's very kind, but listen to what he says to her. He says, Martha, Mary has chosen what is better.

[22:05] Now, church family, there's not a person in this room who's not busy, me included. Okay, I got things going on. You have things going on, all of us. But do you hear the words of Jesus? Mary is creating the margin intentionally to get at his feet, even when there's a pressing matter in the household. And so let us hear the words of Jesus. She's chosen the greater thing. pathway to the peace of Jesus, getting into your experience. Then fourthly, forgive by releasing all grudges and completely being free from even a hint of offense. Hear the word of God, Romans 12, 18. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Church family, Heavenly, loved one, if I can speak into your heart, A person who has an unforgiving spirit will not have the peace of God.

[23:10] Unforgiveness affects your emotions, the health of your spirit, even your physical body. They all go together because you're an integrated being. God made you holistic, but unforgiveness will rob you of your peace. Remember what Jesus said? Remember the parable he told about the man who had been forgiven the billion-dollar debt, which is what God has done in Jesus Christ for you? Infinite debt, and then he walks down the road and sees a guy who owes him 20 bucks and grabs him by the collar. And Jesus uses the incongruity of the story to illustrate what we do at times as believers. Understand, loved ones, in light of the grace and the mercy that you've received for your sin at the cross, extend the same mercy and grace toward others. So in Micah's day, They were engaged in the sin of putting their hope in things that were not their security, putting other things ahead, preeminent, more exalted than God himself, and God is correcting them. And as he points to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, be mindful that Jesus doesn't give a peace that means that there's an absence of problems, but he's describing, or the Bible describes, a peace in Christ that is available to us even in the midst of problems. I remember a number of years ago, this is very personal.

[24:40] I was at the office.

[24:43] And my secretary put a call through and said it was someone who knew me well. And I answered the phone and they shared tragic news about a member of my family. And I remember that moment so well where on the one hand, the grief was overwhelming. And yet, on the other hand, there was this peace, just the peace of God. On the one hand, the pain is throbbing and the decibel level is high. But at the same time, there's this comforting presence.

[25:28] And I think about 2 Thessalonians 3.16, where the scripture says, Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace. Notice how this is phrased, at all times, in every way.

[25:43] And the question for us this morning, what does the author of that passage know that you and I need to know? What is it that's in his testimony that needs to get into us? In 1955, there was a man named Nicholas Bradley, who was an Anglican pastor in England. Now, at that time, the government and the church were in power together. And Nicholas Bradley spoke out about an injustice that had happened in the government. And what happened is they issued a death decree that he would be executed for taking a stand. And Nicholas Bradley, it was announced he would be burned at the stake for his stand for Jesus Christ. Well, the night before, his own brother asked his brother, Nicholas, I'm willing to spend the night with you, to be a support to you, to be just another human being to give you comfort before tomorrow morning comes. And Nicholas shared, brother, that's not necessary. I intend to sleep just as soundly as I've ever slept on any night because I have the peace of Christ that passes understanding. Now, as I share that with you, we can do one or two things with that story. One is we can go, oh man, that's really something. Isn't that something? And kind of click it and just move on.

[27:13] Or we can pause and ask a deeper question. What did Nicholas Ridley have in his relationship with Christ that I may not have, but is available to me in Christ? Many of you have heard of Amy Carmichael, a single woman who was a missionary in India. Not an easy place to serve, particularly about 80 to 100 years ago.

[27:41] Amy Carmichael once wrote as she was serving in India, Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. She goes on to write, If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul, once again, your mind, will, and your emotions, that's how we define a soul, on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit, which is life and peace. In that stillness, you know what his will is. Now, the question is, we can hear that brief testimony, and we once again can say, wow, that's really neat about Amy Carmichael. Or we can ask the deeper question. What did Amy Carmichael have in her circumstances that were very challenging that I might not have that is available to me as a believer? Many of you in this room have heard of Fanny Crosby. She was a hymn writer, in fact, a Methodist hymn writer. She was blind, but I would submit to you that even though she was blind, she sees very well. She sees with the eyes of the Spirit. She once wrote the words in the song Blessed Assurance, Perfect Submission, all is at rest. I and my Savior were happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

[29:04] Once again, we can reason together in a flyby and go, that's really neat that Fanny wrote a nice song and that she was blind and she had a walk with Christ. And we can kind of check the box and move on. Or we can ask the deeper question, what did Fanny Crosby have that I might not have in Christ yet is available to me as a believer? Or when the apostle Paul wrote things like, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And I remind you that when you put your faith in the person of Jesus Christ, the scripture says you entered the kingdom of God. And so the kingdom of God is at hand. These realities are available to you. God's way of doing things, which is righteousness, his peace in Jesus, and his joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, again, the peace of God in Philippians 4, 7, that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. But however, when Paul wrote that, he didn't write that verse in isolation. He actually described the roadmap. Let me read it to you as we read the preceding verse. Paul taught us, and it was based on the words of Jesus, don't worry about anything.

[30:23] Nobody's ever changed the world with worry. but everything through prayer and petition and weave thanksgiving what you have to be thankful for before God's throne and present your request to God. And God declares that there's something coming after you. You know, one of the things that I pray regularly is, God, I pray for Holy Spirit coming upon you power for the church family. So just know that, That's something that is being prayed over you. Lord, I pray that you stir Holy Spirit coming upon you power over our faith family here at Christ Methodist. The reason I share this is because a part of the fruit of the Spirit is the peace of God. And this is what Paul says as we finish the verse. The result is the peace of God, which doesn't make sense rationally. That's my paraphrase, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And the logical question for us is not, oh, that was something for the Apostle Paul. Isn't that neat? The deeper question is, what did the Apostle Paul have that is available to me as a believer that I may not be experiencing in my walk with Jesus Christ?

[31:45] Loved ones, Jesus once said this, and it sounds a little mysterious to some people, but Jesus said this, whatever you bound on earth, you bind in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth, you loose in heaven. Now, what did he mean by that? Well, there are things in our lives that can remain bound, and you can keep them bound as a believer. For instance, you can worry about something, and you can get all bound up in worry. You can worry about a grandchild or a son or a daughter.

[32:16] You can wonder about their safety or worry about their salvation. There's all kinds of things you can worry about. You might have a business problem that you're trying to unravel the complexity, and it's good to think about a solution, but the worry is not going to change the circumstance. And you can stay bound up in anxiety and worry. And Jesus has declared, whatever you bind up on earth, it's bound up in heaven. The force of heaven can't get to it because you're holding on to it so tightly. This is why when Jesus finishes the verse and says, whatever's loosed on earth is loosed in heaven. Now, what are we taught to pray around the heavenly realm? Kingdom come. What's up there? Let it come down here. Heaven come on earth as it is in heaven. When you loose worry, when you loose anxiety to God, God declares it's loosed in heaven and he takes it. This is why Peter writes in 2 Peter, cast all your anxiety upon the Lord because he cares for you.

[33:29] I had a professor in seminary named Dr. Bob Mulholland, and he had hobbies, and one of his hobbies was flying acrobatic planes. He didn't own one, but he had friends that owned them. And he went to visit a friend over the Chesapeake or in the Chesapeake Bay area, and his friend and Bob took his acrobatic plane up for a flight. And while they're flying, the pilot is doing all kinds of maneuvers. He's doing rolls. He's doing stalls.

[34:01] And after he had done a few of these maneuvers, he looks at Bob and says, hey, Bob, you want to give it a try? And Bob says, I would love to. And so he takes the plane. He's going to do a stall, throttles up, pulls back on the stick, and the plane begins to and the motor's killed. Suddenly, right as they kill the motor, a crosswind comes across the plane and it goes into a spiral. And Bob says all he could see was the Chesapeake Bay below them spinning round and round. And Bob began taking the stick, trying to figure out how to get control of the plane. And while the plane is spiraling without any engine firing, and he's looking down there, sweat coming off his brow. And Bob, again, trying to get the stick in the right place, trying to get the plane in some kind of recovery mode. All the while, the experienced acrobatic pilot is saying to Bob repeatedly, Bob, let go of the stick. I've got it. Bob, let go. I've got it. Bob, let go. He can't get through to him because Bob is so intense in his control.

[35:09] Bob, let go. I've got it. Bob, finally, Bob hears the experienced pilot. Let's go of the stick. The pilot takes the stick, puts it right where it needs to go. The plane levels out. He fires the motor.

[35:25] And maybe for some of us this morning, if you can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, maybe he's saying to you, let go, I've got it. Let go, I've got it. But you've been holding on to control so tightly, you've not been able to hear the still small voice speaking to you. Peace is a person. His name is Jesus. I remind you, Jesus doesn't want to change your life. Jesus wants to exchange your life. It's not I who lives. It's Christ who lives in me. The Prince of Peace, the one who delivers you from evil and delivers you from fear, anxiety, worry, all the tactics of the enemy, where he seeks to oppress you and make you feel anemic in your walk with Christ. He is available to you, church, and I encourage you to let go and let him take over. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[36:47] Let's pray for a moment.

[36:54] So I want to ask you as we go before God's throne, what has bound you up? Is it a worry? Is it a fear? Is it something that you feel anxious about? And I want to encourage you to let go. Let go. And give it to Jesus.

[37:25] And as you give it to Jesus, rest in his truth. Cast all your anxiety upon me, for I care for you, the word says. If you've never come to know him, I invite you, he invites you to turn to him, in faith, repentance, and trust that what he's done at the cross for you, when he shed something more valuable than your sin, which was his own blood, That what he did there covers your sin, forgives your sin, and births you into the kingdom. I encourage you to turn to him in faith this morning and to know him and know his peace. Lord, we pray these things and declare these things over your people for your glory. In the name and power of Jesus, we pray. Amen.