March 16
TO OTHERS AN "ENSAMPLE"
"Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard,
and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" Phil. 4:9
It is well when a man can with advantage be so minutely copied as
Paul might have been. Oh, for grace to imitate him this day and every
day!
Should we, through divine grace, carry into practice the Pauline
teaching, we may claim the promise which is now open before us; and
what a promise it is! God, who loves peace, makes peace, and breathes
peace, will be with us. "Peace be with you" is a sweet benediction; but
for the God of peace to be with us is far more. Thus we have the
fountain as well as the streams, the sun as well as his beams. If the
God of peace be with us, we shall enjoy the peace of God which passeth
all understanding, even though outward circumstances should threaten
to disturb. If men quarrel, we shall be sure to be peacemakers, if the
Maker of peace be with us.
It is in the way of truth that real peace is found. If we quit the
faith or leave the path of righteousness under the notion of promoting
peace, we shall be greatly mistaken. First pure, then peaceable, is
the order of wisdom and of fact. Let us keep to Paul's line, and we
shall have the God of peace with us as He was with the apostle.