Chapter 8: How to Know Whether a Man's Peace is Made with God, Opened in Seven Particulars
affirm, God has enough against them, but looking upon them in Jesus Christ, He has nothing to charge them with—nothing that would make them stand guilty in His presence or answerable to His
Law, which they have broken.
You might ask, "How then can God afflict us for sin?" Yes, there is no such conclusion that because one has nothing to answer to the Law, they are exempt from affliction. For those who are reconciled to God, afflictions are not products of the Law but are God's ways of dispensing His wisdom to His people. He believes that afflictions are a suitable way to demonstrate to themselves and to the world that He is a holy God and that He is displeased with sin. God works upon them in such a way, but not to provide satisfaction to divine justice— that is not God's purpose in afflicting them.
There is a great difference between fatherly displeasure and revenging displeasure. In this reconciliation, God has swallowed up all the displeasure of a judge, all His revenging displeasure, and He has done so eternally. However, there may still remain the other—the fatherly displeasure. God has not swallowed up His fatherly displeasure but retains it, and that without any detriment to Himself, all of it tending to the good of those upon whom He manifests such displeasure.
Chapter 8 How to Know Whether a Man's Peace is Made with God, Opened in Seven Particulars
1. Every weapon of war against God is laid down.
2. There have been treaties of peace between God and that soul.
3. Peace with God will make you abhor yourself for your former cursed ways.
4. It will make you be on God's side.
5. It will preserve you from evil.
6. It will enable you to suffer much.
7. It will make you highly value it.
But I say, the soul should often inquire how things stand between God and itself. Are the terms right between God and my soul? Am I at peace with Him, or am I not? If not, how can I sleep? How can I go about my business while God is an enemy to me? And if I do go about my business, it is a sign of a bold and presumptuous heart to walk merrily and quietly, without ever determining this great question: how do things stand between God and my soul?
Would you then know whether the terms are indeed good, right, and peaceable between God and you?
Firstly, be assured that unless you have laid down all your weapons of war and enmity against God, you are not yet at peace with Him.
Can you, in the sincerity of your heart, appeal to God and say, "Lord, you know that there is no weapon of enmity against you in my heart that I have ever been aware of, but I have been willing, and I shall be willing, to lay it down. God forbid that there should ever be even the smallest weapon of war found in my heart against You"?
Every known sin within you is a weapon of warfare against God. And though you may lay down many, if there remains even one
unrepentant sin, that one sin is enough to create an eternal breach and enmity between God and your soul.
Now, do not be at ease, do not rest in your own spirit; do not sleep peacefully tonight unless you can bring your heart to this point: that you can go in secret before God and say, "O Lord, You know I have renounced all the ways of sin that You have ever revealed to me.
Though my sins cling to me as closely as skin to my flesh, as soon as I become aware of them, as soon as You reveal them to me, I cry out and protest against them."
Consider, for example, in a time of war, if some people enter your house and, at first, you do not know who they are. But later, by their actions, behaviour, and speech, you realise that they are enemies.
Now, if after recognising them, you welcome them, care for them, entertain them, and give them money, or other valuables, you would be considered an enemy to the state. But if, as soon as you identify them, you ask them to leave and do all you can to drive them out, and if they are too strong for you, you call upon your neighbours or the authorities for help, asking them to assist in removing them, then you cannot be charged with being an enemy to the state. Why?
Because, although they are in your house, it is entirely against your will.
Similarly, many people entertain their corruptions, cherish them, and fulfil their lusts, thinking they can excuse themselves by saying,
"What can I do? I can't help it." But do you truly complain about it?
Do you cry out to God, saying, "Lord, here is an enemy—an enemy to You as well as to myself, an enemy to Your glory as well as to my own soul. Oh, that You would come in and cast this enemy of mine and Yours out of my heart! I cannot sleep peacefully; I cannot rest or be
at ease as long as this enemy remains within me until You come and cast it out"?
This is a sign that you are at peace with God if you have laid down your weapons of warfare against Him and are at enmity with every sin. If you harbour no known sin within your heart, even if it is very secret, this is the most evident sign that can exist. Even the weakest
Christian may be able to apply this to himself and come to know something about this peace with God.
Secondly, if you would know whether God and you are reconciled, let me ask you this: What treaties have there been between God and your soul? You must understand that, although there may indeed be peace made between God and you in some manner from eternity (as I shall explain later), before it comes into your heart—before you can come to know it—there must be a treaty between God and you.
The reconciliation from eternity comes from treaties between God the Father and God the Son. But the reconciliation that occurs in time and enters your conscience is the result of some treaty that has taken place between God and yourself.
For example, when God desires to be at peace with a soul, He summons that soul to come in. He reveals that it is an enemy to Him and that it is walking in ways contrary to Him. Just as enemies approaching a town will first issue a summons before storming it, so too the Lord summons you to come in.
When did God ever summon your heart? Have you felt the power of God's summons in your soul?
And then, have you felt much interaction between God and your soul? Has God been speaking to your heart, and has your heart been speaking to God? Has God been working towards you, and has your heart been working towards God? Has the Lord sent messages to you through His word, and have you sent prayers up to Him? As the Lord waits to hear your answer when He speaks to you, do you also wait for His answer when you pray?
What treaties have taken place secretly in your private moments between God and your soul? Do you attend church and hear God's word without ever truly hearing His voice? Or, when you come to hear God's word, do you hear His voice treating with you about matters of peace? Do you feel God's Spirit drawing your heart and revealing His mind to you?
Perhaps, even while you are listening, you send up a silent prayer, saying, "Lord, I am willing to accept these terms of peace and reconciliation; I am willing to accept the conditions of the covenant."
Or, if not during the hearing, perhaps when you are alone, you open up to God more fully and send a complete answer to Him.
This is the way of treating—when you come to hear God's word offering terms of peace, and requiring certain terms, you, while listening, silently respond with, "Lord, I accept the terms," and when you are alone, you send up a full answer. Then, how do you bless His name that He was ever pleased to offer such terms to you, even if they were a thousand times harder?
Has there ever been such a process in your heart? Has it been one of the most significant undertakings your heart has ever engaged in?
Has your heart been more focused on this treaty with God about peace than on anything else that has ever concerned you in your life?
If so, it is a good sign that you are in the way of peace, and if your conscience confirms this, it will be a truly comforting assurance.
However, the truth is, I cannot give you the complete and thorough evidence that will fully satisfy your heart until I address the next point—to show you how the heart is brought to Christ and reconciled to God in Him. But I hope this helps guide your soul in that direction.
Thirdly, the third sign is this: If you are at peace with God, then when God is pacified towards you, and you become aware of it, it will cause you to reflect on your former wretched dealings with God. It will leave you feeling deeply ashamed in your own thoughts and cause you to abhor yourself for your past, cursed behaviour and opposition towards Him.
I will give you an excellent scripture for this: It is in Ezekiel 16:63, where it says, "That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth anymore; because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done."
This, then, is the time when the soul becomes ashamed of its wretched dealings with God and is confounded by the thought of them—even when the Lord is pacified towards it for all the evil it has done.
Take this to heart (when you set this book aside and find yourself alone): One might think that the appropriate time to be ashamed and confounded would be when God reveals His wrath towards a soul.
But no, it is when God says, "When I am pacified towards you," that you will be confounded and never open your mouth again.
So, if you have any clear evidence in your soul that the Lord is pacified towards you for all the evil you have done against Him, it will cause you to look back on your former actions and be deeply ashamed. You will find that, regardless of what God does to you, you will never open your mouth again but remain ashamed of all your wicked dealings with Him.
Many of your consciences may tell you that you have acted in various horrible ways against the Lord. What sins have many of you lived in?
Do you hope that God is reconciled to you and pacified towards you for all those terrible things you have done? If He is, then you will, in response to this grace of God towards you, reflect on your past actions and be confounded in your soul. The more you sense your peace with God, the more you will be ashamed and troubled by what you have done.
Many a wretched sinner, when faced with the fear of death, will feel ashamed of what he has done, and he will complain, cry out to others, and ask them to pray for him. But that is not what God speaks of here. For if God were to set such a one on his feet again and free him from sickness and fear, he would no longer feel ashamed but would return to his merry ways.
But if God is truly pacified towards your soul, then you will be confounded and ashamed for all the evils you have committed against Him. This is as comforting an argument that peace is made between God and us, and that He is reconciled to us, as any I know.
When, upon realising this peace and reconciliation, we become confounded in our own souls.
Fourthly, one who is at peace with God will always be on God's side.
He will go wherever God's cause leads, and he will be willing, no matter how dangerous it may be, to take risks on God's side. Such a person, by a secret instinct from God Himself, is able to discern and distinguish God's side and is not as full of doubts as others are. Once reconciled to God and in friendship with Him, he will always remain on that side.
Many will say, "If we knew which was God's side, we would be on it."
Friends, the reason you find it so difficult to identify and discern God's side is that you are not friends with God. If God were your friend, His secrets would be made known to you. Test yourself now: wherever you are, if there is any opposition to God, even if only a few stand up for Him and His cause, you will be sure to join those who stand for God, even if they are the fewest or the humblest in the town where you live. This is a true sign that you are someone who is at peace with God.
Fifthly, if you are at peace with God, this peace has great power to preserve you from evil. As stated in Philippians 4:7, "The peace of God shall keep your hearts," the text says it will guard your heart, just as a house is guarded by a troop of horsemen or a band of soldiers. If temptations arise, the peace of God will guard your heart and keep you in a gracious state. It will be a mighty force to protect your soul from evil. I do not know a stronger defence against the evil of sin than the peace of God made known to the soul.
Again, if you are at peace with God, this peace will enable you to endure much in God's cause. Ephesians 6:15 speaks of "being shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace." That is, the peace that the Gospel brings will enable you to tread upon sharp stones, for that is the meaning of the phrase. In those regions, people would wear sandals on their feet, as walking barefoot on sharp stones would be painful and harmful. So, the Apostle says, you may encounter rough and sharp paths in your Christian journey, but the peace that the Gospel brings will be like shoes, enabling you to walk upon those sharp stones. Does the peace of God enable you to endure much for Him? If so, it is a sign that you are at peace with Him.
Lastly, one who is at peace with God sets a mighty high value on that peace; he will not easily part with it or lose it. It is the bird in the bosom that he desires to keep singing. As long as he can keep that bird singing in his heart, he considers himself well enough, even if he faces countless difficulties and hardships in the ways of God.
A person who has obtained this peace with God knows how to treasure it, for, ordinarily, it is obtained with a great deal of difficulty
—it cost them something, and it cost Jesus Christ something before they could gain it. Have you found peace with God? If it is genuine, know that it cost you dearly, and it cost Jesus Christ dearly, and surely, now that you have it, it will be equally dear to your soul.
So, if sin should present itself to you and try to draw your heart away from God toward evil, this will be your very thought (even if there may be pleasure and profit in the path that sin offers): "Will this not hinder my peace with God?" If there is even the slightest suspicion that it might, the soul will say, "Away with it! I will not buy the pleasure or profit of sin at such a dear price."
The soul says to sin, as the fig tree and olive tree said to the other trees when they were invited to rule over them: "Shall I lose my sweetness," said the fig tree, "and my fatness," said the olive tree, "to come and be king over you?" In the same way, a heart reconciled to God asks when sin and the world present themselves: "Shall I lose my sweetness and my fatness? Shall I lose that blessed peace that exists between God and me to join with you?" O, God forbid! Surely,
I will never buy the sweetness of sin at such a costly rate.
Indeed, those in the world who have a false peace will risk that peace for any trivial reason. If a man possesses a jewel that is merely a false jewel—something like a Bristol stone, worth perhaps no more than a couple of pence—he will not be overly careful with it. But if he has a true diamond or a genuine pearl, he will not risk it over a trifling matter.
The peace that most people have is a counterfeit, false peace, and they will quickly risk it on any terms. Those who so readily yield to the temptations of sin provide clear evidence that their peace is false; that is why they can part with it under such easy conditions.
However, the soul that has true peace with God views it as a jewel of inestimable value, as a precious pearl. "Here lies my happiness," says the soul. "You shall not take this away from me lightly, with trivial matters. I will not part with something so precious, which cost me so dearly, and which cost Jesus Christ Himself so dearly—no less than
His own blood."
Most people in the world think they have peace with God, but let me ask: What did your peace cost you? It cost little, and so, lightly come, lightly go. That is why so many professing believers walk so carelessly in their ways; the peace they have came easily to them, and so it goes away just as easily. They have patched together a false
peace, but they have not understood the true mystery of the soul's reconciliation to God, and that is why their behaviour is so loose and undisciplined.
Thus, I have endeavoured to help you examine whether your peace is genuine or not. If, according to these signs, you can conclude that your peace is true, then blessed are you! Go your way rejoicing and join with the angels in their song: "Glory be to God in heaven, and peace on earth." Glory be to the great God who is on high, who has not only made peace on earth but has made peace within my heart.
Therefore, O my soul, return to your rest.
Your soul can now truly take its ease. There is a remarkable expression concerning this in Psalm 25:12, where, speaking of the happiness of the godly, it says, "What man is he that feareth the Lord? His soul shall dwell at ease." O! It is a blessed thing to have a soul that dwells at ease. You would be eager to have comfortable dwellings for your bodies where you can live at ease, undisturbed or untroubled, whether by bad neighbours or the fear of enemies. O!
But to have your soul dwell at ease, that is your true happiness.
Therefore, even though in many parts of the nation our brothers abroad may have no houses in which they can live at ease but are always in great straits and dangers, if this peace with God is made certain for you, then even if you were in the midst of your enemies, your soul could come to dwell at ease. Remember this verse, therefore—it is a blessed and sweet promise, and you should cherish it, especially in such troubling times as these: "He that fears the Lord, his soul shall dwell at ease."