reformation ; so that he delivered them up, first into the hands of the Chaldeans, and in process of time into the hands of the Romans; and has now, for these eighteen hundred years, made them a spectacle to the whole world, an awful monument of his righteous indignation.]
But wherefore are these things related concerning them ? Surely for our sakes. It will therefore be proper for us to consider them,
II. As recorded for our instruction —
The whole history is declared by St. Paul to have
been written as an admonition to ush Let me
then ask,
Has not God been disappointed in us ?
[The mercies vouchsafed to the Jews were nothing more than shadows of the blessings which we enjoy. What was
their redemption, in comparison of ours? What their
support in the wilderness, and their possession of the land of Canaan, in comparison of the spiritual food administered to us,
and the glory kept in reserve for us ? Were the Jews
a favoured nation in comparison of the Gentiles ? What then are we in comparison of the Heathen world ? yes, and in com- parison of a great part of the Christian world too? How fully and faithfully is the Gospel ministered to you ! I may truly say, as Paul did to the Galatians, that " Jesus Christ is evidently set forth crucified before your eyes."
What, then, must have been God's expectations respecting you ? Surely of you he has said, ' They will walk before me as dear children : they will never lie : I can depend on them : whoever may neglect me, they will not : whoever may disobey me, they will not : I have given myself to them, to be their Saviour ; and they will feel their obligations, and surrender up their whole souls to me, to be saved in the way of mine appointments.'
But how have you fulfilled these expectations? Has he seen you devoting yourselves to him in sincerity and truth ? Has he not seen you, on the contrary, weary of his service, and going for happiness to an ensnaring world ? Has he not seen you indulging many hidden abominations, and yielding to unhallowed tempers ; and either neglecting altogether, or performing in a mere heartless and formal way, your duties of prayer and praise ? ]
May we not then well expect that his anger should be kindled against us ?
h 1 Cor. x. 1 — 11.