Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, have you ever lost something and then couldn't find it back? Maybe children, you've lost a toy before, a piece of Lego, and you couldn't find it back. You went to look for it, but you couldn't find it anywhere. It was gone. I remember one of my brothers once losing his glasses at a swimming hole at a youth camp, actually here in Alberta in the mountains, and they tried to find them. One of the staff members even got on his wetsuit because the water was so cold, and they looked and looked, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find the glasses that he had lost. Sometimes that happens, doesn't it? We lose something and we try to find it back but we can't. That's a little bit like what has happened with peace. We've lost it and we can't find it back ourselves. You see, in the beginning, when God made the world, there was peace. Everything was very good. Everything was perfect. There was nothing lacking. There was no sorrow. There was nothing broken. There was no division. All creation was at peace with itself. Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect wholeness and peace with creation, with each other, and with God. But it all changed the moment that Adam and Eve sinned. Then the peace they had with God. was broken, and that resulted in their peace with both each other and the rest of creation being broken, too. The peace that was there in the beginning is gone. It's lost, and we cannot find it back ourselves. No matter how hard we try, just look at the history of the world. Just look at our present day, look at the wars happening on the other side of the world. Look at the violence, the murders, the assaults that happen even in our own communities. There is difficulty, there is brokenness, there is division everywhere. And we can experience it in our own lives too, can't we? In our work, in our studies, in our relationships with others, in our relationship, our own relationship with God. And in our own hearts, peace can be missing. And we can try all kinds of things to find it back. We might try toys. We might try earthly pleasures. We might try money. We might try education. We might try committees. We might try talks. We might try outward religion. We might try good works. And some of these, they might give some temporary relief. But they cannot give us real, true, lasting peace or wholeness. Nothing we do can. It's impossible for ourselves to find the peace back that we lost. And that's a serious thing because it means not only misery in this life, but also God's punishment of us in hell. for all eternity. It's extremely serious. That's why the last part of Jesus' name in Isaiah 9 verse 6 is so exceedingly precious. 4 Isaiah 9 verse 6 says, 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. The Prince of Peace. Who's Isaiah speaking about here? As well as in verse seven, who is this promised child, this coming son? Well, you know, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, he wasn't born until 700 years or so after Isaiah spoke these words. But as we've noted already in these past weeks, he's the only person for whom these verses could ever be true. The name he is called in verse six makes that abundantly clear. And what a name, what a name it is. It's a name, as we've already seen, that shows us something of the great beauty and glory of Jesus. And the last part of his name just shows us that even more. His name shall be called the Prince of Peace. That means there is hope. The peace we lost in Adam and that we cannot find back ourselves is found in him. His name shall be called the Prince of Peace. That's our theme. And so with God's help, we'll see first what a provision he is. Secondly, what a price he had to pay. And thirdly, what a prospect he guarantees. His name shall be called the Prince of Peace. What a provision. He is, this child who is born unto us, this Son who is given, provided unto us by God Himself is the Prince of Peace. What does that mean? Well, think about it like this, children. When someone is a prince of something, of some area of land, what does that mean? It essentially means He rules, He has control, He has authority over that area of land. That land is His dominion. That's what being the Prince of Wales, that part of Great Britain, used to mean. Nowadays, it just indicates who will be the next ruler of Great Britain, right? King Charles, before he was King Charles, he was Prince of Wales. That indicated that he would be king once Queen Elizabeth died. And now, William is Prince of Wales. And so, if King Charles dies, he'll become the next king. Hundreds of years ago, when someone was the Prince of Wales, that meant he ruled, he had control, he had authority over Wales. Wales was his dominion. And that's the idea here. The Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and that means he rules, he has control, he has authority over peace. So you can think of peace kind of like that land that a prince rules over, just like the area of Wales used to be the dominion of the Prince of Wales. So peace is the dominion of Christ. What does it tell us? Well, it tells us what a provision he is. For one thing, it means that he possesses peace. It belongs to him. Just like a land belongs to the prince of that land, so peace belongs to Jesus, the prince of peace. And not just some peace, but all peace. What's that mean though? Well, peace here doesn't simply refer to there being no war, no fighting. That's a big part of it, but it's more than that. The Hebrew word is shalom. It refers to a state of being whole, where nothing is broken, a state where nothing is lacking, a state of being complete, a state of fullness, a state of well-being, even prosperity. It's really the same idea as salvation. You see that in Isaiah 52 verse 7. In Isaiah 52 verse 7 we read these words, peace that brings good tidings of good that publishes salvation. You see, so peace and salvation there are basically the same thing. Peace refers to that fullness of salvation is, what salvation brings. It refers to that state of perfection, that state of harmony, like the way it was before the fall. When everything was perfect, when everything was in harmony, we lost that with our fall into sin and we cannot find it back ourselves. But the Lord Jesus, this child who's been born to us as we read in Luke chapter two, this son who's been given to us, who came into our world 2,000 years ago, he has it. The peace we have lost because of sin belongs to Him. His name is called the Prince of Peace. It's His. He possesses it. What hope that gives when the loss of peace comes home to your heart personally. When you see and feel your own sin and misery, When you realize not only your desperate need of peace, but also your total lack of it and your inability to find it back. Maybe that describes you this morning. It's a dreadful feeling, isn't it? It's a little bit like the feeling you get when you lose your wallet. Only when you realize you've lost your wallet, only much worse. I was once driving with someone from BC to Alberta. And he never liked sitting on his wallet, so whenever he would go places, he would sit and sit down, he would take it out and he would put it somewhere, on a table or something like that. The trouble was, when he would leave, he would often forget to grab the wallet. And it was getting to be a bad habit, and I happened to know about this, and I thought maybe I could correct, help correct this problem. And so, as we were driving from BC to Alberta, we stopped somewhere to eat, Like he always did, he put his wallet on the table. And while we were eating, I managed to take it without him noticing. After we finished eating, we got back in the car and we kept driving. And it was quite a while before he finally realized his wallet, it was gone. And when he realized it, you could see the anxiety. You could see the dread on his face. He was feeling his pockets. He was wondering what happened. And I watched him as it dawned on him that he had lost it. That dreadful feeling. Maybe that's happened to you. That's just a tiny bit what it's like with peace when you realize for yourself that you've lost it and you can't get it back. It's a dreadful feeling. You feel it in the pit of your stomach. You feel despair and hopelessness closing in. Is that anyone here this morning? Afraid. Cynical. Worried there's no hope. Thinking that it's all over. Oh, listen, Jesus has this peace. He has the peace you need. He has the peace you can't find. He possesses it. His name is called the Prince of Peace. Shouldn't that give us hope? When my friend realized that I had his wallet, that gave him hope. Because I had it, I had it, I had the wallet He had lost. How much more hope this last part of Christ's name should give us, because it means He has our peace, the peace that we have lost. What a provision the Lord Jesus is. Do you see that with me? Isn't that an encouragement to seek Him, to look to Him for all our peace? You see, He not only possesses it, He not only has it, He gives it. The context makes that clear. We looked at this a few weeks ago, but we see it again. Let me remind you again of what it says in Isaiah 9, verses 4 and 5. It says in those verses, for thou, speaking of the Lord, thou hast broken the yoke of His burden. Well, whose burden? The burden of the people in verse 2, the people that once walked in darkness who have seen a great light. Thou has broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian. In other words, God's going to bring deliverance. That's what Isaiah is saying. God's going to bring deliverance from bondage to the enemy. There's going to be deliverance from bondage to darkness, from bondage to sin, from bondage to Satan and the judgment because of sin. And there's going to be complete peace. Verse 5. Now, admittedly, that's a difficult verse. The Hebrew is not easy to translate here, but the basic picture is clear. It's a picture of peace. And the New King James translates it like this, maybe this will make it a little easier to understand. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood, will be used for burning and fuel of fire. Right, so even the footwear, the military footwear will be All that it will be good for will be good for burning and fuel of fire, everything. All the weapons, it won't be needed. The point is there's going to be no more oppression, no more bondage, no more war, but peace. Now here's the question, why? Verse six, for unto us a child is born. That's why there will be peace. Because the prince of peace is born, is given, that he might give peace. Verse seven confirms that, doesn't it? When it says of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. That's why he came. You know that peace? You know that peace in your own heart? That's why he was born to us. That's why Zacharias spoke of him in Luke 1, verses 78 and 79, which we read earlier. as He spoke of Him as a dayspring from on high, who has visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness, and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. That's why He was given to us, to give this peace, to give the peace we've lost. That's what the Lord Jesus, this Prince of Peace, has come for. Isn't that what the Heavenly Host declared? when he was born. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Christ's birth means there can be peace. Because he not only has peace, he and he alone also gives peace. He gives peace to his people. to all who submit to Him in repentance and faith, to all who trust and look to Him for salvation from their sins. Therefore, Paul writes in Romans 5 verse 1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. You know that peace? Peace with God, that's the secret. That's the key, the way to all true peace. We have peace with God. How? Does Paul say? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. By being united through faith to him, the child, the son, who's been given to us. He's the Prince of Peace, who not only has peace, but gives it. What an encouragement to all of us to seek him. Because we all need Him. God's Word makes that clear. Just take Romans 3. What does it say about all people in Romans 3 verse 9? They are all under sin by nature. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. And verse 16 says, destruction and misery are in their way, and the way of peace have they not known. That's a direct quote from Isaiah, Isaiah 59, verses 7 and 8. The way of peace they know not. That's true of every single one of us by nature, me and you. God's Word makes that clear, and we know it. Our consciences witness to it. We've lost peace, we've lost shalom, and we cannot find it back ourselves. But there is hope. It's Jesus who alone both has and gives the peace we lost and cannot find. There is and can be no peace apart from him. If we want peace, we must go to him. So let's do that. What a provision He is. Let's be so thankful to God the Father for Him. And let's seek Him, humbly acknowledging our sins and our lack of peace and our inability to get it. Let's trust in Him and keep trusting in Him for all our peace, because He's the Prince of Peace. How great Jesus is. But perhaps you still struggle to see that. You struggle to see how great Jesus is. We all do at times, don't we? Well then, let's think not only of the provision He is, but also of the price He had to pay. That's the second thing we learn from His being the Prince of Peace. What a price He had to pay. You see, for us to have peace, a price needs to be paid. We are sinners. And God is perfectly and infinitely holy and just, and therefore his justice must be satisfied. And that means that we cannot have peace unless our sins are paid for. And that's a high price. It involves both dying as a sacrifice for sin, as well as fully satisfying the wrath of God against sin. That's the only way Christ can truly be the Prince of Peace. That's the price. That's the only way he can give peace to sinners like you and me. What a price that is. Let's just reflect on that for a few moments. Jesus needed not only to be born, he needed to die as a sacrifice for sin. to be the Prince of Peace for sinners, for you, for me. Christ, the holy, sinless Son of God, had to take our sin upon Himself. He had to bear it, and He had to be killed for it. He had to shed His blood for it. He had to die as a sacrifice for sin. Isaiah 53 makes that so clear, doesn't it? Isaiah 53 is that well-known chapter that tells us about the righteous servant of the Lord and how he would have to suffer and die. He would have to be wounded, bruised, oppressed, afflicted, brought as a lamb to the slaughter. taken from prison and from judgment, cut off out of the land of the living, made an offering for sin. Why? Why would Jesus have to have that all happen to him? It was so that he could be the Prince of Peace. It was so that through faith in him, we could be forgiven our sins and justified, declared righteous, and given that blessing of peace, fellowship with God. That's what Isaiah 53 tells us. Verse 4 says, Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. You see what that's saying? It's saying that to give peace, to give us peace, Jesus, this righteous servant, had to shed His blood. He had to suffer and die as a sacrifice for sin. That's the only way. That's the only way there can be peace for sinners like you and me. Not only that, he also had to fully satisfy the wrath of God against sin. You see, our sin makes us objects of God's wrath by nature. Paul reminds us of that in Ephesians 2 when he writes this. Speaking of Christians, we were by nature the children of wrath, just like the rest. He writes something similar in Colossians 3, verses five through seven. Listen to what he says there, Colossians 3 verse 5, Then he says this, The wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience in the which you also walked sometimes when you lived in them. You see what that's saying? Sin makes us objects of God's wrath by nature. And children, when God pours out his wrath, when God pours out his wrath on people, what's the result? Is it heavenly peace? No. It's desolation. It's agony. Just read the rest of Isaiah 9. Or just think of some of the descriptions of hell in the Bible. A place of torment. A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place where the worm dies not. Where the fire is not quenched, that's how great the righteous wrath of God against sin, also my sin and your sin, is. And so for Christ to give peace to sinners, to you and to me, meant that he had to fully satisfy that wrath. He had to drink the cup of his father's wrath against our sins until it was completely finished, until there was not even one drop left. That's why he had to be forsaken by his father when he was on the cross during those three hours of darkness. What a price he had to pay to be the prince of peace for us. Do you see that with me? Doesn't that show us how great He is? And doesn't that encourage us to seek Him for all our peace? You see, He did pay that price. He did die as a sacrifice for sin. He did fully satisfy God's wrath against sin. He declared it just before He died on the cross when He said, it is finished. You see what that's saying? It's saying He has paid the price for peace. And that's why Paul can say to believers, he can say things to believers like he does in Colossians 2, verses 19 to 23, that it pleased the Father that in Him, in Jesus, should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And he goes on to tell them, and you, also you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. How can Paul say that? How can he say that Christ brings such peace, such reconciliation? He can say that because Jesus has paid the price he had to pay. Jesus declared it on the cross and he proved it by his resurrection from the dead. He is indeed the Prince of Peace. Do you need peace? Of course you do. We all do. Well, then let's go to Him. Let's go to Him for all our peace. Let's look to Him and keep looking to Him and to Him alone. Let's make sure we never sacrifice. We never sacrifice pleasure. Or we never sacrifice His peace, rather, for the sake of pleasure or for the sake of our reputation or for the sake of whatever, no. What a price He paid. Let's be humbly thankful to Him. Think not only what a price He had to pay, but also because He paid that price, what a prospect He guarantees. That's the third thing Christ being called the Prince of Peace teaches us. What a prospect He guarantees. Look at what it says right after He's called the Prince of Peace in the first part of Isaiah 9, verse 7. of the increase of His government and peace. There shall be no end. In other words, the peace He gives His people, the peace He gives to those who look to Him in faith, will continue forever. That's the prospect Christ guarantees as the Prince of Peace. His peace, that means, will continue as long as this world lasts. It's true, in this world we won't experience it fully. There will be many assaults against it from Satan and his demons, from the ungodly and unbelieving, both outside and within the church, and even from our own sinful flesh. That's all true. It's to be expected. In this world, Jesus said, you shall have tribulation. He even said in Matthew 10, do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. What did he mean? He meant that his coming creates division, even in families, because some will follow him and some won't. There's a tension there, isn't there? Peace on earth, as the angels say. But not total peace. Not yet. We're going to struggle. We're going to need to contend for the faith. We're going to need to fight against sin. We should expect that. But be of good cheer, dear Christian. Christ has overcome the world. In Him, we have peace. And His peace will prevail because His kingdom will ultimately be victorious. So let's look to Him. Let's not be discouraged even when things look bleak. It's not always easy, is it? There can be times when we can relate to what the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote one Christmas during the American Civil War after his son was severely injured. And in despair, I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth. Goodwill to men. We can relate to that. But Christ's kingdom will prevail. And so we can also relate to what Longfellow wrote in the next verse. Then peeled the bells more loud and deep. God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. Though wrong shall fail, though right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men. We can relate to that because of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end. What an encouragement that is. when you belong to him, also in the midst of the struggle against sin in your own heart. How hard and discouraging that struggle can be sometimes, can't it? But as one preacher said, he who was born for this very end to be the king of your heart, will not leave it till he has made that little province quite his own. There is no end. That sweet subduing, that blessed ruling will continue till there is not an affection that strays, nor a will that rebels. And then, the peace. Yes, then the peace, a complete peace that he will give when he comes again. What will that be like? We're given a picture of it a couple of chapters later in Isaiah 11, verses six through nine. This is what it says. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed. The young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking or the nursing child shall play on the hole of the asp or the cobra. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's, the viper's, den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." You see? It's a picture of fullness of peace, how glorious it will be. That's what we'll have when we belong to Him, when Christ comes again. That's what Jesus guarantees. The peace that we've lost will be fully restored. Here's the thing, we will never be able to lose it. Again, because he is the Prince of Peace and we will be with him forever. What a provision he is, what a price he had to pay, what a prospect he guarantees. He's the way to true and lasting peace, the only way. And the wonderful thing is that he promises this peace in the gospel to all who simply come to him in faith, just as they are. Let me close in that light with the words of part of a song. It's called, Oh Come, All Ye Unfaithful. Someone sent it to me this past week, and this is what part of it says. Oh come, bitter and broken. Come with fears unspoken. Come, taste of his perfect love. Oh, come, guilty and hiding ones. There is no need to run. See what your God has done. Christ is born. Christ is born. Christ is born for you. He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon. His promise is peace for those who believe. So come, though you have nothing. Come, He is the offering. Come, see what your God has done. Yes, let's come. Let's come to Jesus for all our peace. Because He's the Prince of Peace. Amen. Let us pray. Oh Lord, there are times in our lives when we despair. When we look around us, when we look within us, and everything seems to mock the song of peace on earth, goodwill toward man. But how thankful we are then for this part of the name of Jesus given in our text and revealed to us this morning that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Teach us, O Lord, to go to him to go to Him in repentance and faith. We have nothing to bring, but we do not need to, because He paid that price. He Himself is our peace. Lord, we pray that that would be experienced here, also this morning. Give peace, O God, through Him. We pray for your blessing on our fellowship. We pray for your blessing on the Sunday school students and catechism students as they practice. We pray, oh God, that you would bring us again this afternoon to hear your word one more time, and that you would help us to keep your day holy. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.