'He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is
broken down, and without walls.'--PROVERBS xxv. 28.
The text gives us a picture of a state of society when an unwalled
city is no place for men to dwell in. In the Europe of today there are
still fortified places, but for the most part, battlements are turned
into promenades; the gateways are gateless; the sweet flowers blooming
where armed feet used to tread; and men live securely without bolts
and bars. But their spirits cannot yet afford to raise their defences
and fling themselves open to all comers.
We may see here three points: the city defenceless, or human nature as
it is; the city defended, human nature as it may be in Christ; the
city needing no defence, human nature as it will be in heaven.