THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. CONTAINING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF VARIOUS EVANGELICAL DENOMINATIONS. TRUE AND FALSE PEACE. BY JAMES BUCHANAN, D.D., EDINBURGH. On a superficial view of the state of society, it | There is a true peace and a false-the one a precious privilege, and the other a perilous delusion. as There is a true peace, which the Gospel is designed and fitted to impart; for it is described "the Gospel of peace" (Rom. x. 15)—“ the word which God sent, preaching peace by Jesus Christ" (Acts x. 36); and the Gospel rightly understood and really believed, never fails to impart some measure of peace; for "there is joy and peace in believing." It reveals God as "the very God of peace" (1 Thess. v. 23); it unfolds his covenant as "the covenant of his peace (Isa. liv.10; Ezek. xxxiv. 25); it points to Christ as the "Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 6); nay, as being himself "our propitiation," and therefore" our peace."--Eph. ii. 14:-IIis ministers are called "ambassadors of peace," and his people, "sons of peace." And this true peace is described as the gift of God: "The Lord of peace give you peace always by all means" (2 Thess. iii. 16)-as the purchase and legacy of Christ: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you: let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid' -as the fruit of the Spirit: "For the fruit of the Spirit is peace" as the present privilege of the believer: " For, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. v. 1)-as the precious benediction and blessing of God to the Church: "Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ "as a constituent element of the new creation; for "the kingdom of God consisteth in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" and, finally, as the end and object of the whole dispensation of grace; for this is its descriptive motto: "Glory to God in the highest: peace on earth, and good-will to men." The mere description of this peace in scriptural language is sufficient to indicate its nature. It springs from a believing apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, and rests on the divine testimony as its ultimate and infallible ground. It is not a persuasion for which no reason can be given, nor a presumption built on mere human speculation; it has its ground and warrant in the Word. It arises from an apprehension of the revealed character and will of God, "as God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself: ""The just God and the Saviour;" from an acquiescence in his own method of salvation through the blood and righteousness of Christ; and from a cordial belief of the great and precious promises in which He speaks peace to his people and his saints. But there is a false peace, widely different from this, which prevails extensively in the world, and which springs naturally from the delusions of human error, just as the other does from the discovery of divine truth. This false peace, where it does not spring from utter thoughtlessness, and is professedly ascribed to any assignable reason, may be traced to three distinct, but connected sources; first, To a spirit of atheistical presumption, which, whether combined with theoretical infidelity, or appearing only in the form of practical ungodliness, prompts multitudes to imagine and to feel as if "God were altogether such an one as themselves."Ps. 1. 21: they secretly persuade themselves that "God will not do good, neither will he do evil"—that he is either too great to regard, or too gracious to punish, sin; and hence practically, although not perhaps in so many words, they adopt the sentiment ascribed to the ungodly of old: "He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see it." "Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it."--Ps. x. 11, 13. Secondly, It may be traced to slight and inadequate views of sin-a source connected with the former; for "he that hath slight thoughts of sin had never great thoughts of God."Ps. 1. And, thirdly, These sources of false peace are replenished with fresh supplies drawn from the fountain of grace and truth itself; for the carnal security of many an unconverted man is sustained, there is too much reason to fear, by a vague apprehension of mercy, derived from the words of Scripture, ill understood, and worse applied; such an apprehension of mercy as may be produced by the mere occurrence of such expressions as these: "God is merciful;"-" He has no pleasure in the death of the sinner ;"-" He waiteth to be gracious, and is ready to forgive." These, and similar expressions occurring frequently in Scripture, and often addressed to the careless from the pulpit, may serve, when divorced from the scheme of divine truth, and considered isolated and apart, to engender a false and presumptuous confidence, which, although professedly resting on a part of God's revealed truth, is, nevertheless, a fatal delusion, and has nothing in common with the peace of God's children, which rests on the whole testimony of the Word, and not on any partial or defective view of it. For many are chargeable with "turning the grace of God into licentiousness," and " continuing in sin, because grace abounds"-the doctrine of grace, which, in its own nature, is a "doctrine according to godli ness," being perverted, by the deceitfulness of man's heart, into an opiate for the conscience, and a pretext for sinning without fear. Oh! it is fearful to think that many may thus be hardening, under our ministry, by the very doctrine of grace which should melt and subdue them; and that the very same words which bring true peace to the believing soul, may be the means of under-propping the false security of the formalist-proving, in the one case, "the savour of life unto life;" in the other, "the savour of death unto death." From a comparison of the two kinds of peace which have been described, it will be evident that there is a wide and essential difference betwixt them; but the nature of that difference may be still further illustrated by a series of particulars, exhibiting the characteristic features of each, and furnishing materials for ascertaining the actual condition of our own souls. 1. True peace is the fruit of serious thought; and the more thoroughly its foundation is examined, the more sure and stable it becomes:-false peace is the fruit either of inconsiderate levity, or of gross delusion, and cannot stand the test of a rigid scrutiny. Here is a wide difference betwixt the two; but which is the more likely to be solid in its nature, and permanent in its duration ?-which best befits a rational, intelligent, and responsible being?— that which proceeds on a mere assumption, taken for granted, without proof, in a light and careless spirit, while it relates to interests so momentous as those of an immortal soul and an awful eternity?-or that which has been the result of a careful trial, of a serious exercise of thought, and an earnest inquiry after truth? In the one case, there has been heartfelt anxiety on a subject seen to be one of urgent and awful interest; and that anxiety has been removed only by a clear apprehension of the ground of a sinner's hope; in the other, there has been no distress of mind-no deep or abiding sense of sin--no awakening conviction of danger; or, if misgivings and fears have been occasionally felt, they have been stifled and repressed by a strong effort to believe that they were visionary and groundless-not appeased or removed by a discovery of Gospel truth. You cannot fail to see, not only that there is a wide difference betwixt these two states of mind, but that the one is, at least, more likely to be safe and sure than the other. Is yours, then, a peace that springs from serious thoughtfulness, that rests on intelligible reasons, and can bear to be tested by truth? or is it a peace springing from ignorance, that can live only under the shade of error, and which a single ray of Heaven's light would scathe and destroy? 66 TRUE AND FALSE PEACE. 2. True peace is the fruit of a lively faith grasping the whole counsel of God, and applying it to our own case;-false peace is the fruit either of total unbelief, or of partial and defective views of revealed truth. The one is peace in believing" (Rom. xv. 13), the other is peace in NOT believing. In the former case, the believer surveys the whole range of revealed truth; and, while he finds many mysteries there-many depths which he cannot fathom, many difficulties which he cannot solve he discovers enough to lay a sure and solid ground of present peace and future hope: he acquiesces in God's method of salvation; and were his faith in it perfect, his peace would be perfect too: it is never disturbed, except through the influence of remaining unbelief, and is ever most lively when he has the clearest views, and the most realizing impressions, of things unseen and eternal. How different, how opposite from this, is the false peace which depends for its being on the disbelief or exclusion of some part or other of God's truth! Yet how many cherish that peace which unbelief alone begets, and which faith would utterly destroy! It may be said of multitudes, that their peace springs not so much from the faith of Christ's Gospel, as from disbelief of God's lu. They may not profess infidel or sceptical opinions; on the contrary, they may make a vague, general profession of belief in the Scriptures; but they take a partial view of the great system of truth which is there revealed; and, whatever is repugnant to their natural taste, or alien from their habitual trains of thought, or fitted to quicken and alarm the conscience, they contrive to exclude from their creed, or, at least, from their habitual contemplation: they live very much as they might do did they believe there is no holy God above them-no solemn judgment-seat before them-no dreadful hell beneath them. Were these unseen things revealed so as to be recognised as great realities, their present peace would be instantly destroyed. And what does this prove, but that their peace is a mere delusion, depending for its very being on the success with which they contrive to disbelieve or forget some of the greatest truths of God's Word - some of the most tremendous realities of the world that is unseen and eternal? 3 all-seeing witness; that awful prerogative which He claims as the rightful sovereign and the supreme judge;--he can think of all these without the consciousness of a wish that God's character were, in any respect, other than it really is; and the clearer his views become, the more stable is his peace and hope-just because he has been taught how all the attributes of the divine nature may be glorified in his salvation-how harmoniously they co-operate in the work of grace, and how Jehovah can be at once the just God and the Saviour. He has scen "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;" and henceforth the brighter manifestation of that glory to himself and others, is the one grand object of his habitual desires and aims. How different the false peace which cannot endure the thought of God as he is!-which depends on a partial view of his character-which demands the excision of holiness, or justice, or faithfulness, or sovereignty from the list of Jehovah's attributes; and which, when this concession is made, remains indifferent to his glory; if that concession be refused, is bitterly opposed to it! Can it be a safe peace-can it be other than a perilous delusion which men indulge, when they are constrained to divest God of his essential perfections or prerogatives, if they would succeed in maintaining it undisturbed, or, at least, to exclude one or other of them habitually from their thoughts? And yet how many are in this condition!-how many whose peace would be destroyed, did they conceive of God as he is! 4. True peace cures distress of conscience; false peace prevents or stifles it. CONSCIENCE is God's vicegerent in the soul-a witness testifying to the authority of the divine law, marking our conduct in regard to it, warning the transgressor of his guilt and danger, and appealing to a higher tribunal-even the judgment-seat of God himself. This moral power exists in all; and often, in the case both of converted and unconverted men, it occasions deep distress. It was under the lash of an accusing conscience that David lay in sackcloth, and Peter wept bitterly, and Felix trembled, and Judas hanged himself. This distress of conscience is cured by the peace which the Gospel inspires. When the efficacy of Christ's blood is known and believed, 3. True peace is associated with profound" the heart is thereby sprinkled from an evil reverence for God--with satisfaction and de- conscience"-it is "purged from dead works;" light in all his perfections and prerogatives, and and the transgressor has no more conscience of with zeal for his honour and glory;-false peace sin" as an unforgiven thing. And the peace of is combined with jealousy and distrust of God, conscience, which is thus produced by the faith and either indifferent to his glory, or bitterly of the Gospel, is maintained and confirmed by opposed to it. The believer can look to God the habit of holy living;-the believer "keeps AS HE IS, in all the fulness and variety of his the mystery of faith in a pure conscience," and perfections, and yet experience a peace which" exercises himself to have a conscience void of passeth all understanding." He can think of that unsullied holiness which cannot look upon sin; that impartial justice which condemns it; that inflexible truth which is pledged to punish it; that pure and watchful eye, which is his 66 offence, both towards God and man." The Gospel is thus effectual in producing true peace of conscience, because the method of salvation which it proposes meets and satisfies the demands of conscience, as well as the claims of God, whose mere vicegerent conscience is. It does not proclaim amnesty for sin-it does not relax the authority or requirements of the law -it does not, waive or dispense with the high perfections and prerogatives of the supreme Lawgiver and Judge; but it reveals a salvation based on the principle of a satisfaction-it proclaims peace on the footing of a propitiation; and as soon as the glorious doctrine is understood and believed, conscience is fully satisfied, and the very 66 peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus." But distress of conscience is either prevented on the one hand, or suppressed on the other, by that perilous delusion which passes under the name of peace among unconverted men. false opinion, that God is too great to regard, The and too good to punish sin, to which I have already referred as one of the sources of this spurious peace, often acts as a shield to the conscience, repelling every arrow of conviction, and turning the edge even of the Sword of the Spirit. Cased in this panoply, many a hearer sits unmoved under the most awakening ministry; and, as if "his conscience were seared with a hot iron," he is utterly insensible both of his guilt and danger. But sometimes the Word, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, inflicts a wound: the slumbering conscience is startled for a time, its fond dream is broken, and then, pricked in his heart, the sinner is either exasperated into rage, like those who " were cut to the heart" by Stephen's preaching, and "gnashed on him with their teeth;" or they are stirred up, like those on Pentecost, to inquire, "What must we do to be saved?" But here the same perilous delusion, which has failed to prevent, is often employed to suppress, the misgivings of conscience. It is at hand, as an opiate, to deaden the pain of that wound, and thus the hurt of many is healed slightly, because they say to themselves" Peace, peace, when there is no peace." Oh! on that awful day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, how many scars will be brought to light!--the marks of wounds once inflicted by the Sword of the Spirit, which have been allowed to close and fester, without any radical cure; and how solemn the reckoning that must then be made for so many convictions stifled, so much resistance to God's truth, and so much deceitful tampering with conscience itself! 5. True peace is ever found in union with love to God, and delight in his fellowship; while false peace is consistent with great and habitual estrangement from God and his service. The peace which arises from an apprehension of God's pardoning mercy, draws the heart to God. Mary loved much, because "much had been forgiven;" and David said: "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications; because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live."-Ps. cxvi. 1, 2. It is this that gives life and liveliness to the believer's prayers, and brings him frequently to a throne of grace. But false peace, as if it carried about with it a latent sense of its own hollowness, keeps much at a distance from God; it restrains prayer-it has even with public worship. It may observe the no delight in secret devotion, and little sympathy form-for, by the desperate deceitfulness of the human heart, the form of godliness may help to sustain this false confidence, even where the power of godliness is denied; but, apart from quieting and soothing the conscience, there is no this use of outward observances, as a means of longing for God's presence, no love for his fellowship, and no sympathy with the serious test of the peace which any man possesses than seekers of his face. I know, indeed, no surer this-is it a peace that prompts, or is it a peace always call upon God?" that prevents, prayer? "Will the hypocrite hatred of sin, and is a powerful motive to a life of 6. True peace is inseparable from the fear and cheerful and unreserved obedience; false peace secretly encourages the soul to continue in the indulgence of its sins, and keeps it from aspiring after any eminent degree of holiness, whether in heart or life. The peace which is inspired by the faith of the Gospel, may be said to be in obedience. It is the cause, as it is the principle part the cause, and in part the effect, of new or motive, the source or spring, whence cheerful obedience flows; for it is "the grace of God which bringeth salvation, which teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in the world."-Tit. ii. 11, 12. And it is also the effect, as it is the result of a believer's experience; (Rom. viii. 6); and, "The work of righteousness "for to be spiritually-minded is life and peace' shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."-Isa. xxxii. 17. The Gospel, which is " the Word of peace," is also "a doctrine according to godliness;" and no one can enjoy the peace which that Word imparts without being brought, at the sametime, under its purifying influence and sanctifying power. But false peace makes men easy and indifferent about sin and duty; it secretly encourages them with the hope of impunity, and thereby tempts them to continue in the indulgence of their favourite lusts and passions; it represents the heights of holy living as inarduous in the ascent, and not necessary to acces sible, or, if accessible at all, steep and be reached for securing their safety. tiousness," and "continue in sin, because grace Thus ungodly men turn the grace of God into licenabounds." 66 peace is utterly broken up and destroyed. Death 7. True peace is perfected at death, when false is the king of terrors, and his approach, even although he be the last enemy, may sometimes appal the courage and disturb the peace of the believer himself; but the grounds of his hope are BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH-THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. adequate to sustain him even in that last conflict; and when he is enabled to realize the presence and promise of God, he can joyfully exclaim: "Yea, though I walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou rt with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." As death draws nigh, he commits his soul into God's hand, saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in eace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."-Luke ii. 29. Then "he lifteth up his head, knowing that his redemption is drawing near;" and after death, his peace will be perfect and perpetual. 66 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace."-Ps. xxxvii. 37. As soon as the silver cord is broken-as soon as the connection between soul and body is dissolved-his emancipated spirit, freed from every fetter, enters into perfect rest-" the rest which remaineth for the people of God." "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away;" and the partial, weak, and fluctuating peace which the believer enjoyed on earth shall be succeeded by "joy unspeakable, and full of glory;"-" an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." But the perilous delusion which passes under the name of peace among unconverted men will be utterly broken up and destroyed at death; not, it may be, by the approach of the last enemy; for there are some "who have made a covenant with death, and with hell are at agreement, and who go down into the grave with a lie in their right hand."-Isa. xxviii. 15;-nay, not even the passage through the dark valley; for such is the desperate malignity of self-deceit, that it would seem, from our Lord's parable, as if some may come up to the judgment-seat itself, saying "Peace, peace, when there is no peace," reckoning securely on their acceptance there, and even claiming it as their due: "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?" to whom he will answer, "I never knew you; depart from me!" But if neither the approach of death, nor the passage through the dark valley, yet assuredly the realities of an eternal world, will dissipate and destroy this fatal delusion; then "the hypocrite's hope shall perish;"then, if not before, "the sintiers in Zion shall be afraid; fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"-Isa. xxxiii. 14. "Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us; hide us from the wrath of God, and of the Lamb."-Luke xxiii. 30. Then "God shall sweep away every refuge of lies" (Ezek. xiii. 10); and the wall which was daubed with untempered mortar shall fall, and the conscience that was drugged with the opiate of false doctrine shall awake, and the sinner shall meet God, face to face, as "a consuming fire." UNION OF CHRISTIANS. Our earthly ties are weak, For time dissolves and death will break Yet there's a tie which must remain, Which time and death assault in vain. The kindred links of life are bright, Yet not so bright as those In which Christ's favour'd friends unite, Where all the hearts in union cling A chain, wherein link answers link- But they, unchanging, form a bower, Sprung from the true immortal Vine, By Nature's fondness nurs'd: Biographical Sketch. ANON. THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. MISSIONARY TO THE SOUTH SEAS. PART 1-THE CONVERT. 5 JOHN WILLIAMS was born in London on the 29th of June 1796, and, in his early years, enjoyed the inestimable privilege of a pious mother's training. His mother, in her youthful days, though sitting under the ministry, and favoured with the friendship, of the evangelical Romaine, had been a careless hearer of the Word, and an entire stranger to the power of religion. But soon after her marriage, she was brought to the knowledge of the truth, and subsequently made it the endeavour of her life to do what she could, in her own sphere, for Christ. The religious education of her children formed to her-as to Christian mothers it always must form--a subject of special anxiety and care; her sense of responsibility in the matter being, if possible, increased by the fact, that her partner was not at that time, nor, indeed, during her life, "like-minded" with herself. And accordingly, besides the exercise of that hallowing influence which must ever attend the daily walk and conversation of a Christian mother, we are told that "every morning and evening she conducted them to her chamber for instruction and prayer; and there, with a simplicity and freedom to which, in after years, her son was accustomed to refer with grateful pleasure, gave expression |