August 3

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. — COL. iii. 15.

Peace be unto you. — JOHN xx. 21.

MAN is naturally at war with himself and with his Maker. Christ came to transform his heart, give him peace of conscience, and reconcile him to God. This he accomplished by submitting to death, through which he became the herald and dispenser of peace; and his parting benediction. "Peace be unto you," becomes, therefore, efficacious to believers during all time.

This peace is not the work of man, but the gift of God and the fruit of the Spirit, through "the truth as it is in Jesus." In its source, nature, and blessedness, it is supernatural, and transcends all human comprehension. It takes away the sting of guilt, silences the alarm of conscience, and gives assurance of pardon, reconciliation, and salvation. In all these respects the peace of Christ differs from that of this world, which can neither give nor take it away. It is real and self-evidencing, abides and comforts in prosperity and adversity, and lifts the soul of the believer so far above earth that he has his "conversation in heaven." And now, reader, may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, "which passeth all understanding," keep your heart and mind in the true faith unto everlasting life!

H. W. Conrad,

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?

To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

BICKERSTETH.