| J.R. Miller D.D. | Page 2 |
Yet do all Christians possess peace? Have all taken into their heart and life this blessing bequeathed to them by the Master? How many of us really have Christ’s peace today? How many of us lived in the peace of Christ the past week? How many of us are kept in perfect peace through all the circumstances and experiences of our changeful lives?
What is wrong? Is the gospel really not what it clams to be? Are the blessings it promises only lovely dreams which never are fulfilled, which cannot be fulfilled? Is grace not able to help us to the attainment of peace? The Bible is full of great words like rest, joy, peace, love, hope. Are these words only illusions? Or can these beautiful things be attained? Do Christians as a rule expect to get these divine qualities into their lives in this present world?
We may say with perfect confidence that these words paint no impossible attainments. For example, peace – it is not a mocking vision which ever flees away from him who tries to clasp it and take it into his heart. It is not like the sunbeam which the child tries to gather up off the floor in its chubby hand, but which only pours through its fingers and slips from its clasp. Nor is it merely a heavenly attainment which we must wait till we die to get. It is a state into which every believer in Christ may enter here on the earth, and in which he may dwell in all life’s changes.
It is well worth our while to think what is meant by peace, as the word is used in the Scriptures, and then ask how we may obtain this blessing. The word runs through all the bible. We find it far back in the Old Testament, in the benediction used by the priests – “The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Here peace is offered as the gift of God, a blessing dropped from heaven into trusting hearts. In Job, in the words of Eliphaz the Temanite, we have the exhortation, “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.” According to this word, the way to find peace is by getting acquainted with God. It is because we do not know him that we are not at rest. In the Psalms are many words about peace. For example, this: “The mountains shall bring peace to the people.” The mountains take the storms which beat in fury about their tall peaks. Down at the mountain’s base, however, the sweet valleys lie in quietness, meanwhile, sheltered and in peace. So it is that Christ met the storms, which exhausted their fury upon him, while those who trust in him nestle in security in the shelter of his love.
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