any temptation too strong, any trial too distressing, when we have such strength at our command; such an arm to lean upon; such a Saviour to repose in; such promises to encourage and cheer our hearts? Let us remember that they, who wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint." Isa. xl. 31. May we thus repose on Jesus, and may our repose not be in vain. God has "commanded" our "strength." Psa. lxviii. 28. The way to be strong is to act on the credit of strength being given. Strength is received in the act of obeying. When the path of duty is clear, it is want of faith to continue asking for strength, and not to act upon it. Ex. xiv. 15. Josh. vii. 10. Want of strength often means want of courage, or want of will. Reader, may you and I not thus repose on Jesus. 豊 REPOSING IN JESUS, AS OUR "FEAR not Abram; I am thy shield." Gen. xv. 1. Thus spake the Lord Almighty to the father of the faithful. What God was to Abraham, Christ is to His people. Nay, it was God in Christ, that spake thus to Abraham. Could God, out of Christ-God, in His offended majesty, in His violated justice-say to a fallen creature, "I am thy shield?" The Gospel was thus preached before unto Abraham (Gal. iii. 8.) as David also was taught to say, "The Lord God is a sun and shield." "Our soul waiteth for the Lord; He is our help and our shield." "The Lord is my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Psa. lxxxiv. 11.; xxxiii. 20.; xviii. 1. Now, "unto us" is "the Gospel preached, as well as unto them." Heb. iv. 2,-and He who said to Abraham, "I am thy shield," says the like unto His people still. of all them that believe. Christ is the shield The New Testament version of this mighty Truth is expressed in somewhat different words, as it is written, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Eph. vi. 16. But faith itself is not the shield; it is but the hand, with which we lay hold on the true shield-and that shield is Christ. The use of the shield in ancient warfare was to ward off a sword-thrust, or to receive the darts of the enemy. It was carried in the left hand, or rather buckled to it (hence, it may be, called a buckler) that it might always be ready as a defence. Hence we are exhorted to have "the armour of righteousness on the right hand, and on the left"—in the right hand, the sword of the Spirit-in the left, the shield of faith, which, in other words, is Christ. 2 Cor. vi. 7. Our great adversary, the Devil, is continually hurling his fiery darts against the righteous. The only way, in which these can be quenched, is by taking the shield of faith-in other words, by presenting Christ Himself, in His Person and His work, to receive the fiery darts of the wicked. Reader, can you thus repose on the Son of God, as your shield? And what is meant by the fiery darts of the wicked one? They assail us in many forms, as all true Christians know. A very common form, in which they come, is to make God's children question the pardon of their sins, and their own acceptance in the Beloved. What fiery darts of painful doubts-distressing fears-strange questionings of one's own condition-dark misgivings as to the reality of our faith in Jesus-are often hurled against the trembling soul! And how is the shield to be used on such occasions ? Simply by placing Christ Himself between us and the foe-Christ in His finished work upon the Cross-in the complete satisfaction that He has thereby made for our sins, as believersChrist seated at the right hand of God in token of the full discharge, that He received on behalf of His people, by the resurrection from the dead. Believer, when you are thus tempted by the Enemy, do you receive his darts by presenting to him the Person of a crucified Saviour? Do you hold up Christ Himself, and say, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy ?" Mic. vii. 8. What condemnation can there be for them, who are in Christ Jesus? If I can present a crucified Jesus, as having received on my behalf the arrows of God's offended justice, can those arrows ever stick fast in me? This is my repose. Here with I must quench the fiery darts of the wicked. At such seasons nothing can be of any avail but to have Christ for our own-to know that He is ours. It is not enough to know the promises, nor yet to hope that we have an interest in them. The question is this-"Is Christ really mine? Is He made over to me in all His righteousness-in the full power of His atonementin all the virtue of His mediatorial work? Am I one with Him, and He with me ?" It is only in this way that I can repose on Him, as my shield-that I can place Him between me and the enemy. How many other forms do the fiery darts of the wicked one assume-fierce temptationsinflamed passions-stealthy allurements-questioning of God's providence murmuring against His dispensations-fretting against His will-the neglect of duties-the encouragement of bad habits-the waning of our consistencyrelaxing in watchfulness-diminished prayer— the inroads of worldly feelings-the fascinations of worldly men-with many other ways, in which "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," are brought to bear upon our character, and our peculiar feelings! Dear |