"As I live, saith the Lord God." He swears by His own existence, which is unchangeable, that when the sentence has been pronounced, no power upon earth can avert the execution. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." It has availed to save individuals, and to rescue nations; it has availed to heal the sick, and to raise the dead; but when an individual or a nation goes beyond a certain limit in sin, even the fervent prayer of a righteous man cannot prevail. It must be an extreme case-more so than the case of the Israelites in the wilderness, rebellious as they were, for the prayer of Moses prevailed in their behalf -more so than the case of the Sodomites, deeply as they had sunk in crime, for if there had been found there ten righteous men, the whole of the cities should have been saved for their sakes. Seldom, we should hope, men go so far in wickedness that they are placed beyond the pale of forgiveness in this world. Whilst life lasts, we entertain a hope of pardon from a merciful God. But there may be instances like that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem when individuals and nations are so far left to themselves as to become too degraded and wicked for even God's grace to rescue them. God's Spirit will not always strive with man; a series of means are graciously employed, ample opportunities for amendment are patiently afforded, and the strongest encouragements to seek the truth are mercifully given; but when those are persistently despised and rejected, the sentence pronounced over Ephraim of old is still enforced. "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone." Such was the extremity into which the Jewish nation had gone at this time. They had sinned away every hope of pardon, and the most earnest intercession of the best men could not prevail to remit the judgment. There are three men here mentioned who surpassed all others in their day for faith, integrity, devotion, and uniform obedience. In the first verse of the fifteenth chapter of Jeremiah, Moses and Samuel are named in the like manner. These three are probably mentioned to combine together the piety and earnestness of all the previous

ages and dispensations of the world. Noah lived before the flood, probably interceded in behalf of the wicked antediluvians, and was the means of saving at least his own family by his righteousness. Of the real history of Job very little is known, beyond what is recorded in the Book called after his name, for he is nowhere else mentioned in Scripture except in this place, and in the Epistle of St. James, where he is held up as an example of patience worthy of imitation. He is, however, supposed to have been contemporary with Abraham, or to have lived at some period between the time of Abraham and the giving of the law by Moses; thus he existed under a dispensation distinct from both the antediluvian and the Mosaic. What we read of him is that he was "perfect and upright, one that feared God, and eschewed evil." The following passages show how highly he was favoured by the Almighty, and the success of his intercession for others. "And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks, and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept; lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job." Daniel was now living, and had been fourteen years in captivity. No one of his age had manifested more disinterested consecration of soul to the service of God, or more ardent love for His worship. God honoured him by saving all the "magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans" in Babylon on his account. But though Noah had been favoured with success in prayer before the flood, Job after the flood, before the institution of the Jewish economy, and Daniel under that economy, yet if the three

had joined together, bringing the piety of all the previous ages of the world to petition the throne of God, it would have been inefficient to remove the impending judgment from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ah! brethren, it is an awful thing to have so exhausted the patience of God that the united prayers of all good people cannot ward off His displeasure. Such persons must endure inconceivable misery in this world, and irremediable woe in the world to come.

III. We are taught in the text that though righteous men cannot succeed to deliver the wicked, yet they shall save their own souls by their righteousness.

By the word soul we are to understand

1. The life, or the whole of man consisting of soul and body, which intimates that the righteous shall be providentially delivered from the calamitous judgments that often befal their unrighteous neighbours. This was the case with Noah, who was delivered from the universal deluge that swept away all except himself and his family for his sake. This was the case with Lot, who was delivered from the catastrophe that destroyed all the inhabitants of the plain of Sodom. Many instances might be mentioned, but there is one remarkable fact connected with the final destruction of Jerusalem which ought not to be omitted. Among the thousands of Jews that suffered the most horrible tortures and death during that melancholy event, there was not a single Christian involved in the calamity. This is to be accounted for in a very simple way. In Matt. xxiv. 15, 16, we read that Christ told his followers, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." They did understand, and obeyed the injunction, which was the means of their escape. We know not from how many temporal dangers and calamities we may be delivered by living a life of holiness, but we know that a life of sin leads to poverty, to sickness, to innumerable troubles,

and to death; and we know also that God has promised to grant special protection to those who fear Him.

2. By the word soul we are to understand the immortal part of man; the part which is most valuable-most durable, the part which shall exist and be capable of enduring pleasure or pain, happiness or misery, when the body shall have fallen into decay. The souls of the righteous in this sense are saved under all circumstances. For some wise purposes God does often please to involve the righteous in the temporal calamities of the wicked; as Daniel and Ezekiel, with many others, were taken into captivity with the wicked Jews, and as many have suffered dire sorrows and troubles in the world without respect to their goodness and devotion; but nothing can interfere with their communion with God, nor effect their eternal salvation. "They shall deliver their own souls by their righteousness."

Whatever meaning you may attach to the word righteousness in this passage, in the Gospel acceptation of the term it does not mean meritorious uprightness of character, but an acceptation obtained by the exercise of faith in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness of Noah, Daniel, and Job partook of the same nature, for St. Paul tells us that all the ancient worthies lived and died by faith. Their faith in God through the promised Saviour established their righteousness, which was carried out in those act of goodness for which they were so eminent.

In conclusion, we see the danger of a continued course in sin. We must not calculate too much upon the mercy and patience of God, for if we persist in presumptuous sin, abusing His mercy and patience, like the inhabitants of Jerusalem we shall be surprised with a punishment that nothing can prevent. Let us therefore in time seek the prayers of others, and pray for ourselves that we may obtain that righteousness by which our souls may be saved.

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The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: 1 Cor. viii.

Verse 13.-"Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."

ST. PAUL'S teaching was peculiarly adapted to the necessities of the people whom he taught. Those Corinthian Christians being only recently emerged from the darkness of heathenism, were still in the twilight of Christian principles, and could not clearly distinguish between the worship of the true God and that of the false deities to which they had been accustomed. Some of them were further advanced in knowledge than others, and therefore presumed from their knowledge to practise things which were an occasion of offence, or of sin to their weaker brethren. The Pagan nations in those days, as at the present, had a vast number of deities which they represented by idols; it is said that the gods of the Romans were upwards of thirty thousand, some of which were supposed to be in heaven, and others on earth. In their different towns, as in Corinth, they had gorgeous temples built for the worship of those gods, their idols were placed on pedestals, and sacrifices of different animals offered by the worshippers in the temples. When a sacrifice was offered a portion was burnt on the altar of the deity, a portion given for the use of the priests, and the remainder was reserved by the worshippers. The latter portion was either consumed by him and his friends at their respective homes, or a public banquet was made on the occasion, or else it was exposed for sale in the public market. In either case it was regarded by them as