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doeth all these things." Zechariah i. 16, 17, "Therefore, thus saith the LORD, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts; and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet. saying, thus saith the LORD of hosts; my cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." Romans xi. 26, “And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Isaiah gloriously confirms and amplifies this blessed truth, xi. 10-12, "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the out coasts of Israel, and gather together the the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth." Micah vii. 19, 20, "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." What is the truth which the spirit assures us will be performed to Jacob? Genesis xxviii. 14, "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." What was the mercy sworn unto Abraham? Genesis xxii. 16-18, "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heaven: and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

An oath, saith the Apostle, is amongst men an end of all strife. How is it that the oath of Jehovah is the source of strife between those who believe his words, and those who do not.

SKETCH XVIII.

NUMBERS XXVii. 16, 17.

First, GoD is the God of the spirits of all flesh. Chapter xvi. 22,"And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?" Hebrews ii. 9, "But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man."

Secondly, But as God is the God of the spirits of all flesh, so doth all flesh, in the aggregate, constitute his body. Ephesians iv. 4, "There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." Hebrews x. 5, "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifices and offerings thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me."

Thirdly, What is this body? Ephesians ii. 16, "And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body on the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Corinthians, xii. 12, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ." John xii. 33, "This he said, signifying what death he should die."

Fourthly, What are we to understand by going in and going out before the people? The following scriptures furnish an answer. Deuteronomy xxxi. 2, " And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan." Kings iii. 7, "And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in." John x. 3, 4, 5, "To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers." 1 Peter ii. 9, "But ye are a

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chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."

Fifthly, What are the sheep? And what is the shepherd? Sixthly, and lastly, What is intended by the clause in the text, which represents the people as sheep having no shepherd?

We turn, as usual, to the volume of inspiration for answers to to these queries.

Zechariah x. 3, "Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle." Matthew ix. 36, 37, 38, "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the LORD of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." John x. 10-16, "The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."

SKETCH XIX.

NUMBERS xxix. 1.

First, WHAT are we to understand by the seventh month? It is a Sabbath of rest unto you. Leviticus xxiii. 3, 24, "Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation, ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation."

Secondly, This portion of time is termed a holy convocation. Thirdly, No servile work must be performed thereon.

Fourthly, and lastly, It is a day of blowing the trumpets. Leviticus xxiii. 24, "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." To what does this sabbatic month, this blowing of trumpets spiritually point? 1Corinthians xv. 52, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Zechariah ix. 14, “And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightening, and the LORD God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south." Isaiah xxvii. 13, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the out-casts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem." John v. 25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." 1 Thessalonians, vi. 16, 17, 18, “For the LORD himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."

SKETCH XX.

NUMBERS XXXV. 32.

First, THE city of refuge. What was it? A sanctuary for individuals, whose lives were forfeited.

Secondly, What did God design by this establishment? Undoubtedly an exhibition of himself in his character of a hiding place from the storm. This is not fancy, but fact. I produce VOL. III.

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my vouchers. Deuteronomy xxxiii. 27, "The eternal God is thy refuge,and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them." 2 Samuel xxii. 3, "The God of my rock, in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour; thou savest me from violence." Psalm ix. 9, "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." Psalm xiv. 6, "Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge." Psalm xlvi. 1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm lxii. 7, 8, "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him : God is a refuge for us. Selah. Psalm xci. 2, 9, "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Because thou hast made the LORD which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation." Psalm xciv. 22, "But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge." Psalm cxlii. 5, "I cried unto the LORD; I said, Thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living." Isaiah iv. 6, "And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day. time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." Chapter xxv. 4, "For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distresses, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." Jeremiah xvi. 19, "O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." Hebrews vi. 18, "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before us."

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