place. For my thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then fhall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will bearken unto you. Because ye have faid, The Lord hath raifed us up prophets in Babylon. Jer. xxix.

8-11.

The work of thefe wicked men in Babylon was, to blame those who had fell away to the Chaldeans, and who had fubmitted themselves to the yoke of this captivity; and they likewise wrote into Jewry, to encourage them who maintained the fiege in Jerufalem; to whom God by his prophet replies, Know that thus faith the Lord of the king that fitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwell in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; thus faith the Lord of hofts, Behold I will fend upon them the fword, the famine, and the peftilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are fo evil. And I will perfecute them with the fword, and with famine, and with peftilence, and will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curfe, and an aftonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them: because they bave not hearkened to my words, faith the Lord, which I fent unto them by my fervants the prophets. Jer. xxix. 16-19.

Of these desperate rebellious wretches there were three raised up by the devil in Babylon, who appeared at the head of all the reft, namely, Shemaiah, Zedekiah,

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Zedekiah, and Ahab. The first of these writes a letter to all that dwelt in Jerufalem, and to the priest, against Jeremiah the prophet, in the following manner: To Zephaniah the son of Maafeiah the priest, and to all the priests, faying, The Lord hath made thee priest in the fead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldeft put him in prison, and in the stocks: now therefore, why haft thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? for therefore be fent unto us in Babylon, faying, This captivity is long, build ye boufes and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them, &c. &c. Jer. xxix.

To these three men God orders his prophet to fend the following meffage: Therefore, thus faith the Lord, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nebelamite and his feed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall be behold the good that I will do for my people, faith the Lord, because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. And to the other two faife prophets God fent the following awful fentence: Thus faith the Lord of hofts, the God of Ifrael, of Ahab the fon of Kelaiah, and of Zedekiah the fen of Maafeiab, which prophefy a lie unto you in my name; behold I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he fhall flay them before your eyes. And of them shall be taken up a curfe by all the captivity of Judah, which are in Babylon, faying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, andlike Abab, whom

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the king of Babylon roafted in the fire; because they have committed villainy in Ifrael, and have committed adultery with their neighbours wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded, even I know, and am a witness, faith the Lord. Jer. xxix. 21-23. Thefe were falfe prophets among God's own profeffing people, whose whole work was to destroy the unwary, feduce the weak, and encourage rebellion against the Lord.

And now, if we look into the heathen nations, which God hath ordered to fubmit to the yoke of the king of Babylon, upon thefe conditions, that those who obeyed his voice fhould enjoy their lands, and those who did not should be pursued by the fword, famine, and peftilence, till they were confumed by his hand and among them we fhall find another fort of rabble raised up by the devil to feek their ruin. Hence the caution that God fends them, to guard them against their hour of temptation : Therefore hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your forcerers, which speak unto you, faying, Ye fhall not ferve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy' a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I fhould drive you out, and ye fhould perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and ferve him, thofe will I let remain fill in their own land, faith the Lord, and they fhall till it, and dwell therein. Jer. xxvii. 9-11. And now we will come nigher home.

The fcriptures threaten us with a time of trouble as well as they; and this trying time is not only foretold, but it is felt at this prefent hour by many: And at that time fhall Michael ftand up, the great prince which ftandeth for the children of thy people, and there Shall be a time of trouble, fuch as never was fince there was a nation even to that fame time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that fhall be found written in the book. Dan. xii. 1. Take notice here of the ftrangeness of this time of trouble-it is fuch as never was fince there hath been a nation upon the earth: nor will all the annals of time furnish us with an account of fuch a time as the present time. But in this time of trouble— the Prince of Peace fhall ftand up--and fhall appear in the behalf of his people, who is their mediator and deliverer, and he will difplay his power in behalf of his own elect. Thy people fhall be delivered-Daniel's people are the people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, as it follows, they fhall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book; that is, every one whofe name is found written in the book of life.

Again. This time of trouble is alluded to in the Revelation by John; Becaufe thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which fhall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Rev, iii. 10.-Daniel's time of trouble is here called an hour of temptaand as the elect are to be delivered by Michael,

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chael, here Chrift fays, I will keep them (from being taken and destroyed) in this hour of temptation; even those that keep the word of my patience. Once more. Be watchful, and ftrengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou haft received and heard, and hold faft and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what bour I will come upon thee. Rev. iii. 2, 3. Both thefe paffages of fcripture mean one and the fame time of trouble, called an hour: thofe that keep the word of his patience, he will keep from this hour of temptation; but thofe that do not repent, and remember how they have received and heard, those that do not hold fast, nor watch, he will come on them as a thief, and they fhall be fo much taken up with other things, that they fhall not know what hour he will come upon them: and this is exactly the cafe with thousands in our day. But it may be objected, the church that is exhorted to watchfulness is the church of Sardis, but that which is to be kept from the hour of temptation is the church of Philadelphia. To which I anfwer, the interval is not long between the setting and rifing of the fun. The fhadows of the evening have been long stretched out over us, and we are got far into night and into darkness; but there is a glorious day before us, and what is faid to us in the night, vibrates in their ears who are to rife in the dawn of