Isaiah 9:7 says: "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
More than a century ago, Ira Sankey led the singing for the great meetings of the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody, and on a certain occasion Sankey was asked to sing. He did, singing a then popular song called, The Shepherd Song. After the meeting was over, a man with a rough, weather-beaten face approached Sankey and asked, Did you ever serve in the Union Army?
Yes, replied Sankey, curiously, in the spring of 1860.
Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlight night in 1860?
Again Sankey replied, Yes, this time very much surprised.
So did I, replied the stranger, but I was in the Confederate Army. He continued, When I saw you standing at you post I said to myself, That fellow will never get away from there alive. I was standing in the shadow completely concealed when the full light of the moon was falling on you. At that instant, just as a moment ago, you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music, especially songs, has always had a wonderful power over me and I took my finger off the trigger. Let him sing his song to the end, I said to myself. I can shoot him afterward. But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I hear the words perfectly. We are thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our ways. Those words stirred up many memories in my heart and I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother. She had many, many times sung that same song to me, but she died all too soon, otherwise my life would have been much different.
But when you finished that song, it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought the Lord who was able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty and my arm of its own accord fell limp at my side.
Who would deny that truth is always stranger than fiction? Out of every war and every tragedy come stories which deeply touch the heart, such as the time that American and German soldiers in World War 1 were in their bunkers on Christmas eve, and someone began singing: "O Little Town of Bethlehem, and men who had been shooting at each other only hours before, on both sides of the lines, blended their voices, some in German and others in English singing, O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel."
Strange isnt it, the effect that the gospel has on people, making friends of enemies and brothers of strangers? I, for one, am convinced that the only hope of peace in the world, the only glimmer of light that makes me think there is yet a chance for mankind, is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Babe born at Bethlehem - the King of kings and Lord of lords.
One of the titles which Isaiah bestowed on him was Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Whether it is a sniper who is about to pick off a sentry, or an angry wife who wants to blow her husband away with a divorce - anger and bitterness divide and destroy.
You believe in Christ, right? But do you believe in Him enough to let the Prince of Peace bring peace to your troubled heart and life? He is the only one who can cause us to stack arms and surrender to the King of Love. Its time to lay down our weapons and let Him touch our lives with His peace—the real kind that changes our hearts and eradicates our sin. How does this happen? It happens when we get saved. Yes, thats the abiding the truth of Christ.
