p. 343 | Peace in Tribulation by S. E. Pierce

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Nov 14, 1878

Peace in Tribulation

By S. E. Pierce

"These things I have spoken unto you that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33.

How precious are these words of our Saviour to the weary Christian. This world is full of unrest. We can hardly find a person who does not groan either with a burden of sorrow or the restlessness of unsatisfied desires. In the world ye shall have tribulation. Were it not for the preceding clause and kindred passages we might suppose that the disciples of Christ, as well as all the world around them, must be made miserable by the ever shifting winds and tides of fortune on the ocean of life. But not so. Listen again. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Priceless boon to the child of God. Christ makes no exceptions. Whatever tribulations, whatever the surrounding circumstances, let perplexities arise, "let cares like a wild deluge come," no matter; these words stand out in bold relief, "In me ye shall have peace."

Our feelings may be wounded and that by those we most love, annoyances will arise when we least expect them; our path is hedged up, we know not which way to turn, still this precious legacy of our risen and ascended Lord remains to us the same. "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." How does the world give? It cheats every time. Its friendship is hollow; its pleasures unsatisfying; its happiness at the best leaves an aching void. The Redeemer of the world was not ignorant of our frailty or the trials which we must meet. He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He was assailed by the fiercest temptations of Satan and was encompassed with human weakness, yet he says, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He came off a perfect conqueror, and we too may conquer in his name. S. E. Pierce