did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon our city i Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath f."
Surely then, if such was the issue to the individual that led the way, and such the consequence to the whole nation, when it had followed the example, it will be madness in us to make light of this offence. We may, it is true, escape the judgments of God in this world ; (though it is surprising how often they overtake the profaners of the Sabbath;) but we shall certainly not escape them in the world to come.] Let me then propose this subject to you as an occasion,
1. For deep humiliation — [We are apt to think highly of our nation in comparison of the Jewish people : but, if we compare ourselves with them at the period when the events mentioned in our text occurred, we shall see no great reason to boast. Among the Jews there was found but one person in the whole nation that dared to profane the Sabbath : amongst us there is scarcely one in a hundred that does not profane it. Amongst them it was profaned only by gathering a few sticks : amongst us, in every way that can be conceived: it is a day of business or of pleasure to all ranks and
orders of mens Amongst them, this solitary instance
created universal indignation: the spectators instantly com- municated the matter to the magistrates, and the magistrates instantly set themselves to stop the evil. But amongst us, with the exception of a few who sigh and mourn in secret, scarcely any regard the evil as of any consequence : the very name of an informer is deemed odious, so that no one chooses to incur the obloquy attached to it; and, if any were zealous and cou- rageous enough to inform, there are but few magistrates who would not shrink back from the task of exercising the power with which they are armed. Such is the state of this nation ; such the state of almost every town and village in it. Who then can wonder that we are visited with the divine judgments? Who does not see that this national evil calls for national humiliation?
But let us bring home the matter personally to ourselves. How many Sabbaths have we enjoyed, and yet how few have we kept in the way that God has required! A person that has attained to seventy years of age, has had no less than ten years of Sabbaths. What a time is this for securing the interests of the soul ! And what a load of guilt has been contracted in all that time, merely from the one single offence of profaning the Sabbath-day ! Brethren, we need indeed tx lie low before God in dust and ashes. We have need to be thankful too that
f Neh. xiii. 17, 18. s Shops open, &c. &c.