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Jewish nation for their national fins, he TEACHES ALL NATIONS, that " He killeth and he maketh "alive; he woundeth and he healeth; neither is there 66 any that can deliver out of his hand." Deut. xxxii. 39. All nations will have to drink out of the fame cup as he hath given to Ifrael to drink out of. It will be in vain for them to turn away from the bitter draught: "It fhall be, if they refuse to take the cup "at thine hand to drink, then fhalt thou fay unto "them, Thus faith JEHOVAH OF HOSTS; Ye fhall "certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on "the city which is called by my name, and fhould ye be utterly unpunished? Ye fhall not be un"punished: for I will call for a fword upon all the ❝ inhabitants of the earth, faith JEHOVAH OF HOSTS. "Therefore prophefy thou against them all these "words, and fay unto them, JEHOVAH fhall roar "from on high, and utter, his voice from his holy "habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habita"tion; he fhall give a fhout, as they that tread the

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grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A "noise fhall come even to the ends of the earth; for "JEHOVAH hath a controverfy with the nations, he "will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are "wicked to the fword, faith JEHOVAH. Thus faith "JEHOVAH OF HOSTS, Behold, evil fhall go forth "from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind fhall "be raifed up from the coafts of the earth. And the "flain of JEHOVAH fhall be at that day from one "end of the earth even unto the other end of the "earth: they fhall not be lamented, neither gathered,

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"nor buried; they fhall be dung upon the ground." Jere. xxv. 28-33. JEHOVAH hath a CONTROVERSY with the nations, Jere. xxv. 31. and this controverfy is not only concerning their other fins, but this day of JEHOVAH'S vengeance, and year of recompences, is for "THE CONTROVERSY OF "ZION," Ifa. xxxiv. 8.

It ill becomes the Gentile nations to confider the fufferings of the Jewish nation as evidence of their being no longer beloved of their God. The Jews, who are known to be fuch, are of the two tribes; the ten tribes were carried away into captivity before the house of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerufalem were carried away into Babylon. It is the houfe of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem whose defcendants are now known and acknowledged to be Jews; and as to Judah, it is written "The house of Judah "with tenderness will I cherish, and I will fave them " by JEHOVAH THEIR GOD; and will not fave "them by bow, nor by fword, nor by armour, by "horfes, nor by horfemen." Hofea i. 7. Sufferings are evidence of the tender love and cherifhing fatherly kindness of the Almighty to the fouls of the afflicted; for affliction is the fchool in which fubmiffion to the divine will, and enlarged and exalted fentiments of the mercy and goodnefs of God are taught; and, therefore, fo far from viewing the Jewish nation as no longer beloved of God, because of their fufferings, we should conclude that they are more confpicuoufly the BELOVED of the Lord.

It is only AS TO the Jewish nation that fo obvious an inference from the plain declarations contained in God's most holy word is not admitted; for there are hone more difpofed than those who have been moft active in establishing the Miffionary Society to COMFORT THOSE WHO MOURN. Afflictions are not confined to the Jewish nation, all men are fubje&t to the chastisements of the Almighty, and "VEXATION " and REBUKE in all that our hand is fet unto for to "do," Deut. xxviii. 20. is fometimes the lot of us Gentiles as well as it is of the Jews. We of the Gentiles have fometimes to "grope at noonday as "the blind gropeth in darkness, and do not profper "in our ways," ver. 29. We of the Gentiles as well as the Jews are fometimes in fuch affliction that in the morning we are ready to fay, "Would God it "were evening;" and in the evening, "Would God

it were morning," ver. 67. on account of the reftleffness of our spirit, which is wounded within us. Under fuch circumftances the minifters referred to are ready to comfort us with affurances that afflictions are not evidence that we are no longer beloved of God, but the reverfe, and they can quote Scripture for this purpose. "As many as I LOVE I REBUKE and CHASTEN, be zealous therefore and repent," Rev. iii. 19. "To this man will I look, even to him "that is poor, and of a contrite fpirit, and trembleth at my word," Ifa. lxvi. 2. They will exhort uș to inquire whether afflictions have not come upon us because we have placed our confidence, our hopes, in

man,

man, and have defired to please man, and been more afraid of the frowns of man than the difpleasure of the Almighty; and whether we have not in our hearts" forfaken the fountain of living waters, and "hewed out unto ourselves cisterns, broken cifterns, "that can hold no water, Jere. ii. 13. If therefore they justly conclude that afflictions, when they fall to the lot of us of the Gentiles, are the chaftifements of the Almighty, benevolently intended for our good; how is it that they do not draw the fame inferences concerning the Jewish nation, and from their fufferings confider them as peculiarly beloved of the Lord ?

There is no difpofition more ftrongly reproved by our bleffed Saviour than that which results from that felf-love which induces us eagerly to adopt the idea that we are the PECULIAR FAVOURITES OF HEAVEN, it induces us to PITY others, and not to refpe&t them. True pity is the genuine fruit of true Chriftian benevolence; and where we read that "He "made them alfo to be pitied of all those that car"ried them captives," Pf. cvi. 46. we are to remember that it was a pity mingled with RESPECT; they were respected, and greatly respected too, during their captivity in Babylon, the golden empire ;-the reverse that they have had to endure has been their lot in the iron and clayey empires of these latter ages, Dan. ii. 38, 41. and it deserves our most serious confideration, whether this has not chiefly refulted from that felf-love, which is very near akin to spiritual pride,

which has induced fome men to think themselves the peculiar favourites of heaven, and confequently to DESPISE others.

I beg that you will take in good in part what I am about to fay upon this fubject, we are all of us fubject to err, but where the foul is fincere it rejoices to be set right; in no respect are we more subject to err than when we implicitly follow long-eftablifhed opinions, and do not take the pains to bring them to the only teft of religious truth, the word of God. I prefume that I am correct in confidering you as the avowed enemy of all fyftems and opinions among us that will not ftand this teft, and therefore I request you to confider whether the following paffage, which I extract from the 36th page of your letter, can ftand this teft; if it cannot, if you have taken it from the traditions of fome of our elders, I need not fuggeft to you, who are so zealous against traditions, that the MISERABLE INVENTIONS of those men who affert any thing contrary to the word of God, fhould not be cherished: it follows that paffage in which you fpeak of the POOR HOTTENTOTS, HINDOOs, and HEATHENS. You fay, "As a Chriftian I am bound

to fay, that a Jew is in a more dangerous state than thefe, unless he could make the legal atonement, "and efpecially those who do not strictly adhere to

the Mofaical law; and who does? For the in"fatuated and ignorant nations I have alluded to, "are deprived of the means of knowing the truth, which the Jew poffeffes; and as a Christian I am "bound to believe that the fervant which knew his

"Lord's

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