special weakness in his character, and have given himself carefully and
patiently to try to fortify himself against it, and, lo! all at once a
temptation springs up from the opposite side; the enemy was lying in
hiding there, and whilst his face was turned to fight with one foe, a
foe that he knew nothing about came storming behind him. There is only
one way to stand, and that is not merely by cultivating careful
watchfulness against our own weaknesses, but by keeping fast hold of
Jesus Christ manifested to us in His Gospel. Then the peace that comes
from that communion will itself guard us.

You remember what Paul says in one of his other letters, where he has
the same beautiful blending together of the two ideas of peace and
warfare: 'The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
garrison your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' It will be, as it were,
an armed force within your heart which will repel all antagonism, and
will enable you to abide in that Christ, through whom and in whom alone
all peace comes. So, because we are thus liable to be overwhelmed by a
sudden rush of unexpected temptation, and surprised into a sin before we
know where we are, let us keep fast hold by that Gospel which brings
peace, which will give us steadfastness, however suddenly the masked
battery may begin to play upon us, and the foe may steal out of his
ambush and make a rush against our unprotectedness. That is the only
way, as I think, by which we can walk scatheless through the world.

Now, dear brethren, remember that this text is part of a commandment. We
are to put on the shoes. How is that to be done? By a very simple way: a
way which, I am afraid, a great many Christian people do not practise
with anything like the constancy that they ought. For it is the Gospel
that brings the peace, and if its peace brings the preparedness, then
the way to get the preparedness is by soaking our minds and hearts in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You hear a good deal nowadays about deepening the spiritual life, and
people hold conventions for the purpose. All right; I have not a word to
say against that. But, conventions or no conventions, there is only one
thing that deepens the spiritual life, and that is keeping near the
Christ from whom all the fulness of the spiritual life flows. If we will
hold fast by our Gospel, and let its peace lie upon our minds, as the
negative of a photograph lies upon the paper that it is to be printed
up