Sermon 3175. '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 GilesShaw, Esq., of Bewdley-brother-in-law of Miss Frances Ridley Havergal. The Address was delivered without preparation and followedimmediately 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 hymnwhich you have just been singing. It is No. 730 in Sacred Songs and Solos, or No. 7 in The Christian Choir. May the DivineTeacher 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 heavenlylight even in the midnight of this world of care. We cannot enjoy true peace as long as sin remains upon the conscience. Aswell might the ocean be quiet while a tempest is raging, or the sea bird rest on the wave when the storm is mixing earth andsky! The more the conscience is enlightened, the more surely will it forbid peace as long as sin remains, for its honest verdictis that sin deserves God's wrath and must be punished. Every upright understanding assents to the justice of that dispensationby which "every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward." To me, when convinced of sin, it seemedthat 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, theglorious Doctrine of Substitution was a well in the desert and it is still so. I believe it with my whole soul. An honestman, if he is in debt, will always be in trouble until the liability is removed. But when his debt is paid, he leaps intoliberty and gladness! When I learned that my enormous debt of sin had been fully discharged by the Lord Jesus Christ, whodid this for all Believers, then was my heart at peace! How much I wish that all of you may join me and Bishop Bickerstethin 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 circumstancesof 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 ofspirit. 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 dutiesworld 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-thenis 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 veryblessed 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! Happysoul that is doing what Jesus would have it do! I put up this little question in the Orphanage, for the children to read-"Whatwould Jesus do?" This, if we have spiritual minds, will be one of the best guides for us when we are in difficulty as to whatis 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 knowthe 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 assuredthat 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 cando 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. Inabilitiesto succor and depressions of spirit. These last two are at times the worst of all, for then the sorrow gets right into theheart and becomes sorrow, indeed! All the waters in the ocean are as nothing to the vessel so long as they are kept outside-butwhen 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. Ihave sometimes noticed very little chicks nestling under their mother's wings, thrusting out their little heads from underher feathers, looking so warm and cozy that they did not seem to know that it was cold in the big world outside! Near theirmother'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 witheach one of you? A present salvation should yield you present consolation and it will do so if you act up to your positionand privilege. Tell your sorrow to Jesus! Leave your sorrow with Jesus! Bear your sorrow for Him. Bear your sorrow with Himand then see what peace, what perfect peace, you will enjoy, even "with sorrows surging round!" The next verse will suit uswho 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 thechildren, and the servants, and the workpeople. All sorts of things are left as burdens upon the beloved ones at home. Weleave our beloved with our God and commend the household far away to God, who is present everywhere. A wandering son, a waywarddaughter- 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 Heavenis 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 underthe 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 littlechild, I lived so long with my grandfather that he became everything to me. And when I left him, it seemed like going amongstrangers. 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 whereyou are going! It will always be the same moon." Often I looked at the moon and remembered that Grandfather was looking atit, too, and we were not so very far away from one another. It is a sweet comfort to think that there is the same Providencewatching over the loved ones far away on the other side of the globe, in Australia, as there is watching over us who are gatheredhere. 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 talkingto 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 manytimes. 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 thatI am not your banker." "Why?" she asked. "Why," I replied, "if you were to place £100 with me, and then come back in fiveminutes and ask whether your money was safe, I should have to assure you that it could not be safer. Then you would probablywant 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 nextday you came again and repeated your question, and made a personal inspection. I am afraid I would say to you, 'You had bettertake 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 withdrawat the first sign of trouble or difficulty! "We are safe, and they." Will not an assured conviction of this Truth bathe usin 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 inthe place of sovereign government-nothing can happen but what He ordains or permits. Ah, dear Friends! Some of us have needto remember such a verse as this! We went home one year from this place, two of us, as happy as birds could be; and withina very few days one had lost his wife, and the other one dear friend, and then another. We will not try to peer through thattelescope which would unveil the future. It may be that dark scenes will startle us before we reach the eternal light. Wedo 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 anythingarranged 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 haveappointed such-and-such," would we say to Him, as Joseph said to Jacob, "Not so, my Father," and would we wish Him to uncrossthe hands which He guides so wisely? Would we not ask for the cross-handed blessing? Let the King be a king, and do what seemsgood 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 cannotkill, 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 transformeddeath into quite another thing from what it was before. Death used to be as a black cavern in the mountains. Men said thatmany were the footsteps into it, but that there were none from it. It was an awful, all-devouring cavern, but Jesus has, bypassing through it, turned the cavern into a tunnel! He went in at the gloomy side, but He remained not in the heart of theearth-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 shegot over it and was very happy and very cheerful when speaking about her departure. She lived in a room of her own and onenight she said to the friends in the house, "I believe I shall see the Lord tomorrow." It was on a Saturday night she spokethus and, according to her wish, they did not disturb her in the morning. But as they did not hear anything from her as theday passed on, they went to her room about mid-day and, sure enough, she was with her Lord! On a piece of paper which layon 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 winothers to Christ is by exhibiting a quiet, cheerful frame of mind, especially in sickness. Nothing is so convincing to ungodlymen as to see Christians very calm in time of danger, very resigned in the hour of affliction, very patient under provocationand taking things altogether, as Christians should take them, as from the hand of God! They are struck with it, for it isso different from what they feel within themselves! When their earth shakes, when their foundations are removed, when theirhealth is gone, when their earthly comforts are taken away-what have they left? But you and I have just as much left whenall these things are gone as we had before! While we have earthly comforts, we have learned to see God in them all. And whenthey are taken away, we see them all in God. But the ungodly have not that wonderful sense of the full possession of all thingswhich 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 downupon a promise and you may claim it for yourself-it is yours by the Magna Charta of faith! Go to the Bible and whatever promiseyou find there addressed to a child of God, stretch yourself upon it and so make it your own-and it will be so! Remember howthe Lord spoke to Abraham, "Lift up, now, your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward, and southward, andeastward, and westward: for all the land which you see, to you will I give it." Let us believe that God has given us all thingsin 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 necessaryjust now because the world is in such a hurry. It is necessary to us when we are weak and suffering, and when we are surroundedby cares and sorrows. Yet it is quite as valuable when we are strong and young and comfort would tempt us aside. Oh, thatthe 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 sayingof Addison, "Come here, young man, and see how a Christian can die." It looks too theatrical. But I should like it to be sowith us that men might turn aside to see how a Christian can live! O Lord and Giver of peace, grant us Your peace, and Graceto 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 isstill 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 isstill 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 havefallen 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 youshall 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 persuadedthat you would say, "Lord, I cannot pray an acceptable prayer," He makes one for you, so that you who have backslidden themost 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 Yousuch 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 verybest 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 theworld 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 theirpowerful 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 idoland trusts in God alone! It is a mark of very black backsliding when we begin to make our business, our families, our pleasuresand 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 turnedaway 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 showerwhere you could not have perceived anything before. Yet there is the idea of frailness in that simile, so it is balanced bythe next one.

5. And cast forth his roots as Lebano . After you have grown upward, you must grow downward-and growing downward, though itmay not be so pleasant-is quite as excellent as growing upward, so the promise to you is, "He shall grow as the lily, andcast forth his roots as Lebanon."

6. His branches shall spread This is growing sideways. So the Believer spreads his branches by public profession and testimonyafter having become deeply rooted in the faith and having grown up in love to God! Then He begins to spread his shadow overthe 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 theolive tree. Besides, the olive is an evergreen and the Christian's beauty is of a kind that shall never fade. There is anold 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 menas 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 graciousinfluence. As the Upas tree drops with deadly poison, so the tree of Grace in a Christian drops living drops to fall on deadsouls!

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 onlywe 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, Volume42-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 nameof Jesus? I, who have been baptized into the Sacred Trinity-what have I to do anymore with idols?" You may make an idol ofthat 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 orprofession 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 allour 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 saythat 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 cannotstand-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, thateven when he is engaged in the worship of God, the thing which is, in itself, good, becomes obnoxious to God by reason ofthe sin which is certain to be mingled with it!