then Ezekiel's mouth being opened to them, they were brought to know the Lord.

So with regard to the remnant of Judah dispersed through the countries. "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretchedout arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretchedout arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant."* Similar to this is another address by the same prophet, to the same people. "Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made; and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord." Thus would the Lord subdue them. How instructive are these things both to ministers and people!

The case of the prodigal son furnishes another + Ibid. xxii. 13-16.

* Ezek. xx. 33-37.

proof of this method of dealing. He was subdued by want and wretchedness. It was not till

he was in a state of destitution and misery, that he "came to himself," and thought of returning to his father's house. And then he resolved to do so. So, in the parable of the marriage of the king's son, the bidden would not come. The same in that of the

great supper. While those who were at ease and supplied with the good things of this life, made each their excuse and forbore to come, those did come who were maimed, and halt, and lame, and blind. And even those that were in the highways and hedges did not come till urged unto compulsion. What less can we learn from these parables combined, but that men will not come to Christ until urged by a sense of need, or overcome by the force of truth? And how striking in this view is that passage in 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Men so "err in heart," that nothing but God's truth, in the light and power of the Spirit, will prevail. We pass on,

2. To the drawing.

God's drawing is by teaching. "After that I was instructed," says Ephraim, "I smote upon my thigh." And our Lord, when he speaks of coming to him, as the effect of “ drawing," quotes that passage in Isaiah, as explaining and confirming what he had said"All thy children shall be taught of God;" and then adds, "Every one that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me." Thus then they are drawn ; they are taught to "know the Lord;" by which they learn the knowledge of themselves, and their need of a Saviour; and learning further who and what that

"No one can say that

Saviour is, they are inclined, or have now the will of inclination to come to him. Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost:" and being taught by this Holy Spirit, they are inclined to say, that is to confess, "Jesus" as their " Jesus," and the "Lord" as their "Lord;" and that, of course, sincerely and cordially, be the consequence what it

may.

Now then, they are both subdued and drawn; and thus are they become the actual subjects of this efficacious grace of which we are speaking. As subdued, they were brought to the will of determination, and now, as drawn, they are brought to the will of inclination. And, without these, to be reproved, is so mortifying; to receive the gift of righteousness is so humbling; to live a holy life is so contrary to our unholy hearts; to live a heavenly life is so contrary to our earthly minds; to part with the honour that cometh from man, is so great a sacrifice; and to live a life of selfdenial is so hard to flesh and blood; that the human mind will not choose, will not have the will of inclination to take part with Christ. But, the soul being subdued, and the mind brought to hearken to receive instruction, no sooner is Christ and his saving benefits revealed by the Holy Spirit, in the need the soul has of them, and in his and their suitableness and glory, but these mountains of difficulty become a plain, and the soul goes forth to meet Jesus as her Saviour and her Lord.

The history of God's ancient people will supply us with illustration and proof on this branch of the subject also. Did we adduce the history of the

remnant of Israel in proof of God's method of subduing, we may do the same in regard to his drawing. We learn this from Jeremiah, in the passage before cited. Hear the kind language which God used towards Ephraim when subdued: "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." How drawing is this! So concerning the same people in Hosea. See the superabounding of divine grace there. Having taught this treacherous adulteress her sin, and humbled her, he says concerning her, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies." And much more of the same sort. Is not this drawing? Well might the Lord say, "I am God and not man!" Did we advert to the "reserve" of Judah in Babylon? When subdued by their strength being taken away, the joy of their glory, and so on, the prophet's mouth was to be opened to them-to declare to them not only what would become of their brethren in the land of Israel, the judgments that would overtake them, but the "exceeding great and precious promises" that we find in the subsequent part of the prophecy, whereby they might learn God's designs of mercy towards them, and the change he would produce in them and for them, that by these promises they might become " partakers of a divine nature." And thus were they also drawn.

Then, there is the remnant of Judah that had been scattered throughout the countries. What gracious promises of return were made to them! They should be forgiven-be washed from their filthiness-have "a new heart given them, and a new spirit; have the stony heart taken out of their flesh, and have given them a heart of flesh. God would "put his Spirit within them, that they might walk in his statutes, and keep his judgments, and do them, and they should be his people, and he would be their God." Language admirably calculated to draw them! Indeed, with regard to the whole saved remnant of the whole house of Israel, such was the kindness of God towards them, that he took care that they should have these encou ragements at hand in their time of need; for he directed Jeremiah to "write in a book the good things that he intended for them." "Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken to thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land that gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah." And then follow the gracious declarations recorded in that and the two succeeding chapters.

I

We shall now conclude this dissertation on efficacious grace, designed to form the "connecting link" of the two great "parts" of our subject, with two or three reflections or remarks.