Christ the Peace Giver.

**These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.”— John xvi. 33

"Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."-Luke xxiv. 36.

**Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”—Rom. v. 1.

"He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us."-Eph. ii. 14.

“Having made peace through the blood of His cross.”—Col. i. 20. "PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU.”—John xiv. 27.

"The heart never resteth till it findeth rest in Thee."-Augustine, 410. 'Jesus came to me in the third watch of the night walking upon the waters. He stilled the tempest in my soul and lo! there was a sweet calm."— Thomas Halyburton, 1670.

"Oh that I might effectually recommend to you the full possession of that precious legacy of our blessed Saviour, Peace."-Bishop Hall, 1574.

X.

"This is the confidence that we have in Him".

'PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU."-John xiv. 27.

NO shadow of the "Great Rock in the

weary land," is more grateful to the children of humanity than this. The circumstances in which the Saviour uttered these words were interesting and peculiar, and give a deep pathos to His declaration. It was at a time, one would have thought, of the deepest dispeace and disquietude to His own soul; a time when the saying, "My peace I give unto you," would have seemed a strange and equivocal boon: for the shadows of the cross were gathering around Him; the Prince of darkness was prowling on His path; and the

awful scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary were close at hand. And yet it was then (yes, at the very moment when the Rock of Ages was wrapped in portentous gloom), that Jesus speaks of the calm and the rest awaiting those who find shelter in its clefts. He was delivering His final charge to His disciples; imparting to them directions, comforts, and promises—His farewell benediction. Some consolation, higher than earth could afford, was needed, when the Shepherd was about to be smitten and the sheep to be scattered. In the clouds of that dark, troubled horizon He sets the bow of covenant Peace. His utterance was more than a promise :—it is couched in the formula of a last Will-a Testamentary deed. It is the dying legacy which the Prince of Peace bequeaths to His Church and people in every age.

Taking these words of Jesus more specially to guide our thoughts, let us advert to three, out of many characteristics of this priceless bequest.

I. It is a well-founded peace: and in this respect it is "not as the world giveth." By reason of the great original apostasy, the soul of man has lost its peace; and fallen nature, not ignorant of the loss, yet all unconscious where the forfeited boon is to be recovered, is engaged in a perpetual effort to effect the restoration. In ten thousand ways does the world "minister to a mind diseased," singing its siren lullaby— "Peace, Peace;" while, from the unsatisfied aching voids of the heart, the echo is returned, "No peace." The object desired being too often sought either at forbidden or at polluted fountains, multitudes fail to secure the coveted prize. The Peace enjoyed by the believer in Jesus, is full, complete, satisfying. It rests on the broad foundation of His atoning work and sacrifice, ratified by the Father and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It is the death of the Divine Testator which enables us, by law, to enter on this bequeathed heritage-"Where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator. For a testament is of force after

men are dead-otherwise it is of no strength at all while the Testator liveth."* Never was a Will so "proved," "attested,” as this. The adorable Redeemer surrendered His precious life, in order that (in the words just quoted from the Epistle to the Hebrews) it might be rendered "of force." Moreover, unlike all mere human and earthly Testators, He rose from the grave and ascended to His Father's right hand, to see its provisions and bequests implemented. He who executed this testamentary disposition is still our Advo cate in the Court of Heaven: and, as such, He will take care that all His heirs are infeft in the purchased blessings. It is a peace founded on the principles of everlasting truth and everlasting righteousness. As its primary condition, it secures alike the vindication of the divine law and the manifestation of the divine glory; for the Angels who came to announce the restoration of the lost heritage, sang-" Glory to God in the highest," before they proclaimed "Peace on

*Heb, ix, 16.