'" HE that hath the key of David: he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth." Christ is not looking for strength in the saints; He enters into His own personal and peculiar service, and holds the "key" Himself; and this is our confidence. If raging billows rise in countries around us, and the preaching of the gospel seems to be forbidden, well, it is in His hand. I might desire that the gospel might be preached in a certain land, and the hindrances may seem to be too many and too great; but my comfort is to know that Christ has the key, and all the divine power of God at His disposal; and, as it is in John 10, " To him the porter openeth," so that, when Jesus presented Himself, as in the Gospels, none could shut out His testimony.
All the powers of earth-the Pharisees, the lawyers, the chief priests, the governors, the Pilates and Herods (those foxes)-could not hinder one poor sheep from hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd in the days of His flesh; and so it is now, for Christ is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever."
This is our confidence in preaching the gospel; for, with all the liberty with which we are blessed in this highly-favored country, I could not count upon a single year more, but for this simple promise-" I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it;" and I could go fearlessly into any country, whatever might be the outward circumstances, if I saw that the Lord had set before me an open door. Of course, we must wait the Lord's time to have the door opened, as we see in the case of Paul. He was forbidden to speak in Asia at one time, and then we find him there for three years afterward, the Lord owning his labors there, so that all Asia-of which Ephesus, where he was gathering a church, was the capital-heard the word of God. Of course, we shall have to be content to lean in faith on the arm of Him who holds the key, and in our patience we shall possess our souls; for there will always be circumstances to exercise our faith, and God will allow these circumstances to arise, to prove to us that we cannot do without Him, for then it is we find that we have no strength, and that God answers our weakness according to His own strength, because He cannot fail to answer the faith He has given. " I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." This word has often given me great confidence-" no man can shut it." This is such a, blessed comfort, that if Christ has opened a door, no man, devil, or wicked spirit, can shut it; and although we have no strength, even to push the door open, it is opened for us. The whole church is weak, as weak as can be, and that in a bad sense; for what faith have we? We hear of a little faith. God skews us His power, as we have heard of in Madagascar; but where is the strength and energy of faith to be heard of amongst us N. D.