by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
March, 1940
PEACE.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27). Nowhere do the moral perfections of Christ appear more blessedly than in the peace which ever possessed His soul! There was nothing in His outward lot calculated to produce composure of mind and satisfaction of heart, but rather everything to the contrary. What did the world give to the Lord Jesus that would produce contentment? A manger for His cradle, the mountain side for His sleeping-chamber, a Cross on which to die. What was there in His circumstances or earthly portion which made for serenity of spirit?—what of external comforts, material riches, social prestige, human fame? Not only was there the absence of those things which are mostly prized by men, but there was the presence of their opposites—that which usually occasion repinings. Yet we never see Him ruffled or hear Him complaining: perfect peace ever possessed His heart.
Never was the peace of anyone so severely tested and tried as was that of Christ's, yet nothing ever disturbed it to the slightest degree. No matter what the provocation, He ever remained calm and unperturbed. “When He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not” (1 Peter 2:23). When His enemies spat in His face and plucked out His hair, there was no angry retort. Lack of appreciation from those whom He befriended embittered not His spirit. The vilest of charges were hurled against Him, the foulest indignities were heaped upon Him, yet they only served to demonstrate the unadulterated mildness of His temper. When affronted and ridiculed, He calmly bore their insults. When contradicted by presumptuous sinners He endured, with the utmost tranquility, their unreasonable cavils. Most gloriously did He make it manifest that He was “the Prince of Peace.”
As courage can only be displayed in the midst of danger, as perseverance requires prolonged difficulty and trial for its exemplification, so the virtue of peace needs provocation and opposition if its blessedness is to be made fully evident. And therefore did Divine providence so order the path of our Redeemer that it might the more conspicuously appear that there was no conceivable experience which could disturb His equanimity. In public and in private, from foe and friend, in life and in death, He was antagonized and assaulted, but His perfect placidity remained unruffled. When enduring the inconceivable agonies of Gethsemane, with strong crying and tears, and bloody sweat, His disciples slumbered and slept. Did their slighted Master express hot resentment at such unkind treatment? No, far from it, He threw the mantle of charity over their failure to watch with Him for one hour, saying, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).
Let us now endeavour to examine more closely this lovely grace so eminently displayed by the Lord Jesus. What was the nature of His peace? What were the essential elements which comprised it? First, an unshakable confidence in the Divine providence. Nothing is more effectual in stabilizing the mind and tranquilizing the heart as a firm and steadfast assurance that God controls and directs all the affairs of time. The Gospels record many examples of Christ's confidence therein. Take what is mentioned in Matthew 17:27: there were thousands of fish in that sea—why should this particular one, at this particular moment, be found with the necessary coin when Peter caught and opened its mouth? Take again the incident described in Matthew 21:2, 3: a dozen things might have caused the owner of that ass to change his mind and go elsewhere—Christ's knowledge it would be there at that time was not only proof of His omniscience, but also of a particular Providence that orders every detail. Once more, consider Mark 4:35-41: why did Christ sleep so peacefully during the storm? Because He knew they were certain to reach “the other side” (v. 35)—the government of God so ordered it.
Second, His unchanging trust in God: that constituted a marked feature of Christ's serenity. This is clear from, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa. 26:3). Christ was the only one who ever enjoyed that perfect peace in its undisturbed fullness, because He was the only one whose mind was perpetually stayed on Jehovah. “I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art My God from My mother's belly” (Psa. 22:10). The Lord Jesus lived in complete dependence upon God throughout the whole of His earthly sojourn. He lived by faith on the precious promises of His heavenly Father. In Hebrews 2:11 the Apostle Paul declares, “For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren,” and in proof thereof (v. 13) he quotes Psalm 18:2 where the Messiah affirmed, “I will put My trust in Him.” Christ's trust in God evidenced Him to be one with His brethren, for in becoming the Son of man He was brought into a condition of trouble and distress wherein it was both His duty and privilege to count upon God for deliverance.
As this human perfection of the Saviour' is so feebly apprehended today, we will dwell upon it a little further. So far from belittling the character of our Lord, the fact that He lived in complete dependence upon God makes manifest His moral perfections. “I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the LORD God will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set My face like a flint” (Isa. 50:6, 7). If those words do not set forth the life of faith, what language could do so? “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth?” (Rom. 8:33, 34). How many of our readers are aware that that triumphant challenge of faith originally issued from the lips of the Man Christ Jesus? Such indeed was the case, as a reference to Isaiah 50:8, 9 clearly shows: at the very moment Pilate was condemning Him, Christ comforted Himself with the assurance that God would vindicate and declare Him righteous. Compare, too, His language in Psalm 16:8-10! That Christ made an open profession of His confidence in the Father is seen in the fact that His enemies reproached Him for “trusting in God” (Matt. 27:43).
Third, His unparalleled meekness. “The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psa. 37:11). Pride and self-will lie at the root of all unrest and discontent, as they are responsible for our quarrelling with the dispensations of God. Dictators and disturbers of public peace are ever men of arrogance and self-assertiveness. But the Prince of Peace could say, “Learn of Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29). Meekness is the only virtue which will keep the affections and passions in their proper place and poise. Meekness is the only grace which makes one submissive to God and pleased with all that pleases Him. “Behold Thy King cometh unto Thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass” (Matt. 21:5).
Many are the contrasts between the world's peace and Christ's. The world wishes for peace, Christ alone can bestow it. The world's peace is carnal, shallow, and disappointing—but Christ's is spiritual, deep, and satisfying. The world's peace is a dearly-bought one, but Christ's is free. The world's peace is generally an unrighteous one, but Christ's is holy. The world can only give peace after trouble, but Christ can impart peace in the midst of trouble, lifting the heart above it. The world's peace is evanescent, Christ's is lasting, for His gifts are without repentance: He is in one mind in continuing as well as bestowing—His motives are in and of Himself, and therefore always the same. He secures by His power what He gives by His love. His peace cannot be taken away from us. A tyrant once threatened a saint, “I will destroy your home”—you cannot destroy my peace. “I will confiscate your goods”—you cannot rob me of my peace. “I will banish you from your country”—I will take my peace with me. This peace is the legacy of the Prince of Peace to His subjects, but the measure in which they enjoy it is determined by their obedience to God, their surrender to His sovereignty, and their fellowship with Him, and their heart's occupation with their future bliss.—A.W.P.
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