the express image of his person.-Have we then with the eye of faith beheld his glory, and have we experienced his grace and truth? O let us lead the Jew to the same living fountain, flowing from our Rock, which was typified by that which sustained their fathers in the wilderness, that they may partake of that spiritual life which shall be in them as a well of water springing up unto eternal life.-Had any of you a relation, a son, or a brother, who had forsaken the covenant of his God, and the guide of his youth? O would you not earnestly strive to reclaim and turn him from the error of his ways? And are not these our brethren, who have deeply revolted? And have not we, who were once afar off, been brought nigh?

Be assured, that it is a most unjustifiable neglect, if you have the ability, and do not perform this great duty of attempting, and aiding in, the conversion of the Jews. And to those who have taken upon themselves the sacred office of ministers and stewards of the manifold gifts of God, it is particu larly incumbent, nay, an imperious obliga tion, upon all such to be shepherds unto Israel; as it is written, "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore, hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me."

4

Come, then, and join your exertions to those venerable and revered characters, who have already borne the burden and fatigues of the day, and have laboured in this field long before you entered on the ministry, or even bestowed a single thought upon the deplorable state of the Jews. It is for you to endeavour, by every means in your power, to promote the salvation of these sinners against their own souls; and thus to aid in establishing the kingdom of Christ upon earth, which we have reason to believe will not be effected and fully accomplished till the Israelites are converted to the true faith. And let us all unite in declaring and evincing that we are on the Lord's side, and that under his banner

we will go forth conquering and to conquer, until we are partakers of the glory which shall be revealed. Finally, my friends, should we see no fruits of our labours, excepting what Bethnal-Green presents to our view, yet by renewed, I would rather say redoubled exertions, ardent, active zeal, and earnest, fervent prayer, for the peace of Jerusalem, may that glorious period arrive, by the blessing of God, when the fulness of the gentiles shall come in, and all Israel be saved!

DISCOURSE V.

ST. MATTH. xi. 28.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

THESE, my friends, are highly consolatory and gracious words from an all-powerful Saviour. But they are more than consoling-they contain an invitation and a pro'mise of the utmost importance to man: and there is not, in the whole series of the great and precious promises given to us by our blessed Redeemer, any one which more strongly marks his divinity.

There are, certainly, many which might be adduced of similar import, as, "I give unto them eternal life"-"I will raise him up at the last day."-But not to enumerate, or dwell upon these, I shall proceed to consider in this discourse-1st. By whom was the invitation in my text given? 2dly. What is meant by coming to Christ? 3dly. To whom were the words addressed? and, 4thly. The promise of rest-or as it is in the subsequent

verse-"rest to their souls." And may the Father of our spirits, and the God of all grace, from whom every gift doth flow, be pleased to assist us in meditating on these words of his dear Son!

In the first place, then, I am to show, by whom was the invitation in my text given? It may, at the first view, appear strange and superfluous to you, who have the Bible in your hands, to say, they were spoken by the Lord of life and glory!-But I cannot help here taking occasion to observe, that they are words which express his Omnipotence-his power!-He saith, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest."

These words, then, were spoken by the Prince of life and peace!-By one mighty to save, to the uttermost, all who should come to the Father by him, and "whoso cometh unto him, he will in no wise cast out." But again-they were spoken by him who spake as never man spake-by one who had already manifested his divine powerwho had raised the dead-who had healed the sick-who had made the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, the blind to see! and who then proclaimed, and doth now proclaim, by the voice of his ministers, liberty to the captive-to the imprisoned slave of sin-with a promise of rest to his soul. And we know

that Christ never promised that which he had not the ability and the power to perform; and as we are convinced that many gracious promises, as well as the predictions of our Lord, were fulfilled, and are even fulfilling to this day, we feel assured that not one tittle of what he promised shall fail. It would, however, take up too much of our time to adduce the many proofs which evidence the divinity of Christ; among which, is that of his rising from the dead, and appearing to the disciples as they were going to Emmaus;

conversing with them, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them the things concerning himself. And, as he said on another occasion,-" If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." And which equally applies to all who now deny the divinity of our Lord. I shall only add on this part

of my subject that we believe and maintain that the Word, which was Christ, and one with the Father from the beginning, became flesh, and dwelt among us:" for in him "dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." We will now inquire, secondly, what is meant by coming to Christ?-It was required of the early converts to Christianity, that they should renounce Paganism and