November, 1942
THE K I NG ’ S BUS I NESS
408
The paradox of PEACE in the m i d s t of vast w a r preparation a n d conflict:
The Sentinel of Peace
By ARTHUR HEDLEY Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England
D O YOU' EVER' t h i nk of the Apostle Paul as being anxious, full of doubts and fears? He with those written in later years, we can note a distinct change of tone. In Paul’s Epistles to the Corinthians we find him agitated, fearful. Paul was so troubled about the moral and spiritual state of the C o r i n t h i a n church that he incapacitated himself for work. He sent Titus as his inter mediary to remedy things, and suf fered restless days and sleepless nights until he returned. He was full of fears within (2 Cor. 7:5). When Titus failed to arrive at the appointed place, Paul feared the worst had hap pened, his imagination got the better of him, and he saw his years of hard labor laid in ruins. He wrote: “I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus” (2:13). A door of oppor tunity was opened to preach the gospel in Troas (v. 12), but Paul was too disquieted to embrace it. Who has not known such an ex perience when the heart has been so disturbed, the mind so fearful and agitated, that work has become dif ficult, if not impossible? Our sleep has been disturbed by fears which
made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6, R.V.). If they will commit everything to God in prayer and blend the note of thanksgiving with their supplica tion, then “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (4:7). Peace on Guard The Revised Version translates the final clause of this lovely passage as “shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” Shall guard? How can peace do any guard ing? We have never thought of peace as a military grace, as a sentinel of the soul, but rather as a gift, a treasure to be desired and preserved. We all long to'possess it, and when possessed of it, we feel that all is well with our inner life. But peace is. a militant grace, for it opposes everything that would disturb our internal calm. It conflicts with evefything that would conflict with our happiness. Peace garrisons the door of the heart, preventing any thing’s having access to It that would disturb or annoy. It is only when we are at peace within that we can main tain dominion over oUr disquieting feelings and surging passions.
the darkness and loneliness of the night seemed to magnify, until all seemed- lost. A Later Contrast When, later, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, we notice a de cided change of tone. No longer do we find him unhappy and restless, but full of joy, peace, and contentment. Evil men are still busy seeking to wreck his work, but he has learned to take a long view of life and to see things in their true perspective. His imprisonment, his chains, have helped in the furtherance of the gospel (Phil. 1:12; cf. 1:16-18). Paul has learned the art of con tentment. Whatever his circumstances, nothing disturbs him; he accepts everything with serenity of mind and soul. “I know,” he says, “both how to be abased,, and I know how to abound; every where and in all things' I am instructed . . . both to abound and to suffer need” (4:12). Paul has now found the secret of the untroubled heart. The secret he reveals in his ex hortation to his beloved converts: “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let y o u r requests be
was. In comparing his earlier Epistles
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