INTO THE WILDERNESS, AND SPEAK COMFORTABLY TO HER.

THESE are the words of God, by the mouth of his prophet concerning Israel, that rebellious, idolatrous people. They follow a severe declaration of the judgments wherewith, it is said, they shall be visited for their iniquity. And so it is throughout the whole of the Bible. Justice and mercy are mingled together. Justice denouncing the wrath of God against all those who remain in their natural condition. Mercy promising the rich gifts of pardon and salvation to all that submit to God, and come unto him by faith, that is in Christ Jesus.

You are aware that the dealings of the Almighty with the temporal Israel, the children of Abraham according to the flesh, afford a lively type, and give us great insight

into his dealings with the mystical Israel, the spiritual seed of Abraham. And it is in this point of view that the text will now be considered, without entering into the fulfilment of the prophecy, as it regards the people of Israel according to the flesh, any more than as it applies to such of them as really were God's people.

There are three points to be considered.

I. THE OVERTURES OF MERCY.-I will allure her.

II. TROUBLES THAT SHALL COME AFTER. -I will bring her into the wilderness.

III. THE END OF HER TROUBLES.—I will speak comfortably to her.

I. The overtures of mercy.

The offers of pardon and eternal life are made freely to all that hear the Gospel. God draws them, as this prophet expresses it, with the cords of a man, with the bands of love. He lays before them such inducements as are fitting to convince their reason and work upon their affections.

The natural heart is in a state of rebellion against God, and he sends an offer of free pardon to all that will submit to him. He allures them by his mercies. He tells the wicked that though hand join in hand they shall not prevail, that their present condition is entirely helpless and hopeless, that their punishment is certain: that their present state is one of danger and ruin; and then

offers freely to deliver them from wrath and to receive them into favour.

This, remember, is offered freely to all. Every unconverted man, who has the Word of God to read, or hears it preached, sees (or may see) he is there described as a lost sinner, a guilty rebel, and as such liable to be punished. Reason, then, should tell him (and would do so, if it were not perverted and blinded) to flee from the wrath to come. God then promises to receive all that see their sinfulness, feel their lost condition, and come by Christ to him. Reason, again, should lead men to flee to this hope set before them, and make them thankfully accept these overtures of mercy.

In this sense God allures them. He works upon their fears by shewing them their dangers upon their affections by the offers of his grace. So our Lord, when he spoke beforehand of his death upon the cross, for the sins of the whole world, said, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.

But all who are thus drawn to Christ do not come to him. Christ may say to far the greatest part of those who hear the Gospel in our times, as he said to those who heard it from his lips, Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.

When men are told that God hath found out a way to reconcile them to himself, and are invited in those gracious words, Come, for all things are now ready, they with one

consent begin to make excuse. They will not come. Either they will not part with their sins, or they think themselves good enough as they are, or they put off the invitations of love, meaning to accept them at a more convenient season. And thus, at last, never come to Christ! They have lived all their lives in the noon-day light of the Gospel they have heard, over and over again, its awful warnings and gracious promises. They have been drawn by every

motive that should move them as rational creatures; they have been allured by all the tenderness that should win the hearts of feeling creatures. The voice of mercy has been sounding in their ears, but all in vain. They are like the deaf adder which stoppeth her ears, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

What can be the reason of this? How is it, that while there are so many who are dead and insensible to God's mercy in Christ, there should also be some who are alive unto God through faith?

How is it, that two men of the same nature, with the same passions, the same temptations to sin, the same difficulties, both in themselves and in their conditions, should act so differently in the same circumstances? That when both are allured, one should come and the other should not? The danger of the one is not greater than that of the other: the offers of mercy are not greater to one

than to the other: the invitation is not kinder. The inducement is the same to both! My brethren, Christ himself explains it. No man can come unto me, except my Father which hath sent me draw him. The secret power of the Holy Spirit on the heart, this it is that brings men to Christ. Till the Spirit giveth them life, they are dead in trespasses and sins. Till that opens their eyes, they cannot see: till that opens their ears, in vain will the Gospel be proclaimed to them. They are like deaf men—they hear not.

This truth is very offensive to the natural man. We are very backward to think ourselves in so helpless a condition. It ALARMS men to hear that they have absolutely no power to turn to God. It seems to cut off all hope. They think it a withering doctrine. My brethren, if it were so, it would be my duty to preach it, for it is the truth. But it is not a discouraging doctrine. No persons under serious concern for their souls ought to be distressed at it. On the contrary, they ought to be thankful to know that their power of coming to Christ rests in the hands of a good and merciful God, and not in their own. Especially when they remember, that God willeth not the death of a sinner, and that he so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son to die for it. We are safer in God's hands than we should be in our own.