ng.

_That it is consistent with energetic action._--Men are disposed to
think that peace is one of the last fruits of the tree of life, which
drops into the hand of the aged. A man says to himself, I shall have
to relinquish this active life, to settle in some quiet country home in
the midst of nature, and then perhaps I shall know what peace means. A
snug home and a competence, the culture of flowers, the slow march of
the seasons, tender home-love, far away from the hustling throng of the
world--these are the conditions of peace. Not so, says Christ: "Arise,
let us go hence." Let us leave this quiet harbor, and launch out into
the stormy deep. Let us leave this still chamber, around the windows
of which the vines cling, and go forth into the garden where the cedars
fight with the tempest, and amidst it all we shall find it possible to
enjoy the peace that passeth knowledge. Let men and women immersed in
the throng of daily toil, young men, busy men, understand that Christ's
peace is for those who hear the bugle note of duty summoning them to
arise, and go hence.

_That the chief evidence of this peace is in the leisureliness of the
heart._--Christ's possession of peace was very evident through all the
stormy scenes that followed. With perfect composure He could heal the
ear of Malchus, and stay the impetuosity of Peter; could reason quietly
with the slave that smote Him, and bid the daughters of Jerusalem not
to weep; could open paradise to the dying thief, and the door of John's
home to the reception of His mother. Few things betray the presence of
His peace more than the absence of irritability, fretfulness, and
feverish haste, which expend the tissues of life.

Oh that you may now receive from Christ this blessed gift! Let the
peace of Christ rule in your heart; it is your high privilege, be not
backward in availing yourself of it. It will be as oil to the
machinery of life.

II. THE SOURCES OF CHRIST'S PEACE.--(1) _The vision of the
Father._--"If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto
the Father."

Throughout these closing chapters He seems able to speak of nothing
else. His mind ranges from the disciples whom He was leaving to the
Father to whom He was going. Almost unconsciously He gives us a
glimpse of His self-repression in staying so long away from His
Father's manifested presence, when He says that if we loved Him we
would be glad to lose His bodily presence because He h