"HE gave every evidence of having made up his peace with God." Such were the words of one as she told me of a friend who had died but the day before.
Trusting indeed that he had accepted God's salvation, and was reconciled to God by the death of His Son, I would turn to thee, dear reader, and ask thee as to the whereabouts of thy soul in relation to God—He who made thee, feeds thee, and clothes thee. Art thou still at war with Him who not only surrounds thee with many mercies every day, but who in His wondrous love gave up to the death His well-beloved Son that thereby thou mightest be reconciled and find thy home and rest in His own presence?
Having listened to the woman's tale of her departed friend, I said to her that Jesus had made my peace more than eighteen hundred years ago, and that if this important question had been left to me I never could have made up my peace to my own satisfaction, far less to God's who is holy and of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.
To tell a seeking soul that it's time he was making up his peace with God must surely plunge it into deeper darkness, and set it working for that peace which a simple trust in the finished work of Christ would eternally secure to it. Yet, alas! how common a question it is "Have you made up your peace with God?" and this too in the light of accomplished redemption and a risen Savior—the living proof that God is satisfied with the work which He gave His Son to do, so that now He can preach peace by Jesus Christ (Acts 10:3636The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) (Acts 10:36)).
Perhaps, dear reader, you are anxious to find a resting-place for your soul amid the rough tossings of this present evil world, and in view of a long eternity which erelong you and I must enter; and may be you are one of those who are trying to live and act so that God, you trust, will at last have mercy on you. But, dear soul, dost thou not know that all thine endeavors spring from a heart estranged from God, and prove that the "way of peace" is still unknown to thee (Rom. 3:1717And the way of peace have they not known: (Romans 3:17)). Still thou art really in earnest as one who has to meet God; then listen to the voice of Jesus speaking to thee, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)); and again, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)). Surely these words are enough to make you cease your doings, seeing it is only by Christ that you can be saved and get that peace which your weary efforts would put further from you than ever. Not only has God provided but one way, one Savior—and this none other than His dear Son—but He is now beseeching you to be reconciled through Him (2 Cor. 5:2020Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)), to lay down your arms whether of open rebellion or religious profession, and, while owning your deserts could only be the depths of hell forever, to accept on God's own terms the peace which His Son made "through the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)), and which God is now preaching to you by Him (Acts 10:3636The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) (Acts 10:36)), and which you now are responsible to receive or reject.
Shall I add to the work of Christ? Shall I slight that one eternal sacrifice for sin by any paltry doings of my own carnal mind, by trying to find my own way back to God, and to work out a peace which is but after all a device of the devil to keep me in his grasp? Nay, nay, dear anxious soul; cease all your doings; give Jesus all the credit, and God all the praise accepting the salvation you could never earn, and receiving the pardon you could never deserve. Then shall you be able to sing—
Peace with our holy God,
Peace from the fear of death,
Peace through our Savior's precious blood,
Sweet peace the fruit of faith.”
And as the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, likewise says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). Dear soul, is this the language of thy heart, or art thou indifferent as to this all-important matter, deluded by a false peace and a a treacherous security, because not Divine? Then let me plead with you to think of that day, fast approaching, when every false peace will be shattered, and you, if still Christless, shall be shut out from the presence of God forever, and shall exchange for your dreams of safety the unceasing torments of an eternal hell, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44, 4644Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:44)
46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:46)); and, no longer careless, you shall know the realities of the "outer darkness" where there is "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 22:1313Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13)). On the other hand think of the realities of the cross of Christ; of what it cost Him to secure for those who believe this peace of which I speak!
Did not the sun refuse to shine upon Him, and had not Jehovah to hide His face from that spotless One when He once and forever made an atonement for sins, and when He drank that bitter cup of unmingled wrath? And why? That the believing soul might have unmingled peace and the joys of His own presence forever. Therefore, O reader, be wise in time; face these solemn facts; accept the judgment of God against yourself and your sins; see Christ in His own person bearing that judgment for you on Calvary’s cross; behold Him now, seated at the right hand of God, past all the judgment. By faith identify yourself with Him, and rejoice that thou art seen by God in Him; yea, see Him there as thy peace (Eph. 2:1414For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)); and then may you live as one who has such a surety, as one "accepted in the Beloved," knowing that "heaven and earth shall pass away," yet God's Word, on which you rest, "shall not pass away," for "the word of the Lord endureth forever” (Matt. 24:3535Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35).-1 Peter 1:2525But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:25)). T. E. P.