-Transcript-
00:36 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:40 Welcome to the Café. Great to have you here today. Hopefully you are doing great today.
00:45 And if not, you’ll be doing better after this episode because we are diving into God’s Word and how He is the Prince of Peace and how we can have peace when we turn to Him.
00:55 And it’s a wonderful topic that is oddly not preached on from what I can hear as much as it should be because of the level of application that you can apply to your life. At least that’s my simple mind wrapping around it.
01:12 It’s like, man, you know what? When I was preparing this message, I thought, yeah, I need to preach on this more. And of course, I pray about everything and the Lord leads me on what to preach on. But this is very valuable because people need this today.
01:23 Think about the society we live in today. There is really not a lot of peace. There’s a lot of uncertainty.
01:29 There’s a lot of unease. I mean, people go to the gas station. They’re very uneasy these days because of the high fuel prices.
01:37 Go to the grocery store. They’re very uneasy. I mean, I told my wife every time I walk out of Walmart, I’m shaking my head.
01:46 I can’t believe how much the paper plates were or whatever it is. Goodness, we are in a time of great unease, of great anxiety. You know, COVID reared its ugly head all over this country, all over this world.
02:01 And one of the symptoms or one of the byproducts is anxiety. It literally makes you anxious. Lord have mercy.
02:08 We have been through it and through it and through it. We see conflict and war around the world, over 20 wars around the world as my research has shown. We see them on TV.
02:19 We hear about them. We read about them, terrible stories of death and destruction. And all around us, we have this just brewing and happening and turning and creating a situation that we lack personal peace and we lack global peace.
02:42 And yet there is a prince of peace willing and waiting to provide us peace. Now, I believe the world seems to be waxing more and more wicked. So for me to say, oh, the world’s all going to turn to God and we’re going to have peace is unlikely.
02:58 Though, if I believe this with all my heart, if the world did, or even if our country did, we would have peace. I totally 100% believe if our country got right with God as individuals,
03:10 and the verse starts, my people, if my people, which are called by my name, Amen, will humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways. Who’s my people? That’s God’s people, Amen.
03:19 If the saints of God would repent and get right with him and say that they want to be on that narrow path again, that they want to get rid of all that sin in their life, all that hypocrisy, all of those things that grieve the Lord, if they did that, if his people would do that, Amen,
03:35 I believe we would have peace in our country like we’ve never seen. But absent from that happening, and I don’t have any formal studies, but I believe we are in the great falling away where many people are not turning to God, but turning away from Him,
03:49 despite all of the things that would make you want to turn to him. Absent of everyone turning to God, this world’s going to continue to devolve and get wicked, which makes little sense in the eyes of the world, since the eyes of the world kept saying, let’s all get educated.
04:07 Let’s have a bunch of technology. Everybody got educated. Most people did, and they got a bunch of technology, and things are as bad as they’ve ever been, and they’re getting worse.
04:16 So there goes that world philosophy, in my mind at least. But if we as individuals will turn to God, we still can have peace from the Prince of Peace. He’s willing and able to give it to us.
04:29 Isaiah 9:6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
04:42 Here we see the prophet of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, telling us of the coming of Christ. You hear this verse oftentimes during the holidays, and yet it’s more than just a holiday verse.
04:54 This is a verse about Jesus Christ Himself. For unto us a child is born. He was born of a virgin, Amen.
05:02 Unto us a Son is given. He is the Son, the only begotten of the Father. The government shall be upon His shoulder.
05:12 One day this will truly be fulfilled, Amen, where Christ really will rule and reign. Even now, though, we know that he has the ear of those that are leaders. And His name shall be Wonderful.
05:22 Is He not Wonderful, beyond Wonderful? Is He not our Savior and Lord? We are fully and completely indebted to Him forever for what he did on the cross. He didn’t have to do it. He willingly did it.
05:33 Counselor, is he not the great Counselor, the best of the best, the smartest of the smartest, the wisest of the wisest? Oh, and how I could preach all day long and going to God for counsel.
05:46 Through His word and through prayer, God will guide and provide. The mighty God, because He is God in the flesh.
05:52 The everlasting Father, because he’s one with the Father. And the Prince of Peace, because he is the Prince of Peace. He came to bring peace.
05:57 We can’t manufacture it on our own. We can’t do it because we have a sin problem. We can’t resolve on our own.
06:05 Sin is the blockage here. It is the reason we cannot have peace. You ever have a husband, wife, they get married and they have a family, they have kids and they desire peace.
06:19 And yet they can’t have it. And that household gets broken. Those kids go through all kinds of turmoil and trials, seeing mom and dad separated.
06:28 And it gets worse and worse. And yet no one wanted that. The children didn’t want it.
06:34 Mom didn’t want it. Dad didn’t want it. And yet somehow everything was fractured.
06:39 That’s a picture of sin in the house, war, a picture of sin in the world. Inner peace or lack thereof, a picture of sin in the flesh and our hearts. No legislation or laws will ever bring peace to this world.
06:55 We all fall short. We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God, as Romans 3:23 tells us. Peace comes from Christ alone.
07:03 How about John 16:33 These things I’ve spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
07:14 Now, Jesus here, to give context for this verse, it’s always very important to give context for sharing scripture. Jesus here is speaking of His ascension, his coming ascension, where he’s going to go up to heaven. And the disciples are saddened that He’s leaving.
07:30 But what He’s doing is he’s letting them know, don’t be sad because you will have peace. Back it up a little bit in John 16. How about verse 7? Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, says Jesus speaking.
07:45 For if I go not away, the Comforter, capital C, will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. So John 16:7, Christ is telling the disciples, look, it’s good that I go away because right now I’m only here.
08:02 But when I go away, everyone that believes on me receives the Comforter. This is a good thing, the Holy Spirit. And then here is the role of the Holy Spirit, verses 8 through 11.
08:14 And when He come, when he has come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is judged.
08:27 And so we see here in John 16, the role of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit living within you when you got saved is the reason if you have been saved, that you have that umption about you, that conviction about you, that sin is an abhorrence to you, that sin is not right.
08:45 That’s the Holy Spirit living within you that reproves the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
08:54 That is the role of the Comforter. And we see the unbeliever here because the greatest sin to have is the sin of unbelief. Abraham was justified by what? His faith.
09:05 He was justified by faith. The Bible says it’s impossible to please God without faith. God wants us to know that he is not lying when in His word he provides us with a plan of salvation.
09:19 And God’s saying, I guess, to paraphrase, if you believe in me, you’ll accept my free gift of salvation. And if you have unbelief, you’re calling me a liar. You’re saying I’m not important to you.
09:32 And there’s nothing worse than that. Of judgment, verse 11 of John 16, of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. And see the prince of this world, who’s that? That’s the devil, the little G God of this world.
09:48 And you say, well, how did he become prince of this world? That happened, the garden of Eden, when he beguiled Adam and Eve, He tricked Adam and Eve, and they willingly ate of the forbidden fruit, and sin entered the picture.
10:05 And he took his place as the prince of this world, as the prince of the power of the air, the little G God of this world. And for this season, he is.
10:13 I mean, if you look at what’s popular in this world, if you look at what is pleasing to this world, is it not disgust, filth, perversion? Well, is that a coincidence? It’s not. That clearly points to Satan. But many in the world, they’re blinded because of unbelief.
10:31 They don’t have discernment. They cannot tell this. Once you’ve been saved and you seek the Lord, I believe he’ll provide that discernment through the working of the Holy Spirit to see it for what it is, to see all of the great iniquity, the great sin that is in this world, that is lifted up by the prince of this world.
10:50 And yet it will all be judged by the comforter, by Christ. Amen. We see that we no longer can have peace in this world without Christ.
11:04 We cannot do it. You say, was there ever a time? Yeah. In the Garden of Eden, before sin entered the picture, they had peace.
11:11 There was no death. It was a wonderful time, I imagine. They had everything they need.
11:16 And yet when sin entered the picture, there’s no peace. So who overcomes the world? Who provides peace? Jesus Christ. He is the one that provides peace.
11:24 He is the one that when we seek him, that we have peace. And until we get a hold of that, all we can do is run around in circle like a dog chasing his tail.
11:37 We can make a million laws and make a million pledges and take a million different pills and do everything under the sun, and we’ll never have peace in this world.
11:46 Nothing will bring peace but Jesus Christ alone. And when he brings peace, it is a peace like we’ve never seen or felt in our life. It’s a perfect peace.
11:58 And so many today are struggling saying, I just can’t find peace. I mean, I imagine people listening to this message, however many people are listening, that most, the majority of them do not truly have peace in their life. And I’m not saying that as an insult.
12:14 I’m saying that as one that often struggles with peace as well. Amen. It’s hard to have peace in a broken world, is it not? And what does Jesus tell us? That he has overcome the world.
12:26 Can we take him up on that here today? Can we seek Jesus Christ for peace in our life and for peace in other people’s lives that we love and we care about?
12:37 Can we not share Jesus with them so they can have that peace, so they can have victory over the demons and the enemies in their life?
12:41 There’s no more beautiful thing than seeing someone that was addicted to drugs, except Christ is their savior, have a change in their heart and turn away from that drug or that alcohol completely. It’s incredible. It’s supernatural.
12:54 And yet they have peace and fulfillment in Christ and not in the things of this world. True peace only comes from Christ. Why do we kid ourselves? We think, oh, if I only had this possession, this person, whatever it is, if I only had this dot, dot, dot, I’d have peace.
13:15 Let me tell you, anything other than Christ will not bring peace. The engineer of mankind designed it that way. God in his wisdom designed us as individuals to only have peace when we are seeking Him and close to Him.
13:30 It’s that simple. The designer made us like that. The Bible says, can the clay tell the potter what to do? Can the clay talk back to the potter? No.
13:43 And yet we try over and over again. And we need to come to terms with this reality that without Christ, there is no peace and that with Christ, there is perfect peace because he is the Prince of Peace. And again, not just for the holidays.
13:59 How about all year long? He’s the Prince of Peace. So lift him up here today. Turn to Christ here today.
14:03 Share Christ here today. Make him your top priority. Make him the destination for your peace and you will truly find it.
14:10 Tune in next time as we discover more about the peace of Christ. Thank you for listening.
14:14 Take care. God bless and Amen.