Experiencing the Peace of Christmas
Luke 2:14
Dec 15, 2019 PM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction (Luke 2:14)
A. The angels had a wish on that first Christmas night
B. For peace on earth
C. What would that look like? Feel like? To have real peace here on earth?
1. People believed at the end of the 1800’s that a great time of peace and prosperity was on the way
2. Then World War I broke out
3. People thought it was the one war that would end all wars
4. But it wasn’t. Because 22 years later World War II broke out
5. After WWII, the United Nations was formed to try and bring peace on earth
6. But since 1945 there were more wars than in the previous 500 years
D. Peace on earth hasn’t happened yet
E. But it does happen in an individual’s heart and mind who follows Jesus
F. Because that’s what Christmas is supposed to produce – not the stress of X-mas
II. Background
A. What is Peace?
B. Why is it so elusive? So hard to have and hold onto?
C. Why do so few people have peace – able to sleep at night?
D. Very important questions to find the answers to
E. Because there are so many false promises of peace
1. Isa 48:22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
2. Jer 6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
3. 1Th 5:2,3 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4. Through a drug or prescription
5. Through a mental activity like meditation
6. Through wrongly trusting politicians
7. And through blind religious activities
F. It is possible to NEVER experience God’s peace
1. Simply because we are born ignorant of the way of peace – we only taste it from time to time but don’t know how to experience it as a way of life, like Jesus did
2. Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not
3. Jer 8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
4. Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
5. Rom 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:
6. You will never find it outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ
7. Luke 19:41,42 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
G. Don’t miss the peace that Christmas brought!
III. The Meaning of Peace
A. What peace is…
1. It is Rest
a. The ability to rest and ponder things instead of panic about things
b. A quietness of mind; calmness; tranquillity; quiet of conscience
c. Luke 2:16-19 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
d. The opposite of confusion and panic and anxiety
e. 1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
f. Jesus was able to soundly sleep in the midst of a sinking ship caught in a deadly storm
g. Peter was able to soundly sleep in a prison cell, guarded by 16 soldiers, the night before his execution – simply because he knew he was saved, and that the whole church was praying for him!
h. Paul calmly walked back into the very city that had just rejected his preaching and had stoned him to death.
2. It is Freedom
a. Freedom from fear, terror, anger, anxiety
b. Freedom from disturbance or agitation
c. Freedom from war, private quarrels, suits or disturbance
d. Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
e. Nahun 1:15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
f. Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
3. It is One Focus
a. The ability to focus attention on something good and stable and strong and right…
b. In the midst of confusion, discouragement and defeat
c. Heb 12:1,2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
4. It is available to have NOW, not later!
5. In simple words, Peace is a quietness of mind and heart that is free from fear, terror, anger, and anxiety, no matter the amount of confusion, discouragement or defeat.
6. You need to memorize some of these Scriptures and put them around your house
IV.Understanding the Peace of the First Christmas
A. What Peace is NOT
1. It is NOT peace with your enemies
2. It is not perfect circumstances around you
3. It is not the result of great abilities that you have come to strongly believe that you have to have before you can be at rest
4. And it is not what the world has. Yoga meditation and drugs and counselling may help for a little while, but in the end, they cannot give you the peace that God offers!
B. True Peace is Two Things:
1. It is Peace WITH God
a. Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
b. Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
c. Made free from the wrath of God upon us
d. Now adopted into His family
e. God only chastens us now, treating us as SONS, not sinners
f. And having THAT peace will bring peace all around you
g. Prov 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
2. It is the Peace OF God
a. Php 4:6,7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
b. Col 3:14,15 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
C. Peace belongs to Israel (Luke 19:42)
1. Luke 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
2. That’s why we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem
3. Psa 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
D. Peace belongs to ALL believers
1. Eph 2:14,15 For he is our peace, who hath made both one [JEW AND GENTILE], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
2. Rom 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
4. There ought to be none of us who are not living in the peace of God that passes all understanding!
5. But it does have some requirements before it is enjoyed!
E. The Place Where Peace Matters Most
1. It is a PRIORITY – something to HAVE before you go shopping!
2. Without peace in our hearts and minds, we will only grow more angry, and then more bitter, and then more calloused and hard towards life
3. Php 4:6,7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
4. God says that real peace must reign NOT in perfect circumstances, or in loads of money
5. But in the heart and mind of every believer
a. The heart, needs something bigger that its fears to take over
b. The mind, needs something bigger that its current understanding to take over
c. Those are the two places Satan attacks and sets up strongholds
d. God’s peace overrules the heart and the mind, and makes it possible to keep going
V. Peace is the result of the following – How to Experience Peace
A. Believe the Gospel (Romans 10:15)
1. Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
B. Get Born Again – Peace is a result of justification – peace with God (Romans 5:1)
1. Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
C. Hear and Believe the Bible as the words of God (John 16:33; 1Thes 2:13)
1. John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
2. 1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
3. Psa 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
D. Stay Close to Jesus (Acts 27:20-26) Be a fanatic Christian!
1. Don’t cool off in your Christian walk
2. Don’t love this world and the THINGS of this world
3. Angels spend much of their time in the presence of God
4. So can we, and so SHOULD be
5. Praying and praising God always for everything and in every situation (very hard)
a. Act 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
b. Act 27:21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
c. Act 27:22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
d. Act 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
e. Act 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
f. Act 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
g. Act 27:26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.