Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekend Sermon. I hope and pray that everyone has had a very good week. It is good to be able to post the sermon this week.
This has been a good week in writing, and I am thankful to the Lord for that. I don't have too much to report. I'm just going about the normal course of life.
As you go to prayer this week, please pray for the families of those who lost loved ones in the boating accident in the Branson, Missouri area. Pray that the mercy and peace of Jesus will be with these people.
Please pray for those in Iowa who are recovering from storm damage. Also, please pray that the terrible wildfires that are plaguing California will be extinguished. Pray that the fires that are occurring in Greece with be extinguished, and pray for those who were injured that they might recover.
Continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico who are trying to get back on their feet. Pray for those in the eastern part of the United States who have experienced flooding.
Let us all pray for peace in the troubled areas of our world. Pray for peace in South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Please pray that all of the children who were separated from their parents at the border will be able to be reunited with those who they should be reunited with. This should not have happened.
There are efforts being made to greatly weaken the protections that animals have under the Endangered Species Act in the United States. Please pray that good will prevail, and animals will be protected.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us all pray for Mauritania and Bahrain. Pray that many will come to faith in Jesus.
For the last few weeks, we have been discussing who Jesus is. Today, we will focus on the fact that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
In Isaiah 9:6, a prophecy was made by Isaiah regarding the characteristics of the Messiah. One of the phrases used to described the coming Messiah was that He would be called the Prince of Peace. Jesus definitely fulfilled this prophecy in more than one way, and I would like us to look into this today.
The first way that we can think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace or the man of peace is by the way of peace that He promoted in His teachings. Jesus taught the way of non-violence and peacefulness. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us to do good to those who do wrong to us. He told His followers to turn the other cheek and to go the extra mile. He instructed us to end the practice of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus taught us to do unto others as we would have done to us.
Jesus lived out His teachings during the course of His ministry on this earth. He was beaten and abused by the soldiers before He was crucified. However, Jesus did not rage against those who abusing Him. Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him.
On one occasion, Jesus was passing through the region of Samaria with His disciples. The people in one particular Samaritan village did not want Jesus to stay with them because Jesus was headed to Jerusalem. This action made two of Jesus disciples furious. They asked Jesus if He wanted them to call down fire from Heaven and burn them all up.
Jesus sternly rebuked His disciples for this type of thinking. He said that they didn't know the spirit they were of by making such a remark.
In the Beatitudes, Jesus said that the peacemakers are among those who are blessed. We will be honored by God if we seek to make peace with others.
Those who are followers of Jesus should be the ones who are actively seeking peace in this world. Those who name the name of Jesus should not promote violence and warfare. We are to seek out the ways in which reconciliation can be accomplished between people and nations.
It is very troubling to me when Christians are engaged in promoting war and weapons. This is not the way that Jesus taught. Jesus didn't teach that we should all be armed. He calls to live out the way of peace in all of our relationships so that we might bring others to peace.
One way that Christians can promote peace in the world is by doing as much good as possible to make this world a better place. When we reach out to others in love, it produces a change in heart that leads others to the way of peace and to the way of Jesus Christ.
Now, there is another way in which we can see that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus has come to bring peace to people's hearts. He does this for both those who are His followers and those who are not yet His followers.
Those who have not accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord cannot know true peace. Jesus is the only one that can bring true peace to the human heart because He is the only one who provides forgiveness of sins and reconciliation between the sinner and God. When a sinner is restored to fellowship with God, the peace of God can then fill that person's heart.
Jesus is our peace. Jesus said in John 14:27 that He was leaving us with His peace. We can have the peace of knowing that Jesus is always with us no matter what we are going through. He will strengthen us and help us through all the storms of life. No matter what we face, Jesus is always with us to speak peace into the troubles of our lives.
Now there is an ultimate way in which Jesus is the Prince of Peace. One day, Jesus will come again in power and great glory. Every eye will see Him. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
When Jesus comes again, He will bring peace to all the world and to the entire created order. Nation will no longer rise against nation. People will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. War will be studied no more. The lion will lie down with the lamb. All will be at peace.
Jesus will sit on the throne in Jerusalem and bring justice, peace, mercy and goodness to the entire world. All will be as it was intended when the universe was first created.
I hope that you know the peace in your heart that only Jesus can bring. I invite you to turn your life over to Him today. Jesus will change your life, and He will make you whole.
Next week, we will continue with our current series of messages. On Monday, I will post the verses. I will post the next chapter of my book about Toby on Wednesday Lord willing. May God bless you all. Amen.
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