Forty some years ago the famous Scottish Baptist preacher Robert McCracken made this comment about the times in which he lived, he said: "These are days when fear is in the very air we breathe."

At the time the “super powers” were building up their nuclear arsenals at an alarming rate and were becoming embroiled in the Cold War.  Children were being taught how to duck and cover to protect themselves from nuclear fall out.  Many people were buying underground shelters and installing them in their back yards.  People were afraid.

If Robert McCracken were alive today, he would discover that times have not changed much and if he had a chance to comment about these days in which we live he would probably again say, "These are the days when fear is in the very air we breathe." You know it to be true - you could feel it especially in September and October of this year.  And the winds haven't changed much, fear is still in the very air we brea\the and we long for peace.

But where to look?  Where do we look for peace?  Do we look for peace in politics?  Do we look for peace in world powers?  Or technology?  Or the economy?  Or family?  

Well, given the events that are before us now these all seem very unlikely places in which to find peace.  Where are we to look?

It is at times like this that I rejoice that God has entrusted to us this glorious gospel.  Peace?  Of course we know where to look!  Oh, what a wonderful message we have for a war-torn, weary world.  The Prince of Peace has come.  His birth proclaimed by the angels singing,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace amongst men."

As the world is in desperate need of peace, what better message can we give than the message of Jesus Christ who gives a peace that not of this world?  In a world searching for peace we do no better than to point a steady finger to the one who by his cross reconciles us to God, and brings peace to a sin-sick soul.

Peace?  He has come.  He was proclaimed by the angels and prophesied of by the prophets.  Isaiah especially loved to speak of Him.  He lived in an age where there was a real shortage of peace too.  Fear was in the very air that his people breathed.

This kingdom and then that kingdom threatened the land of Israel.  It was a time of political upheaval and spiritual prostitution and oh, how the people longed for peace.  And in the midst of this, God gives Isaiah a vision of what we know as a present reality - a vision of one who's name would be “Prince of Peace”.

That is a significant title.  He isn't called the "Peddler of Peace", as if He handed out little portions of peace as a miser hands out gifts to the poor, counting every penny.  He isn't called the “Governor of Peace” as if His jurisdiction is only this small part of the country.

No, he is called the “Prince of Peace”.  It is a title given to Him by His Father, the King.  Peace is the Prince’s territory - it is all in His hands.  He oversees it, he administers it, preserves it, commands it and creates it.  Peace is under the Prince’s control.  He is the Prince of Peace.

We can understand the title even in our day for we have Prince Charles who is the Prince of Wales.  That is his own piece of the kingdom over which he has oversight.

Well, Jesus Christ is the "Prince of Peace".  Peace is His territory and if it is to be gained or possessed it is to be gained by his word and it is to be possessed through His authority.  Jesus Christ is the "Prince of Peace".

This morning let all of us who are weary and weak and fearful, let all of us who carry the burden of sin, let all of us who are weighted down by sleeplessness, worry and strain, let all of us gather together in the royal palace of the Prince and consider the great Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Think for a moment of the extent of His kingdom.  We witness its extent most clearly in Mark's gospel.  Beginning in chapter 4:35 all the way through to the end of chapter 5.  Here we see His kingdom stretches to every heart and touches every spirit of humanity and continues to stretch out into every sphere of life.

When we open our Bibles to these pages, it is as if Mark is giving us a royal tour of the extent of the kingdom belonging to the Prince of Peace.  He is showing us the borders of the kingdom.  And in the first number of verses here, beginning with 4:35, the Holy Spirit shows us that the kingdom of peace extends first to the natural world.

Here a great storm whips up on the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is asleep in the boat.  The disciples wrestle with the oars, as the waves come crashing up over the sides of the boat.  They shake the master out of His sleep.  “Teacher, don't you care if we drown?” they shout.

And the Prince of Peace stands and rebukes the wind.  "Quiet, be still," then the wind dies down and, says the text, "It was completely calm." Jesus is the Prince of Peace over the natural world.

But the tour does not end there for Mark takes us deeper to show us that the kingdom of Peace extends to the spiritual world.  Going across the lake to the region of the Geresenes, Jesus and the disciples dock the boat.  When Jesus gets out of the boat a man with an evil spirit comes running towards him from out of the nearby tombs.  He is a wild-looking character.  He is unkempt and half-naked, but he is a burly man able to break the chains that the local people had put on him.  Self-inflicted cuts cover his body.  His eyes are bloodshot and sunken into his head from lack of sleep and his voice is harsh from his crying out.

And this man approaches Jesus, throws himself at the feet of the Prince of Peace, who commands the evil spirits to be gone.  An interval of time passes so that by the time towns folk come to see the wild man (in verse 15) they see him sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.

It is a stark contrast from the description you have of the man in the opening verse of Chapter 5.  Why?  Because the Prince of Peace has come and declared his authority over the spiritual world.

But the tour does not end there.  The borders belonging to the Prince of Peace extend yet further - into the physical world.  Mark gives us two examples.  The first is a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of doctors and when she hears that Jesus is near she comes up behind Him to touch His cloak.  Believing that if she just touches Him, she will be healed.  And immediately her bleeding stops.  Jesus searches her out, she tells her story and Jesus gives her this benediction:

"Daughter your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:15) (NIV)

Beautiful.

To close the chapter we witness a commotion at the house of Jairus, a synagogue ruler.  His daughter is dead and people have gathered - crying, and wailing loudly, expressing their grief at such a loss.  But the Prince of Peace arrives and says,

" Why do you make a commotion and weep?  The child is not dead but sleeping." (Mark 5:39) (NRSV)

And by the touch of his hand and the words of his lips, the little girl is raised up.

How far does his Kingdom extend?  It extends into the natural world, and its borders surround the spiritual world, and encompass the physical world.  To every sphere of life known to humanity and even beyond, the Prince of Peace rules.

And the extent of the Kingdom of Peace has not diminished with the passing of time.  He still is crowned Prince of Peace - He is still in command.  He still gives peace to all those who seek Him with their whole heart.  Listen to His invitation:

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28) (NIV)

That invitation and promise still is valid today to all who are willing to call to Him.

But think not only of the extent of His kingdom of peace - think also of the quality of His kingdom of peace.  In this passage of Mark, we discover that the peace of Christ is, in the Apostle Paul's words, “a peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) (NIV).  The disciples did not fully understand what had happened to the sea when it became calm.  The peace Jesus brought was beyond anything the disciples had known - was totally outside the realm of the townspeople of the Geresenes and Jairus, and the rest, says the text, were completely astonished at Jesus' raising of his daughter from the dead.

This peace is not of this world.

And this is the good news.  For peace as the world commonly understands it comes when the spring sky is clear and the sun shines brightly, when the bank account is full, when the TSE is up, when the mind and body are free from ache and pain, and when the shores of a southern destination have been reached.  But this is not true peace.  I know people who have achieved all of that yet are still in turmoil.

The good news is that the peace Jesus brings is a calmness of soul amid the terrors of trouble, a serene quiet in the midst of the howling winds and thrashing waves.  We can understand the peace that comes when everything is going right.  But this, this is a peace that passes all understanding, a tranquility which comes to us in the midst of life's storms and life's fears.

A true peace.  This is the type of peace that enables Paul to sing praise to God while chained to the prison wall.  This is the type of peace I have experienced and witnessed as families have gathered to share their grief over the death of a loved one.  The Peace of Christ is a peace that passes all understanding.

But it remains - if the Prince of Peace has come and if the extent of the borders of His kingdom have been proclaimed and the quality of His peace has been displayed - why is there so little peace?

Is it all an illusion?  Where is the promised peace?  It would seem that as we enter the new year, that peace has been scared into hiding.  The peace was promised, but where is it?  Have we missed something?  And the answer is YES.  And it is this:

Peace in our lives and in our world depends on our relationship to the Prince.  He is gentle and humble and he will not force His authority upon anyone.  Peace is the fruit of our relationship with the Prince.  Here's a gardening truth - You cannot have a harvest if you first have not tilled the soil, and planted the seed.  Here's a spiritual truth - peace is the fruit of our relationship with the Prince - no relationship, no fruit.  No relationship, no peace.  There are an awful lot of people out there who are trying to bring in the harvest of peace, but they haven't prepared the field and planted the seed first.  They need to have a relationship first with Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

You find this teaching throughout the word of God.  Isaiah says:

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3) (NIV)

Again in Romans 5:1:

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace. (Romans 5:1) (NIV)

In every one of those passages and in a thousand more, peace is declared to be not a root but a fruit, the fruit of a personal rightness with God through full surrender to Jesus Christ.

Again, the Prince of Peace will not force peace upon anyone.  It is rather a gift He bestows upon all those who bow their knee to His lordship and bring their soul to be redeemed by His saving grace.

Peace in our world.  It is possible - but only as each individual comes to the throne of grace and submits his or her life to Christ.

Let me just say a word about personal peace.  If you have given yourself to Christ and you feel hard-pressed, beaten, tired, worn out and weary, fearful, you need to realize two things.

One is that if you truly are a follower of Christ you should expect difficulty.  The world isn't happy that you are a follower of Christ.  Jesus says that because you do not belong to the world, and have been chosen out of the world by Him, the world hates you (John 15:19).  Not only is the world not happy with you, but Satan certainly isn't happy that you are a follower of Christ and both are out to devour you and seek to destroy you and your relationship with the Prince of Peace.

Two, (and this is the best part) realize in your heart that the Prince of Peace is greater than the prince of darkness.  Have faith in the fact that He who has taken up residence in your heart is greater than the one who is in the world.  (I John 4:14).  Have faith in the fact that while we may have troubles in this world that the one in whom we trust and the one in whom we rest has overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

Our security and peace is based not on our circumstances, but on whom we are within those circumstances.

Rev.  Charles Price speaks of a time when he was home alone with his children.  He had them in bed at the right time and he was in the living room reading the paper.  But he heard his daughter, then 4 or 5.  He heard her scream.  They had been in bed for over an hour, he assumed she was asleep.  He rushed to her door, switched on the light.  She was half sitting up in bed and she was terrified.

Rev. Price said:

"I sat on the end of the bed, and I put my arm around her and I said, 'Laura what is the matter?' She said, 'There's somebody in the cupboard.'

'There's nobody in the cupboard.'

She persisted, 'No.'

'You've had a nasty dream.'

'NO! There is someone in the cupboard.'

'Laura, there's no one in the cupboard just settle down.'

And as she calmed in my arms holding on tightly to me, suddenly in the silence, I heard a noise in the cupboard.  And I thought to myself, There's someone in the cupboard.  I looked at Laura, her eyes were the size of saucers.  I went to the cupboard, put two hands on each of the handles and opened the cupboard.

"I looked down and there was the cat - locked in the cupboard.  So he picked up the cat and threw it out the window, or put it out the window.  I went and sat down, and said, 'That was a nasty fright.  Who locked the cat in the cupboard, naughty cat.  Now you settle down and go back to sleep.'

And she said, 'But I'm scared.'

I said, 'I know you've had a nasty fright, but it was only the cat.'

She said, 'I know, but I'm still afraid.'

'But the cat's gone, you saw it go.  It will be landing shortly.'

She said, 'But I'm still afraid.  Will you stay with me?'

'But I don't need to stay, you'll be fine the cat’s gone.'

'I want you to stay.'

'Why do you want me to stay ?'

'Because if you stay I won't be afraid anymore.'

'Why not?'

'Because you are not afraid and I won't be.' "

He stayed and she was asleep in 10 minutes.  What she was saying was this - there is something that has frightened me.  There is something that is bigger than me.  But it doesn't frighten you and it's not bigger than you.  So if you are here, I can go to sleep.

You know what Paul says - don't be anxious about anything but (the biggest little word, the hinge that changes everything) - but present the situation to God and say, "Father, it does frighten me.  Thank you that it doesn't frighten you, nothing frightens you.  You are not above the bright blue sky but have made your home my heart.  Thank you for your sufficiency.  Thank you that whatever happens in my life, I trust you."  Instead of anxiety there is peace.

It is true that in these days fear is in the very air we breathe - but hear the good news of Christmas - the Peace has come in the person of Jesus Christ.  Trust Him, follow Him, allow Him to live fully in your life and you will have the peace that passes all understanding.  Amen.

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - December 2001