But though the Jews had both their sabbatical year, and great jubilee, yet they could not be made perfect without the gospel-dispensation. Therefore, all their grand epochas were only typical of " the acceptable year of the Lord," when the great High Priest of God, with the trumpet of the everlasting gospel, proclaimed liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison-doors to them that were bound, not only through all the land of Israel, but to the ends of the earth. It was not strange, that the saints who lived in the times of types and shadows, without us, should. not be made perfect; but it is strange that the saints who fall asleep in Christ, and so have past their week of trouble, and entered on the year of release, on the sabbath of rest (so graciously has God connected things) though possessed of all felicity, cannot, without us, who are expectants of the same state, be made perfect; as their souls wait for the resurrection of their bodies, that the whole man may exalt and enjoy him, who is very God and very man.

Now, though the seventh year was very pleasant and divine, yet the jubilee in all respects excelled it very far, being proclaimed with loud sounding trumpets to the ends of the land, inviting the captive to liberty, and the impoverished heirs to their paternal estates. But the jubilee of the glorious gospel darkens description itself, being glad tidings of great joy to all peopie, and a general proclamation to disinherited spendthrifts and bankrupts to return, through their elder Brother, who has redeemed the mortgaged inheritance, to the full and ample possession of spiritual things, of which they shall never be again despoiled. But the grandest and most glorious jubilee of all, is the jubilee of glory, when the great trum

pet of eternity shall be blown, and the saints, who now seem outcasts in the land of death, shall hear and assemble, and enter into the full possession of the everlasting kingdom. In this great and last jubilee, all former deliverances shall be summed up, so that there shall be no after-mortgaging of the inheritance, as might take place among the Israelites, no fears of being dispossessed of the land of promise, which often vex the Christian's breast.

The blast of the ram's horn was heard all over Israel, the sound of the gospel all over the world; but the last trumpet shall be heard in heaven, earth, and the grave; so that the saints in all ages shall be equal sharers in this jubilee that shall end their sorrows, and begin their joys. Then shall they enter, not into a sabbatical year, that can be succeeded by time, but into a sabbatical eternity, even an eternal Sabbath of rest that shall never have an end.

MEDITATION CI.

GOD'S KNOWLEDGE.

Under sail, June 14, 1759.

How do we admire a man that is a little wiser

than ourselves! Yet the wisdom of all the human tribes, of all the angelic hosts, is but folly before God! in whose infinite knowledge all our thoughts are laid open, all our conceptions are swallowed up. How divinely glorious is his universal knowledge, that extends to all! Man cannot know or retain every thought that has flowed from his own heart, every

He presides over every terminates every action,

word that has dropped from his own mouth, much less those of his neighbours. But it is not so with God; not a man on either side the globe but he has his eye on, not a thought but is brought forth in his presence; not a whisper but pours into his ear, not a work but is wrought before him; and all these things are for ever with him. How must the mortal judge examine again and again the criminal, and the witnesses, and yet sometimes be doubtful what sentence to pass! But every thing is naked and open to him with whom we have to do. purpose, guides every step, and governs every individual. What amazing knowledge is this, that not only kingdoms and provinces, in their several revolutions and changes, but persons in their particular occurrences and circumstances, are minutely overruled by him! Now, how many must the actions, the words, and the thoughts be, of so many millions of men, that are at one and the same time acting, speaking, thinking; yet all are known to him as clearly and distinctly as if there were but one person in the whole world. Nor is the far greater part or number of men that have departed into the world of spirits, some in pleasure, some in pain, less in his knowledge. Neither do his knowledge and concern about the human race diminish his care of the irrational tribes; for he feeds the young ravens that cry from the top of the rock, and the lion's whelps that roar from their dens, and kindly makes grass to grow for the milder inhabitants of the field. Every insect, which vain man in a manner despises, is both produced and preserved by him, and crawls. in his omniscient ken, who sees and sends the juice through every fibre of the vegetative family, gives

the flowers their rich variety of colours, and plants their various virtues. He disposes of the infant nations that are daily born into the world, to supply the daily loss of that equal number, whose countenance he changes, and sends them to their eternal home. By him the falling hairs of our heads are numbered, and the dead sparrows are not forgot before him. The trees of every forest in every land, are green at his command; every pile of grass and fragrant flower, every bud and blossom, every seed and root, every fruit and leaf, grows and fades, flourishes and withers before him. Heaven and earth are open to him, death and destruction have no covering. The drops of the clouds, and the dew of heaven, he numbers, and the billows of the vast ocean pass under his hand to be told.

Now, how perfect must his knowledge be, when all things present are so perfectly known to him, and are still as clearly in his knowledge when past and gone, as when present; as they also were in the same perspicuity known to him from eternity, before ever they existed. Nothing is past or to come in his knowledge; in an unintelligible degree of perfection, all is for ever present.

From the above shallow thoughts of his infinite knowledge, how should I learn to admire God, to walk as ever in his eye, and to inscribe on all my ways, “Thou, God, seest me ;" and to rejoice, because he that sees disposes of me according to his wisdom!

Moreover, though the heavens and their inhabitants; the world of mankind, dead, alive, or to be born, in all their thoughts, words, and actions; the animal, reptile, and insect creation, in all their motions and changes; trees, plants, flowers, and whatever else gists, were to have an addition of other heavens,

and other worlds, filled with intelligent inhabitants, and this addition continued till space were in a manner replenished, and conception overpowered by the tremendous augmentation; yet, even when thus thoughts, words, actions, were multiplied almost to infinity, still every thing would be as clearly, plainly, and distinctly known to him, as if only one angel, one man, one insect, or one atom existed. Hence, we may understand how infinite his power must be, which is of the same extent with his knowledge, as are all his divine attributes, his holiness, justice, goodness, and truth: And, in a word, O saint! what may the joy of thy heart be, seeing his love to thee is of the same extent and duration !

MEDITATION CII.

THE SABBATH.

Mediterranean, under sail, June 16, 1759.

GOD, that his chosen ones may never go too far from him, has bestowed many privileges upon them, and among the rest hath given them his Sabbaths. Though the world regard them not, but pollute them with all their sinful pleasures, yet surely they are the refreshing of the serious soul; days much to be regarded unto the Lord; for on this day the redemption of God's Israel from the bondage of sin, from the gates of hell, was declared to be completed by the triumphant resurrection of the Lord of glory. The Author of time has dignified this day with his benediction, and given us his divine example to rest from all our labours on this holy day.