but feel a great defire that fo glorious an event may take place, and which we affuredly believe, feeing Jehovah hach faid it.

2. BUT is he the God of the Jews only, and not of the Gentiles? Yes, verily, of the Gentiles alfo, feeing that One God, who is over all, is rich unto all that obey him: And will the Gentiles obey him? A fmall remnant have already done this; but this is but a drop before the shower. The ftandard, the enfign, is already fet up, and a few ftragglers have advanced to the fame: but when it fhall be lifted from afar, then shall the out-cafts of mankind be gathered in; yea, the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of his Chrift for ever.

3. By the root of Jeffe, in the text, we are, undoubtedly, to understand the ever-adorable Jefus, called, in the first verse, the Stem, which shall come forth from him, and a Branch which fhall grow out of his Roots. Hence he fays, I am the Root and the Offspring of David *. Both places need a little explanation, or there appears a contradiction. As touching his divine nature, he is the Root of Jeffe, and, confequently, the Root of David: but as touching his human nature, he is the Branch which grows from the Root of Jeffe, and, confequently, the Offspring of David. This very thing puzzled the combined forces, both-Scribes, Pharifees, and Sadducees, when he asked them, Whofe Son Chrift was? They anfwered, David's. Well, then, faid he, why does David call: him Lord? Saying, the Lord jaid unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hund, until I make thine enemies thy foot tool. If David, therefore,

O 3

Rev. xxii. 16.

therefore, call him Lord, how is he his Son? *

As touching

his divinity, he is David's Lord; and, as touching his humanity, he is David's Son.This bleffed Root, this bleffed Offspring, is lifted up upon the Crofs, and upon the Gospel Pole, like the ferpent in the wilderness, that every ruined finner may look and be faved.

4 BUT in the bleffed time referred to, he will ftand up, not barely paffive, but active: it will be emphatically his dav, fo that he will take an active part in the great revolution which shall then take place, when the Heathen shall become his inheritance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth his poffeffion. Obferve, this whole Chapter refers to a time which hath not yet taken place, but is as fure to come as God hath spoken it; then fhall the Gentiles flow to this bleffed enfign;-such a turn fhall take place, that they hall feek unto their dear Redeemer, and a glorious reft they fhall find in him; or, as the Hebrew word is, his reft fhall be glory, † which may refer, either to the glory of that time, or to that which fhall be after the Refurrection: but I rather think it refers to the glory of the latter days. A time of glory indeed, when the kingdoms fhall be the Lord's for ever!

BUT it is high time to attend to the main defign of this Difcourfe, in which it may be proper,

I. To take a little notice of the present ftate of the Gentiles.

11. Their bleffed in-gathering.

1. I purpose taking a little notice of the present flate of the Gentiles; and truly it is deplorable enough. But

• Pf. cx. 1.—Matt. xxii. 42, 43.

before

כבור +

before I proceed, it may be neceffary to define the term,

has a variety of meanings; it literally means the nations, and, therefore, may include all nations, if underftood indefinitively. But most commonly it means all nations which are not defcended from Abraham; hence the Turks and Arabs are not included in that number, because they sprang from Abraham, not by Sarah, yet from Agar. Indeed, it often means fuch as were ftrangers, and ene mies to God. So a critic, in the Hebrew language, obferves, *It is of en fpoken concerning the unbelieving nations, who are ftrangers to true faith in God, and to the Commonwealth of Ifrael. Hence the Jews called the Christians by that name, confidering them as an abominable nation. Ufually, the term means fuch as were unacquainted with God. Hence St. Paul exhorts the believers not to walk as the Gentiles-which know not God. But here we may understand it in a more general latitude; for all, who are not Jews, as that is a common distinction of the world, and fo we are to underftand that word, where Chrift is faid to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Ifrael.

2. THIS being premised, let us take a fhort view of the state of the Gentiles, as they ftand at prefent. Among a confiderable part of the Gentiles, the Gofpel has been preached, infomuch, that the Apoftle applies to the Gofpel what is faid of the heavenly bodies, viz. Their line is

gone

MASæpius dicitur de Gentibus infidelibus & incredulis, a vera fide in Deum & republica Ifraelis alienis, quæ id circo Deo abominatio fuerunt hine Judæi appellarunt ac etiamnum appellant Chriftianos a quafi gen. tem abominabilem. Buxtorf Lex.

gone through all the earth, and their circuit to the ends of it. It is very probable the joyful found was taken from the feast of pentecoft, to most of the known parts of the world; and though it might shine for a little while, as a light in a dark place, yet it was foon enveloped in thick clouds of fuperftition, until at laft it feemed extinguished. in ignorance and barbarity.

AND even in a few centuries the Roman empire itself was over-run with fwarms of barbarians, such as the Huns, Goths and Vandals, utterly deftitute of either religion or learning of any fort, nor fo much as civilized. Thefe rude nations over turned every thing which came in their way; defaced the monuments of the Roman grandeur, and demolished every thing facred which ftood in their

way.

AND even still, the regions from whence thofe barbarians came are in ftupid ignorance. Thofe parts in a great measure, are in the Ruffian empire; and though a very great change hath taken place, from the time of Peter the Great, who introduced trade and learning among them; yet there are many nations in that vast dominion who yet remain little better than favages.

3. To give a short sketch of their prefent ftate-In what is called, Finland-Lapland, 'tis faid they worship an idol called Jumaloe, and though a little improved fince the time of Guftavus Adolphus, they content themselves with worshipping one God under various rude forms, and and have fcarce any kind of laws either human or divine; but in many cafes every man does that which is right in his own eyes, and though reckoned to be under the dominion of Ruffia, little notice is taken of them, being at too great a

distance

distance from the feat of government, and the region not very tempting. More remote fill is the region called Ukraine, the inhabitants of which are called Coffacks, a tribe of rude Tartars, roving from place to place; and ftill more remote the Zoperavians,a defperate banditti of cruel robbers; and fo little fenfe of either religion or decency have they, that it is faid, bothers have often children by their fifters and fathers by their daughters; it is true, there are fome few Greek priefts among them; but very probable they are nearly as ftupid and ignorant as themfelves. *

4. STILL more north-east is the nation of the Samaiedes who live in caverns and huts, and like the ancient Manichees, have fome dark notions of a good and bad principle, one the author of all good, and the other the author of all evil. It is faid, they have no term in their language for either vice or virtue. Some of them being brought to Moscow, they were furprized at every thing which they faw, and regarded the Emperor as God.

5. BELOW the country of Samaiedes, lies that of the Oftarks, chiefly a fet of hunters, fifhers and fhepherds, fome of these are faid to have no fort of religion, and others

* Mufcovy and Ruffia, these vaft countries, which are not lefs than fix thousand leagues in length, and four thousand in breadth, being in great part, still idolaters, and in part Schifmatics, fuch as Greeks Armenians, who have introduced fo many fuperftitious practices, into their worship. that there fcarce remains any conformity with us among them; befides that they belɔng to Afia as much as to Europe, we may indeed almost confider them as a barbarous country, and place them in the fame clifs with Turkey, though for thefe five hundred years, we have ranked them among the chriftian powers.-Duke of Sully's Memoirs, vol. 6, page 77.