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Pity the nations, O our God,

- Conftrain the world to come;

Send Thy victorious Word abroad,

And bring the ftrangers home

He does pity them-He will bring them home: He is come, that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly*. Unlikely,' nay impoffible, as it may appear to men, it is certain to take place, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. This leads me,

II. To the second thing propofed, which is to confider the blessed in gathering of the poor Gentiles.

IT hath already been hinted, that, at the day of Penticoft, there was a firft-fruits of this bleffed harvest, and that, from thence, the joyful found was taken to the greatest part of the then known world; and, from that time, the holy leaven has been fermenting, nor will it ceafe-till the knowledge of the ever-bleffed God shall cover the earth as the water covers the fea-till all fhall know the Lord, from the leaft unto the greateft; for a precious Chrift is lift up as an enfign to the people, and, to Him, fhall the Gentiles feek, and fhall find a blessed reft in Him, for it fhall be Glory itself.

2. He has already been lifted upon the Crofs, the just for the unjuft, when he bare the fins of all-gave himself a ranfom for all, fatisfied the Juftice which we had provoked, removed that Curfe which was our just demerit, and opened the Kingdom to every ftruggling foul. He will,

P 2

John x. ro.

will, therefore, affert his claim, his lawful claim, and a ranfomed world fhall be his; every knee fhall bow, and every tongue fhall confefs him to be Lord to the glory of the Father. The ranfomed of the Lord shall return to Zien with fongs, and a goodly company shall they be, when they fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows.

3. CHRIST is now lifted up on the Gofpel Pole, and he will afcend higher and higher, and a way feems to be preparing for his name to be fpread into all lands.-We preach Chrift crucified and what should we preach elfe? There is falvation in no other name. We preach him the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. We preach him the Way-the Truth-and the Life. We preach him our Wisdom to direct us-our Sanctification; that is, his blood fhall cleanse us, and will compleatly redeem us. Thus we preach him-Prophet, Prieft, and King-a prefent help in time of need; yea, our divine Pattern, and eternal and foul-fatisfying Portion.

4. To Him, it is faid, fhall the Gentiles feek: and unto whom should they feek? Should not a people feek unto their God? *—They fhall feek unto him for pardon, life, and falvation: therefore they fhall feel the neceflity of thefe mercies; for none will feek for them till they feel their want of them. And by what means are they brought to fee their need of them? Undoubtedly by the Gofpel being preached to them, and the pouring out of the Spirit. They will feek to Him for direction and fafety; for they will clearly perceive it is not to be found

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any where befides. They will hear him fay,-Look unto me, and be ye faved, all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none befides me *.

5. BUT will this great work, this general in-gathering, take place? It is much talked of; but is it not all the noise of imagination To the law, and the teftimony, and not the teftimony of men, however wife or true, but the teftimony of God. Afk of me, fays the Father, and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession t. He did afk eternal life for them; ‡ and he is still asking, and will be so, as long as he ever lives to make interceffion for tranfgreffors ¶. And to fhew, that, with God, nothing is impoffible, it is faid,-The daughter of Tyre shall be there, in that general confluence to a precious Chrift; yea, it is added,—The rich fhill intreat thy favour. The fweet Singer of Ifrael might well exclaim,-Make a joyful noife unto God, all lands: :fing forth the honour of his name. Say unto God, how terrible is thy works! through the greatness of thy power fball thine enemies fubmit themselves unto thee !-Then, how delightful is the next verfe-All the earth fhall worship thee, and fhall fing unto thee; they shall fing to thy name ! § How charming is the found of this last verfe! It breathes the very spirit of the bleffed time it fpeaks of. The fe venty-fecond Pfalm was originally compofed to celebrate Solomon's peaceful reign; but certainly it can but refer

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to him in a very limited fenfe, and, confequently, in its full fenfe, can only be applicable to the dear Redeemer. Weigh the following paffage well :—In' his day's fhall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace fo long as the moon endureth. He fhall have dominion from fea to fea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness fhall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick his duft. The kings of Tarfish, and of the ifles, shall bring prefents the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts-yɛa, alt kings fhall fall down before him; and all nations shall ferve him*.

SOLOMON's reign was not coœeval with the moon, nor was his dominion to the ends of the earth; all kings did not fall down before him, nor did all nations ferve him. Hence, then, a greater than Solomon is here intended: But though this was not fulfilled in Solomon, yet it is, and shall be, fulfilled in Solomon's Son and Lord, when he shall take unto him his great power, and shall triumph.. Much to the fame purpose he speaks again: I will make mention of Rabab and Balylon to them that know me: behold, Philiftia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: this man was born. there +. Here are five nations, which feemed as diftant from God and all Religion, as any under heaven: all have been bitter and formidable enemies to the Ifrael of God. Rakab, that is, Eyt, held them in cruel bondage a long time, and fo did Balyl-yet unto these the promife is; and Ethiopia, very probable, may include the whole quarter of Africa. Indeed, to apply the glorious. ftate of the Church, defcribed in the fweet little Pfalm. quoted

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quoted above, either to the time of Solomon, or any other period short of the latter day glory, is to curtail and fhrivel up the paffage far beneath the dignity of the defign. Farther, it is added,-Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory of his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.-O. worfhip the Lord in the beauty of hilinefs fear before him all the earth. Say among the heathen, that the Lord reigneth: the world alfo fhall be eftablifhed, that it shall not be moved *. This is to be declared among the heathen, the very people for whom I am pleading; and by eftablishing the world, it must be the moral world, which he will eftablish in righteoufnefs and true holiness, which is the Mount Sion, which must stand: faft for ever. Mark, he fpeaks of fomething that is to take place when the Fullness of the Gentiles fhall be brought in when the bleffed Root of Jeffe fhall be fet up an enfign to the heathen every where. Then shall this. fong be fung,-The Lord hath made known his falvation; his righteoufnefs bath be openly fhewed in the fight of the heathen: therefore, all the ends of the earth fall fee the falvation of God. Then it will be faid,-Make a joyful noife unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and fing praife f. Here we fee the fummons is general, and all the earth is to take a part in this grand concert. The Hundredth Pfalm is of the fame general tenor, -All the earth is called upon to ferve the Lord with gladness, and come before his prefence with thanksgiving....

5. WE

Pfalm xcvi. 7.

† xcviii. 4.

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