THE PEACE-OFFERING by G. E. Fifield

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 19, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 38.

THE PEACE-OFFERING.

By G. E. Fifield

"There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Isa. 48: 22.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee." Isa. 26: 3.

THE peace-offering, whatever the animal was, must be without blemish. It was slain by the man who brought it, and the blood was sprinkled by the priest around the altar of burnt-offering. Certain portions of the meat were eaten by the priests, but other portions and all the fat were burned on the altar upon the burnt-offering.

Here, as in all the offerings, the offering stands for the offerer, its life for his life. Before we can know peace, we must know what it is willingly to take our lives, and give them freely to be sprinkled by our High Priest, or used as He directs in the service of humanity.

As the peace-offering was burned on the burnt-offering, the burnt-offering must precede it. But the burnt-offering could not be brought till the repentant soul, bringing his sin-offering or his trespass-offering, had thus been accepted, pardoned, and reconciled to God. Then he could bring his burnt-offering, showing thereby that his renewed life was consecrated to God, to be poured out and consumed in His service; and on this burnt-offering, "the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord," was burned the fat of his peace-offering.

The trespasser, conscious of a fault, could have no part even in the continual morning and evening burnt-offering, until he brought his personal trespass-offering. Then, with the others, he could consecrate himself anew in the burnt sacrifice, and so find peace. How plain this is! "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." "Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them."

But why was the peace-offering burned on the burnt-offering? Here is a great spiritual truth, the very innermost secret of the Gospel. The burnt-offering, as we have seen, is the giving of the renewed life to be consumed on the altar of service, consumed, if need be, as was the life of Jesus, going out in crucifixion and apparent defeat, hated, despised, maligned, and rejected. "Surely," says the natural heart, "here is no peace." Yet just here, on the burnt-offering, is the peace. Hark! I hear this same persecuted and crucified Jesus say: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "Not as the world giveth,"—not a little peace, to last a little while and only while things go smoothly, but the very secret of peace I give unto you, a peace which will endure through all trials, and through every affliction.

What is the secret? Here is the answer: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you." The yoke means the same toil, the same service, the same sacrifice that Jesus gave, the same that was signified by the burnt-offering. "Take My yoke upon you; . . . and ye shall find rest [i.e., peace, tranquility, quiet, restful joy] unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Think of it! Look at the life of Jesus, a perpetual burnt-offering,—consumed to the last red drop on the altar; yet through it all He had peace, and said, "My burden is light." Was not the peace-offering burned on the burnt-offering?

The cause of the world's unrest and lack of peace is just the opposite of this spirit of sacrifice, of giving the life. It is the spirit of selling the life for the uttermost that it will bring of the world's wealth, honor, and renown, and then being dissatisfied with the price.

Two quotations from Carlyle make the principle of the world's unrest, and of the peace that can be found only in self-sacrifice, very plain. "Always," he says, "there is a black spot in our sunshine; it is even, as I have said, the shadow of ourselves. The whim we have of happiness is somewhat thus: By certain valuations and averages of our own striking, we come upon some sort of an average terrestrial lot; this we fancy belongs to us by nature and of indefeasible right. It is simply payment of our wages, of our deserts; requires neither thanks nor complaint; only such overplus as there may be do we account happiness; any deficit, again, as misery. Now consider that we have the valuation of our own deserts ourselves—and what a fund of self-conceit there is in each of us—do you wonder that the balance should so often dip the wrong way, and many a blockhead cry, "See there! what a payment! was ever worthy gentleman so used?" I tell thee, blockhead, it all comes of thy vanity, of what thou fanciest those same deserts to be." "Fancy thou deservest to be hanged; thou wilt feel it happiness to be only shot. Fancy thou deservest to be hanged in hair halter; it will be a luxury to die in hemp." "The fraction of life can be increased in value not so much by increasing the numerator as by lessening your denominator. Unity itself, divided by zero, will give infinity. Make thy claim of wages a zero, then; thou hast the world under thy feet. Well did the wisest of our time write, "It is only with renunciation that life, properly speaking, can be said to begin."—Sartor Resartus.

"The wages of every noble work do yet lie in heaven, or else nowhere. Not in Bank of England bills needest thou, heroic soul, present thy account of earnings. Human banks know thee not, or know thee after generations and centuries are passed away, and thou art clean gone from rewarding. . . . My brother, the brave man has to give his life away, thou dost not expect to sell thy life in any satisfactory manner? Give it, then, like a royal heart; let the price be nothing; thou hast then, in a certain sense, got all for it."—Past and Present.

Here is the very secret of rest and peace. Take Christ's yoke,—give the life; give it freely, make no claim; give it in Christ's name, and for His sake. In other words, present it a burnt-offering, to be consumed for a sweet savor unto the Lord, consumed in the service of humanity, consumed by the sacred fire of love which ever burns on the altar of the Christ-illuminated soul. Then, and only then, you will find peace. Surely it will be peace then; for if the life, through love, is freely given, there will be no quarrel as to how or when it shall be taken, and no perplexing questions of prices, or honors, or rewards.

The feet of such an one may ever be "shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace," to tread any rough pathway. Surely, now we can see why the peace-offering was burned on the burnt-offering.

This thought of complete self-renunciation as the secret of peace, runs through almost every reference to peace in the Bible. Jesus came to earth to manifest the given life of God, and to show how, because of that gift, the river of life is ever flowing from the throne. He came to teach us this same lesson of sacrifice,—of giving the life,—so that we may be made channels through which the living water of His given life may flow out to others. It was because of this fact that the angels, in announcing His birth, said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." "Therefore being justified by faith [i.e., by Christ's righteousness, not by my striving, or struggling, or trusting to any merit of our own], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace [unmerited favor] wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." What about sorrows and trials now? Hear Paul: "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

"Be careful [i.e., anxious] for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Truly He is the "Prince of Peace." I hear Him say, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but in Me ye shall have peace." In quiet trust my soul responds: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

G. E. FIFIELD.