"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"--
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you."--John xiv. 27.
The Dying Legacy.
How we treasure the last sayings of a dying parent! How specially
cherished and memorable are his last looks and last words! Here are the
last words--the parting legacy--of a dying Saviour. It is a legacy of
_peace_.
What peace is this? It is His own purchase--a peace arising out of free
forgiveness through His precious blood. It is sung in concert with
"Glory to God in the highest"--a peace made as sure to us as eternal
power and infinite love _can make it_! It is _peace_ the soul wants.
Existence is one long-drawn sigh after repose. _That_ is nowhere else to
be found, but through the blood of His cross! "Being justified by
faith, we _have_ peace with God." "HE giveth his beloved _rest_!"
How different from the false and counterfeit peace in which so many are
content to live, and content to die! The world's peace is all well, so
long as prosperity lasts--so long as the stream runs smooth, and the sky
is clear; but when the cataract is at hand, or the storm is gathering,
where is it? It is _gone_! There is no calculating on its permanency.
Often when the cup is fullest, there is the trembling apprehension that
in one brief moment it may be dashed to the ground. The soul may be
saying to itself, "Peace, peace;" but, like the writing on the sand, it
may be obliterated by the first wave of adversity. BUT, "Not as the
world giveth!" The peace of the believer is
deep--calm--lasting--_ever_lasting. The world, with all its
blandishments, cannot give it. The world, with all its vicissitudes and
fluctuations, cannot take it away! It is brightest in the hour of
trial; it lights up the final valley-gloom. "Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." Yes! how often is
the believer's deathbed like the deep calm repose of a summer-evening's
sky, when all nature is hushed to rest; the departing soul, like the
vanishing sun, peacefully disappearing only to shine in another and
brighter hemisphere! "I seem," said Simeon on his deathbed, "to have
nothing to do but to wait: there is now nothing but _peace_, the
_sweetest peace_."
Believer! do you know this peace which passeth understanding? Is it
"keeping (literally, '_garrisoning_ as in a citadel') your heart?" Have
you learnt the blessedness of waking up, morning after morning, and
feeling, "I am at peace with my God;" of beholding by faith the true
Aaron--the great High Priest--coming forth from "the holiest of all" to
"bless His people with peace?" Waves of trouble may be murmuring around
you, but they cannot touch you; you are in the rock-crevice athwart
which the fiercest tornado sweeps by. Oh! leave not the making up of
your peace with God to a dying hour! It will be a hard thing to smooth
the death-pillow, if peace be left unsought till then. Make sure of it
_now_. He, the true Melchisedec, is willing _now_ to come forth to meet
you with bread and wine--emblems of peaceful gospel blessings. All the
"words of Jesus" are so many rills contributing to make your peace flow
as a river;--"These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might
have peace."
"I WILL HEAR WHAT GOD THE LORD WILL SPEAK, FOR HE WILL SPEAK PEACE
UNTO HIS PEOPLE AND TO HIS SAINTS."