nately rush on to perdition. "If thou hadst known even thou, at least in this thy day," i. e. in that period when God still proffered salvation to thee; when the patience of the Lord was not yet exhausted; when the dreadful sentence had not yet been pronounced, "Let him that is filthy be filthy still:" (Rev. xxii. 11.) "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone:" (Hos. iv. 17.) "Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, therefore I will not purge thee from thy sins any more till I cause my fury to rest upon thee:" (Ezek. xxiv. 13.) This day, for Jerusalem had now past; the prediction of the prophet was now to be accomplished: "The time is come, the day of trouble is near. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee. And mine shall not spare, neither will I have pity, and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth." (Ezek. vii. 7,8,

7, 8, 9.)

eye

"If thou hadst known, even thou, the things that belong to thy peace:" i. e. if thou hadst diligently considered, and earnestly sought those things which would have procured for thee the peace and favour of God, his protection from thine enemies on earth, and his glories and love in the world which is to come.

"But now they are hid from thine eyes.' How is this, my brethren? Had not the inhabit

ants of Jerusalem after this period, any of the means of grace? Did God from this time cease to call them to himself by the preaching of the apostles, and the course of his providence? We know that even after the death of Jesus, the apos tles remained in the midst of the city, working miracles in its streets, proclaiming the atonement made by Christ, and exhorting the people to "repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins." And if we believe the Jews themselves, in proportion as the time for the destruction of the city approached, God wrought new and more surprising prodigies in heaven and on earth, to reclaim them. How then could it be said that the things which belonged to their peace, were hidden from their eyes? These facts are not at all inconsistent with this declaration of the Saviour. For these warnings, remonstrances, exhortations, miracles, would be ineffectual to remove the darkness which rested on the minds of the Jews, unless they were accompanied by the influences of divine grace. This grace, God, provoked by their continued impenitence, was resolved to withhold; and in consequence of this righteous procedure, the things that belonged to the peace of the Jews were hidden from their eyes, even whilst the light of divine truth was shining with lustre around them. "And when he came near, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying-If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day the things which belong

unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes."

Having thus explained to you the text, let us

now

II. Deduce from it two truths in which we are most deeply interested.

1. The day of grace has its limits, and if we pass beyond them before our peace is made with God, our destruction is remediless.

2. The Redeemer is desirous that we should not, by our criminal neglect of this precious season, bring upon ourselves this destruction.

1. The day of grace has its limits, and if we pass beyond them before our peace is made with God, our destruction is remediless,

The text proves in the clearest manner, that this was the case with respect to Jerusalem. It assures us, that all those things which belonged to the temporal and eternal peace of this city, were granted to it for a certain limited time, called its day of visitation; that because the Jews despised during this determinate period, the means of salvation which God bestowed upon them, they therefore were consigned to utter destruction; and though Jesus and his apostles afterwards preached

within their walls, yet that grace which alone could render these discourses effectual, was withheld from them through the righteous judgment of God.

There are numberless passages of scripture

which shew us that the conduct which God observed to Jerusalem, is that which he generally observes towards our race. Read that familiar and striking comparison employed by St. Paul, (Heb. vi. 7, 8.) "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and beareth thorns and briars, is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." This earth is man; the rain which falls upon it, and the other cares which are employed by the husbandman, are the means of grace which he enjoys. If this man for a long season, give to God as all the fruit of his culture, only thorns and briars ; that is to say, if he remain disobedient, notwithstanding all his spiritual advantages, he is rejected and abandoned by God, falls under the curse, and in future has nothing to expect but to be sentenced to devouring flames.

Consider the 12th chapter of St. John. This apostle there tells us, that although "Jesus did many miracles, yet the Jews believed not on him, that the saying of Isaiah might be accomplished, Lord, who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed:" and he

adds that "they could not believe, because Isaiah had said again-He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, nor be converted." (John xii. 37, 40.) Here then are miracles which do not convince those who are the witnesses of them; and which do not have this effect, because in consequence of the long obstinacy of this people, God "has blinded their minds and hardened their hearts;" that is, (in conformity with the scriptural mode of speaking, by which God is said to do that which he does not interpose to prevent) has righteously resolved to withhold from them that grace which would have enlightened and softened them.

Listen to that exhortation of Isaiah (lv. 6.) "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Does it not clearly imply that there is a time when the Lord is no longer near men; when he will not be found by them?

Attend to the solemn_representation given us in the 3d and 12th chapters to the Hebrews, where the eath of God to Israel, and the conduct of Isaac to Esau, are represented as typical of the divine procedure towards sinners of the present day. The children of Israel, instead of obeying the revelations, and being melted by the mercies of God, tempted, grieved, and provoked him for forty years;