his calmness of spirit; for them all there
is the appropriate armour and defence in the peace of God, I have
already enumerated in part some of the requirements for true and
permanent tranquillity of soul. All these are met in the peace of
Christ. Whatever it is that disturbs men, He has His anodyne that will
soothe. If circumstances threaten, if men array themselves against us,
if our own evil hearts rise up in rebellion, if our passions disturb us,
if our consciences accuse: for all these Christ brings tranquillity and
calm. In every way in which men can be disturbed, and in every way,
therefore, in which peace can be manifest, Christ's gift avails. 'Come
unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.'

IV. Lastly, 'the Lord of Peace' gives it by giving His own presence.

The Thessalonians, as they listened to Paul's first prayer, might think
to themselves, 'Always, by all means.' That is a large petition! Can it
be fufilled? And so the Apostle adds, 'The Lord be with you all.' You
cannot separate Christ's gifts from Christ. The only way to get anything
that He gives is to get Him. It is His presence that does everything. If
He is with me, the world's annoyances will seem very small. If I hold
His hand I shall not be much troubled. If I can only nestle close to His
side, and come under His cloak, He will shield me from the cold blast,
from whatever side it blows. If my heart is twined around Him it will
partake of the stability and calm of the great heart on which it rests.

The secret of tranquillity is the presence of Christ. When He is in the
vessel the waves calm themselves. So, Christian men and women, if you
and I are conscious of breaches of our restfulness, interruptions of
our tranquillity by reason of surging, impatient passions, and hot
desires within ourselves, or by reason of the pressure of outward
circumstances, or by reason of our having fallen beneath our
consciences, and done wrong things, let us understand that the breaches
of our peace are not owing to Him, but only to our having let go His
hand. It is our own faults if we are ever troubled; if we kept close to
Him we should not be. It is our own faults if the world ever agitates us
beyond the measure that is compatible with central calm. Sorrow should
not have the power to touch the citadel of our lives. Effort should not
have the power to withdraw us from our trustful repose in Him. And
nothing here would have the pow