Sermons and Notes of Sermons.

THE COVENANT VERITIES OF A COVENANT GOD. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."-JER. xxxii. 40.

WHAT a blessed teaching of inspiration is it that God determined of His own sovereign will to redeem and save a people for Himself; and this He does, not because they are better than others, but because it pleased Him to do so. God's will is supreme. Throughout the Scriptures we are taught this. The apostle says, "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will he hardeneth" (Rom. ix. 16-18). God's I will and they shall have ever been a source of security to the people of God. In this 32nd chapter of Jeremiah, from the 37th verse we have a cluster of promises intended for the people of God. And oh, how cheering to think that the promises which God has given are unconditionally fulfilled in the experience of His people, and therefore most encouraging are the words selected for a text. With the light and teaching of the blessed Spirit of God, we will endeavour to open up these words, and may He seal instruction upon the heart, and bless His own word as He sees fit. NoticeI. What God promises to make with His people.- "I will make an everlasting covenant with them." With whom will God make this covenant? With His people. Who are they? "They who have been born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And what is the nature of the covenant which God promises to make with His people? It is called in the New Testament the new covenant; it is called by divines the covenant of grace, to distinguish it from the old covenant of works given from Sinai. Before the foundation of the world the Three-one God entered into covenant in regard to the seed of Christ; and this covenant has ever been the bulwark of safety to the Church of God. David rejoiced in it, and therefore he said, "He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure." What are the particulars of this covenant? The Holy Ghost gives them in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, at 33rd verse, in the following words, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel [the seed of Christ]; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." This is what God says to all the seed of Christ, that is, to every sinner whom God calls with an inward effectual call, and causes to taste that the Lord is gracious. And in the text God says, "I will make an everlasting covenant with them." To make this covenant with His people

valid was the purpose for which Christ appeared in the flesh, suffered in the Garden, and bled on the cross. Christ's blood is called "the blood of the everlasting covenant." Why? Because, as covenant Head of His people, He ratified the covenant of grace with His own precious blood. Oh, how cheering to think that the covenant is "ordered in all things, and sure." This covenant is the great charter which secures Gospel blessings to the Church of God, and cheers her during her time-state. The language of every true Christian is well expressed by the poet :

"The Gospel bears my spirits up,

A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation for my hope

In oaths and promises and blood."

Whatever be the crosses, or trials, or exercises which God's people may be called to endure, it is cheering to know that they are all in the covenant, for it is "ordered in all things." There is no chance work in the dispensations of Providence, nor in the operations of grace; all these things are in the covenant. The time when a sinner shall be born, the changes to be experienced, the duration of his pilgrimage, and the time of his death are all in the covenant.

"His decree, who fram'd the earth,
Fix'd my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time,
All appointed were by Him."

This earth shall be destroyed by fire, and all created things shall undergo a change, but the covenant of grace shall remain; "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee."

"This cov'nant, O believer, stands,

Thy rising fears to quell;

Seal'd by this Surety's bleeding hands,
In all things order'd well.

'Twas made with Jesus for His bride,
Before the sinner fell;

'Twas sign'd and seal'd and ratified,

In all things order'd well.

When rolling worlds depart on fire,

And thousands sink to hell,

This cov'nant shall the saints admire,

In all things order'd well.”

Oh, blessed are they who are included in the bonds of the covenant; eternally blessed are they who are interested in the blessings of the covenant, even the blessings of salvation.

II. What the Lord engaged in covenant to do for the encouragement of His people-"That I will not turn away from them to do them good." How can the Lord turn away from His people? They are His own. The Father gave them to the Lord Jesus. He redeemed them and conquered all their enemies. The Lord cannot turn away from His people; He cannot turn away from their prayers, for He breathes these into them. He cannot turn away from their sighs, sorrows, and afflictions. To Moses the Lord said, "I know their sorrows." Another Scripture saith, "In all their afflictions

He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and pity He redeemed them and bare them all the days of old." "I will not turn away from them to do them good.' If the Lord were to turn away from His people, He would be acting against Himself "For the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." When did He speak good concerning Israel? In eternity. To whom? To Christ; for, saith the apostle, in Titus i. 2, "In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began," and, if promised before the world began, there was no creature then to whom the promise could be made; it must therefore have been made to Christ on behalf of His brethren given to Him in covenant love. "I will not turn away from them to do them good." In what sense does the Lord do His people good? In providence and in grace. (1.) In providence.-"God will not turn away from His people to do them good." He guides them in life-orders the events which take place in their history-fixes the bounds of their habitation-supplies their wants-grants to them so much prosperity as He sees to be good for them. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." (2.) In grace. "God will not turn away from His people to do them good. (i.) He pardons their sins: when the Lord calls a sinner, He makes him know and feel his guilt. He makes him troubled on account of his sin. Will the Lord leave him in this state? No. "I will not turn away from them to do them good." What good does He do them? Why, He pardons their sins, makes them know that He has blood to atone ; and therefore He says to the sinner, "Come, now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." And the Scripture asks, “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and that passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?" "He retaineth not His anger for ever, but He delighteth in mercy.' ." "I will not turn away from them to do them good." How does He do them good? He pardons their sins, and by doing this He is conferring upon them a needful good, a longed-for good, a prayer-for good. (ii.) And then He gives them the spirit of adoption, and therefore they cry, Abba, Father." This Spirit bears witness to their spirit that they are the children of God. He sets His seal upon their hearts that they are born of God. The sinner who knows he has received this blessed spirit of adoption has experienced the fulfilment of the promise, "I will not turn away from them to do them good." How does He do them good? He gives to them the Spirit of adoption. (iii.) Moreover, He grants to them restoring grace. True, they often wander like sheep upon the mountains of carnal dependence, and, if the Lord dealt with them as they deserve, He would leave them to themselves and turn away from them. But He says, "I will not turn away from them to do them good." How does He do them good? Why, he restores them to Himself, brings them back to the embraces of His everlasting love, and causes them to say as David could, "He restoreth my soul." (iv.) Further, He grants to them all needful grace. The redeemed family are members of the mystical body of Christ; the members cannot act without the Head, and therefore the Head bestows needful grace, and in doing so He fulfils in their experience the promise, "I will not turn away from them to do them good." He grants reviving grace, to revive the life of God in the soul from time to time; renewing grace, to renew their faith. Oh, how much do they need this grace! The poor soul often feels his faith very feeble, his love very cold, hope nearly dead. But "I will not turn away

from them to do them good." How does He do them good? Why, He grants them soul-reviving, soul-renewing grace, and then they live afresh, and are enabled to go on their way rejoicing in the Lord. And is it not the experience of God's living family that He grants them upholding grace? What is the secret of continuing in the way of life? Is it their own strength? No! the secret is the upholding grace of Christ. The living family of God have ever felt the need of this grace. David prayed, "Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe;" again, "Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not." Depend upon it, my dear friends, without this upholding grace of Christ, the believer is sure to make shipwreck of faith; and therefore says God, "I will not turn away from them to do them good." How does He do them good? By granting to them upholding grace. In all God's dealings with His people He is ever doing them good. To each child in His family He says, as He said to Jacob, Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." "I will not turn away from them to do them good."

III. What God promises to put in the hearts of His people.-"I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." There is no fear of God in man's heart, while in his natural state; the heart of man is alienated from God. In the natural heart of man there is a slavish fear which hath torment. But the fear which God puts in the hearts of His people is a very different kind of fear; it is a filial fear, it is called "a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death." It is "the beginning of wisdom," it is "to hate evil." In this fear of the Lord there is strong confidence; and then the effect of the fear of the Lord being put in the heart is, "they shall not depart from me." True, they may wander from the Lord in heart, and this they often do to their sorrow, and therefore the exhortation, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." But then, practically, they do not depart from the Lord; God keeps all His people, He keeps them from bringing a disgrace upon their profession, He keeps them outwardly, so that they may adorn the doctrines of God their Saviour; He keeps them inwardly, and therefore they shall never be suffered to make shipwreck of faith, "He will keep the feet of His saints." "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in His way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." All in whose hearts the Lord puts His fear are united to the Lord, and nothing can sever them from Christ. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" is their question. "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." And the reason why the Lord promised to do this for His people is, because He loves them with an everlasting love, and has purposes of grace and mercy to accomplish in them.

Tyldesley, near Manchester.

JAMES JOHN EASTMEAD.

GOD made man holy and righteous, but by his fall in the Garden of Eden, the heart with all the faculties of man became corrupted (Gen. vi. 5), and thus it will ever be whilst we are destitute of the new-creating grace of God. For saith the Prophet, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. xvii. 9).

Correspondence.

THE WONDERS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

DEAR BROTHER IN THE LORD,-I herewith send for insertion, if you will kindly grant it, an extract from a little work entitled the "Sailor Pilgrim," by the late Dr. Hawker (whose early days were spent in the navy). It contains so remarkable an account of God's providence, as manifested most astonishingly in the preservation of the lives of four poor men, who were cast upon the waters of the wide sea, through the blowing up of their ship, called the Randolph. I think it cannot fail of affording interest to your readers, to those especially, who love to watch the divine hand in their little, their every day affairs; and those who live in the neglect of this privilege, know not how much they lose by it. I doubt not, but the account here sent has long, ere now, fallen under the eye of some of the readers of the GOSPEL MAGAZINE, while the majority of them have never met with it at all. I should therefore be glad to see it brought forth afresh to the light, through the medium of your Magazine. I cannot forget the effect it had on my own mind on the first reading of it, which was many years ago, and here I would say, let those talk of luck and chance who choose to do so. But let the believer, especially, avoid the use of such very objectionable, silly terms.

Fletching.

Yours faithfully in the Lord,

EXTRACT.

H. H.

"The circumstance which I am about to relate, did literally take place during the late American war, and is, perhaps, within the memory of many that are now living. The principal person concerned in this little history, and whose conduct gave bias to the whole transaction, was no less a character than the late Nicholas Vincent, Esq., Admiral of the Red, whose recent death has made a vacancy in the present list of admirals. The writer of this memorandum, has more than once been favoured with the relation of it, in all its interesting particulars, from the admiral's own mouth.

'It was towards the close of the day, in the month of March, 1778, on board His Majesty's ship, the Yarmouth, in the latitude of the island of Barbadoes, and about sixty leagues to eastward, when a man at the masthead called out that he saw several sail to the leeward, and near to each other. Soon after there were discovered from the quarter-deck six sail— two ships, three brigs, and a schooner, on the starboard-tack. The Yarmouth bore down upon them, and about nine o'clock got very near to the largest of the two ships, which began to fire on the Yarmouth. In about a quarter of an hour after the action commenced, she blew up, being then on the Yarmouth's lee beam, and not above three or four ship's lengths distant. The rest of the squadron, taking advantage of the night, immediately dispersed. It is impossible for the imagination to form any adequate conception of the effect instantly produced by the explosion: from noise, confusion, fire, and smoke, which before was in every direction, there was at once a dead silence, darkness, not an object to be seen; and the consciousness of what had taken place failed not to add to the solemnity. This event happened between nine and ten o'clock, on Saturday