The proper and natural Effect, and in the absence of all disturbing or
intercepting forces, the certain and sensible accompaniment of Peace,
(or Reconcilement) with God, is our own inward Peace, a calm and quiet
temper of mind. And where there is a consciousness of earnestly
desiring, and of having sincerely striven after the former, the latter
may be considered as a _Sense_ of its presence. In this case, I say,
and for a soul watchful, and under the discipline of the Gospel, the
Peace with a man's self may be the medium or organ through which the
assurance of his Peace with God is conveyed. We will not therefore
condemn this mode of speaking, though we dare not greatly recommend
it. Be it, that there is, truly and in sobriety of speech, enough of
just analogy in the subjects meant, to make this use of the words, if
less than proper, yet something more than metaphorical; still we must
be cautious not to transfer to the Object the defects or the
deficiency of the Organ, which must needs partake of the imperfections
of the imperfect beings to whom it belongs. Not without the
co-assurance of other senses and of the same sense in other men, dare
we affirm that what our eye beholds, is verily there to be beholden.
Much less may we conclude negatively, and from the inadequacy, or the
suspension, or from any other affection of sight infer the
non-existence, or departure, or changes of the thing itself. The
chameleon darkens in the shade of him who bends over it to ascertain
its colours. In like manner, but with yet greater caution, ought we to
think respecting a tranquil habit of inward life, considered as a
spiritual _sense_, as the medial Organ in and by which our Peace with
God, and the lively Working of his Grace on our Spirit, are perceived
by us. This Peace which we have with God in Christ, is inviolable; but
because the sense and persuasion of it may be interrupted, the soul
that is truly at peace with God may for a time be disquieted in
itself, through weakness of faith, or the strength of temptation, or
the darkness of desertion, losing sight of that grace, that love and
light of God's countenance, on which its tranquillity and joy depend.
_Thou didst hide thy face_, saith David, _and I was troubled_.[49] But
when these eclipses are over, the soul is revived with new
consolation, as the face of the earth is renewed and made to smile
with the return of the sun in the spring; and this ought always to
uphold Christians in the saddest times, namely, that the grace and
love of God towards them depend not on their sense, nor upon anything
in them, but is still in itself, incapable of the smallest alteration.
A holy heart that gladly entertains grace, shall find that it and
peace cannot dwell asunder; while an ungodly man may sleep to death in
the lethargy of carnal presumption and impenitency; but a true,
lively, solid peace, he cannot have. _There is no peace to the wicked,
saith my God._ Isa. lvii. 21.
[49] Psalm xxx. 7.--ED.