[Without this, all our other efforts will be fruitless. All " our fresh springs are in Christ," " without whom we can do nothing." " Except he keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Let us then " be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Then, though weak, " we shall be able to do all things :" and though fiercely assaulted, we shall be "more than conquerors."]
Rom. xi. 22 — 24. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God : on them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in : for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and ivert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree : how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree ?
AMONGST those who believe the Holy Scrip- tures, no doubt is entertained, but that the Jews, who have engaged more of God's regard than any other nation upon earth, are yet destined to act a most important part upon the theatre of the world. They are at present, it is true, so scattered and degraded, that, according to all human appearance, they are, so far at least as respects them in their national capacity, irrecoverably sunk. But though for their multiplied iniquities they are cast off by God, their rejection is neither total nor final : — not total ; for there is yet among them " a remnant according to the election of grace :" nor final ; be- cause God has determined, that in due season he will restore them to his favour, and unite them with the Gentile Church, as one fold under one Shepherd. This is fully declared in the whole preceding and following context : and justly is it represented as a most mysterious dispensation ; so mysterious, that the Apostle, after contemplating it, exclaims, " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and know-
1898.1 god's dispensations to jews and gentiles. 429
ledge of God? how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding outa!"
The points particularly noticed are, the rejection of the Jews ; the calling of the Gentiles to fill their place ; and the restoration of the Jews to their lost and forfeited inheritance. Of this complicated dis- pensation I propose, at this time, to speak ; and, in accordance with my text, to mark, 1st, Its true cha- racter ; and 2dly, Its final issue.
I. Let us notice the character of this dispensation —
It is spoken of by the Apostle as a mixture of " goodness and severity : on them that fell, severity ; but towards us Gentiles, goodness."
That we may have a clear insight into the subject, we will mark it, first of all, as exhibited in a plain statement of facts ; and then, as viewed through the medium of a most striking illustration.
The facts which we have to mention are all plain and acknowledged.
The Jews were once God's highly-favoured people. They had been chosen in Abraham, according to God's sovereign will : and when they were multiplied in Egypt, they were brought out from thence with mighty signs and wonders, and taken by God under his own peculiar care and protection. There was given to them a revelation of God's will, written upon stones by the very finger of God himself. Statutes also, and ordinances, were delivered to them, that they might know how to serve God acceptably, and to secure a continuance of his favour. During the space of forty years, God, in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night, guided them through a track- less wilderness, and provided them with every thing necessary for their support. At last he brought them into the promised land ; and drove out before them seven nations, greater and mightier than they, and gave them such prosperity and power as rendered them the admiration and envy of surrounding nations. In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple,