Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 3.pdf/358

 no other origin than the Divine love. The affections existing in the order of heavenly love, the thoughts arranged in the order of heavenly truth, perfect harmony becames established, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeps the heart and mind. This peace is a Divine gift. "."

The arrangement of the affections and thoughts into the order of heaven, is what constitutes real happiness; and forasmuch as this is effected by the Divine Truth, and Divine Truth in its essence being the Lord, therefore it is a work of the Lord, and. It is most probable that in this signification of peace, originated the salutation of the early Christians: "Peace be to this house! peace be unto you!" and as this peace was the result of overcoming the evils and corruptions within, it is presumed that the early Christians objected to any war, except that against self, and to any other weapon, save the sword of the Spirit.

Peace comprehends all that is tranquil and happy. In respect to the Lord, it comprehends all the beatitudes resulting from the glorification of the humanity after the temptations which preceded it; it represents the great Saviour as.

In the first phase of the regenerate life, we have to labour to acquire a state of comparative goodness; for, at the best, man's goodness is comparative; but as we pass onwards, each step imparts a degree of blessedness, as of so much of the conflict inducing victory; and each victory, bracing the spiritual nerves for the next conflict, leaves with us its own degree of peace. But entire peace, when we rest from all con-