not trouble his mind
with whether he be private or sergeant, lieutenant or colonel, but with
whether he can do his duty as private, his duty as sergeant, his duty as
lieutenant, his duty as colonel; who has learnt the golden lesson, which
so few learn in these struggling, envious, covetous, ambitious days,
namely, to abide in the calling to which he is called, and in whatsoever
state he is, therewith to be content. To be sure that in God's world,
the only safe way to become ruler over many things is to be a good ruler
over a few things; that if he is fit for better work than he is doing
now, God will find that out, sooner and more surely than he, or any man
will, and will set him about it; and that, meanwhile, God has set him
about work which he can do, and that the true wisdom is to do that and do
it well, and so approve himself alike to man and God, humbling himself
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt him in good time, by
giving him grace and strength to do great things, as He has given him
grace and strength to do small things.

Am I speaking almost to deaf ears? I fear that few here will take my
advice. I fear that many here will have excellent excuses and plain
reasons, why they should not take it. Be it so. They cannot alter
eternal fact. In one word, they cannot alter Theology. They cannot
alter the laws of God. They cannot alter the character of God. And
sooner or later, in this world or in the next, they will find out that
Theology is right: and St Peter is right: that God DOES resist the
proud, that God DOES give grace to the humble.

SERMON XXIV. WORSHIP

Eversley, September 4, 1870.

Revelation xi. 16, 17. "And the four and twenty elders, which sat before
God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We
give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to
come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned."

My dear friends,--I wish to speak a few plain words to you this morning,
on a matter which has been on my mind ever since I returned from Chester,
namely,--The duty of the congregation to make the responses in Church.

Now I am not going to scold--even to blame. To do so would be not only
unjust, but ungrateful in me, to a congregation which is as attentive and
as reverent as you are. Indeed, I am the only person to blame, for I
ought to have spoken on the subject long ag