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How may I know that I have an Eternal standing in the Covenant of Grace?

Heavy laden and weary Pilgrim Come and sit down for a moment, and I will tell thee how this solemn question was answered in my own soul; it may be that the Lord may hereby encourage you to hope in his mercy. THE COVENANT OF GRACE was brought before the eye of my mind. I was led to see most certainly that every fallen son and daughter of Adam is either in the covenant of grace, or under a covenant of works. God doth deal with sinners according to the covenant they stand in. It then became an important question as to what are safe evidences of a sinner's being in the covenant of grace? While my mind was hovering over this matter, the vision which Peter had, was brought before me. In the eleventh of the Acts, the Holy Ghost makes this record, as the language of Peter-"I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me. Upon the which, when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered and saw four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air."

with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant:" By this sheet, God shewed unto Peter his covenant; and if thou art a child of his by adoption and grace, he will shew it unto thee. Secondly, I will, (please the Lord,) say a word or two about the diversity of character in this sheet, and so close up this feeble attempt to confirm you in the truth. First-what is to be understood by the term covenant?-And how may I know I am within its compass? These are great questions. But read carefully and prayerfully (if you can) what follows.

The term Covenant is derived from that which signifies to purge out, to separate-to make clean and clear. Such was the design which God had in view in making the Covenant, as Paul declares in heavenly things (or places) in the Covenant of grace, the Father blessed us with all spiritual blessings, according as he had chosen us in Christ-that we should be holy and without blame, before him in love. God's elect are chosen out-redeemed out-called out-and delivered out from all other men. They shall not be reckoned among the nations. Read Exod xix. 5, 6. Read also the end of the 15th of Genesis; and there see when Here is first, a representation of the God made a covenant with Abraham he covenant of grace; secondly, the diversity commanded him to take an heifer, and a of character of which the church is com- she-goat, and a ram, and to divide them, posed. And, thirdly, the eternal standing and to lay each piece one against another: and safety of the whole election of grace" and, behold a smoking furnace and a in the covenant.

I believe that this vessel or sheet represented that everlasting covenant of grace in which stands the safety of the church of God. I am confirmed in this, from the fact, that the three principal things meant by the term covenant, were spoken to Peter, when the vessel came down before his eyes: these were the words Arise-slay-and eat.'

I shall then only labour to shew you two things. First-what is to be understood by the term covenant; and that as Peter most emphatically says, IT CAME EVEN TO ME'- -so I must insist upon it, that if thou art a new covenant man, this covenant will come even unto thee. For the coming down of this sheet out of heaven, laying open the mind of God to Peter, was but the exact fulfilment of that word-"the secret of the Lord is SEPTEMBER, PART XXXII, VOL. III.

burning lamp passing between those pieces:" foreshewing that in the sacrifice which Christ would make, the wrath of God and divine justice would fall upon him, and by his coming down, and enduring these, in the Church's stead, he should for ever purge out-separate, and make clean, the church from the world, from all her sins; and free her from all condemnation. This was the great design of the covenant; and, if thou art a new covenant man, when this covenant comes even to thee, it will speak to thee as it did to Peter, "ARISE." It will not only call thee out from the world, and from the service of the devil; but it will purge thee out: so that thy delight, thy pleasure, thy rest, thy hope, thy companions, shall no more be found in the beggarly elements of the world. What sayest thou to this? Has grace purged thee out?

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Then thou art in the covenant. Nothing | digged a well, he called it Sheba, an oath, short of the Holy Ghost letting down therefore the name of the city is Beerthis covenant into thy heart can effect a sheba, the well of an oath." That well radical change. Is it done? Ponder well may typify the secret indwelling of the this weighty point. I say again, if thou Holy Ghost, as the covenant typified art really purged out from thy old service, Christ. Isaac's servants digged after from thy old sins, from thy old ignorance, the well, as Christ's ministers dig into from thy old pursuits-then thou art in the mysteries of the Gospel Kingdomthe covenant-CHRIST and HEAVEN are and the substance of their preaching thine. should be-" We have found water." See Genesis xxvi. 27-33; Genesis xxxi. 54; 2 Sam. iii, 20. While then, to purge out, signifies the design of the covenant; this, to eat, denoteth the benefits coming out of the covenant to all for whom it is made. Before eating, there must be slaying. These two shew much what the covenant will do for covenant men; it will separate them; it will support them.

Again-others derive covenant from Berith: i.e. to smite or to cut. This points to the transactions of the covenant. Christ was smitten, and cut off; so, his people are smitten by the law, through the power of the Holy Ghost. But, read Isaiah liii. 4, 5. "He was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, &c. and with his stripes we are healed." The fact is, if thou art a new covenant man, it was thy sin that drove the spear into the Saviour's heart; you-was the very man that did smite him. And when this covenant comes even to thee, then shall that scripture be fulfilled in you-"They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one that mourneth for his only son." I ask you, then, have you been led to Calvary's cross? Have you, by faith, looked upon Jesus as your God, and your Saviour? Have you felt, as Watts declares he did, when he says,

My soul looks back to see

The burdens thou didst bear,
When hanging on th'accursed tree,
And hopes her guilt was there ?

Have you with a broken heart, and a contrite spirit, mourned for this, with bitterness of soul? And have you, sincerely cried out, as from the bottom of your soul-"Oh, give me Christ, or else I die?" Then, I am bold to say-Thou art in the covenant. For Christ says so "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, shall have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Again, some derive covenant from Barah, comedit-signifying-to eat because in Eastern Countries, covenants were established and confirmed by eating bread and salt, denoting life and communion; and preservation and sanctity. When Isaac and Abimelech made a covenant, they had a feast; they did eat and drink. And when Isaac's servants

Coming into the New Testamentthe word Covenant or Testament there is derived from Diatheke-which at least, signifies three things-1. to set things in order. 2. to pacify, and give satisfaction. 3. to dispose of things according to the will. All these things are accomplished by the Gospel. It sets out the truth as it is in Christ-thereby sinners are reconciled and satisfied; and by the Gospel, there is a disposing, or giving out of new covenant mercies; such as the pardon of sin, peace with God, and a comfortable communion with the saints.

If, then, thou art a new-covenant man, thou dost sometimes feed upon and rejoice in the gospel of the grace of God; and it will be thy meat and drink to do thy Father's will, which is, to honor the Son, by taking up thy cross daily, and following him. Now, secondly, just look inside of the covenant. Surely you will say, it is a strange sight indeed! "All manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air." Why, what can it mean?

I. That the church is made up of sinners of all kinds-"Four-footed beasts, wild beasts, creeping things, and fowls of the air." I believe this shews variety of character. But the four-fold condition of the church is also pointed out.

First-Clean beasts, or living creatures, denoting God's elect as they ever stood in Christ, viewed and accepted, and made honorable in him. "Thou art all fair."

2.-Wild beasts. The church in her fallen state-every vessel of mercy in un

Scheme of Deity.

regeneracy is like unto a wild beast, un- The Plan of Salvation-the darling tamed-caring not for God or man. What wild beasts were that Manasseh, that Saul, that Bunyan, you and me! going hither and thither, and feeding upon the things of the earth.

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WHAT a striking sentence is this! The plan of salvation, the darling scheme of Deity!" tell you. Among some other parcels which Where, (say you) did you find it?' I will came to hand, there was one which contained a book entitled 'THE BOOK OF LIFE; being the substance of a Sermon preached at Zion Chapel, Chatteris, by Willian Palmer,' published by Hall and Co., Paternoster Row, (price Six-pence). And in the very opening of the discourse I found the sentence which I have placed at the head of this article.

This beautiful, comprehensive, and soulstirring sentence struck in with such force and sweetness upon my heart, that I seemed in an instant fastened to the discourse, and knit in a most comfortable manner to the author; and I must confess that among all the works which I have either glanced at or perused (of a modern date,) I have met with none so full of golden speeches-so fraught with deep gospel matter or, so demonstrative of sterling talent, as is this sermon by Mr. William Palmer. Here, the grand foundation truths of our faith and hope are

3.-Creeping things; denoting, a low and weak state; the sinner under the law, broken down, and laid in the dust. There was a grand distinction made between creeping things under the law. See Leviticus xi. 21, 23. There were creeping things of two kinds. Such as went upon all fours, and such as had legs above their feet; so that they leaped upon the earth. The first denoteth man in his fallen state, going with all his powers in sin-laying himself out in wickedness, wallowing and delighting, living and dying in it. Such are to be an abomis nation, and they are so. But the second kind of creeping things, which have legs above the feet, leaping upon the earth, denoteth a living soul, who, though it is yet on the earth, and creeping, it may be, in weakness, in contempt, and condemnation; yet it has legs above its feet. The legs bear and carry up the body; so the living soul has powers which carry it up above sin, and above the world, and above delusions and hypocrisies; so that it cannot lie down in sin, in the world, nor in dead empty forms: it leapeth after But, I am the father of a family- and I God in his love and power-after Christ never can enjoy any dainty, without my in his blood and righteousness after the children participate with me in partaking of Holy Ghost in his sweet anointings and it. I am the pastor of a church, and I never sanctifyings after the gospel, in all its get a sacred immersion in the precious love precious doctrines, promises and and blood of my dear Lord and Master, but cepts after the church of Christ, in all my soul desires to communicate the same to her privileges and ordinances—after vic- the people; and in like manner, when (as tory over death, and an abundant en-likely to be of real benefit to the church of Editor) I am favoured to pick up anything Christ, I cannot rest until I carefully pack it up and enclose it in the Vessel.

trance into heaven.

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These living souls flying, though creeping-of them thou mayest eat: that is, with these thou mayest commune, these you may receive, for these are in the covenant.

4.-Fowls of the air; denoting, souls lifted up on the wings of faith and love, flying by faith into the fulness and glory of the kingdom of grace.

thrown out with such boldness and consisfeatures of the christian's experience of those tency; interwoven with so many little fine truths, that I verily believe no child of God can read it without being in some measure blessed.

For the present, I can only take a leaf or two out of this' Book of Life. May be, I shall send another packet next month.

It is but just to premise that the following extracts are hastily drawn; and present but a faint idea of the value of the work. The author describes the various books

spoken of in the word; and says—

And now, poor weary pilgrim, I must, "God keeps his books. Among them for the present, say farewell. If thou art there is the book of life;' and on the pages really following after the Lord of life and of this book, are exactly represented the glory, be of good cheer; our way may be distinguished sons of God, whose names are written in heaven.' Earthly parents have rough, our trials may be great, but the door into the kingdom will soon be Here the spiritual family are registered, —all their family registers, and God has his. opened; we shall enter in, and find our- the family, and none but the family. Omisselves in the presence of Him who fills sions, additions, and erasures, in this volume all heaven with endless praise.-C.W.B. | are alike unknown. Their names are written,

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ter is not yet completed. One registered them as chosen, the other registers them as called, yet not all of them. In the book above not a single name is blotted out, but in the book below erasures frequently occur." "We thus see how names can be blotted out of the book of life, and how they cannot. There are two books of life; one in heaven and one on earth. The upper record was prepared by Christ, and is founded upon an election concerning which no mistake could occur: the lower record is prepared by the church, and is founded upon a vocation, concerning which many mistakes have occurred, and will occur.'

not on loose sheets, much less on slips of paper, which are frequently lost, burnt, or otherwise destroyed. Their names are written in Heaven-in a book-in the Lamb's bookin the Lamb's book of life; which book, we may be perfectly certain, is well taken care of." "Is, then, my name written in heaven? For this, after all, is a prime consideration. It matters but little where it may be seen, if it is not seen there, in what book it may be written, if it is not written in the book of life; in what earthly register it may be found, if it is not found in the heavenly one. I might figure on the list of heroes, of statesmen, or of monarchs, but if I am not 'written among the living in Jerusalem,' in the highest sense of that phraseology, what would it all amount to in that day when the book of life shall be laid open ?"

"This is that book the apostle referred to in our text, as implying distinguished honour and privilege. Without it all is death; within it all is life; spiritual life, heavenly life, immortal life. Life in the fountain, life in the streams, and life in its effects, are here represented or implied. Life in the head, and life in the members,-before time, in time, through time, and after time, is denoted by this book. Life desired, life bestowed, and life secured, this document records. Nothing but life reigns here: sovereign life, secret life, settled life. All the persons in God, reveal, declare, and confirm this life: life in the person of the Father, life in the person of the Son, and life in the person of the Holy Spirit; life in the will of the first, life in the blood of the second, and life in the operations of the third. We thus see life above blood, life through blood, and life with blood:-life in the promise of blood, life in the shedding of blood, and life in the sprinkling of blood. There are three that bear record in heaven-the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and there are three that bear witness on earth-the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." "

"From the custom of registering civil citizens, and having Jewish genealogies, the christian church became a city, a household, a new Jerusalem; consequently christians had their book, their canon, their church register, their book of life. When baptized and admitted to the church, a person was canonized, fraternized, citizenized, and enfranchized. He was booked as a christian, canonized as a saint, fraternized as a brother, enfranchized as a citizen, and enrolled as a soldier. So long as his conduct exemplified his principles he was entitled to all the privileges and honours of his christian estate; but in case of defective morality, perverted attachments, or heretical views, he was admonished; and in case of final departure from the faith, his name was erased; he was blotted out of the book of life, and excluded from all participation in church fellowship.

"Besides the books just enumerated, there is another, differing, in some respects, from all the rest. This is the saints' heavenly register; or rather, the Lamb's book of life,' in which are registered all the heirs of salvation. All that ever have lived, are living, or will live; young and old, infants and adults, male and female, Jews and Gentiles, are written to life in this book.

"And this too is a church book."

·

We must close with another short extract. We pray that the blessed truths herein proclaimed, and the spirit herein manifested, may be spread far and wide.

"It thus appears, that there are two two church books; one for heaven and one for earth; both belonging to Christ, and both books of life. They differ, however, in several respects: one is in heaven, the other is on earth :-one is in the custody of Christ, the other is in the hands of the church: one contains all the family, and none but the family, the other contains only some of the family, with some which are not of the family. In one, the names were written by Christ, in the other the members write their own names,-those of them at least who can. The heavenly register was made up instantaneously; the earthly regis

"The life that is from Christ, is a life that will tend to Christ, call for Christ and thirst after Christ. He is the sweetness and the substance, the beauty and the blessedness, of inward life in its spiritual cravings, fervent longings, varied pursuits, and gradual developement. The life which he requested, was the life that he purchased; the life which he purchased was the life which he imparts; the life which he imparts is the life which he sustains; and the life which he sustains finds nourishment in him, Hence, he is the bread of life, the tree of life, and the water of life. Paul lived upon him; Peter said he was precious; and John affirmed that he who had the Son had life, and that he who had not the Son had not life."

The Threshing Instrument.

TO THE READERS OF THE "VESSEL."

BRETHREN :-How kind is the Lord to his blood-bought family in giving them the lamp of his holy Word to illume their path in this cloudy and dark day! and how encouraging is the promise in which he says-Fear not thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, and thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make them as chaff.' It is blessed to find it thus written in the page of truth, as the Word of God to his own people, but more blessed still to have it written on the heart, so as to know it to be the voice of God to us, encouraging us to go forward with the assurance that (though mountains of difficulty stand in our way, and we, like David, have no weapon,) the Lord will meet us at the point of contest, and furnish us with a sword, or jaw-bone, wherewith, through his power, to break our foes in pieces as a potter's vessel is broken.-'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.'

In the promise above named we have the nature of the person spoken to, and it is the nature of a worm, a creeping thing, so contemptible and feeble, that it seems worthy of no note, and yet the most high God deigns to regard it, and make thereto a promise of great things! It is true, man was made upright, and so in his origin was no worm, but a man; having dominion over beasts, birds, and fishes; and standing erect in dignity, purity, and innocency before his Maker. But, presently he fell, became prone, and crept into the earth; yea, more; for, like an infernal worm he crept into hell, and there abode in the horrible pit Then, O, what is man, that the Lord should be mindful of him? or the son of man that God should visit him ?' Blessed be his name he had a glorious purpose to accomplish, and a wondrous end to be gained, and for this reason man sunk like lead into the gulf of death. Like the axe-head, man sunk into the waters of Jordan, that so the Prophet of Israel might make the iron to swim!

And this prophet came. Making himself of no reputation, he laid his glory

by, and became a worm and no man;' and thus he descended into the depths of the sea, that he might find the worm Jacob, and bring him up from those depths, place his feet upon a rock, and establish his goings. Yes; because man was shut up, as in an iron furnace, he went down into the belly of hell, where the iron entered into his soul, and there he cried to the strong for strength, and was heard, in that he feared; and being heard, he destroyed death, and him that had the power of death, that is the devil;' and tare away the gates, posts, bars, and all from the dreadful prison house, and carried them to the top of the hill before Hebron, and made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it; and there those trophies stand to this day to be looked at by all those who dwell in Hebron, i. e., the society and friendship of the people of the Lord; and looking they may sing

"He hath triumph'd gloriously,

The horse and his rider, He hath thrown into the sea!" And having thus descended into the lowest hell, and then ascended into 'the third heaven,' he came and preached peace to us who were afar off, that so we might be brought nigh, and sit with him on his throne, even as Esther was brought nigh, and sat on the throne of the kingdom of Persia.

But this seems impossible! Why? Because we are such feeble, filthy, crawling worms!

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Surely, except the Lord should make windows in heaven, this cannot be ! Well, that he has done, and 'rained down righteousness! Yea, more; he has opened a door in heaven, on purpose for these poor worms to pass through, that all may find themselves happy in the banquetting house. lo! they pass through on eagles wings, on horses, in chariots, in litters, or coaches! But, are they worms now? Look and see. Behold they are cherubs, all bearing the image of the heavenly Adam! They are as the angels of God, being the children of the resurrection. But how do they appear thus? A miracle has been wrought, by which man's impossibility has been laughed to scorn. It is regeneration! Then, poor worm, if thou hast, indeed passed from death to life, if thou art born again, thou hast a name and a place among the spirits of just men, made perfect; so that while

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