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June 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
(2 ) . It is a Personified Peace. “He is our Peace.” (Eph. 2:14). It is not merely what we receive, but whom. It is not only peace from Christ, but Christ as our Peace, that we possess. “In Pitti Palace, at Florence, there are two pictures which hang side by side, one repre senting a stormy sea with its wild waves, and black clouds, and fierce lightnings flashing across the sky. In the waters a human face is seen, wearing an expression of the utmost agony and despair. The other picture also represents the sea, tossed by as fierce a storm, with as dark clouds: but out in the midst of the waves a rock rises, against which the waters dash in vain. In a cleft of a rock are some tufts of grass and green herbage, with sweet flowers, and amid these a dove is seen sitting on her nest, quiet and undisturbed by the wild fury of the storm.” Christ is the Rock of Ages. On Him we rest, in Him we hide, and 'with Him we are safe. Having Christ as our Peace, we have calm in the midst of storm: rest, while all around is raging; and joy in sorrow. (3 ) , It is a Protecting Peace. “The peace of God; which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ. JesUs” (Phil. 4:7). This promise is given to those who are not anxious about any thing, prayerful in everything, and thankful for anything. These shall be kept by the peace of God as with a gar rison. The peace of God shall keep the heart from fear, the mind from doubt, the thoughts from wandering, the imagination from impurity, the soul from strife, the spirit from carking care, and one’s self from straying. As Matthew Henry says, “The peace of God will keep us from sinning under our troubles, and from sinking under them.” The peace of God elevates to the God of peace, who shall keep from the dust of worldliness, from the mud-spots of the flesh, and from the snares of the enemy, and cause us to know that He can sanctify us wholly, so that no part of our being shall be untouched by Him, but all shall be like a well tuned instrument, upon which He can play to His praise. II. T he C ouplet of B lessings V iewed C onjointly Some seventeen times we find these coupled together in the Epistles: so their connection cannot be accidental, neither is the order in which they are mentioned. It is not peace and then grace, but grace and then peace. Grace is the cause of peace, and peace is the result of grace. Grace is the root of peace, and peace is the flower of grace. There is no true peace before we know grace, but there may be grace and yet not peace, just as there may be a flowerless plant. Peace and sin will not live together. As Watson says, “If you would, have peace, make war with sin. Sin is the Achan that troubles us, the Trojan horse. When Joram saw Jehu, he said, ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ and he answered, ‘What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ (2 Kings 9 : 22). What peace, so long as sin remains unmortified? If you would have peace with God, break the league with sin: give battle to sin, for it is a most just war. When Samson had slain the lion, there came honey out of the lion: so, by slaying sin, we get the honey of peace.” It was after king Asa had cut down the groves of Baal, broken down the images, and sought the Lord, to keep His commandments, that we read, “The kingdom was quiet............because the Lord had given him rest,” yea, “rest on every side” (2 Chron. 14:5-7).
Grace is the Passport of Love which gives us the right to enter the King’s treasury of “His exceeding great and precious promises,” and to find whatever we want in Christian life and service: hence we find the “manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Grace is the Might o f Love which causes the believer to be moved, as the water moves the mill-wheel to grind the corn for the use of man, In graciousness of action towards others, and to be. of use in serving others at all times: hence we know “the exceeding grace of God” (2 Cor. 9:14). “Grace to you.” The Grace o f the Father, that we may learn the lessons He teaches. They are—“ godliness” towards Himself, that we may prove we are His children: for as the child speaks of his parent by his likeness to him, so we evidence our relationship to God by the sim ilarity of action: “sobriety” with reference to ourselves, that is self-restraint, under the government of Christ, as faithful stewards who keep things in order, although others tempt us to do otherwise: “righteousness” in con nection with our dealings with others: no unjust weight, no crooked action, no taking advantage of another’s weak ness or ignorance. These are the three lessons that Grace teaches according to Titus 2:11, 12. The grace o f the Son, that we may imitate Him in His actions. Think of the grace that was poured into His lips (Psalm 45:2), and evidenced by the gracious words that fell from them (Luke 4 :22). See the grace He man ifested in His life in all His dealings with others—amidst trial, when persecuted, in His death, and in what He gave up. Well might the Apostle say, in exhorting the Church at Corinth to abound in the grace of giving, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8 :9). The grace o f the Holy Spirit, that His power may rest upon us for walk and witnessing. “Great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33), it is said of the early Christians after they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Spirit is as fire, to burn up all that is-unholy, selfish, worldly, and mean: and is as the sap in the vine, to cause us to be fruitful branches, yielding the ninefold cluster of the “fruit of the Spirit.” II. PEACE. The Peace of the Gospel is not, as the Eastern salutation too often is, a mere empty form, as our “good morning,” but an abiding reality, which comes to us from the Throne of God, by way of the Cross of Christ, and is brought to us by the Holy Spirit. This peace is, as one has said, “The peace which Christ is : the peace with God which we have when we are reconciled to Him by the death of His Son: the soul-health which comes when grace makes our hearts, to their very depths, right with God, and frightens away care and fear. This spiritual soundness is all summed up in the Word.” We note three characteristics of this blessing: (1) It is a Purchased peace (Col. 1 :20). The mean ing of the word “peace” is suggestive; it signifies that' which binds together. Sin severed man from God. God in justice must punish sin. Man must be for ever sep arated from God if His claims are not met. Christ steps in as the Mediator. He is One with God, therefore has the power to meet our liabilities and bear our penalties: and He is One with man, therefore has the right to take up our cause, and His actions are our actions, for with Him we are identified. This He does by making peace by the blood of His cross: thus peace being made by the death of Christ, we have “peace with God” through Him (Rom. 5 :1).
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