ayer, though it be difficult to you, and
by keeping before you the thought of God all through the day. These
things you will be able to do if you do but seek the mighty help of God
the Holy Spirit which is given you; and while you follow after them,
then, in the Prophet's language, "your light shall rise in obscurity, and
your darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide you
continually, and satisfy your soul in drought: and you shall be like a
watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not[27]."

[1] 1 Sam. xxv. 1.

[2] Heb. xi. 36-38.

[3] Matt. xxiii. 35.

[4] Jer. i. 6.

[5] Isa. lviii. 12.

[6] 1 Cor. x. 5.

[7] 2 Tim. iii. 13.

[8] Jer. xviii. 18.

[9] Ibid. xi. 21.

[10] Ibid. xxvi. 16, &c.

[11] Ibid. xx. 2.

[12] Ibid. xxxii. 3.

[13] Ibid. xxxvii. 14.

[14] Ibid. xxxviii. 6, 9.

[15] Jer. xlii. xliii.

[16] Ibid. xxxix. 14.

[17] Ibid. v. 3.

[18] Ibid. v. 30, 31.

[19] Jer. xii. 1-3.

[20] Ibid. xv. 10-18.

[21] Ibid. xvii. 16,17.

[22] Jer. xx. 7-14.

[23] 1 Cor. xvi. 13.

[24] Eccl. xi. 1, 6.

[256] Matt. v. 4.

[26] 2 Cor. vi. 10.

[27] Isa. lviii. 10, 11.

SERMON X.

Endurance of the World's Censure.

"_And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them; neither be afraid of
their words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell
among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house._"--Ezekiel ii. 6.

What is here implied, as the trial of the Prophet Ezekiel, was
fulfilled more or less in the case of all the Prophets. They were not
Teachers merely, but Confessors. They came not merely to unfold the
Law, or to foretell the Gospel, but to warn and rebuke; not to rebuke
only, but to suffer. This world is a scene of conflict between good
and evil. The evil not only avoids, but persecutes the good; the good
cannot conquer, except by suffering. Good men seem to fail; their
cause triumphs, but their own overthrow is the price paid for the
success of their cause. When was it that this conflict, and this
character and issue of it, have not been fulfilled? So it was in the
beginning. Cain, for instance, was envious of his brother Abel, and
slew him. Enoch walked with God, and was a preacher of righteousness,
and God took him. Ishmael mocked at Isaac; Esau was full of wrath with
Jacob, and resolved to kill him. Joseph's brethren were filled wit