Three times in the Christmas story you will read the phrase, “Do not be afraid.”  The first time it was spoken to Mary as the angel Gabriel explained her role in God’s redemptive plan (Luke 1:30).  The second time it was spoken to Joseph in a dream as the angel of the Lord instructed him to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20).  And the third time it was spoken to the shepherds by the angel of the Lord who appeared to them announcing the birth of the Savior (Luke 2:10).

In a world full of fear, the message of Christmas is this:  Do not be afraid. God is with us!  
 
The recent tragedy in Connecticut reminds us that we live in a dangerous world where evil occurs.  Evil isn’t just a concept; it’s a supernatural person the Bible calls Satan.  Three times in John’s Gospel Jesus called Satan, “the prince of this world”(John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).  Jesus also told us that Satan has a threefold agenda for humanity: steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).  When we witness tragedies like the one that occurred in Connecticut last Friday, we are witnessing the handiwork of Satan.  Satan specializes in death; God in life.
 
So what about, “peace on earth, good will toward men!”?  It was fulfilled in the spiritual sense when Jesus died on the cross to reconcile sinful people with a holy God.  In Romans 5:1 Paul said, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

But peace on earth in the sense of the absence of evil and its painful consequences is futuristic.  It will occur at the Second Coming of Christ when the prince of this world is cast out, and the Prince of Peace reigns.
 
So what do we do in the meantime?  We remember the words of Jesus in John 16:33. Jesus told us that in the world we will have tribulation.  That’s a reality.  But Jesus also said that in Him we could have peace.  In a world full of fear, we can have perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).
 
So do not be afraid.  Be of good cheer.  Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.  And He has overcome the world.
 
Pastor Todd Weston

There once was a blacksmith who had two pieces of iron he wanted to weld into one.  He took them as they were, all cold and hard, and put them on the anvil, and began to hammer with all this might.  But after several blows with the hammer, they were still two pieces of iron.  They would not unite. Then he remembered what he should have never forgotten. He thrust both of them into the fire, took them out red-hot, laid one on the other, and with one or two blows of the hammer the two pieces of iron became one.

The fire of the Holy Spirit has a unifying effect.  That’s why Paul called it, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).  And Paul said we are to endeavor to keep it.

Endeavor.  The word means – to make effort, to give diligence, to labor, strive, or study.  Keeping the unity of the Spirit is going to take some work.  That’s true because the Church is made up of different people from different backgrounds with different experiences and preferences.  It’s also true because there is a diabolical enemy who is bent on hindering the work of God by destroying unity.  So we must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit.

Keep. It’s significant that Paul said keep, not create. The unity of the Spirit cannot be created by people.  It can only be created by the Holy Spirit.  As a matter of fact, it already exists in those who have accepted Jesus and have the Holy Spirit living within them.  You can’t keep something that isn’t already there.  So the assignment is to protect the unity that is produced by the Holy Spirit.  And in verses that precede the text, Paul gave some ideas how that can be accomplished:

1.      By walking worthy of the calling with which you were called (4:1)

2.      By demonstrating humility and gentleness (4:2a)

3.      With patience bearing with one another in love (4:2b)

The unity of the Spirit is kept when Christians live and act like Christians.  It’s kept when we do the Fruit of the Spirit, not the Works of the Flesh (see Galatians 5:19-23).

The bond of peace.  A bond is something that fastens, binds, or holds together.  The unity of the Spirit produces the bond of peace that holds churches together.    Let’s strive together to keep the unity of the Spirit.  It’s a blessed thing (Psalm 133).  And let’s stand together against anything that would diminish or destroy it.

Pastor Todd Weston