November 25

So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. — Rom 14:19 BSB

What sweetness is contained in the word "peace." Bunyan illustrates this so well in Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian, after being welcomed into the "House Beautiful," rests in a chamber called "Peace." How many blessed sensations are wrapped up in that word! It was the gift Jesus left to His Church—"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you." And the Apostle declares that this peace "passes all understanding."

Many of the Lord’s people seem to be longing for raptures, expecting overwhelming spiritual experiences. There is a lot of natural enthusiasm in the human mind, as we can see throughout religious history, and this often leads people, even those rightly taught in other ways, to look for grand visions, ecstasies, and emotional highs—things that the flesh can imitate or that Satan can counterfeit as an "angel of light" to deceive souls.

But I believe Satan cannot bring gospel peace to the conscience. He cannot instill a holy calm in the soul. While he could stir up the waters of Gennesaret into a storm, only One could say, "Peace, be still." Satan may create a storm in our minds, but he cannot calm it. He cannot pour oil on the troubled waves or bring the peace that allows the soul to rest in God. Of all spiritual blessings, none is more desirable than peace, and I believe that it is what the child of God longs for above all else. For, oh, how much is held in that word "peace!" By nature, man is an enemy to God, so to be saved, he must be reconciled—and reconciliation implies peace. When the heart is troubled, as the Lord said, "Let not your heart be troubled," peace is needed. And when the mind is restless and tossed about by conflicting emotions, peace is needed to calm it.

When it comes time to lie on our deathbed, if we can lie there in peace—peace with God through Jesus Christ—and feel that holy calm flowing from mercy and reconciliation, it will far surpass all the raptures in the world! To be blessed with peace through the blood of sprinkling, just before the soul leaves its earthly body to enter the haven of peace above, will indeed make for a happy deathbed. It will remove every thorn from the dying pillow and allow the departing believer to say, with holy Simeon, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation."