their whole conduct. Not " a blossom or a bud" of true godliness is to be seen among them : and so far are they from '*. filling the world with fruit," that they are altogether immersed in selfishness, and lost to every thing but worldly gain.
But far other things are reserved for them. The time is coming when they shall be established in knowledge, fertile in piety, and abundant in useful- ness throughout the world —
1. They shall be established in the knowledge of the true Messiah —
[They shall yet, I doubt not, take root" in their own land. So plainly is their future restoration foretold, that, if I did not know that some pious persons entertain doubts respect- ing it, I should be ready to say, it is impossible for any one who believes the Scriptures to question it. But with this, the Society which advocates their cause has nothing to do. It is with their spiritual concerns alone that we are called to interest ourselves : and we are fully assured, that our labour, in this respect, shall not be in vain. They have hitherto been ever ready to run after false Messiahs. Indeed, they have never conceived aright respecting the character of the Messiah whom God has promised to them, nor of the nature of that kingdom which he will establish in the earth. But the time is coming, when the veil shall be taken from their hearts ; and when they shall see, beyond a possibility of doubt, that Jesus is the Christ. They have in their own Scriptures that which will tend to their establishment far beyond any other people on earth : and we may well expect, that, when they shall be brought to the knowledge of Christ, they will " take root" in him with a firmness that shall never be shaken. They will see how the whole of their ceremonial law shadows him forth ; and how the moral law also directs them to him. They will see that all the prophets, with one voice, point to him as the pro- mised Messiah : and, from this weight of evidence, they will feel a conviction, which heathens can scarcely ever attain. Exceeding deep will be their insight into the truths of the Gospel, when God shall " reveal to them," as he has promised, " the abundance of peace and truth*:" " The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven- fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord shall bind up the breach of his people, and heal the stroke of their woundV When once " they shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn," so clear will be their views, and so
a Jer. xxxiii. G. h Isai. xxx. 26.