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fies the wounded conscience, and bindeth up the broken heart; to communion with the Father of their Spirits, to the consolations of the everlasting gospel, to the resurrection of the just, where they shall again embrace the pious dead, and join with them in singing Victory to the Lamb who hath redeemed us from among men, and made us kings and priests unto God for ever and ever.'

"If, leaving home, we look towards the continent, and behold the miseries of our brethren of mankind, can we refrain from weeping. There both the devouring sword and the wasting famine have combined their influence, and borne away the sons of men as with a flood, and swept them from the face of the earth as with the besom of destruction. Oh! that I could, in imagination only, lead you to those scenes which thousands have just realized; but who can describe, who can conceive the horrors of the field of battle? There you would learn those lessons of the heart we this day inculcate, in a manner never again to be forgotten. There the angel of christian sympathy has taken her stand, and mingles her tears with the living, the dying, and the dead; nor can the din of arms, nor the sight of garments rolled in blood, remove her from her object so long as one individual remains, whose pangs she can soften, and whose sufferings she can relieve; but no sooner is her work accomplished on the gory plain, than she spreads her balmy wings, and visits every country, wide as the tidings of desolation have extended, and with soothing aspect enters alike the cottages of the peasant, and the palaces of kings; for 'she seeketh not her own,' she comes 'not to be ministered unto,' but to administer the consolations of religion.

"II. The reasons I assign why you should thus weep with them that weep are directed to you as men and christians; but I view the exercise, in the first place, as an immediate dictate of nature; and, secondly, as an important duty of christianity.

We take our leave of this long established, and interesting society, with prayers for its present welfare-its future prosperity-its abundant increase. Per

haps our readers may think we have detained them too long; but we entreat them to remember, that we have been tracing the history of religion in the neighbourhood of St. Katherine's, during a period of about seven hundred years; and of Nonconformity more than one hundred and sixty. It is true, we feel interested on this subject; for we believe that societies like the one of which we have given an imperfect sketch, compose the kingdom of Christ, and the church of the living God. As they multiply, a world of violence, confusion, and disorder, will become a kingdom of righteousness, and love, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Peace be within the sacred place,
And joy a constant guest;
With holy gifts and heavenly grace,
Be its attendants blest!

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THE

A RELIGIOUS AND LITERARY JOURNAL.

"AS EVERY MAN HATH RECEIVED THE GIFT, SO MINISTER THE SAME ONE TO ANOTHER."

No. 18.]

THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1829.

[PRICE 3d.

LECTURES BY THE ASSOCIATED INDEPENDENT MINISTERS OF LONDON.

LECTURE IV.-THE ASPECT OF PROPHECY RESPECTING THE PRESENT AND FUTURE STATE OF THE JEWS.

BY THE REV. W. B. COLLYER, D.D., F.A.S.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; for I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall says Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."-Matt. xxiii. 37-39.

THIS is inimitably beautiful and pathetic: highly impassioned, but perfectly natural, and inexpressibly touching, on account of its simplicity. Ponderosity of expression is generally connected with superficialness, and it would seem as if it wanted the power of language to give it effect. The addresses of JESUS CHRIST scorn all affectation; and the graceful ease of his language is most conspicuous. In the deep intonations of passion we are generally carried into excess and extravagance; and mere sentimentalism is betrayed either by the real coldness or affected warmth of its expression.

To the Son of God in the course of his earthly pilgrimage, there were some few occasions on which he discovered powerful excitement, and this is one of them. He was surrounded by the Scribes and Pharisees, the self-elected teachers and guardians of public morals: they were enrolled among the rulers of the people, and filled the seats of magistracy. They conducted themselves with the greatest haughtiness, and were severely rigid in the practices they enjoined. Their practices were designed to cover the deepest hypocrisy, and the most reckless vices. The veil of hypocrisy in which they wrapped themselves, sometimes concealed their true character from men; but the hand of JESUS lifted it up, and exposed their inwrought depravity. His Holy Spirit was roused; his anger was kindled; and as he spake against their abominable excesses, the law seemed again to hear its own thunders, and to

VOL. I.

be clothed in those flashes of lightning which originally brake forth from the mountain, while clouds and darkness rested upon it. He poured forth against them woe after woe, and the sentences rang through the chambers of their hearts like the voice of the archangel, which shall rouse the dead from their slumbers. Here all is dignified and tender; and the whole centres in that burst of tenderness which you have so often admired ;"O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD."

The subject assigned me for discussion this day is, "THE ASPECT OF PROPHECY

RESPECTING THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

STATE OF THE JEWS."-The reasons for which I have chosen this passage, are twofold;-first, because of the authority which is impressed upon it. It is the language of HIM who is faithful and true of HIM to whom all the prophets gave witness of HIM, therefore, whose language must be decisive, and who seals their declarations by his own words: and, secondly, because these words include both topics of discussion :-their present state" Behold, your house is left unto you desolate :" their future statę

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-"Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD." In relation to these two great principles established on such authority, it will be expected that I should examine the general aspect of prophecy. This I shall endeavour to do by illustrating and confirming four propositions.

I. THAT THE JEWS ARE DISPERSED ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR SINS, AND IN CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR FILLING UP THE MEASURE OF THEIR INIQUITIES.

It must be expected that I can only make a selection of predictions; and in attending to these, we must endeavour to distinguish between what is literal, and what is figurative; and proceed according to the canons of interpretation which are generally laid down. I shall refer you to one of the most copious predictions which can be found on this subject. It is contained in Deuteronomy xxviii. from the 49th verse: "The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young; and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed? which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land, and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy GOD hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee." And again from the 64th verse:-" And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth, even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease; neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind; and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou

shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy llfe: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even; and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning; for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes, wherewith thou shalt see. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again; and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen, and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you."

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I have only selected a part of this solemn and terrible prophecy referring to the calamities which they should undergo, and their personal afflictions and distresses when they should be dispersed among all nations. That all this is not a conjecture of fancy, a cunning calculation, or the result of inferences drawn from character, is evident from the fact that these calamities were not to be inflicted by any of the surrounding nations, but by a nation from from far,"-a nation whose very language they did not understand. I have preferred selecting this passage, as it came from the lips of the Jewish legislator himself-as it was spoken before they entered Canaan-as it is so full and minute-and as it must apply to their general dispersion : "The LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other.' From these words, it would seem to point out their final dispersion, and to express the condition in which they now remain. It is true that much of this language will apply to the general calamities of war, introducing misery, and sorrow, and want; rending asunder all the natural charities of life; and making men familiar with those scenes, at the very mention of which the heart generally sickens. All this has found its parallel in the history of other people. These are the melancholy annals of all nations, in all ages of time; written, not by the historian, but by the warrior, by the hero so called; and written, not with pen and ink, but with the point of the sword and blood. Some part of this prophecy was fulfilled by the ASSYRIANS; but it had to be filled up and completed by the ROMANS. And how very strikingly are they here characterized! A far distant nation, "a people from the end of the earth”—the Romans under Vespasian and Adrian; whose ensign was "the eagle," and whose

conquests were as rapid as the flight of that bird; whose language was unknown to the Jews; whose very "countenance was fierce" and warlike; whose conduct was rough and unyielding. And, as stated in this comprehensive prediction, but few Jews have been permitted to remain in the land; it is occupied chiefly by the Turks, with the exception of some British; while its original possessors are dispersed over all nations, "from the one end of the earth even to the other." According to this prediction, also, they were many of them sent into Egypt, and employed as slaves; and so little were they prized, that nearly twelve thousand of them are said to have perished from want; crowds of them were sent to the slavemarkets, and could rarely find purchasers at any price.

In those countries where idolatry is practised, they have been exposed to a variety of persecutions. In catholic countries they have been deprived of their rights, their property has been confiscated, and, in Spain and Portugal especially, thousands of their children were compelled to be baptized. They have been driven from their own land one after another. They have suffered deeply from extortion and from fraud. Their children have been forcibly taken from them, and educated by strangers. They have been more severely persecuted by those called Christians, than even by Pagans and Mohamedans. And though time has very considerably ameliorated their condition, they are still without a country, and even England has refused to naturalize them.

Such is the aspect of prophecy as to the present state of the Jews. And WHY is all this? Moses has assigned as a cause, their national sins, and their forgetfulness of GOD. But Moses also points out a great PROPHET, to whom he declared they would be disobedient at their peril. David also points out disobedience to HIM as the cause of their ruin. Isaiah points out the indignities which He would suffer at their hands, as well as the vengeance with which they should be visited. Daniel also speaks of the scourge being upon them, and of their being made desolate "because of the overspreading of abominations." The stone laid in Zion became to them "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence:" thus they filled up the measure of their iniquities; and wrath came upon them to their destruc

tion, in consequence of their rejection of the MESSIAH. I advance to a

IInd proposition;-namely,THAT THEY

ARE RESERVED FOR A FUTURE RESTORATION.

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There is a beautiful expression used by the Almighty in the prophecies of Ezekiel, 'Although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. "" "A little sanctuary:" large enough to contain the whole remnant of Israel, small enough to suit every man's personal circumstances. This compression and expansion well suits the Promiser in his wisdom and his greatness. The whole passage is well worthy attention;Ezek. xi. 16-20, "Thus saith the LORD GOD, Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say, Thus saith the LORD GOD, I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come hither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof, from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you: and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them and they shall be my people, and I will be their GOD." Whatever accomplishment the prediction may already have had, it will not be entire till the stone is taken from the heart of the Jews; and more, when their state is consummated according to the testimony of Jeremiah, ch. xxxi. 31-37, 'Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt: (which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord;) but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days saith the LORD I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: and will be their GOD, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man

his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them, unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith

the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the LORD of hosts is his name.

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done saith the LORD." That all this can imply no more than a temporary preservation from a local captivity, such as that of Babylon, is an outrage upon common sense, and a violation of all reason and propriety. It must have reference to something more, and in Rom. xi. 1, we have this reference :-" I say then, Hath GoD cast away his people? GOD forbid! God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to GOD against Israel, saying, LORD, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of GOD unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the

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image of Baal. Even so at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace." And again at the eleventh verse 66 ;- 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 ?" The fact meets us daily, together with the pledge of the fulfilment of prophecy. The Jews everywhere maintain their distinction; and for this no natural cause can be assigned. Their cherished opinion that they shall return to their own land;

the peculiarity of their religious rites and institutions; these and some other things may tend to mark their distinction; but all these cannot account for

their preservation and distinction. All is to be found in the divine power guarding the divine purpose, as well as in the parallel case of Ishmael. All efforts to ascertain and unite the various tribes of this people, have nearly, if not altogether, failed; and as equally vain have been all the efforts made for their destruction. Empires whose foundations seemed to be laid firm as the everlasting hills, and whose rocks and mountains seemed to rival the fields of nature; these have melted away till they became shadows of themselves; and some of the most glorious have vanished as a dream and left no trace behind them. But the poor and despised Jews, though the ploughshare has passed over their beloved city, and though they themselves have been scattered and trampled under foot, are still preserved, spite of all efforts to destroy them. They must, therefore, be preserved for a future restoration. I observe

IIIdly. THEY SHALL RECEIVE THE MESSIAH IN THE SPIRITUALITY OF HIS KINGDOM.

This is the first aspect of prophecy as to the future state of the Jews. It is said in Amos ix. 9, " For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." So careful a preservation cannot be for an end and purpose less glorious than their conversion to HIM "of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, JESUS of Nazareth." This will be admitted by all who pay any deference to the word of God: for there are no views which can be taken of the glory of the latter day in which the JEWS do not bear a part; yea, a most DISTINGUISHED part. The LIGHT which is to lighten the GENTILES will also be the GLORY of his people ISRAEL. The argument of the apostle is conclusive, Rom. ii. 25-36. "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 Zion the Deliverer, and he 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.

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