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"PEACE ON EARTH."

WE are informed by the inspired historian that when the work of creation was completed " God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good." Order and harmony reigned throughout the universe. There was peace on earth." But this harmony was soon broken, and this peace was soon disturbed by the rebellion of man, the most highly-favoured of all God's creatures in the lower world. He sinned and fell; and his fall spread disorder and desolation over the face of creation. The whole creation has thus been made subject unto vanity, and groaneth and travaileth in pain together until "the times of the restitution of all things."

Man in losing peace with God lost all that was worth possessing, for it was the consciousness that he enjoyed the favour of his God which alone could enable him to relish and enjoy the other gifts which had been conferred on him. At variance with his God he could neither be at peace with himself nor with his fellow-men. Himself in rebellion against the supreme and universal Monarch, he lost all title to the sovereignty of the inferior creation. It no longer owned his authority or yielded him a willing obedience. And even the ground was cursed because of his sin. Thus it came to pass that when man's peace with God was broken by the fall, true peace had no abode on earth.

Now, how can all this discord and disorder be reme

died? how can peace be once again restored to earth? Only by the removal of sin which broke that peace and introduced that discord. And how can sin be removed? Not by works of righteousness which we can do, not by alms or prayers, or penitential tears; but by the "love and kindness of God our Saviour towards men through Jesus Christ our Lord." He "hath blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and hath taken it out of the way, nailing it his cross." He hath" abolished in his flesh the enmity,” that is, by his obedience and sufferings in the flesh, he hath made it of no effect," so making peace." "And that he might reconcile us unto God by the cross, he hath slain the enmity" by the sacrifice of himself. For" the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," and "hath made him to be sin for us.” "The chastisement of our peace has been laid on him" and exacted of him. Thus he has become " our peace," and we 66 being justified by faith in him have peace with God." When by faith we discern the infinite work of his obedience and sufferings, and are enabled to rest on them alone for salvation, they are imputed to us; and in consequence of the imputation, our sins are forgiven, our persons are accepted as righteous, our God is reconciled to us, and our peace is restored.

This, dear reader, we entreat you to observe, is the only foundation of lasting peace, an interest in the Saviour, and a participation in the benefits of his purchase, not the work of the Holy Spirit within us, but the work of Christ without us, even that work which was finished on Calvary, and the benefits accruing from which are, by the publication of the gospel message, freely offered to all without distinction and without exception.

From this peace with God, founded on the free forgiveness of his sins on account of the satisfaction which his surety has made, there flows to the believer peace of conscience. It was the sense of his guilt,—a consciousness of unforgiven sin still lying to his charge which rendered his conscience, like the troubled sea, a stranger to rest and peace. When his guilt has been purged by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, and God's favour has been restored to him through the interposition of the "Beloved," then "the peace of God which passeth all understanding" enters and takes possession of his heart, and his mind stayed upon the sure word of Jehovah is kept in perfect peace.

When one has attained peace with God and peace of conscience, he soon comes to be at peace with others, and having personal experience of the love of Christ, strives in some measure to return his love, by cherishing a kindred feeling towards those who are its objects. And when, in the glory of the latter day, this peace with God, with conscience, and between man and man shall have become universal,-when the Tempter shall have been bound,-when the curse which has spread a sickly blight over this fallen world shall have been removed,-when man's forfeited inheritance shall have been restored,-when that kingdom which "is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" shall have been established on the earth,-and when He who is "the Prince of peace" shall have come to his kingdom, and taken to him his great power that he may reign, then shall there, in the fullest sense, be 66 peace on earth." "Men shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Even the inferior cre

ation shall return to the state of subjection and peace "The

in which it was before the fall: for Isaiah says, wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them," &c. Isa. xi. 6—9.

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Dear reader, what are you doing to hasten forward this glorious consummation? Do you pray, and labour, and give "as. God hath prospered you," for this purpose? Above all, have you sought and obtained peace for your own soul? The gospel you are privileged to read and hear, is the gospel of peace. The way of salvation which it discloses, is the only way in which you can obtain peace. It has been prepared by Him who is the Prince of peace, and leads you back to Him who is now Jehovah-shalom," ,""the God of peace." And if you will only acquaint yourself with him and be at peace with him, your sins shall all be forgiven, and your former enmity for ever forgotten. He who of old said to the raging waters, "Peace, be still," shall calm the troubled waters of conscience. Your "peace shall be like a river," your calm and quiet walk shall resemble its peaceful and unruffled progress. The God of peace himself "shall give you peace always by all means." But oh! forget not "your resting-place." Forget not what it was which first brought rest and peace to your tempest-tossed soul. It was simple and unlimited trust in the obedience and sufferings of your surety. It was a confiding appropriation of his allsufficient righteousness, and an unreserved surrender of your soul to him that it might be washed in his blood, sanctified by his spirit, and glorified together with him when he comes the second time. It was not, as we said already, the discerning of the spirit's work within you,

but the discerning the value and trusting in the merit of the Saviour's work FOR you. And as it was this which brought you peace at first, so it is this alone which can preserve it and restore it. "Hold," then "the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end." ""And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God, your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."

A. F. M.

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