they shall fall when none pursueth. But, if they fhal confefs their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trefpafs which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also bave walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcifed hearts be bumbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and alfo my covenant with Ifaac, and alfo my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. Lev. xxvi.

Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the temple and the promise of God in answer thereto, is full to the fame purpose. If thy people fin against thee (for there is no man that finneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, fo that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; yet if they fhall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captive, and repent, and make fupplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, faying, We have finned and have done perverfely, we have committed wickedness: and fo return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their foul, in the land of their enemies which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou bast chofen, and the boufe which I have built, for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their fupplication in heaven thy

dwelling

dwelling place, and maintain their caufe, and forgive thy people that have finned against thee, and all their tranfgreffions wherein they have tranfgreffed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compaffion on them. 1 Kings viii. And the answer is, That the Lord appeared to Solomon the Second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the Lord faid unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy fupplication, that thou haft made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou haft built to put my name there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 1 Kings ix. 1-3. These were the prophecies that went before, which were full of counsel and inftruction to those who were ordered to go away, and to remember the Lord afar off.

This kind caution was to guard them against the fubtilty and thievery of the devil, who watches and lies in wait to fteal the word of God out of the heart which is fown in it, that we may become unfruitful. Hence the apostle's exhortation, We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, left at any time we should let them flip. If ever we let them flip, it is by the cunning of the devil, who diverts our minds with fome worldly rattle, while he robs the memory of the word of God fown therein-therefore remember the Lord afar off. Remember the promises that he hath made to you, of being with you, and a little fanctuary to you; and of his fending you there for

your good, of his fetting his eyes and his heart upon you, of the happy return he has promised you, and the peaceable end he will bring you to: and as God is moft faithful, fo he will without fail make his promife good. Meditate upon these things, ponder them over in your mind. My foul fhall be fatisfied as with marrow and fatnefs; and my mouth fhall praise thee with joyful lips: when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help; therefore in the fhadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Pfalm Ixiii. 5-7. Remember the Lord afar off. Remember to put your truft and confidence in him, to rest and rely upon him, and to expect every needful and promised help from him. Now know I that the Lord faveth his anointed; be will hear him from bis holy heaven with the faving ftrength of his right band. Some truft in chariots, and fome in borses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Pfal. xx. 6, 7. Remember to call conftantly upon his name, and be thankful for his discriminating grace in fparing you from those that have not obeyed the voice of the Lord: for thofe, to a man, fhall fall by famine, by peftilence, and fword; but you are the few bairs that have cleaved to the covenant Head, and are, wrapped up in the fkirt of him that fhall be called The Lord our Righteousness. Ezek. v. 3. It is your

And let Jerufalem come into your mind. birth place, and the place of your

fathers fepul

chres; it hath long been the city of the great King,

the

the holy mountain, and the refidence of the living God, where the Almighty has long put his name. And to this you are encouraged by ancient prophecy. By the rivers of Babylon, there we fat down, &c. How shall we fing the Lord's fong in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerufalem, let my right band forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerufalem above my chief joy. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy fhall be be, that rewardeth thee as thou haft ferved us. Pfalm cxxxvii. 5, 6. 8. 6.8.

It is to Jerufalem, and to the temple there, that Solomon in his prayer directs your eyes to look for help. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy whither foever thou shalt fend them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chofen, and toward the boufe that I have built for thy name: then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their fupplication, and maintain their cause. 1 Kings viii. 44, 45. Therefore let Jerufalem come into your mind.

Jerufalem is to be built again, and the temple alfo; and is to be once more the refidence of the Lord of hofts. Cyrus is to build the city, and to found the temple; and he is to let you go free, not for price nor reward, faith the Lord of hofts by his former prophets.

It is to Jerufalem that the promised Meffiah is to come; into that city he is to ride, having falvation, meek and lowly, riding upon an afs, and B 3

upon a

colt,

colt, the fole of an afs-therefore let Jerufalem come into your mind.

God will choofe Jerufalem again, and take up his abode there, and dwell there, until the desire of all nations fhall come. It is in that city that an end is to be made of fin, and reconciliation for iniquity, everlasting righteoufnefs fhall be brought in, the Most Holy fhall be anointed, and the Mesfiah fhall be cut off, but not for himself-therefore let Jerufalem come into your mind.

But again, it is from Jerufalem that falvation is to go into all lands: the law fhall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerufalem. In Bethlehem our hope is to be born, in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali he is to fhine, to Jerufalem he is to come having falvation, in the second temple he is to appear in perfon," in his days Jerufalem is to dwell in fafety, and Ifrael is to be faved; and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. Therefore let Jerusalem come into your mind.

Remember what hath been done there, what is promised to you at your return thither, and the wonderful works that are yet to be accomplished in that city, and the falvation which is to go from thence, even to the ends of the earth. Therefore I exhort you to let Jerufalem come into your mind.

Having gone briefly through the historical and prophetical part of my text, I fhall now endeavour

to