God's
promises belonged not to one Jew or another, but to the Jewish
nation; and even the ignorant and the sinful had a share in the
blessings of the covenant, great or small in proportion as they chose
to live as Jews ought, or to forget and deny that they belonged to
God's people.
Now, surely the Lord cannot be less merciful now than He was then.
He cannot care less for poor orphans, and paupers, and wild untaught
creatures, in England now, than he cared for them in Judaea of old.
And we see that in fact He does not. For as the wealth of England
improves, and the laws improve, and the knowledge of God improves,
the condition of all sorts of poor creatures improves too, though
they had no share in bringing about the good change. But we are all
members of one body, from the Queen on her throne to the tramper
under the hedge; and as St. Paul says: "If one member suffers, all
the members suffer with it, and if one member rejoices, all the
others" sooner or later "rejoice with it." For we, too, are one of
the Lord's nations. He has made us one body, with one common
language, common laws, common interest, common religion for all; and
what He does for one of us He does for all. He orders all that
happens to us; whether it be war or peace, prosperity or dearth, He
orders it all; and He orders things so that they shall work for the
good, not merely of a few, but of as many as possible--not merely for
His elect, but for those who know Him not.
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