cross. When God sent His Son into the world it was on a great errand of peace. Man’s heart was at war with God; he was a bom rebel; he was guilty before God; he deserved the judgment of God upon him, and to make matters worse — he was not able to get right with God. But, God is Love! The angels that bore His message to man on the hills surrounding the little town of Bethlehem, cried, “ Give glory and praise to God, He sends a promise of peace to men! (Glo ry to God in the highest, and on earth peace, g o o dw i l l toward men.)” This peace was gloriously procured and purchased by the one ordained Med i a t or , Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us. “ Peace,” wrote Dr. Cha r l e s Hodge, the famous theologian, “ is not the result o f mere gratuitous forgiveness, but of justification, of reconciliation, founded upon atonement.” The enlightened con science can never rest until it sees that God can be just in justifying the ungodly; that sin has been punished; that the justice of God is satisfied, and that His law is vindicated. The moment we ac cept Christ by faith as our Lord and Saviour, God’s righteousness is reckoned to us, and we are fully justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. When we grasp this tremendous fact, we are overwhelmed by the goodness of God. We have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Horatio Bonar, the Scottish preacher and hymn-writer, wrote these lines from personal experi ence, "1 hear the words of love, I gaze upon the Blood; I see the mighty Sacrifice And I have peace with God.” “ Have you made your peace with God ?” an old lady was once asked. “ No! But I have something bet ter; the Lord Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross, and this peace is mine!” The second important consid eration is this:-
I T is BECOMING increasingly evi dent that the people of today want peace more than any thing else. Peace is one o f the rarest possessions of man. In or der to find peace, people are turn ing to all sorts of things, usually to the wrong things. They are prepared to read every book but the right book, they are consult ing every person but the right person, in their endeavor to find peace of mind and heart. Swinburne wrote of a “ peace more sweet than music,” and I believe his description suits the peace that Jesus Christ left to His followers. He said to them, “ Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you . . . ” (John 14:27). There are three impo r t an t things I want to confront you with in connection with this leg acy of Peace, first: Peace Has Been Purchased Christ has been well described as the Prince o f Peace. He will provide us with a peace that is supreme. The peace He gives rests on the right foundation. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ro mans (5 :1 ), he writes “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .” This is not a peace with God which we acquire through our good deeds, or through our own efforts; it is not found in the solitariness and lone liness of seclusion and meditation. It is a peace that is imparted to us when we repent of our sins to God, and place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us. This peace was procured for us by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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