will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins.' Let it be asked in the next place, what those punishments were? Answer: Terror, consumption, burning ague, loss of harvest by the enemy, being slain by their enemies, ruled by their enemics, they should flee when none pursued, the pride of their power should be broken, their heaven should be as iron and their earth as brass, they should spend their strength in vain through the barrenness of their land, their children and their cattle were to be destroyed by wild beasts, their highways were to be desolate, a sword should be brought upon them which should avenge the quarrel of God's covenant, the pestilence should be sent among them, they should be delivered into the hands of their enemies, for want of bread they should eat and not be satisfied, they should eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, their high places and images should be destroyed, their carcasses should be cast upon the carcasses of their idols, their cities should be made waste, their sanctuaries should be brought into desolation, their land should be brought into desolation, their enemies should dwell in their land, they should be scattered among the heathen, a sword should be drawn out after them, on them who were left alive a faintness should be sent even into their hearts, the sound of a shaken leaf should chase them, they should fall one upon another as it were before a sword, they should perish among the heathen, the land of their enemies should eat them up, they should pine away in their iniquity in their enemies' land, and in the iniquities of their fathers they should pine away. Let us now ask two questions: 1. Is it possible to conceive of any punishment more dreadful than the foregoing, to which mortal beings in this state of exis

tence are subject? 2. Is it possible to conceive that any or all of these punishments will be inflicted on that people, or on any other, in a future state, and to all eternity? These questions will be answered in the negative by all candid persons. What then is the necessary conclusion? Answer: If these punishments were for the sins of that people, were according to their sins, and sufficient to avenge the quarrel of God's covenant, then it is certain beyond all contradiction, that the sins of that people did not deserve, in the eyes of God, who is the proper judge, never ending punishment in the eternal world; nor will God have an occasion, in order to avenge the quarrel of his covenant with that people, to quarrel with them to all eternity. The form of expression here used, though rather harsh, is justified by the sacred text; and it being well calculated to show the nature of the subject in a very evident light, is admitted.

That all these judgments do not render the state of that church hopeless, may be seen by noticing the remainder of this chapter. See from the 40th verse to the close: If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land. of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them; and they shall accept of the

punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God. I am the Lord. These are the statutes and judgments, and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.' The Lord God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had the whole management of the foregoing covenant, laws, statutes and judgments; and by them he will judge his people; he will see the whole faithfully executed, but he is under no obligation to forget his covenant, or to become unmerciful at the instigation of unmerciful men. Here let us quote the declaration of Stephen. See Acts vii, 51-54: 'Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.' saw their dreadful state; they felt the force words of Stephen and could not withstand it; they knew his testimony was true; therefore it cut them to the heart. They had received the law, but had not

They now

of those

kept it, and the judgments written were against them. On them Jesus had pronounced the damnation of hell ; but let it be noticed, that Jesus pronounced on them nothing, which was not written in their law; as a faithful judge, to whom all judgment was committed, he would not go beyond the statutes and judgments of his Father.

But it is time to consider,

2. That the Scriptures do, in a direct and positive manner, insure us the joyful hope for which we are now seeking. See Isaiah xlv, 25: In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.' See how this testimony, so directly to the point in question, is introduced: verses 22, 23, 24: Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed *against him shall be ashamed.' If this oath of Jehovah be ever fulfilled, universal submission to God and his righteousness must be the consequence. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. Let us see the ground of this justification. Observe, particularly, it is in the Lord. See Rom. iv, 25: 'Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. V. 18: Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.' St. Paul not only notices the darkness and blindness of the house of Israel, in his 11th chapter to

the Romans, in a very ample manner, but is careful to direct a particular and most luminous argument to show that those blinded Jews will at last obtain salvation. Thus he argues: 'I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches. For if thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert 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? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For 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. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he