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of evil," instead of venturing into the way of the world, and doubting and calculating how far we may go in it without offending God; which is the same thing as trying to serve God at as cheap a rate as we can, and to give up as little for His sake as possible; whereas His words are, My Son, give me thine heart." Our blessed Lord in one of His parables describes these persons as men standing idle in the market-place," waiting to be hired,-whereas we should all consider ourselves as already hired, and therefore as having no right to stand idle anywhere, and least of all"in the way of sinners."

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Blessed, then, is the man who "standeth not in the way of sinners," but, having entered in at the strait gate, is labouring to walk diligently forward in the of life-the narrow path, which few find, and which none can hope to find, who do not set themselves earnestly to seek for it. Wherefore, brethren, beware how you stand idle, careless, unconcerned, in the way of temptation; take good

heed where you are standing: "There are many ways that seem right to a man," the end of which is death; and we must never forget that "where the tree falls, there it shall lie"-wherever a man is standing at the time of his death, there he will stand when he is judged; it may be, thanks be to God, that a man may "stand in the way of sinners," yea, and take many steps in that evil way, and yet, by God's grace and mercy, be stopped and awakened to a sense of the danger of his soul, and brought back into the path of life but it may be also, that he may not have opportunity for repentance, but may suddenly be cut off. Doubtless, my brethren, hereafter there will be many who will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?"-that is, there will be many who were once enlightened; who once knew what was right, and "tasted" somewhat of " the heavenly gift," and knew something of the

powers of the world to come;" but who, having been tempted aside into the way of sinners, have provoked the Lord to anger, by their wilful presumptuous offences, and to whom He will say hereafter, "I know you not.” Blessed,"

then,

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"is the man. who standeth not

in the way of sinners."

Again, there is a third thing mentioned, which the man described in the text abstains from doing.

3. "And hath not sat in the seat of the scornful."

The two former sentences mentioned generally that he avoided all the habits, and fled from all the courses, of the ungodly; this marks his especial abhorrence of one particular sin, viz. that of scornful behaviour. "Fools," we are told by the wise man, "make a mock at sin; many men live in the practice of sin, but nevertheless are ready to acknowledge that it is sin, and do not make a boast of it; but some men will go so far as to value themselves upon their presumptuous de

fiance of God, and seem to think it reflects credit upon them to cast away all fear of the Lord, and to follow their own will and pleasure boldly and resolutely.

This is to "sit in the seat of the scornful," in a manner which I trust and pray we may never be guilty of: God forbid that we should ever so far forget ourselves as to think it other than the greatest disgrace and shame to set God at nought, or make a mock of holy things. It is well, however, to take a caution from this as to our manner of speaking on sacred subjects, or behaving in sacred places. If the Papists err in supposing that a peculiar sanctity belongs to particular places, or particular relics of saints and the like, there is danger lest we should go to the other extreme, and, thinking all places and seasons alike, fall into a light and irreverent behaviour. It certainly begets in us a degree of devotion to accustom ourselves to approach the house of God, believing that it is a place hallowed by the presence, and consecrated to the worship

of the Almighty Himself; and if we do not cherish such feelings, there is some danger of "sitting" here" in the seat of the scornful."

I could wish, brethren, that there were occasionally a more seemly behaviour here: that you would teach your children, for example, to behave themselves quietly and decently; and that you would endeavour yourselves to cultivate a habit of devotion and reverence in your deportment and behaviour; that you would not sit as if you were spectators, come to see and hear, but not to pray; and that you would join your voices in prayer and praise, as our Church expects and directs in all her services.

Once more, we are in danger of "sitting in the seat of the scornful," if we occupy ourselves with talking of the faults of our neighbours, and making uncharitable remarks upon their failings. Let us endeavour, my brethren, to one another's burdens," one another," and to "

"bear

to edify

speak often one

K