virtues, and abounding in the sublimest graces ; " their very brass becoming gold ; their iron, silver ; their wood, brass ; and their stones, iron." Such was the change wrought on the converts on the day of Pentecost : and who could be at a loss to find the Author of it? The creation itself does not more loudly proclaim its divine original, than this work does, where- ever it is wrought : and to the person's own conscience it bears witness, " I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Reedcmer, the Mighty one of Jacob."]
Let me now call your attention to,
III. The interest which the whole world has in the accomplishment of them —
Look at the present state whether of the Jewish or Gentile world —
[Truly, wherever we turn our eyes, we see nothing but sin and misery. " All the foundations of the earth are out of course1." In private life, how little of God is seen ! In com- munities, what " oppression, what violence, what wasting and destruction," fill the world ! Say, Is there not a call for such a change as has been described ? Methinks " the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together," till it be accomplished k.]
Contemplate, on the other hand, the predicted change —
[Our prophet beautifully describes it in another place '• " The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fading together ; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together ; and the Hon shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking-child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea 1," This exactly accords with the representation which we have been considering. Peace and holiness will pervade the whole Church : yea, such peace will the Church enjoy, that it shall need no walls or gates for its protection : " her walls shall be salvation, and her gates be praise." With such a ful- ness of blessings, too, shall she be enriched, that no created comforts shall be wanted by her to administer their light : neither " sun nor moon" can add to her; for " the Lord him- self will be a light unto her, and her God her glory." Nor
1 Ps. lxxxii. 5. k Rom. viii. 22. ' Isai. xi. G — 9.