Mourners, Inquirers, Covenanters

Mourners, Inquirers, Covenanters

(No. 1752)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"In those days and in that time, says the LORD, the children of Israel
shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping:
they shall go and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to
Zion with their faces toward it, saying, Come, and let usjoin ourselves
to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."
Jeremiah 50:4.

THE previous part of this chapter declares the overthrow of Israel's
cruel oppressor–"Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is broken
in pieces." The Assyrian and Babylonian power had been the great tyrant
of the ages and the Lord had employed it for the chastening of His
people, until, at last, Israel and Judah had been carried away captive
to the banks of the Euphrates and the land of their fathers knew them
no more. This was the mournful song of the exiles, "By the rivers of
Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion."
What a turn would come! In the day when God would reckon with Babylon
and punish the haughty people for their cruelties and oppressions, then
should Israel and Judah come to their own again.

"In those days, and in that time," there would be hope for the
downtrodden–the Lord would keep His appointments of Grace to the hour
and, at the determined time, Israel would be free. "Surely the least of
the flock would draw out the enemy" and escape from his power. God
devises means for bringing back His banished ones and among those ways
we usually see the overthrow of their conquerors. When, therefore, the
Lord deals with Babylon in a way of vengeance it is that He may deliver
His own people. See how the two things are joined together in the 18th
and 19th verses– "Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I
have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his
habitation and he shall feed on Carmel and Ba-shan, and his soul shall
be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead."

When Pharaoh is drowned, Israel is saved! When Sihon and Og are slain,
the Lord's mercy to His people is seen to endure forever! The
destruction of Amalek is the salvation of Jacob and the overthrow of
Babylon is the restoration of Jerusalem! It was a very amazing thing
that a nation so crushed and scattered as the Jews were, should come
back from captivity–it was a very marvelous instance of Divine power
and faithfulness, as it is written–"For Israel has not been forsaken,
nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of Hosts; though their land was
filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel."

I will not talk much with you concerning the Chaldeans and the Jews,
but I would speak concerning ourselves. We, too, by nature are in
banishment, far off from our God and the abode of His Glory. We are not
what we ought to have been, for the Lord did not make us to be sinners,
but to be His happy and obedient creatures. Our present lost estate is
not our true state. We are banished through coming under the power of
our great adversary. Sin has carried us into captivity and we are in
the far country, away from the great Father's house. It is a great
blessing when the times come–and they have come–when there is an
opportunity and an invitation to return. Today the power of the
adversary is broken and we may flee out of the Babylon of sin. A
greater than Cyrus has opened the two-leaved gates, broken the bars of
iron in sunder and proclaimed liberty to the captives! We may now
return to our God and freely enjoy the holy and happy associations
which belong to the City of our God.

At such times, when the Lord is leading men to seek His face, questions
arise, anxieties abound and difficulties multiply. The lost tribes
could not come back from Babylon by merely thinking of it–the way was
long and dangerous, the paths were unknown and difficult–and they who
came back to Zion found the journey to be no promenade of pleasure or
parade of pomp. It is so with the Lord's banished when He gives them a
heart and a will to return to Him–they are

not, therefore, restored to the Father's house at once–they may have
to persevere through months of weary pilgrimage before they come to
their desired abode. As I have said, returning times are anxious times.
Men wander thoughtlessly, but they do not return without grave thought
and serious consideration. I earnestly desire to be the means in the
hand of God of answering questions, removing fears and clearing the way
for those who have begun to seek the Lord. They mourn and I wish to
comfort them. They ask the way and I would gladly direct them. They
long to join themselves unto the Lord and I would, by His Grace, help
them.

Last Lord's-Day morning was given to the fathers of the Church. Let
this be given to the beginners in the Divine Life. May the Holy Spirit
give us thoughts and words which may lead the seeker into the way of
peace. Everyone who is really seeking the Lord desires to be sure that
he is seeking aright. He is not willing to take anything for granted,
since his soul is of too much value to be left in danger. He does not
even believe in his own judgment of himself, but when he thinks his
face is towards Zion, he still asks the way. He inquires, "Are my
feelings like those of the truly penitent? Am I believing as those do
who are justified by faith? Am I seeking the Lord in a manner which
will be pleasing to Him?" They have so long been as lost sheep, going
from mountain to hill, that they have forgotten their resting places
and, therefore, in their confusion they are afraid of going wrong
again–and so they inquire with eager anxiety.

Perhaps we may show them from this Scripture how others sought and how
others found–and this may be a guide and a comfort to them–for
although there are differences of operation and all do not come to
Christ with equal terrors, or with equal joys–yet there is a likeness
in all the pilgrims to the Holy City. "As in water, face answers to
face, so the heart of man to man." The experience of God's people in
its root principles is always the same. All coming sinners endure
similar griefs and pass through similar struggles–the same desires,
the same fears, the same hopes and, by-and-by, the same realizations
are to be found in all those who seek the Lord their God.

Looking carefully at the text, we perceive that those who came back to
Zion by God's gracious leadership were first, mourners; secondly,
inquirers and thirdly, covenanters, for they ended by joining
themselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant.

I. To begin at the beginning, the Lord's restored ones, during the
processes of Grace, were first of all MOURNERS–"In those days, and in
that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and
the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and
seek the Lord their God." Oh, my Hearer, after all your sins, I will
not believe that you are truly coming to God if there is not about you
a great sorrow for sin and a lamenting after the Lord! Some seekers are
made to drink of this bitter cup very deeply; the wine of astonishment
is long kept to their lips; their sense of sin is terrible–even to
anguish and agony!

I know that there are others who do not taste this bitterness to the
same degree. It is in their cup, but for all that, the sweet love of
Christ is revealed to them so soon and so fully that the healthful
wormwood of penitence is veiled beneath the exceeding sweetness of
gracious pardon. The clear shining in their case so soon follows the
rain that they scarcely know that there has been a shower of grief!
Surely, in their case the bitterness is passed, but is it truly there
even though the other ingredient of intense delight in God's mercy
swallows up all its sharpness.

Oh, Friends, you cannot imagine the Jews returning from captivity
without bewailing the sins which drove them into the place of their
exile! How could they be restored to God if they did not lament their
former wicked estrangement? Shall the Lord press to His bosom an
impenitent transgressor? How can there be peace to an offender as long
as his offenses are not repented of? While the heart feels no
compunction concerning its wanderings, no mourning over its guilt, no
grief at having grieved the Lord, there can be no acceptance with God!
There must be a shower in the day of mercy– not always a long driving
rain causing a flood–but the soft drops must fall in every case.

There must be tenderness toward God if we expect reconciliation with
God. The heart must cry, "How could I have sinned against so good a
Lord! How could I have stood out against His love! How could I have
refused my Savior and His abounding Grace! My God, forgive me!" These
confessions, if truly made, cannot be spoken without sighs and sorrows.
The multitudes of our sins cannot be thought of without a moving of the
soul and a measure of heartbreak. Is it not written, "They shall look
on Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him, and be in
bitterness as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn"? A look at
Christ gives life, but it also produces the tokens of that life, among
which we find godly sorrow which works true and sincere repentance.
Even a sense of pardon does not exclude this holy mourning–on the
contrary, it increases it. The more certain we are that we are
forgiven, the more do we loathe the sin which caused the

Savior to bleed and die. The more sure we are of the Divine favor, the
more intensely do we regret the fact of our having been enemies to the
infinitely gracious God. Of all the ransomed it is written, "They shall
come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them."

Observe that this mourning in the case of Israel and Judah was so
strong that it mastered other feelings. Between Judah and Israel there
was an old feud. They were brethren and it ought not to have been so,
but they had become bitter adversaries of each other. Yet now that they
return to the Lord, we read, "The children of Israel shall come, they
and the children of Judah together." O happy union in a common search
for God! One of the first results of holy sorrow for sin is to cast out
of our heart all forms of enmity and strife with our fellow men. When
we are reconciled to God we are reconciled to men! I have seen those
who had been fired with mutual hatred, loving each other when they have
been alike under the power of the Spirit of God and bowed down with
contrition! I am sure if you were to go forward as a sincere inquirer
to ask the way to Heaven, if you met your worst enemy at the door and
he said to you, "I am seeking mercy of God for my transgressions," you
would grasp each other's hands and weep together.

If a man, professing to be a penitent, drew back at the sight of
another who also came penitently to Christ, and said, "I can have
nothing to do with him," I should unhesitatingly declare him to be a
hypocrite! And even if he were sincere, I should have to tell him that
to a certainty the Lord could not and would not accept his repentance
or grant him peace. If you will not forgive your brother, how shall God
forgive you? Do you pray, "Forgive us our trespasses," if you cannot
forgive your brother his trespasses? A penitent sense of our own
provocations of God will prevent our being provoked with men. As
Aaron's rod swallowed up all other rods, so a sincere sorrow for sin
will remove all readiness to take offense against our fellow sinners.
In the secret chambers of their souls the truly penitent say,
"Everything that I have against any man is gone, now, for I remember
nothing but that I have offended against my God. If the Lord will
forgive my wrong, everything I have had to bear from others shall be as
the small dust of the balance, not worthy to be considered or thought
of in the day of Infinite Grace."

I am trying to preach that I may help you who are seeking the Lord to
discover whether you are coming in the right way. This shall be one
simple test to you–you cannot be coming home to your Father unless
there is some degree of mourning for sin, some smiting upon the breast,
some bemoaning of yourself because of your iniquities. And again, for
certain, you cannot be coming to the Lord aright unless there is a
blotting out altogether from your heart of every offense that every man
may have committed against you in past times. Judah and Israel, when
the Lord has mercy on them, forget their enmity and recognize the
brotherhood which they ought never to have forgotten! If I am speaking
to any who are seeking the Lord, but seem to make small progress to His
Light, I entreat them to inquire whether sins of enmity and wrath may
not be lying at the door and blocking the way of Grace. Hasten to
forgive freely, fully, heartily–and then pray, "Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us." A family
disagreement may seem to be a little thing, but it may be holding many
in the deadly bonds of the Evil One. Be reconciled to your brother, or
you cannot be reconciled to your God!

Keeping close to the text, we notice, again, that the exiles on their
return were mourning while marching. Observe the words–"going and
weeping." We might have thought, perhaps, that when they began to go to
their God, so much Light of God would break in upon them that they
would cease to weep–but no, it is, "going and weeping." A true heart
that is coming to God takes the road by Weeping-Cross–it feels its
sin, its guilt, its unworthiness and it, therefore, mourns. The closet
is sought out and prayer is offered, but in the supplication there is a
dove's note, a moaning as of one sorrowing for love. When the prayer is
over, there is dissatisfaction with the prayer, a smiting on the
breast, as much as to say, "I pray but coldly compared with the way in
which I ought to pray. I look not to Christ as I ought, but look half
askance, I fear, at something else besides the Cross."

An honestly believing soul is fearful lest it should be mistaken in its
faith. A truly praying heart is jealous of its own prayer, lest it
should ask amiss. Probably no prayer is more sincere than that which is
followed by deep regret that it is not more fervent–in the fact that
the pleader is dissatisfied with his cry lies a proof that the Lord is
satisfied with it! Our humility is the watermark which proves our
prayer to be genuine. If we think well of our prayers and imagine that
we have almost a right to be heard, we shall make a fruitless visit to
the Mercy Seat. We may not claim of God as a matter of justice those
gifts which are pure gifts of mercy. The Lord had no respect unto Cain
and his sacrifice because there was no reference to sin, no type of
atonement, no confession of guilt in that which he presented. Publicans
confessing sin are jus-

tified rather than self-satisfied Pharisees. When a sense of sin leads
to prayer, the prayer itself appears to be another cause for repentance
because of the sin which mingles with it.

He who feels a humbling sorrow while he seeks his God is coming aright.
Now the seeker opens his Bible and sits down to read the promise. And
as he reads, he thinks what great mercy there is in it, but he adds,
"Alas, how evil has been my life, since I have grieved the Lord of
Love." Then the tears flow like the water which gushed from the smitten
Rock, for as the Believer sees that pardon is real and that it is meant
for him, he is all the more melted down with penitential sorrow. This
is his song–

"Your mercy is more than a match for my heart, Which wonders to feel
its own hardness depart. Dissolved by Your goodness, I fall to the
ground And weep to the praise of the mercy I've found." Having grasped
the promise and having looked to Christ and seen himself forgiven, the
sincere soul continues to draw nearer and nearer to his God–and yet
all the while he is filled with self-accusations and humility on
account of sin. While he cries, "Blessed be the God of my salvation who
has delivered me from my iniquities," he also mourns within himself,
exclaiming, "Alas, that I should have so transgressed and grieved His
Holy Spirit! I am ashamed at having rejected such wondrous love!" Thus,
"Going and mourning" depict a gracious blending of activity and
repentance.

Turning the text around, we read not only of "going and weeping," but
also of weeping and going. The holy grief here intended does not lead
to sitting still, for it is added, "they shall go." That word,
"weeping," is sandwiched in between two goings–"going and weeping:
they shall go, and seek the Lord." To sit down and say, "I will sorrow
for my sin, but never seek a Savior," is an impenitent pretense of
repentance–a barren sorrow which brings forth no cleansing of the life
and no diligent search after the Lord. Such a sorrow is the first
dropping of that dread shower of remorse which will fall upon the soul
forever. Remorse is the never-dying worm and the unquenchable fire. No
doubt, all that are now lost lament that they have brought themselves
into such a ruin, but that lamentation is no evidence of reconciliation
with God–many have a kind of repentance for having brought themselves
into a condemned condition–but this is not genuine repentance if it
stands alone.

When the prodigal cries, "I will arise and go to my Father," then a
work of Grace is certainly begun, but not till then. It is not enough
to say, "I perish with hunger"–but when there follows upon it, "I will
arise, and go to my Father, and will say unto Him, Father, I have
sinned," then we have reached the true turning point–salvation has
come to our house! True mourning for sin leads the sinner to the Cross.
When you talk about repentance, if your repentance is with your back to
the Cross, away with your repentance! If you are trusting to your
tears, sorrows and grief–and not trusting to the blood of Jesus
Christ–you are trusting in vain! Vanity of vanities! Your tears shall
scald you if you trust in them and your groans shall be the echoes of
your death sentence if you rely on them! That repentance in which a
guilty man dares to fix his confidence shall be swept away as a thing
that lacks the salt which would make it acceptable with

God.

The way to repent is with your eyes upon the Sacrifice, viewing the
flowing of the sin-atoning blood, marking every precious drop, gazing
into the Redeemer's wounds and believing in the love which, in death,
opened up its unsearchable depths. All the while we must be saying, "My
God, my God, I groan within myself that such a Sacrifice should have
been required by my atrocious transgressions against You." This is the
holy mixture which is needed–going and weeping– but still going and
seeking the Lord! We must not pass over that last word, "They shall go
and seek the Lord their God." This, dear Hearer, shall be a guide to
you as to whether your present state of feeling is leading you aright.
What is it you are seeking? "I am seeking," says one, "I am seeking
peace." May you soon obtain it and may it be real peace, but I am not
sure of you.

"I am seeking," says another, "the pardon of sin." Again, I pray that
you may find it, but I am not sure of you, either. If another shall
reply, "I am seeking the Lord; for I desire above all things to have
Him for a Friend, though to Him I have been an enemy"–then I have good
hope of him! I rejoice over the heart which is crying, "I want to see
my Father's face, and hear Him say, 'I have blotted out your sins.' I
want to dwell with God, to serve Him, to obey Him, to grow like He.
There has been a quarrel between Him and me–and other lords have had
dominion over me–but now I desire that He shall be my Lord and King,
and myself His loyal humble servant and beloved child. I hunger and
thirst

after God!" You see, Brothers and Sisters, we require a great many
things in order to be saved, and yet only one thing is necessary.

I would represent it in this form–Here is a little child, picked up
from the gutter, diseased and filthy, unclad, unfed. And if you ask me
to make out a catalog of what the child needs you must give me a large
sheet of paper to write it all down! And then I fear I shall leave out
many things. I will tell you in one word what that poor infant
requires–it needs its mother. If it gets its mother, it has all it
needs. So to tell what a poor sinner needs might be a long task, but
when you say that he needs his heavenly Father, you have said it all!
This was what the prodigal needed, was it not? He needed his
Father–and when he went to his Father, all his necessities were
supplied.

Oh Souls, you are seeking aright if you are seeking your God! Nothing
short of this will suffice. This may greatly aid you to judge whether
you are in the right way or not. And so you see, first of all, the
returning exiles were mourners.

II. Secondly, these mourners became INQUIRERS. We read in the second
verse of our text, "They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces
toward it." They knew something, that is clear, for they turned their
faces in the right direction, but having been born and nurtured in
Babylon, the road to Jerusalem had never been trod by them–the route
was strange and new. They knew within a little the quarter in which
Zion lay and they looked that way, but they did not know all about the
road–how could they? The saving point about them was that they were
not ashamed to confess their ignorance. Minds that the Lord has touched
are never boastful of their wisdom. There are many persons in the world
who would be converted if they could but consent to be taught by God's
Word and Spirit–but they are such wise peo-ple–they know too much to
enter the school of Grace. Jesus tells such, "Except you are converted
and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of
Heaven."

A sense of ignorance is the doorstep of wisdom! He shall never know,
who is not willing to confess that he does not know. These exiles
confessed their ignorance. They knew a little, but they felt that they
had much more to learn before they could stand in the temple of God in
happy fellowship with Him. It is clear from their asking the way that
these inquirers were teachable. They not only yielded to be instructed,
but they were eager to be taught and, therefore, they asked for
information. It is a hopeful sign when children ask questions. If we
can get them to desire knowledge, the desire will be more valuable than
the knowledge, itself. The way, nowadays, is to cram the memory, but if
our youths could be brought to hunger for knowledge and to ask
questions, their minds would be much more effectually benefited.

It is a great mercy for a poor seeking sinner to have a teachable
spirit, so as to pray, "Lord Jesus, write Your Gospel on my heart. Here
it is, ready to be written on. Only tell me what You would have me do.
I make no reservation–I am willing, by Your help, to do it. Or if
there is nothing to be done but to sit at Your feet, tell me that, and
I will do it as Your Grace enables me." This teachable spirit is a
great benefit to any man–it is, in fact, a precious fruit of the
Spirit. "They shall ask the way to Zion." They shall, therefore, be
conscious of ignorance and they shall be willing to be taught! These
are good characteristics, such as God accepts.

More than this, they will be anxious although they are right–"They
shall ask the way to Zion with their faces toward it"–they are
traveling in the right direction and yet they ask the way! They have
looked westward from Babylon, towards Jerusalem. They have taken up the
westward position which, in their case, had a hopeful meaning in it.
They are setting out for the land of Canaan as their first father did
when he left Chaldea. And as they have no map of the road, they ask for
the way which leads from banishment to the city of their God! They are
right, for their faces are Zionward and one proof of it is that they
are anxious to keep right, or to be set right. You who are certain that
you are right are very liable to be wrong! But those who make every
inquiry of the Word of God, of the servants of God and of their fellow
travelers are, in all probability, pursuing the right road. He that has
never raised a question about his condition before God had better raise
it at once.

The fullest assurance of faith we can ever attain will never excuse us
from the duty of self-examination. When a man is most surely prospering
in business, it will be wise for him to keep his accounts with care. If
he does not attend to the state of his affairs, we shall suspect that
his prosperity is a pleasing delusion which he dares not disturb. He
who is most sure that he is right before God is most willing to look
within–and he that will not search his own heart, but takes it for
granted he is safe, may take my word for it that he is in a perilous
condition! It is a strange thing that when men set their faces in the
right way, they become careful and serious and deeply concerned, for
they feel that their eternal destiny is not a thing to trifle with.

At the same time, note concerning those who are coming to the Lord and
His people, that they are questioning, but they are still resolved.
They ask their way to Zion, but they have set their faces like flints
in that direction! They ask how they can be right with God, not as a
matter of curiosity, but because they mean to be at peace with Him–by
God's Grace, nothing shall turn them aside from their God and His
temple–and, therefore, their anxiety to be right. They do not raise
questions by way of quibbling that they may have an excuse for sitting
still, but they question because they are in downright earnest. True
penitents will have Christ or die! Therefore with solemn resolve, lest,
perhaps, they should be misled, they ask their way, determined to walk
therein.

Though they ask the way, we may remark, further, that they know where
they are going. They ask their way to Zion. They wish to know how they
can become fellow citizens with the people of God; how they can behold
the great Sacrifice; how they can eat the true Passover; how they can
be accepted worshippers of Jehovah and how they can enjoy fellowship
with Him. They ask their way with understanding, for they know what
their heart is seeking. They ask their way, not to somewhere or other,
but to Zion–not to some imaginary blissful shore that may be or may
not be–they seek God's own dwelling place, God's own palace, God's own
Sacrifice! They ask boldly too, for they are not ashamed to be found
inquiring! And when they are informed, their faces are already that way
and, therefore, they have nothing to do but to go straight on. May God
grant us myriads of such inquirers!

Observe the right order–first they sought the Lord and then they asked
their way to Zion. First God and then God's people! First the Master of
the house and then the house of the Master! First that you may become
His child, secondly that you may be put among the children. We pray the
Holy Spirit to teach you this order well–first give yourself to the
Lord and afterwards to us by the Word of God.

III. Now we come to the last matter–these inquirers become
COVENANTERS, for they said to one another, "Come, and let us join
ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be
forgotten." Oh, that word, "covenant." I can never pronounce it without
joy in my heart! It is to me a mine of comfort, a mint of delight, a
mass if joy. Time was when theology was full of Covenant Truth.
Nowadays these grand old doctrines are laid aside by our wise men as
too commonplace for their enlightened minds! I do not believe that some
modern preachers can say, "covenant." They could not frame their mouths
to pronounce it right. The doctrine of the "Covenant" is a kind of
Shibboleth by which we may know the man of God from the false prophet.

Let the people of God take no delight in the man who does not delight
in the Covenant of Grace. I rejoice in those old Scot books about the
Covenant–Covenant Truth was so inwrought into the Scot heart that Scot
peasants, as well as divines, perpetually talked about it. You remember
the good old cottager's blessing over her porridge? I cannot repeat it
in pure Doric, but it ran like this– "Lord, I thank you for the
porridge, I thank you for an appetite for the porridge, but I thank you
most of all that I have a Covenant right to the porridge." Only think
of that! A Covenant right to the porridge! Does not the promise say,
"Your bread shall be given you and your waters shall be sure?" God has
given to His children a Covenant right to be fed in this life with
daily bread–otherwise we might not pray for it!

In the day in which the Lord put us into the Covenant by personal
experience, He said, "No good thing will I withhold from them that walk
uprightly" and, consequently, He promised the porridge and any other
provision which He judged to be "food convenient for us." If we are in
poverty, it sweetens everything if we can feel that our food and
raiment must come to us, for the Lord has covenanted to supply all our
needs! We pray the Lord, "Give us this day our daily bread." How came
it to be ours? Why, because it was guaranteed us in the
Covenant–Covenant provision has made it ours and, therefore, we may
ask for it as ours.

Have I any right to ask God for what is not mine in Christ Jesus? As
sinners we ask for mercy and grace for the sake of Grace, but when we
come to be children, we can also appeal to other attributes–and
especially to faithfulness which is a great Covenant security. We can
now say, "My Father, since I am Your child I am an heir of God,
joint-heir with Jesus Christ–therefore give me of the fullness which
You have treasured up in Him on my behalf." The upper springs are ours
and the nether springs shall not be withheld–

"He who has made my Heaven secure Will here all good provide. Since
Christ is rich, can I be poor? What can I need beside?"

Returning to the text, from which I have swerved a little, these
inquirers become covenanters, for we read that they seek to be joined
unto the Lord–"Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord." The
mischief of our fallen state arose from our trying to be distinct and
independent of our God. The younger son said, "Give me the portion of
goods that falls to me." See, he has received his share in ready money
and off he goes to the far country. What does he do when he penitently
returns? Why he joins himself to his father! Nothing in the house is
his–he has had his portion of goods long ago–but he lives at home
because he is one with his father and cannot be shut out from the
house. He is in communion with his father and so he is a partaker of
all his father's goods. O that word, "joint-heirs"! What security and
sweetness dwell in it! It is a grand thing to be an heir of God, but it
makes it so much surer to be "joint-heirs with Christ." We have such
fellowship with Jesus that we share all that Jesus has–our title to
all good things lies in Jesus and in our being one with Him. "Come, and
let us join ourselves to the Lord."

Now dear Hearts, are you willing to be one with Christ and so to be one
with the Father? Is not this the one thing you long for, that you may
be so at peace with God through Jesus Christ that you may be joined
with Him? You are a right-hearted seeker! In fact, you have already
found the Lord, or else you would not find it in your heart to use such
an expression as seeking to be joined unto the Lord! Next, notice for
how long a time this Covenant is to be made–"Let us join ourselves to
the Lord in a perpetual covenant." In our English army of late they
have enlisted "short time" men. A good brother came to join the Church
last week who is in the Reserves and I said to him, "You are not coming
to unite with us for two sixes, the first six with the colors and the
other six as a reserve man–you have come, I hope, to fight under the
colors as long as life lasts."

"Yes, Sir," he said, "I give myself up to the Lord forever." No
salvation is possible except that which saves the soul forever! It must
be an everlasting salvation or no salvation! And yet some professors
try to be off and on with God–they are wonderfully good on the
Sabbath–but they slip their regimentals off on Sunday night and there
is no accounting for them during the week. I do not know where these
double-faced people are to be found on Monday night, but I fear they
are up to no good! These chameleons change their color according to the
light they are in. Their religion is a sort of acting–a kind of
masquerade. Beware of a religion which you can put on and off! In the
Capitol at Rome I saw one of the Roman Emperors and I remembered well
His Majesty's brutal countenance! Soon after I saw the gentleman
looking very different–I would not have recognized His Imperial
Highness at all if it had not been for the name–the fact is, they had
put another wig on him! Oddly enough, certain of their statues are so
carved that a series of stone headdresses can be put upon them–and
this makes a mighty difference in their appearance.

I am afraid that to some professors their religion is a wig, which so
wonderfully changes them when they put it on or take it off, that you
would not think they were the same people! A real man of God has his
religion interwoven into the warp and woof of his being–he could not
be other than he is, whatever his circumstances might be. Said one, "I
hate such a man; he shall not come to my house; for I hear he is never
ten minutes in a room but he begins to talk about religion." Such a man
the world may hate–but such a man the Lord loves! Oh, that our
godliness may be as our eyes, our mouth, our countenance, our heart,
our life–never to be parted with, but forever essential to ourselves!
May we now join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant! The
Covenant of Life requires a lifelong covenant! We do not take Grace
upon a terminable lease–it is an entailed inheritance, an immortal,
eternal possession!

Note, further, that this joining to God these covenanters intended to
carry t out in a most solemn way–"Let us join ourselves to the Lord in
a perpetual"–agreement? Promise? No! "Covenant" is the word! It is a
profitable thing for the soul to covenant with God. Dr. Doddridge gives
a form of personal covenant in his, "Rise and Progress," and I have
been told that some persons have written it out and even signed it with
their blood. I believe that such a formal transaction may lead a soul
into bondage–this covenanting is not to be performed quite so
literally–but I believe that it should really be done.

That a man should give himself to the Lord in set and solemn form at
some time in his life I believe to be a great help to his later
perseverance. And if he will renew his covenant every now and then it
may greatly help to his keeping it. In the ordinance of Baptism we have
the best visible setting forth of that Covenant. Circumcision set forth
the taking away of the filth of the flesh, but Baptism sets forth the
death and burial of the flesh, itself–we see in it the emblem of our
death and burial with our Lord. The Believer, thereby, says, "Now I am
come to an end of my old life, for I am dead and buried." And he
becomes from that time on as one who has risen with Christ, to walk in
newness of life. By that solemn

act the Believer has covenanted that Christ shall be his life and that
his old self, being dead and buried, shall no more rule and reign.

I have known some Believers, and I think they did wisely, take a part
of a day for the special objective of giving themselves anew to the
Lord. They have said, "Lord, I do this day, as a poor sinner, solemnly
put my trust in Your Word, in Your Son and in His atoning Sacrifice.
And, doing this, I feel that I am not my own, for I am bought with a
price. And I now ask for Grace that from this day forward I may be
wholly Yours. Not only I, but my wife, my children and my
substance–all that I have I give to You, my Lord, admitting that
nothing which I have was ever mine, but always Yours. I pray that You
will be my God forever and ever, and be my Guide even unto death–and
that after death You will receive me to Glory." Such a covenant as this
will bear to be looked back upon and repeated. You can gladly say–

"High Heaven that heard my solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily
hear, Till in life's latest hour I bow, And bless in death a bond so
dear." You are coming to the Lord rightly, my dear Friend, if you are
yielding body, soul and spirit unto Him to be His forever. There is no
fear about your safety when you join yourself unto the Lord by a
perpetual covenant.

One word more remains to be spoken. Those who came mourning and
inquiring, when they became covenanters, felt that they had a nature
very apt to forgetfulness of good things and, so, a part of what they
desired in their covenanting with God was "a perpetual covenant that
shall not be forgotten." God will never forget, yet may you pray,
"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." The fear is lest
you should forget. What is your view of that possibility? Would it not
be terrible? Think it over and say, "If I should ever forget the Lord
Jesus. If I should ever forget my obligations for His great salvation
and for the good hope of eternal life which He has given me, it would
be infamous! God grant I may die sooner than deny my Lord!"

Where could we go for comfort if we had forgotten our God? What would
remain for us but everlasting despair? Let us, therefore, pray the Lord
that it may be a perpetual covenant that shall never, never, not even
for an hour, be forgotten! Ask the Lord to write this covenant upon the
fleshy tablets of your heart, that it may be there forever! O Zion, if
I forget You, let my right hand forget her cunning! Sooner than I
should forget You, O my God, suffer me speedily to die! Let me not live
to become so false, so wicked as under stress of infirmity or
temptation, even for a moment, to turn aside from You!

Beloved Brothers and Sisters, take hold on Christ this morning with a
renewed grip and say, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love
You! Suffer me not to forsake You. Hold me up and I shall be safe. I
would be Yours living. Yours dying and Yours forever and ever." Thus
desiring and pleading, all will be well with you. May the God of the
Everlasting Covenant bless you. Amen.