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Thinkest thou that God has given thee this faith to mock thee? Believest thou that he has taught thee to trust in his name, and thus far has brought thee to put thee to shame? Has his Holy Spirit given thee confidence in a lie? and has he wrought in thee faith in a fiction? God forbid! Our God is no demon who would delight in the misery which a groundless confidence would be sure to bring to us. If thou hast faith, he gave it to thee, and he that gave it to thee knows his own gift, and will honour it. He was never false yet, even to the feeblest faith, and if thy faith is great, thou shalt find him greater than thy faith, even when thy faith is at its greatest; therefore be of good cheer. The fact that thou believest should encourage thee to say, Now, O Lord, I have come to rest upon thee, canst thou fail me? I, a poor worm, know no confidence but thy dear name, wilt thou forsake me? I have no refuge but thy wounds, O Jesus, no hope but in thy atoning sacrifice, no light but in thy light: canst thou cast me off?" It is not possible that the Lord should cast off one who thus trusts him. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Can any of us forget our children when they fondly trust us in the days of their weakness? No, the Lord is no monster: he is tender and full of compassion, faithful and true; and Jesus is a friend which sticketh closer than a brother. The very fact that he has given us faith in his covenant should help us to plead,"Have respect unto the covenant."

III. Having thus shown you, dear friends, the meaning of the plea, and whence it derives its force, we will now pause a minute and observe

HOW AND WHEN THAT COVENANT MAY BE PLEADED.

First, it may be pleaded under a sense of sin-when the soul feels its guiltiness. Let me read to you the words of our apostle, in the eighth chapter of the Hebrews, where he is speaking of this covenant at the tenth verse. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Now, dear hearer, suppose that thou art under a sense of sin; something has revived in thee a recollection of past guilt, or it may be that thou hast sadly stumbled this very day, and Satan whispers, "Thou wilt surely be destroyed, for thou hast sinned." Now go to the great Father, and open this page, putting thy finger on that twelfth verse, and say, "Lord, thou hast in infinite, boundless, inconceivable mercy entered into covenant with me, a poor sinner, seeing I believe in the name of Jesus, and now I beseech thee have respect unto thy covenant. Thou hast said, I will be merciful to their unrighteousness:-O God be merciful to mine. Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more: Lord, remember no more my sins: forget for ever my iniquity." That is the way to use the covenant: when under a sense of sin, run to that clause which meets your case.

But suppose, beloved brother or sister, you are labouring to overcome inward corruption, with intense desire that holiness should be wrought

in you. Then read the covenant again as you find it in the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah at the thirty-third verse. It is the same covenant, only we are reading another version of it. "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Now, can you not plead that and say, "Lord, thy commandments upon stone are holy, but I forget them, and break them; but, O my God, write them on the fleshy tablets of my heart. Come now and make me holy; transform me; write thy will upon my very soul, that I may live it out, and from the warm impulses of my heart serve thee as thou wouldst be served. Have respect unto thy covenant and sanctify thy servant."

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Or suppose you desire to be upheld under strong temptation, lest you should go back and return to your old ways. Take the covenant as you find it in Jeremiah at the thirty-second chapter at the fortieth verse. Note these verses and learn them by heart, for they may be a great help to you some of these days. Read the fortieth verse of the thirtysecond chapter of Jeremiah. 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." Now go and say, "O Lord, I am almost gone, and they tell me I shall finally fall, but O, my Lord and Master, there stands thy word. Put thy fear in my heart and fulfil thy promise, that I shall not depart from thee." This is the sure road to final perseverance.

Thus I might take you through all the various needs of God's people, and show that in seeking to have them supplied they may fitly cry, "Have respect unto the covenant." For instance, suppose you were in great distress of mind and needed comfort, you could go to him with that covenant promise, "As a mother comforteth her children, even so will I comfort thee,-out of Zion will I comfort thee." Go to him with that and say, "Lord, comfort thy servant." Or if there should happen to be a trouble upon us, not for yourselves, but for the church; how sweet it is to go to the Lord and say, "Thy covenant runs thus the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.' O Lord, it seems as though they would prevail. Interpose thy strength and save thy church." If it ever should happen that you are looking for the conversion of the ungodly, and desiring to see sinners saved, and the world seems so dark, look at our text again-the whole verse-" Have respect unto the covenant, for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty," to which you may add, "but thou hast said that thy glory shall cover the earth, and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Lord, have respect unto thy covenant. Help our missionaries, speed thy gospel, bid the the mighty angel fly through the midst of heaven to preach the everlasting gospel to every creature. Why, it is a grand missionary prayer. "Have respect unto the covenant.' Beloved, it is a two-edged sword, to be used in all conditions of strife, and it is a holy balm of Gilead, that will heal in all conditions of suffering.

IV. And so I close with this last question, WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL INFERENCES FROM ALL THIS? "Have respect unto the covenant." Why, that if we ask God to have respect unto it we ought to have respect unto it ourselves, and in this way.

Have a grateful respect for it. Bless the Lord that he ever condescended to enter into covenant with you. What could he see in you even to give you a promise, much more to make a covenant with you? Blessed be his dear name, this is the sweet theme of our hymns on earth, and shall be the subject of our songs in heaven.

Next, have a believing respect for it. If it is God's covenant, do not dishonour it. It stands sure. Why do you stagger at it through unbelief?

"His every work of grace is strong

As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises."

Next, have a joyful respect for it. Wake your harps, and join in praise with David: "Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant." Here is enough to make a heaven in our hearts while yet we are below-the Lord hath entered into a covenant of grace and peace with us, and he will bless us for ever.

Then have a jealous respect for it. Never suffer the covenant of works to be mixed with it. Hate that preaching-I say not less than that hate that preaching which does not discriminate between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, for it is deadly preaching and damning preaching. You must always have a straight, clear line here between what is of man and what is of God, for cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm; and if you have begun with the Spirit under this covenant do not think of being made perfect in the flesh under another covenant. Be ye holy under the precepts of the heavenly Father; but be ye not legal under the taskmaster's lash. Return not to the bondage of the law, for ye are not under law, but under grace.

Lastly, have a practical respect for it. Let all see that the covenant of grace, while it is your reliance, is also your delight. Be ready to speak of it to others. Be ready to show that the effect of its grace upon you is one that is worthy of God, since it has a purifying effect upon your life. He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure. Have respect unto the covenant by walking as such people should who can say that God is to them a God, and they are to him a people. The covenant says, "From all their idols will I cleanse them." Don't love idols then. The covenant says, "I will sprinkle pure water upon them, and they shall be clean." Be ye clean then, ye covenanted ones, and may the Lord preserve you and make his covenant to be your boast on earth and your song for ever in heaven. Oh that the Lord may bring us into the bonds of his covenant, and give us a simple faith in his dear Son, for that is the mark of the covenanted ones. Amen and Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Psalm lxxiv.

HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK."-237, 228, 742.

THE SICK MAN LEFT BEHIND.

A short $4rmon

FROM THE SICK ROOM OF C. H. SPURGEON.
JANUARY 12TH, 1879.

"But Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.”—2 Timothy iv. 20. THESE are among the last words of Paul the Apostle, for we find them in the closing verses of the last of his epistles. The chapter reminds us of a dying man's final adieu to his best beloved friend, in the course of which he calls to mind the associates of his life. Among his memories of love we find Paul recollecting Trophimus, who had frequently shared with him the perils of rivers and perils of robbers which so largely attended the apostle's career. He had left the good man ill at Miletum, and as Timothy at Ephesus was within an easy journey of him, there was no need to add a hint that he would visit him, for he would be sure to do it. The love of Jesus works in the hearts of his disciples great tenderness and unity. The overflow of our Lord's great soul has saturated all his true followers with brotherly affection: because Jesus has loved Paul, Paul loves Timothy, and Timothy must needs love Trophimus. From this love there arises communion of feeling, so that in sympathy they share each other's joys and griefs. When one member rejoices the body rejoices, and when one member suffers the whole body suffers with it. Trophimus is sick, and Paul cannot forget him, though he himself expects in a few weeks to die a martyr's death; neither would he have Timothy ignorant of the fact, though twice within a few verses he hurries him to come to Rome, saying, "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me." If Timothy could not personally visit the sick friend, yet it was well that he should know of his affliction, for he would then remember him in his prayers. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God." Let us remember those who are one with us in Christ, and especially let us bear on our hearts all those who are afflicted in mind, body, or estate. If we have had to leave Trophimus at Miletum, or at Brighton, or at Ventnor, let us leave our heart's love with him; and if we hear that another Trophimus lies sick not far from our own abode, let us accept the information as in itself a sufficient summons to minister to the afflicted friend. May holy sympathy pervade all our souls, for, however active and zealous we may be, we have not yet reached a perfect character unless we are full of compassion, tender-hearted, and considerate of the sorrowful, for this is the mind of Christ.

No. 1,452.

Simple as the statement of our text certainly is, it is found in an inspired book, and it is therefore more than an ordinary note in a common letter. Like another verse of the same chapter, "The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments," has been judged to be beneath the dignity of inspiration, but we think not so. The God who counts the hairs of our heads in providence may well mention his sick servant on the page of inspiration. Instead of cavilling at the littleness of the recorded fact, let us admire "the love of the Spirit" who, while he lifts Ezekiel and Daniel above the spheres, and raises the language of David and Isaiah to the utmost pitch of poetry and eloquence, yet deigns to breathe in such a line as this," Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick."

Can we learn anything more from this plain line of apostolic penmanship? Let us see. If the same divine Spirit who inspired it will shine upon it we shall not read it in vain.

I. From the fact that Paul left Trophimus at Miletum sick we learn that IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT SOME GOOD MEN SHOULD BE IN ILL HEALTH. Whatever the malady may have been which affected Trophimus, Paul could certainly have healed him if the divine Spirit had permitted the use of his miraculous powers to that end. He had raised up Eutychus from death, and he had given the use of his limbs to the cripple at Lystra; we feel, therefore, fully assured that had God allowed the apostle so to use his healing energy, Trophimus would have left his bed, and continued his journey to Rome. Not so, however, had the Lord willed; the good fruit-bearing vine must be pruned, and Trophimus must suffer: there were ends to be answered by his weakness which could not be compassed by his health. Instantaneous restoration could have been given, but it was withheld under divine direction.

This doctrine leads us away from the vain idea of chance. We are not wounded by arrows shot at a venture, but we smart by the determinate counsel of heaven. An overruling hand is everywhere present, preventing or permitting ill, and no one shaft of disease is ever let fly by stealth from the bow of death. If some one must be ill it was a wise providence which selected Trophimus, for it was better for him to be ill than Titus, or Tychicus, or Timothy. It was well, too, that he happened to be ill at Miletum near to his own native city, Ephesus. We cannot always sce the hand of God in providence, but we may be always sure that it is there. If not a sparrow lighteth on the ground without our Father, surely not a child of the divine family is laid low without his sacred will. Chance is a heathenish idea, which cannot live in the presence of an everywhere present, living, and working God. Away with it from every Christian mind! It is alike dishonouring to the Lord and grievous to ourselves.

This also delivers us from regarding affliction as being always brought upon men by their personal sin. Many a sickness has been the direct result of intemperance, or some other form of wickedness; but here is a worthy, well-approved brother laid aside and left on the road through a malady for which he is not blamed in any measure. It is too common nowadays for men to be of a hard and cruel spirit, and ascribe the illnesses even of those who are true children of God to some fault in their habits of life. We wonder how they would like to be dealt with in this manner

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