Consider first, that as our Saviour, the night before His passion, bequeathed His peace to His disciples, saying, John xiv. 27, 'Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you' so also after His resurrection He three times wished them His peace, saying, 'peace be to you,' John xx. But what kind of peace is this that He so much inculcates, and so earnestly desires to impart to us? Not the peace which the world pretends to give, which is false and deceitful like itself--they say 'peace, peace, and there is no peace,' Ezek. xiii. 10. to - but 'the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding,' Philip. iv. 7. A threefold peace; viz., a peace of the soul with God, a peace with every neighbour, and a peace with herself. It is both the duty and happiness of a Christian to maintain this triple peace. And first, whosoever desires any degree of happiness, either here or hereafter, must take care to keep an inviolable peace with God, by ever flying wilful sin, which is at enmity with God. For how can there be any good for them that are at war with God? 'Who hath ever resisted Him, and hath had peace?' Job ix. 4. 'The wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire: there is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God,' Isaias lvii. 20,21.

Consider 2ndly, that the Christian cannot maintain his peace with God if he does not also 'follow peace with all men,' Heb. xii. 14; 'and as much as lies in him, keep peace with all men,' Rom. xii. 18. 'For as no man can love God, that does not love his neighbour,' 1 John iv., so no man can be at peace with God that breaks peace with his neighbour. 'Tis then another branch both of the duty and of the happiness of a Christian to be at peace with every man, at least as far as lies in his power and in the unfeigned disposition of his soul; to renounce all animosity and rancour, all discord and contention, all malice and envy, and whatsoever else is opposite to fraternal charity, and to learn to bear, and to forbear, which are the two great means of keeping peace with our neighbours: when on our parts we forbear giving them any offence or provocation, either by word or deed, and at the same time bear with Christian meekness and charity all the offences or provocations we receive at their hands, and strive to overcome them by rendering good for evil. O how amiable is this character of the peaceable Christian! O how much happier is such a soul than one that is always at war with one neighbour or another, and always in a storm at home in his own interior!

Consider 3rdly, that another necessary branch of the Christian's peace is, to be at peace within himself, by striving to banish from his own interior whatsoever may disturb the tranquillity of his soul. This inward peace, when it is perfect, is a certain foretaste of heaven; it is a kind of heaven upon earth. In such souls God is pleased to dwell, of whom the royal prophet sings, Ps. lxxv. 3, that 'His place is in peace, and his abode in Sion.' To come at this happy peace (besides taking care to keep peace with God, by a clean conscience, and with every neighbour, by concord and charity), we must have our passions mortified, our affections well ordered and regulated, and our desires restrained; we must banish all hurry and over eagerness; all sadness and melancholy; all scrupulous fears, anxious cares, and uneasiness about the things of this world; and, above all things, and in all things, we must conform ourselves to the holy will of God. Practise these lessons, my soul, and thou wilt be at peace, at least as far as the condition of thy mortal pilgrimage will allow of.

Conclude ever to aim at this threefold peace, with thy God, with thy neighbour, and with thyself; pray daily for it; and whatsoever fear, affection, or desire, or any other thing whatsoever offers to disturb thy heart, shut the door against it as an enemy, as a messenger of Satan, who comes to rob thee of thy treasure, the peace of thy soul.

Consider first, that every Christian ought at this time, pursuant to the precept of the church of God, to have made his peace with God, and to have signed and sealed it with a worthy communion. So that it is the business of every Christian now at least, to begin a new life, and to walk henceforward in the newness of life, even to the end. 'Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee the crown of life,' saith our Lord, Apoc. ii. 10. Alas! what will it avail us to have made a good beginning at this time, if after having been 'enlightened, and having tasted the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost' &c., Heb. vi. 4, we should quickly fall away, and return to our former darkness, and to the husks of swine, under the slavery of Satan? Would not our latter condition become worse than the former? That this may never be our case, we must consider upon the means that may effectually preserve us from relapsing into mortal sin, and that may maintain us in the happy state of the grace and love of God. In particular we must labour to establish in our souls a horror of the dreadful evil of sin, and of all the dangerous occasions of it; to keep up in ourselves a penitential spirit for what is past, joined with a lively sense of that infinite mercy that kept us so long out of hell, and so graciously received His prodigal children, when they offered to return to Him; and with a firm resolution (which should be renewed every day and every hour) for no consideration whatever to turn our backs upon Him any more by wilful sin. O how happy is that Christian who is ever ready to lay down his life rather than to return any more to sin!

Consider 2ndly, that another great means to persevere in good is to live by rule and order, to renounce an idle life, as the mother of all evil, and to regulate our time and all our daily exercises; to be constant in the performance of our devotions, and in frequenting the sacraments; and to take care to do well all that we do. Sanctity and perfection do not so much depend upon doing extraordinary actions, as upon doing our ordinary actions extraordinarily well; now, we shall do them extraordinarily well if we do them with a pure intention, for the love of God; and if we take care to season them with frequent and fervent aspirations to God. Thus, like the ancient Saints, shall we walk with God, and be perfect. This is the surest way to perseverance.

Consider 3rdly, that in order to perseverance in grace, it will be also necessary to set out and to continue in a full persuasion and conviction that we have not a more dangerous enemy to our souls than our own self-love, with all its branches and passions; that the gratifying our own humours is gratifying a mortal enemy; that we must deny ourselves, renounce ourselves, and hate ourselves in this life, if we would save ourselves for eternity. In a word, the mortification of our passions, and the total victory over ourselves, is the sovereign means of perseverance. In order to this, every Christian ought to study well to know himself and the true state of his own interior, that he may discover what passions are predominant there, and may turn all the forces of his soul against them, till he has quite subdued them. This warfare is one of the most essential duties of every disciple of Jesus Christ: no one shall be crowned by Him, that has not fought and conquered himself. 'To him that overcometh he will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' Apoc. ii. 7.

Conclude, in order to perseverance in good, to practise well all these lessons, and particularly to be earnest with God in prayer, that He may be thy keeper, to keep thee from sin. O beg of God every day that thou mayest rather die a thousand deaths than once commit a mortal sin!

Grant, O my Lord Jesus Christ, that I may persevere in good purposes, and in Thy Holy Service, to my death; and that I may now, this present day, perfectly begin, for all I have hitherto done is nothing. Amen.

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