And thus we hear our blessed Lord whispering to the world of to-day, a
tired world from the first, but never so tired as now; through these
lips comes God's answer to the cry of five hundred millions of
Buddhists, of the millions of Islam, of the Romanist, the Mystic, the
Quaker--to all, in one breath, the message comes; yes, to me, even to
me Thou speakest when the word is of that hidden lasting peace which
Thou, Lord Jesus, canst bestow. And if it was a marvel that at
Pentecost every man should hear in his own language the wonderful works
of God, much more is it a marvel to speak to all hearts than to speak
with all tongues.

And what is more than speech, even that which goes to the heart, is the
action by which Thou, Lord, hast proved Thy speech. Thy life has given
Thee the right to speak of what Thou givest as _Thy_ peace. So quiet
wast Thou that, but for the wrong-doers that crossed Thy path, Thou
wouldst have seemed to be passionless; yea, some have even spoken of
Thee as the "cold Galilean," because of the marvellous rest of Thy soul
in Thy Father's arms.

Not only is it a test of the truth of a religion whether it imparts a
real and permanent peace, but it is also a test of our attainment in
the true religion, when we find it, for us to examine the depth and
character of our peace.

We determine the religion of Jesus to be the Absolute Religion, because
it imparts the highest peace in the manner most suited to the soul of
man, and most consistent with the character of God.

We verify our own position in the Life by the simple test of the
experience of Peace which we enjoy.

It is easy to be tranquil under certain circumstances; and there are
times when most of us perceive the connection between quiet and
holiness. But then circumstances change, and what becomes of the
peace? Drake and his men cross the isthmus of Panama, and from a peak
they see below them the smiling ocean on the farther side; so fair and
still it looked that it received the name of the Pacific Ocean; but
then there were two things to be noticed: first, it was a fine day;
next, they probably thought the sea the smoother because of the height
from which they surveyed it. And it is easy to talk of peace on fine
days, and when we are high up above trouble; but our test must be when
we are in the midst of the waters, when the waves thereof roar and are
troubled. Is it Pacific Ocean then; or do we find, as may be those
early adventurer