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[0:00] He is risen. Risen indeed. Amen works too. If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter 20.

[0:21] ! If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles in the pews that you can use. And if you don't own a Bible, please take that Bible home today as a gift from our church to you. And our hopes that you'll continue to be reading God's Word. John chapter 20, verses 19 through 23 be the text for this morning's sermon.

[0:40] And if you are there, would you please stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word together. John chapter 20, verses 19 through 23. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

[1:11] Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

[1:29] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. May God add a blessing to the reading of his Word. Would you please be seated? When I say peace, what image pops into your mind?

[1:52] Maybe you've conjured up a picturesque scene like one of those landscapes in a Bob Ross painting.

[2:04] Maybe you're thinking of someone like Bob Ross, who at least appeared to be soft-spoken, carefree, and content. Maybe peace to you invokes the thought of a change to your present circumstances.

[2:23] Having that thing that's causing you to worry, to just poof and vanish. Perhaps peace to you means getting a promotion and a raise and a greater sense of security.

[2:40] Maybe if you're a parent, when you think of peace, you imagine yourself sitting on a couch in a clean house, with all your laundry done and put away and the floor is sparkling.

[2:59] And all the kids are somewhere else. Maybe when you think of peace, you think of leisure. Maybe when you think of peace, you think of peace.

[3:36] They would be images where there is an absence of worry, an absence of conflict, and an absence of turmoil.

[3:53] Isn't that the way that most people understand peace? It's situational. The belief is that peace is experienced, it's felt, it's internalized, only when your external circumstances are free of worry and conflict and turmoil.

[4:13] But in this world, in this day, that's hard to come by, isn't it? We live in a world that is filled with upheaval in every sector.

[4:24] Every day, our news feeds are full of stories about political, economic, and social unrest.

[4:35] Stories about wars and rumors of wars. Wildfires, tornadoes, and other natural disasters that devastate people's lives.

[4:47] Sudden and horrifying acts of terror at home and abroad. Shootings in schools, in churches, in workplaces, in neighborhoods.

[4:59] Different people have different beliefs about how to resolve those things, and that creates more conflict and upheaval. Adding more worry to our worry.

[5:15] How can we experience peace in a world like this? Can we have peace in a world like this?

[5:31] In John 14, Jesus meets with his disciples. They've just shared their last meal together. And Jesus uses those last precious moments with these men who gave up everything to follow him to prepare them for the worst day of their lives.

[5:54] A day when he, their teacher, their Lord, their master, their friend, would be arrested, tortured, crucified, and die.

[6:09] And as he prepares them for that day, which was just hours away, he says something that seems strange, given the present external circumstances.

[6:23] In John 14, 27 through 28, Jesus says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you.

[6:36] Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father.

[6:49] For the Father is greater than I. Now, how did the disciples act in response to this statement when Jesus was arrested and crucified?

[7:01] Well, in the same way many of us would and still do, they deserted him. They denied their association with him as they distanced themselves from him and the world that was hostile to them for their association with Jesus.

[7:26] In John chapter 20, we find the disciples again hiding behind locked doors on that first Easter Sunday in the evening.

[7:41] Why were they hiding? Why were they behind locked doors? Well, they were filled with worry over the conflict and the turmoil which surrounded them outside of those locked doors.

[7:57] They were not at peace. But as we've already read and we'll soon see in greater detail, Jesus, now resurrected, would completely change all of that with his presence and with his words.

[8:16] And so the main idea for this morning's sermon is this. The main thing I hope that you take away from our time together this morning is that Jesus brings peace. Jesus brings peace.

[8:28] Speaking about the birth of Jesus hundreds of years before it happened, Isaiah prophesied and he said this, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

[8:55] On the night of Jesus' birth, the angels proclaimed the good news to the shepherds, again emphasizing the peace that Jesus would bring.

[9:07] They said, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but the kind of peace that he brings is a different kind of peace than you might expect.

[9:26] It's a better peace. It's a truer peace. It's a peace that begins the moment of salvation and it stretches on into eternity.

[9:38] Do you know this peace? Do you have this peace? How is the peace that Jesus brings better and truer?

[9:49] Well, I hope to answer that question this morning for you from God's word. And my prayer is that at the end, you will know, you will have, you will possess this peace that does not depend upon your external circumstances, but on the truth, on the reality that Jesus Christ has come, Jesus Christ has died, and Jesus Christ has risen, and he is coming again.

[10:22] Faith in the reality of Jesus' resurrection is a truth that brings inward peace, no matter how chaotic your external circumstances may be.

[10:37] And so God's word today presents us with four facts about the kind of peace that Jesus brings. Fact number one, Jesus brings peace with God.

[10:52] Jesus brings peace with God. Look again at verse 19 with me. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.

[11:14] Jesus' first words to the disciples are interesting to me. Have you ever achieved something that no one thought you could do or doubted that you could do it?

[11:31] And then when you did achieve it, weren't you tempted to go back to those people who doubted you and brag a little bit about how you proved all of them wrong?

[11:44] I'm from Kansas City. The home of your Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs. And you know, before last year, before the season began, the Chiefs lost some critical key players, some valuable players, and people doubted that the Chiefs would be able to make it back to the Super Bowl.

[12:09] And then when they did, almost all of the experts predicted that the Eagles would win. And I watched the Super Bowl celebration from my office here in Bartlesville, and when each Chiefs member of the front office came up to give their speech, when each player came up to give their speech, that was the theme.

[12:33] They were talking about how they proved all of their doubters wrong. They did it. They were bragging. They were boasting. But then they would all say something like this at the end.

[12:45] They would look at the fans who had gathered around and they would say to them, this is for you. We did this for you. And I'm sitting in my office and I'm thinking, well, where's my Super Bowl ring then?

[13:01] When do I get to hoist the Lombardi trophy? You know, none of those guys know who I am. Andy Reid, in his pregame speech before the Super Bowl, wasn't saying something like, you know what, guys?

[13:16] We really need to go out there and win this one for Mike Scrivani. We really need to do it for him. They have no idea who I am. When Jesus enters that locked room and appears to his worried and fearful disciples, he doesn't say, I did it.

[13:39] I told you so. He doesn't refer to himself at all. He addresses his disciples and what does he say to them?

[13:51] Peace be with you. I've achieved peace for you. That statement, that greeting compliments the last statement that he made from the cross right before he died when Jesus cried out, it is finished.

[14:11] What do those two statements mean? What did Jesus finish? What kind of peace did that bring or does that bring to us? The Bible says that all of our conflicts, both internally and externally, both personal and interpersonal, are due to the fact that human beings in their natural state are born enemies of God, their creator.

[14:39] the Bible says that when Adam and Eve exchanged the truth of God for a lie that sin entered into the world and ever since, we have all inherited a sin nature from our first parents.

[14:56] Romans 5.12 says, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, all people because all have sinned.

[15:11] We are born with a disposition to please ourselves, to be our own gods, to be our own authority of truth, our own determiner of what is right and what is wrong.

[15:27] the rebellious nature that we're born with sets us at odd immediately with our perfect, righteous creator who cannot overlook sin.

[15:41] His justice demands that sin be punished. Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6.23 adds, for the wages of sin is death.

[15:56] The Bible says, we cannot create peace with God because our best efforts on our best day during our best hour are nothing but filthy rags compared to His holiness.

[16:08] As Isaiah 64.6 says, we have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away.

[16:23] In our sinful state, we cannot be reconciled. We cannot have peace with God no matter how hard we try.

[16:34] We all fall short of His holiness, of His perfect standard of righteousness. It would be like if we had a competition.

[16:46] We came back later tonight. I don't know if the moon's going to be visible. Let's just say that it will be. And we all went out into the parking lot and we had a competition. And the competition would be to see who could jump up and touch the moon.

[17:01] None of us would be able to do that. Sure, some of us would come closer than others would come. Cameron would probably be the one that would come the closest.

[17:15] But none of us would come close. in the same way, we all fall short.

[17:27] And not just short. Way short. Woefully short. Hopelessly short of God's righteous standard.

[17:40] We all sin and we all sin all the time. sin and the penalty of sin is death and eternal separation from God in hell.

[17:53] And that is all very, very bad news. But thankfully there's good news. I read the first verse in Romans 3.23.

[18:05] Let me read that and the two that follow. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

[18:26] This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. So what we see here is that God took the initiative in pursuing peace with us by sending his son Jesus to the earth and Jesus lived the perfect sinless life.

[18:49] His crucifixion paid for the sins of all who trust in him as the Bible says. 2 Corinthians 5.21 For our sake he, God the Father made him God the Son to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

[19:08] The Bible says that Jesus' resurrection guarantees our justification before God in Romans 4.25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

[19:25] Jesus is the one who by his sinless life his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection gives us peace with God. That's why the message of salvation the good news this gospel is called the gospel of peace.

[19:43] Peace with God means that our greatest sin debt has been paid and it's been paid in full. Colossians 2.13 through 15 say and you speaking of Christians and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh God made alive together with him having forgiven all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

[20:16] This he set aside nailing it to the cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him on the cross Jesus purchased peace with God for us he atoned for our sins he endured God's wrath for sins that's why he said it is finished and when he entered the locked room where his fearful disciples were gathered he said to them peace be with you because through his resurrection that is what he secured for those who put their faith in him Romans 5 1-2 tell us therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God

[21:20] Jesus is the kind of savior who shares his victory with his people he shares his glory he gives us peace with God and hope for a future resurrection when he returns for his bride the church to bring his people into his eternal and everlasting peace he saves us he transforms us from enemies of God to children to children of God a part of the family of God when you trust in Jesus Christ he removes your sin and he clothes you with his righteousness he brings you peace with God forever and that results in the next fact the second fact about the peace that Jesus brings Jesus brings peace to yourself Jesus brings peace to yourself let's look at verse 20 once more when he had said this he showed them his hands and his side then the disciples were glad when they saw the

[22:35] Lord now imagine imagine being one of the disciples in that moment you've acted very badly when Jesus asked you to pray for him in the garden of Gethsemane as he anguished to the point of sweating drops of blood knowing he would soon consume the cup of God's wrath on the cross he found you asleep then when he was arrested and he was taken away you ran and you hid and you followed from a distance Peter was in that room Peter denied knowing Jesus three times to save his own skin and now here you all are hiding behind a locked door a room full of double crossing scaredy cats and the one whom you betrayed is standing now in your presence how would you feel now I went to a pretty rough middle school and when

[24:02] I say I went to a rough middle school I mean that one of my classmates punched out our associate principal and that was just kind of like something that happened fights every day it was a tough school in eighth grade my science teacher was named Mr.

[24:21] Long and Mr. Long was old school Mr. Long would not tolerate any kind of the bad behavior that our other teachers would and I remember one day Mr.

[24:34] Long told us that he would be gone for a couple of days and we would have a substitute and he sternly warned us that we had better be on our best behavior otherwise there would be consequences when Mr.

[24:57] Long returned he began class by holding a note in his hand and he walked out from behind his desk and he held out this note and he said I have here in my hand a note from the substitute and before I read this note I'm going to give you a chance to confess there was a moment of silence and then for the next five to ten minutes we all confessed to doing things like chewing gum we weren't allowed to have gum passing notes stealing things out of the cabinets shooting spit wads and it just went on and on and on I mean some kids were even confessing about things that they thought about doing but they didn't do we all felt guilty we all felt shameful and we were terrified of what

[26:07] Mr. Long's consequences for us would be when we were all done confessing Mr. Long took that note and he opened it and he read Mr. Long I enjoyed teaching your class for the most part everyone behaved well and he looked up at us from that note and he crumpled it up and on his way back behind his desk he threw it in the trash can when Jesus entered that locked room he didn't rub his disciples face in their disgraceful actions he knew how guilty he knew how shameful they felt he knew how lost they had been in those three days without him and instead of rubbing it in their face he showed them his wounds the wounds that had purchased their peace with

[27:11] God he came with a declaration of peace not shame and instantly all of the things that the disciples feared outside of those locked doors all the inner turmoil and the feelings of guilt and shame were replaced with joy and gladness peace this is what Jesus does for those whom he saves he didn't knock on the door to be let in he didn't have to kick the door down to enter he simply was there he was there physically which is why he showed them his wounds he was the same yet different and what this means today for you in your life is that Jesus can go where no one else can go he can reach you in ways that no one else can there's no place where

[28:12] Jesus can't penetrate his resurrection from the dead means that he can do what no one else can he is truly God and truly man he can go where no doctor can go he can go where no counselor or therapist can go he can heal you in ways that no one else can he can change you in ways that no one else would think imaginable Jesus brings peace to yourself because peace with God through Jesus Christ brings with it a clean conscience as Hebrews 10 22 says Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water the weight of guilt that plagues us is removed in Jesus Christ as 1 Peter 2 34 says he himself himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you have been healed the shame that we rightly felt for being in conflict with

[29:21] God Jesus took that so that by faith in him we are adopted as God's children are able to enter into his presence without fear as Hebrews 4 16 says!

[29:34] Though the sin nature remains our attitude in Christ about sin has changed we repent of it not to establish peace with God but because we have peace with God and we don't want it to mar our fellowship with him and the joy that we have in knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and as our Savior as 1 John 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness the peace that Jesus brings to you includes removal of the fear of death in Christ we know that our last breath on earth will be our first breath in heaven 2nd

[30:36] Corinthians 5 6 through 8 tells us that so we are always of good courage we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight yes we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord do you have that internal sense of peace are you crushed by feelings of guilt and shame are you putting up a facade externally appearing as if all is right when internally you are a wreck Jesus can bring you peace that's what we see him doing right here he comes to his own when they are afraid and guilty fearful and full of shame he doesn't wait for them to get their act together he doesn't wait for them to muster up enough faith to overcome their troubles he comes to them in their darkest hour and he brings them an inner joy an inner peace which changed everything for those men everything the risen living

[31:49] Jesus Christ is still doing this today he comes when we cry out to him in fear and in worry when we want to lock ourselves in a room afraid to deal with all of the turbulence outside of it around us he helps us like no one else can he comes near with this promise we read in Isaiah 41 10 fear not for I am with you be not dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you I will help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand he he has done this for me time and time again I have learned through experience how faithful Jesus is despite how fickle I can be and he will do it for you too if you receive him into your life if you trust in him by faith if you know him as

[33:02] Lord and Savior you will know him as Prince of Peace and with that comes the third fact about the kind of peace that Jesus brings peace with others in Christ Jesus brings peace with others in Christ verses 21 and 22 Jesus said to them peace be with you as the father has sent me even so I am sending you and when he said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the Holy Spirit to have peace with God to be reconciled with God is to be reconciled with all whom God has reconciled to himself to be a child of God is to belong to the family of God at the cross we all stand on equal ground the ways that the world creates divisions and barriers amongst people based on their race and their social status and their wealth are broken down in Jesus Christ Galatians 5 27 through 28 says for as many of you as were baptized into

[34:04] Christ have put on Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus not to say that there aren't things about us that are different but to say that those differences don't matter in Christ I think one of the greatest joys to experience is when you accomplish something with others when you work hard as a team toward a common objective a common goal and you work together to attain it in verses 21 and 22 Jesus says peace be with you as the that is his purpose for us as Christians that's the objective that we are working towards achieving together but it's not one that we do alone and it's not one that we have to try to do in our own power because Jesus says next receive the Holy Spirit that's the power

[35:05] Jesus was going to pour out the Holy Spirit after he ascended into heaven and that happens about seven after this day we read about it in Acts and what we see is these cowardly men hiding behind locked doors in John 20 burst!

[35:30] out on the scene as they share the gospel with the result that thousands are saved and the gospel continues to spread far and wide to the point in Acts chapter 17 that these men are accused of turning the world upside down this confidence this sense of purpose and power to do it are provided by God and are given to those who have peace with him and others through knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior so now the last fact about the kind of peace that Jesus brings peace to the world through his people he brings peace to the world through his people look again at verse 23 if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you withhold!

[36:24] forgiveness from any it is withheld Jesus says I am sending you to extend my peace my light my truth my life into the world I am going to the father but I give you my spirit so go glorify me in this world and we know that this world is in darkness don't we and our job as those who know Jesus Christ savingly is to expel that darkness with the light of God's truth our job is to lead people out of darkness into the light that they will know the peace that we have in Jesus Christ as 2 Corinthians 5 17 through 20 tells us therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away behold the new has come all this is from

[37:26] God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God so what you've heard from this fallible sinful human messenger according to this verse will decide right now whether you are forgiven or not and so as an ambassador of Christ I urge you I plead with you be reconciled to him receive his peace and his purpose

[38:28] Romans 10 9 through 10 says because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved main point of application for this sermon you must know Jesus to have true peace you must know him to have eternal life you must know him as your Lord and Savior to be forgiven of your sins Jesus brings peace and an end to our conflict with God but it's a peace that will put you in conflict with the world that has rejected him the disciples circumstances hadn't changed in John 20 as regarded to the world as it regarded the things that were waiting them outside of those locked doors but the reality that

[39:38] Jesus had risen gave them purpose and power and peace in our house in Kansas we have in our backyard there was an awning and we had one of those planters you know about this tall and one spring we found out that we we were hosting a robin and her chicks who had built a nest in that planter it was the neatest thing I mean it was right outside of our back door and there was the steps and we could peek in and check on them and see how they're doing well in Kansas our spring storms are violent just as they are oftentimes in Oklahoma or are in Oklahoma and in Kansans we do what Oklahomans do whenever there's a really bad storm we go out and we look at it right don't seek shelter go out and look at it but this was one of those really bad thunderstorms

[40:45] I mean you know the sky and just filling the sky would flash and you know you could see everything in a moment and it would be dark again the thunder was rumbling I think it was so loud that some of our pictures were even rattling on the walls and the rain was coming in sort of sideways you know what I'm talking about and we were worried about our mother Robin what do we need to do for our mother Robin I remember opening the door and checking outside and there was mother Robin with her eyes closed and her wings out a few raindrops on her and she was just covering her chicks peace content though everything outside of her was in turmoil and conflict that's what it's like to know Jesus Christ doesn't matter what happens out here because we know and we expect there's going to be turmoil and conflict in a world cursed by sin but if you know

[41:49] Jesus Christ you have this hope you have this peace that cannot be taken away you have this joy life is hard but in knowing Christ you know that this life will end and that in Christ you are saved and that in Christ the best for you is always yet to come when you're resurrected and you are with him forever in his kingdom and so I want to leave you with Jesus words the conclusion on the sermon of the mount how are you building everyone he says who then hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock and the rock is Jesus and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it my hope and my prayer for you is that you know

[43:12] Jesus Christ the solid rock that you know the peace that we celebrate with him not just at Easter but all the time and always and if you don't know that peace today but you realize you need Jesus Christ then I hope that you will find me either during our invitation or sometime after church that's not comfortable for you my contact information is listed in the bulletin please reach out to me I would love to with you let's pray heavenly father we are so grateful to know that in this world that is cursed by sin that we can have hope that we can have peace and it's through your son Jesus Christ God thank you for how time and time again as believers we've been in that moment like the disciples where we just feel pressed by our circumstances in every direction we become worried and fearful but then

[44:28]  Lord your spirit indwelling us reminds us of your word and the hope that we have that this will end and we have a hope to look forward to that nothing in life can take away from us God I pray that each person in this room this morning would know your peace they would have your peace and that together Lord we would make much of the name of Jesus Christ in a world that will never experience peace outside of the hope of knowing him as Lord and Savior God thank you for this day thank you for what it means thank you for the hope of life after death thank you for the promise that Jesus has come that sin has been atoned for and that his resurrection has gloriously revealed that all that Jesus said that he was is true and that by faith in him we have eternal life and peace with you forever you did it you deserve all the glory for it in Jesus name we pray amen