Peace

The Peace of God. — There is Martin Luther standing up in the minds of the Diet of Worms; there are the kings and the princes, and there are the bloodhounds of Rome with their tongues thirsting for his blood — there is Martin rising in the morning as comfortable as possible, and he goes to the Diet, and delivers himself of the truth, solemnly declares that the things which he has spoken are the things which he believes, and God helping him, he will stand by them till the last. There is his life in his hands; they have him entirely in their power. The smell of John Huss’s corpse has not yet passed away, and he recollects that princes before this have violated their words; but there he stands, calm and quiet; he fears no man, for he has naught to fear; “the peace of God which passeth all understanding” keeps his heart and mind through Jesus Christ. There is an other scene: there is John Bradford in Newgate. He is to be burned the next morning in Smithfield, and he swings himself on the bedpost in very glee, and delights, for to-morrow is his wedding-day; and he says to an other, “Fine shining we shall make to-morrow, when the flame is kindled.” And he smiles and laughs, and enjoys the veiy thought that he is about to wear the blood-red crown of martyrdom. Is Bradford mad? Ah. no; but he has got the peace of God that passeth all understanding.

A Peaceful Mind. — I compare not the peaceful mind to a lake without a ripple. Such a figure would be inadequate. The only comparison I can find is in that unbroken tranquility which seems to reign in the deep caverns and grottoes of the sea — far down where the sailor’s body lies, where the sea-shells rest undisturbed, where there is nought but darkness, and where nothing can break the spell, for there are no currents there, and all is still — that is somewhat like the Christian’s soul when God speaks to him. There may be billows on the surface, by these he may be sometimes ruffled, but inside the heart there will be no ebb or flow; he will have “eternal peace with God,” a “peace that passeth all understanding,” too deep to fathom, too perfect to conceive, for none but they who prove it know: such peace that you could to-night lay your head down to sleep with the knowledge that you would never wake again in this world as calmly as you could if you knew your days were like Hezekiah’s, lengthened out for a certainty of fifteen years. When we have peace with God, we can lie down, and if an angel visited ua to say, “Soul, your Master calls you,” we could reply, “Tell my Master, I am ready. And if grim death were to come stalk ing to our bed-side, and were to say, “The pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the well is broken at the cistern: thou shalt die!” we might answer, “Die! we die willingly; we are prepared; we are not afraid; we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ; we have peace here, and we are willing to go and have that peace consummated up yonder in the better world.” Peace in Jesus Only. — I have heard of one who had been into the Enquiry Room a dozen times, and when on an other occasion she was invited to go there she said, “I really do not know why I should go, for I have been told that I was saved twelve times already, and I am not a bit better than before they told me so.” It would be better to send some home weeping rather than rejoicing. Many a wound needs the lancet more than the plaster. You may be comforted by well-meant assurances of tender friends, and yet that comfort may be all a lie. I therefore warn you against any peace except that which comes from doing that which Jesus com mands, or in other words, against any confidence except that which rests in Jesus only, and is attended with repentance, faith, and a life of obedience to your Lord.