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OF GOD’S COVENANT WITH HIS ANCIENT PEOPLE, FOR TAKING AWAY THEIR SINS.

James Dodson

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DISCOURSE XIV.

ROM. xi. 27. “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

THE preceding verse is quoted from Isaiah lix. 20, and our text contains what the Spirit of God directed the Apostle to declare to Jews and Gentiles, in the times of the Gospel, in the room of Isaiah’s words, in the 21st verse of that chapter. The Prophet’s words are the following: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” Referring to these words, the Apostle Paul, as another inspired messenger of Christ to the Church, says in the text, “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” In both of these verses, God is speaking concerning all Israel; and in them he speaks concerning the same object, his everlasting covenant with them and unto them. As the Prophet and the Apostle had both spoken of the Redeemer and the Deliverer, who is the Mediator of the new covenant; so, in the words of both, that covenant which shall be made effectual for Israel’s salvation, is mentioned. In the Prophet’s words, the efficient cause and the appointed mean of executing God’s covenant to any, and to the Jews also, are clearly stated. His Spirit and his word. When God shall apply his covenant to Israel, he will put his Spirit upon them, and his word in their hearts and mouths. The Apostle’s words assure us, that the Divine revelation of God’s covenant to Israel, and his administration of it to them, by his Spirit and word, contained in Isaiah’s prediction, relate unto the conversion of the Jews in the latter days of the Gospel; because this inspired New Testament writer applies the Prophet’s words to that time and to

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these events. In this view of them, it is plainly evident, how the Divine promises which are contained in Isaiah’s words will be fulfilled to Israel from their conversion till the end of time; for he will no more hide his face from the house of Israel, because he hath poured out his Spirit upon them; and, therefore, his Spirit and word shall not depart from them, nor from their seed, nor from their seed’s seed, from henceforth and for ever.” As Isaiah’s prediction reveals the efficient cause and the appointed mean of administering God’s covenant to Israel; so the Apostle’s declaration exhibits the blessed and comprehensive effect of the administration of that covenant to them, when I shall take away their sins. There is therefore the most beautiful agreement between God’s promise to Israel in the words of the Prophet, and his gracious purpose concerning them in the saying of the Apostle. When both are put together, the whole scheme of God’s gracious dispensations to them is unfolded. He will administer his covenant to Israel, by his Spirit and word, for taking away their sins.

Our text contains three things. The grand foundation of all God’s merciful dispensations to the posterity of Jacob: This is my covenant unto them. I will be their covenant God, they shall become my covenant people, and I will bestow on them all new covenant blessings. The text also mentions that great and fundamental privilege which they shall enjoy: God shall take away their sins. They shall be brought into a state of justification freely by his grace, through the redemption that is Christ Jesus. This blessing is necessary unto their enjoyment of all other blessings from the Lord, and the possession of it secures our title to all the rest; for whom he justifies, them he also glorifies. The taking away of sin, comprehends sanctification also; and therefore the removal of sin extends to grace and glory. God’s removing sin from the Jews must be considered with respect to them both as individual persons, and as a collective body. When he administers his covenant to them, the sons of Jacob will experience the effects of it in their personal and public capacities. The connection between this verse and the two former verses is also marked in the text; “For this is my covenant unto them.” This verse is descriptive of the ground upon which God will perform the great things promised to them in these verses. The blindness of Israel shall cease, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in; for this is my covenant unto them. So all Israel shall be saved;

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for this is my covenant unto them. There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them.

In discussing this last branch of our subject, the following method will be observed.

I. We shall make some observations concerning God’s covenant with his ancient people.

II. We shall describe the way in which God will take away the sins of Israel as individual persons.

III. We shall shew how he will remove their sins as a people or nation.

I. Some observations are now to be made concerning God’s covenant unto his ancient people.

1. God’s covenant with Israel flows from his counsel and purpose concerning them. All God’s works upon every one of his creatures are the effect of his purpose about them. For his own glory, he hath decreed to create, to preserve, and to govern all his creatures, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational, visible or invisible. His works relative to the redemption of men, are the result of his gracious decree. In the Scriptures, it receives different names. It is called his counsel, because it has been contrived in his infinite wisdom and understanding. It is denominated his purpose, to shew that it is formed by the free determination of his sovereign will. And it is represented as a decree, to prove that it is the unchangeable establishment of Almighty God. These things necessarily belong to this Divine covenant, whether we consider it as fulfilled in the salvation of all true believers in Christ, or in his merciful dispensations to the Jews; for this is my covenant unto them. It is the effect of my counsel, the object of my purpose, and the matter of my decree. This gracious establishment existed from eternity; for it was formed “before the foundation of the world,” and is called “his eternal purpose.” It is infinitely free and sovereign; for it is “the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself.” It is also most gracious, “for he hath saved us, and called us, with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began.” It is

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infallibly certain in its execution; “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” It is everlasting. Since it is from eternity in its formation, it will continue to endless eternity in its execution. This Divine purpose is established in Christ, “according as he hath chosen us in him. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself.” On the footing of Christ’s mediation, both in his humbled state, in the way of purchase; and in his state of exaltation, in the way of administration, this everlasting decree was formed, and will be executed to Jews and Gentiles, for they are all one in Christ Jesus. This counsel, purpose, and decree of God, are the immoveable foundation of that covenant which will be applied to the Jews, for the removal of their sin.

2. The result of God’s purpose is exhibited in the text as a covenant: “This is my covenant unto them.” In any covenant, two parties are necessary; and if either of them is a representative of others, the interests of a third party are involved in it. It is the nation of the Jews, the seed of Abraham, to whom our text alludes. This is my covenant with them, the people of Israel, the seed of Jacob. Our text leads us back to the covenant which God made with Abraham, and renewed to Isaac and Jacob. Of this solemn transaction the Psalmist speaks, Psa. cv. 8. “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” The original establishment of it is mentioned, Gen. xvii. 1—14. This solemn transaction is begun in God’s revealing himself to the Patriarch. “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God,” verse 1. The making of the covenant follows in verse 2, “And I will make my covenant between me and thee.” The Patriarch’s acceptance of the covenant is included in verse 3, “And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him.” The Lord also explains and confirms this covenant, verse 7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in all their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” The promises of the covenant are a numerous seed, and the land of Canaan as their possession, verses 6, 8, “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful,

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and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” The seal, or token, of the covenant is appointed, verse 10, “This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Every man-child among you shall be circumcised.” The manner and season of administering this token of the covenant to his posterity are also specified, verse 11, 12, “And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you.” The duties of the covenant seed are summarily expressed, verse 1, “Walk before me, and be thou perfect.” The interest that all nations should obtain in the blessed seed of Abraham is represented in chap. xxii. 18, and frequently repeated in the Patriarchal history. “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” The inspired explanation of this most comprehensive promise is given by the Apostle Paul, in Gal. iii. 8, 16, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel to Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Furnished as we are with this key to open the mysteries of the covenant with Abraham, we must consider it as a typical covenant. In it Abraham typified our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant. Abraham’s posterity represented all those who are, or shall be saved through Christ the Saviour. God’s making this covenant with Abraham signified his ineffable act of entering into a covenant with his own Son, for the salvation of his people. Abraham’s obedience symbolized Christ’s infinitely perfect righteousness, which is the only meritorious cause of the salvation of sinners. The promises of that covenant were the signs of the great and precious promises, even of those promises which in Christ are yea, and in him, amen. The land of Canaan was a symbol of the everlasting habitation and blessedness of the saints in heaven. The token of the covenant stood in the place of christian baptism. And the upright conversation of Abraham’s religious posterity figured out that holy obedience which is the study and attainment of all

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God’s covenant children. The covenant with Abraham, therefore, prefigured the covenant of grace with Christ, and the covenant with Christ fulfilled Abraham’s covenant. The covenant with the Patriarch represented the covenant with the Son of God, and his covenant perfects the covenant with Abraham: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect,” Heb. xi. 39, 40. It is, therefore, by the efficacy of God’s covenant with the Lord Jesus, perfecting and fulfilling the covenant with Abraham, that God, at the day of their believing in Jesus, will take away the sins of his ancient people. When that day shall come, the Lord will pass by them, and look upon them, their time shall then be, the time of love; he will spread his skirt over them, and cover their nakedness; yea, he will swear unto them, and enter into a covenant with them, and they shall become his. The covenant which God made with Abraham was not the only typical covenant which, under that dispensation, prefigured the covenant of grace made with the Son of God, for the salvation of Jew and Gentile. Immediately after the flood, God made with Noah, as the second father of mankind, a covenant that the world’s inhabitants should not be destroyed again with a universal deluge, and that “while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not cease.” Christ, as the “second man, who is the Lord from heaven,” was typified by Noah. Christ’s covenant, delivering believers from a deluge of destruction, securing them against the recurrence of Divine wrath, and procuring for them all spiritual blessings, was signified by Noah’s covenant. God also gave to Eliezer, Aaron’s grandson, the covenant of an everlasting Priesthood; and to David a covenant of Royalty. Both these eminent men, in their respective covenants, represented their posterity. The former typified Jesus Christ who is a Priest for ever; and the latter typified, in his kingly office, our Lord, whose dominion shall have no end. By the administration of the covenant of his everlasting priesthood, and eternal reign, having loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, the Lord Jesus will make all true believers in him, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, Kings and Priests unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen.

3. There is a revelation of this covenant, and a declaration of

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that decree on which it is founded. When the covenant is revealed, the purpose of God concerning it is also made known. As the covenant with Abraham was intimated to the parties concerned in it; so is that covenant of which it was the type. The covenant of grace in Christ is authoritatively revealed and declared to the children of men. In the doctrines and promises of his word, God has made a revelation of this covenant. The doctrines of the Gospel describe all things that belong to the covenant, and the precious promises exhibit all its blessings. In the doctrines of the Scripture, we have a revelation of the parties in this covenant; God the Father, and God the Son, as Mediator between God and men—Of the making of this covenant, by the Father’s proposing it to the Son, and the Son’s accepting and engaging himself to fulfil it—Of the design of this covenant, to secure and promote the Divine glory, the Saviour’s honour and man’s everlasting salvation—Of the meritorious condition of the covenant, Christ’s obedience, sufferings and death, in a holy human nature—Of the properties of the covenant, as it is a redeeming, gracious, sure and everlasting covenant—Of the free offer and exhibition that are made of it to lost sinners that they may be saved—Of the method of instating sinners in it, by the Holy Spirit’s working faith in them, enabling them to come to the Mediator of the new covenant, and to take hold of the covenant as all their desire—And of the happy effects of their interest in the covenant, by sanctifying, supporting, comforting, and establishing their hearts in the ways of God. The exceeding great and precious promises reveal to us the blessings of that covenant. They are the blessing of Abraham, the sure mercies of David, and all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All these promises are in Christ, and the blessings which they contain are deposited in his fulness. The promises are made to him as the Head of the covenant, and to his people in him. Some of them are fulfilled on himself, and some of them are accomplished through him upon his covenant children. A spiritual union unto him, through faith in his person and righteousness, is necessary to interest us in the promises, and to entitle us to the blessings which they contain. These blessings are either spiritual or everlasting, blessings that saints enjoy either in grace here, or in glory hereafter. All of them are comprehended in eternal life. For revealing to men the object of faith, and for producing in them the principle and the exercise of faith in that object, all the

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doctrines of the Gospel, and the promises of God are made known to us in the Sacred Oracles. This revelation has, for many ages, been the enjoyment of Gentile churches. It has been powerfully applied to the hearts of their members who are saved. The application of it, for this purpose, will be continued among them till time shall be no more. The revelation of this covenant shall also be extended to the seed of Israel, for, as it is mentioned in the text, it has a special reference to them. For this is my covenant unto them. The time will come, therefore, when God’s everlasting covenant, for the salvation of sinners in Christ, shall be proclaimed among the Jews—when the Spirit of glory and of God will apply the blessed Gospel to their hearts—when they shall embrace the Saviour, and enter, by faith in him, into the bond of the covenant. This glorious change will be produced on them, when God’s promise shall be accomplished: “Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” Ezek. xxxvii. 26, 27. Multitudes of the Jews now enjoy and read the Scriptures of the New Testament. Many conversations are held with them concerning its doctrines. God’s work of revealing his covenant unto them has already commenced. It will be continued till God’s method of saving sinners through Christ, by the covenant of grace, shall be clearly opened to their understandings, and believingly embraced with their whole hearts; and then they shall say, as their fathers said when they returned from Babylon: “Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”

4. The Lord claims an interest in this covenant as his own, and asserts the relation that Israel and Jacob have to it. These important truths are expressed in the text; “For this is my covenant unto them.” He claims it as his own: “This is my covenant.” In my infinite wisdom and mercy, I have contrived and ordered it in all things. I have made the typical covenant with Abraham, my friend, and his seed; and I have established my covenant with my beloved Son, the antitype, and his spiritual seed. In the days of the former dispensation, I have revealed and proclaimed my covenant to Israel, under the vail of types, by the ministry of Prophets,

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and through the dispensation of ordinances, accompanied on those who were saved with the powerful influences of my Spirit, for their salvation. When the fulness of the time was come, when God was manifested in the flesh, when mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, had finished the work that was given him to do, and when he was set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, I introduced a new and a clearer dispensation of my covenant among Jews and Gentiles. When my ancient people had rejected my covenant by their unbelief, and I had cast them off, I continued the administration of my covenant among the Gentile nations. But the time will come, when I will remember for them my holy covenant, and will apply it to them with pleasure and delight. Such is the interest which the God of Israel claims in that covenant, by which he will take away their sins. But he also asserts the connection which they have with this covenant. “This is my covenant unto them,” unto Israel and Jacob. They have yet a relation to this covenant, and it will be fulfilled unto them for taking away their sins. The covenant with Abraham was the shadow and type, and the covenant with Christ is the substance and reality of their salvation in all its parts. In verses 28, 32, following our text, their present condition, on account of their unbelief, and the blessings which are reserved for them, by their interest in this covenant, are clearly stated: “As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes,” verse 28. By crucifying Jesus, and rejecting his Gospel, they placed themselves in a state of enmity and rebellion against God, and this made way for calling the Gentiles into the fellowship of Christ; but through the covenant and the promises made to their fathers, they are still the objects of the Divine regard, and shall yet enjoy the blessings of his love. “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all,” verse 32. Because they have given themselves over to the power of unbelief, God has shut them up in a state of guilt and misery, till He, according to his mercy flowing to them in the channel of the new covenant, shall deliver them from this condition, by taking away their sins. By the covenant and its promises, the exercise of Divine mercy and love is secured unto them. The covenant is now unto them, and its blessings are reserved for them, and when the day of their deliverance will come, they shall be brought into the bond of

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the covenant, and put in possession of its blessings. Some of them have already been brought into a state of salvation by this covenant, and in due time it shall be manifested to them all; “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

5. There will be a Divine and glorious administration of this covenant to all the seed of Israel. Since it is God’s covenant, and since it is unto them, he certainly will fulfil it upon them, at the appointed time. Under the former dispensation, God revealed his purpose concerning the Gentiles: “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles,” Isa. xlii. 6. “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages,” chap. xlix. 6, 8. For almost 1800 years, this covenant has been administered, and these promises have been performed to the Gentiles. Under the present dispensation, God is now saying of the Jews, “So all Israel shall be saved, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” God’s covenant, therefore, shall be executed to the seed of Israel, and his promises will be applied unto them, in a way as conspicuous and real, as they have been verified on the Gentiles. This covenant will be administered to the Jews, by removing their blindness, by bestowing salvation on them, by turning away ungodliness from them, and by taking away their sins. In his administration of the covenant to the Jews, as a body, he will give them the knowledge of it, and will bring them to the profession of it. In administering it to them, as persons who shall be saved, he will give them an interest through faith in the blood of the covenant, and will fulfil on them his gracious word, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant,” Psa. xxv. 14. He will fulfil his covenant unto the Jews, as he has hitherto accomplished it among the Gentiles. The word of God, and the ordinances which he has instituted for the Gospel Church, will be the outward and ordinary means of bringing them into the covenant. By these he will implant in their hearts saving faith, and they shall believe in Jesus, and receive his righteousness that they may be saved: Even as Abraham, their father, “believed in the Lord,

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and he counted it to him for righteousness,” Gen. xv. 6. By the ministration of the Spirit this covenant will be effectually applied to the Jews. “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them,” Ezek. xxxvi. 27. By his common operations he will so enlighten them in the knowledge of salvation in Christ by this covenant, as will cause them understand and profess it. And by his saving work upon them, he will enable them to embrace it, in the exercise of faith and love, with their whole hearts. By the mediatorial administration of Jesus Christ, this covenant shall be revealed and applied to the house of Israel. The Deliverer will come to Sion, by the light of his word and the power of his Spirit, and, as Israel’s husband, will betroth them unto himself for ever, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies, and in faithfulness; and they shall know the Lord. By these means and causes, God will administer his covenant unto the seed of Israel extensively, constantly, and efficaciously. It will be a very extensive application of the covenant to them. Wherever they are scattered, it will find them out, bring them into the Christian Church, and restore them to their own land. He will administer his covenant among them constantly. They shall no more apostatize from their profession, but they shall hold fast the beginning of their confidence, both as true believers and as a church, steadfast unto the end. He will no more cast them off nor hide his face from them. During the whole period of the Millennial Church, and forward to the end of time, the Jews will be made “an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” God’s administration of his covenant will also be efficacious. God’s eternal purpose concerning every Jew will be fulfilled. The end which God will accomplish by his Gospel wherever it is sent, whether to the Jews or to the Gentiles, is revealed in the words of the Apostle James; “Simon hath declared, how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name,” Acts xv. 14. When God visited the Gentiles with his Gospel, and a revelation of the covenant of grace in Christ, this was his design; “to take out of them a people for his name.” When he shall visit his ancient people with the light of his Gospel and the administration of his covenant, this will be his purpose concerning them; “to take out of them a people for his name.” To bring in, by a work of converting and saving grace, the objects of Divine love, God’s chosen

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people, whom the Father gave to Christ, and whom Jesus undertook to redeem, whether they are the more numerous or the fewer part of the generation; to bring them into union to Christ, and into the bond of the covenant, that they might glorify his name and enjoy him for ever, is God’s grand design by his Gospel, whether it is preached to Jews or Gentiles. That these means will be effectual for accomplishing this glorious end, God’s own declaration assures us; “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I have sent it,” Isa. lv. 10, 11.

A few inferences, as an improvement of this Discourse, are now to be subjoined.

1. From it we may understand in what character, and on what ground, God will act toward Abraham’s seed, when he shall take away their sins. He will perform this work on them, as their new covenant God in Christ, and in the execution of that covenant to them, through the Mediator. Since he will take away their sins according to the provisions of his own covenant unto them, in effecting this, he must act as their covenant God. In reference to his dealing with his rational creatures, this is the most amiable character which the God of the whole earth sustains. By his operations in that character, the glory of all the Divine perfections is peculiarly displayed. It is by these operations also, that the Gentiles are rescued from destruction, and blessed with everlasting life. When the Lord shall bring Jacob again to himself, he will appear to them in all the glory of these characters, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will fulfil his covenant unto them through the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This covenant of which that with Abraham was a type, shall be applied to the Jews, by the official administrations of its Head and Surety. That this covenant may be effectual for taking away Israel’s sins, the Deliverer must come out of Sion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Since it has been by Christ’s administrations, that Gentile sinners in every

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age have taken hold of God’s covenant for salvation, so shall it be with the Jews, when the day-spring from on high shall visit them. “Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory.” Christ’s administrations will accomplish the deliverance of all Israel, both in the salvation of individuals, and in the recovery of the nation. His infinite merit and satisfaction will procure it for them, and Divine power and grace will bestow it on them: “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth the prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water,” Zech. ix. 11. Oh, that the seed of Israel would hear and obey the Divine call, “Turn you to the strong-hold, ye prisoners of hope.”

2. This subject shows us the condition and exercise to which the seed of Israel will be brought, when the God of their salvation shall take away their sins. By the Divine Spirit and word, they will be enlightened in the knowledge of God’s covenant unto them for their salvation. They will then believe in God, as their covenant God and portion for ever. They shall come to Jesus, the Mediator of the covenant, and embrace and rely on him as their only Saviour. They shall take hold of the covenant, and, forsaking all refuges of lies, they shall consent and desire to be saved as God’s covenant children. They shall delight in the doctrines of the covenant, embrace the promises of the covenant, enjoy the blessings of the covenant, obey the law of the covenant, reverence the ordinances of the covenant, and love all the covenant children. What a glorious change shall be produced on them, when they, who were before blasphemers and injurious, shall obtain mercy. “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the house of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Sion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be forgotten,” Jer. l. 4, 5.

3. This subject furnishes Gentile Christians with another sure foundation of faith and hope, relative to the conversion of the Jews. God’s covenant is concerned in it, and therefore it will be effected. God’s covenant is yet unto them, they have still an interest in it, and shall soon share in its benefits. This covenant which is the sure

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foundation of the faith and hope of our own salvation, should be improved to strengthen and to spiritualize our belief and expectation of the salvation of all Israel. God’s covenant is everlasting and unchangeable. Every purpose that God designs to fulfil by it among men shall be realized in its season. “Thus saith the Lord, if ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season: Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the Priests, my ministers,” Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21. In the xxxist chapter of the same prophecy, from verse 31 to the end, there is a prediction by which the future administration of God’s covenant to Israel and Judah is confirmed. In verses 31, 32, 33, and 34, this covenant is described, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,” verse 31. It is a new covenant that he promises to make with them. A new dispensation of the covenant of grace. This covenant should not be administered to them, in meats, and drinks, and diverse washings, and carnal ordinances; but by the more simple, pure, and spiritual ordinances of the Gospel. The two families of Israel and Judah are included in the covenant. This prophecy was not accomplished when the Jews returned from Babylon. At that time, no change was made in the dispensation, for all the ordinances continued as formerly, and the house of Israel was absent. Neither was it fulfilled in the days of the Apostles. The covenant was then administered to many individuals of the Jews; but it was not at all made with the houses, or nations, either of Judah or Israel. A small remnant of that people indeed believed in Christ, and obtained from him eternal life; but the great body of the nations were blinded by prejudice, hardened in unbelief, and cast out of the Church. So far was this from being the time of the Divine performance of this promise to the house of Judah, that it was the season when they filled up their sins, and when wrath came on them to the uttermost. This covenant will be applied to them by a powerful and Divine work of regenerating, justifying, enlightening, and sanctifying grace. “But 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

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their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall no more teach 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,” verses 33, 34. God has not yet performed these precious promises to his ancient people. Their hearts are still alienated from the life of God, they are ignorant of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, and he has been, since their rejection, remembering their iniquity, and punishing them for their sin. The stability of this covenant is confirmed in the 35, 36, and 37th verses. By mentioning three natural impossibilities, the abolishing of the ordinances of the sun, the moon, and the stars; the measuring of the heavens above; and the searching out of the foundations of the earth beneath, which surpass the power of man; God asserts the moral impossibility of making Israel cease from being a people before him, and of causing him utterly to cast them off. These promises have been fulfilled to Israel during their dispersion even in their preservation as a distinct people among men; but they will be more gloriously accomplished to them, when they shall be introduced into the Christian Church, and settled in their own land. In the next three verses at the end of the chapter, the prosperity of that people, after their conversion and restoration, is declared. The following words conclude this account of their prosperity; “It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down, any more for ever.” But the prosperity of the Jews has been plucked up, and thrown down, in a degree, and for a length of time, far surpassing any of their calamities in the days of former years. This prediction then cannot yet be fulfilled. It must refer to a period of the administration of God’s covenant to them, and of their prosperity under that glorious administration; after the establishment of which among them, neither they, nor it, shall be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever. As it shall be realized at the Millennial period of the Church; let all christian Gentiles be assured of the approaching salvation of all Israel.

4. This subject provides christians with a powerful argument which they should employ in their prayers at the throne of grace, for the conversion of the seed of Abraham. They are warranted to plead

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for this mercy, on the footing of God’s everlasting covenant. In performing this duty, the words of the Psalmist should be in their hearts and mouths; “Forget not the congregation of the poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant.” They should cry that the Lord may have respect to the Mediator of the covenant, and that, for his sake, he may have respect to the people of the covenant, by performing the promises of the covenant unto them, and bringing them into the bond of it. It was this covenant that procured for Israel, all the deliverances that they have formerly enjoyed. What was it that brought them out of Egypt? “And God heard their groanings, and remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked on the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them,” Exod. ii. 24, 25. What was it that brought Israel out of the land of their enemies, under whose power they had fallen, after they were placed in the land of Canaan? “And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God; I am the Lord,” Lev. xxvi. 44, 45. What was it that procured their deliverance from the oppression of their enemies, for their sins, even in their own land? “Their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies,” Psal. cxi. 42—45. If the Lord delivered his people from Egypt, caused them return from Babylon, and rescued them from the power of their enemies in their own land, in remembrance of his covenant with them, will he not also, by remembering this covenant, bestow salvation on all Israel, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, since he has said, For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Improving this consideration for strengthening our belief of Israel’s deliverance; let us also take encouragement from it, to pray earnestly for its accomplishment.

5. This subject administers strong consolation to the Christian la-

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bourers in the Jewish field, and to the contributors for their support. The end of all their work, and of all that is given for carrying it on, is the Divine administration of this covenant to the people of the God of Abraham. There cannot be a more honourable employment than that service in which men are humble workers together with God, for introducing Israel into the bond of the covenant. In all the efforts they make, this should be their object, to bring that people to the knowledge of their covenant God, and of the Mediator of the new covenant. That which is God’s design with the Jews should be their end, in all their intercourse with them. These workmen may be assured, that God’s covenant will be revealed and applied to the Jews; and if their labours tend to the revelation, and application of it to them, their work will be ultimately successful, either in their own hands, or in the hands of their successors. It is one important end of Christ’s Mediatorial administrations, “to bring Jacob again to God, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel.” These words describe that work which Jesus will yet perform on God’s ancient people. Jacob has departed from God, the tribes of Jacob are fallen, and Israel is scattered. Their present situation requires that one should bring them to God, raise them up, and restore those who are preserved. To this work the Father has appointed his dear Son, our Saviour. As he has been “for a light of the Gentiles, and God’s salvation to the end of the earth;” so he will be “the Redeemer of Israel,” Isa. xlix. 5, 6, 7. The same things will constitute the object of every religious Messenger of the churches, when he goes, with the word of God in his hand, and the doctrines of salvation in his mouth, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And every enlightened and conscientious contributor to the Jewish funds, will desire eagerly the attainment of the same ends.

6. This subject points out to us the duty of every hearer of the Gospel in the Gentile churches. If we are saved, it must be by that same everlasting covenant, that will be administered to the Jews for taking away their sins. For through Christ we, both Jews and Gentiles, have access by one Spirit unto the Father. The Gospel which we have long enjoyed, exhibits and offers to us that covenant and all the blessings which belong to it. Let every one ask himself, what improvement he has made of this revelation and

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offer. Let every person make a solemn pause, and press his conscience to answer, as in the sight of an omniscient God, the following questions. Have I, by the application of the law of the broken covenant of works to my heart, seen myself to be a guilty perishing sinner, and unable to accomplish my own deliverance? Have I taken hold of the covenant of grace in Christ as all my salvation and desire? Have I come by faith to the Mediator of the new covenant, and to his blood of sprinkling, for cleansing me from all sin? Have I believed on God as my covenant God and Father, reconciled to me through Christ’s obedience and death? Have I submitted to the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit, who leads the redeemed to the land of consummate and everlasting uprightness? Have I believed the promise and received the blessings of this covenant, as my enriching treasure? Do I love and observe all those ordinances by which the covenant is administered to the children of men? Do I delight in the law of Christ, in all his holy commandments, and desire enlarged conformity to it in heart and life? If our religious exercises warrant us to reply to these questions in the affirmative; we are God’s covenant children. But if we are unconcerned about these things, we are yet in our sins. Let the former class daily improve this covenant, live by faith on the Son of God, and walk as children of light. And those who belong to the latter class should remember and seriously consider, that they must be for ever miserable if they die in that condition; that Jesus is still administering this covenant to sinners of our race; that he will effectually apply it, by his word and Spirit, to all who come to him; and that it is their duty to embrace Christ as their only Saviour, and to take hold of the covenant, that they may obey the Divine call, and obtain the blessing in that Divine promise, “Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”