1

us as anything very new or remarkable. We think that the Lord knows all things, consequently He must "know the way of the righteous." I conceive, however, brethren, that David means us to understand some particular privilege of the righteous as conveyed in the fact, that the Lord "knoweth their way." It signifies that He takes a particular interest concerning them, and although He doubtless knows all things-the ways of the wicked as well as the ways of the righteous—yet that He is particularly present with those who trust in Him. "The eyes of the Lord," says the Psalmist in another place, are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their cries." He knows all their peculiar circumstances, all their private difficulties, all their trials.-He knows how earnestly they labour to keep in the right way, and how great are their temptations to forsake it. Concerning them He giveth His Angels an especial charge, to keep them in all their ways:

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* Ps. xxxiv. 15.

their wants, their prayers, their secret thoughts are known to Him; they are familiar to Him as the countenance of friends. "The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His."* Let this, then, be an encouragement to us to forget the things that are behind, and to reach forth unto those that are before, and to press towards the mark, for the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus." It was in this blessed assurance that their true characters were known to God, that the Apostles and Martyrs persevered through labour and scorn and persecution and death itself; if we seek for assurance as an encouragement, is it not sufficient to be assured of this, and to "walk in our integrity," "always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord?"†

2. Lastly. Let us consider the warning so emphatically added, "the way of the + 1 Cor. xv. 58.

* 2 Tim. ii. 19.

ungodly shall perish." The way of righteousness does not perish, it reaches from this world to the next, and there it is perfected; whereas here it is beset with thorns and trials, and is a narrow and a

rugged path; when it passes the gate of

heaven it is paved with gold, it shines like the brightness of the sun, it is crowded with saints and angels and spirits of just men made perfect, and sorrow and mourning cease to be found in it-"the path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day:"*-but the way of the ungodly, however gay it looks now, and however pleasant it is to the carnal and self-indulgent spirit of them who walk in it, as it draws nearer to the close becomes dark and dismal. Sin loses its alluring charms, and vague doubts and fears come over the mind of those who, having long walked in it, begin to see its emptiness, and cannot any longer enjoy its vanities. So it goes on to the end-the grave

closes over it and it perishes—and whither has it led its followers? to "the blackness of darkness" reserved for those who forget God; to the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

Thus, let us ever remember, brethren, that "the way of the ungodly shall perish!" Let us be wise in time, and betake ourselves to the strait gate and the narrow way, while it is called to-day -it is no difficult path, if we seek it with faith and with a pure heart. "For," saith the prophet, "it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it: but it shall be for those: the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein; the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away!"*

* Isa. xxxv. 8, &c.

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SERMON X.

JEREMIAH VIII. 20.

"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

THERE is something, my brethren, in the rapid succession of the different seasons of the year, passing on continually one after another, which conveys to us a silent but striking admonition. The spiritual life of a Christian is like his natural life, and the chief lesson which we learn from that comparison is, that we have need to make daily progress-that we can never stand still-that in the spiritual course we must be continually pressing onwards, "forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth after those which are be