sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden: and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with

my goodness, saith the Lord. Jeremiah xxxi. 7-14. The subject before us, beloved, is of vast importance; such as I am sure I am not by any means sufficient for; I therefore conceive, whoever he may be that reads this sermon, supposing him to have a spiritual view and relish for the subject, will find a majesty and glory, dignity and importance, cast upon the same, by means of the various Scriptures quoted; and will esteem them, because they contain the essence of the subject, and that by the imprimatur of Jehovah himself. Thus I have dispatched the first clause of the text, which is thus expressed: They that dwell under his shadow shall return. I therefore proceed to my next particular, which is this

II. To take notice of the revival of those who dwell under the shadow and protection of the church of the living God, and their return to it. This is expressed thus: They shall revive as the corn, they shall increase. I will recite the former part of the verse, together with these words, and then take notice of the figure, and so proceed. They that dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall revive as the corn. They shall blossom too; yet this comes not in here. As to the metaphor, corn, under this term, are comprehended wheat, barley, oats, rye, &c. After growing up in stalks, it forms into ears at the top, of different figures. When cut down by the sickle

it is bound into sheaves, and set up in shocks, that it may be sufficiently dried; then it is carried home to the barn, yard, or garner. When threshed out, and grinded into meal, it is a most strengthening food. Christ himself is spoken of as an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains. Psalm 1xxii. 16. This may express him, and his gospel truths and ordinances; and these as preached by his apostles and others, and that to an eminent degree; and their remarkable success in the conversion of souls, and in the display of grace and good works in the hearts and lives of those who are brought under the almighty power and authority of the same. Our Lord speaks of himself and death, and the very blessed fruits of the same under this figure: Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die it bringeth forth fruit. John xii. 24. In the words of our text, it is not Christ nor his passion and death, but it is the revival and spiritual growth of such as are returned to the church from which they had been scattered, is the subject. It is they shall revive as the corn. It is as the people of God are watered with the rain of the word and spirit, and are shined upon by the light and rays of the sun of righteousness, they recover from spiritual decay. It is hereby they revive as the corn. In the sacred word, both temporal and spiritual

blessings are set forth by corn. This is to express the necessity and usefulness of them, for the bodies and souls of men. Manna is called the corn of heaven. It came from heaven. It sustained the lives of the Israelites, as corn doth ours. Under the expression of corn, in the following passage, all the blessings of God's love and grace are contained. The prophet breaks forth in admiration at the exuberancy, saying, For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, (or grow, or speak, so it is in the margin.) and new wine the maids. See Zechariah ix. 17. Twice in the year there fell plenty of rain in Judea, in the beginning of the civil year, about September or October, and half a year after, in the month of Abib or March, which was the first month of the ecclesiastical or holy year, whence it is called the latter rain in the first month. Joel ii. 25. The Lord, to show how one part of nature depends on another, is pleased to exhimself thus: And it shall come to pass in press that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the Rain is sometimes

oil, &c. Hosea ii. 21, 22. spoken symbolically, to express the word and spirit of the Lord, by which his church and saints are rendered fruitful. The sun shining on the same causes fructification. Christ is thus

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spoken of: And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds: as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. The Psalmist in an address to the Lord of all the earth, says, Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly; thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Psalm lxv. 9, 10. Thus the church of Christ is renewed by the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is revived by his gracious breathing. It is watered with showers of heavenly blessings. It is made fruitful by the river of God, and with the riches of grace, mercy, and truth, which flow down from the inexhaustible fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He arises on her as the sun of righte ousness, with health and healing in his beams. This produceth most blessed and salutary effects. It is day when the Lord Christ thus shines forth upon it. This makes a spring indeed. This will be the case with the church, when, and at such times as her converts shall be innumerable; as countless as the drops of rain or dew. This will be a means of their reviving as the corn: They that dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall revive as the corn. This image is very