of the Lord's fierce wrath, by which everlasting salvation hath been obtained, the season of it is a night to be much observed unto the Lord by all believers, in their bringing his death to a particular remembrance, by their celebrating his holy supper, and praising him at his holy table, for redeeming them with his own most precious blood, and delivering them by the power of his arm out of the hands of all their spiritual enemies. Surely Moses and the Israelites in their keeping this passover, through faith, lest he which destroyed the first-born should touch them, had most spiritual and divine views of Christ, and his hand, in this affair. Certain it is, the deliverance from Egypt is celebrated as one of the greatest acts of God wrought for them.' How the saints in the jewish church felt and esteemed this peculiar mercy, may be seen by reading the psalms, many of which were composed to celebrate the high praises of God for it. It is very judiciously said by the late Dr. Horne, in his commentary on the book of Psalms, that they are an epitome of the bible; They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world; the dispensations of providence, and the economy of grace: the transactions of the patriarchs; the Exodus of the children of Israel; their journey through the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan; their law, priesthood, and ritual; the exploits of their great men, wrought through

faith; their sins and captivities; their repentance and restoration; the sufferings and victories of David; the peaceful and happy reign of Solomon; the advent of Messiah, with its effects and consequences; his incarnation, birth, life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, kingdom, and priesthood; the effusion of the Spirit; the conversion of the nations; the rejection of the jews; the establishment, increase, and perpetuity of the christian church; the end of the world; the general judgment; the condemnation of the wicked, and the final triumph of the righteous with their Lord and King." So says the good bishop; to which I add, that Jehovah, whose praise is so divinely celebrated in them for bringing his chosen people out of the land of Egypt, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen. Reader, remember this; if thou seest this to be an immutable truth, it will make all recorded in and throughout the whole bible, shine with increasing glory and majesty on thy mind.

Jehovah having thus displayed his almighty power and wrath upon his enemies, and most divinely protected his church, and fulfilled his awful threatenings, I come to my fourth head of discourse proposed, and therefore I will, in it,

Lastly, give an account of the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt, with the exact fulfilment of God's promise, as soon as the

time was up which he had before spoken of: this is mentioned very particularly in the context, "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day, it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations."

Immediately on the death of the first-born, Israel is let go out of the house of bondage. A vast host, six hundred thousand men, besides women and children; it is probable the whole number of young and old was not less than a million; and what was truly marvellous, there was not one feeble person among them. They came out on the fifteenth day of Abib, a noble army, marching in rank and file, with all that belonged unto them. There was an exact fulfilment of God's promise concerning their deliverance as soon as the time was up which had been before declared unto Abraham; for these four hundred and thirty years was not the term they were in Egypt; Kohath, the son of Levi, was one that came first into Egypt, see Gen. xlvi. 8,

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11. and he lived but one hundred and thirty-three years, see Exodus vi. 18. Amram, his son, and the father of Moses, lived one hundred and thirtyseven years, Exodus vi. 20. Moses was but eighty when he spake to Pharaoh to release Israel; and after being in the wilderness forty years, he died, one hundred and twenty years old. So that the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt fell far short of the term mentioned in our text; but it takes in and comprehends the whole term of time in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt in Canaan, and afterwards in their posterity in Egypt. A jewish chronologist says, "From the time that the decree of the captivity in Egypt was fixed between the pieces (see Gen. xv.) to the birth of Isaac, was thirty years; and from the birth of Isaac to the going down into Egypt, four hundred years; take out of them the sixty years Isaac, and the hundred and thirty years Jacob had lived when he went into Egypt, and there remains two hundred and ten;" which was about the time the Israelites were in Egypt. You may see this perhaps more clearly expressed by a christian interpreter, who says, "From the appearance of the Lord to Abraham, recorded in Genesis, to the birth of Isaac, fifteen years. From the birth of Isaac to the birth of Jacob, sixty years. From the birth of Jacob to the going down into Egypt,

an hundred and thirty years; from his going

down into Egypt to his death, seventeen years. From the death of Jacob to the death of Joseph, in Egypt, fifty-three years. From the death of Joseph to the birth of Moses, seventy-five years. From the birth of Moses to the going out of the children of Israel, eighty years: in all, four hundred and thirty years."

The exact accomplishment of the promise, at the very moment when the time expired, shews the faithfulness of God; he suits his promises to his people, to their every case and circumstance. He fixes his own time for the accomplishment of them, and that is always when it will be most for his own glory and their good. Are any of you looking only to the Lord for support under trials, and trusting his word, in which he assures thee of deliverance? Be patient, brethren, and tarry the Lord's leisure; his word cannot fail: heaven and earth shall pass away, but his word will never pass away; it will be fulfilled in its largest meaning and fullest sense. Go on, trusting and waiting on the Lord; for he never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. There is a time. for every purpose of the Lord's to take place, and a season for every promise to be fulfilled; and waiting faith is great faith. It is good for a man to hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. The very moment God's time is up for the deliverance of his saints out of any trouble, and from any state of trial they may be