ness of God, and set aside the doctrine of substitution altogether. If, indeed, He represented his people, if He obeyed the law for them, if He suffered

and died in their stead, if "He liveth to make intercession for them," and if He has unlimit ed power and authority, will he not save them ? If He really loved them, if He died to redeem them, if He did atone for their sins, will He, CAN HE suffer them to perish? If He intended to save them, and they are lost, is He not disappointed? And if disappointed, can he be God?the God who says, "I will do all my plea

sure ?"

Hath He power to save whom He loves? If He really loves, will He not exert that power? His relation to His people as their substitute, flows from his love to them; His sacrifice is the effect of his substitution; having offered that sacrifice, He is proclaimed "LORD both of the dead and of the living;" and by his sacrifice, Spirit, and providence, He saves all whom He represented.

Whatever relation, therefore, the Saviour may sustain to the world at large, it is clear that he fills a peculiar relation to his people. Their salvation is not left as a matter of contingency. He represented his seed; and as Adam's seed all died in

Adam, so in Christ shall all his "be made alive," 1 Cor. xv. 22. For them He lived, suffered, bled, and died;—to them He sends the Holy Spirit, and they are made willing in the day of His power;—at His throne they confess their sins, and seek salvation,-by faith they embrace His promises, and receive His fulness;—and as believers they are pardoned, justified, accepted, and saved. They have everlasting life. For them the law is magnified, jus tice is satisfied, and God is glorified in their salvation; their sins are put away, their persons are the purchased property of Jesus, and He constantly represents them before the throne. For them He abolished death,-for them He conquered Satan-and to them he hath promised heaven. He is made unto them of God "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."

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But some one may ask, How may enjoy this blessedness ?" Believe in the Lord Jesus; and by faith you are entitled to every promise in the bible,-every blessing that is in Christ,-and every privilege of the church of God: "He that believeth hath everlasting life, and shall never come into condemnation," John vi.

exercise.

THE LORD'S DAY.

EVERY truly considerate person must ac knowledge that man is a creature that requires rest, that the machinery of the body was not intended to be kept incessantly at work, and that the appointment of the night for rest is as wise and beneficial as the appointment of the day for labour and But as man possesses an immortal soul, as well as a material body,as he is destined for another world after he has passed through this, it is but reasonable to suppose, that our wise and merciful Creator would set apart some portion of his time for the improvement of his mind, and in which to prepare for his eternal state of existence. This is actually the case. When the work of ereation was finished, and God had surveyed his work, and pronounced it very good he set apart a day as a sabbath, or a rest; hence we read,-"On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;

and rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had made." Gen. ii. 2, 3. He "rested," or ceased working; he "sanctified," or set it apart for his own worship, and his creatures' good; he "blessed," or pronounced his benediction. upon it.

Here is the institution of the sabbath. It was made for man;" for man to rest, to worship, and to learn the will of God. It was made for all Adam's children, or the whole race of mankind; and to be observed and enjoyed by them in their generations. Instituted by divine authority, it could only be repealed by the same. Intended for all mankind, no one can justly claim liberty from its obligations. It is God's day, and should be honestly appropriated to his service and praise.

There can be no reasonable doubt, but that the sabbath was universally observed in the first ages of the world. But per

haps, as idolatry was introduced, and men departed from the service of God, the sabbath was treated with neglect. But we find it recognised as existing, and as

binding upon the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, before the law was given on Mount Sinai. Hence when the Lord gave them the manna, we read "And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to keep until the morning." Ex. xvi. 22, 23. Now it does not appear that before this Moses had said one word to the people about the sabbath; but they, knowing the original law, were prepared to observe it, and did observe it. Afterward, the sabbath was incorporated into that peculiar Covenant which the Lord entered into with the people in the desert, and was the subject of the fourth of the commands which were written and engraven on stones by the finger of God. Under that dispensation, the people being treated as children, (Gal. iv. 1—6,) the claims of the sabbath were enforced