“Have you found peace?” is a question frequently put, now-a-days, to people; and it may be there are many who do not exactly understand the question, or know how to answer it. They look upon “peace” as a certain feeling of calm repose in their own minds, and inasmuch as they feel anything but that, they come to the conclusion that they have not yet found peace.
Further, there are many, we doubt not, who think that, unless they experience this feeling of repose, they cannot be Christians at all; and, seeing they have it not, they conclude that they have neither part nor lot in the matter.
Finally, there are many who think that, if only they possessed this peace, they should never again have to bewail the inward workings of evil. They imagine, that true gospel peace and indwelling sin are wholly incompatible; and seeing, alas! that they are painfully conscious of a mass of evil within, they conclude that they have yet to wait for the enjoyment of peace. Thus do all these three classes of persons, by harboring wrong ideas on the subject of peace, only augment their sore trouble.
1. And, first, then, let me say, distinctly, and emphatically, that true gospel peace is not a mere feeling of calm repose in the mind. It is something far more solid and settled than that. It is a certain condition, into which the believer is introduced by the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Take the following passages of scripture: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1) Is this a mere feeling in the mind? Clearly not. It is a blessed condition, into which the soul is introduced by the death and resurrection of Christ. No doubt the heart will feel happy and peaceful in proportion to the simplicity of its faith in this grand truth that all sin is forgiven, and that the soul is as justified as Christ can make it—as justified as Christ Himself. But the apostle does not say, “Being justified by faith we have a happy feeling of peace in our minds.” This would never do. Our feelings are as uncertain and changeable as the winds. The peace of which this noble passage speaks is as stable as the throne of God itself.
Again, “Preaching peace by Jesus Christ.” (Acts 10:36.) Does this mean preaching a certain feeling in the mind? Nay; but a glorious proclamation of peace between God and man, founded on the accomplished work of Christ who, having made peace by the blood of His cross, is Himself our peace in the presence of God. It would be a very serious mistake to suppose that “peace,” as spoken of in the above passages, is only a calm and comfortable frame of mind. It is far more. It is not our feeling of peace, but God’s foundation of peace. This makes all the difference. We should never confound our sense of a thing with the thing itself—a plain fact with the effect which that fact, when known, may produce upon us.
Take an illustration. When peace was proclaimed between England and Russia, was that a mere feeling in the mind of an Englishman, or in the mind of a Russian? It was far more. It was a certain condition, into which the two nations were introduced by the signing of the treaty of peace. No doubt, when a man heard and believed the proclamation, he would enjoy the comfortable feeling which such a proclamation was calculated to produce; but who does not see the difference between his feeling and the fact by which it was produced?
Take another illustration. When, by the noble efforts of Wilberforce and his companions, the bill for emancipating the slaves in our Colonies passed through both Houses, and received the royal signature, and when twenty millions of British gold were voted for the ransom of those slaves, was that a mere feeling in the mind of a slave? It was far more. It was a certain condition, into which the slave was introduced by the Emancipation Act. No doubt when a slave heard and believed the report, he would enjoy a most comfortable feeling of liberty. He would no longer feel his chain, or hear the harsh tones of his taskmaster enforced by the cruel lash; but who does not see the difference between a feeling of liberty, and the basis on which that feeling rested?
Now I admit that these are but human and therefore imperfect illustrations of the divine theme on which we are dwelling; but they do, at least, set forth the distinction between a condition and a feeling—between our sense of a thing and the thing itself—between a fact and its results. In the gospel I get a divine truth, to be received in a divine way, and to be productive of divine results. It is not an intellectual assent to a certain proposition which I receive as true because I have no reason to doubt it. It is a poor, guilty rebel—a slave—an enemy—receiving, through grace, pardon, liberty, and reconciliation from God, through the precious sacrifice of the cross. Will such an one not have happy feelings? No doubt; but the feelings must never be mistaken for the blessed truth which gives them birth. Peace is a divine, independent, changeless reality, based upon the blood of Christ, proclaimed on the authority of the word of God, and received by faith through the power of the Holy Ghost.
If, therefore, I were asked the question, “Have you peace?” Should I look in at myself and shape my reply according to what I find there? By no means. What then? I should say, “Yes, thank God, I have peace—perfect peace—peace as perfect as Christ could make, or God could give.” Nor can anything ever disturb my peace, inasmuch as God has preached it to me “by Jesus Christ, Lord of all.” If anything could disturb my peace, then, Jesus Christ would not be Lord of all;” for whatever caused the disturbance would be lord of Him, which were blasphemy, to suppose for a moment. My feelings could be easily disturbed, but God’s foundation never can.
2. And now, one word to those who think that, unless they have this inward feeling of repose, they are not Christians at all. I do not believe their idea is borne out either by Scripture or christian experience. It is not that I want to justify doubts or fears, or lead any to be satisfied with themselves, or their present practical state; far from it. I fully believe that doubts and fears are as dishonoring to Christ as they are subversive of our own true peace of mind. They are wholly unwarrantable. They spring, in many cases, from a false apprehension of the real nature of gospel peace; from looking at self instead of at Christ; from confounding our enjoyment of peace with the peace itself; from looking at what we are to God, instead of looking at what God is to us. But, from what cause so ever they spring, we should judge and disallow them, just as we should any other evil thought or feeling that might spring up in our minds.
But while it is unquestionably wrong to harbor doubts when God has spoken peace, or to harbor fear when Christ has made peace, it is much more wrong to call in question our personal interest in Christ because we do not feel quite as happy as we might or ought. This is just allowing Satan to gain his end. Should I doubt my natural existence because I have headache? Surely not. And why doubt my spiritual existence—my life in Christ, because my heart is not as happy as I should wish it to be? Very many true Christians—genuine, earnest, devoted souls—are afflicted with doubts and fears at times. Indeed, in proportion to their seriousness will be their anxiety, until they learn to look away from themselves and rest simply in Christ. Not to feel anxious until I know, on divine authority, that Christ has put away all my sins, and perfectly satisfied, on my behalf, the claims of the throne of God, would only prove hardness of heart and indifference as to sin and holiness. May God preserve my reader from aught of this! God forbid that he should ever cease to be anxious until his anxiety is hushed by the blood of the cross! It is to be feared that many have a flippant way of talking about peace, and finding peace, which argues a very shallow apprehension of the evil of sin, the claims of divine holiness, or the solemn reality of the cross. We should ever remember that though peace has been made, without any demand upon us, yet it cost Christ everything. We do not lose aught of the simplicity and certainty of divine peace by having a deep sense of its solemnity; quite the opposite. The more fully I apprehend what had to be done, the more thankful I am that Christ has done it; but I must never forget what it cost Him to do it.
3. In conclusion, let me add a word for those who are troubled with the thought, that the enjoyment of settled peace is incompatible with the sense of indwelling sin. This is a serious mistake which must produce great darkness and heaviness of soul. The most advanced believer upon earth has sin dwelling in him. “In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,” must be our language to the very end of the chapter. “If we say that we (believers) have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1.
It is interesting and consolatory to see that, in the law of the peace offering, (Lev. 7:13,) leavened bread was to be offered, because of the evil in the worshipper; for leaven is, without so much as a single exception, only symbolical of evil.
So also, in the “two wave loaves,” (Lev. 23:19.) leaven was permitted, because they were typical of the people of God, who have evil in them, and will have it so long as they are in the body. God knows all about us. He knows the very worst of us, but yet He loves us, and has made provision for the evil which he knows to be in us; so that it should not, in the smallest degree, interfere with our peace. If the evil be suffered to act and show itself, it will, very seriously, interfere with our enjoyment of peace, and put us upon our faces before the Lord in confession and self-judgment. God the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us, cannot sanction a single thought of evil indulged. All must be judged. The struggle must be maintained. “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” This conflict will never cease in the believer, until that blissful moment, when he shall lay aside his body of humiliation. Hence, if indwelling sin were to hinder our peace, it would come to pass that not a single member of the family of God could ever enjoy one moment’s peace. Thank God, such is not the case. Our peace does not rest upon sinless flesh, but upon a perfect sacrifice.