“Peace! Perfect Peace!”
"Peace! Perfect Peace!"
(No. 3175)
AN ADDRESS PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1909.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
IN A SICK-ROOM AT MENTONE.
"You will keep him in perfect peace (Margin: peace, peace), whose mind
is stayed on You: because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3.
[This Address is an interesting souvenir of an afternoon visit paid by
Mr. Spurgeon to an invalid at Mentone, the late Giles Shaw, Esq., of
Bewdley–brother-in-law of Miss Frances Ridley Havergal. The Address
was delivered without preparation and followed immediately the singing
of the hymn upon which it is based.]
[A Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon upon Isaiah 26:3 is #1818, Volume 31–THE
SONG OF A CITY AND THE PEARL OF PEACE. Expositions of the whole Chapter
are included with Sermons #2430, Volume 41–CHRISTIANS AND THEIR
COMMUNION WITH GOD and #2713, Volume 47–WALKING IN THE LIGHT OF THE
LORD]
AS WE have met together in this sick-chamber and you all wish me to
talk with you, we will thoughtfully run over the hymn which you have
just been singing. It is No. 730 in Sacred Songs and Solos, or No. 7 in
The Christian Choir. May the Divine Teacher lead us into mines of the
Truth of God and show us the deep things of God!–
"Peace! Perfect peace! In this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within." Peace, yes, perfect peace!
What a Heaven lies within! Peace gleaming with a heavenly light even in
the midnight of this world of care. We cannot enjoy true peace as long
as sin remains upon the conscience. As well might the ocean be quiet
while a tempest is raging, or the sea bird rest on the wave when the
storm is mixing earth and sky! The more the conscience is enlightened,
the more surely will it forbid peace as long as sin remains, for its
honest verdict is that sin deserves God's wrath and must be punished.
Every upright understanding assents to the justice of that dispensation
by which "every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward." To me, when convinced of sin, it seemed that God
could not be God if He did not punish me for my sins. Because of this
deep-seated conviction, that great Gospel Truth, "The blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin," became a heavenly message,
sweeter than the music of angels' harps! Then I saw, with glad
surprise, that God in Christ Jesus is just and the Justifier of him
whom believes." To me, the glorious Doctrine of Substitution was a well
in the desert and it is still so. I believe it with my whole soul. An
honest man, if he is in debt, will always be in trouble until the
liability is removed. But when his debt is paid, he leaps into liberty
and gladness! When I learned that my enormous debt of sin had been
fully discharged by the Lord Jesus Christ, who did this for all
Believers, then was my heart at peace! How much I wish that all of you
may join me and Bishop Bickersteth in singing with emphasis–
" Peace perfect peace! In this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within!" The second verse goes on to
speak of–
"Peace! Perfect peace! By thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest" This peace is a present
possession and may be enjoyed in the ordinary circumstances of life.
Everyone who keeps house, every busy housewife, every man who is much
occupied with his business, needs this verse–
"Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed." To be closely
pressed by a crowd of duties does not tend to peace of spirit. You do
not know how to act through all you have to do and there seems so much
to be done all at once. If the duties world come in regular order and
you could take them as they come, you might be at peace, even though
incessantly occupied. But when they come rushing in,
helter-skelter–not only one thing, but 20 other things, all claiming
to be done at once–then is the anxious soul apt to be dis-
quieted! We are first wearied and then worried. To be perfectly at
peace amid the hurry-burly of invading cares is a very blessed
condition of soul–and the only way to reach it is described in the
next line of the hymn–
"To do the will of Jesus, this is rest." To be sure that what you are
doing is what Jesus would have you do is peace! Happy soul that is
doing what Jesus would have it do! I put up this little question in the
Orphanage, for the children to read–"What would Jesus do?" This, if we
have spiritual minds, will be one of the best guides for us when we are
in difficulty as to what is the next thing for us to do. We would do
good, but too many good things are present with us–which is to be
first? To know the will of Jesus, and to do it, is to abide in the
peace of God! What we cannot do, we shall leave to Him, being assured
that our duty does not lie in the region of the absolutely impossible–
"When obstacles and trials seem
Like prison walls to be,
I do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to Thee."
God comes in with His Grace where the impossible shuts us out. There
are two things we need never worry about–what we can do and what we
cannot do. What remains? The next verse is very sweet–
"Peace, perfect peace! With sorrows surging round? On Jesus' bosom
nothing but calm is found."
Oh, those sorrows! Sorrows of sickness in ourselves and others.
Bereavements, losses and crosses in daily life. Inabilities to succor
and depressions of spirit. These last two are at times the worst of
all, for then the sorrow gets right into the heart and becomes sorrow,
indeed! All the waters in the ocean are as nothing to the vessel so
long as they are kept outside–but when they break into the cabin of
the heart's assurance and begin to fill the hold of the heart–then are
we in peril–
"Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round."
This is the finger of God. It is not according to Nature for a man to
be just as happy when he is in adversity as in prosperity. Even when
"sorrowful" to be "always rejoicing" is a paradox realized only by one
who knows that next line–
"On Jesus' bosom nothing but calm is found." Wonderful position! We
cease to marvel at the deep calm which comes of it. I have sometimes
noticed very little chicks nestling under their mother's wings,
thrusting out their little heads from under her feathers, looking so
warm and cozy that they did not seem to know that it was cold in the
big world outside! Near their mother's bosom they chirped quite happily
and were altogether unaffected by the frosts of the night or the chills
of the day. So we read, "He shall cover you with His feathers and under
His wings shall you trust–His Truth shall be your shield and buckler."
We get to Jesus and we find shelter and safety in Him, even as the
little chicks beneath their mother's wings. Is it so with each one of
you? A present salvation should yield you present consolation and it
will do so if you act up to your position and privilege. Tell your
sorrow to Jesus! Leave your sorrow with Jesus! Bear your sorrow for
Him. Bear your sorrow with Him and then see what peace, what perfect
peace, you will enjoy, even "with sorrows surging round!" The next
verse will suit us who are, for a while, a thousand miles from home–
"Peace! Perfect peace! With loved ones far away?
In Jesus' keeping we are safe, and they." Yes, the dear wife is at
home. We do not know how things are going there with the children, and
the servants, and the workpeople. All sorts of things are left as
burdens upon the beloved ones at home. We leave our beloved with our
God and commend the household far away to God, who is present
everywhere. A wandering son, a wayward daughter– we leave them all
with Jesus. It is ordained by the Providence of God that these loved
ones should be far away and, therefore, it is right it should be so.
Yes, that which God appoints is right–and must be right Distance
ordained of Heaven is better than nearness of our own choosing! How
sweet that line–
"In Jesus'keeping we are safe, and they!" They are safe, too! It is all
well with them. We cannot see them, but they are under the eyes of
Jesus. They are as near to Him as we are and, in His keeping they are
as safe as we are. When I was a very little child, I lived so long with
my grandfather that he became everything to me. And when I left him, it
seemed like going among strangers. And I remember that
Grandfather tried to comfort me by saying, "Ah, Child! You are going
away from Stambourne; but the same moon will shine where you are going!
It will always be the same moon." Often I looked at the moon and
remembered that Grandfather was looking at it, too, and we were not so
very far away from one another. It is a sweet comfort to think that
there is the same Providence watching over the loved ones far away on
the other side of the globe, in Australia, as there is watching over us
who are gathered here. The absence of friends must not break our inward
peace.
Some are naturally anxious and fretful and this comes out most in their
thoughts of those who are away. I was just now talking to a friend who
tries to leave her troubles with the Savior, but very soon takes them
up again and bears them on her own back. She casts her burdens on the
Lord and then bows her own weary shoulders to the load. This, she
confessed, she had done many times. I said to her, "Do you keep your
money in a bank?" "Yes," she replied. "Then," I said, "it is well for
both of us that I am not your banker." "Why?" she asked. "Why," I
replied, "if you were to place £100 with me, and then come back in five
minutes and ask whether your money was safe, I should have to assure
you that it could not be safer. Then you would probably want to see it
and I would say, 'There is your money. You can draw it out at once.' I
would not be best pleased if the next day you came again and repeated
your question, and made a personal inspection. I am afraid I would say
to you, 'You had better take your money and look after it yourself, for
it is evident that you have little or no confidence in me.'" At any
rate, however I might take it, it would be very provoking conduct. We
must not talk of confidence in our Lord Jesus and then withdraw at the
first sign of trouble or difficulty! "We are safe, and they." Will not
an assured conviction of this Truth bathe us in seas of heavenly peace?
The Lord make it so with us
all!
Now for verse five–
"Peace! Perfect peace! Our future all unknown? Jesus we know, and He is
on the Throne."
That is the end of all doubts about the future, "He is on the throne."
His hand is on the helm to steer the ship. He is in the place of
sovereign government–nothing can happen but what He ordains or
permits. Ah, dear Friends! Some of us have need to remember such a
verse as this! We went home one year from this place, two of us, as
happy as birds could be; and within a very few days one had lost his
wife, and the other one dear friend, and then another. We will not try
to peer through that telescope which would unveil the future. It may be
that dark scenes will startle us before we reach the eternal light. We
do not know, and need not wish to know, what is appointed for us–but
this great and comfortable Truth of God meets it all–
"Jesus we know, and He is on the throne."
We can very well leave all things with our crowned Head! I suppose none
of us would wish to contradict Hm, nor to have anything arranged
otherwise than His loving mind appoints. If He stood by us this
afternoon, and said to any one of us, "My Child, I have arranged your
way in tender love and wisdom," no one of us would wish it to be
otherwise. If He said to us, "I have appointed such-and-such," would we
say to Him, as Joseph said to Jacob, "Not so, my Father," and would we
wish Him to uncross the hands which He guides so wisely? Would we not
ask for the cross-handed blessing? Let the King be a king, and do what
seems good to Him! May we not only say that, but stand to it in the
trying hour–
"Peace!Perfect peace!Death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers." Death is the last
enemy, but more–he is "the last enemy that shall be destroyed." He
cannot touch a child of God! Only his shadow may fall upon us. How
small a thing is this! The shadow of a sword cannot kill, the shadow of
a dog cannot bite, the shadow of a lion cannot rend and the shadow of
death cannot destroy!–
"Death shadowing us and ours." Well, well, we are not silly babies that
can be frightened at a shadow, for–
"Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers." He did it by His own
death and Resurrection! That Resurrection transformed death into quite
another thing from what it was before. Death used to be as a black
cavern in the mountains. Men said that many were the footsteps into it,
but that there were none from it. It was an awful, all-devouring
cavern, but Jesus has, by passing through it, turned the cavern into a
tunnel! He went in at the gloomy side, but He remained not in the heart
of the earth–He re-appeared at the other side. So that, death is now
all on the way to Heaven and immortality!
I have heard of an aged Christian Sister at Plymouth who had been for
many years troubled with the fear of death, but she got over it and was
very happy and very cheerful when speaking about her departure. She
lived in a room of her own and one night she said to the friends in the
house, "I believe I shall see the Lord tomorrow." It was on a Saturday
night she spoke thus and, according to her wish, they did not disturb
her in the morning. But as they did not hear anything from her as the
day passed on, they went to her room about mid-day and, sure enough,
she was with her Lord! On a piece of paper which lay on her bed, they
found these lines written–
"Since Jesus is mine, I'll not fear undressing,
But gladly put off these garments of clay.
To die in the Lord is a Covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to Glory through death led the way."
That is the way to look at it!–
"Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? Jesus has
vanquished death and all its powers."
Then comes the last verse–
"It is enough! Earth's struggles soon shall cease, And Jesus calls us
to Heaven's perfect peace."
Dear Friends, it is very essential that we, as Christian people, should
not only talk about this peace and believe in it, but that we should
enjoy it and exhibit it! I believe that to some of you, the best way in
which you can honor God and win others to Christ is by exhibiting a
quiet, cheerful frame of mind, especially in sickness. Nothing is so
convincing to ungodly men as to see Christians very calm in time of
danger, very resigned in the hour of affliction, very patient under
provocation and taking things altogether, as Christians should take
them, as from the hand of God! They are struck with it, for it is so
different from what they feel within themselves! When their earth
shakes, when their foundations are removed, when their health is gone,
when their earthly comforts are taken away–what have they left? But
you and I have just as much left when all these things are gone as we
had before! While we have earthly comforts, we have learned to see God
in them all. And when they are taken away, we see them all in God. But
the ungodly have not that wonderful sense of the full possession of all
things which is the peculiar delight of the heirs of salvation!
You and I are like Jacob. The Lord said to Him, "The land whereon you
lie, to you will I give it." You have only to lie down upon a promise
and you may claim it for yourself–it is yours by the Magna Charta of
faith! Go to the Bible and whatever promise you find there addressed to
a child of God, stretch yourself upon it and so make it your own–and
it will be so! Remember how the Lord spoke to Abraham, "Lift up, now,
your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which you see,
to you will I give it." Let us believe that God has given us all things
in giving us His Son–
"This world is ours, and worlds to come, Earth is our lodge, and Heaven
our home."
We must get this perfect peace of which we have now been singing and
speaking. I admire in certain of the saints their self-command, their
great quiet and deep restfulness of spirit. It is not everything, but
it is a very great deal. It is all the more necessary just now because
the world is in such a hurry. It is necessary to us when we are weak
and suffering, and when we are surrounded by cares and sorrows. Yet it
is quite as valuable when we are strong and young and comfort would
tempt us aside. Oh, that the world may see that we have a peace that
cannot be taken away from us by force or fraud! I do not quite like
that saying of Addison, "Come here, young man, and see how a Christian
can die." It looks too theatrical. But I should like it to be so with
us that men might turn aside to see how a Christian can live! O Lord
and Giver of peace, grant us Your peace, and Grace to keep it, even to
the end!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HOSEA 14.
Verse 1. O Israel, return unto the LORD your God, [See Sermon #2192,
Volume 37–THE JOYOUS RETURN] Bless His name that He is still your Gil!
However much you may have backslid-
den, you have not lost your right to claim Him as your God, for He is
yours eternally by a fixed promise. And because He is still your God,
let His everlasting kindness entice you to come back to Him."
1. For you have fallen by your iniquity. "You have lost your comforts,
you have become a poor despicable creature. You have fallen by your
iniquity–this is the eve of all the mischief–your sin is the seed of
all your ruin! Get rid of that and you shall soon have your comforts
back again."
2. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto Hi . See, He
puts the words into your mouth, as if He felt persuaded that you would
say, "Lord, I cannot pray an acceptable prayer," He makes one for you,
so that you who have backslidden the most and have gone the farthest
astray, may have no excuse–"Turn to the Lord: say unto Him."
2. Take away alliniquity andreceive us graciously: so will we render
the calves ofour lips. "Our thankfulness shall give You such hearty
praise that it shall not be like the Jew's slender sacrifice, when he
offered the turtle-doves or the young pigeons, but we will give You of
our praise as hearty a sacrifice as when the devout Israelite brought
the young bullock, the very best of his beasts to be offered upon the
altar of his God. So we will offer to You the calves of our lips."
3. Asshur shall not save us. Backslider, have you been putting your
trust anywhere but in God, hoping to find comfort in the world and in
sin? Then make this confession–"Asshur shall not save us."
3. We will not ride upon horses. These were the confidence of the
Egyptians–and the Israelites vainly tried to imitate their powerful
and rich neighbors. So we will not put our confidence in the strength
of cavalry.
3. Neither wiil we say anymore to the work ofour hands, You are our
gods. Happy is that man who turns aside from every idol and trusts in
God alone! It is a mark of very black backsliding when we begin to make
our business, our families, our pleasures and our bodily health the
objects of such tender consideration that we virtually say to them,
"You are our gods."
3, 4. For in You the fatherless finds mercy. I will heal their
backsliding I will love them freely: for My anger is
turned away from him.[See Sermons #501, Volume 9–GRACE ABOUNDING and
#920, Volume 16–BACKSLIDING HEALED] Everlastingly turned away through
the complete and satisfactory Atonement of Jesus Christ!
5. I will be as the dew unto Israee. The dew is God's gift and so is
Divine Grace! The dew falls silently, yet copiously, and bedews both
the leaf and the root sufficiently. "I will be as the dew unto Israel,"
is a promise to the man of faith, the man of prayer, the man who can
endure trial–"I will be as the dew unto Israel."
5. He shall grow as the lily. It is "the daffodil" in the original, the
yellow daffodil in the East springs up after a shower where you could
not have perceived anything before. Yet there is the idea of frailness
in that simile, so it is balanced by the next one.
5. And cast forth his roots as Lebano . After you have grown upward,
you must grow downward–and growing downward, though it may not be so
pleasant–is quite as excellent as growing upward, so the promise to
you is, "He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as
Lebanon."
6. His branches shall spread This is growing sideways. So the Believer
spreads his branches by public profession and testimony after having
become deeply rooted in the faith and having grown up in love to God!
Then He begins to spread his shadow over the sons of men by telling–
"To sinners round,
What a dear Savior he has found." 6. And his beauty shall be as the
olive tree. Which largely consists in its fruitfulness. That is always
the most beautiful olive which bears the most fruit. So the fruitful
Christian shall have the beauty of the olive tree. Besides, the olive
is an evergreen and the Christian's beauty is of a kind that shall
never fade. There is an old saying, "Beauty soon fades," but that does
not mean the Christian's beauty, for that shall neverfade, neither in
life, nor in death, nor in eternity!
6. And His smell as Lebanoi. That is, the holy influence of his life
and conversation shall be as fragrant to God and men as are the
perfumes exhaled by the sweet flowers upon the side of Mount Lebanon.
7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return. His children, his
servants, his congregation shall be blessed by his gracious influence.
As the Upas tree drops with deadly poison, so the tree of Grace in a
Christian drops living drops to fall on dead souls!
7. They shall revive as the corn. Which suddenly springs up in the East
after rain falls.
7. And grow as the vine. The branches shall in their turn become
fruitful.
7. The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Our families and
households should be so well-ordered that not only we ourselves,
personally, but all in our household should have a heavenly influence,
a blessed savor upon all around us.
8. Ephraim shall say, WVhat have I to do anymore with idols?'[See
Sermons #1339, Volume 23–IDOLS ABOLISHED and #2474, Volume 42–THE
GREAT CHANGE] Let that question also go round our
ranks, "What have I to do anymore with idols? I, who am bought with the
precious blood of Jesus? I, who am named by the name of Jesus? I, who
have been baptized into the Sacred Trinity–what have I to do anymore
with idols?" You may make an idol of that boy or girl of yours. You may
make an idol of that house or garden of yours. You may make an idol of
that business or profession of yours. Do not do it, I entreat you, but
rather say, "What have I to do anymore with
idols?"
8. I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. That
is what Ephraim says, and this is what God says.
8. From Me is your fruit found [See Sermon #557, Volume 10–WHERE TO
FIND FRUIT] We are never so fruitful as when we get all our fruit from
God! We always shine in borrowed light and we are always fruitful in
borrowed fruitfulness.
9. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he
shall know them? For the ways of the LORD are righ. Did your murmuring
spirit say that they were not right? Because you have had some sore
trial, did your repining spirit say that they were not right? They are
certainly right and you shall see that it is so one day! "The ways of
the Lord are right."
9. And the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall
therein. Even in God's good ways, transgressors cannot stand–they fall
even when they try to praise God, or to pray to Him–and this is a sad
proof of man's deep depravity, that even when he is engaged in the
worship of God, the thing which is, in itself, good, becomes obnoxious
to God by reason of the sin which is certain to be mingled with it!