and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water!"

In further prosecuting this subject, let us in dependence on divine teaching, consider, I. THE EVILS WHICH ALMIGHTY GOD LAYS ΤΟ OUR CHARGE; and, II. THE FOLLY, GUILT, AND DAN

GER OF THOSE WHO COMMIT THEM.

I. In laying these evils to our charge, the Lord reveals himself to us as "THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER. A figure often adopted by the inspired writers in succeeding ages. Thus Isaiah invites men to participate in the blessings of salvation. "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Echoed back by the last of the prophets of the new covenant: "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Zechariah applies the figure to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for uncleanness." And the Lord Jesus himself, assuming the character of Jehovah as the fountain of all mercy and goodness, exclaimed, "in the last day, that great day of the feast. . . . . . If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," &c. § And beautifully does this

* Isa. lv. 1.
Zech. xiii. 1.

+ Rev. xxii. 17.
§ John vii. 37.

figure illustrate the character of God in Christ as the author of all our mercies. If we trace to their source all those innumerable streams of comfort and consolation which flow down to the children of men in general, and to the people of God in particular, we shall find that they proceed from the single fountain which springs from beneath the golden altar of God. However wide, and deep, and various those rivers of life, and health and peace may be, here is their only source!

But further, God is known among his people not merely as the source from which these mercies flow, but as Himself that fountain, Himself those streams: they know Him, "taste that he is gracious," see Him, partake of Him, enjoy his presence, and live by Him. "He that eateth me shall even live by me," said Jesus. In what else did the happiness of paradise itself consist? It was not the beauty of that favoured spot, the fragrance of the flowers, the richness of the fruits, nor the purity of the atmosphere, that imparted perfect bliss to our first parents, but a perception of the presence of God, and a sense of his favour in their bosoms. When that was withdrawn, the garden smiled in vain for them, its very loveliness was an aggravation of their misery, the paradise was changed into a wilderness, whose trees served them only as a hiding-place in which they vainly sought to escape the frown of an offended God!

And thus it is with his people now his favour is life to them; a sense of his love makes this desert world a paradise; and if he frown upon them, a dark shadow covers all that before was bright and fair, and their very blessings are embittered to them.

Now the twofold charge which is urged in the text by God himself against his nominal people, is that " they have forsaken Him, the living fountain of waters, and have hewed them out cisterns;" that is, they have sought other sources of happiness. It is indeed God, their Father, their benefactor and friend, who thus plaintively laments for his people: it is "my people, who are called by my name," whether Israel under the old dispensation or christians under the new, it is "my people" who have forsaken me, and so ill requited my love! And can the justice of this allegation be questioned? Is it not undeniably true of the great body of those who profess and call themselves christians? This fountain rises at our very doors: God in Christ Jesus is presented to our view in his word, in his gospel, by his sabbaths, by the ordinances of his house, and the streams of gospel mercies flow around us on every side. But are they not forsaken by multitudes who nevertheless bear the name of christians? If not, how is it that the holy sacrament of the Lord's supper, the chief of our solemnities, is attended by only a fraction of our population?

How few among us can say that God is their chief good? that his love is dearer to them than life itself? that his cause, his glory, his honour, are to them the subjects of most intense interest, and engross the greater part of their time and thoughts? Rather may the reproof of the prophet be applied, "Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel."* Or that of Malachi, "Ye said also of my service, what a weariness is it? and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts."† How is it that to many the sabbath is a long and dreary day, the services of the church intolerably tedious, and the preaching of the gospel a weariness? They do not find the pleasures of the world thus burdensome! they can cheerfully submit to confinement in a crowded room for many hours in their parties of dissipation, and never find them long! How is this? How impossible to evade the conclusion! It is because they love the world, and they do not love God! Because they have forsaken Him, withdrawn their hearts from Him, desire Him not, and therefore His ways, His House, His services, His sacraments are uncongenial to their tastes and habits.

Moreover the heart of man is so constituted that it must rest on some object, and if God be not, some earthly idol will too surely be that centre of attraction. The mind and genius and Isa. xliii. 22. + Mal. i. 13.

faculties of man cannot remain in listless indolence, they must be more or less in exercise, or the tedium and irksomeness of continued idleness would become insupportable. Hence it is that all mankind by nature not only "forsake God the fountain of living waters, but also hew them out cisterns;" choose other pursuits, and give their hearts to other objects of attachment. It is comparatively of little importance what may be that subject of absorbing interest; all unconverted persons are toiling after something, and that, something which is not God! In this there is a strange uniformity among the works and ways of unregenerate men. Infinitely diverse may be their circumstances, their characters, their dispositions; passing through all the grades of intellect, from the ploughman to the philosopher, from the mechanic to the metaphysician, from the barbarian to the enlightened, polished and intellectual European; in all climes, in all ages of mankind, there is this general identity of character, ardour of pursuit in all that pertains to earthly things, and utter heedlessness of the things of God and eternity.

Would to God we could all see this conduct in its true light! that leaving out of view those actions which are universally acknowledged to be sinful, we might rend the vail which hides from us our own hearts, and might be enabled to perceive that this alone is sufficient to cause our

VOL. II.

Р