our nature. The deepest want of man is not
a desire for happiness, but a craving for peace; not a wish for the
gratification of every desire, but a craving for the repose of
acquiescence in the will of God; and it is this which Christianity
promises. Christianity does not promise happiness, but it does promise
peace. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," saith our Master,
"but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Now, let us look
more closely, into this peace.

The first thing we see respecting it is, that it is called God's
peace. God is rest: the infinite nature of God is infinite repose. The
"_I am_" of God is contrasted with the _I am become_ of all other
things. Everything else is in a state of _becoming_, God is in a state
of _Being_. The acorn has become the plant, and the plant has become
the oak. The child has become the man, and the man has become good, or
wise, or whatever else it may be. God ever _is_; and I pray you once
more to observe, that this peace of God, this eternal rest in the
Almighty Being, arises out of His unity. Not because He is an unit,
but because He is an unity. There is no discord between the powers and
attributes of the mind of God; there is no discord between His justice
and His love; there is no discord demanding some miserable expedient
to unite them together, such as some theologians imagined when they
described the sacrifice and atonement of our Redeemer by saying, it is
the clever expedient whereby God reconciles His justice with His love.
God's justice and love are one. Infinite justice must be infinite
love. Justice is but another sign of love. The infinite rest of the
"_I am_" of God arises out of the harmony of His attributes.

The next thing we observe respecting this divine peace which has come
down to man on earth is, that it is a _living peace_. Brethren, let us
distinguish. There are several things called peace which are by no
means divine or Godlike peace. There is peace, for example, in the man
who lives for and enjoys self, with no nobler aspiration goading him
on to make him feel the rest of God; that is peace, but that is merely
the peace of toil. There is rest on the surface of the caverned lake,
which no wind can stir; but that is the peace of stagnation. There is
peace amongst the stones which have fallen and rolled down the
mountain's side, and lie there quietly at rest; but that is the peace
of inanity. There is p