Peace
Our subject to-day is peace. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth.” — Is. Hi. 7.
Now the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is a Gospel of peace. He comes to bring peace to the earth; that is to bring peace to those who love Him.
Now I have often heard people say, “I don’t understand then, what that means in the tenth chapter of Matthew and thirty-fourth verse, 4 Think not that I am came to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.’” But it is peace to them that have it, but a sword to them that have the sword. They that live in the flesh cannot live there that live in the spirit
There is a war between nature and grace. There always has been and always will be. The spirit of God and the spirit of the natural man never agreed and never will. There is as much difference between them as between oil and water or day and night. You cannot unite them.
One of the wildest young men in Chicago was converted two years ago and he has become a very devoted Christian. He went to one of his old associates in sin and spoke to him about becoming a Christian. The man turned on him with great rage and said, M If you ever speak to me on that subject again I will knock your head off.” u That is strange when I speak to you, and want to do you good, you get angry and say you will knock my head off.” “Well, I ought not to have said %; I don’t know what made me say it.” “I know what iiade you say it, it is the devil in you and grace in me, They never have agreed and they never will.”
When you lay down the sword there is peace. He wants you to get peace. He came for that very purpose. If we will have Christ then there is peace, but if not, who is to blame. If there is war it is not because He did not bring peace, but it is man’s own corrupt nature, his own black heart.
It is impossible to plant peace in this world without war. That is clear. The world is at war with God. It don’t want Him. When we are willing to have peace we can enter into it. Christ brought it. He says in the sixteenth chapter of John, thirty-third verse, “These things I have spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
A great mistake people make is that they are looking for peace in the world. It is not to be found in the world. We are going to have it by and by in that millennium reign. Now is the time of Christ’s rejection. But by and by He is coming back, “and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 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; their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,” That day has not come. Some people tell us we are living in the millennium. I don’t see any signs just now of a millennium with all these standing armies. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth
320 BIBUC READING*.
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious.” That is the millennium. That is not the present day. While men are lifting up their voices against God they cannot have peace.
Now there are some enemies to peace. Every sin is an enemy to peace. God turns the ways of the wicked upside down. There is no peace for the wicked. In the twenty-second chapter of Job you will find this passage;” Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.” Get acquainted with God and you will get peace. He is the author of peace. The way to get peace is to feed upon the blessed Word and find out what God is to us. Then we must have righteousness. Righteousness comes, before peace. Without right living we cannot have peace. He wants every one of his children to” have it. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” But it is not read in that way. It is read, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on himself.”
Now, in the fourteenth chapter of John twenty-seventh verse: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
A great many people are all the time trying to make peace without entering into the conditions we enter in.
Toward the close of the war there was a proclamation sent out that no more Southern soldiers would be received in the Union army. There were some in the Southern army that hadn’t seen the proclamation and a rebel deserter came up to the Union army but the Union army would not have him. There he was between thorn great armies. He would not go back for fear of being shot as a deserter, so he took to the woods and hid himself and lived on roots and herbs. At last he had to get food or die. One day he met a man riding on horseback and he said if that man didn’t help him he would kill him. The man said, “What is the trouble?” Then he told him the trouble. “Why, says he, don’t you know that the war is over and peace has been declared.” “What! peace declared?” “Yes.”
Ah, poor man! All he had to do was to enter into it Thank God peace has been declared. Jesus Christ has made peace. He has not left it for me* All I have to do is to enter into it.