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winds and the seas obeyed? Is this the beloved Son of God, whose face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light? Is this the man appointed of God to be the judge of quick and dead? O, what a sight is here! He hung bleeding on the cross, and darkness spread her veil over the land. He expired, and nature groaned at his death. He was laid in the tomb, and his enemies triumphed -while his followers mourned and wept. But God would not suffer his "holy one to see corruption." The third morning opened its glimmering ray-an angel descended and rolled away the stone from the sepulchre: and,

"Lo, he rises from the tomb,

Glowing with immortal bloom."

Now his sufferings are ended-his obedience is approvedhis character is established-his mission is confirmed; and, having finished the work that was given him to do, "he ascended to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God." 66 He hath ascended up on high; he hath led captivity captive; he hath received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." "He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore" (as his glorious reward) "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow," (to his authority,)" of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." "All power is given unto" him

in heaven and in earth.” And, now, with what majestic grandeur he speaks : "Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold I am alive for ever more, amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

And now, brethren, I appeal to you; is there any thing in this view of the text which stands opposed to the unity of God, or that requires us to make the wretched shift of applying one verse in the text to Christ the God and another to Jesus the man? Is there any thing here that contradicts the plain declarations of Jesus the Christ, that he received every thing from his God, or that makes his exaltation a mere unmeaning nothing-placing him only where he was before? No. All is in harmony: and the example in the text illustrates and enforces the precept,

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Here, then, we behold the humility, the resignation, love, meekness, patience and obedience of our great pattern and examplar, "Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Let us, then, labour to have the same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus; and learn of him "who was meek and lowly in heart." Whatever we possess, let us learn of him to be humble. Whatever we endure, let us learn of him to be patient and resigned to the will of God. Wherever duty calls, let us learn to persevere, obedient to his authority. Let us run the race set before us, copying his example. So shall we share in his exaltation. How cheering his declaration to his followers: "I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father has appointed me a kingdom"!" Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift."

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The Prayer: 0 thou high and lofty One, who inhabitest eternity; thou who art the Creator, the Lord of heaven and of earth, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; we adore and praise thee, that we are brought to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus, the anointed, whom thou hast sent. O pour thy blessing upon us, that we may be true worshipers and worship thee, the Father, in spirit and in truth. In thy presence, O God, we profess our subjection to him whom thou hast appointed King in thy holy hill of Zion, and head over all things to thy church. We reverence thy Son. May we ever prove ourselves to be his disciples indeed, by doing whatsoever he has commanded us; and so abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Amen.

American Unitarian Publications.

SIR, London, Jan. 5, 1826. YOUR correspondent, I. W., (p. 414,) is desirous that "some person in London or Liverpool will give out proposals to accomplish the purpose mentioned in your Repository for August, p. 483, of supplying our libraries with some of the most valuable American periodicals." I believe I am correct in stating, that Mr. Rowland Hunter has

made arrangements for this end, so that it is hoped the difficulties heretofore existing in procuring the works of our Transatlantic Unitarian brethren will be in a great degree removed.

A. B.

Mr. Moore on the Divine Origin and Authority of the

SIR,

Sabbath.

(LETTER II.)

In my last letter* it was shewn that, according to the Mosaic account, the consecration of the Sabbath is coeval with the existence of man, and that it was designed for universal observance. This, surely implies that the institution was made known to our first parent, and it is not reasonable to suppose that he and his descendants, who lived in the fear of God, would neglect an ordinance of so much importance; for what were the use of setting apart one day in seven for religious purposes, if this institution were kept secret or totally disregarded? It has been objected, however, that no mention is made of the Sabbath during the patriarchal ages, and this is true; but from this omission it by no means follows, that no observance of the day took place during that period. There is at least no proof that such was the case. At the time of the calling of Abraham the world was immersed in idolatry, and consequently the worship of the living and true God, in any form or at any time, was neglected in proportion. The history of this patriarch and of the families that descended from him is extremely concise, and still more deficient are the occasional notices of their religious observances. In this brief, though interesting narrative there was no particular occasion for the mention of the Sabbath. The number of the patriarchs was comparatively small; and their mode of life, being pastoral, and wandering as they did from place to place for the convenience of pasture, was unfavourable to any thing like regularity in the observance of stated religious seasons and the practice of social worship. If in such circumstances the Sabbath were neglected, this would furnish no argument against it, and would be no

Vol. XI. p. 369.

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example for us. However, it is not probable that so important an institution, designed as it was, on Divine authority, for the observance of all men from the beginning, should not be made known to the patriarchal tribes, or that it should be entirely overlooked by them; and there is one passage in the Old Testament which affords at least some reason to believe this was not the case, namely, Exod. xvi. 4-30. At the time when the manna was given to the Israelites in the Wilderness, they were commanded to gather enough on the sixth day to supply their necessities on the seventh, and on that day none descended, that the people might have leisure for the observance of it as the Sabbath. This was before the giving of the law from mount Sinai. And it deserves to be observed, moreover, that there is nothing whatever on this occasion of that solemnity in the circumstances and the manner of announcing a new law, which, judging from other instances, we must conclude, and especially in the case of so important a law as that of the Sabbath, would have taken place, had this institution been unknown before: the people are merely directed (vers. 4 and 5) to gather twice as much on the sixth day as on the other days of the week ; a direction perfectly sufficient on the supposition that the Sabbath had been previously instituted, but extremely defective if it had not. The manner also in which Moses immediately afterwards speaks of this day is a clear indication that the Sabbath was at that time no new institution: "Six days shall ye gather it, but on the seventh is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And again, the expression, (ver. 23,) "To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath of the Lord," evidently signifies the day appointed by Jehovah to be kept holy to him, and refers, no doubt, to the original institution of this ordinance, as related in Gen. ii. Besides, it is obvious, as Hallet has shewn,* that Moses is here speaking of the days of the week, and that when he mentions the seventh day, he means not the seventh from the first descent of the manna, but the last day of the week; and the people understood him, which proves that they were no strangers to this mode of reckoning, or consequently to the Sabbath. Some of them, indeed, as there had always been those among them who paid little regard

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* See his Exposition of the Ten Commandments, Discourse VI.

to the commands of God, went out on the seventh day to gather manna, but found that none had fallen. "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath; therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day." The falling of the manna, therefore, did not regulate the Sabbath, but the Sabbath the falling of the manna. And from the whole, therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude, as observed before, that the Sabbath was not at this time a new institution to the Israelites. And, if so, it may be inquired, Whence did this people obtain their knowledge of this institution, and of the obligation under which they were laid to hold it in veneration? Certainly it was not obtained during the bondage of Egypt, where their unfeeling task-masters would not fail to extract from them incessantly all the labour they were capable of enduring; nor do I know of any method of accounting for it, but by supposing that it was handed down to them from their forefathers the patriarchs, though the revival of the religious observance of the Sabbath would be necessary i after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, in which state this custom, whatever might have been its prevalence before, was in danger of being lost altogether. Milton,+ it is true, has founded an objection to this supposition, on the following circumstance: When the people on the sixth day, according to the Divine command, had gathered a double quantity of manna, all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses, which proves, he maintains, that they at least were not acquainted with the institution of the Sabbath. This, however, is by no means a necessary inference, nor, indeed, a reasonable inference. It is founded on a mistaken view of the passage. It was the business of the rulers to see that the people obeyed the command that had been given them on this occasion, (ver. 5,) and all they did was informing Moses that the people had done so, nor does the reply of Moses give support to any other signification of these words. Were we to suppose that all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses that the people had gathered a double portion of manna on

Treatise of Christian Doctrine, &c. B. I. Ch. x.

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