of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let nò man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." These were properly called Jewish sabbaths. Hosea says, “her sabbaths." But the sabbath of which we are speaking, God calls "my sabbath." Here is clear distinction between the creation sabbath and the ceremonial. The one is perpetual; the others were merely shadows of good things to come, and are limited in Christ. The sabbath which remains is to be kept on the first day of every week, as a perpetual sign that, when Christ shall have finished the work of redemption, we shall enter into that rest which remains for the people of God, which will be an eternal rest.

2. It is a sign, because no servile labor is to be performed in it. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." This is a sign that our work for time, and for eternity, must be done here; no work of preparation in the great sabbath, and certainly there is no work nor device in the grave, whither thou goest. Then we are taught to have our work done, and well done, while in life. Paul certainly intimates as much as this, Heb. iv. 11: "Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Some say that this rest means natural death. How can that be Paul's meaning? Would he exhort us to murder ourselves? Moreover, does not Paul tell us, in verse 6, that “they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief?" And is unbelief a preservation from natural death? Who can believe this? This certainly shows most conclusively that our present state is a probationary one, and that we are here forming characters for eternity. It teaches us, too, that Christ will have finished his work of redemption before the great sabbath, and that the new heavens and the new earth will have been finished before this day will commence. Heb. iv. 11: "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall

after the same example of unbelief." For Christ must finish his work, as the Father did his, before the great sabbath.

3. It is a sign that we shall know him, see him, and live with him. For the text tells us, "I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." If you will take the pains to examine the places in scripture where this phrase is used, "that they may know that I am the Lord," you will find it generally refers to a time when God has wrought or will work out some great deliverance for his people: such as their deliverance out of Egyptian bondage, as in Exodus vi. 7, and viii. 22, 23; feeding them in the wilderness with quails and manna, Exodus xvi. 12; delivering them from the host of the Syrians, 1 Kings xx. 28; destruction of idolaters from among his people, as in Ezek. vi. 7, 13; when they are brought into judgment for their abominations, Ezek. vii. 4, 9; destruction of false teachers, Ezek. xiii. 9-23. xiv. 8; purging out the wicked rebels from among the children of God, Ezek. xx. 39; the final deliverance of the people of God in the end of the world, Ezek. xxxiv. 22-31. xxxviii. 22, 23; the Lord sanctifying his people and dwelling among them forever, Exod. xxix. 43-46. Ezek. xxxvii. 23-29. And our text plainly declares, that it is a sign of their sanctification, when they will all know him. And by the New Testament we are referred to the second coming of Christ as the time when these things will take place; 1 John iii. 2: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Then we shall not be wholly sanctified until he comes, and then we shall be like him, and see him as he is. We shall certainly know him then. Job says, "In my flesh shall I see God." David says, Ps. xvii. 15, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness." Blessed are the pure in

heart, for they shall see God. Paul says, 1 Cor. xiii 12, "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known." Now we see through signs " darkly," and "then face to face;" we shall have no need of signs, no need of our present sabbaths, or any other memorial; for we shall be with him. As long as the sign is given, and kept by us, so long we may be satisfied that the thing signified has not come; and if the sabbath is not a sign of the day of glory, what is it a sign of? Not of the gospel day; for that has already come, and we continue the sign. This certainly would be inconsistent. Paul tells us, that "when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Not of a temporal millennium, for in that, if there ever is one, which I do not believe, they will have to work," and keep the "sign." For I believe all who advocate the doctrine of a temporal millennium, which they call spiritual, believe we shall have a weekly sabbath as the nations do now. Of course, then, the sign must allude to that happy period when Christ will come in all his glory, gather his scattered sheep, deliver them from the bondage of death, destroy the host of the wicked from among them, burn up the idols out of the land, punish and banish from his church and people all false prophets and teachers, cleanse his chosen ones from all their abominations and filthiness, judge them in righteousness, present them sanctified before his Father, form them into a glorified kingdom, enter with them into the eternal rest, and live with them, and reign over them forever.

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4. I shall now show that the sabbath is a sign of the TIME. I beg of you, my dear reader, not to let your prejudice against my saying anything about time cause you to throw down the book and read no further. I pray you, do not judge before you read. Hear, and then judge," is an excellent maxim. Many a man has lost his life by not reading—Julius Casar, Henry Fourth, &c. It is even possible that

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your eternal life may be at stake; or the life of some of your relatives or friends may hang upon your conduct, even in this thing. Your example may prevent others from reading, who might possibly, if they should read, be convinced, get ready, enter into life, and be happy. It may be your companion, or child, or some other dear friend who is ooking up to you for example. Do nothing that may cause your heart to ache in a coming day.

1 shall show that the sabbath, which God has given to us as a sign, does indicate the time of the great sabbath of rest, which the apostle Paul exhorts us to labor to enter into. You will perceive, Ex. xxxi. 17, that "it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." God gives us a reason why it is a sign-because he was six days making heaven and earth, and rested on the seventh. Paul has given us a comment on this very text, in Heb. third and fourth chapters. He shows us in these chapters that there is a day of rest, or keeping of the sabbath, to the people of God; and that it was not fulfilled by the children of Israel going into Canaan. We should conclude, by the apostle's manner of reasoning, that he was contending against some persons who believed the sabbaths had their fulfilment and end, like the manna, when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan; for it is very evident that it was in the days of Paul as it is with us now. Some then contended that the sabbaths given by God to Moses, in the wilderness, were ended when Joshua led the people into the promised land. Paul confutes them by showing that David afterwards spake of this sabbath as being limited to another day. Our anti-sabbatarians argue that the sabbaths ended with Christ's crucifixion. And now may I not use the weapons which Paul has put into my hands against these anti-sabbatarians? for Paul says, thirty years after Christ's death, "There remaineth, therefore, a keeping of a sabbath to the pe ple of God." Now,

if sabbaths had been done away, Paul would no have spoken of a sabbath remaining. It is also evi dent, by the next verse, that Paul means to show us that time is also prefigured in this keeping of a sabbath which remains. He says, "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." In this text, there is, at the first view, a little ambiguity. Either Paul is continuing his argument, by showing that if Christ had entered into his rest, as you suppose, he might have said to the opposers of a sabbath, then "he has ceased from his labors, as God did from his." Or Paul may mean, that Jesus Christ had finished his personal work on earth, and was now entered into his glory as a forerunner for us; not that we can suppose that the work of salvation, of which Jesus Christ is the author, was finished when Christ ascended into heaven; for he is yet an advocate for us; as the apostle tells us, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And this certainly is a work which we hope is not yet finished. Now which will you choose? Either the sabbath must continue, or else the work of salvation by Jesus Christ is finished; for when the sabbath ended as a sign, then Christ's work must have ended, to agree with the figure, "as God did from his." But one thing is certain, and that is, as God created the old heavens and earth in six days, and rested on the seventh, so, in like manner, will Christ be six days creating the new heavens and earth, and then he will rest from his labors. This is the inference we must draw from Paul's expression in the text ve are examining. If, then, the work of redemption and salvation must be completed in six days, what can those days mean?

There are three kinds of days mentioned in the Bible: 1. The natural day, which is twenty-four hours. 2. The prophetic day, which is a year with See Ezek. iv. 5, 6: "For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt

us.