Prince of Peace

How are you?

It's good to see you.

And I want you to turn your Bible to Isaiah chapter 9 this morning.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

We're in week three of our series, Jesus, aka.

This morning we're going to speak about Jesus, aka, the Prince of Peace.

Here's what my goal is for you this morning: that you leave here with a great deposit of peace in your heart.

Because all of us need peace.

Do you agree with that?

In fact, this is uh I think it's appropriate that we pray for peace this morning with what's going on in the Middle East.

I don't know if you've been watching it for the last few days.

I got up this morning to check on the latest.

There's still uh escalating violence not only in northern Israel, but in the whole Middle East.

And I want to pray.

The Bible says to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but I think we should pray for the peace in the entire region this morning.

Would you do that?

Let me tell you why.

I had three people from Iraq that are believers who came to the service last night.

And here's what they told me after the service that thank you for praying for peace.

We need peace in the region because we're getting some unprecedented doors open to us to preach the gospel.

And if this place becomes more violent, our opportunity to preach the gospel is going to close.

And so I know that you know that Revelation 19 says that we're headed to supernatural conflict in the Middle East, but I do pray this morning that peace would reside in the region until the gospel can be preached.

Do you agree with that this morning?

Well, let's just pray for peace right now.

Let's ask God for an open door there.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you that your word does say to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we pray this morning that you would protect the people of Jerusalem and Israel, Lord.

We pray that you would give their military commanders wisdom.

Lord, we pray that the Spirit of the Lord would guide their thoughts and actions.

But Lord, we pray also for peace in the region.

Lord, we pray this morning that your Holy Spirit would open the doors, every door that's necessary for your gospel to be preached to the millions of people there who will one day serve you as Lord and Savior.

And we're grateful, Lord, for the people who are spending their lives there.

Lord, we pray right now in Jesus' name for peace in that region.

Let it be done in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Now Isaiah 9 is a prophetic word written by Isaiah describing the coming Messiah, Yeshua, the Messiah that would come.

And let's read Isaiah 9, verse 6.

Isaiah 9:6

It says, For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders.

And these will be his royal titles.

Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His ever-expanding, peaceful government will never end.

Now that's a great description of who Jesus is.

And this series is designed to tell us the names and descriptions of Jesus throughout the Bible.

350 or so names and descriptions of Jesus.

And there's several of them listed right here in Isaiah.

Let me ask you a question: what is peace?

I mean, a lot of us have definitions of what peace is and what it's not.

But let me give you a real basic North Texas definition, or my definition.

Peace is simply a feeling that all is well.

It's a feeling of tranquility, that all is well.

And do you know that believers, that it's possible that no matter what our circumstances, that we can have an overwhelming sense of peace in our lives, not just part of the day, but all day, every day.

That according to God's scripture, peace should be the resident feeling in our heart, that peace should overwhelm us, peace should rule us.

Peace is possible.

However, we know this, that life does not always leave a lot of room for peace.

Do you agree?

And here's what I think about life.

And I know this is maybe looking at the glass half-empty kind of approach, but I think it's also realistic.

You're either coming out of a problem, you're either in a problem today, or tomorrow a new problem will arise.

Do you agree with that?

That's basically life, right?

You just came out of a problem.

You're either in a problem today, or tomorrow you're going to get a new problem.

That's the realities of life.

That's what God said.

That's why he said, Listen, you need my peace.

You need peace because life does not always leave a lot of room for peace on its own.

There are three types of peace that the Bible talks about.

It's talked about throughout Scripture.

The three types are this: one is peace with God.

The reason Yeshua the Messiah came, Jesus came, was to give us peace between us and God.

The Bible says that before Jesus came, if you didn't know him, you were actually enemies of God.

Did you know that?

Before you met Jesus, you were an enemy of God.

But because you accepted Christ, you're not an enemy anymore.

You're a friend.

So peace with God is talked about throughout Scripture.

The second type of peace is peace with ourselves, peace within ourselves.

The peace that you have inside your heart as you go about your daily life.

And the third type of peace is peace with other people, which I think is the most difficult, quite honestly.

Peace with other people.

And by the way, all three of these types of peace build upon one another.

In other words, you can't have peace with yourself when you don't even have peace with God.

And you certainly cannot have peace with other people if you don't have peace with God and peace with yourself.

All three types of peace build upon one another.

And so it is, do you agree this morning that peace is absolutely necessary for us to live our lives?

Let me ask you another question.

Do you think that someone who has a peaceful life is having a happy life?

Do you think someone who walks around with overwhelming peace is a happy person?

I think they are.

I think some of the most miserable people I've ever met are people without peace, right?

And Washington Redskin fans.

Other than that.

So let me give you four facts today about peace.

Because I want you to catch this today.

I want you to receive this deposit of peace that the Scripture says that we can have.

And here's the first fact about peace.

First fact is peace is an umpire.

Peace is an umpire.

Now turn with me to Colossians chapter 3, verse 15.

Colossians 3:15

And it says here in the New Living Translations what I'm using.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace and always be thankful.

Now you notice when we read that scripture that two of the three types of peace are listed there, peace with ourselves and peace with other people, are both listed in this scripture.

Now the word rule there means to arbitrate, to have final authority, or another word, a root word, is actually the word where you get the word umpire.

The word umpire.

So peace is an umpire.

Let me ask you a question.

Have you ever told someone that the reason you made a decision, let's say, for example, to buy a house, was because you had peace about it.

You prayed and you prayed and you asked others for counsel, but ultimately the reason you made the decision was because you had peace about the decision.

Have you ever made that comment?

Have you ever made a decision based on peace?

Raise your hand if you've ever made a decision because you felt peace about something.

Well, this is what I'm trying to describe to you today.

That peace that you are describing actually was the umpire of that decision.

This is what Paul is saying in Colossians 3.15.

Let the peace of God umpire the decisions that you're making in your life.

Now, I want to show you a clip.

I watched Sports TV, and just a few weeks ago, a minor league manager in Kentucky went nuts.

It's one of the classic meltdowns I've ever seen.

I want you to show you this video.

This is in Kentucky a few weeks ago.

Now, I want you to look at this video and tell me who's in control and who's out of control.

Now, he is protesting a call at second base, and the umpire's about to get fed up with his argument.

And he's about to toss him out of the game.

Now tell me who's in control and who is out of control.

The umpire's listening, arguing with him, he's gone.

Now he goes nudge, throws his hat off.

Now watch him.

He dives into second base here.

This is a grown man.

He can't get second base off.

There he goes.

Now he has it.

In case the umpire forgot what second base looked like, he's showing it to him.

And then there goes the bag.

Now watch what he does.

He goes back into the dugout, and now things really get out of control.

Gotta kick a little dirt on him.

Cover the whole.

There you go.

Now, here bats are thrown.

He's out of control.

And he's gone.

Now, you are that guy.

Because here's what's happened.

Peace comes to umpire your decisions.

And he tells you, do not buy that house.

What?

That house is perfect.

We can afford that house.

That house is in the right school district.

That's in the right neighborhood.

That house has everything I said.

What do you mean, don't buy that house?

Pete says, listen, that's not your house.

What?

We argue with the very thing that we have given authority in our lives to help us make decisions.

You see, the owner of that team and the president of that league had given the umpire final authority to make decisions.

Do you agree?

That umpire, his authority is not being questioned on the field.

Whatever he says is going to happen in that ballgame.

If he throws that guy out of the game, he must leave the game.

If he calls it out, he's out.

If he calls him safe, he's safe.

And that's the same type of umpire that the peace wants to be in your life.

Peace wants to come into your heart and umpire your decisions.

And yet most of us, including myself, many times end up arguing with the very person that needs to be in charge.

Do you agree that baseball or any other sport would be absolute chaos without umpires or officials?

You can't play the game without them.

Listen, you cannot play the game of life unless you let peace be the umpire in your mind.

Peace is the umpire.

Peace wants the rule.

Peace, if you will give it, will have final authority on every decision.

And wouldn't it be great if we could live our lives making good decisions based on the peace of God that's ruling our hearts?

Which, by the way, is your mind and your will and your emotions.

So the first fact I want you to catch today about peace is that peace is an umpire.

The second fact is that peace is measurable.

Peace is measurable.

In other words, you can measure how much peace you have.

But I'm going to give you one way today to measure how much peace you have.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 8, verse 23.

Matthew 8:23

In three different places in Scripture, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there's a story about Jesus getting on a boat late one afternoon, sailing across the Sea of Galilee to go to the other side, which, by the way, when he got there, he would have a confrontation with the Gadderene demoniac.

So you know this story.

Matthew chapter 8, Luke chapter 8, and Mark chapter 4.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention Luke 8 · chapter mention Mark 4 · chapter mention

It's found in all three places.

So in Matthew chapter 8, let's read there in verse 23.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

Jesus is in the bottom of the boat, apparently, a small boat.

This is not the Royal Caribbean cruise line that he's on.

It's a small boat with probably one sail and two oars, and enough room for about 15 people.

Let's read what happens.

Matthew chapter 8, verse 23.

Matthew 8:23

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.

Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with the waves breaking into the boat.

But Jesus was sleeping.

And the disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting.

Now, why did he shout?

I think it was because it was loud upstairs.

There's wind battering the boat.

There's waves crashing in on top of the boat.

And I think some of the men were screaming like girls because they were afraid.

It was loud up there.

Lord, save us.

We're going to drown.

And Jesus answered, Why are you afraid?

Well, that's a Lord, these storms are notorious out here.

Even the most experienced fishermen on this boat had seen storms like this before.

And it was not uncommon for storms like this to totally capsize a boat and drown everyone on board.

These happened without much notice.

They were totally unpredictable.

And then Jesus asked this question: Why are you afraid?

You ever been in a category four or five hurricane?

Why are you afraid?

That's what I would have answered.

Yeah, I made the hurricane, Brady.

You have so little faith.

Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm.

The disciples just sat there in awe.

Who is this?

They asked themselves.

Even the wind and waves obey him.

You see, this is not just a man asleep in the bottom of the boat.

The Prince of Peace was asleep in the bottom of this boat.

And yet he knew about the storm.

And yes, there was real danger.

Yes, there was absolutely, positively real danger that these men could all die.

But it was not his appointed time to die.

He didn't come to the earth to drown in the Sea of Galilee for our sins.

He knew that.

He had told him, I must go to the Sea of Galilee to drown for your sins.

He knew his time was not up, so he could go to sleep.

All was well.

So he slept.

I want you to write this down because I want you to really catch this this morning.

You only have authority over the storms.

You only have peace over the storms that you can sleep through.

You only have peace over the storms that you can sleep through.

Sleep is one of the barometers of the peace of God.

It's a way to measure whether or not you're living a life of peace or not.

Then this does not mean that God can't wake you up in the middle of the night and ask you to pray.

Many times the Holy Spirit has awakened me in the middle of the night.

Brady, I need you to pray over this situation, a situation that I may have had earlier in the day.

It does not mean that you can't awaken in the middle of the night for prayer or to ask God for more help.

However, if you're awaking in the middle of the night simply to grind your teeth or to walk back and forth in your living room, looking out the back door, trying to come up with some answer, if you've spent countless sleepless nights trying to figure things out, the chances are you're not living with the deposit of peace that I just described.

Now, a couple of Fridays ago, I received in the mail the largest electric bill that I've ever received in my life.

Did you get the same bill?

The large by two times, 200% more, twice as the amount of any electric bill I've ever received in my life.

And I just moved into this house.

And I have to make a decision.

The umpire says, Brady, everything's okay.

Don't worry about it.

I will provide.

The umpire says I should have peace.

I didn't want to listen to the umpire.

And so I have a choice when I go to sleep that night.

Do I lay awake wondering how Mr.

Budget's going to respond to this when I tell him?

Because Mr.

Budget just got chopped at the knees.

This is a real life situation.

These are things that we face.

How do we deal with that?

Well, here's what I've decided.

I believe in the immovable and unshakable Prince of Peace.

And I went to sleep.

Because if you are trusting in the immovable and unshakable Prince of Peace, if the immovable and unshakable Prince of Peace is in charge of your life, you can go to sleep.

If the immovable and unshakable Prince of Peace is not in charge of your life, you will not sleep.

If you think Wall Street is in charge of your life, you will not sleep.

If you think that other people at work are in charge of your career and destiny, if you think mere mortals are the ones that are controlling your life, you will not sleep.

If you think that the Prince of Peace, if you are convinced this morning that the Prince of Peace really is in charge of the boat that you're on right now, you can go down on the bottom of the boat with Jesus and you could have slept that night.

Because all is well.

You understand that it doesn't matter what storms you are facing.

The Bible says that I was placed in the palm of his hand and that nothing can snatch me away from that.

The Bible says that I've been sentenced to heaven and I can't get out of it.

So the immovable, unshakable Prince of Peace is in charge.

You can go to sleep.

Here's the third fact about peace that I want you to catch.

Peace is a product of prayer.

Peace and prayer are close cousins that cannot be separated.

Peace and prayer always go together.

Have you noticed that in your life?

Have you noticed that when you pray first instead of call someone, that you normally have peace when you call someone?

I used to have this message years ago about who gets the first phone call.

Because normally when Christ is hit, you have a list of people you want to call and tell them.

But if you pray first, normally those phone calls go a lot different than if you call them and then pray later.

Let's go to Philippians chapter 4 because I want to show you this very clearly in Scripture.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Philippians 4 verse 6 says, Don't worry about anything.

Philippians 4:6

I just don't really care to read that a lot of days.

Instead, pray about everything.

That's as clear as Scripture can get.

Tell God what you need and thank him for all he's done.

And if you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

You notice the umpire.

Actually, the word guard there means security guard.

Military guard that's been placed in charge of your mind.

So you not only have an umpire in charge of your peace, you have a military guard that God Himself has stationed in your mind.

It's called peace.

Now, do you know that if you worry, you choose to worry?

If you worry, you've made a choice to worry.

If you pray, you've made a choice to pray.

I don't walk into my office where I have my quiet time and just an uncontrollable prayer comes over me.

I have to choose when I walk into the office where I have my quiet time whether I'm going to worry or I'm going to pray.

Normally I have to set aside time to pray.

And then sometimes I even set aside some time to worry.

You know what happens?

Most of the time when I set aside time to pray and set aside time to worry, you know what really happens?

Worry says, no, I want that time too.

In fact, worry says the only time I really want is the time you set aside to pray.

Worry is an enemy of prayer.

It's one of the greatest enemies of your prayer life.

Because worry says, if he starts praying, if she starts praying, I'm out of the job.

Because once they start praying, once they start admitting they need God's help and that they're not in control, but God is, once they start doing that, once they really start praying, worry has nowhere to go.

So you either have a choice to worry or you have a choice to pray.

If you choose to worry, then worry.

Just go all worry as much as you want.

It's the most fruitless thing you can do.

Worrying about something that you have no control over.

Because that's really what you worry about.

The things you have control over, you don't worry about those things.

You're worrying about things that you cannot control.

Most of the time.

Do you agree?

If you can fix it, I don't worry about it.

It's the things that I cannot fix.

The things that I'm not in control of that I worry about.

So if I'm not in control, who needs to be in control?

The Lord needs to be in control if I'm not.

Because he's much better at running my life than I am.

So therefore, when I pray, prayer is simply admitting that I'm not in control.

Prayer is, by the way, also thanking God for the many, many times in the past that he has proven to be faithful and true.

Thanking God, remembering God thanked you so much for the times that you have proven that you are faithful and true.

Remembering those things, being grateful for those things.

And by the way, the more you remember about the faithful and truth of God, the less I tend to worry about the future.

So prayer is being thankful and grateful for all that is right.

Prayer is asking for help.

If you choose to pray, you're choosing peace.

If you choose not to pray, you're choosing to worry.

So prayer and peace are inseparable in your life.

If you have a life of prayer, you normally do not have a life of worry.

Are you catching that, or I need to go on and on?

If you'll amen me, I'll stop this point.

Okay.

Number four.

Peace is a gift.

The last thing I want you to know today, and this is the best news I can tell you, peace is a free gift.

Peace is a gift.

John chapter 14, verse 27, this is the holy of holies.

John 14:27

This is the last few hours of Jesus' time on earth with his disciples.

I told you that two weeks ago, that this is a place where Jesus said more in a short time than he ever said any other time in his ministry on the earth.

John 14, verse 27, he's looking at his disciples and he says, I am leaving you with a gift.

John 14:27

Peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives.

So don't be troubled or afraid.

Now, these disciples, their whole world was about to be turned upside down.

Everything in their life was about to be turned upside down, and Jesus knew that.

Their leader was about to be murdered.

Everything they thought would happen was not going to happen.

They were not going to get the government position that they had hoped for.

In fact, they were about to be hardened criminals.

They were about to be on the run for their life.

And Jesus knew all of those things.

And he says, Listen, if you're expecting the world to give You peace.

You can receive that if you want, but I'm giving you something much better.

By the way, this scripture does say the world can't offer you peace.

That peace is possible with the world.

That is true.

Do you know that?

The world is offering you peace today.

Let me tell you about that peace.

It's fragile, elusive, and dependent on all of your circumstances lining up in order at the same time and in the same place.

When all is well with all of your circumstances, the world gives you a moment of peace, but then it's gone.

Because listen, all of your circumstances won't stay lined up together very long.

Do you agree?

Because you're either coming out of a problem, you either have a problem, or you'll be a problem tomorrow.

And so if you're depending on the world to give you peace based on your circumstances, based on what's happening in your life, yes, there may be moments in your life where you have peace, but it's fragile and very elusive.

But here's the peace that Jesus was offering it's internal and it's forever.

It's not based on your circumstances.

It doesn't matter if it's stormy outside or calm outside, it doesn't matter what your bank account says, it doesn't matter what the doctor says, peace is always there.

A friend of mine says that when his wife was a believer, he was an unbeliever when they were first married.

And he said, you know what, Brady?

You know what really inspired me to serve Christ?

You know what really finally won me over?

Was not the theological arguments we were having.

He was Jewish, she was a believer in the Messiah, so he came from a family that denied the Messiah.

He said, wasn't all the arguments?

Let me tell you what happened.

We lost millions of dollars in a lawsuit, lost everything we had.

My wife and I.

He was telling me this story.

He said, you know what really made me want to serve Christ?

Was I when I watched her, together, we lost everything.

And when I watched her walk out that time in complete peace, I became jealous of the peace that she had.

Let me ask you a question this morning.

How many people are jealous of your peace?

Are you causing people to envy around you because you can walk through the storms of life with complete peace?

I'm telling you, you want to be a witness?

You want to win people to the Lord?

Let people watch you walk through the trauma of life with a great deposit of peace in your heart.

And I'm telling you, people will ask you questions.

People will want to know, what do you have that I don't have?

You see, when I was growing up, I had a kind of a, I don't know, I had a great childhood.

I had mom and dad.

They did not divorce.

They were always home.

My dad was home a lot.

He spent a lot of time with me.

And I had a great dad.

And I remember, I never remember it five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven years old.

You know those really sweet childhood years that you're supposed to be a kid and not an adult?

I don't remember at any time during that time in my life waking up in the middle of the night worrying about anything.

Now, I found out later when I became an adult, my mom and dad told me a lot of things that were going on.

My dad lost his business.

I do remember moving from a big house to a small house all of a sudden.

Because my dad lost it all.

I do remember a few things, but I don't ever remember waking up in the middle of the night worrying about anything.

You know why?

Because my dad was down the hall.

He was asleep in the room with my mom.

I knew that my dad was there.

And you know, I think about my children.

I had two small children.

They don't worry about the electric bill.

Last night, 8.30, their bedtime, I put them down, they went to sleep like that.

No worries.

You know why?

Because they know dad's downstairs with mom, and dad will take care of them.

The only burden my children had, the only burden I had growing up, the only burden we had was to obey mom and dad.

And that became a burden sometimes.

Let's fast forward now.

I'm an adult.

The only burden I have today, honestly, is to obey the Lord, my dad.

That's the only burden I have.

And it's really not a burden because he says, take my yoke upon me, upon you.

For my yoke, my burden, my commands, my yoke is easy.

And my burden is light.

In other words, Brady, go to sleep.

Dad is in charge.

My dad in heaven, my father in heaven, is in charge of my life.

And there's really nothing for me to worry about.

It doesn't matter, does it?

If you really believe that, that you really believe that he's in charge.

And you can go to sleep tonight.

I want you this morning to answer a question.

Maybe some of you have complete peace.

Maybe the peace I'm describing, you've got it, and I hope you do.

I hope many of you have this.

But I suspect that most of you don't.

I know in my own heart that I don't have this deposit of peace every day like I should.

But I want it.

I want it.

Let me ask you a question.

What storm in your life right now is keeping you up?

What storm that's going on in your life right now is keeping you awake at night?

Is the umpire in charge?

Are you sleeping well?

Are you taking it before the Lord in prayer?

Have you received this gift of peace that I'm describing?

Would you stand this morning?

And as you stand, would you just close your eyes and give the Holy Spirit a moment to minister to you?

And I'm going to ask right now that our altar ministry team come forward.

I need every one of you to come.

The altars have been completely filled, every service, because there are people who need prayer for peace.

Now, as you stand this morning, I want you just to take a few minutes and close your eyes.

And I'm going to pray over you.

And I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to do a great ministry among us this morning.

If you will receive, if you'll be honest before the Lord and say, there is a there's a missing peace in my life.

I need peace.

I need this peace.

How many of you this morning would say, Pastor Brady, I need that deposit of peace in my heart?

And if you'll lift your hand, I want you to just leave your hands lifted because I'm going to pray for you this morning.

If you'll just lift your hands and say, Lord, that's me, I need the deposit of peace in my life.

Would you just lift your hands and keep them lifted before the Lord and just say, Lord, right now, I admit I'm not in control.

I admit this morning that I need your peace.

Your peace is what I need.

Would you just receive it this morning?

Would you just receive the deposit of peace that the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Himself said he would give you?

Don't let your hearts be troubled.

Do not be afraid.

I leave you with a gift.

Not peace as the world offers.

I leave you with my gift of peace.

That promise was true for his disciples 2,000 years ago, and that promise is true for his disciples this morning.

Now, if you're his disciple this morning, if you're a follower of the teachings of Christ, and you need peace, all you have to do is receive the free gift of peace.

Now, Lord Jesus, we pray right now in Jesus' name.

Lord, I pray for that peace of the Holy Spirit, the peace that passes all of our understanding, the peace that rules our hearts and minds according to Christ Jesus.

I pray right now in Jesus' name for the deposit of your peace in every heart, every hand, every person, every person with their hands lifted, every person in this room, I pray today, would leave here with a full deposit of the peace of the Holy Spirit.

Let it be done right now, right now in Jesus' name across this room.

Let the peace of the Holy Spirit fill our hearts.

Lord, let our hearts not be troubled or afraid.

And we receive your peace right now.

And we thank you for it.

Lord, we also say, we are thankful and grateful for all that you've done in our lives.

Lord, we look back in our lives and we thank you that you are faithful and true to fulfill all of your promises.

You've already been proven yourself faithful.

So, Lord, we also know that you will be faithful in the future.

And because of that, we receive your peace in Jesus' name.