Evangelism Part 24: Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:2-7 December 24, 2023
Recap
April 1830, George Wilson was in desperate straights. He had squandered his livelihood
in frivolous living and was at the end of his rope. He hatched a scheme to get rich quick
by robbing the mail, which primarily was delivered by horseback or carriage in those
days. Right here in Pennsylvania Wilson beat and robbed several mail carriers, stole the
mail they had on hand, opened it and took whatever money he could find.
Wilson, of course, was caught and he was charged with several crimes for which he was
found guilty and sentenced to death. Wilson languished in prison for several months as
his sentence drew near; racked with anxiety, Wilson no peace as he awaited his death.
But Wilson had a friend who was rather influential and, unbeknownst to Wilson, began
to appeal for mercy for Wilson. His friend knew the right people and eventually, the his
pleas for mercy made their way to President Andrew Jackson.
President Jackson heard the arguments of Wilson’s friend and ultimately decided to give
Wilson a pardon. The merciful news made its way back to the imprisoned Wilson on
death row. But instead of being overjoyed, Wilson was obstinately prideful. Where was
President Jackson when Wilson needed to pay his bills. Where was President Jackson
when he needed to buy himself food. Never mind that it was Wilson’s own wasteful
choices that put him in the difficult financial position he was in. Wilson blamed
President Jackson and therefore, refused his pardon. Wilson pridefully clung to his so-
called “ideals and morals” and would not receive the offer of peace.
Matthew 10:5-13 “5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among
the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received
without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10
no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his
food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay
there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is
worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to
you.”
Peace (Heb. Shalom) signifies a sense of well-being and harmony both within and
without; perfect completeness, wholeness, and unity – especially as it relates to Yahweh
o OT scripture uses shalom over 230 times. It has been estimated that up to two
thirds of the biblical uses of shalom point to the fulfillment/wholeness that comes
only when a man experiences God’s presence and pleasure.
Peace (Gk. eirēnē) (92 times in NT) refers to the state of untroubled, undisturbed
tranquility despite the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We remain whole no
matter what chaos abounds.
o In its verb form, it means to bind, or weave together…the ability to hold it
together no matter the state of things around us.
a meaning conveyed by the common expression of one “having it all
together”
Season of Peace:
o God of Peace – Jehovah Shalom
Judges 6:24 “Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The
Lord Is Peace”
o Person of Peace
o Household of Peace
o Prince of Peace
o Peacemaking
Isaiah 9:2-7 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who
dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the
nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as
they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for
his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For
every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his
government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his
kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this
time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
At War with Yahweh
Romans 3:10-12, 17-18 “10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one
understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have
become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”…17 and the way of peace they
have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.””
Romans 3:23 “or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 8:6-7 “6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does
not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please
God.”
James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is
enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself
an enemy of God.”
Many False Messages of Peace
The morning of December 7, 1941 was a placid day in Hawaii. The skies were clear and
the gentle breeze cooled the tropical paradise. Elsewhere in the world, war raged on in
Europe as the Axis powers battled for domination. Two men were manning a small radar
station in the Pacific ocean when they picked up several hits on the radar. Within a few
seconds the entire screen was filled with red dots signifying a massive wave of airplanes
approaching.
Neither of the men had seen anything like that before, and the ranking member, Kermit
Tyler, determined that they were probably planes for a California airbase that were
being flown in. Therefore. They never sounded a warning to the base at Pearl Harbor.
Well, you know how the rest of the story goes. Those red dots were 350 Japanese war
planes about an hour’s flight from the base. An hour later, the beautiful peace of the
Hawaiian paradise was shattered as the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and took the
lives of over 3000 people and propelled the United States into World War 2.
Jeremiah 6:13-15 “13 “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for
unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 14 They have healed the
wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. 15 Were
they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the
time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the Lord.” (see also Jeremiah
8:11)
Jeremiah 23:16-17 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the
prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their
own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who
despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly
follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
Ezekiel 13:10-11 “10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’
when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets
smear it with whitewash, 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall!
There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind
break out.”
Cosmic Peace and Inner Peace Only Through Christ
Isaiah 53:1-6 “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm
of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a
root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no
beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was
pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has
laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
o Not going to read…just for reference. Isaiah 53:7-11 “7 He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his
mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his
generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the
wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and
there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his
offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge
shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and
he shall bear their iniquities.”
Luke 1:78-79 “78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall
visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
o Faithful Zechariah prophesying over baby Jesus at his temple dedication
Luke 2:13-14 “13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
among those with whom he is pleased!”
o Angels proclaimed the coming of peace to the world at the birth of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13-17 “13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been
brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us
both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in
one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached
peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”
o Jesus himself is our peace by being the sacrifice that made us right (reconciled) us
with Yahweh.
Colossians 1:19-20 “19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making
peace by the blood of his cross.”
o The cross is what has made peace for us
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (see also Romans 5:6-10)
o When we put our faith in Jesus (fully trust and submit to Him), we have peace
with Yahweh
(Just for reference) Romans 5:6-10 “6 For while we were still weak, at the
right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a
righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even
to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his
blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For
if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
1 Peter 2:2 “2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord.”
o The more we know who Jesus is and what Jesus does, the more our peace with
God will translate into the peace of God
A Portrait of Peace (many versions of this out there): Long ago a man sought the perfect
picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this
masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings
arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges
uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.
The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from
one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches
under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed
undisturbed. Surely this was the winner. The man with the vision uncovered the second
painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A tumultuous
waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold,
penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and
rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the
rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential
waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in
the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she
rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones,
she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
Jesus said John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
o Peace that Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble, it is the confidence that He is
there with you always and has given you cosmic peace with God the Father.
Therefore, no matter what trouble you face in this life, we remain at peace with
Yahweh and can weather all the temporary storms of this life
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is
wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light
momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond
all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the
things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the
things that are unseen are eternal.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.”
o Cosmic peace with God brings the inner peace of God
John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world
you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
o Kung Fu Panda (describe) says inner peace comes from knowing yourself…this is
false, inner peace comes from knowing Jesus, that He saved us and that He is with
us and will lead into eternal cosmic peace when our time here is up.
Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he
trusts in you.”
Conclusion
This brings us back to George Wilson and the refused pardon from President Andrew
Jackson. No one had ever refused a pardon before and so the legal system didn’t know if
Wilson could still be put to death or even held in prison anymore.
The matter ultimately went before the Supreme Court of the United States and they
determined the following “A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is
essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by
the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in
this court to force it upon him.”
For 10 years Wilson waited in prison, resigned to his fate…but time and again his death
sentence was put off. Eventually, as his death drew near, a new president Martin Van
Buren again offered Wilson a pardon. His pride broken after the lengthy stay in prison
and finally realizing the good gift of grace and mercy being offered to him, Wilson
accepted the pardon and walked free of his bondage. Wilson had freedom and peace at
last.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in
every way….”
Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast
love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says
the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (see also Numbers 25:12)
Ezekiel 37:26-27 “26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an
everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[g] and multiply them,
and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with
them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (see also Ezekiel 34:25)
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you
completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”