THE GOD OF PEACE
"Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your
whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our
Lord Jesus Christ comes again." 1 Thes. 5:23
It is a striking and suggestive fact, that the Divine Perfection associated
by the angels with their Advent Song when announcing the birth of Christ
was, the attribute of Peace. They might have placed in the forefront of
their proclamation of glad tidings, the Love of God in originating, or the
Wisdom of God in planning, or the Power of God in executing the great
expedient of saving man by the Incarnation of the Son of God. But no! they
bore from heaven to the inhabitants of a sin-tainted world over which the
dark waters of the curse fiercely surged, the olive branch of Peace. Their
mission was a mission of peace, their commission was to proclaim a divine
amnesty– peace from heaven, peace with God, peace between God and man.
Listen to their song- how entrancing its strains which broke the silence of
that stilly night, and which floated in such melody over the plains of
Bethlehem– Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the
armies of heaven—praising God: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and
peace on earth to all whom God favors."
Such is the Divine perfection we invite you to consider– God not only
proposing peace with the subjects of a revolted empire, not only devising
the scheme by which a peace honorable to Himself and available by man may be
received, but revealing Himself divinely and essentially as "the God of
peace." Our subject is a great and comprehensive one, fraught with blessed
instruction and hope to those who, convinced of their natural enmity
against, and revolt from, God, are anxiously and earnestly inquiring how
they may return to God, and in what way propitiate His regard and be at
peace with Him.
About to celebrate, as we are, the Advent to our world of earth's Great
Visitant- the Incarnate God, the Divine Savior of men– it will not be an
inappropriate subject of meditation, the attribute and character of God as-
"The God of Peace." The passage from where our subject is selected is a
prayer of the apostle on behalf of the Thessalonian saints. He had been
addressing to their minds holy and earnest exhortations, urging sanctity of
heart and holiness of life to the extent even of avoiding the "appearance of
evil." Then, as if remembering the impotence of these saints, unaided by a
higher power, to reach the lofty standard he places before them, he
concludes his exhortation with one of the most expressive and touching
prayers ever breathed from mortal lips- "Now may the God of peace make you
holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept
blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again."
What a prayer! what a motive! what an attainment!– perfect holiness unto the
coming of the Lord! Thus the subject now engrossing our thoughts unites with
our personal and complete holiness the two Advents of Jesus– the First
Advent to make peace, and the Second Advent to consummate and crown it. The
subject is of vital importance and of precious interest. The great event of
human life is, to be at peace with God. So long as there is variance and
alienation between God and the soul- holiness on the part of God separating
Him from the sinner; enmity on the part of the sinner placing him in
antagonism to God– there can be no peace, reconciliation, or fellowship.
"How can two walk together except they be agreed?"
Oh, it is of the utmost moment that we know, and clearly understand, God's
way of peace. And that thus knowing it, we are found walking in it in all
the sweet consciousness of perfect reconciliation with God, holiness of
body, soul, and spirit, the natural and the blessed consequent and fruit.
Let us, then, briefly address ourselves to the opening up of this important
subject, showing in the first place IN WHAT SENSE WE ARE TO REGARD GOD AS
THE "GOD OF PEACE" and then, if our space permits, considering the prayer of
the apostle founded thereupon.
Our first remark relates to God as, essentially the "God of peace." There
could be no revelation of God in this particular apart from this fact. Peace
with man originated with God. It was a divine thought, as its mode was a
divine conception, and its execution a divine power. But this could only
have been the case as it found its property essentially in God. If peace had
not been a divine inherent, an essential perfection of God, no proposition
of peace with men could have obtained a moment's hearing, and no expedient
for its accomplishment the slightest shadow of success. Herein is seen the
overflowing of God's mercy and grace to sinners!
With the injured, the outraged One– with Him against whom the appalling
crime of revolt had been committed, against whose Being and government the
sinner had uplifted his arm of treason and defiance, and poured out his
deadly hate; originated the conception and the expedient, the offer and the
proclamation of peace! Could this possibly have been the case had not peace
been an essential perfection and quality of His nature? Oh, it is
delightful, beloved, to trace the springs, the rivulets, the rivers of
salvation up to the Divine and Infinite Ocean from where they flowed. To see
GOD in our salvation, to refer it to His very essence, to know that, because
He is what He is, there is salvation for the most lost of our race, pardon
for the guiltiest sinner, peace for the greatest rebel that ever defied the
power, trampled upon the authority, insulted the Majesty, and denied the
very existence of God.
How earnestly and impressively has God Himself vindicated this perfection of
His being, as if jealous of its existence and anxious to assure the mind of
the rebel sinner that if he but return from the error of his ways,
relinquishing his hostility, and grounding his weapons of rebellion, he
shall find no hand outstretched towards him but the divine hand of peace.
"Fury is not in me; who would set the briers and thorns against me in
battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. These enemies
will be spared only if they surrender and beg for peace and protection."
Thus God declares that He is not an angry God, but a God of peace, all day
long stretching out His hand to a gainsaying and rebellious race, waiting to
be gracious. Oh, what a God is our God!
As ORIGINATING AND DEVISING THE PLAN OF PEACE with sinners, He is the "God
of peace." The negotiation of peace between God and man could only have its
origin in God Himself. The thought of a reconciliation between the offended
Creator and the offending creatures, no created mind, human or angelic,
would ever have conceived; to a creature's eye, the breach appears too great
ever to be repaired, the gulf too wide ever to be passed; the difficulties
in the way of a reconciliation of too vast proportions ever to be overcome.
Divine justice must be perfectly satisfied, Divine holiness perfectly
secured, the Divine government fully upheld, the Divine law honored and
magnified. What mere created mediator, what arbitrator less than Divine,
could have met and answered this demand? Who shall reveal Jehovah as the God
of peace? Who shall loosen the seals of His decrees, and make known His
eternal thoughts of reconciliation and peace to man?
Ah! angels and men might have wept through eternity before the divine, the
impenetrable secret had been discovered, if the "God of peace" had not
assumed the initiative in the great matter; if He had not taken the first
and only effectual step in declaring to the fallen world that He had looked
within Himself, and there found, in the person of His beloved Son, dwelling
in the bosom of the Father from all eternity, the Peace-maker between God
and man, even the man Christ Jesus.
We cannot be too conversant with the truth that, "Salvation is of the Lord."
While there is, essentially, the human element in our redemption, there is,
and must as essentially be, the Divine element. All God's works are
impressed with His divinity, all "declare His eternal power and Godhead"–
from the atom dancing in the sunbeam, to the Alp piercing the clouds– from
the hyssop that springs out of the wall, to the cedar tree that is in
Lebanon– all witness to the wisdom, power, and goodness of Him who made
them. Is it to be supposed, then, that His greatest, His master-achievement–
that work which reveals and illustrates, unites and harmonizes, every
perfection- of His being and attribute of His character, every thought of
His mind and feeling of His heart- the redemption of man by the Incarnation
obedience and death of the Son of God– should not be so manifestly a Divine
work as shall awaken the homage and praise of His own people, and as shall
extort, even from His enemies, the tribute of their wonder and admiration?
It is no light thing, beloved, to have our faith well confirmed in the
Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures of truth, and in the Divine origin of
the salvation of the Church. In no other work of our God does He appear so
full-orbed in every perfection as here. Here is no shading, no obscuration
of our Divine Sun. In the work of creation God is, as it were, in partial
eclipse. We see only parts of His ways, His "back parts." But in the
salvation of the cross, in the great expedient by which peace,
reconciliation, and love are restored between God and man, God is seen in
His full meridian majesty, every perfection of His being exhibited, every
attribute of His character revealed– His mind and heart fully unveiled.
What confidence does this give to the poor, trembling faith of the soul that
ventures itself upon Christ, that humbly sues for pardon and peace at the
cross of Jesus! Because salvation is of the Lord, and because the blood that
cleanses is the "blood of God", and because the righteousness that justifies
is the "righteousness of God", therefore Jesus is able to save to the
uttermost all who come unto God by Him. We are fully justified, yes,
commanded, unhesitatingly to accept the peace God has provided, and Christ
has made, and the Spirit imparts, on the ground that our God is the "God of
peace." If He from whom we have so deeply revolted, and against whom we have
so greatly sinned, is the first to make the overture of peace, the first to
extend the olive branch of amity, who are we that we should disbelieve and
hesitate, demur and refuse? Will not our very refusal fully to accept in
humble faith and gratitude the reconciliation God has provided, increase our
sin and augment our punishment? Away, then, with all vain excuses and
puerile fears concerning your warrant in the Gospel to accept the overture
of God's pardoning mercy in Christ Jesus, and, in the language of the
apostle, "Be reconciled to God."
This conducts us to an essential part of our subject- GOD'S METHOD OF PEACE,
the plan of reconciliation by which He has written His name as the "God of
peace," as He nowhere else has written it. Concerning the NECESSITY of a
Divine plan of peace, we need not enlarge. We must rather, seeing our space
is limited, and how important it is that we have scriptural and clear views
of God's way of peace, assume the fact as proved, than attempt its proof.
All that we can venture to state is, that the wide severance between God and
man created by the fall, renders a Divine method of reconciliation
necessary, if peace be at all restored.
Prior to the fall, all was love and fellowship between the Creator and the
creature. Every faculty of man was in harmony and communion with every
perfection of God. The reign of perfect holiness was the reign of perfect
love. Oh, what a paradise of peace and beauty was Eden! Not an alienated
affection, or a discordant feeling, or a dissonant thought, or a jarring
note! The song of peace filled every grove with melody, and the aroma of
love every bower with sweetness. Oh, what will the New, the renovated Earth
and Heaven be when sin shall be extirpated, love restored, and peace
enshroud with her balmy wings a world in which will dwell righteousness!
But we have now to deal with a fallen race, a depraved nature. God is at
variance with man, on the ground of Holiness, Justice, and Truth, and until
these perfections of His nature are honored, and harmonized with Love,
Mercy, and Grace, there can be no reconciliation on His part with man. Such
is the wide and terrible breach, such the two extremes of being- the
Infinitely holy and the totally sinful- between whom a reconciliation is to
be effected. And how shall this breach be healed? By what expedient shall
beings so opposite in nature, so extreme in purity, be reconciled and
brought into a state of at-one-ment, without compromising holiness on the
one hand, or in the least degree condoning the offence on the other? Such
was the great problem the solution of which Deity alone could supply.
An expression of the inspired apostle gives us a clue to the unravelment of
the great and glorious mystery. "God was in Christ reconciling the world
unto Himself." Here we are at once referred to Christ as embarking in the
great work of the Peacemaker, undertaking and accomplishing His divine and
pacific mission. Hence to Him belong, and most justly, the high and
honorable titles of, "Our Peace," "The Prince of Peace," "The Arbitrator,
laying His hands on both." It was the greatest work He ever embarked in, the
adjustment of the claims of justice, holiness, and truth, with the yearnings
of love, mercy, and grace, so as to maintain the dignity of God's moral
government intact, and yet effect a full and perfect reconciliation between
God and man.
But our divine and gracious Peacemaker- blessings forever on His name!- was
in all respects fitted for the undertaking. Absolutely divine, God could
negotiate terms of peace, through His beloved Son, strictly honorable and
glorifying to Himself. Perfectly human, He was fitted to undertake the work
of making peace on the part of man, and He is denominated the "One (and
there is only One) Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Thus
our beloved Lord partook of the nature of both the parties between whom He
mediated. As God, He mediated for God; as man, He mediated for man.
The question arises, 'In what way does the Lord Jesus become our peace?' The
answer to this question leads us at once to the great plan of atonement. He
presented to God a full, honorable, and accepted Atonement for our
transgression. The only thing that could separate between God and man was
sin. This removed- removed in a way that would secure the interests of
justice and holiness- peace was made. By the offering of Himself as a
sacrifice for sin, by His obedience to the law, and by His death-penalty to
justice, He presented a full equivalent to all the demands of the divine
government, bearing our sins, suffering, bleeding, dying, and so making
peace by the blood of His cross.
And now, by the great sacrifice of Christ once for all, we are one with God,
one with Him in mind, one in affection, one in will, one in fellowship, God
and the believing sinner brought into a state of at-one-ment by the
Atonement of "Christ who is our peace." "But now you belong to Christ Jesus.
Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to
him because of the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has made peace
between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken
down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. By his death he ended
the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was
to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new
person from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both
groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was
put to death. He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who
were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near."
The great practical question which arises at this stage of our subject is,
does God stand TO US in the relation of the "God of peace?" Is He at peace
with us through Christ Jesus, and are we at peace with Him? It is of the
utmost moment that we believe and are sure that our peace is made with God,
and that we are in a state of friendship with Him. This peace is not a thing
made by us- for no sinner can make his own peace with God- it is a peace
made by Christ the Mediator for all those who believe, and is available to
us as we accept the terms of God's reconciliation, which are that we believe
in Him whom He has sent. "This is the commandment, that we should believe on
the name of His Son Jesus Christ."
You earnestly desire to know that you are on terms of amity with God, and
perhaps have long sought to possess the precious, priceless jewel of peace
in your soul– its divine and richest treasure. Your heart is dissatisfied,
your mind is anxious, your conscience far from repose. You regard God more
in the light of an angry, offended God, than of a reconciled Father. You
obey Him from slavish fear, rather than from filial love. His commands are
as a heavy yoke to your neck, rather than wings to your soul, bearing it
onward and upward in the path of filial obedience and heavenly joy. The
great want and craving of your soul is- peace, peace with God.
Everywhere and earnestly have you in vain sought to meet this want, and have
failed. You have sought it in the diligent and successful pursuit of wealth,
and "your gold and your silver is cankered; and their rust is a witness
against you." You have sought it in the pleasures and gaieties of the world,
and you but "sowed to the wind and have reaped the whirlwind." You sought it
in the love and fellowship of the creature, and God shattered the vase, and
the beautiful flower faded. You sought it in the walks of literature, in the
researches of science, and in the creations of art, but the shadow of peace
fled your grasp, and left your heart colder and more desolate than ever. You
have perhaps sought it in the less pure and refined enjoyments of lust, and
the fruit you plucked from the upas tree of sin, fair and inviting as it
was, has proved bitter as the apples of Sodom.
But, make one effort more in a new and an opposite direction- seek it in
Christ, and seeking, you will find it. The moment that your penitent and
believing heart accepts Jesus as your Savior, the Lord as your
righteousness, Christ's sacrifice as your hope, you will then have found
repose from the oppressive consciousness of guilt, release from the galling
tyranny of sin, deliverance from the fear of death and the dread of
judgment.
Again, that which more immediately brings peace into the sin-wounded and
guilt-troubled conscience is, THE PEACE-SPEAKING BLOOD OF CHRIST. The blood
of Abel called for vengeance; the blood of Jesus pleads for pardon, and
speaks peace. There is no balm for the wounded conscience but the Atonement,
no healer but Christ, and no healing but His blood. All other remedies cry,
"Peace, peace, when there is no peace"- it must be Christ, and Christ only.
All your legal endeavors, all your religious duties, all your pious alms and
ceremonial observances, will bring no real healing to your conscience, no
true peace to your mind, no divine joy and comfort to your soul. Your peace
with God must be procured by the cross, and must flow from the wounds of
Jesus, in whom God is reconciled and pacified for all that we have done. And
now, God's command is, "Let him take hold of my strength (Christ), and be at
peace with me; and he shall be at peace."
The few remaining pages of the present chapter must be a reply to the
question- to whom does the "God of peace," through Christ, speak peace? God
speaks peace, through Christ, TO THE SIN-TROUBLED SOUL. If it were possible
for God to regard one gracious soul with a deeper interest and more especial
favor than another, it is the soul of whom He thus speaks "The high and
lofty one who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: "I live in that
high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I
refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts." "To
this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembles at my word."
Can you, my reader, discern in your soul any reflection, however faint, of
this gracious character? Do you see in yourself some lineaments of
resemblance, however faint, to this divinely-drawn, this gracious portrait?
Are you humbled in the dust for sin, seeing and confessing at the cross your
nothingness, emptiness and poverty? Then, God extends to you, in Christ
Jesus, the scepter of peace, and bids you approach, touch it and be at peace
with Him. There exists not in the heart of God in Christ Jesus an unappeased
feeling or an angry thought towards a poor, broken-hearted sinner. His
marvelous language towards you is, "I know the thoughts I think towards you,
says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of anger." Cheer up, then,
sin-distressed, guilt-burdened soul! God is at peace with you in Jesus, and
it is your high and holy privilege to walk in a sense of pardoned sin, of
Divine acceptance, and gracious adoption, your heart singing in the ways of
the Lord, as you travel homeward, to be forever with Christ.
God in Christ speaks peace to the afflicted soul. What does He say to such?-
"O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted; I, even I, am He
that comforts you. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you."
Beloved, it is worth all the tempest and billows through which we pass, to
see Jesus coming to us in the dark night of our woe, walking upon the broken
waves of our sorrow, and saying, "It is I; do not be afraid. Peace, be
still."
Yes, even the winds and the waves of soul-distress, of heart-sorrow, of
life's adversities, obey Him! The voice of Jesus quells the storm of sin's
conviction, stills the tempest of life's adversity, calms the troubled mind,
and peace, like a river, flows into the soul. If, then, God is leading you
through deep and dark billows, if He is feeding you with the "bread and the
water of affliction," and His discipline is such as to drape the serene and
sunny picture of life with cloud-veil and storm, believe, only believe,
that, when the "floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their
waves," the voice of Jesus "on high is mightier than the noise of many
waters, yes, than the mighty waves of the sea," and that, in the greatest
perplexity, in the most overwhelming calamity, in the profoundest grief, He
will speak peace to your soul; and "when He gives quietness, who then can
make trouble?"
And, amid the corroding cares of domestic life, the anxieties of business,
the pressure of need, the forebodings of evil, the foreshadowing of
calamity, the distant mutterings of some gathering storm, how peacefully God
in Christ can keep you! And when the "strife of tongues," the envenomed
tooth of malice, the whisperings of envy, the spirit of jealousness and all
uncharitableness would wound your heart, destroy your peace, and rob you of
comfort- assailing character, reputation, usefulness– God, your reconciled
Father, will put you within the curtained pavilion of His love, in the
secret place of His perfections, and keep you there, safe, calm, and even
cheerful, until the calamity be passed. "You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on You; because he trusts in You."
This page may meet the eye of some who are postponing the great matter of
their peace and reconciliation with God to a dying hour, or, perhaps, to a
period beyond it, when they vainly suppose that their good works will
already have preceded them to eternity, as pleas and arguments with God.
False and fatal delusion! My reader, your peace, if ever made with the holy
Lord God, must be made in this world. If death cites you to God's bar with
the weapons of rebellion against Him in your grasp, with all the signs of
hatred and treason against God staring and thick upon you, your doom of woe
is irrevocably fixed "where the worm never dies, and the fire is
unquenched."
If you are not at peace with God through Christ Jesus here, you will be at
war with Him, and He with you forever hereafter. The kingdom of heaven is
entered in this world, and as we grow in grace, we have a more abundant
entrance into it now, until the white-robed angel of death comes, and opens
the door of our imprisoned soul, and we ascend fully and triumphantly to
enter into it in glory. Hasten, then, to be at peace with God by accepting
Christ in faith. The blood of Christ applied to your soul alone can bring
you to a state of peace with God. No doings of your own, no human merit, no
religious rites and ceremonial, will bring peace to your soul. You may
travel from Church to Church, from minister to minister, from duty to duty,
from ordinance to ordinance, and each and all will exclaim, "Peace is not in
us."
But go just as you are to Jesus; wash by faith in His peace-speaking,
conscience-healing blood, and "the peace of God, which passes all
understanding," will flow in gentle waves into your soul. "Settle matters
quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are
still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the
judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I
tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last
penny." Oh, then, accept without a moment's delay God's way of peace, and
lay not your head upon your pillow until you have thrown down your weapons
of rebellion and have become reconciled to Him through Christ Jesus. Oh, to
die an enemy of God! Oh, to meet Him with hate in the heart, and with the
weapons of defiance in the hand! What will He say? "And now about these
enemies of mine who didn't want me to be their king—bring them in and
execute them right here in my presence."
HAVE YOU LOST YOUR PEACE? Rest not until it is restored by a renewed
application of the peace-restoring blood of Christ to your conscience. You
may have broken your covenant of peace with God, but He has not broken His
covenant of peace made with you in the Son of His love, and never will. "For
the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall
not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says
the Lord that has mercy on you."
Avail yourself of the rich and precious legacy of peace Jesus your Mediator
and Surety has bequeathed you in His last Will and Testament. The terms of
this covenant are– "peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as
the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid." Christs' last thoughts and words and deeds were those of
peace. Present your claim and ask your share of this precious, priceless
bequest, for if you believe in and love Him, you may be assured that He
remembered you in His Will, and left you this legacy. And as He rose from
the dead and ascended into heaven for the express purpose of being His own
Administrator, He is prepared, in answer to your prayer, as "the God of
peace Himself, to give you peace always, by all means."
Is God pacified towards you for all that you have done for Christ's sake?
Then seek to cultivate PEACE WITH YOUR FELLOW-CREATURES. You cannot walk in
the sweet enjoyment of God's peace, and harbor at the same moment in your
heart hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness towards a, fellow-being,
especially a fellow-saint. Impossible! Go and be reconciled to your brother.
Make your peace with your sister. Confess your own fault, and forgive his or
hers. Think of the infinite patience of God towards you; think of the ten
thousand talents which you owed, but which He has cancelled; of the "seventy
times seven" which He has forgiven you; of the peace and joy of His
pardoning love, so often shed abroad in your heart; and think of a dying
hour, and of the final and eternal meeting in heaven with your brother, and
go and extend to him the olive branch of peace, and forgive him, even as God
for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Strive to promote FAMILY PEACE. Be a peacemaker there! It is one of the
saddest pictures of domestic life, and one of the most painful and
humiliating evidences of fallen humanity– the strifes and feuds, the enmity,
alienation, and division, which too often are seen marring and shading the
domestic circle. The smallest trifles will be allowed to engender
differences of judgment and alienation of affections and unholy jealousies
of heart, where there should exist the most perfect confidence, the freest
communion, and the warmest and holiest love. A picture, a jewel, a piece of
plate, a slight misunderstanding, after death has removed the family head
and broken up the domestic circle, has often been allowed to sever and
separate those who, as the ties of family lessened one by one, should but
have drawn all the closer together in affection, union, and sympathy. Do
all, then, that is in your power to cultivate in yourself, and to promote in
others, family peace. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the children of God." "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words,
and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to
each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ
has forgiven you."
CHRISTIAN UNION among the members of different branches of Christ's one
Church is a sweet fruit of our peace with God through Christ. "The God of
peace" has but one Family, and but one Church; and it is His will that
members of this one Family and of this one Church should "lead a life worthy
of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be
patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of
your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind
yourselves together with peace. We are all one body, we have the same
Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future."
Thus walking in Christian love and union with Christ's members of other
communions than our own, we shall walk worthy of, and glorify Christ, bring
peace into our own souls, and impart extension and strength to the bond of
peace which should knit and unite in one mystical body the whole Church of
the elect. Oh, were the peace of God more in our own souls, our aim would
ever be to "live peaceably with all men,'' especially with the "household of
faith." We should not think that we are coming down from some high altitude
of ecclesiastical eminence, and are conferring a distinction and an
obligation on a Christian Church, or on a Christian brother, by the
extension of our right hand of fellowship and love; but that we were
honoring ourselves, and, above all, were honoring Christ, by cultivating the
"communion of saints" with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity.
And what a PRAYER does the apostle blend with this expressive title of our
God! He prays for the entire sanctification of the Thessalonian saints: "Now
may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit
and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus
Christ comes again." Who that has felt the peace of God flowing through
Christ into his soul longs not to experience the answer to this prayer for
holiness in his own soul? The believer, standing between the two Advents of
Christ, finds in both the most powerful persuasives to universal holiness.
From the cross of Jesus, where the Prince of Peace died, and from the throne
of Jesus, where the Prince of Peace lives, he draws the most, powerful
motives to yield himself up unto God, body, soul, and spirit. The cross, in
its dying love, and the throne in its living, glory, constrain him to "deny
all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live godly, righteously, and
soberly in this present world."
Thus, while our God is the "God of peace," He is the God of holiness; and
all in whose hearts the peace of God, which passes all understanding,
reigns; hunger and thirst after righteousness, and are made, through trial,
suffering, and sorrow, "partakers of His holiness." Thus the peace which God
gives, which Jesus procured, and which the Holy Spirit speaks, is a holy,
sanctifying peace; and he who lives in sin, and yet affirms that he is
walking in peace with God through Christ, is deceiving and deceived. "And
now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ, all that is pleasing to him. Jesus is the
great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant, signed with his
blood. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen."
Let us remember that God's way of peace is our way of holiness. "You meet
him that rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember You in Your
ways." The path of peace is ever found parallel with the path of evangelical
purity and obedience. And walking in this path, God, as the "God of peace,"
meets His children, and says to them, "Peace be with you!" Oh, walk closely
with God, keep the conscience beneath the blood, live above the world and
the creature, and your peace will flow like a river, and your righteousness
as the waves of the sea.
"Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your
whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our
Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do
this." 1 Thes. 5:23-24
"Let us hail the blissful morning-
Dawn of peace to sinful earth!
Which the promised Savior gives us,
By a new and wondrous birth;
And, with angels,
join in hymns of holy mirth.
'Twas for us the King of Glory,
For a manger left His throne
Bore the curse–then went to heaven,
In a nature like our own
Blessed compassion!
To a world of rebels shown!
Lord, we praise You for Your mercy,
And would spread Your name abroad,
Until each tongue, and tribe, and nation,
Know You as their Savior God
And rejoicing,
Feel the virtue of Your blood."