TRANSCRIPTION | Sunday, December 12, 2021 | A Wise Christmas Series | Peace

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

I get to preach this morning. I know I said last week I was going to be doing a little bit of a series. And I guess that this message would fit within that vein, but I'm really not so much worried about that. Because last night I was getting ready to prepare for this morning's message and I just felt the Lord completely changed the direction that I was headed in. So, late last night, rewrote my thoughts that I have to share with you today, and what I'd like to do is go to the Christmas story and drop an anchor, but I'm going to read two other verses of scripture as well. And what I'm believing the Lord's going to help me to do is to take three braids here, three cords of scripture, and just braid them together. And I believe you're going to leave here with something today that won't be easily broken in your spirit as you work out what God's got for you.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Luke 2:8 says: "And now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over the flock by night and behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shown around them and they were greatly afraid. And then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, Goodwill to men." One of the things that marked the arrival of Jesus Christ on earth, a baby, the son of God, to be brought through the womb of a virgin was that peace was going to be made manifest on earth. That's the cradle.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

But now I want you to see the cross. John 14:27. not long after this passage was spoken by Jesus, he would be departing the earth through the means of the cross and his resurrection. And he said, this: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give, so let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And now we step into new Testament living. We've went from the cradle to the cross, but now Paul has something to say in one of the letters that he would write to the Colosians. Chapter 3:15: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." So, I'm sure it's obvious at this point, I'd like to talk to you this morning about peace. Father, help me to preach, help me to share God the word according to your will and I pray God that I would have a special unction, that I would have an anointing that allows me, God, to lead your people into a place of encounter and experience with you. Provoke us to our next step in you, Father, whatever that might be in Jesus' name and this church said, amen.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

A few years ago, I was invited by a university to come and to speak to an assembly of their students. The way it actually wound up is I got to speak to every freshman that was in that university. And in addressing that crowd of students, I was intrigued to as even though it was a Christian university, there were hundreds of students that had no previous relationship with Jesus. In fact, many of them were from other nations and had never attended church in any way, shape, form, or fashion.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And so my assignment was to speak to that group of kids about peace and within the vein of doing that, I was to present the gospel. I was really intrigued when I got to the end of the message and I gave an opportunity for people to accept Christ as savior, to make the decision, to go all in with Jesus and to follow him with their whole heart, their whole mind, their whole soul. There were many, many students that surrendered to God in that moment.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Intriguing that their decision to follow Jesus was directly connected to their desire for peace. It seemed is like to me that whether you're young or you're old, whether you're a college student or you're well established in your career, that there are still a lot of people that are searching for peace. And so if you're going to talk about peace, I think you have to define peace, especially if you're delivering it in the context of a message or a sermon. What is peace?

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

I think a lot of people associate peace with a calm or a calmness, a lack of fear or being void of anxiety. Some people would say that peace is the absence of war. If you go to Webster's dictionary, the definition that they provide is this, that peace is freedom from disturbance. Freedom from disturbance. But you need to hear what Jesus had to say about peace.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

In John 16:33, Jesus said this, "These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Here's what Jesus implies, that you can have peace despite disturbance. Because what Jesus is saying is that if you are in him, you will have peace even though as you are in the world, you will have tribulation. What Jesus seems to be implying is that if you will position your life in him, he will encapsulate you. He will bubble you in such a way that it doesn't matter what kind of hell is breaking loose to the north, the south, the east and the west, you can still have peace despite the world's tribulation.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

In 1555, there's a story about a man by the name of Dr. Nicholas Ridley. He was a strong Christian. He was a decreer of the word of God. And the nation of England took issue with his preaching. And so they decided they would actually kill him. Martyr him as a heretic. The means by which they decided they would take his life was by tying him to a stake and setting him on fire while he was still alive. They were going to burn him at the stake.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

The night before the date has been set for this horrific death, Dr. Ridley's brother came to see him. He said, "Nicholas, I know that this has got to be a traumatic thing that you're up against, and I just want you to know, I'm going to offer to spend the night with you and I'll stay here. I'll talk to you. I'll be as much comfort as I possibly can be and we're going to help you get through this night, as you face this impending doom tomorrow morning."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And Nicholas told his brother, he said, "Go on home. I intend, God willing, to go to bed and sleep as quietly tonight as I ever did." Friend, that's peace. When you come to the realization that if I go, or if I stay I'm a winner either way, because I got Jesus. And that settles it, Dr. Ridley, his example was taken from scripture. Because in the Book of Acts, as the early church began to grow, the government took issue with it. And they decided that they were going to begin to martyr leaders of the early church.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

In fact, the leader of the church at Jerusalem was a man by the name of James and the king took him and beheaded him and there was such a positive reaction from the crowds that he decided that he would take another strong leader and also kill him. He selected Simon Peter. 16 soldiers apprehended him. They put him in prison and they set the date for his beheading.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

But scripture says the night before his life was to be taken, Simon Peter laid down, made himself comfortable in the bed, and went to sleep. In fact, when unexpected miraculous provision came to save him from this impending death, the angel had trouble waking Simon Peter up because he was so sound asleep. Friend, that is peace. And the kind of peace that I'm describing is not only a kind of piece that we most in our own lives never had to try to experience because we've not been threatened with martyrdom, but it is yet still a level of peace that most of us don't have an association with.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

It's not something that we can personally claim in the realm of peace. And so my question becomes why don't most people have the peace that God planned for them? I think Isaiah helps us with the answer. Isaiah 59:2, the prophet said, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So, the only way to have peace is to be in proper relationship with God. But according to the prophet, if we allow sin to rule and reign in our life, it will separate us from God. And so if we are separated from God, we are by default, separated from peace. The way that Paul talked about this in Romans 8:6, he said, "If you're carnally minded, you're going to experience death. But if you are spiritually minded, you're going to experience life and peace." God did not make you and me like robots. He gave us a free will. We get to make decisions. And every day we decide whether we are going to allow our mind to be drawn to the things that are carnal, or whether we are going to allow our mind to be drawn to the things that are spiritual.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And what scripture is saying to us is that if we dwell on the worldly things, the carnal things long enough, then we're going to experience a deathlike environment around us. And then ultimately you could take that theologically as far as you want to, it ends in ultimate death. But the thing you got to know is that if you will choose spiritual mindedness and you will dwell on the things of the word, instead of things of the world, you will wind up living in life that is abundant and live in a life that is full of peace.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Adam and Eve were doing great with peace until they became carnally minded and the result was they were separated from God. From then until now, from then until now, we seek inner peace. We're searching for it. We're longing for it. Some of you are searching for peace through a self-help book. Some of you are searching for peace through counseling. Some of you, your search for peace is through clinical support or through medicine.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

It's not necessarily bad to seek out any of those things. But the thing that we have to understand is that true peace, ultimate peace, can only be attained through proper relationship with God. And the good news for you and me is First Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men and that is Jesus Christ." And First Peter 3:18 adds to it, says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So, we had a problem. God was over here and man was over there and Jesus stepped into the world through a cradle and ultimately made himself available to a cross and said, "I'm going to get man from over there to over here where God is at and I'm going to get God from over here to over there, where man is at."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And he the mediator in a once and for all sacrifice and he became the only way that we can truly experience peace. The amazing thing is that he made that available to us before we even knew we needed it. Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Before you and me even knew that we needed Jesus, he was taking care of stuff for us. And some of you have spent the last several years of your life trying to find peace and you didn't find it at the bottom of a bottle, and you didn't find it in a bedroom, and you didn't find it in your career, and you haven't found it in the network, and you didn't find it in how many followers you had and you didn't find it in how many likes you got on your last status update in your social media feed.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

But if you will surrender your life to Jesus, you will discover it doesn't matter how far away you are, he will reach further down than you can reach up and drag you back into a relationship with God. And when he pulls you into the presence of your heavenly father, there comes a peace that is not of this world.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Heard the story of a young man. He went to high school, went to college, and he wanted to enhance his relationship with God. And so he's trying to figure out, "How do I really get where I need to be with God?" Because I just don't have the peace that I want and that I desire and that I long for. So, he came up with an idea. He said, "I'm going to make a list." And so he wrote all the things that he was going to do for God throughout his life and the list filled several pages and when he felt like he finally had it complete, he took his list and he brought it to an altar and he laid it on the altar.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

But when he got up from the altar, he still didn't have peace. And so he thought the list must not be long enough. So he went and he found him another private place and he began to write down all the things that he was going to do for God and he added to it and he added to it and he added to it. And now it's full of pages, after pages, after pages of all the things he's got to do for God. And he brings it and he lays it back on the altar. But when he got up, he still didn't have peace.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And so he went to see an older, seasoned man of God. And he explained his dilemma. He said, "I'm searching for peace with God, but I can't find it." He said, "I've made lists and I've written out everything I'm going to do for God and I've put it on the altar as a sign of surrender." And he said, "I just still can't seem to experience the peace."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And the old pastor took out a blank sheet of paper and he pushed it across the desk. The young man, he said, "Here. Sign that." So, the young man signed his name to the blank sheet of paper. And the pastor said, "Now take that and lay it on the altar."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And the young man brought his blank sheet of paper and bowing before God he laid it on the altar. And when he got up, he felt a peace that he had never before in his entire life. Because in that moment, it was no longer about his agenda. It was no longer about his ambition. It was no longer about his ideas. At that moment, he decided, God, I'm all in. And whatever, whenever you want me, or you decide to do something through me, God, I am yours. In that moment, that young man fully embraced Romans 8:28, that we know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and to those who are called according to his purpose. And I came to challenge somebody this morning to give God your blank sheet of paper and give him the contract that he's been waiting for all along and finally let him have his way in your life.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

I need to talk to you about something. I need to take you back to that verse that we read, that verse round about the cross. John 14:27. Look at it again. Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give, let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Let me give you just a handful of takeaways from that short verse. Here's the first thing that I see. There is peace on earth. John 14:27. Peace I leave with you. When Jesus came to the earth, the angels showed up round about the cradle and said, "Peace is now on earth." And when it came time for Jesus to depart on the other side of the cross and his resurrection, he said, "I'm leaving peace behind. I'm not taking it with me."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So, there is peace on earth. Second thing that I learned is that God's peace is given to you. John 14:27. "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you." So, it's not just that peace is on earth. Jesus has decided to distribute peace to his followers. It's like a gift packaged and delivered to you. The third thing that I learned from that verse is trouble doesn't have to trouble you.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"Peace I leave with you. Peace I give to you. Let not your art be troubled." It tells me that it doesn't matter what kind of trouble is breaking loose around me, I get to make the decision that I'm not troubled by the trouble because I have peace on earth and it's been given to me. Don't be troubled by the trouble. The fourth thing that I learned from that verse is fear is a personal decision. "Peace I leave with you. Peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid." Jesus would not tell you to do something that you could not do.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So, he has told you that fear is a choice. Paul put it this way. "God has not given you the spirit of fear, but he has given you power and he's given you love and he's given you a sound mind." Jesus is saying to you that the trouble doesn't have to trouble you because I've given you peace that can be like a hedge of protection roundabout your heart, roundabout your mind, roundabout your emotions, and it doesn't matter.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

All that mess that's happening. You get to make the decision. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me, they anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Come on, somebody. You don't have to live in fear. And if you are choosing to live in fear, it is a personal decision.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So, what do you do? You have to let God's peace rule in you. Colosians 3:15: "And let the peace of God rule in you." So, Jesus is defined as the prince of peace. It means that peace is under his domain. He proved that he could speak even to a storm and decree peace be still. So, Jesus is the governor of peace as the prince of peace and he has already told you through the passages that we are evaluating this morning that when he left earth, he left peace behind. And he explained to you that he gave that peace to you and because he gave that peace to you, you can decide to not be troubled by the trouble, and you can make the personal decision to not live in fear. Why?

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Because Paul helps you pull the packaging off of the gift and understand all I got to do is peace rule in my heart.That it's not just on earth and it's not just with me, but it's in me. It's in my heart and it will guard my heart from the mess of this world that tries to make me afraid of everything that is coming and going so that I literally lay awake at night in panicked sweats with anxiety, trying to figure out whether I'm coming or I'm going. I don't have to worry about any of that because I understand he's my author and he's my finisher. He's my beginning. And he's my end. And I will take my next steps according to his will and his word for my life.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

I think the writer of Proverbs helps us tremendously. Proverbs 3:5, he says, "You need to trust in the Lord and you don't need to lean to your own understanding." Lean not to your own understanding, but just keep acknowledging God, and he'll direct your ways. So, I just need to ask you this morning, which way are you leaning? Are you leaning into the world or are you leaning into the word? Are you leaning into your understanding or are you leaning into God's revelation?

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Because how you answer that question will directly determine whether or not you are walking and living in peace. It all starts with making that initial decision that you are going to lean into a personal relationship with Jesus. And some of us have got a better relationship with our news feed than we do the voice of God. Lean not to your own understanding. They're going to play some music. I'm going to share one story with you.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Heard the story. It's war time. It's a real issue. Nation being devastated by war. And there was the engineer of a train that was given a message to deliver. And the revelation came that if that message could get through, it would have a profound impact on that war. What's the only problem? The route of rail that had to be taken for delivery were dangerous. It was extremely challenging and trying, and especially when you put the speed with which they would have to travel into account to get this message through.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

The train didn't have very many passengers, but for the passengers that were on the train, they were freaking out. They would go around these big curves and it would feel like surely the train would topple over and people began to be nervous and they began to be anxious and peace was far from the passengers on that train. In fact, sometimes they would go over these mountainous regions and as they would begin to gain steam, it almost like gravity was losing its hold on the train and people would feel for sure that they were going to take flight to their demise.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

No peace on that train as they tried to deliver this message. Except for one place. In the midst of the adult passengers was a little baby girl and she had her little doll out and she was just having fun and squealing and playing. The adults were baffled by it. There was one grandmother in particular, she became so confused by what she was witnessing in the little girl, she had to ask a question.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"Baby girl, are you not scared?"

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"Well, no."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

About that time, the train went over another big hill. Wee!

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"Honey, you mean that this doesn't scare you?"

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"No."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"Well, could you please tell me why? Because grandma needs some help."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And the little girl looked at this old lady and she said, "Don't you know? My daddy's the engineer." Now y'all are slow. It's amazing. The peace comes with knowing your parents at the wheel. Of knowing daddy's got this. There's some kind of peace that just doesn't even make sense. Sounds real familiar.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Paul decided to talk to the church at Philippi about it. Chapter 4:7. "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus." I say, give me some of that. To where it doesn't even make sense to the world and all hell can be breaking loose around you and you will stand there with an internal calmness that the world will never be able to explain. It can only be experienced. And it comes not as a thing, but through a person and his name is Jesus. And he invites you into relationship this morning to experience a peace that surpasses understanding.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Come on, every head bowed, every eye closed. I have seen a great number of people this morning make a decision that they're not going into tomorrow without peace. I've seen a great number of people this morning, make the decision that they are going to make sure that they do not leave a worship gathering today far from God or separated from God. And maybe this morning that defines your current spiritual status, that you feel separated from God. You feel far from God. I would challenge you right now, wherever you're at, whether you're listening on a radio or you're watching online or you're in this room that you would just throw your hand up in the air and you would say:

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

"God, I surrender. I surrender to your work as savior.I surrender to your work as Lord. I don't want to be far from you. In fact, God, in lifting my hand to you, I'm reaching out to you. And God, I celebrate the fact that you're going to reach further down than I can reach up. I celebrate God that as I repent of my sin, that your grace is going to much more abound in my life."

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

Somebody today, maybe you don't know how to pray, but I just want to help you pray for a minute. And if at any moment you just feel the unction to the holy spirit to put that hand up in the air, then I would challenge you to be bold and not to be tentative and to keep it up and let God know that there's a heart connected to that hand that needs his grace and his peace. Father, we repent of our sin, we repent God of anything that's separated us from you. We repent God of the things that have pushed us far from you, even drawn us away from proper relationship with you.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

And we thank you that you would send your son to be a mediator between heaven and earth, between God and man, between us and you. And God, we just thank you that today we get to walk across the bridge of the cross and that you will embrace us with your love and you will cause, even now God, old things to pass away and everything to become new again. That God, right now, you're dealing with our record books in heaven and you are applying the blood of your son Jesus to every situation and God, we thank you that we get to yoke up with your ride, father, and that you're going to take us through the pathway of life and even when it seems narrow and even when it seems treacherous, and even when it seems that demise is surely imminent, that God, we will trust in you as our father and

 God, we will celebrate with child like faith that if you be for us, it doesn't matter who or what would be against us.

Pastor Eric Gilbert:

So God, as we arise as a new creature in Christ Jesus, as we arise, born again through the work of salvation, we pray, God, that we will walk in a peace that passes understanding, that you will encapsulate us in your peace, that you will hedge us with your peace, that it will be protection round about our heart and our mind. Guard us today, God, with your peace. Let it be done in Jesus's holy matchless, wonderful name. The prince of peace. And this church said, come on, stand with me to your feet and let's give God praise! He's the Waymaker! Miracle worker. Come on, give him! Give him some praise from a heart that overflows with peace. A heart that overflows with peace. Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper-