Sampson’s locks are grown again, and when he comes forth, they may yet hope to make sport with him. But perhaps the Lord may take vengeance on them, and enable his servant to be avenged on Satan and sin for the loss he has sustained; and by fervent prayer, faithful preaching, and a holy life, he may take hold on the main pillars of the Devil’s kingdom, _ignorance_ of God and an _empty_ profession, and make them tremble; while the power of the Holy Spirit may bring them down, through his feeble instrumentality, at least, in the hearts of some. I therefore humbly presume to adopt the language of the church of old, as personated by the Prophet in my Text, as before recited. My dear hearers may perhaps recollect I have often referred them under their various exercises to this very important chapter. The prophet predicts the state of the church in gospel days; and our dear Lord, no doubt, had his mind on this chapter, when he forewarned the disciples what they would experience, even from their nearest and dearest relatives, for the truth’s sake; that no earthly ties would subdue or remove the carnal enmity of the human heart—that the father and mother would betray their dear children, and children would rise up against their parents, in consequence of their adherence to the truth; which was the case may times during the heat of persecution, and to this hour, where sovereign grace has been manifested in a family, where one has been taken and another left, there has been a most awful opposition, which may be seen in many lamentable circumstances—_Mat._ 10th chapter. Perhaps Solomon alludes to this when he says, _For three things the earth is disquieted_, _and for four which it cannot bear_.—_Prov._ 30th.