24 Judgments on God's ancient People.

"Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall "perish quickly from off the good land which " he hath given unto you." (Ch. xxiii. ver. 16.) This denunciation of wrath was literally fulfilled, and the subsequent prophecy as to the dispersion of that people through all lands, on their filling up the measure of their iniquities in rejecting the Saviour, has been accomplishing to the present hour, and is even now visibly executing before our eyes. "The Jews them"selves," says Addison," are the depositaries "of all the prophecies which tend to their own "confusion." It is further remarkable, in reference to their case, that as the observance of the Sabbath was, through every period of their history, pointedly made the peculiar test of their obedience, so the incessant calamities which followed its violation, give considerable force to the example which they are calculated to afford in this particular *. They were the first to re

* It would be endless to cite passages in proof of this point; a few may suffice: "Ye bring wrath on Israel by "profaning the Sabbath" (Neh. xiii. 18); "They polluted

my Sabbaths; then I said, I would pour out my fury upon "them" (Ezek. xx. 21); "As long as the land lieth deso"late, it shall rest" (be without cultivation), "because it did "notrest in your Sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it;"-"They "have defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my Sabbaths;"

"I will bring up a company upon them, and will give "them to be removed and spoiled."-(Ezek. xxiii. 38, 46.)

Sin the Overthrow of Nations.

25

ceive the divine command with blessings annexed to its performance, and curses denounced on its violation. It was their chief preservative from the heathenism of surrounding nations, and the distinctive mark of the divine presence and favour." I gave them my Sabbaths to be

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a sign between me and them, that they might "know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezek. xx. 12.) When they ceased to hallow the Sabbath, they no longer possessed the best evidence of their connexion with their heavenly Father, nor did they continue to enjoy one of the principal means of sanctification. "Now "these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admo"nition upon whom the ends of the world are "come." (1 Cor. x. 11.)

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The Old Testament supplies numerous instances of the subversion of thrones and the fall of empires as a consequence of rebellion against God. From the fate of Saul, who lost his kingdom and his life, as the reward of his disobedience, down to the signal humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, and the sudden overthrow of his son Belshazzar, we find many intermediate proofs that "the Most High God "ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he "appointeth over it whomsoever he will." (Dan. v. 21.) The destruction of the Chaldean empire

26 Judgments under the Gospel Dispensation. -of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians of the Macedonian or Grecian empire-and, finally, of the Roman empire, are so many distinct confirmations of Holy Writ. The whole of ancient prophecy, so far as it is connected with the government of the world, from the Babylonish captivity downwards, is one continued denunciation of wrath upon guilty and apostate nations; "Is there evil in the city, " and the Lord hath not done it?".

Under the New Testament dispensation, we have manifest notices of the just judgments of God against sinners, from the terrible example of the whole Jewish nation, which has been already noticed, down to the striking instance of the fall of a single monarch, in the case of Herod, who was smitten, as we are assured on the authority of inspiration, by an angel, and gave up the ghost, although to ordinary bystanders and spectators the instrumentality employed on that occasion was doubtless invisible and unknown. In reference to the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, the reason of the divine procedure appears manifest. "The kingdom of God shall "be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matt. xxi. 43.) It is further declared, that it should be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the

The Analogy of the divine Procedure. 27

ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, which had been overthrown by sin, and even for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those cities in which the miracles of the Saviour had been exhibited in vain (Matt. x. 15; and xi. 21); and the remarkable removal of the golden candlestick of the Gospel from the whole of the seven churches of Asia, is full of instruction upon the subject, and speaks, in language too plain to be misunderstood, to every existing Church of Christendom, which has fallen from its first faith or its first love," Repent, or else I will come quickly, ❝ and remove THY candlestick out of his place.” -"He, then, that hath ears to hear, let him "hear."

If, indeed, it be permitted us to reason analogically, in reference either to the Church or the world, through that period of their history which has succeeded to the close of the canon of Holy Writ, we must either suppose the divine government of both, so far as respects temporal rewards and punishments, to have entirely ceased, or we must at least admit the strong probability, that national piety is yet more or less honoured with the exercise of the divine favour, and national transgression still visited with the infliction of divine vengeance. An opposite opinion is certainly by no means in harmony with the whole tenour of Sacred

28 Luxury-the Historian's Word for Sin.

Writ; and supposes nothing less than such an indifference on the part of the Supreme Being, in reference to the government of his own world, as appears rather to belong to the theory of the ancient Stoics, than to the creed of professed Christians.

It has indeed been no uncommon thing for the historian of every age and nation to refer the overthrow of empires to the influence of LUXURY; in the silent but certain operation of which natural cause, he finds, or professes to find, an adequate solution for every difficulty connected with the rise and fall of nations. There can be no other objection to the use of the word LUXURY, than that it tends to keep out of sight the great moral evil of SIN, and to divert the attention of mankind from the primary cause of national and public affliction. The testimony, however, of the secular historian to the fact, that profligate expenditure and general corruption are indissolubly connected with the decay and ruin of states, is of no mean importance. We will not quarrel with him for a name, while he establishes (however unwittingly) so much of our argument.

I apprehend that we are not left without certain indications of the continued agency of the moral Governor of the universe, even in modern times; since the terrible example