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SPEECH, &c. º
My LoBI),
When I was setting out on my visit to d
this land, a benevolent gentleman of the city of Phila- i
delphia wrote to me, requesting to know whether I *
would be the bearer of a sum of money from a Ladies’
Association in one of the Episcopal Churches of that
city, which had long been associated with the objects of
this Society: which money was to be their present
annual contribution to the funds of this Society—and
requesting to know, at the same time, whether I would º
consent that they should appropriate that money to the . .
object of making me a life member of this Society. I
answered, that I could esteem no honour greater, and
no pleasure more delightful, than that of being put into
such a relation with this particular Society. I had not
the slightest anticipation that that honour would be
increased in the manner proposed by the present resolu- .
tion. But I beg most earnestly and most affectionately . .
to tender my thanks to the Committee which has thus *
moved to make one, so exceedingly unworthy of the
honour, a Vice-Patron of this institution. I cannot say
that being thus connected with the Society will in-
crease my interest in its object, for I do not know that
any human instrumentality could do that. The interest
already in my heart lies a great deal too deep to be
i
p§.


4
expressed, and too deep for anything human to in-
crease. Without, then, saying anything further con-
cerning myself, I beg to look back, to a period in
the year 1835, seventeen years ago, when I stood upon
this same platform, in the presence of the anniversary
meeting .# this Society; and I cannot but to-day be
exceedingly struck and very deeply impressed with the
evidence of the progress of this cause as evinced b
the present meeting, in comparison with that which
then saw. It was a very easy thing that morning to
get a seat upon the platform. It was an exceedingly
easy thing to get a comfortable seat upon the benches
before me. If I recollect right, the audience did not
then occupy more than one-half the area now so per-
fectly filled. It was a pleasant day—nothing in the
weather to prevent the attendance. And now, when I
eame into this room, and saw, one hour before the
chair was be taken, apparently every seat occupied,
and then continually persons, one after another, by
hundreds almost, coming in and pressing for more seats,
I cannot tell the impression wrought upon my mind, as
to how God was carrying forward this cause, and how
wonderfully he was spreading the interest of this great
work deep and wide in the affections and prayers of
his people,
My Lord, sitting here, and reflecting upon this cause,
and finding myself so overcome by the singing of these
dear children before me, that I really was afraid I
should give more outward manifestation of my feelings
than I was willing to have seen; I said to myself, what
is it that is so peculiar in my own mind in connexion
with this cause of the Jews—so peculiar, that I am
conscious of a degree of tenderness, of interest, and of
sensibility, which other great works of benevolence do
not excite. I said to myself, certainly it is no difference
at all in the principle of the matter. That is not it, I
cannot enter into a comparison between the magnitude
of this cause and that of preaching the Gospel among
the Gentiles, and say that I feelany more bound in duty
to spread the Gospel amongst the Jews, than to spread
t




5
it amongst the Gentiles. It is not because I see any
more value in the soul of a poor unconverted child of
Israel, than in the soul of a poor degraded Hindoo. But
still there is a great difference in the impression of this
cause upon my sensibilities. . My heart, whatever may
be my principles and my sense of duty, my heart
certainly is a great deal more tender towards the Jews,
and is more deeply moved in the depth of its feelings
towards this cause than any other. I do not say I would
sacrifice more in this cause than any other. I do not
say that I would pray more for this cause. I do not say
that I would labour more for the conversion of the Jews
than the Gentiles—but I mean to say that my heart
has a peculiar tenderness towards this cause. I said to
myself, Why? whence comes it? Then came that pas-
sage of Scripture which to me is always overpowering
—“Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came !”—
“Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came !”—
Then I understood, I felt that we are in brotherhood
with these children of Israel. Our relationship to them
is through the flesh, through the incarnation of our
blessed Lord—“Of whom as concerning the flesh” my
blessed Lord did come. It was through that flesh that
he come into union with my poor fallen nature. It was
through that flesh that he took on him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of man. Without
that flesh he could not have become obedient to the law
for me, or to the death of the cross for me. It was in
that flesh that he poured out that precious blood that is
to take away my sin—it is in that flesh that he offered
up that perfect obedience to the law which constitutes
the finished righteousness of my justification. It was in
that flesh that he passed beyond the veil with the blood
of the sacrifice, into the holy place before the ark and
the mercy seat—and it is in that flesh that my blessed
Lord and Great High Priest now ever liveth to make
intercession for me, if I only come unto God by him.
More than that! It is in that flesh that all that look for
the appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
are to expect His second, coming. More still!. It is
A 2


§
according to the glory of that flesh now risen and
glorified in the presence of the Father upon the throne
in heaven—it is according to the likeness of that flesh in
its glory, that our bodies are to be raised up in the last
day. All this imparts an overpowering interest to the
words—“Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.”
Those “of whom,” are the stock of Israel. I understand
thus the peculiar tenderness of my feeling to this cause.
It is my relationship through the body, the incarnation
of my blessed Lord Jesus; it is the tenderness, and
strength, and duration of my relationship between me
and the house of Israel. Therefore, while I love every
one born of God, and especially would run to shake by
the hand and embrace a poor heathen born to God, as a
brother in Christ, I have additional joy at the tidings.
that one of the lost sheep of the house of Israel has had
the veil taken from his eyes, and has begun to look unto
Jesus as the Author and Finisher of his faith.
But another passage of Scripture also came to my
mind. I recollected that my blessed Lord, standing on
the side of the mount that looked over Jerusalem, a
short time before he was taken to the cross, looked
upon those beloved walls and wept over them; and as
he wept he said—“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often
would I have gathereth thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not. Behold your house is left unto you
desolate.” Ah! yes, and the desolation of that house
continues. But because this desolation continues,
should the weeping of the hearts of Christ's people
over that desolation cease ? Are not these desolate
walls to be rebuilt? Is not the Shekinah of glory to
enter, I will not say the outward and visible walls, but
the re-edified temple of God in the New Jerusalem?
And in the expectation of this great event, and prais-
ing God for his promise, and looking upon the present
desolations of Israel, must we not, as disciples of the
Lord Jesus Christ, follow him in his affectionate
interest; and as we stand now on the high mountain
of our Christian privileges, looking over the earth, and



7
surveying the fragments of this scattered people, must
we not weep over them, and pray God for them, and
feel that the cause of their conversion is the great cause
of the Church of God. -
But analyzing my feelings on this subject still further,
I came to another observation. It was this—that not
only do I come to this cause with sentiments of peculiar
sensibility, but also with a sense of reverence, a sense
of mystery, which I can only explain by feeling as if I
were—and now I have got exactly the explanation—as if
I were standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, when Moses
was coming down from the Mount, and when the people
were directed to stand aside and not touch the Mount,
and take their shoes from off their feet, because God
was there! You tell me, God is not there now—God
has forsaken his ancient people Israel. Well, now,
bear with me a little while, and I will tell you what I
mean. Suppose I were dwelling in the ancient times,
when that mysterious people, after having passed be-
yond Mount Sinai, and come up to the borders of the
land of promise, had been turned back, and during the
thirty-nine years were wandering round, and round,
and round in the wilderness, and that wilderness so
limited a territory, the land of promise so near to them
all the time, the hand of God ever with them so mar-
vellously, and yet wandering, and wandering, and wan-
dering: and suppose I had come into the wilderness
and beheld that people, with my present knowledge of
what people it was, and how God had selected them,
and what promises were upon them—why, certainly, I
should survey with intense sense of mystery and rever-
ence that wandering, that mysterious wandering; and
I should say, this is not to be explained upon any prin-
ciples of human nature—there is nothing to account
for this simply on the ground of the bewildered intellect
of man. , Why cannot they send out spies and find out
the way? It is not the wide world that lies before them.
It is a desert track that travellers now pass over in a
few days without difficulty. What shall account for
their mysterious wandering 2 And then such a vast

8.

host, three millions of people at least, so wonderfully
sustained all the while in that desert! Why, I should
be filled with a sense of mystery, and reverence, and
awe, as if the hand of God and the depth of His secret
things were very near. And what is the present aspect
of the people of Israel, but just this—wandering, and
wandering, and wandering; the light of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ all the time so near to them, the promises
of God so near to them, the land of promise so near to
them, and yet this wandering continues. -
O! it is an impressive view of the hand of God upon
them, at the same time that it is a most impressive in-
dication that God hath great things in store for them.
It is not any act of man, or any thing to be explained
on human principles, that keeps them in their present
condition, their present separation, their present ming.
ling with all other people, and at the same time their
present distinction among all people. Nothing but God
can keep up that, and it is His hand, telling us this
people are just waiting the fulness of time to work out,
under the grace of God, wonderful results for the
Church. Then again, suppose I should see in that
desert, where the wanderings of Israel occurred, scat-
tered fragments of the old tabernacle scattered; so far
and wide, that it would be impossible for the hand of
man to take up the fragments, and put them together
again into a tabernacle; suppose as I regarded those
fragments, I were to stand and consider that in con-
nexion with them had once been the Shekinah; that
on them the Shekinah of God's glory had rested; and
that in the interior of that tabernacle had stood the ark
of the covenant and the mercy-seat, and the tables of
stone, under the visible glory of God; and into that
inner sanctuary the priest had once a year been ac-
customed to go to make intercession for the people; no
matter how fragmentary the state of the tabernacle, I
should stand and look upon it with the intensest reve-
rence. You ask me if I am meaning to draw a compari-
son between that broken tabernacle, and the present
condition of the Jews? I say yea; but where, you will

9.

ask, is the parallel, since God has deserted them, and
the Shekinah hath been taken away from them. When
the second temple was rebuilt, the old ark of the cove-
nant was not in it, and the glory of God never appeared
over its mercy-seat. I tell you the Shekinah of the
covenant has been withdrawn, but has not gone away
for ever. It is out of sight, waiting the fulness of the
time. But open your Bibles, bring together all the
promises throughout its pages, in reference to the future
restoration of Israel, put them all together into that one
great and glorious light in which they should appear
to us always, and there is the Shekinah. There the
Shekinah is resting, covered up out of sight of Israel,
within the pages of the Bible—waiting to appear again,
when the tabernacle of God shall be built again in
'Israel, and say God is there. What was the star that
appeared in the far distant East, when the Saviour was
born at Bethlehem What was it but the return of the
Shekinah? It had been absent ever since the old pro-
º had ceased to speak. It was absent only. It
ad not been for ever taken away. It was waiting the
fulness of time for the first advent of Christ. It
appeared in the distant East, in the form of a star
to fulfil the prophecy concerning a star rising out of
Jacob. But it was the old Shekinah of the glory of
God, and it led the wise men on, till they came to
where the first advent was exhibited, in the person of
our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh.
And now, in these glad tidings that we have heard
concerning Israel, although there be still much to
discourage to the eye of sense, yet in my eye, being one
of a little faith, it is the star appearing in the East. It
is guiding this Society—it is guiding those that are
wise enough rightly to interpret the prophecies of
Scripture, concerning the ancient Israel. It is leading
you onward. It will safely conduct you. It does not
arise out of the fictions of man's imaginings, like the
miasmatic light that appears among the fogs and the
fens of this corrupted earth. But it is a star out of
heaven sent by God, to encourage and guide Christian
10 -
Gentiles in their efforts to bring back to Judea and to
God, that ancient people, in whom God is hereafter to
be so signally glorified. *
Your Report has spoken of discouragement—no
-no-not discouragement, but has spoken of the need
of patience in this work; and this cause especially de-
mands patience and the exercise of faith. I desire on
this point to draw near my revered and beloved friend,
Sir Robert Inglis, who spoke before me, and to join
with him, as to the necessity of . patience and faith,
and especially as to our not depending in the slightest
degree on an array of numbers for our encourage-
ment in this work. Such dependence is not an exer-
cise of faith. We do not exercise faith when we are
encouraged and supported simply by the fact that a
certain measure of visible success attends a certain
work. We exercise faith when, either without the
sight of success or with it, we place our reliance
simply on the word and promises of God. And are
there any promises in the Holy Scriptures more plain,
more pointed, more bright, more glorious, than the
promises of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the
New too, with regard to the restoration and conversion
of the Jews? And yet I say, not only that it is a fact
that special patience and special faith in God's pro-
mises are required in connexion with this cause, but I
say distinctly that the Scriptures' bid us remember
that that is anticipated. For example, take up that
remarkable chapter, the 37th of Ezekiel. It is put
there to teach us a lesson in connexion with this cause,
of the need of patience. Where is the prophet taken
Not taken among the living, but amongst the dead.
He is not taken among the dead, where here and there
may be an indication at least of some beginning life,
some movement of a bone, something to enable him to
feel encouragement from the sight. But he is taken
into a valley that is full of bones. And I remark em-
phatically that particular part of the description, where
the bones are described as being so dry and so entirely
disjointed. It is not a mere skeleton into which you.

11
have only to breathe the breath of life and clothe it
with flesh. It is a great deal more hopeless than that.
It is a disjointed skeleton. The parts are all abroad.
Here part of one body, and there part of another, so
that human skill, having gathered them together, can-
not tell to which body they belong. All this is
intended to produce an impression, that if we look
for encouragement in work only to this that is mani-
fest to the eye of sense, we cannot have it. It is a
valley full of bones, and those bones exceeding dry.
Remember what comes in a subsequent part of the
chapter, where God says—“I will bring you up out of
your graves.” What can be more utterly appalling to
all hope of life, than the dead body in the grave?
The corruption of the grave! Is it not the very con-
tradiction of all possibility of life? And that is the
attitude in which the Scriptures present the condition
of the Jews before our faith. The direction of the
prophet is simply “prophesy to the four winds.”
They tell us that when we are preaching to the Jews
we are prophesying to the winds—meaning by that,
that it goes like a voice on the empty air and dies
away. No, the wind is the breath of the Omnipotent
God. The four winds are the influences of the Holy
Ghost, in their variety and multiplicity and power.
And to these influences we must look, and on them
depend in hope and prayer, relying confidently in
God’s promises, and God's breath will come, and that.
field of death will live, and that great valley of
bones will be the valley of a mighty field of life, for
the Gospel of Christ, with a mighty living host of
God’s soldiery, ready and waiting, and anxious to be
told what they shall do. Saul, on the way to Damas-
cus, a raging persecutor of the Church of Christ,
suddenly converted by the voice of the Lord into a
meek and lowly disciple, gave the first indication of
his new life in his earnest cry, “Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?” So may we expect to see, when the
.*. whose fathers persecuted and slew the Lord
of Glory, shall stand forth-out of the valley of their




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spiritual death and darkness, a living, converted
people. Their first and earnest desire will be to know.
what they may do for Jesus, whom their fathers cru-
cified; to render some little return for the grace they
so long neglected, and the patience they have so long
“ , received. God will tell them what to do. He will
give them work among the Gentiles. Then shall
- “the fulness of the Gentiles” come in. The Shekinah
of the Glory of God will be seen again upon the taber-
nacle of Israel, and Christ will reign in Mount Zion
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