Bible Commentaries

DISCOURSE: 897

GOD’S CARE FOR HIS CHURCH

Isaiah 27:3. I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

GOD has provided abundant consolation for his Church in seasons of the greatest trial: and he calls upon her to enjoy her privileges and to celebrate them in “a responsive song [Note: Isiah 27:2. should rather have been translated, “Sing ye to the beloved vineyard a responsive song.”],” in firm expectation of safety, amidst the most awful and desolating judgments.

The first part of the song, which is begun by Jehovah himself, leads us to shew,

I. Whence the Church derives her security—

The Church, like a vineyard, is set apart in order to a more careful cultivation—

[This idea is elsewhere more fully opened by the same prophet [Note: Isaiah 5:1-2.]: and it well illustrates the care taken to separate the Church from the world at large, and the exertions made to render her fruitful in the fruits of righteousness.]

At the same time she also resembles a vineyard, in that she is exposed to the assaults of many who would destroy her—

[A vineyard, however carefully fenced in, may have its fences broken down, and its plants destroyed, if it be not watched and guarded [Note: Isaiah 5:5-6. Psalms 5:8-12.]. And the Church is open to the incursion of numerous and potent enemies, who would soon destroy her, if she were not protected from their assaults.]

But she is preserved by an invisible, but almighty Protector—

[Jehovah himself interposes on her behalf. He preserves her, as the bush in the midst of the flames, burning, but not consumed [Note: Exodus 3:2.]. He protects his Church in general, that “the gates of hell may not prevail against her;” and he keeps all her members in particular, that none may be ever plucked out of his hand [Note: Matthew 16:18. John 10:29. Psalms 46:5.].]

Nor shall we tremble for her future welfare, when we consider,

II. What prospect she has of continued preservation—

The same Jehovah who says, “I do keep her,” adds also, “I will.” He promises (still keeping up the metaphor of a vineyard),

1. Culture—

[In a country that had only periodical rains, pools or reservoirs of water were indispensably necessary for the preservation of the vines in a season of drought. The Church too, and all the plants that are in it, need to be watered by God’s word [Note: 1 Corinthians 3:6. Deuteronomy 32:2.], and Spirit [Note: Isaiah 44:3-4.]. Now God promises that he will take this care upon himself, and execute the work, as it were, with his own hands. Yea, inasmuch as we need fresh supplies of grace, not only every day, like a vineyard, but every moment, (as we need the light of the sun,) God suits his promise to our necessities, and tells us he will water us “every moment.”]

2. Protection—

[Our care in cultivating a vineyard would be in vain, unless we also protected it from those who would destroy it. Thus the Church, and every individual believer, would in vain receive the culture, if it did not enjoy also the protection, of heaven. But God promises to afford his people continual, and effectual protection. He will guard them “night and day” (for “he neither slumbers nor sleeps”) and will keep them, not only from destruction, but from any real injury: “No weapon formed against them shall ever prosper [Note: Isaiah 54:17.].”]

We learn from hence,

1. Where to look in the midst of national calamities [Note: This is proper for a time of war: and if it be not used, the latter head may be changed thus—We have here matter, 1. For grateful recollection—that we have been preserved amidst so many enemies: 2. For humble confidence—that, though God may prune us, no trial shall come, but what he judges necessary, 1 Peter 1:6 and shall work for our good, Romans 8:28.]—

[God has, in this laud, a remnant, over whom he watches with the tenderest care, and for whose sake we trust he will spare the whole nation. At all events we may be sure that he will provide a hiding-place for his Church; so that, whatever be the fate of others, it shall not be overwhelmed [Note: Isaiah 26:20-21.]. Let us not then trust in fleets and armies, but in the living God, who is omnipresent to behold, and almighty to defeat, the plots of our enemies: and let our supplications be made with increased frequency and fervour to him, whose past interpositions we have such abundant reason to acknowledge [Note: Psalms 124:1-6.].]

2. Where to look in the midst of personal troubles—

[That which alone we ought to desire, is, that nothing may “hurt” us. As for the pruning, which may render us more fruitful [Note: John 15:2.], it should be received with submission and gratitude. The evils that tend to our destruction, we may deprecate, with an assurance that our prayer shall be heard and answered. We need not fear the drought which occasions God to water us, nor the weapons that call forth his effectual interposition. Only let us render him fruits suited to the culture bestowed upon us; and nothing shall come upon us without necessity [Note: 1 Peter 1:6.]; nothing which shall not eventually work for our good [Note: Romans 8:28.].]

DISCOURSE: 898

THE FUTURE PROSPERITY OF ISRAEL

Isaiah 27:6. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

OF all the people upon the earth, the Jews have been, beyond comparison, the most highly honoured of their God. To no other nation did Jehovah ever manifest himself by such miraculous interpositions; nor was any other ever blessed with such rich and glorious communications. Even their present state, degraded as it is, evinces the peculiar interest which Jehovah takes in them: for, though scattered over the face of the whole earth, they still remain a separate people; and are reserved for higher honours, and more signal blessings, than their most favoured ancestors ever enjoyed. The various nations that, in successive ages, have oppressed them, the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Grecian, Roman, have all sunk beneath the yoke which their respective conquerors have laid upon them, and have been mingled with their invaders in one common mass. Not so the Jews: they, though more cruelly oppressed than any, have still been kept distinct from the people amongst whom they have dwelt: and to this remarkable event the prophet refers, in the words following my text: “Hath God smitten him, as he smote those who smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?” No: “though God has made a full end of all other nations, he has not made a full end of them:” but he still has his eye upon them for good; and will, in due season, fulfil to them all his purposes of love and mercy: “He will yet cause them to take root, and blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.”

In these words we may see,

I. What the Jews are destined to become—

Their state, both political and moral, is at present as low as can well be conceived. Scattered as they are amongst all nations, they have never yet been affiliated with any, so as to be regarded on a par with other citizens, or to enjoy the rights belonging to all the other classes of the community. The possession of landed property has been, till of late, universally denied them; so that they could never “take root” in any place, or be established in any country under heaven.

Nor have they been less degraded in their moral and religious character. Being despised of all, they have not been accustomed to respect themselves, or to affect that high sense of honour which elevates the characters of other people. In their religious assemblies they have not even the semblance of piety; so carnal are they in their spirit, and so irreverent in their whole conduct. Not “a blossom or a bud” of true godliness is to be seen among them: and so far are they from “filling the world with fruit,” that they are altogether immersed in selfishness, and lost to every thing but worldly gain.

But far other things are reserved for them. The time is coming when they shall be established in knowledge, fertile in piety, and abundant in usefulness throughout the world—

1. They shall be established in the knowledge of the true Messiah—

[They shall yet, I doubt not, take root” in their own land. So plainly is their future restoration foretold, that, if I did not know that some pious persons entertain doubts respecting it, I should be ready to say, it is impossible for any one who believes the Scriptures to question it. But with this, the Society which advocates their cause has nothing to do. It is with their spiritual concerns alone that we are called to interest ourselves: and we are fully assured, that our labour, in this respect, shall not be in vain. They have hitherto been ever ready to run after false Messiahs. Indeed, they have never conceived aright respecting the character of the Messiah whom God has promised to them, nor of the nature of that kingdom which he will establish in the earth. But the time is coming, when the veil shall be taken from their hearts; and when they shall see, beyond a possibility of doubt, that Jesus is the Christ. They have in their own Scriptures that which will tend to their establishment far beyond any other people on earth: and we may well expect, that, when they shall be brought to the knowledge of Christ, they will “take root” in him with a firmness that shall never be shaken. They will see how the whole of their ceremonial law shadows him forth; and how the moral law also directs them to him. They will see that all the prophets, with one voice, point to him as the promised Messiah: and, from this weight of evidence, they will feel a conviction, which heathens can scarcely ever attain. Exceeding deep will be their insight into the truths of the Gospel, when God shall “reveal to them,” as he has promised, “the abundance of peace and truth [Note: Jeremiah 33:6.]:” “The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord shall bind up the breach of his people, and heal the stroke of their wound [Note: Isaiah 30:26.].” When once “they shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn,” so clear will be their views, and so deep their convictions, that it will be as if they saw him face to face: as it is said, “They shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion [Note: Isaiah 52:8.].”]

2. They shall be fertile in the fruits of piety—

[As they are destined to “take root downward, so are they ordained also to bear fruit upward [Note: Isaiah 37:31.].” In that day shall be fulfilled that gracious declaration of Jehovah, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon: his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell us Lebanon [Note: Hosea 14:4-6.].” Much, very much, is spoken in the Scriptures respecting the spiritual change that shall then be wrought in them: “God will give them a new heart, and a new spirit will he put within them; and he will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flush; and will cause them to walk in his statutes, and to keep his judgments and do them [Note: Ezekiel 36:26-27.].” In truth, the whole figurative language of prophecy, though primarily applicable to their temporal prosperity, has a further and far more important reference to their spiritual state: “Instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off [Note: Isaiah 55:13.].]

3. They shall be abundant in usefulness throughout the world—

[“They shall fill the face of the world with fruit.” Yes, verily, they are God’s appointed instruments for the conversion of the whole world. This is one end for which God, in his providence, has scattered them over the whole earth. He has sent them, unconscious and uncalled-for, even as the clouds of heaven, to pour out the blessings with which they are fraught, and to fertilize the desert places of the earth. The Prophet Micah speaks of them in these remarkable terms: “The remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men [Note: Micah 5:7.].” It is thus that God has prepared the way for the conversion of the whole Gentile world. The Jews, in all the different countries of the earth, possess their own Scriptures, whereon Christianity is founded; and, being conversant with the languages of the people amongst whom they sojourn, they will be ready to proclaim the truth the very instant that the veil is removed from their own hearts. And that this is their destined office, we are sure; for God himself says respecting them, “They shall declare my glory among the Gentiles; and they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord [Note: Isaiah 66:19-20.].” They are the appointed reapers of the whole world. Precisely as, by the Jews, God, in the apostolic age, reaped the first-fruits of the Gentiles, so will he, in due season, gather in by them the whole harvest.]

Here then we may also see,

II. What we ought now to be—

We are God’s Israel, as much as ever they were; and heirs of all these blessings no less than they: for, “if we be Christ’s, then are we Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise [Note: Galatians 3:29.].” Standing, then, in this relation to the Deity, can we doubt our obligation to serve and honour him? Surely it becomes all who “name the name of Christ,”

1. To take root in him—

[This is expressly told us by the Apostle Paul: “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving [Note: Colossians 2:6-7.].” We are, by our very profession, “plants of righteousness, of the Lord’s planting;” and it is on Christ Jesus that we stand. Into him we must shoot forth our roots: and from him must we derive all the sap and nourishment, whereby we are to live, and to bring forth fruit to his glory. Nothing is to move us from him, even for a moment: nor must we entertain a thought of finding support from any other than him. It is “in him that all fulness dwells;” and “out of his fulness must we receive” all our supplies of grace and strength. Our whole life must be one continued exercise of faith in him; and we must “cleave unto him with full purpose of heart.”]

2. To bring forth fruit to his glory—

[Christians must not be like the world around them, “barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord;” but abounding in the fruits of righteousness, which are, by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Would you form a perfect idea of this distinction, go and behold two trees, one laden with leaves only, the other covered with blossoms and buds which promise an abundant supply of fruit. No person, with these objects before him, doubts of their comparative value: no one doubts which of the two better answers the end of all the cultivation bestowed upon it, or which is the more acceptable to him on whose ground they stand. Know ye then, my Brethren, that this is the evidence which ye must give of a work of grace within you. You must, as David speaks, “be beautified with salvation:” the power of divine grace must display itself within you, by all those holy dispositions which were in Christ himself. Behold the Saviour in his whole deportment towards God and man; how meek and lowly; how patient and forbearing; how superior to earthly things, and intent on the work assigned him! “His path was like the sun” in its course: and “such should yours be, shining brighter and brighter unto the perfect day:” yea, so clearly and constantly should it shine, that all who behold you should confess that God is with you, and should glorify him for the grace conferred upon you. It is in this way that we are to approve ourselves trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, “in whom he shall be glorified.”]

3. To extend the knowledge of him throughout the world—

[“No one of us should live unto himself.” From the moment that we are engrafted into Christ, we should begin to bring forth fruit to his glory, and should labour to diffuse to the utmost possible extent the benefits we have received. Our domestic circle should occupy our first attention; and then the neighbourhood in which we live: and then we should go on further, to extend our efforts, till we have “filled the face of the whole world with fruit.” This should be the ambition of every child of God: and, if facilities are afforded us for combined exertion, we should gladly avail ourselves of them, in order that our labours may be more useful, and that we may effect by union what cannot be wrought by individual exertion. In particular, we should look upon the state of the Jewish and Heathen world. We should lament to see in what darkness both the one and the other are lying: and, like the holy apostles, we should endeavour to advance the Redeemer’s kingdom throughout the world. Like St. Paul, we should have great heaviness and continual sorrow in our hearts for those who are “perishing for lack of knowledge;” and, by all the means within our reach, we should labour, that “all the kingdoms of the world may become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ.”]

And now, let me further improve this subject,

1. In a way of reproof to ourselves—

[How little of this piety is to be seen amongst us! Men are “rooted” indeed; but it is in the world, and not in Christ. And there is, to a certain degree, a form of godliness amongst us; but its power is sadly wanting. Nor is there altogether a want of benevolence; but it is displayed rather to the bodies than the souls of men; or, at all events, is exercised only towards those around us, instead of being extended to the whole world. Perhaps we may contribute towards the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, and the sending of Missionaries to the Gentiles, and to the work that is carrying forward amongst the Jews: but, if we examine how far our hearts are interested in these things, we shall have reason to be ashamed before God, and to acknowledge that we are very far from having attained that holy zeal which should animate our souls. We say indeed, as our Lord has taught us, “Thy kingdom come:” but, as for our efforts for the establishment of it, they are as cold and partial as if the matter were of no importance. I pray you, Brethren, to lay this matter to heart. It is not in this way that our God ought to be served, and our Redeemer’s interests promoted. We should be full of zeal in this sacred cause, even of such “a zeal” as has a tendency to “consume us.” Our very life ought not to be dear to us, if that by any means we may advance the welfare of our fellow-creatures, and the glory of our God.]

2. In a way of encouragement, as it respects the Jews—

[We are apt to entertain desponding thoughts, as if it were impossible that the prophecies respecting that people should ever be accomplished. But is their state more desperate than it was in Egypt or in Babylon? Yet were the promised deliverances vouchsafed from thence. On the self-same day that had been foretold four hundred and thirty years before, were they brought out from Egypt; and precisely at the termination of the seventy years from Babylon. What reason, then, is there to doubt of God’s effectual interposition now? Has he forgotten his own word or promise? or, after so many centuries, “is his ear become heavy that he cannot hear, or is his arm shortened that he cannot save?” He has said, “I will cause” this: and be assured, that not all the power of men or devils shall prevent the execution of his purpose: nor shall one jot or tittle of his word ever fail.” “Has he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” In engaging, then, in this cause, you have this consolation; that, though you should not live to see the work accomplished, it shall take place at the appointed time. The dispersed of Judah shall be brought back to God; and that event shall “be as life from the dead, to the whole world.”]

DISCOURSE: 899

CONVERSION OF THE JEWS GRADUAL

Isaiah 27:12-13. It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the Holy Mount at Jerusalem.

THE conversion of the Jews has till of late occupied a very small portion of attention in the Christian world: and even at this moment a sad indifference towards it too generally prevails. Notwithstanding the prophecies relating to it are so clear, the subject is scarcely ever brought before a Christian audience; and notwithstanding it is inseparably connected with the conversion of the Gentile world, it is overlooked for the most part as an event in which we have no interest. Degraded as the Jews are, God still declares, that “they are beloved of him for their fathers’ sakes:” but by us, who are indebted to their fathers for all the light that we enjoy, they are neglected and despised, as though their souls were of no value. This unconcern for their welfare is even justified by us, from a mistaken notion that God will in some miraculous way effect their conversion suddenly, and without the intervention of human means. But, whilst the prophecy before us serves to correct that error, it encourages us to exert ourselves in their behalf, and to expect that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.

In it we see,

I. The mercy reserved for the Jewish people—

That “they shall be gathered” from their dispersion, and “worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem,” is certain: and,

1. It may well be thought that this shall be accomplished literally—

[There are even amongst wise and good men some who doubt whether the Jews shall literally be restored to their own land; and therefore I would spook with diffidence respecting it: but I confess that in my opinion the declarations of God respecting it are so strong and numerous, that I should scarcely know what to believe on the authority of Scripture, if I did not believe that. I will however content myself with mentioning only two passages; which yet, I consider as clearly determining the point. Moses, in one of his last addresses to the Jews, tells them, that if by their iniquities they should provoke God to drive them out of the land of Canaan, and to scatter them among the nations, yet he would, on their repentance, “have compassion on them, and gather them from all the nations whither they were scattered; yea, though they should be driven out unto the uttermost parts of heaven, even from thence would the Lord fetch them, and bring them again into the land which their fathers possessed; and do them good there, and multiply them above their fathers [Note: Deuteronomy 30:1-5.].” This was never verified at their return from Babylon, since they were not brought “from the uttermost parts of heaven,” but almost exclusively from Babylon; nor did they ever afterwards become near so numerous, as they had been under David and Solomon. The other passage to which I will call your attention is taken from the Prophet Zechariah, who wrote after their return from Babylon. Extremely particular is the prophet in stating the populousness and prosperity of the nation at the period of their final return to their own land from their present dispersion: that “old men and old women should dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man walking with his staff in his hand for very age, whilst the streets should be full of boys and girls playing in them [Note: Zechariah 8:3-5.].” If it be inquired what period is there referred to, we are told, that it should be “when ten men out of all languages of the nations should take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you [Note: Zechariah 8:23.].” When, I would ask, was this ever fulfilled? When were the Jews ever so high in favour with all the nations of the earth? At no past period assuredly: but they shall be at a future season, even at that season when God shall interpose to reestablish them in the land from whence they have been driven out. But, however this may be,]

2. It is confessed by all, that it shall be spiritually fulfilled—

[The Christian Church is called “Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” to which all true believers are come [Note: Hebrews 12:22.]. And to it shall the Jewish people also come in due season. Scattered as they now are, and at the utmost possible distance from Christianity, the time is coming, when “the good Shepherd will seek and search them out, and bring them into his fold, and cause them to feed upon the mountains of Israel [Note: Ezekiel 34:11-14.].” Then, says God, “I will set up one Shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; and he shall feed them, and be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them: I the Lord have spoken it [Note: Ezekiel 34:23-24.].” Let this be compared with what the Prophet Hosea says to the same effect; and no doubt can remain, either respecting whom it is spoken, or at what period it is to be accomplished [Note: Hosea 3:5.]. Were we to take from the Old Testament all the passages which speak to the same purpose, we should transcribe no inconsiderable portion of the prophetic writings. But this is unnecessary, since there is not any one who believes the Scriptures, who does not believe that the Jews shall at a future period be converted to the faith of Christ, and acknowledge him as their Messiah. Yet we must on no account pass over the testimony of St. Paul, who occupies one entire chapter with this subject; assuring us, that there is yet among the Jews “a remnant according to the election of grace [Note: Romans 11:6.];” that “they shall again be graffed on their own olive-tree, from which for our sakes (though for their own transgressions) they have been broken off:” and that as their temporary rejection from the Church of God has been the means of introducing the Gentiles into it, so shall their restoration to it be an infinitely richer blessing to the Gentiles than ever their rejection was, being to the whole Gentile world “as life from the dead [Note: Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15; Romans 11:19-20; Romans 11:24.].”]

Regarding then the bestowment of this mercy to the Jews as certain, we proceed to state,

II. The way in which it shall be vouchsafed to them—

This we will trace,

1. In its commencement—

[The extent of territory originally assigned to them in God’s covenant with Abraham, was that which is here specified in our text; it was from the river Euphrates to the Nile [Note: Genesis 15:18]. But, having been driven from thence, they are compared to an olive-tree which has been stripped of all its fruit, except a few that were either hidden from the owner, or inaccessible to him, on the topmost boughs [Note: Isaiah 17:4-6.]. God, however, will send his servants to seek out this scattered fruit, and to “beat it off,” or shake it off, from the tree, in order to gather it for him. The success that will attend their labours will not be great: the Jews will be gathered only, as if it were, “one by one.” But to them it will be a joyful event, that they have not been left to be devoured by the birds, but have been collected for the Master’s use. This is elsewhere described by the same prophet: “When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done: they shall lift up their voice; they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord; they shall cry aloud from the sea [Note: Isaiah 24:13-14.].” To the same effect, God speaks also by the Prophet Jeremiah: “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family (or tribe), and I will bring you to Zion [Note: Jeremiah 3:14.].”

Such will be the effects produced upon the Jews at the commencement of the efforts that shall be made for their restoration to God. As it respects the mass of the dispersed, the first converts will be only a small remnant, a gleaning after the gathering has been made; as the prophet has informed us: “Though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant only shall return [Note: Isaiah 10:22.]:” but as it respects the complete in-gathering which shall ultimately follow, they will be as the first-fruits before the harvest, and the drop before the shower.]

2. In its progress—

[In due time “the great trumpet will be blown,” and the Jews that are scattered to the utmost ends of the earth shall hear it. The trumpets were, by God’s command, to be blown on different occasions; and especially, for the convoking of the people to the tabernacle in the wilderness; for the regulating of their journeys towards the Promised Land [Note: Numbers 10:2.]; and for the proclaiming every fiftieth year the year of Jubilee [Note: Leviticus 25:9.]. The Gospel is this trumpet, which will be “sounded out” through the whole world; and it will “come with power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance [Note: 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 2:13.],” to “the outcast Israelites in the land of Egypt, and to those who are ready to perish in the land of Assyria.” Then will that be fulfilled which is spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, “The watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord: Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child, together; a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born [Note: Jeremiah 31:6-14. Quote the whole of this.].” &c. &c. — — — “Then shall the Lord set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, and from Egypt,” &c.; “and shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” “And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, &c.: and there shall be an high-way for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt [Note: Isaiah 11:11-12; Isaiah 11:15-16.].” Nor shall they come alone from the places of their dispersion; for vast multitudes will accompany them, insomuch, that “Israel shall be only as a third of the whole number, whom the Lord of Hosts will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance [Note: Isaiah 19:23-25.].” Thus eventually “shall all Israel be saved: for this is God’s covenant with them, when he shall take away their sins [Note: Romans 11:26-27.].”]

3. In its consummation—

[“They shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem:” and O what worship will then be offered in every place! the worshippers all so enlightened! (for “the light of the moon will then be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days [Note: Isaiah 30:26.]:”) and their experience of heavenly things so deep! for “the knowledge of the Lord will then cover the earth, not in extent only, but in depth also, as the waters cover the sea [Note: Habakkuk 2:14.]:” and God revealing himself so gloriously in the midst of them! (for then “the sun will be no more their light by day, neither for brightness will the moon give light unto them; but the Lord will be an everlasting light unto them, and their God their glory [Note: Isaiah 60:19-21. Cite the whole, with suitable remarks.].”) Then will be realized (at least in its incipient state), that vision of the beloved disciple, who says, “I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God [Note: Revelation 21:2-3.].”]

see then from hence,

1. How groundless is the objection which so many raise against the efforts that are making for the conversion of the Jews, that they are useless—

[Many ask, not with grief and sorrow, but with a kind of malignant triumph, What good have you done? Your society has now been instituted several years, and what has been their success? I answer, that no person can reasonably expect to sow and reap on the same day. No other society has prospered at the first moment of its institution. Inquire of missions to the heathen; Have they prospered all at once? How much less then can it be expected, that the Jews, with all their deep-rooted prejudices, should in a moment lay them all aside, and, overcoming obstacles greater than can be conceived, become at once the disciples of the despised Nazarene? But the Christian world have conceived a notion, that the Jews are to be converted all in a day. This however is a mistake. What God may do at a future period I presume not to say. I do myself conceive, that in God’s appointed time, when God’s servants shall “prophesy unto them,” and “the great trumpet be blown” throughout the earth, there will be a resurrection of the dry bones; and they will rise “a great army [Note: Ezekiel 37:9-10.].” But this is not to be expected at the first commencement of our endeavours, as you have already heard. We are not taught to expect, in the first instance, more than the gleanings of an olive-tree: and, if we get “one of a city, and two of a tribe,” and gather them from different places, “one by one,” we are to account ourselves richly recompensed fur our labours. How many, I would ask, did our Lord Jesus Christ, and his twelve apostles, aided by seventy other disciples, convert in the four years previous to the day of Pentecost? Yet they wrought miracles in confirmation of their word. Was the smallness of their success during that period any ground for saying, that they had lost their labour, and that it would be useless to prosecute their object any further, especially since they must do it at so great a risk to themselves, and to all who should embrace their religion? Thus then I say, that as many have been gathered as, considering the contracted scale on which the efforts have been used, and the total want of a proper medium of access to them which till lately we have experienced, could in reason be expected. We grant that the converts have hitherto been few, and that yet for a season they may continue to be only us slender gleanings; but is this a reason why we should not search them out, and endeavour with care and labour to beat the tree? If a house with only half-a-dozen persons in it should be on fire, and some were exerting themselves for their preservation, what would you think of the humanity of the person who should deride and damp their efforts, from the consideration that they could only hope to benefit a few? Look at the text, and see the description given of the Jews: are they not “outcasts,” and “ready to perish?” And is not this a sufficient reason to seek their salvation, though we should save from destruction only “one or two?” They are called “the lost sheep of the House of Israel:” and has not our Lord taught us, that, if there be only one of a hundred gone astray, we should go after that one and seek to bring it home? Yea, has he not in this very connexion told us, that “it is not the will of your Father that one of his little ones should perish [Note: Matthew 18:12-14.]?” Should not we then be like-minded with God, and determine, that not one shall perish, through any want of effort on our part to save him? Should we not all unite as one man to carry into effect the purposes of God’s love towards them? Is there any hope that the few which invite our labours, shall be gathered in, if there be none to beat or shake the tree? or can there be a general convocation of them to the Lord, if there be none to go forth and sound the trumpet in their ears? Know ye then, that we want instruments, active and zealous instruments, to do the Lord’s work: we need pecuniary aid also, that we may send forth missionaries to the ends of the earth, with the Gospel trumpet in their hands, and the love of God in their hearts, to make known to the Jews their Messiah, and to “bring them home as an offering to the Lord their God [Note: Isaiah 66:20.].” O that God would stir us all up to seek the welfare of the children of Israel, and make use of us to hasten forward the period of their complete redemption!]

2. What we all need in order to our own salvation—

[Let us not, in our zeal for others, forget ourselves. We are all, with the exception of a small remnant, in as bad a state as the Jews themselves. The only difference between us is, that they are ignorant of Christ, but “we profess to know Christ, yet in works deny him.” As far as respects vital godliness, we are as far from God as they. “All we like sheep have gone astray; and, no less than they, do we need to return to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls [Note: 1 Peter 2:25.].” It is true of us, as well as of them, that the truly pious are but a remnant. “The god of this world” has the harvest; and the God of heaven nothing but “the gleanings.” The Lord’s people are but “a little flock;” and in comparison of the multitudes who go in “the broad road that leadeth to destruction,” they are but “few” who “enter in at the strait gate, and walk in the narrow path.” Forgive me, then, if with holy violence I enveavour to “beat you off” from the tree on which you are yet standing, and to “gather you” for the Lord. Let me sound in your ears the Gospel trumpet, which proclaims “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound:” and let me entreat you to “return (as the remnant will assuredly do) to the living God [Note: Isaiah 10:21.],” “to worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” We must be content, we fear, to “gather you one by one:” for, notwithstanding all the efforts that are made for the restoration of your souls to God, it is a melancholy fact, that we succeed but little better with you in the midst of all your advantages, than we do with the Jews in the midst of all their disadvantages. If we labour ever so much, and can reach only “two or three upon the topmost bough, and four or five upon the outermost bough,” we are forced to be content, yea, and to think ourselves well repaid; so little power has the Gospel in the present day, and so sparingly is the Spirit of God poured out upon us. Know this however for your good. Whatever is necessary for the Jews, is necessary for us also. Must they believe in Christ? so must we. Must they give themselves up to him? so must we. Must they walk in his steps, and be conformed to his image? so must we. And sure I am, that the more we experience these blessings in our own souls, the more shall we labour to communicate them to the whole world, and more especially to those for whose sake God has imparted to us the superior blessings we enjoy [Note: Romans 11:30-31.].]