ages, there have been but few that truly feared God : the great mass of the people have been ungodly ; and the saints have been but as a remnant of them. But in that day " a spirit of grace and of supplication will be poured out upon them in a more abundant measure ; and they will look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, even as one mourneth for his only song:" and "they will all fear the Lord, from the least of them even unto the greatest of them :" yea, so universal shall be the prevalence of real piety amongst them, that "every vessel in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness to the Lord; and there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts11."]
2. The certainty of it —
[It is here assured to them by a special promise ; and that promise is ratified by an unchangeable covenant. The promise is recorded by the Prophet Isaiah1; and, with a slight but un- important variation, cited by the Apostle. That this promise had not been fully accomplished in the apostolic age, is evi- dent, from the way in which it is cited by the Apostle: for it is clearly considered by him as referring to a period yet future, a period when " all Israel shall be saved." What the Lord Jesus Christ has already effected among them, and what he has wrought also in the Gentile world, shews what he will do at the appointed season : he will, by the power of his word and the effectual operation of his Spirit, " turn away all ungodliness from Jacob ;" and make them " a holy nation, a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
This is confirmed to them by an everlasting covenant. In the first covenant, the promises were all conditional ; and being violated by them, it was altogether annulled. But by the new and better covenant, of which Christ is the Surety, God engages to " write his laws in their hearts, and to put them in their inward parts :" and not only " not to depart from them him- self, but to put his fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from him." Thus, at the same time that he takes away their former sins by forgiveness, he will prevent the recurrence of them by his grace, and secure to them the full blessings of his salvation k.]
Let me, in conclusion, call your attention to " this mystery." Consider,
1. Its aspect on the Jews —
[How melancholy their present state of" blindness!" ■ —
and how glorious the prospects held out to them ! ]
B Zech. xii. 10. '» Zech. xiv. 20,21. " Isai. lix. 20.
k Compare Jer. xxxi. 31—34. with Heb. viii. 8—12.