September 1

As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them" (Galatians 6:16). When peace is absent, then, can we blame the Gospel? No matter how superior the pen is, even in the hand of a skilled scribe, it will not write on wet paper. It is not the pen's fault, nor the hand's-- the problem is the paper.

If the heart of the saint-- no matter how famous and respected-- is defiled by a lust which has not yielded to repentance, God's promise will not speak peace. This person has become a disorderly walker, and no joy and peace can reach him in his self-made prison. The Spirit knows how to use His rod of correction.

Many misunderstand the meaning of peace. As for those who walk as close to the Gospel as they can but still see no comfort, they may have peace and not realize it. The saint's true joy is not a giggling lightheadedness like the world's; true joy is real. The parlor where the Spirit of Christ entertains the Christian is an inner room, not a porch next to the street where everyone who passes by can smell the banquet. "A stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy" (Proverbs 14:10). Christ and the Christian may be having supper within, even though you have not seen a single dish go in, or heard the music which sounds so splendid to believers. You might assume this soul does not have peace because he has not hung out a conspicuous sign on his countenance announcing the peace which he has inside.

On the contrary, sometimes there is never more inward peace and comfort in a saint's heart than when his face is covered with tears. If you should hear a Christian moaning and sobbing about his sins you might go home thinking that Christianity is a melancholy, dismal religion. And yet the one you pity would not part with his sorrow for all the giddy joy the world gives away. There is a mystery in these tears which human understanding cannot resolve.

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