Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

fea, and all that is therein; the ifles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voices, the villages that Kedar (that is, the black people) doth inhabit : let the inhabitants of the rock fing, let them shout from the tops of the mountains *. Such will be the triumphant language of the latter day, glory. To proceed :---Fear not, O Jacob, my fervant; and thou Ifrael, whom I have shofen: for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods. upon the dry ground. And to fhew that it is not material water alone that is meant, he adds,—I will pour my Spirit upon thy feed, and my blessing upon thine offspring and they fhall fpring up as among the grass, and as willows by the water-courfes.-One shall fay, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall fubfcribe with his hand unto the Lord, and furname himself by the name of Ifrael +. Then will the Lord command the heavens. from above, and the earth from beneath, faying, Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteoufness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth falvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created itt. And what less than a general out pouring of the Spirit can produce fuch a general obedience unto God, as is thus expreffed among the high ranks of mankind?-And kings fhall be thy nurfing-fathers, and queens thy nursingmothers: and, fpeaking to the Church, it is added, They

* Ifa. xlii, 10,, II.

↑ Ibid xliv. 3, 4, 5•

Ibid xlv. 8.

They hall bow down to thee with their face to the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me *.

6. WE are very fure, let the Word be preached with ever fuch clearness, yet if it is not attended with the unction of the Spirit, it will but be a dead letter: it is, therefore, the Spirit that quickeneth. Hence one can but admire the honour which our Lord was pleased to decline, but which he put upon his fervants: for we find very few clearly convinced, or truly converted, by his Ministry. But he told his Difciples, that he would make them fishers of men; and fo he did, and blessed captors were taken by them: And fo, in like manner, in the bleffed day of Chrift's glory, it is faid,-For as the rain cometh down from heaven and returneth not thither again, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give feed to the fower, and bread to the eater; so shall my Word be which goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please; and it fhall profper whereunto I fend it †. Nor fhall this promise fall to the ground, but fhall be fully accomplished in its time. Let us fetch one arrow more from this blessed quiver-For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden caufeth the things that are fown in it to fpring forth; fo the Lord God will caufe righteousness and praife to fpring forth before all nations. Now

we

*Ifa. xlix. 23.

+ Ibid lv. 10.

Ibid lxi. 11.

we find these promises are quite in the general ftile; there is no nation, or people, to whom they are limited, but are as general as the wants of poor creatures can be, and entirely coincide with the text, that is,-the Spirit fhall be poured out upon all flesh.

7. JEREMIAH lived in dark and dreary times, and hence he is ftiled "The Weeping Prophet." But he had his bright intervals, and speaks of better days. After thofe days (doleful and dark as they were) faith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they all be my people.-And they fhall teach no more every man his brother, faying, Know the Lord: for they fhall all know me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, faith the Lord: for Iwill forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their fins no more*. But fome may be ready to fay, these promises belong to the Jews; for the Houfe of Ifrael and the House of Judah are mentioned by name, and likewise their fathers in Egypt. 'Tis true, this laft promife is made in a peculiar manner to the Jews, but, as it belongs to the glory of the latter day, it will be equally extended unto all people; for it is the promife of the Spirit to work those heavenly tempers, and to bring about that great and glorious event, and that faving knowledge unto

all men.

8. THE words of Ezekiel are too important to be paffed by. Then will I fprinkle clean water upon you,

*Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.

and

No,

and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanfe you.---A new heart will I also give you, and a new Spirit will I also put within you: I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.--- And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my Statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them*. What a bright train of precious promises is here! but they have not yet fhone out in their full luftre. that is reserved for the glory of the latter day-then fhall they have their full accomplishment. That these promises are not yet accomplished, is plain from hence, in that they were primarily and originally made to the Jews, though by no means confined to them: but we fee the Jews ftill remain in their infidelity---their idols are not yet removed---their heart of stone is not yet taken away, nor have they yet received the heart of flesh. But, however, the promise is fure, and will be accomplished in its time; for God is not a man that he fhould lie, or the Son of Man that he should repent.

9. THE Prophet Hofea adds his teftimony to his brethren who had gone before him; and, referring to the general effufion, brings in the Lord, faying, I will be as the dew unto Ifrael: he shall grow as the lily, and caft forth his roots like Lebanon.-- His branches shall fpread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and and his fmell as Lebanon.---They that dwell under his

#Ezek. xxxvi. 25—27.

shadow

shadow shall return: they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; the fcent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. It is well known that dew is a great refreshment to the earth, and a prime cause of its fertility, and more especially in thofe hot countries where they had but two general feasons of rain, commonly called the former and the latter rain. Now the dew is, therefore, a happy emblem of the refreshing and fruitful' influences of the Divine Spirit. Thence Mofes fays, My doctrine shall drop as the rain, and my speech shall diftil as the dew, as the fmall rain upon the tender herb, and as showers upon the grafs †. Thus, like the dew, fhall the gracious Spirit fpread the benign influence, and visit all the parched ground of human hearts; fo fhall the Great Jehovah rain down righteoufnefs, and shall cause it to spring forth to his praife: For it shall come to pass in that gospel day, that living waters shall go out from Jerufalem; half of them towards the former fea, and half of them toward the latter fea; and in fummer and in winter it shall be 1.

10. THUS fhall the univerfal Lover of the human

race fend that univerfal Helper; fhall pour out that bleffed Spirit of Promise upon all flesh in a more glorious manner than we have ever yet feen or known. Indeed, it is not for us to know the times and the feafons, which the Father hath referved in his own. power, fo as to afcertain the time when this mighty effufion fhall be difplayed; for, fecret things belong to

God,

*Hofea xiv. 5, 6, 7.

Deut. xxxii. 2.

Zach. xiv. 8.

« ZurückWeiter »