The Peace Christ Brings | Luke 2:14, John 14:27 and Isaiah 52:7

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. Located in Ontario, Oregon, Pastor Patrick Daley preaches insightful sermons from the Word of God, offering practical applications for modern living.

[0:16] We're delighted to share this sermon with you. Father, as we have just taken part of communion, we are reminded of the words that Christ said, do this in remembrance of me.

[0:33] May you continue to be with us so that we can hear your word, learn from your word, and live out the truth of Scripture. We ask that lives will be transformed to know who you are, to grow in faith, and in love with you, and to be encouraged to do good in your holy name.

[0:57] And all of this starts with faith in you, in believing in you. And to have a relationship with you, to receive salvation, we receive a peace that surpasses all understanding.

[1:16] And as we have lit the candle of peace, we have been reminded of the sacrifice that you have made. It's all connected and it's all part of your divine plan.

[1:30] We ask that you give us wisdom and knowledge, but give us peace in this life. Not just worldly peace, but the peace that comes from you.

[1:43] Be with us as we go into our sermon today, our message. May our minds be open to hear your word, and may our hearts be open to love you, and to live like you.

[2:00] It is in Jesus' name that we pray, and we all say together, amen, amen. Well, today we are continuing our sermon series titled, Journey to the Major, Prophets, Promises, and the Prince of Peace.

[2:17] And so today, the title of this sermon is, The Peace Christ Brings. And we are focusing on the peace that comes from Jesus Christ.

[2:30] And I wanna ask you this question, if you have in your notes, I hope everyone has a copy. There's the opening question, and I'll put it here on the slide as well, is have you experienced, have you ever experienced a moment of peace that was beyond earthly peace?

[2:50] Because there's a peace that comes from Jesus Christ that surpasses all understanding. Have you ever experienced that before? Have you ever experienced a moment of peace despite something that has happened to you?

[3:06] Maybe a peace that seemed beyond what people or what the world would define as peace. I want you to take a moment and reflect on that and think if there has been a moment.

[3:21] You know, in a world that we live in today, there's so much conflict. There's war that's going on in the world. There's uncertainty.

[3:32] There is confusion, and there is division that exists not just here in the United States, but also in the world. It doesn't take much for us to see or to hear or even experience uncertainty in days like this.

[3:51] And with all the things that go on in our own lives or what goes on in this nation or what goes on in this world, it can be very unsettling. It can give us a sense of uneasiness.

[4:03] And for some of us, we search for peace in our lives. Some of us live this life feeling empty. Some of us have this desire to find something that is beyond what this earth has to offer.

[4:20] Some of us desire to be part of something greater, something bigger than themselves. And many of us in the world are searching for peace in this life, but sometimes they find.

[4:32] Maybe you can relate. Maybe you've experienced temporary peace. Maybe you've experienced temporary peace. Well, that's worldly peace.

[4:42] Maybe something that doesn't last very long. And we will find in our scripture reading today and in our message today that Christ being the prince of peace brings peace to earth.

[4:57] It is Christ who is the prince of peace. And the piece that I speak of is not the piece that we think of in everyday worldly standards.

[5:09] I know sometimes with our screaming kids and our families, can I just get a moment of peace here, peace and quiet? Come on, we've all had this experience before, where things are too loud, or maybe you just want a nice nap, and you hear there's construction going on right down the street.

[5:27] Some of us have experienced that. That's not the kind of piece I'm talking about. I'm talking about the peace that surpasses all understanding. The ones who have this peace, they have this sense of calm.

[5:42] They have this sense of calm knowing that everything will be all right, regardless of a life-changing tragedy, a bad event, a bad day, or whatever happens.

[5:54] And I don't know about you, but the very biblical idea of having a peace that surpasses all understanding, that God loves me, that God provides salvation in Christ, and provides peace, is wonderful.

[6:11] I want a peace that is longer than the temporary. I want a peace that is lasting. And so today, I invite you, let's open the word of God.

[6:26] Let's turn to our first scripture reading, which is found in Isaiah chapter 52 verse seven, which is found on page 728 in your ESVP Bible.

[6:37] ESVP Bible. So that's Isaiah chapter 52 verse seven.

[7:00] Let's read it together. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.

[7:23] So we start off with this verse about the beauty of the mountains, right? How beautiful upon the mountains. And you know, traditionally, this language in this verse is used as a symbolic sign of important news that is coming.

[7:39] You may think of the time when Moses is descending from Mount Sinai, and he's bringing the 10 commandments. It's very similar language, that there is this sense of important news that is coming from the mountains, right?

[7:52] News that is descending. What a great reminder of that when we're thinking of how beautiful upon the mountains, there's this news that's coming.

[8:02] We go on then, how beautiful upon the mountains are the what? Are the feet of him, right? So the verse goes on and talks about the feet of him.

[8:14] And don't you wonder, it's kind of a strange language when we read it today. You know, how wonderful the feet like, I'm sorry, I don't wanna see any of you guys' feet right now, but that's kind of a strange language that we read nowadays.

[8:28] Talking about the feet of him, this language is talking about someone who is arriving, the presence of someone. A modern day comparison would be, I have touched ground, I have landed, right?

[8:39] I put my feet on the ground, someone who is arriving at a destination. That would be a similar, not exactly the same, but a similar wording of that. It's talking about the arrival of a person.

[8:53] Well, who is it that is arriving? We're talking about the coming of Jesus Christ, right? So how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him, the arrival of Jesus Christ, who is going to bring peace and salvation.

[9:10] We see in this next part, who brings good news. I want you to look a little further down in your verse, it says, who brings good news? And there's also good news of happiness.

[9:22] So you find a duplicate, a repetition as it were, bringing good news and good news of happiness. We see this twice. Well, whenever you see repetition in scripture, that's something that you should take note of.

[9:37] Consider, holy, holy, holy, right? Or when we're saying, when you see anything in scripture, anything that's repeated, take note of that. Well, this is mentioning of good tidings, glad news or a cheerful announcement.

[9:53] We see here that there is good news, right? And it's going to talk about, there's this idea of publishing. That's kind of a weird word to use, right? When you think of publishing, we're thinking of printing, right?

[10:05] The printing press, we're thinking of magazines and books. What do you mean by publishing? So there's the announcement of salvation, and then you see in the verse, publishes peace and publishes salvation.

[10:19] And this is where things get very significant in this verse. It's very interesting. This, the word publishing, it is used as a unique word. It's talking about the announcement.

[10:31] So it means an announcement or something we need to listen to, right? So if something is published in the news, right? You see big headlines, right? I think of the classic like, man on the moon, right?

[10:43] It's a big announcement that you should take note of. That's what we're talking about. So think peace or you think salvation, just like in a news article, so to speak.

[10:54] Think of proclamation, something that is proclaimed, something that is preached, something that's of great significance that you should take note of. The announcement, there is the proclamation of peace and the announcement of salvation or the proclamation of salvation.

[11:10] And I want you to take note of the Hebrew that is found in the word peace and salvation. Let's put that next slide on here. Take a look at this. This is very interesting.

[11:21] In the Hebrew, it's talking about the publishing or the announcement of peace. And some of you know this word as shalom, right? It's talking about peace.

[11:31] And the Jewish people would greet one another saying shalom to each other and it can mean peace, right? So the publishing of peace, but there's also the publishing of salvation.

[11:44] What is that word? Yeshua. Doesn't that sound like a very similar name to Christ? In researching this, I thought this was very interesting that we're talking about the coming of Jesus Christ who's going to be born in a manger, right?

[12:00] We're talking about in this verse, how beautiful upon the mountains the announcements that's coming, the arrival of someone who's bringing good news, someone who is announcing peace and someone who is announcing salvation.

[12:12] And there's this connection here with salvation being Yeshua and Christ being Yeshua. Christ being salvation. I just found that to be very interesting, very unique, especially when you're looking at the Old Testament.

[12:29] And you know, when we're reading the Old Testament, sometimes you don't see connections on the surface. But to me personally, I don't know about you. When I read this and I see this, it helps me in my faith that God is the God of salvation, right?

[12:47] That God provides salvation. Well, God provides Jesus Christ as Yeshua. God is providing salvation, Yeshua. That's wild.

[13:00] Be very honest with you. That's absolutely incredible. Peace is defined as Shalom and salvation is defined as Yeshua, the same name that we find in Jesus.

[13:14] Wow. We find towards the end of the verse that it talks about the announcement of salvation defined as Yeshua. It's important for us to take note of things like this, these little connections here in the word of God.

[13:32] And isn't it amazing to know that the good news comes from our Lord, who loves us, who sent his son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth as the means of salvation?

[13:45] It is through Christ, right? We receive salvation and in the same way, we receive the peace that surpasses all understanding. Christ is the Prince of Peace and he gives us peace that is not of this world but something that is much greater.

[14:03] The verse goes on to say, who says to Zion, your God reigns. And we arrive to the end of this verse where there is mention that God is in control.

[14:15] And in the context of this, it's talking about Zion, right? A declaration to Jerusalem, that God is sovereign and that he is the divine ruler.

[14:27] And in the same way that we can read that God is Lord over Zion and that God reigns, we too can take note that the God that we believe in is sovereign, he is in control and he loves each and every one of us.

[14:47] It's just wonderful to take note of that. And this should be a call for us to, number one, have that relationship with Jesus by first and foremost believing in him.

[15:00] And secondly, as you receive salvation, put your trust in the Lord, knowing that he is the source of life and he will supply all that you need.

[15:13] Doesn't scripture tell us that we shouldn't worry? And yet how easy is it for us to worry about things, right? I know we're human, we worry at times, right? But scripture calls for us not to worry and that almost seems easier said than done.

[15:31] But to think that God gives us this good news of salvation in Christ, it's a call for us to believe in the Lord, receive salvation, receive the peace that surpasses all understanding, be in prayer, be in fellowship with other Christian believers.

[15:48] Read scripture and allow for the word of God to work in and through you. The word of God has transforming power in our lives. We allow for God to work in us.

[16:00] Let's turn to our next scripture verse. It's gonna be Luke chapter two, verse 14. It's gonna be on page 1018.

[16:26] Some of you may know this verse, right? Let's read it together. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those whom he is pleased, right?

[16:38] We're arriving at our second verse here. It's taken from the gospel of Luke. It's talking about the multitude of heavenly hosts praising God. Glory to God in the highest.

[16:50] It's referring to the highest honor, the greatest praise to God our Father and to give him glory. The word in the Greek is known as doxa, which means we give you glory.

[17:03] We give you the highest honor God and we worship the God. He deserves our highest praise and our highest honor. And I like to think of how our God reigns supreme and that he is the Lord of heaven and earth and his name is above all names.

[17:21] There's a song, it's a famous, maybe not super famous, but it's a Christian song out there. It's called Why Does the Sky? And in the lyric it says, let all the other names fade away and tell there is only you.

[17:36] Because Christ's name, it reigns supreme. It is the name that is above all names. It's just wonderful that God is worthy of our praise.

[17:47] And to have peace on earth among whom he is pleased, it's talking about having the peace to those that have a relationship with him.

[17:57] It is an implication of having peace that comes from God by faith in him. To have peace, it comes from the Lord. And we know as Christians that it comes from believing in Jesus.

[18:11] And what I want you to understand is that the peace that is surpassing all understanding, it comes from God. And in the context of this Luke passage, you will receive peace by having a relationship with the Lord, giving him glory, right?

[18:27] Giving him the highest praise, having God as the name that is above all names. It's just wonderful. Believe in the Lord and you will be saved.

[18:42] And I don't know about you, but I want to be saved. I want to have that relationship. And let me tell you, I have a relationship with the Lord. I believe in the Lord of heaven and earth. I believe in his only son, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[18:58] I'd much rather believe in him and have everlasting life and have peace that surpasses all understanding than what else is offered.

[19:11] There's a sense of calm. There's a sense of security and there's a sense of confidence or safety, if you will, in knowing that everything will be okay.

[19:22] But first, you must believe in the Lord. When I speak of Christ's peace, I'm talking about the spiritual, the emotional, that God will work so much in you.

[19:35] The peace that comes from Christ is multifaceted and it is much deeper than what the world has to offer. Have you ever tried doing something that the world has to offer?

[19:45] I mean, how did that work for you? Right, when you try, I think of Solomon, right? In the book of Ecclesiastes, how he tried to find achievement and he tried all of the things in the world and what did he find?

[20:00] Nothing, that his life was without meaning. And it's a great lesson for us that if we search the things of this world, the things that are fleeting, it will fade away.

[20:12] But to have your faith and your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is having faith in that which is everlasting. Put your faith in Christ.

[20:25] You've heard me mention about the peace that is surpassing all understanding in your notes that is referenced to Philippians chapter four, verse seven, where there is a call to rejoice in the Lord.

[20:35] Some of you know this verse, right? Rejoice in the Lord and not to worry about anything, but constantly be in prayer and be thankful for what the Lord has done for you. Think about that.

[20:48] When I speak of the peace that comes from the Lord, I speak of protection, or as the Philippians passage says that the peace will guard your hearts, right?

[20:59] That it will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. In receiving salvation, continuing to have that relationship, pray to the Lord, continue to pray, continue to trust, give glory, be thankful for God.

[21:15] That's why every single Sunday we sing praises to our God, thanking him for this gift of salvation. Certainly, yes, we are in community with other believers and we are celebrating the love that God has for us.

[21:28] We're saying thank you, God, I worship you. I love you and I thank you for all that you've done and all that you continue to do. That's what we should do on a Sunday.

[21:41] When we sing joy to the world, right? The Lord is come. What wonderful lyrics of some of the songs that we do sing.

[21:52] Or I mean, even like the classic ones, right? Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you are God, right?

[22:04] There's so much when we sing praises to our Lord and our God, thanking him, praising him. For knowing the Lord, God will supply all that you need and he will give you that peace.

[22:19] And during our communion time, I mentioned Ephesians chapter two, verse 14, which talks about how Christ is our peace, right? Who made us both one and has broken down in flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

[22:34] Well, it goes on later in that verse, mentions that Christ came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who are near.

[22:45] Part of the message of the gospel is peace, right? When we're celebrating Advent, right? We're talking about hope in Christ, peace that comes from Christ, joy of the Lord and the love of God.

[22:58] It's all connected in this Advent season, in this Christmas season. And what better time for us as things slow down and we get all bundled up to think about these things, to reflect on them, to be encouraged to invite our friends to come to know the Lord, to be connected in church and community, maybe by your friend of Bible sometime, or maybe there's that one neighbor who really needs the Lord, right?

[23:31] Maybe that's a call for you. It's just so much. Just like how salvation has to be proclaimed to everyone, so too is peace offered to those who are distant and those who know the Lord.

[23:48] For it is God who is the foundation. Having faith is having that solid rock, that firm foundation. And it is Christ who is the cornerstone.

[24:02] And having a relationship with Christ, we're no longer separated, but we are connected with the Lord. We are one in Christ. And I know there's a lot of verses in your notes, a lot of which I'm not even going over with, but you get the idea here.

[24:17] And I have one more verse in scripture. Let's turn to the Gospel of John. John chapter 14 verse 27 is gonna be page 1071.

[24:29] So it's John chapter 14 verse 27. Let's read it together.

[24:56] Peace I live, I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the what, not as the world gives, do I give to you.

[25:08] Let not your what, your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid. Just like in many verses, right? Do not be afraid or as some translations say, fear not.

[25:22] The peace that Christ is leaving with his disciples and he leaves with us, not as the world gives, but as Christ gives to us.

[25:35] And what an encouragement it is. It's hard to not let our hearts be troubled, right? It's not an easy thing to do, but trusting in him, right?

[25:45] It's an encouragement. Let not your hearts be troubled. Don't be afraid. Don't let your hearts be afraid. How many times did Jesus say, don't be afraid, right?

[25:56] I think of the classic story in scripture, right? Peter is walking on water, right? He starts to sink. Why did you doubt? Why were you afraid?

[26:07] Well, first off, I was walking on water, Jesus, you know? And second off, you were walking on water and I don't know how you were doing that. But isn't that a great reflection, a great example of how Christ is saying, look, everything's gonna be all right.

[26:24] How often are we doubtful? How often are we like Peter, right? And we were like, all right, I'm gonna go out. I'm gonna go walk on the water. Oh no, I don't know about this, right? We are afraid at times, but Christ calls us to not be afraid and to not let our hearts be troubled.

[26:42] And this final verse, it's just a reminder from our sermon that Christ gives us life everlasting and we must believe in the Lord so that we can be saved by grace, God's grace.

[26:56] And it is Christ who gives us the peace that is not of this world, but it is a peace that surpasses all understanding. And I know for me personally, there've been times in my life where I tried to find peace and I'll tell you, before Christ, before I knew the Lord, I didn't know peace like I know peace now.

[27:22] Because in knowing the Lord, there's so many wonderful benefits, gifts. Our God is such a giver, a generous giver at that.

[27:34] I mean, kind of a side note in God's creation. God gives abundantly, if you look at all of the fruits and the vegetables that God supplies in crops.

[27:50] Just one tree can give so many apples or whatever. It's just a reminder of how our God gives and gives. And that's through love.

[28:02] I don't know, just thinking about that, just thinking of just one tree, for example, how much crop that can give. Well, so too does God's love give to us, but it's much greater though.

[28:21] For some of us, we may feel that there's something missing in our life. And you know, as I mentioned earlier, Solomon found out in the book of Ecclesiastes, right?

[28:34] That there's a lot of it meaningless without God, right? Just as it's said, there's nothing new. I think it's Ecclesiastes one and nine, that there's nothing new under the sun.

[28:44] But the answer to that is not only found in Ecclesiastes at the end, right? To fear the Lord, right? To be in awe and wonder of the Lord and obey His commandments, that's what it says.

[28:55] I think it's chapter 21 towards the end, but also that we find new life in the sun. Think about that.

[29:05] Having life under the sun on this earth, if we find the seek the pleasures or the riches or the fame or the fortune, you know, think of all the actors that are unhappy.

[29:19] They have all the fame and fortune that the world can offer, but they're not. How often are they not happy? I thought riches give you everything you need. Then why are there so many people who are not happy there, right?

[29:31] But we find meaning and purpose and fulfillment and peace just like our message today that comes from life in the sun. That's what we need to keep in mind.

[29:44] That in knowing the Lord, specifically believing in Jesus Christ, we receive salvation, we receive purpose, we receive identity, and we are a new creation.

[29:56] How wonderful our God is to offer that. What must we do? We must believe. It's not a continual thing, you know, it's not that checklist that we've talked about before.

[30:09] It's just believing in the Lord and be saved. And as we come near to the closing of this message, I'd like to share what we've known today. Let's take out our notes real quick. That Christ's peace is unlike any worldly peace.

[30:22] It is eternal and surpasses all understanding. It's hard to fathom the peace that God gives to us. Like it's hard to wrap our minds around the love that God has for us.

[30:35] How can you love me, God, when I'm such a sinner? But you do love me. That's beautiful. The peace is available to all who believe in Jesus and have a relationship with God.

[30:47] The peace of Christ, it breaks down barriers. Well, the barrier is sin, right? And unites us as one in his love. And God provides peace and salvation through Jesus Christ.

[30:59] It is through believing in Christ that we receive salvation in him. And I would like to let all of you know that if you're seeking that peace, if you're seeking the peace that surpasses all understanding, if you're looking for wholeness that this world cannot provide, maybe you've lived your life in the things that are fleeting.

[31:24] While God can give you something that the world cannot, I invite you to believe in the Lord. Believe in the Lord and be saved.

[31:35] Just like the thief on the cross. Jesus, remember me. That was it. Because what did Christ say after? You will be with me in paradise.

[31:49] Well, I'm gonna trust what Jesus says, right? Such a short piece of the story in scripture. It's such truth in it. To believe in Jesus is to place your trust in him and to know that Jesus loves you.

[32:07] That he came to earth to provide this world salvation and peace to all those who believe. When we believe in the Lord, we will be saved. And God will work in and through you in this life, this purpose.

[32:22] Let God work in your life. You'll experience things that are remarkable. You'll learn things in scripture that are wonderful. And if you're seeking to make your life right with God, I pray that you will receive God's peace, comfort, and that God will work on your mind and on your heart.

[32:42] Do you realize a lot of that we get attacked spiritually in the mind at times? What are the, who are the Pharisees?

[32:54] People who had too much of this and not enough of this, right? It's a fine balance of the heart and of the mind, right? If I speak in tongues, if I have all of the knowledge but do not have love, I am nothing just as it says in scripture, but we're also to have knowledge of the Lord.

[33:14] So there's a balance that exists with knowing the Lord and knowledge as well. What an encouragement for us to know the Lord or get right with the Lord, receive that peace, believe in the Lord.

[33:34] And as many of us may know the Lord, I encourage you to go out to the world and do good in the name of Jesus Christ. Let us be hearers of the word and not just doers.

[33:46] Let us share in this hope the good news of the gospel and let us tell others of the peace that surpasses all understanding.

[33:57] And we pray that lives will be transformed through faith in Christ. Let's pray together. Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace.

[34:14] It is in your son that we receive salvation and we receive peace from him. We receive so much from you. This new life, we are made a new creation.

[34:25] The former things pass away. And as we conclude our time here today, we pray that the peace that we've learned about today that is beyond human understanding, beyond our own understanding, that it will not just be words that we hear, but what we believe in.

[34:45] May we believe in you. May we come to know you. May we grow in faith with you. And as all these things happen, we pray for transformation in our lives and in the lives of those we interact with.

[34:59] May your peace guard our hearts and our minds as we step into the world and as we conclude our time and as we sing this song. My soul magnifies the Lord.

[35:12] Help us to reflect on your love and the truth in all that we do. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ and we all say together.