bitter railing? Oh, how is she glorified! Conception fails in contemplating the final glory. We dream of the New Jerusalem-its walls of translucent jasper, replete with strength and beauty-its gates of purest pearl-its streets of crystal-goldits foundations of precious stones; the "river of water of life;" the "many mansions" of the redeemed; the white-robed inhabitants; the ravishing music; the emerald-embowered throne; and the smile of Him who sits thereon. But oh! the joy, the brightness, and the beauty, which shall be revealed beyond our meagre conceptions! The world may laugh at our dreams, but it is all true; we know it. We have received "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." This is "the city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

Brethren, behold your reward. Is it not worth living for? Is it not worth dying for? Oh, if a life of agony could purchase one smile from that blessed countenance, it were cheaply bought! Will you suffer the world to enwrap its cold, icy arms around you? Assuredly not. Stand erect. The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is upon you. Trample the world, its wealth and fame and power, with scorn, beneath your feet. Let not the finger of Mammon scathe your royal brow; the seal of heaven is upon it! Let not the "lust of the eye" overcome you; keep it fixed upward; for in that day you "shall see His face, and His name shall be in your foreheads." Walk in the royal dignity of the "sons of God;" and, in the Holy City, you shall walk before Him in white. Oh, love, joy, peace! my soul is lost in fulness of rapture! You have received "a kingdom which cannot be moved;" therefore, let not your patriotism be earthly. Let earthly kings and governments, with all their petty strife, alone. Seek to maintain and extend the kingdom to which you have been called. Let not your hearts be troubled with terrestrial life, for so surely as you do, will your spiritual armour be neglected, and your "Jerusalem blade" become blunt in your hand. Immerse not yourselves in schemes of political economy and legal administration; for as you do this, so will your spiritual life ebb, and grow sluggish in its movements. You may not lose your stern uprightness and decision of character, but your communion with God will not be sweet; you will not grow in grace.

Seek not to "bind the jarring world in peace." That is not your work; it is the work of Emmanuel, the "Prince of Peace." So long as you deliver your testimony truly and faithfully for Him, you will not bring peace on the earth, but a sword;

66

for you invade the territory of Satan. 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love her." Pray that the kingdom of peace may be speedily set up; and "work, while it is called to-day," that the kingdom may be hastened.

Do not encourage men to make an unqualified pledge to morality, ere they have come to the "Strong for strength;" for so sure as you do, you will delude multitudes into hell, who have been deceived by a "fair show in the flesh." Commend Christ to the world. This is your work, and alas for you, if you shirk it.

Sons of God, beware of mammon. Gold is "hard and cold;" and if you tamper with it, it will impart its properties to your conscience." The love of money is the root of all evil, which some having lusted after, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." You are wandering through the wilderness; build not your nest there"Look for the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

in.

"Brethren, beloved of God, partakers of the heavenly calling," "be not conformed to this world; " for "the fashion thereof passeth away." Seek not the pomp and parade of office, remembering that your Master was a carpenter. Seek no help from the world, remembering that "the silver and the gold are the Lord's." Acknowledge only one Head, even Christ, and seek "to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings," and sing, as you advance onwards to your rest

66

66

"To us Thy cross, with all its shame,
With all its grace, be given!

Though earth disowns Thy holy name,
All worship it in heaven."

Keep your garments always white," "unspotted from the world." Let that blessed hope" of His appearing purify you, even as He is pure. Let nothing earthly dim the light of His glorious face, dwelling on your heart. And, finally, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately." Lord Jesus, come quickly."

"Come,

ART. II.-FEASTS AND FESTIVALS OF THE JEWS.

PART II.

ALTHOUGH Pentecost was the second of the then great annual feasts or festivals of the Jews at which all the males were to appear before the Lord at the national altar, yet there is not much said of its design in its first institution, nor is much reference made to it in the New Testament. By analogy we are led to infer that it, as the other festivals, is commemorative and typical, and by the extraordinary number of sacrifices and offerings prescribed, that it is of extraordinary importance. As the names given to the other feasts indicate their respective natures and objects, so, no doubt, the names given to this are intended to do the same.

It is called the "Feast of Weeks," "Feast of Harvest," "Feast of First-Fruits," "Pentecost," and, in common with the others, a "Solemn Assembly." Solemn Assembly." It was called the "Feast of Weeks," because of the seven weeks which intervened between the Passover and Pentecost. Some of the most remarkable events in the history of the people of Israel were crowded into these seven weeks. During them, the power and the presence of God were manifested in their behalf in a miraculous manner. During them, the sea was divided, and a highway made for them to pass through, their enemies were overthrown, the heavens rained bread and flesh,-the rock was struck, and living waters made to flow from it,—and God, in visible presence, was shielding and leading and protecting them. It would seem as if the command to reckon the weeks from week to week, intimated that each week should have its record of mercies, and that all and each, with their records, should be celebrated at the concluding Pentecost. That which is mentioned in Deut. xvi. 12 would scarcely account for the additional sacrifices that were to be offered up on this day, and the voluntary offerings required. It is more probable they had reference to extraordinary events, such as those to which we have just alluded.

The Jewish method of reckoning was not without some foundation in the associations connected with these weeks. Maimonides remarks, that it was to the honour of this festival that they were obliged to count the days of its approach from the preceding Passover, as a man expecting his best and most faithful friend at an appointed time is accustomed to number the days and hours until his arrival.

It is called the "Feast of Pentecost," because it is generally received that the law was given from Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day from the Israelites' coming out of Egypt, which is agreeable to Exod. xix. 3, 7, 8, 11, and that this feast was instituted to commemorate, among other things, this great event. On this account, the Rabbis call it "the day of the giving of the law.”

It was called the "Feast of Harvest," because, in the celebration of this feast, they were commanded, "Out of your habitations you shall bring bread for a wave-offering, two loaves of two tenth-deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the first-fruits unto Jehovah." This was commanded them whilst they were in the wilderness wandering, and was an assurance that their wanderings should cease, and that they should enjoy the land and its fruits, and fixed habitations, and be blessed with a plentiful provision of a superior kind.

Now, the leading design of the feast of Pentecost was to celebrate the great things which happened during the first seven weeks after their departure from Egypt, the giving of the law, their settlement in the land, symbolised by the two loaves, and the harvest and the vintage, (Exod. xxiii. 16.)

It has been generally stated that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, bestowed upon the apostles as recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles was the fulfilment of the type, inasmuch as on this day the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit were given to the apostles, and the gospel preached to so many Jewish strangers after the resurrection of Christ.

Again, it has been said that the offering of the two loaves of fine flour was typical of the union of Jews and Gentiles in the Christian dispensation, and of their being both one in Christ.

There is always some near or remote resemblance between the type and the antitype, but in these just mentioned I cannot see any, and I cannot see how any filling up or colouring of the shadow or outline could be worked up into the very image of these supposed antitypes.

Undoubtedly the things themselves which were celebrated, were celebrated as types of future good things, of which the children of Israel were to be partakers.

If we find events foretold by the prophets in express language correspondent with and parallel to those celebrated at the feast, but of greater moment, and producing greater and more permanent results, it is more than probable that the

latter were types of, and are fulfilled in, the former. We do find such, and I cannot but consider them as standing in the relation of type and antitype.

It is expressly foretold that the Israelites, previous to the restoration of their land and themselves to the favour of God, shall again be brought into the wilderness, and that God will manifest His presence and His power in their behalf more wonderfully than He did of old,—that the law will be given again, not from Sinai, but from Mount Sion, under more favourable circumstances, and leading to greater blessings. It is also foretold that the two and the ten tribes-Judah and Ephraim, or Israel-shall cease to be two families or nations, and shall be united into one in the hands of the Lord, and shall have a permanent settlement in the promised land, enjoying greater prosperity than they did in former times. These things were foreshadowed in the two loaves of fine flour, waved before the Lord, and brought out of their fixed habitations. Thus was symbolised the promise that the weary and wandering foot of the Israelite should have a secure resting-place,--that the longbanished exile should regain his wished-for home, that the dispersed and scattered ones should be again collected and gathered together,—and that the tribes that were rent asunder should meet and be mingled into one.

In the harvest is implied, the separation of the wheat and tares, and the winnowing of the chaff from the grain, and all the processes of grinding and sifting until the grain was reduced to fine flour. These things typified the punishments which will be inflicted upon the Gentiles, and the purging chastisements which will be laid upon the Israelites, at the concluding crisis of the present dispensation. The ideas involved in the harvest will be developed as I proceed in the investigation.

I shall proceed to shew that all these things which I have said are typified, are clearly predicted in both the Old and New Testaments.

Of the interpositions of God in favour of the Israelites in the latter days, of the overthrow of their enemies, of the wonderful miracles, such as, and even greater than God displayed, when He was delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, we read both in Isaiah and Zechariah. In Isaiah xi. 11- 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 ..