'136 A CALL TO The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know; my people Cloth not consider! Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers!" &c. Is. i. 2-4. "Do you thus requite the Lord, 0 foolish people, and unwise? ls not he thy Father that bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and established thee?" ; Deut. xxxii. 6. When he saw that you forsook him, even for nothing, and turned away from your I~ord and life, to hunt after the chaff and feathers of the world, he told you of your folly, and called you to a more profitable employment, lsa. lv. 1-3. "Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your l!ibour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, ;_y:d your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found: call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon," and so Isa. i. 16-18. And when you would not hear, what complaints have you put him to, charging it on you as your wilfulness and stubbornness. Jer. ii. 12, 13. "Be astonished, 0 heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Many a time hath Christ proclaimeel that free invitation to you, Rev. xxii. 17. " Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let !Jim take the ·water of life freely." But you put him to complain, after all his offers;" They will not come to me, that they may, have life." John v. 40. He hath in~vited you to feast with him ,in the kingdom of his grace, and you have had excuses from
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