an instance of a single, humble, devoted follower of the great Jehovah, having been left unprotected in the midst of his enemies. Many have entered into the conflict trembling with fear at the unequal contest, but none ever left it, who had trusted fully and faithfully to the arm of Omnipotence, without having been enabled to raise the triumphant cry, "Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord."

EXPOSITION XVIII.

[Here may be read the first thirty-one verses of chapter xv.]

NUMBERS Xv. 32—36.

32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

33. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

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34. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

35. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

36. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Upon first reading these verses, we may be led, perhaps, to think, that this sentence was peculiarly severe. The man was merely employed in his daily work of gathering sticks for his fire, wherewith to seethe his necessary food. Even Moses and the congregation before whom he was brought, do not appear to have been aware of the nature of the punishment that he had incurred, for they say, "It was not declared what should be done to him."

A little reflection, however, will convince us, that every individual of the children of Israel must have been perfectly acquainted with the fact, that the punishment was death, although doubtless ignorant of the kind of death, to which the sabbath breaker was exposed. Had no punishment, indeed, been previously affixed to the crime of sabbath-breaking, which the words we have just read, would appear, at first sight, to intimate, there might have been, at least, a

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plausible ground of complaint; but on referring to the thirty-fifth chapter of Exodus, we find it very distinctly stated, "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day, there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord : whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath-day.” The man, therefore, had not only been guilty of an infraction of a well-known law, and consequently become obnoxious to an equally well-known sentence, but he had broken this law in a peculiarly flagrant and offensive manner, selecting that very act to commit, which the Almighty had selected, in so especial a manner, to forbid. When, therefore, the congregation asserted, that "It was not declared what should be done to him," it is perfectly evident, that they only intended to state, that it had not pleased the Almighty to reveal to them the mode of the punishment that awaited the sabbath-breaker. This He now did, for, as we have read, "The Lord commanded all the congregation to stone him with stones without the camp."

The sabbath-breaking Israelite committed a double act of profanation and rebellion," for the Lord their God was their king." The sabbathbreaking Christian, as he does not, in this latter

respect, commit the same sin, so is he, thanks be to God, not amenable to the same punishment. Still is his crime unquestionably great; and if his heart be truly converted to God, most anxious will he be to avoid the smallest breach of the merciful command, which has selected one day in seven, as the Lord's day, the Lord's own day, to be devoted wholly and entirely to his service. Human laws can do little positively to effect this, but negatively, or in the way of prevention, they may, by God's help, do much. They may, and ought, for instance, to preserve to every man, whatever be his station, the power to keep this commandment of his God, to secure to him untouched a seventh portion of his time for God, and thus to throw a fence around the rich, which his pursuit of business, luxury, or pleasure, shall not be allowed to overleap; and a shield over the poor, which the commands of those above him shall not be permitted to penetrate. If this were effected, much, very much, would be done to hallow this holy day, perhaps as much as human legislation is designed to do. The great object of the Lord's day can only be achieved by the power of Divine grace upon the heart. It is that, and that alone, which can enable us to spend it holily, and yet happily. It is that alone which can teach us to know no

weariness in the service of our God, to delight to tread his courts, to meditate upon his word, to partake of his sacraments, to hold communion with the saints on earth, and those in heaven, as members together with them of the church of the first-born, and rejoicing in our union with the same Saviour who has made us one with Him, as He also is one with our Father which is in heaven.*

[Here way be read from verse 37, to the end of the chapter.]

EXPOSITION XIX.

NUMBERS XVi. 1-11.

1. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took

men;

2. And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of re

nown:

3. And they gathered themselves together against

* See John xvii. 21.