"nition." It is to be observed, that, at the period when the ordinance was given, for keeping holy the seventh year, God forewarned the nation of the certain punishment that should follow the neglect of it, in these remarkable words:

66

66

If

ye will not yet for all this hearken unto

me, then I will punish you seven times

more for your sins:and if ye will not be ' reformed by me by these things, then will I

punish you seven times more for your sins.— "And if ye will not for all this, hearken unto

me, then I will walk contrary unto you “ also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise

you seven times for your sins.—And I "will bring the land into desolation, and I

will scatter you among the heathen. "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as

long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your

"enemies' land; even then shall the land "rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as "it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it

"did not REST in your sabbaths, when ye 66 DWELT upon it."*

And the time came, when this prophetic denunciation was literally executed. For, when the conqueror, Nebuchadnezzar, brought desolation upon Israel, and carried the people captive to Babylon, then the land enjoyed her sabbaths. The sacred historian concludes his account of that captivity in these words; "And them that had escaped "from the sword, carried he away to Baby"lon, where they were servants to him "and to his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia; to fulfil the word of "the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, "until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths,

"for, as long as she

lay desolate, she kept

"sabbath, (a mournful sabbath!) to fulfil "threescore and ten years."†

* Lev. xxvi. 18, and seq.

† 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20.

Now, my brethren, we understand from holy scripture, that the history and experience of the Jewish people shadow forth the mercies and judgments of the Christian church. Accordingly, the judgment which was finally executed against Israel, for neglecting the sabbath of the seventh year, is to be expected (as certainly) by every Christian nation which neglects the sabbath of the seventh day. The commandment to us is this," Remem"ber the SABBATH day, to keep it holy." And this ordinance is delivered to us as well as to the Israelites; for it is founded on principles which extend to all times and nations. The sabbath of the SEVENTH day was instituted in Paradise itself, for the observance of the universal race of mankind, before the people of Israel had a being. No sooner had the Deity created the kingdom of Nature, than he instituted the kingdom of Grace, by setting apart a day for the holy worship of himself, by the creatures whom he had

made. It was intended that Adam should have kept the sabbath, although he had never sinned; for there is mention of the sabbath, before there is mention of his sin. How much more then was it intended that the sabbath should be observed by a fallen race! One reason assigned for rest on the seventh day is, in its nature, absolute and universal, namely, the example of the Creator; because God rested on the seventh day. For, in six days, the "Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, " and all that in them is, and RESTED the "seventh day."

If, then, there be a people to whom God hath revealed his will, who neglect very generally to keep holy the seventh day; who, instead of making it a day of REST unto the Lord, make it a day of pleasure unto themselves; and, instead of giving repose to the beast, and to the servant,

under their command, make it a day of peculiar labour to both; that people may expect the appointed judgment in the day of their visitation. For the observance of the sabbath is to Christian kingdoms the criterion of a rising or falling state. When the king of Babylon came upon the Israelites, for their breach of the divine ordinance, the calamity is described in terms which bring to mind the desolation which some nations. have suffered in our own time. "There"fore, it is said, the Lord brought upon "them the king of the Chaldees." The king of the Chaldees was, no doubt, prompted by his own inordinate ambition, but the punishment is said to have come "from the Lord."-" Therefore, the Lord brought upon them the king of the "Chaldees, who slew their young men with "the sword, and had no compassion on

young man or maiden, old man, or him "that stooped for age. He gave them all into