Deut. 32:31.

Deut. 32:31.

  2.      What direction we should give to the humble inquirer—

[There may be many things brought to your ears which are above your comprehension, and which you may find it difficult to receive. But there is a standard to which every sentiment may be referred, and a touchstone by which every doctrine may be tried. Our blessed Lord said to those who doubted the propriety of his instructions, “Search the Scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” And the Prophet Isaiah told his hearers to bring every thing to this test: “To the Law, and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no truth in them.” All that is needful for you to know, is contained in God’s word. Whatever agrees with that, is true: whatever is contrary to it, is false: and whatever cannot be determined by it, may well be left among those “secret things which belong to God alone.”]

  3.      What encouragement we are to afford to the true believer—

[“The secret of the Lord,” we are told, “is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” Yes, this is indeed a most encouraging truth. Not that we are to suppose that God will give any new revelation to his people: we have no reason whatever to expect that: but he will shine upon his revealed truth, so that they shall have a perception of it which others have not. I need not tell you how much clearer any thing is discerned when the sun shines upon it: or how much more accurately it is seen when the eye is fixed more intently on it: or how things most minute or distant are rendered distinctly visible by glasses suited to our organs of sight. Now, in all these ways will God discover his secrets to the believing soul. He will, by his Spirit, cast a flood of light upon the word; and make the soul most eager to apprehend his truth; and by the medium of faith bring that truth directly upon the tablet of the mind; and thus fulfil that promise, “All thy people shall be taught of God.” Yes, “the meek he will guide in judgment; the meek he will teach his waym.”]

CCXXIV

THE RESTORATION AND CONVERSION OF THE JEWS

  Deut. 30:4–6.

If any of thine be driven out unto the out-most parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

IN interpreting the Holy Scriptures, it is common with many to dwell almost exclusively upon the literal or historical sense of them, and to confine their meaning to the persons to whom the different parts were immediately addressed, or of whom they spake. But this limits the use of the sacred volume in such a manner, as to render it of little service to us. By supposing that it related only to other persons and other times, we get rid of its authority, destroy its power over our conscience, and learn to set aside every doctrine which we are not willing to receive, and every precept which we do not choose to practise. But there is an opposite error, against which also we ought to be on our guard. Some are so intent on the spiritual sense of Scripture, as almost entirely to overlook the literal. But the primary meaning is often as replete with instruction as any that can be affixed to the words, and incomparably more satisfactory to a well-informed mind. For instance, if we should take occasion from our text to speak of the nature and effects of true conversion, in bringing us to God and renovating our souls, we might speak what was good and useful; but the primary sense of the passage leads us to another subject, which ought to be of equal importance in our eyes, namely, The Restoration and Conversion of the Jews.

In discoursing then on the words before us, we shall notice,

  I.      The events to which they relate:—

That which first demands our attention, is, The restoration of the Jews—

[Very much is spoken, in the prophets on. this subject: and though a great part of their declarations respecting it may be considered as having received their accomplishment in the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, there are some which evidently refer to a period yet future. The Prophet Ezekiel associates it with their acknowledgment of one Prince, whom he calls David. But there was not any prince after the captivity to whom that name can with any propriety be applied in such a view; whereas the Lord Jesus Christ is often spoken of under that name: and therefore it is reasonable to conclude, that the restoration spoken of must take place after the establishment of Christianity in the world. Indeed so strong are the declarations of Scripture upon this subject, that an expectation of the event universally obtains throughout the Christian world. What the precise time will be, we cannot absolutely fix: but we believe that they will be gathered from all quarters of the earth, and possess again their own land, agreeably to the literal expressions of our text: and it is highly probable, that the time is not far distant. As for the objections arising from the difficulty of carrying such a measure into execution, or from the barrenness of the land of Canaan, they vanish the very moment we open the Scriptures, and see what God did for them in former times. If God has ordained it, every mountain will become a plain.]

Nearly connected with this is their conversion to Christianity—

[If we suppose a doubt to arise respecting the former, there exists not even a shadow of a doubt respecting this. The Apostle Paul represents it as assuredly determined in the divine counsels, and infallibly to be accomplished in due season. The people of God in every age may be regarded as one tree, of which Abraham may be considered as the root. The Jews after a time were broken off, as fruitless branches; and the Gentiles were grafted on their stock: and, when the appointed season shall arrive, God will again engraft the Jews upon their own stock, and make both Jews and Gentiles one tree, that shall fill the whole earth. It is by this latter measure that God’s designs of love and mercy to the Gentiles also shall be perfected: for the conversion of the Jews will awaken the attention of the unconverted Gentiles, and be the means of bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles — — —

The change that will be wrought upon them will not be merely outward, or consisting in speculative opinions; it will reach to their inmost souls; it will produce in them a circumcision of the heart, an utter abhorrence of all sin, and a fervent love to God, as their reconciled God in Christ Jesus: they will “love him,” I say, “with all their heart, and with all their soul.” True indeed it is that they are very far from this state of mind at present: but so were the murderers of the Lord Jesus on the day of Pentecost; and yet in one hour were converted unto God. So shall it be in the day of God’s power; “a nation shall be born in a day;” “a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: the Lord will hasten it in his time.”]

Such being the prophetic import of the words, let us proceed to notice,

  II.      The reflections which they naturally suggest—

The present dispersed state of the Jews from which they are in due time to be recovered, is a most instructive subject. We cannot but see,

  1.      What witnesses they are for God—

[The very person who brought them out of Egypt was inspired to foretell both their present dispersion, and their future restoration. The event has come to pass; and now for nearly eighteen hundred years have this people been scattered over the face of the whole earth, and are preserved a distinct people in every place. The treatment they should meet with was most circumstantially foretold: the hardships they should undergo, the oppression they should endured, the contempt in which they should be held, the conviction which they themselves, in common with all mankind, should feel, that their sufferings were inflicted by God himself on account of their iniquities; all, I say, was foretold; and all is come to pass: and they are living witnesses of the truth of God, and of the divine authority of that book which they profess to have been inspired by him. They may be even said to be witnesses also of the truth of Christianity, which is founded on the Jewish Scriptures, and is altogether the completion of them. What therefore God said to them in the days of old, may with yet augmented force be applied to them at this time, “Ye are my witnesses, that I am God.”]

  2.      What warnings they are to us—

[Who that sees the present state of the Jews, and compares it with the predictions concerning them, must not acknowledge that God abhorreth iniquity, and will surely punish it even in his most highly favoured people? Methinks the sight of a Jew should produce this reflection in every mind. The Jews, because they were descended from the loins of Abraham, and had been distinguished by God above all the nations upon earth, imagined themselves to be safe: but when they had filled up the measure of their iniquities in the murder of their Messiah, the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost. Let not Christians therefore imagine that the name and profession of Christianity will screen them from the wrath of God. The sentence of exclusion from the heavenly Canaan is gone forth against all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ: and it will assuredly be executed upon them in due time: for “how shall they escape, if they neglect so great salvation?” Our inquiry must be, not, Am I instructed in some particular tenets, or observant of some particular forms? but, Am I “circumcised in heart, so as to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, and with all my soul?” This is the point to be ascertained; for “if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be anathema maran-atha:” he will be accursed; and God himself will for ever inflict the curse upon him.]

  3.      What encouragement we have to seek their welfare—

[Notwithstanding God has given so many promises respecting them, the Christian world for many hundreds of years have scarcely thought them worthy of the smallest attention. Christians have been anxious for the welfare of heathens, and have sent missionaries into every quarter of the world to instruct them: but for the Jews they have felt no interest whatever: they have left them to perish without so much as an attempt for their conversion. But what base ingratitude is this! To whom are we ourselves indebted for all our privileges, but to Jews? Who wrote, and preserved with such wonderful care, the Scriptures of the Old Testament? or who wrote the New Testament, but Jews? Who died to redeem our souls from death and hell? a Jew. Who at this moment makes intercession for us at the right hand of God? a Jew. Who manages every thing in heaven and earth for our good, and is a fountain of all spiritual good to our souls? a Jew. Of whom were the whole primitive Church composed for the first six or seven years? Jews. Who went forth with their lives in their hands, to convert the Gentiles; and to whom are we indebted for all the light that we enjoy? they were Jews. Have we then no debt of gratitude to them? And have we not reason to blush when we reflect on the manner in which we have requited them? Blessed be God! there are at last some stirred up to seek their welfare. Let us unite with heart and hand, to help forward the blessed work. From what we see of their blindness and obduracy, we are apt to despond: but “the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save:” he can as easily engraft them in again upon their own stock, as he could engraft us upon it: and he has therefore engrafted us upon it, that we might exert ourselves in their favour, and be instrumental in restoring them to the blessings they have lost. Let us at least do what we can, and leave the issue of our labours unto God.]

CCXXV

THE WAY OF SALVATION PLAIN AND EASY

  Deut. 30:11–14.

This commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

IT is a very prevalent idea in the world, that all people shall be saved by the law under which they live; so that Jews, Turks, and heathens of every description, have as good a prospect of salvation, as those who enjoy the light of the Gospel. But there has been only one way of salvation from the fall of Adam to the present moment. How far God may be pleased to extend mercy for Christ’s sake to some who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, we cannot presume to say: but to those who have the Scriptures in their hands we are sure that there is no hope of acceptance, but through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the way of salvation revealed to Adam, confirmed to Abraham, and more fully opened in the Mosaic law. It was of this that Moses spake in the words before us: to elucidate which, we shall inquire,

  I.      What is the commandment here spoken of—

What it was may be seen by consulting,

  1.      The testimony of Moses himself—

[It was not the moral law that was given on Mount Sinai, but “the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.” The law given on Mount Sinai, of which Horeb was a part, was strictly a covenant of works: but that which was given in the land of Moab, was a covenant of grace. That on Mount Sinai made no provision for the smallest transgression: it simply said, Do this, and live: but that in the land of Moab was accompanied with the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices both on the altar and on the people; and intimated, that through the blood of the great Sacrifice their iniquities, if truly repented of, might be forgiven. And this distinction is very carefully noticed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where St. Paul, mentioning some particulars not related by Moses, declares, that, by the covenant thus ratified, remission of sins was provided for, and might be obtained by all who sought it in the appointed way.]

  2.      An inspired exposition of the passage—

[St. Paul is expressly contrasting the nature of the two covenants: the Law, he tells us, required perfect obedience, and said, “He that doeth these things shall live in them.” But the Gospel, that is, “the righteousness which is of faith, speaketh on this wise;” and then he quotes the words before us, and explains them as referring to the Gospel. Some have thought that he quoted these words only in a way of accommodation; but it is plain that he understood them as strictly applicable to his point. Speaking of the righteousness which is of faith, he says, “But what saith IT?” He then, quoting the very words of Moses, answers, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart;” and then he adds, “This is the word of faith which we preach.” If then the Apostle was inspired by the Holy Ghost, the matter is clear; and the Gospel was the commandment of which Moses spake. And it is worthy of observation, that Christ and his Apostles speak of it under very similar terms. Our Lord says, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent:” by which he means, that it is the work which God requires of us. St. Paul calls the Gospel, “the law of faith.” St. John says, “This is his commandment, that ye believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christh.” And “obeying the Gospel” is the common term used for believing in Christ.]

  3.      The particular characters by which it is distinguished—

[Moses speaks of it as plainly revealed, and as easily understood. Now this representation accords with that dispensation of the Gospel which was given to the Jews: they had no necessity for any one to ascend up to heaven, or to go over the sea, to bring them information about the way of life; for God had already revealed it to them from heaven: he had shewn them by the moral law that they were all in a state of guilt and condemnation; and he had shewn them by the ceremonial law that they were to be saved by means of a sacrifice, which should in due time be offered. And though that revelation was comparatively obscure, yet any Jew with pious dispositions might understand it sufficiently to obtain salvation by it.

But these characters in the fullest sense agree with the Gospel as it is made known to us. We are not left to inquire whether there is a Saviour or not? whether Christ has come down from above? or whether he has been raised up again from the dead? We know that he has come into the world; that he has “died for our sins, and has risen again for our justification:” we know that he has done every thing that is necessary for our reconciliation with God, and will do every thing that can be necessary for the carrying on and perfecting the salvation of our souls. There is no uncertainty about any point that is of importance to us to know. Nor indeed is there any difficulty in understanding what he has revealed. All that is required, is, a simple, humble, teachable spirit; and to such an one, however ignorant he be in other respects, every part of the Gospel is dear. The humble Christian “has within himself the witness” of all the fundamental truths of the Gospel. What doubt can he have that he is a guilty and condemned creature; or that he needs an atonement for his sins, and a better righteousness than his own for his justification before God? What doubt can he hare that he needs the influences of the Holy Spirit to renew him after the divine image, and to render him meet for heaven? “If the Gospel be hid from any, it is because the god of this world has blinded their eyes:” it is not the intricacy or obscurity of the Gospel that makes it unintelligible to them, but the simplicity and brightness of it: “they love darkness rather than light;” and complain of the Gospel, when the fault is only in themselves. As revealed to us, the Gospel is not obscure; but, as revealed in us, it is bright as the meridian sun.]

Such then “is the commandment which God commands us this day.” We proceed to consider,

  II.      What is the obedience which it requires—

It demands from us,

  1.      An inward approbation of the heart—

[Without this all the knowledge of men or angels would be of little use. On this our salvation altogether depends. Moses says, “The word is in thy heart;” and St. Paul’s exposition of it is, “If thou shalt believe in thine heart that God bath raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Thus a mere rational assent to divine truth is particularly excluded from the office of saving; and salvation is annexed to that faith only which calls forth all the affections of the soul, “a faith which worketh by love.” As “a commandment,” it is to have all the force of a law within us, “casting down imaginations with every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,” and “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” It is not sufficient that we acknowledge the death and resurrection of Christ as parts of our creed: we must see and feel the necessity of them in order to the deliverance of our souls from death and hell; and we must also glory in them, as the infinitely wise, gracious, and all-sufficient means of our redemption. We must have such a view of these truths, as makes us to “account all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of them.” This was insisted on as necessary to the admission of converts into the Christian Church. And it is the experience of all who truly belong to Christl.]

  2.      An outward confession of them with the mouth—

[It is curious to observe what minute attention the Apostle paid to the words of Moses, and what emphasis he has laid upon them. Moses had transiently observed, “The word is in thy mouth and in thy heart;” but the Apostle amplifies the idea, and shews repeatedly that the confessing of Christ with the mouth is quite as necessary as the believing on him with the heart: by the latter indeed we obtain “righteousness;” but by the former we obtain complete “salvation.” In that age, to confess Christ before men was to subject oneself to persecutions and death in their most cruel forms: but our Lord would not acknowledge any one as his disciple, who should neglect to do it: he warned his disciples that such cowardice would infallibly exclude them from the kingdom of heaven. How necessary then and indispensable must a confession of Christ in this age be, when we have nothing to fear but the loss of some temporal interest, and the being stigmatized with some ignominious name! Truly, if we are ashamed to confess him, we may well be banished from his presence as the weakest and most contemptible of the human race. Let this then be considered by all who would secure the salvation of their souls; they must openly confess their attachment to Christ, and must “follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” A public acknowledging of him indeed will not supersede the necessity of internal piety; nor will the piety of the heart supersede the necessity of honouring Christ by an open profession of our faith: both are necessary in their place; and both must be combined by those who would derive any benefit from either.]

  LEARN then from hence,

  1.      To value aright the privileges you enjoy—

[The Jews were far exalted above the heathen; but we are no less exalted above them: for we have the substance, of which they had only the shadow. But even among Christians also there is a great difference; some having the Gospel more fully and clearly opened to them than others. We pray God that the light which you enjoy may be improved by you; else it will leave you in a more deplorable state than Sodom and Gomorrha.]

  2.      To guard against entertaining discouraging thoughts about the salvation of your souls—

[Moses tells you that you have no occasion for such thoughts; and St. Paul guards you against the admission of them into your minds: “Say not in thine heart,” who shall do such and such things for me? It is very common for persons to think their salvation on one account or other unattainable. But “what could God have done for us that he has not done?” or what provision do we need which he has not laid up in store for us? To say, ‘This salvation is not for me,’ is to contradict the Scriptures, and to “make God a liar.” Repeatedly is it said, that “whosoever believeth in Christ, and whosoever shall call on his name, shall be saved.” It matters not whether he be a Jew or a Gentile, a greater sinner or a less; for “God is rich unto all that call upon him,” whatever guilt they may have contracted, or whatever discouragements they may labour under. Put away then all unbelieving fears, and know, that, as the Gospel is revealed for the benefit of all, so it shall be effectual for all who believe and obey it.]

CCXXVI

THE GOSPEL CLEARLY CONTAINED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

  Deut. 30:11–14.

This commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

THE Old Testament is a rich mine of spiritual knowledge, and reflects as much light upon the New Testament as itself receives from this fuller revelation of God’s will. Each is necessary to the understanding of the other: in that is the model of the edifice, which, under the Christian dispensation, has been erected: and, if it were duly attended to, it would prove sufficient to convince the whole world, that Christianity is Judaism perfected and completed; perfected in all its types, and completed in all its prophecies. To this effect spake Moses in the words before us. “The commandment” which he mentions, is not to be understood, as many Jews imagine, of the law given upon Mount Sinai, but of another covenant which God entered into with his people in the land of Moab; and which was, in fact, the covenant of grace. It is by Moses himself distinguished from the covenant of works: and that distinction is confirmed by the account which he gives of it elsewhere. The law, as published on Horeb or Mount Sinai, made no provision for the pardon of any sin whatever: it simply said, “Do this and thou shalt live:” but the covenant made afterwards in the land of Moab, was ratified with the blood of sacrifices; which blood was sprinkled upon the altar, the book, and all the people; and therefore sprinkled, that they might know how to seek the remission of their sins, as often as occasion for it should arise. In this act the gospel way of salvation was set before them; so that they needed not henceforth to be looking for any one to come down from heaven, like Moses, or from the depths of the sea, like Jonah, to proclaim it, seeing that it was “very nigh unto them” already, even “in their mouth,” which approved of the law, and “in their heart,” which loved it.

The things which the Gospel more particularly inculcates, are, Repentance, Faith, and Obedience; and these are almost as clearly revealed in the Old Testament as in the New.

To shew this to the Jewish people is, I conceive, the very first step towards bringing them to Christianity. The Apostles, when preaching to the Jews, always appealed to the Old Testament in confirmation of all that they delivered: and I also, after their example, will endeavour to shew you, my Jewish Brethren, that your own Scriptures declare in the plainest terms,

  I.      That you are guilty and condemned by the moral law.

The law is a perfect transcript of the mind and will of God; and it requires of every human being an obedience to all its commands. For one single transgression it utterly and eternally condemns us: nay more, it requires every individual to express his assent to this as true, and his approbation of it as right and good: “Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them: and all the people shall say, Amen.” But of the impossibility of coming to God by the law, we have a most striking illustration in the conduct of your forefathers at the very time that the law was given: they were so terrified by all that they saw and heard, that they repeatedly declared, that, if the same scenes should pass again, “they should die:” they entreated that God would no more speak to them himself, but give them a Mediator, through whom they might receive his law in a mitigated form, and divested of those terrors which they were not able to endure. And of this request God expressed the highest approbation, saying, “They have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them!” In this matter, dearly beloved, my heart responds to the wish of your Almighty Lawgiver, ‘O that there were in you such an heart!’ Could we but once see you thoroughly convinced of your guilt and condemnation by the law, we should have no fear of your speedily and thankfully embracing the salvation offered you in the Gospel. The great obstacle to your reception of the Gospel is, that instead of regarding the law as a ministration of death and of condemnation, you are looking for life from obedience to it. True it is that temporal blessings were promised to obedience: and that eternal blessings also were promised to those who should “lay hold on God’s covenant,” and keep his commandments. But the covenant on which they were to lay hold, was that which had been made with their father Abraham; and which never was, nor could be, disannulled by the law. The law, as published on Mount Sinai, was intended to shut them up to this covenant, by making known to them the impossibility of being saved in any other way than by the promised Seed. And, when once you understand and feel this, you will not be far from the kingdom of God.

This conviction would also prepare you for another lesson taught you by Moses; namely,

  II.      That you must be saved altogether by an atoning sacrifice.

This was taught you throughout the whole ceremonial law: the daily and annual sacrifices proclaimed it to your whole nation. Nor was this merely taught in theory; it was required of every offender, whatever his sin might be, to bring his sacrifice, in order that it might be put to death in his stead, and deliver him from the condemnation which his sin had merited. Even for sins of ignorance this was required; and the offender, whether he were a priest, or an elder, or a ruler, or one of the common people, was required to put his hands on the head of his sacrifice, and thus, by the most significant of all actions, to transfer to it his sins. What an instructive ordinance was this! Yet was the ordinance of the scape-goat, if possible, still more instructive. On the great day of annual expiation, the high-priest, after killing the goat on which the Lord’s lot had fallen, was to put his hands on the head of the scape-goat, and to confess over him all the sins of all the children of Israel; and then the goat was led into the wilderness from before them all, never more to be seen; that so the removal of their sins might be made visible, as it were, to their bodily eyes.

Yet, whilst this glorious truth was thus plainly declared, the insufficiency of the legal sacrifices, and the necessity of a better sacrifice, was proclaimed also. For these very sacrifices were to be repeated from year to year; which shewed, that the guilt expiated by them was not fully removed. Hence the very sacrifices were, in fact, no other than an annual remembrance of sins, not finally forgiven. In this light they were viewed by those of your forefathers whom you cannot but venerate, and whom I believe to have been inspired of God, the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The same thing was intimated by the very partial appointment of sacrifices. There were many sins, as adultery and murder, for which no sacrifice was appointed. Indeed, presumptuous sins, of whatever land they were, if remission was to be obtained by sacrifices, could never be forgiven; because no sacrifice was appointed for them. Nor, in truth, was any man made perfect as pertaining to the conscience by any of the sacrifices; because every man had a secret suspicion at least, if not conviction, that the blood of bulls and of goats could never take away sin. Still, however, the great end was answered of directing the eyes of all to the appointed sacrifices, and through them to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice, whose blood alone can cleanse from sin, and who is “a propitiation for the sins of the whole world.”

Dear Brethren, it was to this better sacrifice that David looked, when, after the commission of adultery and murder, he prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Let your eyes be directed to the same sacrifice, even to your Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the Prophet Isaiah says, “He was wounded for our transgressions:” and again, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.” This is He whom your forefathers pierced, and nailed to the cross; and through whom thousands of those who crucified him, found peace with God: and, if you also could now be persuaded to look unto him for salvation, you would immediately experience the effect produced by the brasen serpent in the wilderness, and be healed every one of you. O that you would obey the direction given you in the writings of your own prophets, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” You would no longer continue strangers to peace and joy; (for strangers ye must be to these divine sensations, whilst ye are condemned by the law, and ignorant of the way in which your guilt is to be removed:) on the contrary, your “peace should flow as a river,” and, as “children of Zion, you . should be joyful in your King.”

But further, it is declared in your law,

  III.      That all who are thus saved, must be holy in heart and life.

God, as you know, requires you to be “holy as he is holy;” and to be “a peculiar people unto him above all the people upon earth.” And I the rather bring this to your minds, because you are ready to think that we wish to proselyte you to Christianity, that we may have to glory in such an accession to our cause. But I beg leave to assure you, that I would not move a finger to proselyte your whole nation to our religion, if I did not at the same time raise them to be better men, fitter to serve their God on earth, and fitter to enjoy him for ever in heaven. And this I entreat you to bear in mind. It is to the divine image that we wish to bring you, and to the full possession of that blessing promised to you by Jehovah himself; “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. And I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and to keep my judgments and do them.” This is necessary for you, as it is also for us: nor have we ourselves any other rule of conduct than that which was prescribed to you in the Ten Commandments. The advantage we have in the New Testament is not that new things are revealed to us, but that the things originally revealed to you are made more clear and intelligible. Not that in your Scriptures there is any obscurity in relation to this matter: we may truly say, “It is not far off, nor is it hidden from you; but it is very nigh unto you, even in your hands and in your mouth:” I pray God we may be able to add, as Moses did in my text, that it is “in your heart” also!

  And now permit me to ADDRESS a few words to you, MY JEWISH BRETHREN—

It is to your own Scriptures that I wish in the first instance to direct your attention: for you yourselves know that they testify of your Messiah, and are intended to direct you to him. It is greatly to be lamented, that they are not studied amongst you as they ought to be; and that your Rabbis for the most part pay more deference to the voluminous commentaries with which your Scriptures are obscured, than to the Scriptures themselves. But let it not be so with you. Begin to search the Scriptures for yourselves: search them as for hid treasures; and pray to God to give you his Holy Spirit, to instruct you, and to guide you into all truth. When you take the blessed book of God into your hands, lift up your heart to God, and say with David, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law!” Then compare your Scriptures with ours, the Old Testament with the New; and mark how exactly they correspond with each other, even as the vessel with the mould, or the wax with the seal. Then I fear not but that you will soon acknowledge Him of whom the Law and the Prophets do speak, even Jesus of Nazareth, to be the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Yes; he whom you have hitherto rejected will become precious to your souls: and you will, in a far higher sense than you have ever yet been, become the children of Abraham, and the sons of God.

  To the CHRISTIAN part of this auditory I will also beg leave to ADDRESS a few words—

You have seen that with care and labour I have endeavoured to establish the true import of my text from the writings of Moses himself. But, if I had been speaking to you only, I might have spared that trouble, having the text already explained to my hand by God himself. St. Paul tells us, that the commandment which was nigh to the Jews, was the Gospel itself, even that word of faith which declares, that whosoever with the heart believes in Christ, and with the mouth confesses him, shall assuredly be saved. How thankful should we be for such a light! and having been favoured with it, shall we conceal it from our Jewish brethren, from whom, under God, we have received it? What would you think of a man, who, being stationed in a light-house for the purpose of warning ships in its vicinity to avoid some rocks, and of directing them into a safe harbour, should, when he saw a whole fleet approaching, conceal the lights, and leave the whole fleet to perish on the rocks; and, when called to an account for his conduct, should say, ‘I did not think it right to create any alarm among the crews and their passengers?’ Would you think his excuse valid? Would you approve of his pretended benevolence? Would you not rather be filled with indignation against him, and say, that the blood of all who perished should be required at his hands? Do not ye then act in a way, which, under other circumstances, you would so severely condemn: but, as God has given you a light, improve it carefully for your Jewish brethren. This is what their fathers did for you, when you were bowing down to stocks and stones. Do ye it then for them, if peradventure you may be the means of enlightening some amongst them, and of saving their souls alive.

At the same time remember, that St. Paul applies the passage unto you; and tells you from it, that you must believe in Christ with your hearts, and confess him openly with your mouths. The word is, in the strictest sense, “very nigh unto you:” read it then, and ponder it in your hearts, and treasure it up in your minds, and live upon it, and glory in it: so shall it be a light to your paths, and make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

CCXXVII

A FAITHFUL MINISTER’S APPEAL

  Deut. 30:19.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I hare set before you life and death, blessing and cursing! therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may lire.

HOWEVER long a minister may continue with his people, he must part from them at last, and be summoned to give up his account of all his ministrations to them. Moses had now presided over Israel for the space of forty years: and the time was come that he must die. But, before his death, he warned them with all fidelity, setting life and death before them: and, in the words which I have just read, he appealed to them, that he had discharged his duty towards them fully in these respects; and urged them to improve the privileges which they had so long enjoyed.

Let me call your attention to,

  I.      His appeal—

It is justly said of him, both in the Old Testament and in the New, that “he was faithful in all his house.” And, indeed, not even Paul himself laboured under greater disadvantages, or persevered with more unwearied diligence than he. The whole of God’s laws, moral, ceremonial, judicial, did he make known to the people, enforcing the strict observance of them all (whether “commandments, statutes, or judgments”) on the penalty of death. The violating of any one of them wilfully and presumptuously, was declared to be such an act of rebellion against God, that nothing less than utter excision was the punishment annexed to it. On the other hand, he promised to them, that, if they were observant of God’s blessed will, they should live, and long enjoy their promised inheritanced. And so uniformly had he devoted all his time and strength to their service, that he could call both heaven and earth to testify of his fidelity in executing the office that had been assigned him.

Let it not be thought that we would presume to institute a comparison between that holy man and ourselves. We well know how infinitely short of him we have come, in the whole of our personal and official character. Yet we do hope that we can so far adopt his words, as to appeal both to God and man, that, during the years that we have ministered amongst you, we have faithfully, according to our ability, “set life and death before you.”

  1.      We have ministered the same truths unto you—

[In the preceding verses, Moses speaks particularly respecting the Gospel, which he had made known unto the people. “This commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee; in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day, life and good, and death and evil.” The exposition of these words is given us by St. Paul, who tells us, that in them Moses spake, not of the righteousness of the Law, but of the righteousness which is of faith, even of that very faith which Paul himself preached.”

And what has been the subject of our ministrations? You yourselves will bear me witness, that, from the very first hour that I came amongst you, “I determined to know nothing amongst you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” What Moses preached in types and shadows, I have declared in the plainest terms; shewing, at all times, that “the moral law was a schoolmaster to bring you to Christi;” and that the ceremonial law, in all its ordinances, held forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the great sacrifice, that taketh away the sins of the world. Never, at any period, have we attempted to lay any other foundation than thisl: nor have we ever hesitated to affirm the sufficiency of this to bear the weight of the whole world”.]

  2.      We have too, according to our ability, ministered with the same fidelity—

[We hope we may, without presumption, appeal to you, as the Apostle Paul did to the elders of Ephesus, not only that “we have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,” but that “we have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God; and are therefore, as far as relates to that, pure, not from your blood only, but from the blood of all men.” You yourselves will bear me witness, that, notwithstanding “the offence of the cross, which neither is ceased, nor can ceaseo,” I have at all times gloried in it, and exalted it as the only means of our reconciliation with God. Nor have I ever amused you with speculative theories: no: I have preached the Gospel practically; and not in a cold and formal manner, but as a matter of life and death. I have never ceased to exhibit it with all its awful sanctions; assuring you of life, if you would believe in Christ; and denouncing the wrath of God against all who would not obey the Gospel; executing in this respect the commission given me, to preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, “He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned.” Never, at any time, have I dissembled these truths; “never daubed the wall of God’s sanctuary with untempered mortar,” nor “sewed pillows to the armholes of my people,” to let them find ease in sin: never have I “spoken peace to you, when there was no peace,” or “promised life” in any other way than a total surrender of yourselves to God. And here I will mention one point, which, from the beginning, I have kept in mind without turning to the right hand or to the left—I have never perverted one passage of Scripture to make it speak the language of human systems. I have been anxious to set before you the “unadulterated word” of God; and to let it speak for itself, without ever concerning myself what HUMAN system it either countenanced or opposed: having been “allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, we have spoken, not as pleasing men, but God, who truth our hearts;” and with the “utmost plainness” toou, “not with enticing words of man’s wisdom,” “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

Whilst, however, “we call heaven and earth to record this day” respecting these things, let it not be supposed that we are not conscious of innumerable short-comings and defects in our ministrations: for we are filled with, nothing but shame and confusion of face in the review of them, God knoweth: but as far as respects the fidelity of them, we can, and do, appeal both to God and man, that, like Moses, we have faithfully and invariably “set before you life and death, blessing and cursing,” according as they are revealed in the Gospel, and as they shall be awarded to those who receive or reject the Gospel.]

And now let me call your attention to,

  II.      The advice he founds upon it—

“Choose life;”

A free choice is given to every one amongst you—

[The Gospel is freely preached to you all: and you are all at liberty to embrace or to reject it. Almighty God is sincere when he says, that “he would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Never did he reprobate any man, till that man had brought that sentence upon himself by his own wilful obduracy. The whole Scripture bears testimony to this truth. If this be not true, how can we ever explain that solemn oath of Jehovah; “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” There is not a human being that is excepted from the invitations of the Gospel, or from its blessings, if he accept them. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth! for I am God: and there is none elsea.” And “him that cometh unto me, (whoever he be, or whatever he may have done,) I will in no wise cast out.” Moreover, the fault of rejecting these overtures is always imputed to the sinner himself: “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have lifec.” If any could have been supposed to have been reprobated from all eternity, it was the persons who were given up to reject their Messiah, and to crucify the Lord of glory: yet over them did our blessed Lord mourn, saying, “How often would I have gathered you, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not.” That we have a bias towards corruption, is certain: but there is no compulsion. That Satan also is permitted to tempt us, is certain: but he cannot compel any man. We are perfectly free agents in all that we do, whether it be good or evil. If it be said, that God “draws men,” it is true: but he “draws them with the cords of a man, and with the bands of love.” And, if he prevail over the reluctance of their hearts, it is not by the exercise of an overpowering force, but by “making them wining in the day of his power.” If he “work in them to do,” it is by “working in them to will.” And I will appeal to every living man, whether he ever did good or evil by compulsion against his will? That he has acted against his judgment and his conscience, is true enough, and that in ten thousand instances: but against his will he never did. God sets good before us; and Satan evil: and, whichever we prefer, that we choose, and that we do.]

Exercise, then, your choice with true wisdom—

[The generality, in spite of all that we can say, will choose evil. It is in vain that we endeavour to allure them by the offer of “life,” or to alarm them with the threatening of “death:” they prefer evil with all its consequences: and therefore they do it: as God has said; “He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” But do not ye act thus. “Choose good:” “choose life; that both ye and your seed may live.” Of the beneficial consequences to yourselves you cannot doubt: for, who ever sought the Lord, and was rejected? “Who ever truly believed in Christ, and was confounded?” Who ever “chose the good part, and had it violently taken away from himk?” Choose God for your Father; and he will acknowledge you as his children. Choose Christ as your Saviour; and “he will present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” Choose the Holy Spirit as your Sanctifier: and “he will perfect that which concerneth you,” and “complete in you the work he has begun.” Choose heaven for your inheritance: and sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than you be permitted to come short of it. The very choice you make will evince, that you yourselves have been chosen of your God: and “his gifts and calling are without repentancem.”

And shall not this tend to the benefit of “your seed” also? Is it not a part of God’s covenant, that “he will put his fear in our hearts, for the good of us, and of our children after us?” What is there so likely to benefit the rising generation as the piety of their parents? The force of good instruction is great: but when enforced by good example, it is almost irresistible. Children of pious parents, who have diligently instructed them, and “laboured earnestly and constantly in prayer to God for them,” cannot sin so easily as others: or if, through the power of temptation, they be drawn aside after wickedness, they will, it is hoped, feel the remonstrances of conscience in seasons of sickness and reflection, and be brought home at last with penitential sorrow to their God. At all events, we have encouragement to hope, that “our labour for them shall not be in vain in the Lord;” and that, though in some instances we should fail, it shall be found generally true, that, if we “bring up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it.”]

  That I may ENFORCE the counsel in my text, I would beg you to consider,

  1.      The alternative that is here offered you—

[It is not “life” or annihilation, but “life or death;” not “a blessing, or a mere privation of good,” but, “a blessing, or a curse.” And have you ever thought what that “death” is, and what that “curse?” Uh! who shall declare what that “second death” is, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; or what that “curse,” which shall be there endured? Were annihilation, or eternal sleep, the alternative, you would at least have the consolation of knowing, that you would be unconscious of your loss: but, as you must live for ever, either in heaven or in hell, I entreat you to “choose that life,” which shall be “at God’s right hand, in pleasures for evermore.”]

  2.      The responsibility attaching to you for the privileges you enjoy—

[Our blessed Lord said respecting his hearers, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.” And may I not say the same to you? Doubtless, if you had the Gospel ministered unto you with less clearness and fidelity, you would have less to answer for, even as Sodom and Gomorrha had on this very account a lighter condemnation than Bethsaida and Capernaum. It is certainly a great comfort to a minister to know that “he has delivered his own soulr.” But it is a painful reflection to think, that the very means he has used for the salvation of his people, will in many cases only increase their guilt; and the word he has spoken to them, instead of being to them a savour of life, will only be a savour of death to their more aggravated condemnation. Beloved, let me not have to appear in that day as “a swift witness against you,” but rather have to present you to God as my children, and possess you as “my joy and crown of rejoicing for evermoret.”]

  3.      The nearness of the final issue—

[Moses had ministered to his people for forty years: and it is now just about that time that I have ministered to you. How much longer God may be pleased to continue my labours amongst you, he alone knows: but, according to the course of nature, it cannot be long. Be in earnest, then, to improve the light whilst you have it. Many who are gone to judgment would be glad enough if they could come back again to hear the invitations and warnings which they once slighted. And it is possible, that, when the present ordinances shall have come to an end, and the tongue that has so often warned you lies silent in the grave, you may wish that you had “known the day of your visitation,” and improved the privileges you once enjoyed. Let us all “work while it is day: for the night cometh, when neither your minister can work for you, nor you for yourselves.” And the Lord grant, that, whilst we are continued together, I may so preach the word, and you receive it, that we may stand with boldness before God, and obtain his plaudit in the day of judgment!]

CCXXVIII

MOSES’ ENCOURAGING ADDRESS TO ISRAEL

  Deut. 31:6.

Be strong and of a good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

THE application of passages in the Old Testament to the Church at this time is thought by many to be an unwarrantable liberty, especially if those passages referred to any particular occasion, and still more if they primarily related to any particular individual. We are far from saying that great caution is not requisite on this head; but we feel no hesitation in affirming, that passages in the Old Testament, whether general or particular in their primary import, are applicable to the Church of God in all ages, as far as the situations and circumstances of the Church resemble that in former times: nay, we go further still, and affirm, that passages, which in their primary sense related only to temporal concerns, may fitly be applied at this time in a spiritual sense, as far as there exists a just analogy between the cases. We cannot have a stronger proof of this than in the words before us. They were first addressed by Moses generally to all Israel, when they were about to invade the land of Canaan. They were then addressed particularly to Joshua in the sight of all Israel: and they were afterwards again addressed to Joshua by God himselfb. Now it might be asked, Have we any right to apply these words to the Church at this time? and may any individual in the Church consider them as addressed personally and particularly to himself? We answer, Yes; he may; and moreover may found upon them precisely the same conclusions as Israel of old did. For this we have the authority of an inspired Apostle; who, having quoted the words in reference to the whole Christian Church, adds, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Thus then are we warranted to address the words to you in relation to that warfare which you are to maintain against all the enemies of your salvation: and this we will proceed to do.

Brethren, we suppose you now in the state of Israel when addressed by Moses. And if, like Moses, we knew that the superintendence of your spiritual concerns was speedily to be devolved to another, and that this was the last time that we should ever address you, we could not do better than amplify and expand his ideas, contained in the words before us.

You, Brethren, are about to engage in a most arduous warfare—

[The enemies of Israel were numerous and very powerful: they were men of gigantic stature, and they “dwelt in cities walled up to heaven.” There were no less than “seven nations greater and mightier than Israel,” and all these were confederate together for the defence of Canaan. But these were weak, in comparison of the Christian’s enemies. You, Brethren, have to conflict with the world and all its vanities, the flesh and all its corruptions, the devil and all his wiles. There is not any thing you see around you, which is not armed for your destruction: nor is there any thing within you which does not watch for an opportunity to betray your soul, and to inflict on it the most deadly wounds. Yet these enemies, notwithstanding their number and power, are quite overlooked by St. Paul, and counted as nothing, in comparison of those mighty adversaries, the principalities and powers of hell. Their inconceivable subtlety, their invisible combination, their pre-eminent strength, their inveterate malignity, together with the easiness of their access to us at all times, render them formidable beyond measure; insomuch that if you had not an Almighty Friend to espouse your cause, you might well sit down in despair.]

In the prospect of this contest you are apt to indulge desponding thoughts—

[Forty years before, the Israelites had refused to encounter their enemies, from an apprehension that they were invincible: and it is probable that they were not without their fears at this time. And what is it that at the present day deters multitudes from engaging in the spiritual warfare? is it not a fear that they shall not succeed? When we tell them that they must overcome the world, and mortify the flesh, and resist the devil, they reply, that these things are impossible; and that it is in vain to make such an impracticable attempt. Even those who have fought well on particular occasions, are apt to faint, when their trials press upon them with more than usual weight: David himself yielded to unbelieving fearsf, and exclaimed in his haste, “All men are liars.” Perhaps there is not one amongst us whose “hands have not sometimes hanged down, and his knees been weary, and his heart faint;” not one who has not needed, like St. Paul himself, some peculiar manifestations of God for his support.]

But there is no real cause for discouragement to any of you—

[It is alleged perhaps, that your enemies are mighty; but “your Redeemer also is mighty;” and “if he be for you, who can be against you?” If it be your own weakness that depresses you, only view it in a right light, and the most consolatory considerations will spring from it: for “when you are weak, then are you strong;” and the more sensible you are of your own insufficiency for any good thing, the more will God magnify his own power towards you, and “perfect his own strength in your weakness.” The peculiar appositeness of our text to all such cases is evident from the repeated application of it to persons under discouragement, and the blessed effects produced by it. We have already supposed the discouragement to arise from a view of duties impracticable, or of difficulties insurmountable: but, in the former case, David consoled Solomon, and, in the latter case, Hezekiah comforted the Jewsk, with the very address which we are now considering: a sure proof, that it contains a sufficient antidote against all disquieting fears, of whatever kind they be, and to whatever extent they may prevail.]

God promises to his people his presence and aid—

[If he refused to go forth with you, you might well say with Moses, “If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.” Even if he offered to send an angel with you, it would not be sufficientm. But he has promised to be with you himself, and to exercise all his glorious perfections in your behalf. As in the days of Joshua he sent his Son to be “the Captain of the Lord’s host,” so has he given him to be “a Leader and Commander unto” youo: by whom he says to you at this hour, “Lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.” Having then his wisdom to guide you, his arm to strengthen you, his power to protect you, what ground can you have for discouragement? “If he be for you, who can be against you?”]

Nor will he ever fail you or forsake you—

[There may be times and seasons when he may suffer you to be assaulted with more than usual violence; but he will never give you up into the hands of your enemy, or “suffer you to be tempted above your strength:” or if for gracious purposes he see fit to withdraw himself, it shall only be “for a little moment,” that he may afterwards the more visibly shew himself in your deliverance. Respecting this he engages in the strongest manner; and refers us to the rainbow in the heavens as an infallible pledge of his faithfulness and truth. Created helps may fail us; but our God never willr; and you may “be confident that, having begun a good work in you, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The manner in which the Apostle quotes the words of our text, abundantly shews how assured he was that it should be fulfilled; for he uses no less than five negatives to express the idea with the utmost possible force, and then “boldly” draws the inference for us, that we have nothing to fear from our most inveterate enemies.]

Let these considerations then inspire you with confidence and joy—

[Hear the animated exhortation which God himself gives you by the Prophet Isaiah; “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” If you reply, that there are mountains of difficulty before you, and you but as a worm to contend with them; then says God, “Fear not, thou worm Jacob; behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff; thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” “Who then art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man that shall be as grass, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker?” All that you have to do is, to wait upon your God; and then, in spite of all your apprehensions of failure, or even of occasional defeats, you shall rise superior to your enemies, and be triumphant over them at last. I say then to you in the words of our great Captain, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdoma.”]

Let the captives of Satan arise and assert their liberty—

[Behold the kingdom of heaven is before you, “that good land flowing with milk and honey:” and will ye be content that your great adversary shall rob you of it without a struggle? Know that there is armour provided for you: and that if you go forth against him clad with it, you cannot but conquer. O enlist under the banners of the Lord Jesus, and go forth in his strength! fight a good fight; quit yourselves like men; be strong; and be assured, “your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.”]

Let the timid take courage, and return to the charge—

[Think not of your own weakness, but of the Lord’s strength. Remember what he has done for his people in old time. Did not the walls of Jericho fall at the sound of rams’ horns? Was not Midian vanquished by a few lamps and broken pitchers? Did not Goliath fall by a sling and a stone? Ah! know that your enemies shall be like them, if only you will take courage. “Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you.” See what Joshua did to the five confederate kings: thus shall you also do in due season; for the true Joshua has promised that “he will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”]

Let the strong remember in whom their strength is—

[Let not any think themselves so strong, but that they still need, even as Joshua himself did, a word of exhortation and encouragement. Be not self-confident even for a moment, lest God leave you to yourselves, and you “be crushed before a moth.” Peter will remind you how weak you are, if not upheld by God; and what Satan can accomplish, if permitted to sift you as wheat. “Be not high-minded then, but fear:” yet fear not others, but yourselves only. Be weak in yourselves, and strong in the Lord; and then you may dismiss every other fear, and already begin the shout of victory.]

CCXXIX

THE APPROACH OF DEATH

  Deut. 31:14.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die.

“TO man there is an appointed time upon earth.” But the precise measure of our days is in mercy hid from us. On some occasions, however, God has been pleased to make it known, and to declare with precision the near approach of death, that so the persons whose fate was made known might employ their remaining hours in perfecting the work which he had given them to do.

The intimation here given to Moses, we shall consider,

  I.      As addressed to Moses in particular—

In this view, it comes with peculiar weight to those churches which have been long under the superintendence of an aged minister.

Moses had long watched over Israel—

[For the sake of Israel he had renounced all that the world could give him, and subjected himself to many trials, and exposed himself to many dangers: “He had refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,” and abandoned all the pleasures and honours of a court; “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; and esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.” From a regard for them, he had braved all the wrath of Pharaoh in his most infuriated state; and had led them forth, unarmed and unprovided, in the hope of bringing them to a land flowing with milk and honey. As God’s appointed instrument, he had made known to them the Trill of God; and had shewn them, by a great variety of ordinances, the means which God had provided for their acceptance with him. He had for the space of forty years together fed them with bread from heaven and with water out of the stony rock. Times without number had he interceded for them, when if his hands had hanged down, and his heart had fainted, their ruin would inevitably have ensued. In a word, he had lived but for them. In all that space of time, not a day had occurred which he had not occupied in their service: and could he but see them happy, nothing that he could forego, nothing that he could do, nothing that he could suffer, was regarded by him as worthy of a thought; so entirely were his interests and happiness bound up in theirs.]

But now his care over them must cease—

[God had determined that he should not go over Jordan. This was in part the punishment of his sin at Meribah, when, instead of sanctifying the Lord in the eyes of all Israel by a believing expectation of water from the rock in answer to his word, he struck the rock, yea, struck it twice, with an unhallowed irritation of mind. But, in part, this exclusion was intended to shadow forth the nature of that dispensation; and to shew, that one violation of the law was sufficient to exclude a soul from Canaan; and that all who would obtain an entrance into the promised land, must turn from Moses to Joshua (the Lord Jesus Christ), who alone can save any child of man.

Moses was now a hundred and twenty years of age: but he was still, as far as natural strength was required, as competent as ever to watch over the people, and to discharge his duty to them. But his time was come; and he must transfer his office to another. Happily for him, and for all Israel, there was a Joshua ready to fill his place; and God had ordained him to occupy the vacant post, and to take on him the oversight of this bereaved people. And could we but see that the charge we vacate would be so supplied, verily, a summons into the eternal world would be a source of unqualified joy. The most painful thought in the separation of aged ministers from their people is, that they know not on whom the care of them shall devolve, whether on one who will watch for their souls, or on one, who, content with a mere routine of duties, will leave them to be scattered by every one that shall choose to invade the fold.

However this be, a time of separation must come: the pastor who has fed you more than forty years must be taken from you: and how soon, who can tell? It may be, yea, it is highly probable, that this year will be his last. Certain it is, that “ his days approach,” and very rapidly too, “when he must die;” and when the connexion that has subsisted between you and him must for ever cease. To God he must give account of his ministry among you; as must all of you, also, in due season, of the improvement made of it. And it is an awful thought, that your blood will be required at his hand, as will all his labours for your good be required at yours. The Lord grant, that when we shall meet around the judgment-seat of Christ, we may all “give up our account with joy, and not with grief!”]

But let us turn from the particular instance, and consider the intimation,

  II.      As applicable to every child of man

It is true respecting every child of man: for we no sooner begin to breathe than we begin to die: and the life, even of the longest liver, is “but as a span long.” “Our time passeth away like a shadow:” and death, to whomsoever it may come, involves in it,

  1.      A dissolution of all earthly ties—

[The husband and wife, how long soever they may have been bound together in love, and how averse soever they may be to separate, must be rent asunder; and, whilst one is taken to his long home, the other must be left to bewail his sad bereavement with unavailing sorrow. Perhaps there was a growing family, that needed their united care, and that must be deprived of innumerable blessings, which, according to the course of nature, they were entitled to expect. But the hand of death cannot be arrested by the cries of parental anxiety or of filial love: it seizes with irresistible force its destined objects; and transmits them to Him whose commission it has executed, and whose will it has fulfilled. Methinks it were well for those who stand in any one of these relations, to bear in mind how soon they may be bereaved, and how speedily what has been only committed to them as a loan, may be demanded at their hands.]

  2.      A termination of all earthly labours—

[We may have many plans, either in hand or in prospect; but death, the instant it arrives, puts an end to all — — — We may have even formed purposes in relation to our souls! we may have determined that we will, ere long, abandon some evil habits in which we have lived, or fulfil some duties which we have hitherto neglected. We may have thought, that to repent us of our sins, and to seek for mercy through Christ, and to give all diligence to the concerns of our souls, was the path which true wisdom dictated; and that we would speedily commence that salutary course. But death, having once received its commission to transmit us to the presence of our God, can take no cognizance of any good intentions: it executes its office without favour to any; and, in the instant that he inflicts the stroke, his victim, whoever he may be, falls; “his breath goeth forth, and he returneth to his earth; and in that very day all his thoughts perish.”]

  3.      A fixing of our eternal doom—

[Whatever be the state of our souls in the instant of death, that it will continue to all eternity: “As the tree falleth, so it must lie.” If we have lived a life of penitence and faith, and devoted ourselves truly unto God, it is well: death will be to us only like “felling asleep” in the bosom of our Lord. But, if we have neglected these great concerns, or not so far prosecuted them as to have found favour with God, death will be to us only like the opening of our prison-doors, in order to the execution of eternal vengeance on our souls. Prepared or unprepared, we must go into the presence of our God, and receive at his hands our eternal doom. Oh, fearful thought! But so it must be; and, the instant that the soul is separated from the body, it will be transmitted either to the paradise of God, or to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. The day of judgment will make no difference, except that the body will then be made to participate the portion of the soul: and the righteousness of God, in the sentence awarded, will be displayed to the admiration of the whole assembled universe.]

  Let this subject be IMPROVED by us

  1.      For the humbling of our souls in reference to the past—

[We have known the uncertainty of life; and have seen, in the mortality of those around us, the approach of death: but how marvellous is it, that these sights should have produced such little effect upon our souls! Verily, if we did not know the insensibility of man under circumstances of such infinite moment, we should scarcely be able to credit what both our observation and experience so fully attest.]

  2.      For the quickening of our souls in reference to the future—

[That “the day of death approaches” we are sure: at what precise distance it is, we know not. But should not this thought stimulate us to improve our every remaining hour? Yes, verily: we should turn unto God without delay; and “apply our hearts to wisdom” with all diligence: and so “ watch for the coming of our Lord, that, at whatever hour it may be, we may be found ready.” “What I say therefore to one, I say unto all, Watch.”]

CCXXX

THE SONG OF MOSES A WITNESS AGAINST THE JEWS

  Deut. 31:19.

Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

IN order that Moses in his own person should exemplify the nature of that law which he had given, it was appointed of God that he should die for one offence, and not have the honour of leading the people of Israel into Canaan. The time of his departure was now nigh at hand; and God said to him, “Behold, thy days approach that thou must die.” Little remained for him to do. He had written the whole of his law, and had “delivered it unto the priests,” that they might “put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord their God.” But God would have a song composed, which should contain a brief summary of his dealings with his people, and which should be committed by them to memory, as “a witness for him against themselves.” This song we now propose to consider: and we shall open to you,

  I.      Its subject-matter—

As being an epitome of all their past history, and of God’s dispensations towards them to the end of time, its contents are various: they are,

  1.      Commemorative—

[It records God’s sovereign mercy to that people in the original designation of the land of Canaan to them, even from the first distribution of mankind over the face of the earth. When the sons of Adam and of Noah multiplied in the earth, he so ordered and overruled their motions, that the descendants of wicked Canaan should occupy that land, and prepare it, as it were, for Israel; and that the Israelites should be just ready to possess it when the inhabitants should have filled up the measure of their iniquities, and become ripe for the execution of the curse of God upon them. It was in reference to the children of Israel that “the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,” and set the bounds of each peculiar people.

The manner also in which he had brought them to it is particularly specified. He had brought them through a waste howhng wilderness, where he had preserved them by an uninterrupted series of miracles, and had instructed them in the knowledge of his will, and had kept them as the apple of his eye, and had made them the objects of his tenderest solicitude, like the eagle fostering, instructing, and protecting her helpless offspring.

The richness of the provision which he had made for them is also described in animated and appropriate terms. The fertility of the land, the stores administered even by its barren rocks, the countless multitudes of its flocks and herds, together with the abundance of its produce in corn and wine, all are set forth, in order that the nation even to their latest posterity might know how to appreciate the goodness of God to them, and be suitably impressed with a sense of their unbounded obligations.]

  2.      Prophetic—

[God had before declared what the ultimate fate of that nation would be: but here he states it in a compendious way. He foretells both their sins, and their punishment. Notwithstanding all that he had done for them, they would soon forget him, and would stupidly worship the idols of the heathen, which had not been able to protect their own votaries. Thus would they entirely cast off their allegiance to him, and provoke him to execute upon them his heaviest judgments. Even for their past abominations he would have cast them off, if he had not been apprehensive that their enemies would have exulted, and taken occasion from it to harden themselves in their atheistical impiety. But by effecting his purposes in the first instance, and delaying his judgments to a future and distant period, he should cut off all occasion for such vain triumphs, and should display at once his mercy and forbearance, his power and justice, his holiness and truth.

The terms in which his judgments are predicted necessarily carry our minds forward to the times of the present dispersion.

Awful as was their punishment in Babylon, it fell short of these menaces, which were only to receive their full accomplishment, when they should have filled up the measure of their iniquities in the murder of their Messiah. This is evident from that part of the song which is,]

  3.      Promissory—

[Fixed as was God’s determination to inflict “vengeance” upon them “in due time,” he revealed also his determination not to cast them off for ever, but in their lowest extremity to remember and restore them.He would indeed banish them from that good land, and admit the Gentiles into fellowship with him as his peculiar people in their stead: but, whilst he calls on “the Gentiles to rejoice” on this account, he calls on the Jews also to participate their joy: for though they should be long oppressed by cruel enemies, God would appear again for them, “avenging the blood of his servants, and rendering vengeance to his adversaries,” and would again “be merciful unto his land, and to his once most highly-favoured people”.

These promises shall in due time be fulfilled: and we trust that the time for their accomplishment is not now far distant. “The root of Jesse now stands for an ensign to the nations;” and whilst “the Gentiles are seeking to it,” we hope that God will speedily set it up also as an ensign to the Jews, and “assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth”.]]

These things were comprehended in “a song, which was to be taught the children of Israel.” We proceed to consider,

  II.      Its peculiar use—

It was “to be a witness for God against the children of Israel,” and was for this end to be transmitted to their latest posterity. It was intended in this view,

  1.      To justify God—

[When God should have inflicted all these judgments upon his people, they might be ready to reflect on him as variable in his purposes, and cruel in his dispensations. But he here tells them beforehand what he would do, and for what reason he would do it The change that was to take place, would not be in him, but in them. The very change of his dispensations would prove to them the unchangeableness of his nature. It was for the wickedness of the Canaanites that he was about to cast them out: and for the same reason he would cast out the Israelites also, when they should have provoked him to anger, by sinning in a far more grievous manner, against clearer light and knowledge, and against infinitely greater obligations than they. Of this he forewarned them; and the fault, as well as misery, would be all their own. “ His work is perfect: all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.”]

  2.      To humble them—

[The Jews were at all times a stiff-necked people, “a perverse and crooked generation.” The best period of their history was from the death of Moses to the death of Joshua: yet God testified respecting them even then, that they manifested all those evil dispositions, which in process of time would be matured, and grow up into an abundant harvest: “I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware!” Hence every Jew must see, that as his forefathers were not put into possession of that land for their righteousness, so he, and all his whole nation, are banished from it for their iniquities. And oh, how humiliating the comparison between their present, and their former, state! once the glory of the whole world, and now “an astonishment, and a proverb, and a by-word in every nation where they dwell.” They need only repeat this song, and they have enough to shew them how low they are fallen, and enough to humble them in dust and ashes.]

  3.      To prepare them for his promised blessings—

[The promise of a future restoration would of itself be sufficient to stimulate their desires after it. But it is worthy of observation, that the very judgments which God here denounces against them are as strongly expressive of his gracious intentions towards them, and as encouraging to their minds, as the promise itself: “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with them which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” Thus whilst he transferred the blessings of salvation to the Gentiles, he did it no less for the good of his own rebellious and apostate people the Jews, than for the Gentiles themselves; hoping thereby to stir them up to seek a participation of those privileges, which, when exclusively enjoyed by them, they had despised. This idea, the moment it shall enter into their minds, will afford them rich encouragement: and we are persuaded, that, if the Christian world evinced a just sense of the mercies they enjoy, and walked worthy of them, the Jews would soon be stirred up to seek those blessings, in the contempt of which they are hardened by Christians themselves.]

  Let us LEARN then from hence,

  1.      To cultivate a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures ourselves—

[To us also are they a witness, as they were to the Jews of old, and are at this day: only they testify for God and against us in a thousand-fold greater degree. Hear what our blessed Lord himself affirms: “Search the Scriptures; for they are they which testify of me” O what mysteries of love and mercy do the New-Testament Scriptures attest! the incarnation, the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus Christ; his supremacy over all things in heaven and earth; together with all the wonders of redeeming love; how loudly do they testify for Christ; and how awfully will they testify against us, if we neglect them! If God commanded that the Jews, “men, women and children, and the strangers within their gates, should at stated times be gathered together, to hear the law, and learn to fear the Lord and to do his commandments,” and that every individual among them in all successive ages should learn this song; much more ought we to assemble ourselves together for public instruction, and to commit to memory select portions of Scripture, and to teach them diligently to our children, in order to obtain for ourselves, and to transmit to others, the knowledge of God’s will as it is revealed to us in the Gospel! We call upon all of you then to study the Holy Scriptures in private; to teach them to your children and servants; to be useful, where you can, in reading them to your poorer neighbours, who through ignorance are unable to read them for themselves, or through sickness are incapacitated from attending the public ordinances. To be active also in the conducting of Sunday schools is a service most beneficial to man, and most acceptable to God.]

  2.      To impart the knowledge of them to the Jewish nation—

[They, alas! have almost universally forgotten this song: but we have it in our hands, and profess to reverence it as the word of God. Ought we not then to concur with God in that which was his special design in transmitting it to us? Ought we not to use it as the means of conviction to the Jews; and as the means of consolation to them also? Ought we not to seek that they may be partakers of our joy, and be again engrafted on their own olive-tree? Yet, strange as it may appear, not only have mere nominal Christians neglected them, but even the godly themselves have for the most part overlooked them, as much as if they were in no danger, or as if their conversion were an hopeless attempt. But we need not occupy your time in proving the danger of their state: for if they were not perishing, why did Christ and his Apostles make such efforts to save them? Nor need we labour to prove their conversion practicable, when God has declared it to be certain. Let then our bowels of compassion yearn over them: let us grieve to see them perishing in the midst of mercy: let us unite our endeavours to draw their attention to the Holy Scriptures, and to the Messiah, whom they have so long continued to reject. Let us constrain them to see what blessings they despise; what holiness and happiness we ourselves have derived from the Lord Jesus, and what they lose by not believing in him. In this way let us endeavour to provoke them to jealousy. Then may we hope to see the veil taken from their hearts, and to have them associated with us in adoring the once crucified Jesus, and in singing to all eternity “the song of Moses and the Lamb.”]

CCXXXI

THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH

  Deut. 32:1–4.

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I trill speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop at the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

IN this chapter is contained the song which Moses wrote for the conviction of the Jews in all future ages, especially in that period when they should have provoked God to scatter them over the face of the whole earth. Its general contents have been before considered. At present we shall confine ourselves only to its exordium, in which Moses addresses the whole creation, and then describes the character of the Creator. An invocation of “the heavens and the earth” is not uncommon in the Scriptures: it is used in order to impress men with a deeper sense of the importance of the subject, and to convey an idea, that even the inanimate creation will rise up in judgment against the children of men, if they should disregard the voice of their Creator. After requesting their attention, he declares, that the whole tendency of his discourse, and especially of that part which exhibits the character of the Deity, is to comfort and enrich the souls of men. As the dew and rain descend gently and silently upon the earth, softening the parched ground, refreshing and invigorating the drooping plants, and administering nourishment to the whole vegetable creation, so was his word intended to administer blessings to mankind, quickening the most dead, softening the most obdurate, comforting the most disconsolate, and fertilizing the most barren, among them all.

We are aware that a directly opposite effect is in general ascribed to a faithful ministration of the word: it is in general supposed, that a scriptural representation of the divine character must of necessity alarm and terrify mankind: but, whatever effect it may produce on them that are determined to hold fast their sins, it cannot fail to comfort all whose minds are duly prepared to receive it, and to operate on their souls as rain upon the new-mown grass. This will appear, whilst we,

  I.      Illustrate the representation here given of the Deity—

The description which Moses gives of Jehovah is short, but comprehensive: it sets forth,

  1.      His personal majesty—

[The term “Rock” is often used in reference to the Deity; and intimates to us both what he is in himself, and what he is to us. In himself he is the great unchangeable Jehovah; and to his people a safe and everlasting Refuge. Whether it be from the storms of temptation or the heat of persecution, he affords protection to all who flee unto him — — — and, to those who build upon him, he is an immovable foundation: nothing shall ever shake them; nothing shall ever disappoint them of their hopesc — — —]

  2.      His providential government—

[Deep and mysterious are his ways, yet are they all ordered in perfect wisdom and goodness. In the world, in the Church, and in our own individual cases, there are many things which we cannot account for; yet if we imagine that any one of them could have been more wisely appointed, we only betray our own ignorance and presumption. We cannot tell why God confined the revelation of his will to one single family for so many ages, or why it is still known to so small a part of the world: but in due time God will make it evident that such a mode of dispensing mercy was most conducive to his own glory. When a persecution arose in the Church about Stephen, and the saints, driven from Jerusalem, were scattered over the face of the earth, it probably appeared to them an inexplicable dispensation: but the benefit of it soon appeared, because the banished Christians propagated the Gospel wherever they came. And when Paul was confined in prison two years, it might be thought a most calamitous event: yet does he himself tell us, that it tended “rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.” Thus, in innumerable instances, we are ready to say, like Jacob, “All these things are against us,” when in fact they are “all working together for our good; ”and we are constrained after a season to acknowledge, that our greatest crosses were only blessings in disguisef.]

  3.      His moral perfections—

[Justice, holiness, and truth, are inseparable from the Deity; “He is a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” The present state of things indeed does not afford us a just criterion whereby to judge of these perfections; because eternity is not open to our view: but the brightest display of them that can be exhibited to mortal eyes, is seen in the great work of redemption: for God has determined not to pardon any of the human race (at least, not any to whom the light of revelation comes,) except in a way that shall magnify these perfections; nor will he condemn any, without making them witnesses for him, that he is holy, and just, and true. It is for this very end that he sent his only-begotten Son into the world: for, by bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, Jesus has made a complete satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and opened a way for the exercise of mercy in perfect consistency with all the other attributes of the Deity. The true believer makes an open confession of this, and acknowledges, that all his hopes are founded on the sacrifice of Christ: the unbeliever experiences in his own person the weight of that justice, which he would not honour in the person of his surety: so that all in heaven, and all in hell too, are constrained to say, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.”]

That we may make a practical use of the Divine character we shall,

  II.      Shew how to make it a source of comfort to the soul—

If the Deity is an object of terror to any, it must arise either from an erroneous idea of his character, or from an opposition of mind to it. In order then to derive comfort from it, we must,

  1.      Get a just and comprehensive view of the Divine perfections—

[If, as is too often the case, we paint to ourselves a God all mercy, who will never vindicate the honour of his law, nor ever fulfil his threatenings against sin or sinners, we may allay our fears for the present, but we can never bring peace or comfort into the soul: for, as we have no foundation for such an idea of the Deity, we never can divest ourselves of the apprehension that we may be mistaken, and that we may find him at last such a Being as the Scriptures represent him. On the other hand, if we view nothing but his justice, he must of necessity appear terrible in our eyes, because we cannot but know that we are transgressors of his law. But if we regard him as he is set forth in his word, and particularly as he appears in the person of Christ, then do we find in him all that is great and good, yea all that our souls can wish for, or our necessities require — — —]

  2.      Get our own hearts suitably affected with them—

[Whilst the majesty of God should fill us with holy awe, and his power make us fearful of incurring his displeasure, these exalted perfections should encourage an affiance in him, as an almighty Helper, and an all-sufficient Protector. His very sovereignty should lead us to apply to him for mercy, because he will be most glorified in shewing mercy to the chief of sinners. Of course, a view of his love, his mercy, and his truth, must inspire us with holy confidence, and dispel all the fears which conscious unworthiness must create: we should therefore contemplate them with unceasing care, as the grounds of our hope, and the sources of our eternal welfare. Nor is it of small moment to have our minds impressed with a sense of his wisdom and goodness in all his providential dealings. It is by that that we shall have our minds composed under all the most afflictive dispensations, and encouraged to expect a happy issue out of the most calamitous events — — — In a word, the representations which God has given of himself will then be most delightful to us, when our hearts are most filled with humility and love.]

  APPLICATION—

[”Hear now, O ye heavens! and give ear, O earth!” say whether these views of the Deity do not tend to the happiness of man O that God would “shine into all our hearts, to give us the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ!” then should our “meditation of him be sweet,” and our fruits abound to the praise and glory of his grace.]

CCXXXII

GOD’S REGARD FOR HIS PEOPLE

  Deut. 32:9–12.

The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob it the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howhng wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

THE declarations of God in his word are the principal source from whence we derive our knowledge of the Deity. But much may be learned also from the dispensations of his providence, both from those which are recorded in the inspired volume, and those which pass daily before our eyes: nor can we more profitably employ our thoughts than in meditating on his dealings towards the Church in general, and ourselves in particular. This Moses recommended to the Israelites just before his final departure from them. He assured them that God, as far back as the Deluge, had appointed the boundaries of the different kingdoms, with an express reference to the children of Israel; and that he had assigned to Canaan, that accursed son of Noah, and to his posterity, the land which he had marked out for his chosen people, and which they, in pursuance of his will, were now about to possess. And, with respect to themselves in particular, he had conducted them with astonishing kindness and condescension from their first entrance into the wilderness to that present moment.

His words on that occasion will naturally lead us to consider,

  I.      God’s interest in his people—

God regarded his ancient people as his portion and inheritance—

[When he brought his people into Canaan, he divided the land amongst the twelve tribes, assigning to each by lot their destined inheritance. Thus amongst all the people upon the face of the earth he chose, as it were by lot, (“the whole disposal whereof is of the Lord,”) the descendants of Abraham as his portion. Even amongst these he selected only a part, adopting Isaac, and not Ishmael, and still further limiting his choice to Jacob and his posterity, whilst he withheld this privilege from Esau. These he chose, not because they were either more numerous or more holy than other people; for “they were the fewest of all people,” and “a stiff-necked generation from first to last.” “He loved them purely because he would love them,” and, having “set them apart for himself,” he ordained them to be his own portion and his own inheritance.]

In precisely the same view he regards his chosen people at this day—

[He has a people still, whom “he chose from before the foundation of the world,” and “predestinated to the adoption of children to himselfd,” and accounts as “his peculiar treasure above all people upon the face of the earth.” Respecting all who truly believe in Christ it is said, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar peoplef:” and from these, as from an inheritance, does God expect “a revenue of praise” and glory, such as he receives not from the whole world besides. It is “of his own purpose and grace alone that he has called them to this honour,” without being influenced by any goodness in themh: his choice of them was wholly irrespective of their works, past, present, or future: “he loved them, and not they himk:” “he chose them, and not they him:” for his own sake, and not theirs, he has vouchsafed to them his grace, that to all eternity they may be monuments of his sovereign love and mercym.]

But that which our text chiefly leads us to consider, is,

  II.      His tender care over them—

This towards his ancient people is illustrated both by an appeal to fact, and by an apt and beautiful similitude—

[It was in the wilderness that he first formed them into a peculiar people for himself. There he took the entire charge of them, leading them in all their way, and supplying their every want. There he instructed them both by his providence and grace; shewing them by all his diversified dispensations the extreme depravity of their own hearts, and the marvellous patience and long-suffering of their God. Had he even for a few days intermitted his care over them, they must all have perished; being in the midst of perils on every side, and incapable of protecting themselves against any of the dangers to which they were exposed. But “he kept them even as the apple of his eye,” so that no evil whatever, except what he himself sent for their correction, could assail them. An eagle is very careful of its young: and when the dam judges that her young are prepared to fly, will “flutter over them, and spread abroad her wings, and stir up her nest,” that one or other of her offspring may try their powers: and with such tenderness does she watch the attempt, that, if the scarcely fledged young one prove incapable of stretching its flight so as to return to its nest, she will, with incredible swiftness and skill, fly to its succour, and on her own wings bear it back in safety to its wonted home. Thus did God encourage his ancient people to soar towards heaven, and succour them effectually in every hour of need. And in all this he acted “alone, there being no strange god with him,” nor any that could claim the smallest measure of honour from their success. The passage of the Red Sea, the bread from heaven, and the water from the rock, the passage of Jordan, and the fall of Jericho, with a thousand other events, clearly shewed, that all that was effected for them was done by him alone.]

And is he not alike attentive to his people now?—

[Where did he “find any of us,” my Brethren, but “in a waste howhng wilderness,” where we must have inevitably perished) if he of his own sovereign grace and mercy had not come to our relief? And how has he “led us about” even to the present hour, not in the way that would have been most pleasing to flesh and blood, but in the way which he knew would be most conducive to our good, and to the glory of his own name! In this way he has conveyed to our minds such instruction as we could not by any means have so well received in any other way. By his word and by his Spirit he has imparted to us much knowledge of himself: but by his various dispensations, and especially those of a more afflictive nature, he has led us into discoveries of his perfections, which we could never otherwise have obtained. Oh! what views has he given us of our own deserts and of his own tender mercy towards us! In fact, we may, in his dealings with his people in the wilderness, see as in a glass all that is passing in the Church at this day, and all that is passing in our own hearts: and our heavenly rest will be infinitely the more endeared to us from our recollection of all our troubles by the way, and of the infinite wisdom and power and love by which we have been led in safety through them.]

  THINK then I pray you, Brethren, what should be our regard towards this Almighty Saviour—

[Who was it that led his people through the wilderness in the days of old? It was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant: for he it was whom they tempted, and he it was “whose reproach Moses counted to be of more value than all the treasures of Egyptp.” That same Jesus is still “Head over all things to his Church,” and “guides all his chosen people by his counsel, till he brings them safely to his glory.”

I ask then with confidence should we not love him with most intense affection? and trust in him with unshaken affiance? and serve him with all the powers of our souls? Methinks, there should be no bounds to our love and gratitude, no limit to our zeal in his service. We all see and acknowledge this in reference to the Jews, who were favoured with his viable interposition: and how much more is it all due from us, who enjoy the substance, of which they had but the shadow! I call you then, everyone of you, to shew forth your sense of the obligations conferred upon you, and, if possible, to be as zealous in his service as he is in yours.]

CCXXXIII

THE JEWS MOVED TO JEALOUSY BY THE GENTILES

  Deut. 32:21.

They have moved me to jealousy with that which it not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

“KNOWN unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Moses informs us, that, in the very first distribution of men over the face of the earth, God had an especial respect to those, who, at a remote period, should spring from the loins of Abraham; and that he assigned to the descendants of cursed Ham that portion of the globe which, in due time, should be delivered into the hands of Israel, cultivated in every respect, and fit for the accommodation and support of the Jewish nation: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to (or, in reference to) the number of the children of Israel. Yet at the very time when God carried this decree into execution, at the time when the nation of Israel were, by the discipline of forty years in the wilderness, brought to a state of faith and piety that was never equaled at any subsequent period of their history, even then, I say, did God foresee their declension from his ways, and inspire Moses to predict the wickedness which they would commit, and the chastisements which should be inflicted upon them on account of it: he even instructed Moses to record the whole beforehand in a song, which was, in all succeeding ages, to be committed to memory by the children of Israel, and to be a witness for God against them. It was probable that, when he should change his conduct towards them, they would reflect on him either as mutable in his purposes, or as unable to execute his promises towards them: but this song would completely vindicate him from all such aspersions, and be a standing proof to them, that their miseries were the result of their own incorrigible perverseness. “Now,” says God, “write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.”

In this song are foretold the awful apostasies of the Jewish nation, together with all the judgments that would be inflicted on them, from that time even to the period of their future restoration.

The words which I have chosen for my text, contain the sum and substance of the whole: they specify the ground of God’s displeasure against his people, and the way in which he would manifest that displeasure: and they particularly mark the correspondence which there should be between their sin and their punishment: “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”

In discoursing on these words, there are two things to be considered;

  I.      The import of this prophecy respecting the Jews

  II.      The use to be made of it by us Gentiles.

  I.      The import of this prophecy—

The general facts relating to it are so well known, that it will not be necessary to enter very minutely into them. Every one knows how highly favoured a people the Jewish nation have been; how exalted and privileged above all other people upon earth. The manner also in which they requited the kindness of their God, is well known. We are not disposed to think that human nature is worse in them than in others: the reason that it appears so is, that God’s conduct towards them, and theirs towards him, is all exhibited to view, and forms a contrast the most humiliating that can be imagined. On some particular occasions they seem to have been penetrated with a becoming sense of the mercies vouchsafed unto them; but these impressions were of very short duration: within the space of a few days only, they forgot that wonderful deliverance which had been wrought for them at the Red Sea; as it is said, “They remembered not the multitude of his mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.” Every fresh difficulty, instead of leading them to God in earnest supplication and humble affiance, only irritated their rebellious spirits, and excited their murmurs against God and his servant Moses. Scarcely had three months elapsed, when, whilst God was graciously revealing to Moses that law by which the people were to be governed, they actually cast off God; and, because Moses had protracted his stay in the holy mount beyond what they thought a reasonable time, they would wait for him no longer; but determined to have other gods in the place of Jehovah, and another guide in the place of Moses: “Up,” said they to Aaron, “make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Immediately “they made a golden calf (in imitation of the Egyptian Apis), and worshipped it, and sacrificed thereto, and said, These by thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Thus early did they shew that propensity which was so fatal to them in after ages. In process of time they degenerated so far as to adopt all the gods of the heathen for their gods; even those gods who could not protect their own votaries, did this rebellious people worship, in preference to Jehovah, who had done so great things for them: “they worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites, and Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites;” yea, “they made their children to pass through the fire unto Moloch,” and “sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.” Even in the very house of God itself did they place their idols; as though they were determined to provoke the Lord to jealousy beyond a possibility of endurance; nor were there any rites too base, too impure, or too sanguinary for them to practise in the worship of them. Many times did God punish them for these great iniquities, by delivering them into the hands of their enemies; and as often, in answer to their prayers, did he rescue them again from their oppressors. But at last, as he tells us by the prophet, he was even “broken with their whorish heart:” and, as they would persist in their idolatries notwithstanding all the warnings which from time to time he had sent them by his prophets, he was constrained to execute upon them the judgment threatened in our text.

This is the account given us by the inspired historian: “All the chief priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen, and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age; he gave them all into his hand.”

In confirmation of this exposition of our text, the Jewish writers refer to a passage in the Prophet Isaiah. The Chaldeans were but very recently risen into power; for, many hundred years after the Jews were established in the land of Canaan, the very name of Babylon was not at all formidable to Israel, or perhaps scarcely known. It was originally owing to the Assyrians that Babylon was exalted into so great and powerful a state: as, says the prophet, in the passage referred to, “Behold, the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof.” Now to be vanquished by such a people, and to be carried captive to such a place, appeared a peculiar degradation; which may be supposed to be in part an accomplishment of those words, “I will move them to jealousy with them which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”

But that there was to be a further accomplishment of those words, we cannot doubt. Indeed, the Jews themselves acknowledge, that their present dispersion through the world is a continuation of those very judgments which were denounced against them by Moses. Not only the learned amongst them acknowledge this, but, as Moses himself foretold, even the most ignorant of the Jews are well aware of it. Moses says, in Deut. 31:17, 18, “My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not amongst us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” Now “the Jews themselves (as Bishop Patrick observes) take notice that these words have been fulfilled by the many calamities which have befallen them since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This appears from Schebet Jehuda, where Solomon Virgœ quotes this very verse, to prove that their present sufferings proceed not from nature, but from an angry God, more powerful than nature.”

The truth is, that this prophecy received but a very partial accomplishment at that time: for there were but two tribes sent to Babylon; the other ten were carried captive to Assyria. Now the idea of “provoking them to jealousy by those who were not a people,” could have no place in reference to the ten tribes, because Assyria was an empire almost thirteen hundred years before Israel was conquered by them; and to the other two tribes, provided they were to be carried captive at all, it could make but little difference whether the nation that subdued them was of greater or less antiquity. For the full accomplishment of the prophecy, therefore, we must undoubtedly look to the times subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

And here is a matter for the consideration of every Jew, that wishes to form a correct judgment of the main point that is at issue between the Jews and Christians.

The miseries inflicted on the Jewish nation by the Romans, both in the siege of Jerusalem and in their subsequent dispersion throughout the world, have been incomparably more grievous than any that ever were inflicted on them by the Chaldeans. I would ask then of the Jew, What has been the cause of this severe chastisement? What has your nation done to provoke God in so extraordinary a degree? There must be some particular crime that they have committed: what is it? God is too righteous, and too merciful, to afflict them without a cause. I ask, Are any of your Rabbis able to assign an adequate reason for these severe judgments? Your former idolatries were punished in the Babylonish captivity: and you repented of those sins; insomuch that from the time of your return to your own land, to the destruction of your nation by the Romans, you not only never relapsed into idolatry, but you withstood every attempt to ensnare or to compel you to it. Yet, as your sufferings since that period have been so heavy and protracted, it must be supposed that your fathers committed some crime of deeper die, or at least some that was of equal enormity with your former idolatries. I ask then again, What crime is it? for there is not one of you that will venture to say, that God punishes you without a cause. If you cannot tell me, I will tell you what that crime is: it is the crucifying of your Messiah. You know, and your Rabbis all know, that there was a very general expectation of your Messiah at the precise time that Jesus came into the world. You know that Jesus professed himself to be the Messiah: you know also that he wrought innumerable miracles in confirmation of his claim: you know that he appealed to Moses and the prophets as bearing witness of him: you know that he foretold all that he should suffer; and shewed, that in all those sufferings the prophecies concerning him would be fulfilled: you know also, that the crucifying of him was a national act, in which all ranks and orders of your countrymen concurred; and that when Pilate wished to free himself from the guilt of shedding innocent blood, they all cried, “His blood be on us, and on our children!” You know, moreover, that Jesus foretold the destruction of your city and nation by the Romans, together with your present desolate condition, as the punishment that should be inflicted on you for your murder of him: nay more, that these things should befall your nation before that generation should pass away. You know also, that, agreeably to his predictions, they did come to pass about forty years after his death, and that these judgments have been upon you from that time to the present hour. If you say, that only two of the tribes were thus guilty of putting him to death; I answer, that every Jew in the universe approves and applauds that act; and that therefore the judgments are inflicted on them all, and will continue to be inflicted, till they repent of it. All preceding judgments were removed, when your fathers repented of the crimes on account of which they had been inflicted: and the reason that your present judgments are not removed, is, that your enmity against the Lord Jesus is at this hour as strong as ever; and, if he were to put himself in your power again, you would conspire against him as before, and crucify him again. Yet, if He was not the Messiah, your Messiah is not come; and, consequently, those prophecies in your inspired volume which foretold his advent at that time, are falsified. Your Messiah was to come before the sceptre should finally depart from Judah, and while the second temple was yet standing, and about the time that the seventy weeks of Daniel should expire: but the sceptre is departed, and the temple is destroyed; and Daniel’s weeks are expired; and nearly eighteen hundred years have elapsed, since the period fixed by these prophecies for his appearance. It is evident therefore that all these prophecies have failed of their accomplishment, if your Messiah is not yet come. As for saying, that the coming of the Messiah was deferred by God for the wickedness of your nation, what proof have you of it? Where has God threatened that, as a consequence of your wickedness? No: your Messiah is come; and has been treated in the manner which your own prophecies foretold, and as Jesus himself foretold: and though you, like your forefathers, in order to set aside the testimony of his resurrection, have recourse to that self-destructive falsehood of his being taken away by his own disciples, whilst a whole guard of Roman soldiers were asleep, you know that his disciples did at the very next festival, on the day of Pentecost, attest that he was risen, and attest it too in the very presence of the people who had put him to death, no less than three thousand of whom were converted to him on that very day: you know too, that in a short time myriads of Jews believed in Jesus; and that his Gospel continued to prevail throughout the known world, till the judgments threatened against your nation for destroying their Messiah came upon them.

Now by this act, the crucifying of your Messiah, you did provoke God to jealousy to a greater degree than by any of your former crimes; for God sent you his co-equal, co-eternal Son: he sent you that Divine Person, who was “David’s Lord,” as well as “David’s Son.” The learned men of his own day acknowledged that the names, Son of man, and Son of God, were of the same import; and that, as assumed by Jesus, both the one and the other amounted to an assertion, that he was equal with God. You know also that his claiming these titles was the ground on which they accused him of blasphemy, and demanded sentence against him as a blasphemer. Thus according to your own acknowledgment, supposing him to have been the person foretold by the prophets as the Messiah, you have “crucified the Lord of Glory.” Moreover, about the time that your fathers crucified him, they were ready to follow every impostor that assumed to himself the title of Messiah. “Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrim, a doctor of law, a man who was in high repute among all the Jews,” acknowledged this readiness of the people to run after impostors: he mentions a person by the name of Theudas, who, with four hundred adherents, was slain: and after him one Judas of Galilee, who drew away much people after him, and perished. We are informed also that Simon Magus, by his enchantments, seduced all the people of Samaria, from the least to the greatest, and persuaded them that “He was the great power of Godh.” Your own historian bears ample testimony to these facts. Here then you can see how you have provoked God to jealousy, in that you have destroyed his own Son, who came down from heaven to instruct and save you: yea, though he brought with him the most unquestionable credentials, and supported his claim by the most satisfactory evidences, you rejected him with all imaginable contempt, whilst you readily adhered to any vile impostor that chose to arrogate to himself the title of Messiah. Your former idolatries, though sinful in the extreme, were less heinous than this, inasmuch as the manifestations of God’s love were far brighter in the gift of his Son, than in all the other dispensations of his grace from the foundation of the world; and the opposition of your fathers to him was attended with aggravations, such as never did, or could, exist in any other crime that ever was committed.

Here then we are arrived at the true reason of the judgments which are at this time inflicted on you.

Now let us investigate the judgments themselves; and you will see that they also are such as were evidently predicted in our text.

You are cut off from being the people of the Lord, and are absolutely incapacitated for serving him in the way of his appointments. On the other hand, God has chosen to himself a people from among the Gentiles, from “those who were not a people,” and were justly considered by you as “a foolish nation,” because they were altogether without light and understanding as it respected God and his ways. This you know to have been predicted by all your prophets, insomuch that your fathers, who looked for a temporal Messiah, expected that he would bring the Gentiles into subjection to himself, and extend his empire over the face of the whole earth. This the Lord Jesus has done: he has taken a people from among the Gentiles, who are become his willing subjects. Now this rejection of the Jews from the Church of God, and this gathering of a Church from among the Gentiles, is the very thing which in all ages has most angered you, and provoked you to jealousy. When Jesus himself merely brought to the remembrance of your fathers, that God had, in the days of Elijah and Elisha, shewn distinguished mercy to a Sidonian widow, and Naaman the Syrian; they were filled with such indignation, that, notwithstanding they greatly admired all the former part of his discourse, they would have instantly cast him down a precipice, if he had not escaped from their hands. When, on another occasion, he spoke a parable to the chief priests and elders, and asked them “what they conceived the lord of the vineyard would do to those husbandmen who beat all his servants, and then murdered his Son in order to retain for themselves the possession of his inheritance, they were constrained to acknowledge, that he would destroy those murderers, and let his vineyard to others who should render him the fruits in their season:” and on his confirming this melancholy truth with respect to them, they exclaimed, “God forbid!” When the Apostles of Jesus afterwards preached to the Gentiles, the Jews could not contain themselves; the very mention of the name Gentiles, irritated them to madnessm”: so indignant were they at the thought of having their privileges transferred to others, whom they so despised. And thus it has been ever since. Nothing is so offensive to a Jew at this day, as the idea of Christians arrogating to themselves the title of God’s peculiar people. The present attempts to bring the Jews into the Church of Christ are most displeasing to them: they regard us as modern Balaams, rising up to bring a curse upon their nation: and when any are converted from among them to the faith of Christ, the old enmity still rises in the hearts of their unbelieving brethren; who are kept only by the powerful arm of our law from manifesting their displeasure, as they were wont to do in the days of old.

Here then you see the text fulfilled in its utmost extent: here also you see that perfect correspondence between the guilt and the punishment of the Jewish nation, which was predicted: they have provoked God to jealousy by following vile impostors and rejecting his Son; and he has provoked them to jealousy by rejecting them, and receiving into his Church the ignorant and despised Gentiles.

And now let me ask, Is this exposition of the text novel? No: it is that which is sanctioned by your own prophets, supported by our Apostles, and confirmed by actual experience.

Look at the prophets: do they not declare the call of the Gentiles into the Church, saying, “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an Ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious.” The Prophet Hosea’s language, though primarily applicable to the ten tribes, is certainly to be understood in reference to the Gentiles also: “I will have mercy upon her that hath not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.” And again, “It shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” But the Prophet Isaiah points directly to the Gentiles, when he says, “I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that wets not called by my name:” I say he points to the Gentiles there; for he immediately contrasts with them the state of his own people, saying, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts.” If you turn to the New Testament, you will find there the very words of our text quoted, not merely to prove that the Gentiles were to be brought into the Church of God, but that Israel was apprised of God’s intentions, and that, however averse they were to that measure, they could not but know that Moses himself had taught them to expect it: I say, Did not Israel know? says the Apostle:—did they not know that “there was to be no difference between the Jew and the Greek; and that the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon him?” Yes; for Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. If we look to matter of fact, we find that there are, in every quarter of the globe, thousands and millions of Gentiles who are serving and honouring Jehovah, precisely as Abraham himself did: they are believing in the same God, and walking in the same steps: and the only difference between him and them is, that he looked to that blessed seed of his who should come; and they look to that blessed seed of his who has come, even Jesus, in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed.

It is time that we now inquire,

  II.      What use is to be made of this prophecy by us Gentiles?

If ever there was a dispensation calculated to instruct mankind, it is that which is predicted in the words before us. I will mention three lessons in particular which it ought to teach us: and the Lord grant, that they may be engraven in all our hearts!

First, it should lead us to adore the mysterious providence of God. Let us take a view of God’s dealings with that peculiar people, the Jews. When, the whole earth was lying in gross darkness, he was pleased to choose Abraham out of an idolatrous nation and family, and to reveal himself to him. To him he promised a seed, whom he would take as a peculiar people above all the people upon earth. These descendants he promised to multiply as the stars of heaven, and as the sands upon the sea-shore; and in due time to give them the land of Canaan for their inheritance. After he had in a most wonderful manner fulfilled all his promises to them, they rebelled against him, and served other gods, and provoked him to bring upon them many successive troubles, and at last to send them into captivity in Babylon. But during this whole time he still consulted their best interests; and even in the last and heaviest of these judgments, “he sent them into Babylon for their good.” Afflictive as that dispensation was, it was the most profitable to them of all the mercies and judgments that they ever experienced; for by means of it they were cured of their idolatrous propensities; and never have yielded to them any more, even to the present hour.

After seventy years God delivered them from thence also, as he had before delivered them from Egypt; and re-established them, to a certain degree, in their former prosperity. In the fulness of time, he, according to his promise, sent them his only-begotten Son, to establish among them that kingdom of righteousness and peace, which had been shadowed forth among them from the time that they became a nation. But on their destroying him, he determined to cast them off; and accordingly he gave them into the hands of the Romans, who executed upon them such judgments as never had been inflicted on any nation under heaven. But neither was this dispensation unmixed with mercy: for, blinded as they were by prejudice, they never would have renounced their errors, or embraced the Gospel, if they had been able still to satisfy their minds with the rites and ceremonies of their own Church. But as God drove our first parents from Paradise, and precluded them from all access to the tree of life, which was no more to be a sacramental pledge of life to them now in their fallen state; and as he thereby prevented them from deluding their souls with false hopes, and shut them up unto that mercy, which he had revealed to them through the seed of the woman; so now has he cut off the Jews from all possibility of observing the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, in order that they may be constrained to seek for mercy through the Messiah whom they have crucified.

At the same time that God has ordered this dispensation with an ultimate view to the good of his once-favoured people, he has consulted in it the good of the whole world; for, when he cut them off from the stock on which they grew, he took a people from among the Gentiles, and engrafted them as scions upon the Jewish stock, and made them “partakers of the root and fatness of the olive-tree” which his own right hand had planted. What he might have done for the Gentiles, if the Jews had not provoked him to cut them off, we cannot say: but the Apostle, speaking on this subject, says, that “they became enemies for our sakes,” and “were broken off that we might be graffed in.” Doubtless, the stock was sufficient to bear both them and us; for the time is coming when the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, shall grow together upon it, seeing that it is God’s intention to engraff on it again the natural branches, which for the present he has broken off: but so has he ordained, that they should be cast out of his Church, and we be introduced into it, and that the one event should be preparatory to the other; that so the fall and ruin of the Jews should be the riches and salvation of the Gentile world. And it is plain, that this appointment of his is carried into effect; for they are broken off, and are no longer his Church, since there is not one amongst them that either does, or can, serve God according to their law: and we, on the contrary, are his Church; and millions of us, through the world, are rendering to him the service he requires; and, if we are not his Church, then God has not at this hour, nor has he had for above seventeen hundred years, a Church upon earth. God, however, has not cast off his people fully or finally: not fully, for he brought multitudes of them into his Church in the apostolic age: nor finally; for though, through the shameful remissness of the Christian world, he has done but little for the Jews in these latter ages, yet is he, we trust, shewing mercy to them now, and sowing seeds among them, which shall one day bring forth a glorious harvest. Moreover as, by breaking off the Jews, God made room for the Gentiles, so has he ordained, that the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles shall contribute to the restoration of the Jews themselves; and that, at last, the whole collective body of mankind shall be “one fold under one Shepherd.” What a stupendous mystery is this! Well might St. Paul, in the contemplation of it, exclaim, “O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Truly, this mystery is by no means sufficiently considered amongst us; though it is so great, that not even the Apostles themselves, for six years after the day of Pentecost, could see into it; and even then it was only by a miraculous interference that God prevailed upon them to receive it: it was by repeated visions to Peter and Cornelius, that he induced Peter to preach the Gospel to Cornelius; and it was by the effusion of the Holy Ghost on Cornelius and his family, that he induced the other Apostles to acquiesce in what Peter had done: and, even to the last, it was with reluctance they confessed, “Then hath God to the Gentiles also granted repentance unto life.” Let me recommend you then, my Brethren, to turn your attention to this mystery more than you have ever yet done; and never imagine that you have attained just views of it, till you are transported with wonder at the wisdom displayed in it, and filled with gratitude for the mercies it conveys.

A second improvement we should make of this subject is, to be afraid of provoking God to jealousy against us also. We have seen that it was the idolatry of the Jews that chiefly provoked God to jealousy against them. But is there not a spiritual idolatry, as well as that which consisted in the worship of graven images? and is it not equally offensive to a jealous God? When his people of old placed idols in their secret chambers, his chief complaint was, that “they set them up in their hearts. And has he not told us, that “covetousness is idolatry;” and that we may “make a god of our belly?” What then is this but to say, that ‘the loving and serving the creature more than the Creator,’ whatever that creature be, is idolatry? We know full well, that gods of wood and of stone were “vanities;” but are not pleasure, and riches, and honour, “vanities” when put in competition with our God? and does not the inordinate pursuit of them provoke him to jealousy, as much as the bowing down to stocks and stones ever did? And if the rejection of Jesus by the Jews was that crime which filled up the measure of their iniquities, and brought the wrath of God upon them to the uttermost; shall not “the crucifying of the Son of God afresh, and putting him to an open shame,” as Christians do by their iniquities, be also considered as provoking the Most High God? Let us not think then that the Jews alone can provoke God to anger, or that they alone can ever be cast off for their wickedness; for he has expressly warned us by his Apostle, that he will cast us off, even as he did them, if we provoke him to jealousy by placing on the creature the affections that are due to him. Hear what St. Paul says; “Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee.” My Brethren, you cannot but see how grievously God is dishonoured by the Christian world: truly, “he is provoked by us every day;” and we, no less than the Jews, are “a rebellious and stiff-necked people.” Look at all ranks and orders of men amongst us, and see whether there be not a lamentable departure from primitive Christianity? Compare the lives of the generality with the examples of Christ and his Apostles, and see, not merely how short they come of the pattern set before them, (for that the best amongst us do,) but how opposite they are in their conduct; insomuch that, if they did not call themselves Christians, no one would ever think of calling them so, from their lives. Those who are in earnest about the salvation of their souls, are still “as men wondered at” amongst us; so that instead of pointing at an unhappy few as exceptions to the Christian character, no one can tread in the steps of Christ and his Apostles, without becoming “a sign and a wonder” among his neighbours. This you cannot but know; what then must we expect, but that God will punish us precisely as he has done the Jews, and provoke us to jealousy, by others whom we despise? The fact is, that God is already dealing with us in this manner. The rich, the great, the noble are, for the most part, so occupied with “vanities,” as to forget the services which they owe to God; and the consequence is, that God overlooks them, and transfers the blessings of his Gospel to the poor. At this day it is true, no less than in the days of the Apostles, that “not many rich, not many mighty, not many noble are called,” but “God has chosen the weak, and base, and foolish things of the world; yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things which are; that no flesh should glory in his presence:” and this very circumstance does move the rich to anger, precisely as it did in the days of old; “Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him? As for these poor contemptible people that make such a noise about religion, they are cursed.” But I must go further, and say, that God is dealing in this very way even with those who do profess themselves his peculiar people. Who are the happy Christians? Who have the richest enjoyment of the Gospel, or most adorn it in their life and conversation? Are they the richer professors, whose hearts are set on “vanities,” or who are labouring night and day to procure them? Are they not rather the poor and the destitute, who, haying but little of this world, are more anxious to enjoy their God? We say not indeed that this is universally the case; but it is a general truth: nay more, amongst Indians and Hottentots there is often found a more lively and realizing sense of the divine presence, than amongst the worldly-minded professors of our own day. I must entreat you therefore, Brethren, to reflect, that if we do not, as a people, turn more heartily unto the Lord, we have reason to fear, lest “the candlestick should be removed from us,” and be transferred to a people who shall walk more worthy of it. Lastly, we should be stirred up by this subject to concur with God in his gracious intentions towards the Jews. In the song before us, there are repeated intimations that God will once more restore to his favour his now degenerate and afflicted people. In verse 36, it is said, “The Lord will judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and that there is none shut up or left.” And the song concludes with these remarkable words, “Rejoice, O ye nations! with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and unto his people.” Here then, you see, that there is mercy in reserve for the Jewish people, and that the Gentiles also shall be partakers of their joy. But in our text there is a hint of a very peculiar nature, namely, not merely that God will vouchsafe mercy to them, in the midst of their present chastisement, but that he will render those very chastisements subservient to his gracious designs. He intimates that he is even now provoking them to jealousy, by the mercies he bestows on us; that is, that he is even now endeavouring to inflame them with a holy desire to regain his favour. It is precisely in this sense that St. Paul uses the same expression: indeed, St. Paul tells us, that he himself used the very same means for the same end: “Through the fall of the Jews (says he) is salvation come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Now I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office; if by any means I may provoke to jealousy (it is the same word as before) them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.” This then is the work in which we are to co-operate with God: and, truly, if we were all in earnest about it, we might, with God’s help, do great things. They behold us professing ourselves to be the peculiar people of God: and, if they saw so great a difference between themselves and us as they ought to see, truly they would begin to envy us, and to wish to be partakers of our blessings. But, if they see that we are as covetous and worldly-minded, as lewd and sensual, as proud and vindictive, and, in short, as corrupt in all respects as the very heathen, shall we not prove a stumbling-block, rather than an help, to them? And what if, whilst we ought all to be uniting with one heart and one soul in the blessed work of leading them to Christ, they should find amongst us an utter indifference to their salvation? Yea, what if they behold amongst us some (some too of whom we might hope better things) to whom the exertions of their brethren are rather a matter of offence than of joy; some whose endeavour is rather to frustrate, than advance, our benevolent labours? What if they behold some who, instead of labouring with us to provoke them to jealousy, are themselves provoked to an ungodly jealousy against us, on account of our exertions; and who, like Tobiah and Sanballat of old, “are grieved that we have undertaken to seek the welfare of Israel?” Will not our Jewish brethren take advantage of this? Will they not impute this to our religion? If they see us thus worldly, or thus malignant, will they not judge of our principles by our practice; and, instead of envying us our privileges and attainments, will they not be ready to glory over us, and to thank God they are not Christians? Oh, Brethren! we little think what guilt we contract, while practising such abominations. It is said of many, that they are no person’s enemy but their own: but this is not true; they are enemies to all around them, whom they vitiate by their example; they are enemies to the Jews, whom they harden in their infidelity; and they are enemies to the heathen, whom they teach to abhor the Christian name. But let it not be so amongst us; let us remember that to us is committed the blessed task of bringing back to God’s fold his wandering, yet beloved, people. Nor let us despair of success; “for, if we were cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and were graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree; how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive-tree? If they abide not in unbelief, they shall be grafted in; for, though we are unable, God is able to graff them in again.” But then, how is this to be accomplished? it is to be by our means; (“as for the times and the seasons, we say nothing; God has reserved them in his own power:”) God has appointed us to seek the salvation of his people; and has communicated his blessings to us on purpose that we may be his depository to keep them, and his channel to convey them, for their benefit. Hear his own words: “As ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” Let us then address ourselves to the blessed work that God has assigned us. Let us, as God’s chosen instruments, endeavour to interest ourselves with him to reinstate them in his favour, and interest ourselves with them to return unto him. Let us make a conscience of praying for them in secret; let us devise plans for furthering the communication of divine knowledge amongst them; let us not shrink from labour, or trouble, or expense; let us not be deterred by any difficulties, or discouraged by any disappointments: but let us labour for them, as their forefathers did for us; let us tread in the steps of the holy Apostles, and be ready to sacrifice time, and interest, and liberty, and life itself, in their service; and account the saving of their souls the richest recompence that God himself can give us. And, that we may the more effectually provoke them to jealousy, let us shew them that God has done for us as much as he ever did for the patriarchs of old, giving us as intimate an access to him, as firm a confidence in him, and as assured prospects of an everlasting acceptance with him, as ever Abraham himself enjoyed. They are apt to think that, in exalting Jesus, we dishonour Jehovah: but let us shew them by our lives, that we render to Jehovah all the love, and honour, and service, that were ever rendered to him by his most eminent saints; and that there is no principle whatever so operative and powerful as the love of our adorable Redeemer. Let us shew them, that communion with the Son has the same effect on us, that communion with the Father had on Moses; that it assimilates us unto God, and constrains all who behold us to acknowledge, that we have been with God. Their eyes are now upon us; upon us especially, who are endeavouring to convert them to the faith of Christ: let them therefore see in us the influence of Christian principles: let them see that, whilst we speak of enjoying peace through the blood of our great Sacrifice, and of having the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Sanctifier, we live as none others can live, exhibiting in our conduct the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the piety of David, and the fidelity of Daniel: in a word, let them see in us an assemblage of all the brightest virtues of their most renowned progenitors. O! would to God that there were in all of us such a heart! Would to God that the Holy Spirit might be poured out upon us for this end, and work in us so effectually, that the very sight of us should be sufficient to carry conviction to their minds; that so our Jewish brethren, beholding “the exceeding grace of God in us,” might be constrained to take hold of our skirt, and say, “We will go with you, for we perceive that God is with you of a truth!”

CCXXXIV

THE EXCELLENCY OF JEHOVAH

  Deut. 32:31.

Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

IT is not a little to the honour of those who serve God, that the more fully their principles are investigated, the more just will they appear, and worthy to be adopted by all the world. Those embraced by ungodly men are often such as scarcely to be vindicated by their most partial friends: but those, which the children of God profess, will stand the test of examination from their bitterest enemies. To this effect Moses speaks in the words before us; from which we shall,

  I.      Point out the superiority of Jehovah above all other objects of confidence—

Neither the idols of heathens, nor any other objects of confidence, can in any point of view be put in competition with Jehovah. Consider

His power—

[There is not any thing which he is not able to effect: “He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.” But what created being can claim this prerogative?]

His love—

[Incomprehensible are the heights and depths of the Father’s love, discovered in sending his own Son to die for us: nor less the love of Christ in giving himself a sacrifice for our sins. Is there any other Being that ever has expressed, or ever can, such love as this?]

His faithfulness—

[God has given to us exceeding great and precious promises, suited to every want we can possibly experience. And has one jot or tittle of his word ever failed? But where shall we find a creature that has not, in some respect or other, disappointed the expectations of those who trusted in him?]

So indisputable is the point before us, that we may even,

  II.      Appeal to the very enemies of Jehovah in confirmation of our assertions—

We might with propriety appeal to his friends, since they, by their knowledge of him, and their experience of the vanity of earthly confidences, are best qualified to judge. But, waving this just advantage, we will appeal,

  1.      To his enemies of former times—

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