is before the throne" (Rev. viii. 3). No marvel, then, that the LORD says of such "sons of the stranger, "Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar."

"For," it is added, "mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people;" or, literally, "for all nations." The expression "to be called," in the language of the Bible, is "to be:" it is not a simple name, but a reality. For example, it is said of the daughter of the Chaldeans, "Thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms (Isa. xlvii. 5). And comfort is promised to mourners in Zion, "that they might be called, Trees of righteousness" (Isa. lxi. 3). And so now God promises "mine house shall be called," that is, shall be, "an house of prayer for all people." The LORD speaks of his Church as "an house of prayer," that is, a place of spiritual worship, where his name is honoured and invoked, and in which the confessions, and petitions, and thanksgivings of his suppliants are presented to him. And all this under Divine sanction, just as the LORD had promised long ago by the mouth of Moses, but in words extending far beyond the Mosaic dispensa

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tion: "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee" (Exod. xx. 24). God did make himself known in the various stations of the tabernacle throughout the wilderness, as afterwards he did, when the tabernacle was fixed in Zion, and the temple built on Mount Moriah. But the very variety of places in which his gracious presence was made manifest, proves that the reality of his favour was to be confined to no particular spot; and so the woman of Samaria, who was partial to the worship of God in her countrymen's old temple on Mount Gerizim, is distinctly told by our Saviour, "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John iv. 21-24). And so the LORD now speaks by his prophet: "My house shall be called

an house of prayer for all people," or, literally, "for all peoples." For the word here used is in the plural number, and includes all the peoples and nations of the earth. Such is the theme of earliest prophecy, and that prediction we see fulfilling in our own days. The promise given to Abraham was, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. xxii. 18). Accordingly, the announcement to the same effect elsewhere given by our prophet is very full and glorious: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go

and say, Come ye,

and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke," or convince " many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks:

nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. ii. 2-4). And the prophet Micah speaks nearly in the same words (Micah iv. 1). Whilst the "great voices in heaven" have been heard, saying, " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. xi. 15); and let us here on earth see that individually we receive the kingdom of God into our hearts, and advance his cause among the nations, until we shall be able to exclaim, "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. xix. 6). "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. xxii. 20). Amen.

XXII.

JEWS AND GENTILES SHALL BE GATHERED

INTO ONE.

"The Lord GOD, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him.”—ISA. LVI. 8.

THE enlargement of the Church of God, the harmony of its members, and the union of Jews and Gentiles as one in Christ, are themes that come home with deep interest and delight to the heart of every true Christian. We feel our spirits animated and stirred up, when we read of the apostle Peter going up to Jerusalem and telling of the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, and how "the Gentiles also had received the word of God" (Acts xi. 1); and how, when "the apostles and brethren that were in Judea" "heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life" (Acts xi. 1-18). With a