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he had wrestled with the angel, for a touch from his hand had put his thigh out of joint, and he went halting the rest of his life. Moses never could forget that he had been in the mount with God; for when he came down, the skin of his face shone, so that he was obliged to put a veil on his face when he held converse with men. Paul never could forget that he had been caught up into Paradise, for his countenance had been scathed by the burning glory on which he looked, so that he ever after carried about with him the results of "visions and revelations of the Lord."

It is well to remember the past, especially when our hearts are saddened,-David did so, and said, "Oh, my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." A man in darkness and mystery sometimes says, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?" But he adds, "This is my infirmity; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember thy wonders of old." Have you no victories to remember? "Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour." Have you resisted him, steadfast in the faith? Have you overcome some sin, which had often obtained the mastery-some easily-besetting sin? Can you say,

"Oh, my soul, thou hast trodden down strength?" Can you turn aside to see some lion you have slain? IV. We get strength and encouragement from the remembrance of past victories.

When Samson "turned aside to see the carcase of the lion, behold, there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the carcase of the lion." If ever you have slain a lion, be sure that eventually it will yield you honey. A victorious army may be bleeding and exhausted after the battle, but it is strengthened by conquest. A vanquished army may not be greatly weakened in numbers or physical strength, but it becomes demoralised by the consciousness of failure, and thus defeat weakens it. It is said that the wild Indian believes that the strength of every foe he slays comes into him,-that the spirit of the dead man dwells in him, that he becomes stronger by every victory. It is so spiritually. You have overcome doubt you have strengthened faith. You have vanquished sin-you have increased holiness. You have conquered fear-you have gained strength. Your trials and temptations have not been lost, the strength you expended in them has not been thrown away; that strength always returns to you. You are stronger by every victory you have won. You are refreshed by

the memory of every foe you have slain, as if the dead lion yielded you honey. You learn "that as your day your strength shall be;" that strength shall be proportioned to trial. If a young lion should roar

against you, the Spirit of the Lord shall come mightily

on you.

We learn, too, that there is a Divine power ever at work in this world. From the secret place of thunder come forth the streams that make glad the world. The light is born in darkness. Good comes out of evil. There is a Divine power at work, so ordering events that our victories shall yield us honey, which we shall eat in after times.

And now let us turn to that grand hymn, and enter into its spirit while we sing, "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befal thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”

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STRENGTH LOST AND RESTORED.

"Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow after he was shaven."—JUDGES xvi. 22.

We are about to direct your attention to some passages in the life of one of the most remarkable champions of Israel. A man in covenant with God; who broke that covenant by his sins; but to whom at last the symbol of the covenant was restored.

I. The right relation of man to God is the condition of his real strength.

There were many remarkable circumstances connected with the birth of Samson; and the angel who appeared to his mother gave her most minute directions about the training of the child, that thus he might be fitted for the great work to which he was designated. The mother was to be separated that the child might be consecrated to God. He was to be a Nazarite from his birth, no razor was to come on his head, his unshorn locks were to be the symbol of his being in covenant with God. When he grew up, he was to make the act of consecration his own; to be a dedicated man; to perpetuate his personal relation to God, and to cherish the outward symbol of the

covenant, having learnt the secret of his strength. You look back and think of some true, loving woman, you were proud to call your mother. You remember her unfeigned faith. You can never forget how often you overheard her prayers on your behalf,—you even remember when you stood at her knees, and she taught you to pray. When years passed away, you said, "O Lord, truly I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds." You made the act of consecration your own; you renounced in your own name "the world, the flesh, and the devil." You subscribed with your hand unto the Lord; you called yourself by the name of Jacob, and surnamed yourself by the name of Israel; you lifted up your hand unto the Lord. Where there is a right relation to God, there is personal dedication, and as the result, there will be separateness and sanctity. The consecrated man was to be temperate and chaste, to avoid everything that would defile him,—all excesses and uncleanness, to live a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, to keep his garments unspotted by the flesh, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. You are not to suffer the flesh to overshadow the spirit. You are to "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" to mortify your members which are upon the earth; and to "keep your body under and bring it into subjection." "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept

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