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Now, although our dearest Saviour does not present himself to us outwardly or bodily, yet in virtue of his glorification, he is unspeakably near to each and every one of us, whether we know it or not. He is now also standing near our hearts, as is testified in Rev. iii. 20. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, whosoever shall hear my voice and open the door, to him will I enter, and sup with him, and he with me." This we ought to apprehend with believing hearts.

Oh! Jesus is every where near and present with us, not only when we are at church, or when we are at the meeting: but also in our closet, in the field, on the way, wherever we go or stay, there Jesus is near us, and waits to see whether we will at length come to ourselves, acknowledge him as our Saviour, receive him, and resign ourselves to him: Thou, most gracious Jesus, art ever near us; when we seek thee thou art present with us; thou art ever with thy people; therefore manifest thyself at this time unto us! O let us, therefore, seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him whilst he is

near!'

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3. Jesus is not only an omnipresent but also an omniscient preacher. "When he was come near, he beheld the city." This was no common look. His disciples and the people saw the city also; but they saw it only outwardly, only the mere exterior: but Jesus saw it at the same time, according to its interior; they beheld it in a natural manner, but Jesus, in the Spirit. Jesus beheld the city-in his

divine omniscience, he saw its inward state, the misery, the wretchedness, the corruption, the blindness, the unsusceptibility of so many thousands who were in the city. Jesus beheld all the sins, which had been committed in the city for so many centuries; Jesus saw all the blood-guiltiness which this eity had heaped upon itself, by shedding the blood of so many innocent prophets. Jesus beheld in the city what wickedness would be committed in it five days afterwards, in casting out him, the Son of the Lord of the vineyard, and crucifying and slaying him. Jesus saw also the judgment of infatuation and desolation, which would come upon Jerusalem because of its many and dreadful sins. Jesus saw all this, as he beheld the city.

O my dearest friends! Jesus with his all-seeing eyes, beholds also the place of our residence; he beholds it at the present hour. Jesus sees, according to his omniscience, what he has done for this place during so many years, and what he has done to this place, in preference to many others. Jesus sees also the wilful transgressions that are committed here; he sees the self-security, he sees the perverseness, he sees the great ingratitude of the majority of its inhabitants; he sees how, notwithstanding outward prosperity and blessing, they all become only the more hardened, and the more secure in sin. Jesus sees also according to his omniscience, what just punishment will follow upon such sins, and upon such guiltiness: either the judgment of hardness of heart, or else a desolation like that which befel Jeru

salem, unless men repent. O that they would let themselves be advised and saved by the compassionating love of Jesus Christ to man !

Jesus beheld the city, not only in a general way, but he likewise saw, in his omniscience, all and every individual in the city in particular. And thus it is that Jesus regards me and you. He sees in what a deplorable state every heart is plunged; he sees what sins I and each of you have committed from our youth up; he sees the sins of omission, as well as those of commission, and places them all before the light of his countenance. Jesus beholds us; O let us, therefore, let our hearts and the form of our hearts, be truly brought to light by the allseeing eyes of Jesus! He beholds us, in order that we may see ourselves, become acquainted with our need, and call upon him for mercy and assistance. Jesus is not only a present, all-seeing, omniscient preacher, but he is likewise

4. A truly compassionate Jesus, a Saviour sincerely inclined to help. wept over it." O who refrain from weeping! Jesus wept! Ah, these were no dissembled tears! he wept certainly from his heart. Jesus wept over the sins and impenitence of Jerusalem. O what a great and miserable evil sin must be, for Jesus to shed tears over it! Yes, our sins have not only pressed tears from him, but large drops of blood also in the garden of Gethsemane. O in what an important light we ought to look at sin, how grievous ought sin to appear to us! O

"He beheld the city and can say and hear this, and

let us not therefore think lightly of sin, nor look upon that as a trifle, which cost our Saviour tears, and blood, and death!

Jesus weeps indeed no longer outwardly, nor visibly before our eyes, as he did at Jerusalem; but yet we grieve him still with our sins; we grieve Jesus with every sin we commit, and as he formerly wept in person, so he still weeps in his members over the sins and corruption of mankind. When the true children of God look at the impenitence of men, notwithstanding all the grace which God so richly offers; when they see the obstinacy, notwithstanding all the benefits, as well as all the judgments and punishments which God sends; when they see the abuse of the precious name of Jesus, by those who call themselves Christians after his name, but reproach him by their anti-christian life; when they see likewise so many impurities, deviations, and also the slothfulness and negligence of those who have obtained grace: it grieves them, it presses sighs from them, it forces tears from them, even as Paul says concerning himself (Phil. iii. 18); and these are not tears which proceed merely from nature: no! they are tears which Jesus sheds through them. O my dearest friends, this is a weighty matter! I would not like to have a single tear of our dearest Saviour, which he sheds over me through his children, as a judgment upon me; O that would be dreadful, that would be making hell hot for me!

Jesus wept also over the misery in which Jerusalem involved itself by its sins. what a com

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passionate heart has God in Christ Jesus towards poor sinners! The tears of Jesus sufficiently prove that God has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, that it even touches him to the heart, that his poor creature should perish; that he so unwillingly sees how the children of men neglect the means of grace, and the precious day of grace; that it grieves him to see how they heap upon themselves such heavy judgments notwithstanding his goodness, patience, and long suffering, and accumulate a mass of God's wrath and righteous indignation which will devour the adversaries. Ah, how very gladly would Jesus have saved the city of Jerusalem, and how gladly would he help thee and me, and every one of us! O that we would let ourselves be induced by the tears of Jesus, to listen to him, and give his words admission into our hearts, seeing that he so ardently requests it of us, and let ourselves be saved; as Paul says, "We beseech you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God."

II. Let us now consider the affecting sermon which our gracious preacher addressed to the people of Jerusalem, and what it is that he preached to them. He said, and says it still to us all, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, thou wouldest have considered the things that belong to thy peace." The whole contents of the gospel, the substance of all the discourses of Jesus Christ, has invariably reference to that which belongs to our peace. All that is published to us on the part of

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