we are guiltless: this cannot be laid to our charge. But let every one seriously consider, whether he may not be expecting eternal life, on the like grounds. We have been baptized in thy name;

we have had the title of Christians: we have eaten and drunk at thy table. Are there not some who will have no better cause than this to show, why the Master of the house should open to them?

This, however, is not the reason why they are rejected, though it is not alone a sufficient reason why they should be received. On the contrary, to show these outward tokens of faith, is the first step, and a necessary step, towards the kingdom of God. The real ground of their rejection is plainly stated: He shall say, I know you not, whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

I know you not. Now the Lord does "know them that are his." He knows them by a double token by their FAITH, and by their OBEDIENCE.

He knows them, when their hearts move towards him, as their shelter from the wrath of God; the Mediator between God and man; the Redeemer, who bore their sins in his own body. As such, they receive him: and to as many as receive him, to them he opens the strait gate; "he gives them power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe in his name."

They who are here excluded, had understood nothing of this. They had eaten and drunk in his presence, and he had taught in our streets; but

they had not received him, or taken up his yoke, or learnt of him. And so still. How many, in this christian land, know nothing of Jesus but his name: nothing of their own sinfulness, nothing of redemption through his blood! They never felt a sense of danger, so as to commit their souls to him, and claim the benefit of his propitiation. Surely then he must answer, I know you not, whence ye

are.

But there is another sign by which the Lord knows them that are his. He knows them by their obedience. "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity." He distinguishes his flock by their conformity to his will. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 3 He will not acknowledge those who do not answer, in the main, the great object of his coming, which was "to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, and living righteously, soberly, and godly." He will not acknowledge any who are not labouring to preserve this character: to keep themselves from presumptuous sins, and to overcome all that is wrong, all that savours of corrupt nature, in their habits, and tempers, and dispositions. For this is the will of God, and the purpose of Christ, "even our sanctification."

Those, however, against whom the door is shut, had given no such proof of being Christ's.

3 John x. 27.

He

says to them, Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

This, then, is the conclusion of the whole. Whilst life endures, the master of the house, the Lord Jesus, to whom the Father hath delivered all things, he sits at mercy's gate, over which it is written, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." No one, during this his day, his day of salvation, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. No one shall seek growth in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not attain it: no one shall seek power to subdue the sin which separates him from God, and shall not succeed: no one, in short, shall strive, with the earnestness which is implied in that expressive word, to enter in at the strait gate, and shall find it closed against him.

But are all striving, with earnest pains, or seeking with real desire? Remember, at last, the Master of the house, the King of heaven, rises up; the sinner appears, unrepenting, unconverted, unsanctified; he is cut down like a tree in full bearing, with all the evil fruit of sin upon him: the Master shuts the door of heaven against him, and bars him out for ever. Ah! there shall be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

66

when

Therefore, be ye ready; for, behold, in a day ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

4 ἀγωνίζεσθε.

LECTURE LII.

JESUS FORETELLS AND LAMENTS THE DOOM OF

JERUSALEM.

LUKE Xiii. 31–35.

31. The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.1

32. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox,2 Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

33. Nevertheless I must walk to-day and to-morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.3

This answer implies, what Jesus afterwards more openly affirmed to Pilate, "Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above."4 A power of which Herod knew nothing, held him in restraint. Whatever he might threaten, whatever he might purpose, Jesus would cast out devils, and do cures to-day and to-morrow,

1 Depart from Galilee, which is within the reach of Herod's jurisdiction.

2 That crafty and wicked prince.

3 It is said, that a prophet could only be judged by the great council, which assembled at Jerusalem. The meaning, however, may be, that Jerusalem would always maintain its character of killing its prophets, and stoning them which were sent unto her. 4 John xix. 11.

till, according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, the hour should arrive in which he shall be perfected, in which the Son of man shall be glorified: his office as the Messiah, the Christ, receive its mysterious completion. He "had a baptism to be baptized with; and how was he straitened till it was accomplished!" But all things must first be performed: the work which God had given him to do, must be finished. He must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following: nay, he must needs go up to Jerusalem; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. The whole nation was a rebellious nation; but Jerusalem was the capital seat of their iniquity, and must now fill up the measure of its crimes. That city had enjoyed many offers of mercy; but in vain and now its day of grace was passed, and its final destruction was at hand.

34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not?

How awful are these words, Ye would not! The various warnings, both of expostulation and of judgment, which God had sent by the prophets, the summons to repentance begun by John the Baptist, and repeated now by Jesus, had been, as it were, the anxious callings of the parent bird, which would gather her brood under her wings: and they would not. And this suggests the reason, why similar warnings on the part of God are too often of no avail. They are not met by a corresponding feeling on the part of man.

T