set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near me that justifieth me, who will contend with me? Behold the Lord God will help me, who is he that shall condemn me?"* -that man, I say, is stronger than man, stronger than fate! This is a prophet's courage, a prophet's strength! This shalt thou acquire, O man, O Israelite, O prophet of the Lord! And would you ask me whence the prophet obtained his strength, his courage? He derived them from the consciousness of having acted according to duty and righteousness; from the confidence that he should receive defence and protection from Him by whom he was sent; he derived them from his guileless, childlike piety and innocence of heart. Because he was blameless, therefore was he fearless. guileless, childlike, innocent heart was the armoury whence the hero drew weapons of defence in the conflicts of life. This I have recognised the strength of these weapons, and, praise be to God, I have employed them in life. I present them unto you, my brother, my sister. Ye can all wield them; thus armed, you can pursue your path, firmly, boldly, nobly, courageously, without looking anxiously to the right or to the left, behind you or before you, unembarrassed by adverse circumstances, by unfavourable positions. Possessing God in your heart, and the power of using these weapons, you can never be overthrown, you can boldly face the two greatest enemies that can rise up against you-prosperity with * Isaiah 1. 7. her smiles and caresses, adversity with her trials and sorrows; by them you will not be subdued. Reasonable and childlike faith is the prophet's sword; inviolable truth in word and deed, the prophet's shield; the hope in brighter hours, even in the darkest day, is the prophet's helmet; justice, even towards those who injure him, the prophet's coat of mail; unspotted innocence, the prophet's breast-plate-the love of God, his standard and his watchword, which ye also must bear with you into the thickest fight, saying, I HAVE SET THE Lord CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME, WHILE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND I SHALL NOT BE MOVED. Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, armed with these weapons, endowed with such courage, such heroism! III. Wealth shall protect you. Ye shall become rich, for the prophets ought to have rejoiced in the possession of wealth. How, again, are we to understand this, my friends? Are these the riches that make themselves wings, like the eagle's, and fly away before you have had time to behold them? Is it the wealth which satisfies not its possessor, but, as Solomon says, causes care, and banishes sleep from his eye-lids? Is it the wealth which renders its possessor proud, arrogant, and insolent, so that he cries out, By my own strength have I gathered it: who is the Lord? Are they such riches as excite in man an insatiable hunger, an unquenchable thirst, so that, like the ravenous bird of prey, he rakes in the mire, though the plentiful store of corn be nigh. Of such wealth there can surely be no question among prophets. Of what avail would such riches be unto those who spring forth in the night, and in the evening are withered. But to want little, to forego willingly, to be moderate in his demands, modest in his wishes, temperate in enjoyment -such was the prophet's wealth: Happy is it for us, if such treasure be our portion! Had those chosen of the Lord indulged in many wants, in much outlay, in extravagant pretensions, then would gold and silver have had undue value in their eyes. Then would gold have blinded them, silver dazzled them, and what would then have become of the truth, which it behoved them to practice and to teach? They would have been false prophets, venal servants of mammon, worshippers of the golden calf. How could they chastise the rich and the powerful with the breath of their lips, with the arrows of their words, if they themselves had trembled and worshipped before the same idols? How could they have dared to approach the throne, and to call aloud unto the princes; Your thrones totter, and with them ye will also be cast down, because the firmest supports-justice, benevolence, virtue and truth, are wanting alike to them and to you! He who would hold such language must possess the strength of the affluent, must bear treasures in his bosom, must require little, must be rich in inward wealth! This is the wealth you must acquire, O man, O Israelite, O congregation of the Lord! For is not each, in his own sphere, equally called upon to act and live according to truth? Is it the less your duty, because your vocation is not that of teacher, to protect truth and innocence against all who would oppress them? But would you be able, would you desire to do this, if at each step you feared that it would prove prejudicial to your interest, that one man would deprive you of this advantage, another would transact less business with you, another invite you less frequently to his splendid banquets? Be rich within yourselves, rich in the highest sense of the word-you will not then beg for paltry coin, you will not court personal, momentary distinction, you will not be allured to unrighteousness by the prospect of any earthly good. If you have learned to be satisfied with little, and to adorn your brows (as I have said in a former discourse) from early youth, with a crown of abstinence, O then how can you ever become poor, or dishonour the name of your God? Let the times be ever so unpropitious, GoD IS YOUR SHEPHERD, YE SHALL NOT WANT. Such trust is then unto you the staff of life, your treasure, your wealth. Oh would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and rejoiced in such wealth! IV. Cheerfulness shall animate you, for the pro phet's spirit should be cheerful. If all the people are to be prophets unto the Lord, then must they all pursue their course through life with a cheerful and contented mind. Need I observe, that by a cheerful happy spirit, I do not mean that frivolity (so especially the characteristic of the time) which childishly disregards all ties, and thus leads those who yield to it to perdition, that love of pleasure whose followers live in one uninterrupted whirl, who prepare the hall for a second festival ere the first is ended? But it was forbidden to the High-priest to indulge use lessly in sorrow; neither should prophets resign their hearts wholly to sadness. Always prepared for the service and calls of his holy office, the prophet should preserve an unclouded brow, a serene temper of mind, a cheerful demeanour. He who beholds the face of the Lord forgets the sorrow and care in which truly life abounds. And what could dispose the wise, the highlygifted, the courageous, to sadness? Were the present ever so stormy, it caused him not to tremble: in the haven in which he sought refuge there was nought to fear. And the future? To the prophets, from the greatest to the smallest, it appeared radiant and bright as the meridian sun. The prophets stood on high, waiting, listening and watching: waiting, even though it tarried; listening, though but a whisper was heard; watching, though it lay remote. A land was before them "where no violence is heard, neither wasting nor destruction within its borders, whose walls are called Salvation, and whose gates Praise, in which dwell a race of righteous ones, where the sun no more goes down, nor the moon withdraws itself, for the Lord is its everlasting light,* and the days of mourning are ended, and the wounds are healed, and liberty is proclaimed to the captive, and the prisons are opened to them that are bound, and those that mourn are comforted, and the lowly exalted, and the waste cities are repaired; and the mountains and the hills break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands, and instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and the wolf and * Isaiah lxv. 18-19. + Isaiah lv. 12-13. |