physical, brute force. body, not of soul—of 1 facts which his history First. That God has

The Jews were oppr in fear of them.

and to humble thei
this, undoubtedly,

have raised up a
flict his judgmen
was great wisdon:
impressive man
to humble, and
Another fact
develops is, s
the highest
strangle the

handed, to

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once

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power comes from
confusion of
but also of inter

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MON MA

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was his nursling once, and choice delight,
! from the womb,

y heavenly message twice descending.
Special eye

s I grew up, and thrived amain;
on to mightiest deeds,

nerve of mortal arm,

the uncircumcised, our enemies :
hath cast me off as never known,
hese cruel enemies,

by His appointment had provoked,
all helpless with the irreparable loss
.t, reserved alive to be repeated
bject of their cruelty or scorn.

I in the list of them that hope;
less are all my evils, all remediless :
one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,
Long petition, speedy death,

close of all my miseries and the balm."

so the time will come when those who have lost the f God-the true energy of soul-shall realize the loss. hour of severe temptation—in the hour of sufferingdark hour of death-in the solemn hour of judgment, ant of divine moral strength will be deeply felt. Its will be ruin. Worse enemies than the Philistines await sinner-enemies that shall do worse than put "out the bind with "fetters of brass,” or force their wretched tims to "grind in the prison house."

Analysis of Homily the Seventy-third.

"Set your affections upon things above.”—Col. iii. 2.

SUBJECT:-The Greatest Things.

I. THE GREATEST OBJECTS OUT OF MAN. 66 The apostle does not mean yonder rather than here;

Things above.'

"above" in a local sense-things nor in an essential sense-the

spiritual rather than the material; but in a moral sense.

as usual, "and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." He did not know, when he thus spoke, that he had lost his strength, and that the Lord had departed from him. In morals this is frequently the case. A man who had once the divine power to battle with a spiritual antagonist, and to do great things for truth and souls, sins, and loses his energy unawares. The Spirit of the Lord departs from

him.'

But how is it that he does not discover it at once? First. Because of the gradual way in which it takes place. It is not a sudden event: God does not give a man up at once. The mind becomes gradually alienated from God, the source of its power. Some duty is at first omitted, then another, then a general indifference takes place, and then positive sin, &c. Secondly. Because external circumstances continue the same. When the inward declension occurs, no outward indication is given. Providence pursues its wonted course: health continues, business prospers, the sun shines as usual, and temporal blessings fall free and full as ever on the path. Were the inner change ever followed by an outward, it would be noticed. Thirdly. Because the mechanical habits of religion are maintained. Habits survive the spirit which produced them. After the spirit of religion is gone, its external habits continue. There may be family worship, regular attendance on the house of God, but no soul in anything. There is much of this, manifestly, amongst us.

IV. THAT A PERIOD WILL ARRIVE WHEN THE DISSOLUTION WILL BE PAINFULLY REALIZED. "And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." Now his giant strength was needed, and now he rose to put it forth, but it was gone. And what was the result? "The Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." In the language of our great poet, let us hearken to the miserable moanings of this fallen man :

"I was his nursling once, and choice delight,

His destined from the womb,

Promised by heavenly message twice descending.

Under his special eye

Abstemious I grew up, and thrived amain;
He led me on to mightiest deeds,

Above the nerve of mortal arm,

Against the uncircumcised, our enemies :
But now hath cast me off as never known,
And to these cruel enemies,

Whom I by His appointment had provoked,
Left me all helpless with the irreparable loss
Of sight, reserved alive to be repeated
The subject of their cruelty or scorn.
Nor am I in the list of them that hope;
Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless :
This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,
No long petition, speedy death,

The close of all my miseries and the balm."

Its

Even so the time will come when those who have lost the Spirit of God-the true energy of soul-shall realize the loss. In the hour of severe temptation-in the hour of sufferingin the dark hour of death-in the solemn hour of judgment, the want of divine moral strength will be deeply felt. lack will be ruin. Worse enemies than the Philistines await the sinner-enemies that shall do worse than put "out the eyes," bind with "fetters of brass," or force their wretched victims to "grind in the prison house."

Analysis of Homily the Seventy-third.

"Set your affections upon things above."-Col. iii. 2.

The apostle does not mean "above" in a local sense-things yonder rather than here; nor in an essential sense-the spiritual rather than the material; but in a moral sense.

Truth, rectitude, benevolence, spirituality, religion, are "above;" error, wrong, selfishness, carnality, impiety, are "below."

II. THE GREATEST POWER IN MAN. What is it? The moral "affections." There are beings who have affections, but they are not moral-brutes. There may be beings who have intellect, but no affections-sheer intellectualists. But we have moral affections-affections for the true, beautiful, and good. These affections are the chief things belonging to us: the intellectual faculties are worthless without them. They are the springs of action-the spirit in every wheel of the human machine-the essence of humanity. As they are, we are: weak or strong, good or bad, dignified or degraded, happy or miserable.

III. THE GREATEST WORK FOR MAN. What is it? TO SET your affections upon "things above." The importance of this is seen (1) from the tendency to set our affections upon things below. The soul is prone to cleave to the dust. This may arise from the following facts:-We are more palpably connected with inferior things-more early connected with inferior things-more easily influenced by inferior things. The importance of this is seen (2) from the fact that our wellbeing is essentially dependent upon it. If we do it not we are lost men.

This, then, is our great work. The great work of man is not to get wealth, power, fame, or even knowledge, but to set his affections upon right objects. Philosophically, everything depends upon this.