ing the Gospel, for the sake of the Gentiles; so they shall become friends, as touching the same Gospel, for the sake of the Gentiles also; communicating to them in the largest measure the abundant promises of the covenant of grace 3.

What an encouraging, what a transporting reflection is this! What a view does it open of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Does it not lead us to expect, that a reviving piety is to spread (may I not say, is now spreading) through the Christian communities; that this will proceed till the fulness of the Gentiles comes in, and is beginning to burst upon the world? This new ardour of the Christian body, we may be allowed to hope, will excite the attention of the Jews, and will gradually lead to wise and persevering efforts for their instruction and salvation. The Jews shall catch the flame and be turned to the Lord, and shall then become the instruments of reaping the fulness of that harvest, of which they themselves were the first fruits. They shall become the heralds of the Saviour's approach, the witnesses of his Gospel, and the trophies of his grace, in every part of the world. The truth and power of the Christian faith shall gain the understanding and heart of every people. Nations shall be born

3 See again Jewish Expositor, vol. i. p. 41.

at once, till at length the shout of triumph shall resound through the vaults of heaven The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Perhaps it may be too hazardous to assert, that this will be the exact succession of the divine proceedings. We cannot be too much on our guard here. It is enough for us to believe, generally, that in something of a similar order, an effusion of the Spirit on the Gentile Church, shall be the means of the conversion of the Jews; and their conversion, in return, the instrument of bringing in and accomplishing the fulness of the Gentile world.

If this then be the account given us in the Scriptures of the future prospects of the Jews, we may proceed to consider,

III. THE DUTY OF CHRISTIANS WITH REGARD TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

This may be inferred generally from the language of the text, connected with the acknowledged duties of charity incumbent on every Christian. But it will be more directly to my purpose to confine myself to the design of the apostle in the particular argument of my text. This, as I have already noticed, was to promote humility amongst the Gentile converts, and to

excite their compassion for the fallen house of Israel. For this end he remarks, in the introductory words, which now alone remain for our consideration, For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. Are there any dif ficulties, then, which may occur to us as to the duties consequent on the topics we have been considering? To such difficulties I oppose THE APOSTLE'S INJUNCTION, NOT TO BE IGNORANT OF THIS MYSTERY: while to any secret contempt or indifference for the pitiable state of the Jews, I oppose THE APOSTLE'S CAUTION, NOT TO BE WISE

IN OUR OWN CONCEITS.

To the various difficulties which may arise in the mind of the Christian on the subject before us, and on the duty of attempting the conversion of the Jews, it is sufficient to reply, that A DE

LIBERATE

CONSIDERATION OF THE MYSTERY OF THE DIVINE COUNSELS WITH REGARD TO THIS EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE, Will tend to stimulate our exertions in their behalf. For if the Apostle declares, that the present blindness and future conversion of Israel involve some of those secret depths of the divine wisdom which are unfathomable to our narrow comprehensions, which would never have been known without a revelation from heaven, and which, when known as to the fact, yet include, though not in the same degree with the inscrutable mysteries of

the blessed Trinity, of the incarnation of Christ, and the union of the divine and human natures in his person, yet much that is profound and inexplicable as to the manner of the accomplishment of such fact, we have evidently sufficient grounds for silent faith and adoration. The

length of time, it is true, is great during which this blindness has continued on the Jews; the obduracy is accompanied with extreme suffering and degradation; the peculiar difficulties in attempting their conversion are formidable; the hope of success, so far as man is concerned, is faint; the mutual hatred between the Jew and Christian is deeply rooted; the prospect of their being united in the one spiritual church of the one divine Saviour is apparently incredible; all this may be true-and yet the mystery of the divine will in permitting such sufferings, and in ordaining and bringing to pass such a termination of them, may be only the more admirable and glorious. And surely the declaration of the Apostle, that the whole subject is mysterious, should prevent any feeling of despondency from resting on our minds.

If such a feeling does arise, it must spring from our being ignorant of the profound and gracious design of God, and is to be removed by our becoming in some adequate manner acquainted with it. An ignorance of the future will of God, as to the Jews, is a fatal impedi

ment to persevering efforts for their conversion; a knowledge of it is the most powerful motive. If men will not study the word of prophecy, and contemplate with faith and hope the glowing promises of the divine word, they will of course be slow and indecisive in their measures. But the Christian, who is not ignorant of this mystery, will stop at no difficulties, will listen to no suggestions of mere reason and appearsnce, will rejoice in every endeavour for benefitting and saving the fallen people of God, will inquire with humble diligence into the signs of the times in which he lives, and will meet, like Daniel, the approaching mercies of heaven with fervent prayer and obedient exertion.

Not that he will dare minutely to dive into the precise manner in which God may be about to accomplish his own purpose. No : he will remember how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. He will wait, with holy submission, till God remove the vail from his own proceedings. But this submission is perfectly different from a voluntary ignorance of that general order of his will, which God has revealed in his word as to the destinies of the Israelitish nation, and is quite consistent with a humble study of the divine oracles, a diligent comparison of the prophecies of the Old Testament with those of the New, and an ardent