them becaus~ they h~d no trust in God. The elevating, enno~ling, sustaining feeling that they ~·ere God s chosen people, and that the unchangmg love and power of God were on their side to sustain them in every virtuous effort, and give effect to every ~ood ~nd ho~y desire, was ~xtinct within them. T~1eir calamities ond injuries, not bemg nm.:ed with confidence m God, and prayer to !um for deliverance, had only trodden out their i:nanhood._ ~t was the sorrow of the world working de~th. Now such a state of mmd as tins 1s a very common effect of unsanctified misfortunes. Sorrows, brought on perl1aps by misconduct, which do not send men to God in peni- tence and praJ:er only harden an? depress. They produce sullenness, and they destroy the sprmg of hope. Men smk on to a lower platform even in regard to their fellow-men. They are not humbled, only lowered. They take a lower, darker view of human !if~ and human resp?nsibili_ties. Virtue, truth, love of neighbours, kind- ness, generosity, a!1d the charities of life burn very low and dim within them, if they ~re not wholly ~x:tinct. A cold, hard selfishn~ss, ~nd even that: not an aspiring sel£- 1sbn~s_s, wraps itself aroun~ the centre of their bemg. Every appealrto the higher qualities of human nature 1s resented or scoffed at. "Leave me alone'' is the silent language of their attitude towards lrnmanity. "Trouble me not," is their answer to every call upon them for virtuous effort. And as to the still higher and nobler calls of religion, every_invitati?n to rise ~o:ward God, !O act in the spirit of his holy word, to follow the,leadmg of his Holy Spmt, to walk 1n the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ is received with a cynical sneer; and even those who, in better days, seemed to b~ actuated by religious hopes and feelings, nnder the pressure of such unsanctified cares and sorrows fall into a thoroughly low region both of religion and of morals. Now contrast with those men of Judah the feelings and the conduct of Samson. Conscious of Divine aid, and of having unfailing strength in God, his courage never drooped in the darkest days of the Philistine oppression. Conscious of his own high calling, and of the election of Israel to be the people of God, he could not brook the notion of being ruled over by the nncircumcised, nor did he lose the hope of some great deliverance. He was ready for the service of God and of his country. And even the feeling that he stood alone did not quench his spirit. He did not lose sight of hope, because he did not lose sight of God. The weight of the great national calamity, in which he also was involved, did not utterly depress and crush him, because he believed in the mighty hand of God, which could lift up that weight in a moment, wheneverit·seemedgood to him to do so. .And so all the natural resources of his mind were kept alive and ready for action, as well as his great supernatural strength, whenever the opportnnity should arise.• And Samson's supernatural strength is only a type to us of that invincible spiritual strength which they have who are the faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," is the ·truth embodied in Samson's exploits. In the Christian's steady, unwearied, resistance to evil, in his patient continuance in well doing, in the quiet, hopeful endurance of sufferings and afflictions, in the undaunted spirit which quails ~nder no dangers, and faints nnder no adversities, and in th~ ~aith which eventually tnumphs over all the powers of the world, we have the spmtual counterpart of Samson's great bodily strength. The brave, hopeful struggle of such, ending in victory, is in striking contrast with the desperate succumbing to evil of which we have spoken. And we may see it on a large scale in the Church herseli Often has the Church of God seemed weak and helpless before tke powers of dark- ness, even while she had in herself the secret of an invincible strength. Often would her professed friends bind her in the fetters of worldly compliances, and hand her over to be shaped according to the fashion of this world, lest she should overthrow the accustomed sway, and break down the traditionary rules. But as !'£ten has the Spirit of the Lord come mightily upon her, and she has awakened as e. giant refreshed with wine, and gone forth with irresistible might. The most trivial instruments have been in her bands weapons of supernatural power; her fiercest foes have sunk before her victorious progress ; God has raised up refreshments to her in her hours of need ; when she called upon God for help she was helped; and many a monument of God's saving grace and helping hand has deserved to be inscribed as .En-hakkoreh-the supply granted to the cry of faithful prayer. 0 Lord, let thy Spirit come upon us now, in this our day of trial; hear thy Church's prayer, and let her r:ry come unto thee I cu. xv. 9-20.) THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 165
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 14-16.-lmperfect means made effectual by Dillnne inspiration. It was but the j11wbone of an ass, yet it slew as many as might have fallen in a battle. I. IN THE CONFLICTS OF TRUTH IT IS OF CHIEF CONSEQUENCE THAT WE BE ON THE BIDE OF TRUTH, AND ANIMATED BY THE SPIRIT OF Gov. II. 'fnnoUGH G<•D'B BLESSING 'l'HE GRANDEST RESULTS HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BY THE RUDEST AND SIMPLEST MEANS. The preaching ~f the gospel by unlettered fishermen. "The solitary monk that shook the world" with the disused weapon in God's armoury. The" simple gospel" and the evils of our age. Ill. NOTWITHSTANDING OUTWARD ADVANTAGES, THE ENEMIES 01' GOD ARE CERTAIN IN THE END TO BE DISCOMFITED. IV. THE ABSOLUTENESS AND SPLENDOUR OD' SPIRITUAL ACHIEVEMENTS, Pentecost j missionary triumphs; the song of Moses and of the Lamb.-M.