March 5

delusion. "Why should I wait? I want a mediator between me and God, but I do not want a mediator between me and Christ. I must come to him as I am. And I may come—'all the fitness he requireth is to feel my need of him.''

The answer shows that there is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that he came into the world to save sinners: and that he is now exalted at God's own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour. With him is plenteous redemption; free deliverance from the guilt, the pollution, and the consequences of sin; and for ever—

The way to realize this is believing. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness." Unless we begin here, we commence at the wrong end. Good works do not produce faith, but faith produces good works. If we see a fellow creature wrecked and ready to sink, the first thing is to get out the life-boat. It would be absurd to go to the dying bed of a man, and begin to admonish him how he ought to walk and to work—The man is dying. Send for the physician—Bring a remedy. When recovered, admonition will be reasonable and needful. God gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish: and however salvation is represented in the Scripture, we see faith is essential to it. Whatever Christ may be in himself, he can be nothing to us without it. He is indeed the refuge, but a refuge cannot secure us unless it be entered; and it can only be entered by faith. He is indeed the bread of life, but food cannot nourish us unless it be eaten; and it can only be eaten by faith. The grand thing therefore is to believe the record concerning him; and to trust in his name; to rely upon his grace; to apply to him for all the purposes he is revealed to accomplish; and to receive him as he is held forth to us in the gospel.

This course will not fail. Salvation is insured to believing. As without faith we cannot be saved, so with it we cannot perish. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

If therefore you feel your need of salvation, repair to him, and say, "Let this ruin be under thy hand." He is mighty to save. He is able to save to the uttermost. And while his power enables him to save, his goodness inclines him to save. His soul is the dwelling-place of pity. His heart is made of tenderness; his bowels melt with love. And while his goodness inclines him to save, his promise binds him to save—He cannot deny himself. He has said, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."

"My soul obeys the Almighty call, And runs to this relief; I would believe thy promise, Lord, O help mine unbelief."

MARCH 6.—"And Ekron as a Jebuse."—Zechariah 9:7.

THE prophecy in which these words are found shows, that God in judgment remembers mercy; and can punish her enemies without injuring the Church; and can even increase her welfare by means

12\*

of it. Desolations were coming upon the Syrians, and Tyrians, and Philistines; but a remnant should be saved and converted, so as to become the worshippers and people of the God of Israel! This is exemplified in the latter of these powers: "I will cut off the pride of the Philistines: and I will take away the blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite." The Philistines were the most constant and implacable of all the adversaries of the Jews. Ekron was one of their greatest capitals. It was the residence of Beelzebub the chief of the devils; and is put by the poets for hell itself. Jebus is the old name for Jerusalem. Hence we read that "David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land." The meaning of the words therefore is, that the inhabitant of Ekron should become as the denizen of Jerusalem; no longer an enemy, or a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God. Two remarks arise from this promise.

First,—It is a great thing to be a Jebusite. The Apostle speaks of it as the highest of all privileges, that we "are come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and to the heavenly Jerusalem;" and that "Jerusalem, which is above, and which is free, is the mother of us all." Of this city of our God, glorious things are spoken, and they are not vain words. What a governor have these citizens! He is fairer than the children of men; he is the king of glory. What a charter have they! What can equal their defence and safety? What can equal their liberty? What their commerce and wealth? What their happiness? Their peace passeth all understanding—Their joy is unspeakable and full of glory—"as well the singers, as the players on instruments, shall be there: all my springs are in thee."

Secondly—Jebusites may be derived from Ekronites. Here we have the evidence of fact. The thing has been done; and the most unlikely characters have furnished pious converts. We can make an appeal to Manasseh, who had sinned away all the effects of a godly education, and had become the most daring idolater; and such a murderer, that he made the streets of Jerusalem to run down with innocent blood—yet he, even he, sought and found the Lord God of his fathers. We could appeal to the dying thief, blaspheming with his companion one moment, and praying the next, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." We could appeal to the murderers of Jesus, so soon washed in the blood which they themselves had shed. What could surpass the guilt and depravity of the Corinthians? Yet they were washed, they were justified, they were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. And what says Paul of himself? "I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy"—and "for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ should show forth all long-suffering, as a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him, to life everlasting."

Here from what he has done, we see what he can do. We see also what he must do; for he has bound himself by his word. And who are the heirs of promise? From whence are they to be brought;