A False Peace

There is also a false peace by which many are deceived. They mistake their ease of mind for peace of heart. Deluded by a false peace, and daubing their consciences with the untempered mortar of their own vain imaginings, they cry: “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” These are they who drift down the river of time, unaware of the awful precipice over which it will sweep them at last into the great sea of eternity, where they will be forever without peace and without hope of all such it is written: “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them... and they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).
If you try to awaken such from their deadly sleep and their false security, they are likely to turn on you with indignation. They do not want to be disturbed. Like the slothful man in the book of Proverbs, they cry: “Yet a little more slumber, a little more sleep; a little more folding of the hands in sleep.” Alas, alas! If not awakened soon they will find out too late the folly of their assumed self-confidence.
One day, when walking along Broadway in Oakland, California, I saw ahead of me a man whom I knew was blind, making his way through the crowds with remarkable dexterity. He did not even have a stick, or a dog, to guide him. He had been over the same route so often that he felt sure he needed no help. Suddenly, I saw a cellarway opened just in front of him. In another moment he would have stepped down into the yawning mouth of a store basement. I sprang forward, caught him by the shoulder, and told him of his danger. Do you think he was angry with me for disturbing his false peace? Not at all! He thanked me profusely. But how different it often is with the unsaved man and woman. They go on heedless of their danger, and often resent the warnings of God’s servants, until the Spirit of God awakens them to a realization of their true condition, and leads them to accept peace through the Lord Jesus Christ.