Let us commence our worship this afternoon with hymn 630, tune Whitecroft 566. What foolish worms are we, how prone to start aside, And in our troubles flee from Jesus' wounded side, To wait on self or something base, instead of trusting sovereign grace. Hymn 630 to Whitecroft 566.

The mountains are weak, the fountains start aside, and in a troubled sleep, From Jesus born the child He grew great and strong The child He raised Instead of death ♪ Will praise ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ And watch at which some stay, As I see them go. And watch at of every good, to souls that trust the Lord. The Lord is rich indeed, and richly will supply. The waiting still does lead, with blessings from above.

My pledge that day surely is from God, ♪ They make my soul ♪ ♪ A humble tomb ♪ ♪ In the darkness deep ♪ ♪ Surround me ♪ His power still the same, Remembered where from now The shadow that came from Him It is my hope on Him I'll go On Him I'll wait and in Him trust The reading this afternoon, beloved friends, will be in the Jeremiah's Prophecy, and we will read together Chapter 31. Chapter 31, Jeremiah's Prophecy. At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the Lord.

The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness. even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee and thou shalt be built, O Virgin of Israel. Thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant and shall eat them as common things.

For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations, Publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, Save thy people, the remnant of Israel.

Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the coast of the earth, And with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child together. A great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion. and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd.

Their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dam, both young men and old together. For I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priest with fatness. And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, For thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself there. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.

Set thee up way marks, make thee high heaps, set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest. Turn again, O Virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. How long wilt thou go about O thou backsliding daughter, for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when they shall bring again their captivity The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husband-men, and they that go forth with flocks.

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. Upon this I await and beheld, and my sleep was sweet unto me. Behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. that shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. In those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. Everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

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. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break.

Although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord, that this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, said the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, For they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night. which divided the sea, when the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name.

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord. if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I would also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananiel unto the gate of the corner And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill, Goa, and shall compass about to Goa, And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, And all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, Unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord. It shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more forever.

Again we ask the Lord's divine blessing on his own holy word that we have read now May the Lord help us to continue in the exercise of prayer. O Lord, our sovereign Lord, our gracious God, Thou who art merciful along suffering, and plenteous in mercy and in truth, O Lord, Thou who art the eternal God, who from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God, who is eternally the same, yesterday, today and forever. Dear Lord, do continue to be with us to die. Lord, it's thy day, the Lord's day, the first day of another week. And we would remember thy glorious resurrection from the dead very early in the morning. on the first day of the week.

And Lord, we thank Thee for the gathering of the people which is unto Thee. Unto Shiloh shall the gathering of the people be. The heavenly Shiloh, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we gather in thy name and for thy sake in accordance with thy divine will to render the praise, the honour, the glory, the dominion, might and power unto thy thrice holy name for all thy mercies and all thy truths sake. And so, Lord, we are all here again to hear what God the Lord wills be.

May we each have a hearing ear and a wise and understanding heart concerning thy truth, thy word, which liveth and abideth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Lord, do bless the preaching of the gospel amongst the churches today. And may, Lord, there be much done In Jesus' precious name, in the church of the living God, which is the ground and pillar of the truth, may thy word, Lord, be attended with divine power, accomplishing thy will in the hearts of those that hear. that we may not be forgetful hearers, but that thy word may take root downward and bear fruit upward. Oh, bless, Lord, the provision of thy house and satisfy thy poor with bread.

May it be a house of feasting today in thine earthly courts, the Lord we need thee, the path of tribulation, the trials, the sorrows, the griefs, the crosses, the losses, known in this time state, bring us continually to the eternal word of God, that we might be sustained and upheld and comforted and sheared by the word of thy grace. So may it still go forth and be attended with divine power in each of our hearts. O Lord do bless the services of the sanctuary to die here and throughout the body of churches to which we in our loyalty and love and devotion a desire to cleave unto O Lord, and to cleave to Thee. O then, may there be those further manifestations of Thy divine favour and blessing to rest upon us from above. We thank Thee, Lord, for what Thou hast done in recent times.

And now, Lord, we hear today of three Men who've gone forth into the ministry, I'll be with them each, dear Lord, in the exercise of their soul. May they prove the Lord to be at their right hand, to be their sure defence, their shield and buckler, their strong tower, their hiding place, their helper, their interpreter, one among a thousand. May they open their mouth wide and fill it, Lord, with the good things of the gospel. Help them to speak boldly in the precious name of the Lord Jesus and do help All thy ministering servants, those of us, Lord, who have endeavoured to speak now for many years, we thank thee for thy sustaining grace and upholding mercies and God-given help over the years.

And pray that thou wilt be with us still, for Lord, we know that without thee we can do nothing. that we know that we can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me, who strengtheneth us. And so, Lord, do come in thine appointed ways and teach my soul to sing thy praise, for thou art dear to me. And so, Lord, we pray again in affection and love for this cause of truth, honoured with a godly pastor, an able minister of the New Testament, one to come in and out amongst them to feed the Church of God here We pray, Lord, that they will uphold and support and strengthen their beloved pastor. We thank thee, Lord, for the union and friendship that we enjoy together. We pray that they will sustain and uphold him in his office here and in his labours, in other causes of truth. within the body of churches to which we are adjoined. Be with him, Lord, today.

And may thy word through him and through all thy servants, thus, Lord, thy waiting servants bless and crown thy gospel with success. May there be signs following the preaching of the gospel. And that, Lord, we pray for spiritual prosperity. Thy word speaks of the set time to favour Zion. Oh, may that set time, Lord, come. Oh, we would join with the psalmist. Make no tarrying. Oh, our God. Oh, do help us. And that right early.

And so, Lord, do bless thy church, thy people, thy bride, thy witness here in this world. And the Lord remembers Zion where thou didst reign, triumphant as king. And so, Lord, do help us to continue to press on, look in, Lord alone to thee, who is the author and the finisher of all true faith.

We pray that thou wilt make thy dear people willing in the day of thy power. We pray that thou wilt quicken thy deadly leg. We pray that thou wilt restore prodigals, return prodigals and restore those who have been in a backsliding state. Lord, we thank you that all these things are recorded in thy word, so that there is no pathway that one can come into, but what is set before us within the sacred pages of divine truth.

To this end we pray for this cause of truth, the pastor, the deacons, the members of the church, the members of the congregation, the young and rising generation, and the dear children. Lord, again we pray, as this morning, for them, in the day in which we live, this dark and cloudy day, as thy word describes it.

O Lord it is. Oh, what a day, Lord it is. A day of violence and corruption. A day when men are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of gold. A day when man is to filling up the measure of his days with sin and has no regard for God, no regard for his own soul, such as the darkness and the ignorance of man by nature.

O Lord, we thank thee that thou didst ever open our eyes and unstop our ears and open our heart and our understanding to the deep things of God. Now, Lord, do remember thy people in their varied and diverse pathways of tribulation. Whatever that tribulation is, we pray that they each may prove the all-sufficiency of thy grace, Lord Jesus. Oh, do remember those especial cases of need, and grant thy healing, strengthening mercies, if it could please thee. Oh, may thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, Lord, we bear before thee our nation, the royal family, the government. Oh, Lord, all seems to be in disarray, all seems to be in confusion. Oh, we know not really, Lord, how to order our words before thee regarding these institutions. We are exhorted to pray for them. Lord, we would pray that they would open their eyes and unstop their ears, and bring them, Lord, those in government and the royal household, to bow before the God of heaven, to submit to the divine authority of divine truth, and to cease from their own work, and to seek unto God. We pray, Lord, that amidst all the confusion of faiths that belongeth unto man, our gospel privileges will be preserved and maintained unto us in this dark and cloudy day, that there may be that witness to the truth that the Lord is God, and there is none else. Now, Lord, as we come to thy word again, we pray for ministerial grace and God-given ability that we might rightly divide the word of truth. May thy word be attended with divine power.

Do make up in giving, dear Lord, where I fail to ask, O how short we feel to come. Oh, we thank thee, gracious God, that thou art able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or even think. Such, Lord, is our limitation. Such is thine almighty power that thou hast all power in heaven. and on the earth, when there is nothing, Lord, too hard for thee, to grant thy pardoning love, thy forgiving mercy, as we desire to ascribe all the honor and glory unto thy great and holy name.

For thy mercies, all thy mercies, and all thy truths say, we would glorify God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, God blessed forevermore. Amen. Hymn 206, tune Wiltshire 268. How sovereign is the love of God to Israel's favoured race. Paid is the mighty debt they owe. Salvation is of grace. Hymn 206, tune Wiltshire 268. And there is none like Thee.

♪ He gave their joy ♪ ♪ Salvation is your praise ♪ ♪ His love without end ♪ God is as clear as day, as clear as night. ♪ God's love to share ♪ ♪ Salvation is his outreach ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave And all is still, the sun is bright. Salvation is all praise. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Again, dear friends, by the help of God, I bring before you the same words as this morning to be found in chapter 50 in Jeremiah's prophecy. And we read those beautiful verses 4, 5, and 6. 4, 5, and 6 in chapter 50 in Jeremiah in those days. And in that time, saith 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 at their wards, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They've turned them away on the mountain. They've gone from mountain to hill. They're forgotten. They're rest in play. What a wonderful consideration, dear friends, it is that in these chapters that testify of the Lord's solemn dealings, not only with his people, but with his enemies, there are these sacred gospel truths set before us in the midst thereof.

And it is a most wonderful thought and consideration because the exercises of the people of God as they read these truths and are searched by the candles of the Lord in their hearts and wonder where the sea will end spiritually with them and then to find the precious words of divine truth so suited to their needy case.

Oh, I remember years ago that word in Peter. Oh, what a word it was in that solemn chapter, the second chapter in the second epistle. And then there was it, the Lord knowing how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Oh, what a sacred word it was to my soul. Found in that solemn chapter, the Lord knows how to deliver. The Lord delivered me in a sore path of spiritual temptations that I was in. Little did I think I'd find it in that chapter, but there it was. And the Lord used it to deliver me. And so here for the comfort and consolation of the Lord's dear people. Let us remember this, friend. They were ever his people. Oh, they were ever his people. We read this afternoon, did we not?

In that 31st chapter, you see, yes, yes, yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee, an everlasting love. And that love, friends, goes back before time. And it'll go beyond time. It's everlasting, it's eternal. as a character of God. And His mercy is the same. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear the Lord. And so, dear friends, this everlasting love, the love of God is rich and free, fixed on His own eternally. Nor earth nor hell can from it move. Nothing can change it. God's heart is settled from all eternity.

Here we have the electing love of God. Here we have the doctrine of election. Well, dear friends, these dear people of God, the Lord's people, and they have to prove and we have to prove the Lord's dealings with us because he deals with us according to the tenor of his word. And friends, the Lord is dealing with his people today, as he did in Jeremiah's day, in Ezekiel's day, and in the Gospel day.

The Lord is the same, he changes not. He doesn't change, friend, the way he deals with his people. No, it's exactly the same. And so he dealt with them, and he dealt with them in love. He didn't cut them off as cumbers of the ground. Oh, that beautiful Psalm 103, You see, it's such a wonderful testament, really, to this text today. And what is it? The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. Friends, these sacred words, he will not keep his anger forever. If one feels under the displeasure of God and to know it's not forever, it's only for a time. Our text says in those days and in that time, the Lord's dealings are in time and according to days, however long it may be. So he hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Friends, how true it is. And we'll all say amen to that, friends, if we, if the Lord has begun that good work of grace in our hearts. How sad and how solemn it is that, you see, notwithstanding the Lord's instruction and the Lord's sovereign will revealed and made known in his word, yet there is that in our fallen nature that is rebellious against God. Rebellion is ours by nature, friends. God has told us what to do, and our fallen nature wants to do something completely different. We don't want to walk in the ways of truth.

That's our poor, finite, fickle minds and heart. Oh, friends, and Jeremiah tells us, doesn't he? He said, the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? Only those who are taught of God. You won't glory in it, friends. You'll mourn over it. You'll mourn over it. And we have an archenemy in Satan.

Oh, friends, we cannot stand in and of ourselves, in and of our own strength. We can only stand in the strength of God. We can only stand by the grace of God. We can only continue by the power of the Spirit. We're totally dependent upon God, day and night. Totally dependent. We cannot keep ourselves for a moment. We need to be kept by the mighty power of God through faith.

So, the Lord's dear people there are returning from whence they came. Well, they came from a good land. They came from a spiritual pathway and experiences. They came from Zion. They came from Jerusalem. They came from the city of truth. They had to be brought into captivity.

But you see, the Lord would bring them back. And the Lord always restores his people. David said, he restored my soul. And He brings His dear people back to where they were before. And then He will further teach and instruct them. Now when the Lord brings one back, how different than when they go out. They are come back in repentance, in concession, that tenderness of heart and spirit. Oh friends, the Lord's goodness to them and bringing them back has a sanctifying effect upon the spirit.

And they then desire to seek the Lord wholeheartedly, fervently. Not half-hearted now, friends. God comes first. His word comes first. Prayer is first. The things of God are first. Everything else has to be second. God will be first in the lives of his people. He has the first claim upon us because we're his. Well, coming back then, seeking the Lord.

When the Lord said, seek ye my face. Have you said this? My heart said unto thee, Lord, thy face I will seek. Prayer is seeking the face of God. The Lord requests this, and the immediate response, thy face, Lord, will I see. Under the exercise of grace, the child of God responds immediately. Immediately. There's no deny. Because your exercise, waiting upon God, concerning his will, his way, his word, concerning, well it's his word isn't it, because that directs us in everything.

We have his sacred testimony, the testimony of truth. And the Holy Spirit of God always leads us to Christ and testifies of Christ. This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit of God. It's a testimony of Jesus Christ. What a sacred testimony it is. It's a testimony of truth. And friends, it's for our divine instruction because He's gone before. Christ has gone before. We're to follow in his steps. So, seeking the Lord, their God.

Blessed claim, isn't it? Blessed claim. And this can be the case, because the Lord says, my people. If the Lord says, my people, then the Lord's people can say, their God. My God, my Father, blissful nine. That's the sacred union between Christ and his church. A beautiful union. It's a marriage bond, it's a covenant. Ordered in all things and is sure.

So they shall ask the way to Zion. Oh, what a beautiful place is Zion. It's the church of the living God. And there are some beautiful Psalms testifying concerning Zion. And in Zion we have King Jesus and he reigns supreme on Zion's hill. This is what we read concerning Zion. For the Lord hath chosen Zion.

His divine choice. He hath desired it for His habitation. This is my rest forever. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. So the Lord dwells in Zion. And the exorcised live in family of God. You see, as they come into Zion, the Lord blesses them. They realize and know The Lord is there because they desire to know him.

I was only speaking to your dear pastor last week when he phoned me and in our conversation it came round concerning his dear late mother. She was so blessed on Good Friday on Easter Monday at South Hill Special Services, where my father preached there in 1967, Easter Monday. And she was so blessed that afternoon. She said, I don't want to leave the seat I'm sitting in, because I've been so blessed in Zion this afternoon. Within two weeks. She's gone to glory. Within two weeks, she's gone to glory. Only in her 50s. Oh, she said, I've been so blessed this afternoon. And dear Mr. Bath said to me, Jabez Bath, he said, we believe that was the anointing for her burial. What a fave affair.

Have you known a time in the house of God when you didn't want to leave the house of God, didn't want to leave the seat you were sitting in, because the Lord is so calm into your soul. The Lord is here, friends, and an exercised soul will be seeking for Jesus.

I have decided I will abundantly bless her provision, abundantly. I will satisfy her poor with bread. This is in Zion. Now God has decreed that his dear people should be joined together. I know the Lord can bless his dear people anywhere on the earth. Jacob was left alone and the Lord blessed him. He was blessed at Bethel. Yes, I know that. But the Lord has decreed in the New Testament days that his dear people especially should be joined together and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.

This is the Lord's will, and this is where the Lord reigns. This is where the Lord has promised to bless His dear people. The Lord is here. Don't you want to be, friends, where the Lord is? You don't want to go to a place, friends, where the Lord is. I know the Lord is everywhere. He's omnipresent.

But you wouldn't want to go to a place, friends, would you, where the Lord would not come in the way of blessing, You wouldn't want to go, friends, and I name this deliberately because the elders of Israel were found in the chambers of imagery, which I consider today to be a picture palace or a cinema, the last place on earth where they should have been, but that's where they were. So you wouldn't want to be found in a cinema, friends, would you? Could you ask the Lord's blessing, friends, on going to a cinema? Indeed not.

Indeed, the Lord would see you. The Lord would know you were there, for his eyes go to and fro the whole earth, beholding the evil and the good. He would see you there, but you would never be blessed there. And if the Lord convinced you of your sin there, friends, I can assure you of one thing, you would never enter the doors again. You'd never want to see the place again. Never. But you want to be where the Lord is. What a good rule it is. Dear friends, I'm speaking to the young and the children in love and affection to you.

Don't go anywhere where you cannot ask the Lord's blessing upon where you are and what you're doing. If you can't ask the Lord's blessing on where you are and what you're doing, let me say this lovingly to you, you should not be there. Now you come to the house of God and you can ask the Lord's blessing upon the services, upon each part of the service, and the Lord is honoured and the Lord is glorified. You can ask the Lord's blessing in your home.

It's the Lord's provision. The Lord's wonderful provision. It's the royal bounty of His good providence. Every day, friends, bless God for that bounty. for that provision, for your home. You're not homeless, you've got a home to go to. Bless God for the food on the table, the Lord's provision. Everything the Lord gives you is His provision.

You can ask the Lord's blessing on it. You can ask the Lord's blessing on your finances and dealing with all the finances to the glory of God and paying your way honourably. You can ask the Lord's blessing on it. Where the workplace the Lord has put you, you can ask the Lord's help and blessing on it. You see anything of this nature, you ask the Lord's blessing, the Lord is on it.

But especially the house of God. One example comes to my mind immediately. The Lord's Supper, the ordinance, the Passover. It had to be kept in Jerusalem. It could not be kept in the people's houses. It had to be kept in the temple. And so today in the Gospel sense, the ordinance of the Lord's house, the Lord's supper, has to be observed in the house of God and not in a person's house.

It comes to mind, I repeat it before you. We shall ask the way to Zion. Well, the Lord loves Zion. And in another psalm, the psalmist speaks beautifully of this. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city. Now, this is where they go in. back to. They should ask the way to Zion where their place is near the ward.

Now, there was no mistake, there was no getting lost in the why. No, oh no. We read in this chapter, and this is one of the reasons why I read it, because there it testifies of these things. Set the upway marks, make the hi-heat, These way marks and these high heaps testify that we're in the right way. Set thine heart toward the high way, even the way which thou wentest.

This is a sure, certain way back, friends. No mistake, no going astray now, friends. It's a straight way. A straight way back to Jerusalem. And these way marks and high heaps are evidence and a proof and a confirmation. You're in the right way. They're their faces. They're the ward. Don't look into the left hand to the right. Look in unto Jesus in gospel sin, in a gospel day. Look in straight ahead. Let thine eyelids look straight on. looking unto Jesus.

This is how they return prayer. Oh, the Lord brought them back safely, securely. And the Lord was using this for their spiritual comfort and consolation. You ask, is the one here today asking your way to Zion? Asking your way for the presence and the blessing of the Lord? Ask in your way regarding the ordinances of God's house. In Zion, it's all in Zion. Beautiful word, isn't it? Zion, the city of our God. Walk about Zion, the psalmist said. Tell the towers thereof. Well, wonderful friends are a restoring soul to be brought back and to have that peace in their soul. and that quietness that they are now seeking the Lord and walking in accordance with His divine command and will and why.

So their faces, they're the wall. Now you see under rebellion, their faces were not toward the Lord. Their back was to the Lord. Their faces were to the world. But coming back, their faces are thitherward, looking to Jesus. There's no looking back now, friends. There's looking forward.

But under rebellion and walking contrary to the Lord, you see, you turn the back to the Lord and not the face. Oh, what a reproach upon the Lord. If you saw a friend of yours, friend, you wouldn't turn your back on them, would you? You would greet them face to face. And yet a child of a God under rebellion turned their back on God and their face to the world. What a reproach upon the precious name and person of Jesus Christ.

Well, come, come, come. What a blessing. Word is come, isn't it? Oh friends, when the Lord says come, come unto me, I want you that labour on a heavy laden, I will give you rest. What a wonderful invitation. Come and let us join and are united in this desire. As we said this morning, you see Judah and Jerusalem, The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together. Together. No separation here, friends. No separation here.

Oneness. And the Church of God, you see, today, what is the requirement? Oneness. As the Lord's dealings have a sanctifying effect upon our hearts, Then we desire to be united together as the heart of one man in the church of God. No schisms, no conflict. One in heart, one in desire, one in love for the truth, for Jesus' sake, one in love for each other in the Lord. There's a togetherness. And this is the strength, friends, of any church. togetherness, union, oneness.

And this is the secret because on the day of Pentecost they were all together in one place. And then the blessing of God's sacred gift of God's Holy Spirit was given to them on that occasion. What a sacred occasion it was, wasn't it? The day of Pentecost. Indeed it was. They were all together. All together in one place. Union. Oneness. Beautiful, isn't it?

Well, their faces, therefore, come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. Well, this covenant, you see, we read of it this afternoon, didn't we? The new covenant of God's Christ. 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, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break.

They break the commands of God. They break that promise. They break that covenant. Although I was a husband unto them, said the Lord, it was broken. They didn't do what God commanded. They didn't adhere to the oracles of God and the commands and precepts of God. They broke them. But now you see, there's a new covenant, a new covenant with the house of Israel.

I will put my laws in their inward paths. I said this morning, You see the Lord's dealings, it's with the heart. It's not an outward part. It's not an outward form. It's the heart. Now the Ten Commandments were given them before. Yes, we'll keep them. But they didn't. The commands, the precepts, but they didn't keep them. They said they would, but they didn't.

And now this covenant is within the heart. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. It's written with the finger of God. What a vast difference, friends. What a vast difference to that first covenant. It was a good covenant, but it was broken. This covenant is applied to the heart. This covenant is written with the finger of God. Oh, friends, what a difference, what a sacred covenant this new covenant is. And you see, it's also testified of in the next chapter.

And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them, and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. I've just referred to that everlasting covenant. And I will not turn away from them to do them good. But I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. I will rejoice over them to do them good. and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul." Oh, what a sacred covenant. And this is what they said, you see, come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

This is it, friends. And it's not forgotten, it's written in their very heart. What God writes in your heart, friends, won't be forgotten. It can never be erased. It's there. So, this wonderful covenant, a perpetual covenant, a covenant that continues. Well, this covenant is an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things ensured. It's everlasting, it's perpetual. It's not for time, it's for eternity. A perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten, it's remembered. Because the Lord speaks to your heart, a promise, then it will not be forgotten.

It will abide and it will remain. And the Lord has testified of this concerning the ordinances of heaven, the moon and the stars, the light by day, by the sun and the ordinances of the moon and the stars. You see, The Lord of hosts is His name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. These ordinances shall never cease. They can't cease while the earth remaineth. They won't cease until the end of time. So, you see, the Lord's dear people will never cease from being a nation before me forever.

And if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched openly, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, said the Lord. But friends, heaven cannot be measured, and the foundations of the earth can never be searched out. Impossible. So the Lord's dear people are His, forever His. Oh, the wonder of the things of God.

So my people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. And there were those four shepherds who were only concerned about themselves and they were not concerned about the sheep or the flock. In New Testament terms, John chapter 10, the highland flea Because he is a Hylian and careth not for the sheep. And so you see these four shepherds like a Hylian. And what's a Hylian? He's one who's only interested in his own benefit, his own gain. He's not concerned with the flock or with the sheep. And when the wolf comes, he flees.

Not the true shepherd. And so, of course, there have been these four shepherds spoken of by Jeremiah in his prophecy. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They've turned them away on the mountains. They've gone from mountain to hill. They've forgotten their resting place. All these four shepherds friends. But of course, It speaks of this. All we like sheep have gone astray. All we like sheep have gone astray.

And the Lord has laid upon Him, on Christ, the iniquity of us all. We've all gone astray in heart, every one of us. all we like she, but are now returned unto the bishop and shepherd of your soul, which is King Jesus, the good shepherd, now return to the bishop, the shepherd of the sheep, the great head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, And they've forgotten their rest in place, because there is no rest apart from Christ. Christ is the rest in place for his dear people.

So, these are wonderful truths, but the one verse as well that was so upon my spirit, the wonder of it was the 20th verse. And it says again, as it does in the fourth verse, in those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. What a glorious truth. I will pardon them whom I reserve.

The Lord has a reserved people. Yes, reserved. We read in Elijah's day, you see he thought he was the only one and the Lord said there are 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. 7,000 reserved Even unto this present time there isn't a remnant according to the election of grace and are reserved by God. He's reserved His dear people. He has a people, He always has and He always will. It's a little remnant according to the election of grace. And every one of His reserved people, you see, will be hardened and every one of his reserved people will go to heaven as a place reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God. But the Lord's dear people, in our text today, you see the iniquity of Israel, the sins of Judah, They'll be sought for, and there's none. And the sins of Judah, they shall not be fared.

Oh, the glory, friends, of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness, pardon, to be pardoned. A sinner, to be pardoned. Oh, friends, what a greater blessing can there ever be? The poor guilty sinner, ruined by the fool, ruined by sin, yet the Lord pardons them because you're reserved, you're one of the Lord's dear chosen elect people. Oh, the sanctifying effect. And your sins, you see, which are many, you're forgiven.

Micah speaks of that glory, doesn't he? Who art thou, O Lord, a God that pardoneth iniquity, forgiveth transgression, You delighteth in mercy, and all your sins and all your iniquities, where are they? They are drowned, drowned in the depths of the sea. Oh, friends, what glorious truths. Oh, your sin may burden you, but here is the gospel, friends. The Lord pardons his dear people.

And they came back, friends, because the Lord will always have a witness in Jerusalem. He'll always have a witness in Zion. He'll always have a witness in the church of the living God, which is the ground and the pillar of the truth. So in this gospel day, and at that appointed time, you'll look for your sin. You can't find it. There is none.

It's all forgiven. It's all pardoned. It's all put away. by Jesus Christ. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that other precious verse in John's epistle, you see, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all sins. Friends, have your sins been put away? Have they been drowned in the depths of the sea? Has the Lord pardoned you? Has he forgiven you? Has he kissed you with that kiss of forgiveness? I will pardon whom I reserve. Oh, friends, to be amongst those who are reserved by God, that little remnant, This world is loaded with sin and inequity and transgression. But there's still a remnant. There's still the Church of God. And there always will be.

However solemn the times will be, there will always be a witness to the truth. You go back in the Old Testament, you see some times, solemn times, Look in the days of Noah. What solemn times it was friends in those days. Just one preacher and that was Noah. But you see there was a witness. There was a witness to the truth.

And friends the Lord pardons as He forgives. What a beautiful word is pardon. I will pardon. And the Lord gives double for all the sins of his people. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Now what comforts? Well, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. Warfare, conflict within your poor mind and soul and spirit. It's accomplished. That her iniquity is pardoned. for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. What is the double? Pardon and the warfare's accomplished. The conflict is over. Friends, double. The Lord gives double for all your sins. Oh, the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. that ye through his poverty might be made rich. Oh, to be a pardoned child, to him we shall sing, God willing, at the close, speaks of this sacred experience and wonder. There's nothing more precious than a child of God to be brought in the sweet and blessed experience of being pardoned, of being cleansed, of being forgiven, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding to be known and felt upon your soul and spirit. Oh, friends, and this will keep you, this will preserve you, this will protect you. You won't want to lose that sacred peace, that sacred quietness and the nearness of the Lord. You won't want anything, friends, to disturb that. You desire to walk humbly before the Lord, walking, according to the precepts of the gospel. Well, dear friends, wonders of grace to God belong. Your sins cannot be found. They're drowned. Gone. Forgiven. Pardoned.

And this is what we read of, and we read this, did we not, this afternoon in that beautiful chapter in Jeremiah. 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. Well, there it is.

New covenant blessing. Knowing the Lord. Yes, from the least to the greatest. You may feel to be the least, friend. but you're included in this divine blessing. They should all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. Well, to know the Lord, whom to know is life eternal. This is it, friends, isn't it? Well, what precious, glorious truths there are contained in these prophecies. And friends, if you read them and meditate in them, You'll come to these sacred gospel truths that are set before us.

And as I said this morning, their Redeemer is strong. The dear Redeemer is stronger than all. Stronger than your heart, stronger than sight, and stronger than all the world. And He redeems. He reclaims His dear people who have sold themselves for naught. You shall be redeemed without money and without price, redeemed by Jesus' precious blood, redeemed. And friends, the Redeemer is strong, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, I see the time has gone this afternoon now. Oh, friends, bless God for his grace, for his goodness, for his pardon, for his peace, and then your blessings. for his chastening hand, for his correction, in love and in mercy to your never dying souls. May the Lord have His blessing. Amen. Hymn 212, tune Strasbourg 244. Why does your face, ye humble souls, those mournful colours wear? What doubts are these that try your face and nourish your despair? Hymn 212, tune Strasbourg 244. ♪ As long as I see her ♪ ♪ I shall always love her ♪ ♪ I always will ♪ ♪ One else on this earth ♪ ♪ Shown no faith ♪ ♪ And now it's all the same ♪ ♪ And I only can see ♪ and sing the songs that fill the skies. Come reign ye the days of old, while I conjecture Mountains rise. Mother Almighty, fill the earth.

The white creation stirs. And on Christmas day, I should take the mantelpiece of hell. Share the pain and sadness of life, and embrace it all the time. Saviour's face, the Saviour's hand in grace. In Christ's name I am crowned with the hills, Desire to go out. And it brings such divine blessings, blessings, and then be found.

The way that passes through the grace that then is opened. that God did not show some of the wonders and the wonders O Lord, we would acknowledge with gratitude and thankfulness thy great goodness to us today. O the glory of the Gospel, the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour's precious blood, cleanse in us from all sin. O Lord, do we pray Thee, sanctify us by Thy truth, Thy word is truth, and help us to follow Thee, and serve Thee, and love Thee, and obey Thee, as we journey on towards our journey's end, and crown our journey's end with everlasting peace. Dismiss us with thy favour, grant journey and mercies to our homes, and may thy grace, Lord Jesus, the Father's love, the communion of thy Holy Spirit, rest, remain, and abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen. and amen.