(2) Peace loas a quality of Christ's character. — The words ' Peace I leave A^"ith you ; my peace I give unto you' (Jn 14-") strike one of the funda- mental notes of His personal being as that is re- vealed to us in the Gospels. Men have been known to make bequests when they had notliing to leave ; but peace was a blessing which Jesus had power to bestow, because it was His own peculiar possession. At the very centre of His earthly life, amidst all its vicissitudes, there always lies a pro- found i^eace, which is quite different fi'om impas- sivity, for it is something vital and flo-\^T.ng like a strong calm river (cf. Is 48'^). It was, without doubt, the magnetism of this peace-possessing and peace-diflFusing strength of Jesus that drew troubled hearts around Him ; and it was the consciousness of having it and being able to bestow it that in- spired that most characteristic in\-itation, ' Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavj- laden, and I ■^^'ill give you rest' (Mt 11^).
This personal peace of Jesus must be distin- guished, of course, from the peace of outward circumstances. "When He said, ' My peace I give unto you.' He was just about to go forth to Geth- semane and the judgment-hall and the cross. But the peace He wa^ conscious of lay deeper than all trials and sufferings, for it came from the assurance of a perfect union in thought and heart and ^^"ill Avith His Father in heaven ( Jn 14"- -"»■ ^i). Chrisfs peace was like that of a white water-lily — tossed to and fro by the surface waves of the lake, but unshaken from its place because its roots are buried deep in the soil beneath (cf. "Wordsworth, Excur- sion, V. 555). All through His earthly life He realized, as no other human being ever could, the full meaning of the prophet's word, ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee' (Is 26^).
(3) Peace is a characteristic blessing of the gospel of Christ. — Thus we find it constantly described when we pass fi-om the Gosjiels to the Apostolic teaching. So cliaracteristic of Christ's gospel is it that this gospel is itself described by St. Paul as ' the gospel of peace ' (Eph 6^^), and St. Peter in the Acts speaks of those who publish the message of salvation as ' jDreaching good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ' (Ac 1(F). 'Peace,' indeed, be- comes, like grace, a virtual summaiy for gospel blessings, and so in the benedictory salutations of nearly every Apostolic Avriter it is combined with ' gi-ace' as the distinctive gift of ' God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ ' (Ro V, 1 Co P, 2 Co \-, Gal \K Eph P, Ph P, Col P, 1 Th P, 2 Th P. 1 Ti 1^ Tit P, Philem^, 1 p p, 2P P, 2 Jn ^ Jude -).
It is St. Paul, however, who works out most
fully the place of peace in the Christian gospel and its immediate relation to Christ Himself. "With him ' peace ' has two distinct meanings, correspond- ing to two ditferent facts of Christian experience, (a) First, there is an objective peace — the peace of reconciliation with God through our Lord Jesus Christ — which follows as the result of being justified by faith (Ro 5^ [vv.^-" show that the elp-nvri of v.^ is the same as the KaTaWayi} of v."], Eph 2'*"" ; cf. 2 Co 5^*"-'). (b) Next, there is a subjective peace — the peace of conscious fellowship xcith God — which results from a living union with Christ the SaN^iour. This subjective peace finds its ground in the objective peace of reconciliation, but it is clearly distinguished fi-om it. The other is ' peace with God ' (Ro 5^) ; this is ' the peace of God which passeth all understanding' (Ph 4"). This inward peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5"), it forms part of our joy in believing (Ro 15'^), it is a power that guards our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus (Ph 4^). And it is of this peace, as a glad sense of sonship and trust wrought in the soul by Jesus Clirist, that the Apostle is thinking when he writes : ' The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times, in all ways ' (2 Th 3*^).
Literature. — The Lexx. of Grimm-Thaver and Crenier ; Hast- ings' DB, art. ' Peace ' ; Weiss, Bih. Theol. of ST, i. 449 ff. ; Sandav-Headlam, 'Romans' in ICC, on 5i ; Beet, Boman.i, ib. ; J. T. Jacob, Christ the Indueller (1902), 209; J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Chr. Life, 54 ; F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 3rd ser. 130, The Human Bace, 305 ; E. B. Pusev, Par. and Cath. Ser. 1, 431 ; J. H. Thom, Laivs of Life, 9, 159, 172 ; Phillips Brooks, The Late of Growth, 219 : J. B. Lightfoot, Serm. in St. Paul's Cath. 136; W. C. E. Newbolt, Penitence and Peace (1892). J. C. LAMBERT.
PEARL. — This jewel, specially esteemed and familiar in the East, is twice used by our Lord as an image of the preciousness of the Christian re- ligion : once in the saying, ' Cast not your pearls before swine' (Mt 7^), and again in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Mt 13*='). A distinction should be observed in the choice of this jewel as a metaphorical expression. In the case of coined money such as talents or pounds, the side of re- ligion emphasized is the active life of good works, and the lesson conveyed is that of duty. The value of the pearl is not primarily a commercial value ; it is something which appeals to its possessor as a unique and priceless possession, precious for its own inherent qualities of beautj- and rarity, j something for wliich all that a man has may be I sold, itself to be jealously treasured, not to be cast I at the feet of tho.se to Avhom it has no meaning. ! The pearl is not, from the purchaser's point of j view, merely a counter of commerce, it has a I beauty which is its own. and which can be appreci- ated only by him who knows. It stands not for any utilitarian aspect of religion, but for the secret shared between the soul and God, which loses its i beauty and its value if it is paraded before those I who do not understand its sanctity. The main ' points of the two passages would seem to be the ! transcendent beauty and preciousness of personal religion, and the need of reticent reverence to guard it. M. R. Newbolt.