gratefully acknowledges the Lord's goodness to his servant; and prays, that he would complete it on that occasion by not suffering him to fall into their hands.

It is a great argument, in prayer, for a believer to remind the Lord of what he has done for him already; and to entreat him not to let all this kindness be lost, by permitting him at last to fall into the hands of wicked men and devils, lest the name of the Lord should be dishonoured. "Then the Egyptians will hear of it," says Moses; " and what wilt thou do to thy great name?" On more occasions than one Moses prays in this manner. Arguments which affect the honour of God are weighty with him. All true Saints know how to use them in their supplication. Samson, an ignorant man compared with Moses,-knows how to avail himself of them. The very spirit of divine faith is concerned in these argumentative petitions: the Lord hears and answers. "He clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore." Samson now. felt that, which of all things we are least disposed to feel, namely,—that his help was in God. He altered therefore the name of the place, and the name he now gave it, means, "the fountain of him that cried in Lehi," to intimate that this thirst was relieved, and that God had given a marvellous supply to him, when he cried in the hour of his distress..

Thus you see the story is of a piece with all Scripture. However different the dispensations,

yet, the one grand end, both of the Jewish and of the Christian, is to glorify God, to humble men, to rebuke their pride and self-sufficiency, to teach them to trust in him alone when all help fails, and to make them exalt his praise. This is the whole design of the Gospel; the very song of heaven; "thou wast slain, and hast washed us from our sins in thy blood." With this key in your hand you may open your Bible, and find instructions every where.

The dying circumstances of Samson teach the same lesson. The Philistines are boasting, " Dagon our God hath delivered our enemy into our hand." In the midst of their triumph the afflicted hero remembers the kindness of his God, in the marvellous circumstances of his birth, and how the Lord had blessed him. It is true, he had forfeited every claim to the divine favour by the indulgence of his sinful passions; and, because of his blindness, he could no more fight the Lord's battles, nor answer the end of his birth. But he could give up his life for the honour of his God. HE, who had strengthened him so wonderfully, could strengthen him again. To check the domineering tyranny of the Philistines, to show the people of Israel that their God had not forsaken them, and was jealous of his own glory, and would confound the idolatrous boastings of the Philistines in their Dagon,-these were thoughts worthy of a Saint recovering his lost ground by the holy exercises of faith and repentance, and such thoughts as none but a real Saint could practically exercise. "Remember me, O God, this once," he cries in the vehemence of his zeal. And, as the writer to the Hebrews observes, I apprehend with

a special reference to Samson, "out of weakness he was made strong," and, in the last act of his life, did more of that especial service, for which the Lord had ordained him, than he had ever done before. It is enough for a true Saint, that he do some real service to his God, though it cost him his life. His LIFE, did I say? What is this life? A living death, a passing vapour. A real Saint LIVES in Eternity.

Though the dispensation under which Samson lived, and the violence of his passions, in the middle part of his life, render him by no means so pleasant an object of Christian contemplation, as the Saints described in the New Testament, enough, I hope, has been said to show that the exercises of faith in the God of Israel are the same in all ages. Therefore his story is not without instruction to us; and let this instruction be now distinctly observed in several particulars.

1. Let the many, who, in our days, without shame or remorse, practise the sin which proved so great a snare to Samson and involved him in disgrace, contempt, and misery, take to themselves wholesome rebuke from his history.-Is there any thing in his case to make a jest of, or to trifle with? Is it not a serious and lamentable evil, that a servant of God, endowed with extraordinary abilities by his Maker for particular purposes, and exerting those abilities, from time to time, with much zeal, should, by this sin, which St. Paul says a man commits against his own body, be disabled from discharging his duty; should be baffled, duped, and blinded, not as to his eyes only, but also as to his judgment and conscience, and give occasion to the enemies of

the Lord to speak reproachfully? What an infatuating sin must that be which befools a man, and renders him less than a child in understanding? Take heed, ye who profess godliness, of all approaches to uncleanness : "Lay apart all filthiness *;" "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth †:" Never allow yourselves to discourse lightly on subjects connected with the sin of fornication. How provoking it is to God you may see in thousands of instances, by the bitter fruits of it in this life to both sexes!

And here I cannot but notice how differently the Scripture represents this matter from what is commonly done in those modern publications, which amuse and corrupt our youth. With such writers this sin, if it is allowed to be a

sin at all, is mentioned as a very trifling one! And we see the effect. Time was when the adulterer and the harlot were obliged to hide their heads with shame; but now ! "They declare their sin as Sodom : they hide it not." A great corruption of manners has broken in upon us, and prostitution is become a trade! God, who lately chastised us for our sins, now has graciously supplied us with plenty of the fruits of the earth, for which we profess to return him publick thanksgiving. But it seems neither chastisements nor mercies move us. Are examples of unlawful connexion between the sexes grown less numerous among us? Have those men, who first corrupt the principles of young women, or who afterwards encourage and support them in their scandalous course of living, repented of their abominations? Are not the same sins still practised continually? And, as * James i. 21. + Ephes. iv. 29. + Isaiah iii. 9.

they peculiarly harden the heart, and deaden it to every sensation of the fear of God, is it not observable how commonly such licentious persons are also sabbath-breakers? Assure yourselves, that the Lord will avenge himself of you at last, and with horrors unspeakable, if you remain in your sins. From the epistle to the Hebrews*, assure yourselves that "whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”— We have received great mercies; and it is our bounden duty to be thankful; but, we are ever to remember, that thankfulness to God for mercies received, if it be real, will show itself in the fear of his name, and in conscientious obedience to his commands, otherwise the very profession of thanksgiving is but hypocrisy.

I know not what may happen to the nation in general; or to this highly favoured town in particular. But the prodigious increase of these lewd and shameful practices, in a place where the Christian religion is carefully taught, is an alarming symptom. I wish it were felt by all whom it concerns. But I fear of many, that "being past feeling they have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." Now if there be any feeling left, I exhort you to mourn and weep, and humble yourselves before God, and loathe yourselves for your abominations, and give yourselves up to God to learn his statutes, and hearken to his word, that you may be converted and do no more presumptuously; for the wicked shall certainly "be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." Samson, indeed, was saved; he sought the Lord, and the Lord was gracious, and remembered him

* Chap. xiii. 4.