PEACE with God is a wonderful thing! What does it rest on? The wondrous fact that already the judgment of my sin has fallen on my substitute, on Jesus, in my room and stead.
Do you know who is going to be kept out of heaven for my sins? I daresay you say, “You will be.” Oh, no. “Who then?” If any one, it will be the Lord Jesus. “What, do you dare to say that Jesus will be kept out of heaven for your sins?” Yes, if any one. “But you cannot keep Him out. He has gone in.” Thank you for telling me that; I shall go in too.
He took my judgment, died my death, and drank the cup of wrath to the very dregs. He has sustained what I deserved, when, in the deep love of His heart, He hung on Calvary’s tree. When He had “by himself purged our sins,” He went into death; but death could not hold Him. He was raised from the dead, and now He has gone up into glory without my sins, and I know I shall follow Him, for He would not be happy without me.
“Oh,” you say, “who are you?” A downright hell-deserving sinner for whom He died. I learned that was my condition―that I was a hell-going sinner, and then it was the case of right about face. I turned to the Lord, and He saved me. Have you ever got to that point in your soul’s history? I want you, my reader, to see your true state before God. It is of the last importance to be plain, clear, and distinct, as to the fact of what and where we are by nature. The devil is deceiving people on all hands as to this, and possibly you too are deceiving yourself.
You may have a grand veneer of religion, but it is only skin-deep. Inside, has the truth ever entered? Have you ever gone through the exercises of a soul awakened to the discovery that it is utterly lost? Again, have you repented? Depend upon it, if you have not gone through this experience I would not give a rush for your conversion. What are you converted from? Have you been converted from your old lusts, passions, ways, habits, and companions? Do not you dream of conversion if you have not. Do not deceive yourself. No, no. You might deceive me, or your neighbors, but you cannot deceive God.
There is neither salvation nor peace in a mere profession of Christ. There must be knowledge of Himself, or the sure end is damnation. In Israel’s day the blood on the lintel and the two door-posts was the witness of salvation, and the ground of peace. So is it today. The appropriation to yourself of the work of Christ for you is a grand necessity. His death on the cross made peace. Well has the poet expressed it―
“My peace with God is made, is made,
Since Jesus for me died.
The dying man, in H― was perfectly right. He, had got hold of the gospel, and one day was visited, by a clergyman, interested in his soul. This would-1 be instructor in religion said to him, “Have you made your peace with God?” The dying man said very shortly, “None to make, sir.”
“I hope you understand me,” said his questioner. “It is manifest to me, and you know very well that your end is near. Listen to me. Have you made your peace with God?”
“None to make, sir,” was again the simple rejoinder.
“I fear you do not comprehend me, do you understand that you are a sinner, I would solemnly ask you, have you made your peace with God?”
“I have none to make, sir. Do you not know,” said the dying man, “that it says in the Scripture? ‘Christ made peace by the blood of his cross’? He made it, and by faith I have received it.”
Christ made peace. Ah, my friend, there is a, solid resting-place for the soul It is that finished work of Jesus upon the cross, when he sustained the judgment of God in respect of sin, and when He glorified God about sin. There is the basis of peace. There will come, by and by, a new heaven and earth, and they will rest on that blood. Every bit of blessing that God will bring in, by and by, will be in virtue of that blood. And that blood is. God’s ordained resting-place for the soul If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ just now, you will be able to say, “By faith I sprinkle that blood on the lintel and side-posts of my heart. I believe that Jesus died for me.”
Do you understand that all this is intensely personal? It is for me. There is where the link is. And there is where the missing link often is. I have not the least bit of doubt that you are convinced that Jesus died. But stop, can you say, “He died for me”? You will have to get it for yourself. And you will also have to confess Christ simply for yourself. And I would implore you to confess Him honestly and distinctly, and not to put it of till another day.
Have you turned yet, my aged reader, with gray hairs? It is about time. You may be shortly in eternity. Turn where you are. God save you just now, my friend. I tell you what it is, countless thousands of men are passing into hell through procrastination, coupled with great propriety. God is giving you another chance now. Oh I wish you would take it. Now is your time. Make up your mind for the Lord now. Believe Him just now. Own Him just now. And do not be ashamed to say―
“The blood, the blood is shed,
And God is satisfied;
My peace with God is made, is made,
Since Jesus for me died.
And justice asks no more,
The sinner now is free;
My heavy debt is paid, is paid,
Yes, Jesus died for me.
W. T. P. W.