2962. Diamond Hinges — “As” And “So”

No. 2962-51:553. A Sermon Delivered On Lord’s Day Evening, August 1, 1875, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

A Sermon Published On Thursday, November 16, 1905.

For this is as the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. {Isa 54:9}

 For other sermons on this text:
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1306, “Fat Things, Full of Marrow” 1297}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2176, “Lord No More Wroth with His People, The” 2177}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2962, “Diamond Hinges — ‘As’ and ‘So’ ” 2963}
   Exposition on Ge 8:20-22 9:8-17 Isa 54:1-10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2962, “Diamond Hinges — ‘As’ and ‘So’ ” 2963 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Isa 54:1-10 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2601, “Small Things Not to be Despised” 2602 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Isa 54:1-16 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3435, “Sanctified Sorrow” 3437 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Isa 54 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3029, “God’s Tender Mercy” 3030 @@ "Exposition"}

1. There are some people in the world, who, the moment we begin to speak of a type, try to disparage that style of speech by calling it “spiritualizing.” They seem to be far too wise to be able to learn anything by that mode of teaching. Yet the Holy Spirit has given us, in the Old and New Testaments, abundant examples of spiritualizing; and, though he could have used new metaphors and fresh phrases, in his infinite wisdom he preferred to use the old historical allusions, and the old historical types, for the instruction of God’s people. It is a pity that we should crave what is new when it can truly be said, “the old is better.” In the case before us, the Holy Spirit uses Noah’s flood, and the Lord’s covenant that it should no more return to destroy the earth, as symbolic of the covenant of grace which is made with the people of God in Christ Jesus. Surely he did this for our instruction. Oh, that he would shine on the Word, and make it to be both for our edification and our comfort! His divine treasure-house is full of blessings, but he must give us the key, or we shall not to able to enter. Open it, blessed Spirit, to all your believing people!

2. There are two things in our text for us to consider. The first is, that there are, in Noah, and the flood, and the covenant, many points of symbol illustrating the covenant of grace; and the second is, that there is one main point of symbol here, which was certainly intended first and chiefly, whether the rest were intended or not; on that main point I hope to speak at some length.

3. I. But, first, IN NOAH, AND THE FLOOD, AND THE COVENANT, THERE ARE MANY POINTS OF SYMBOL ILLUSTRATING THE COVENANT OF GRACE.

4. First, Noah’s name meant “rest.” We know where our rest is to be found, and who is our Noah. Of our Lord Jesus Christ we can truly say, “He is our peace.” It is through him that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” keeps our heart and mind always at rest. We rest in him, and nowhere else. Did he not say, “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”; and has he not fulfilled his promise?

5. Further, Noah, in a time of general corruption, was the only man who was found righteous before God. If you turn to the Book of Genesis, at your leisure, you will see that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth”; but you will also read that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” It is also written that “Noah found grace (or favour) in the eyes of the Lord.” Noah was, in his day, the one man who was told to prepare a hiding-place from the storm, and a covert from the tempest; Noah’s ark was the one place of refuge for our race, in which eight people were preserved; for, otherwise, the whole race would have been destroyed.

6. Now, we know that Jesus Christ is preeminently the one lone Man of the human race whose perfect righteousness has given God infinite delight. When all the rest of mankind had gone astray like lost sheep, he walked with God. Here on earth he was found, tempted, but never sinning, — encompassed with infirmity, but never transgressing, — the one Man on whom God could look with satisfaction as the type of what the race ought to have been. He could not look like this on the first Adam, for, when he looked on him, he cursed the ground for his sake; but the blessing came through the second Adam, on whom the Lord always looks with joy, and for whose sake he blesses all those who are in him. If I might call Noah the second father of the human race, — and I might properly do so, — I might with even greater propriety call Jesus the second Father of the ever-living race, — the race that is quickened into newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. Again, Noah, standing out in solitary grandeur, as a type of the lone Redeemer, was a preacher of righteousness, and in it also he was a type of our Lord Jesus, for never did any mere man preach righteousness as he did, for he not only preached it, but he created it. We must not forget that Noah preached righteousness in vain, for no one, except the members of his own family, would believe his testimony. In this respect also he was a type and symbol of him who was to come. The cry of Jesus, and of his faithful servants in all ages, has been, “Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

8. But that amazing man, Noah, was also a builder. Probably, all that he had of worldly substance and wealth went into that strange ark, in which the survivors from the deluge were to be preserved. And you know how our blessed Master gave all that he had in order that he might build a spiritual Church out of which the new world should be populated. He laid down his life so that he might be the Redeemer of his chosen race, but he still lives to be the great Master-Builder of his Church.

9. You know also that, when the right time came, Noah went into the ark, and was shut up in it, away from all the rest of mankind. When the flood came, it spent itself on the ark as well as on all people and things outside it. The ark must endure the long pelting of the rain, and go through the terrible deluge as through the waters of death itself, as though it were a coffin, floating over the world’s grave, from a dead world into a new world. “There is also an antitype,” says the apostle Peter, “There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism.” That is to say, baptism is a type and symbol of salvation, just as Noah’s ark was, for in it we, being spiritually dead with Christ are buried with Christ in the outward symbol, and rise from the water, even as Christ rose from the grave, to live henceforth among the twice-born race who do not fear the second death.

10. After the deluge, Noah came out into a new world, and Jesus rose into a new world to which he had brought life and immortality to light. Noah survived a flood that had spent all its force, and Jesus stands among us, and we his people stand with him, to look on a flood of divine wrath that has spent all its force so far as we are concerned. It is true that it will sweep away the ungodly, who are not of the twice-born race; but it will not injure any who belong to the race that is allied to this second Adam, this more glorious Noah. For them, the flood of wrath has spent itself for ever. Noah came out into a new world which was very different from what existed before the flood, and he came out of the ark with a sacrifice of thanksgiving, even as Jesus presented himself to his Father as the appointed offering which had made all his people acceptable in him.

11. And, lastly, it was with Noah that the Lord’s covenant was made, even as the covenant which most concerns us was made with Jesus Christ; and, just as the covenant with Noah still stands, so stands the covenant with Christ. The world, preserved today from destruction by flood, is a symbol of the Church of Christ preserved for ever from all the wrath of God which was due to it because of its sin, but which was borne by its great Substitute and Surety, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

12. I have just hurriedly mentioned these various points in which Noah was a type of Christ. This is a subject which is worthy of being thought out another time, and it deserves your earnest consideration and constant remembrance.

13. II. But, in the second place, I want to deal more fully with the chief point of the text. THERE IS A MAIN POINT OF SYMBOL HERE: “This is as the waters of Noah to me; (for this reason, that) as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.”

14. The text turns on the two hinges of “as” and “so” — two precious diamond hinges on which it hangs. And these mean, I think, first, “as surely as, ” and then, “in the same way as.”

15. First, as surely as God has sworn that a devouring flood shall never again cover the earth, so certainly he has sworn that his wrath and rebuke shall never go out against his redeemed Church, or against one of his redeemed people; and you may rest assured that, just as the one is a fact, so is the other, and just as the one shall never be altered, so the other shall never be. The first oath is irrevocable, and so is the second: “As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.”

    My God, the covenant of thy love
       Abides for ever sure;
    And in its matchless grace I feel
       My happiness secure.

16. But it not only means “as surely as,” it also means “in the same way as,” and there I notice two points of resemblance. Just as God has sworn, absolutely, that he will not again destroy the earth with a flood, so he has sworn absolutely that he will not pour out his wrath against any believer, or against the Church of Christ as a whole. And the second point is that, just as God has promised, with a symbol, that he will not destroy the earth a second time by water, so he has also promised to his people, with a symbol, a token, a sure sign, that he will not be angry with them, or rebuke them.

17. First, then, in both cases, God has promised absolutely what he will not do. You observe that there is not a single “if” in either of these covenants. The Lord said absolutely, “I will not again destroy the earth with a flood.” He did not say, “Unless such and such contingencies arise, I will not send another flood.” He supposed no contingencies; or else, regardless of all contingencies, he said, “I will never again destroy the earth with a flood; — under no circumstances, at no time, and for no reason whatever, will I do so.” In the same way, God has sworn that his wrath shall never be let loose on you, who believe in Jesus Christ, and are saved, in time or in eternity, or under any supposable circumstances whatever: “As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.” There may be dark rain clouds, there have been many such; there may be partial floods, there have been many such; but these have not invalidated the covenant that the waters shall never again cover the earth as the flood did in the days of Noah. That covenant stands firm for ever. In the same way, the Church of God may be very severely tried; fierce persecutions may break out against her; she may be torn with schisms, and poisoned with heresies; but God will not forget her or forsake her. And you, child of God, may have many trials; and, indeed, you will have them because you are a child of God. You may have to go through deep waters, and sometimes unbelief will say, —

    The Lord hath forsaken thee quite;
    Thy God will be gracious no more.

But that can never be true. You must not judge God’s love by any outward providences, any more than you would judge his covenant not to destroy the earth with a flood by the fact that there are heavy showers of rain now and again. God stands true to his covenant with Noah, let it rain as heavily as it may; and God stands true to his even greater covenant of grace, let your trials and troubles be as numerous and severe as they may be. Get a firm grip of this glorious truth, that there is not a drop of divine wrath in all your sufferings. You have an aching head, and a palpitating heart; you have lost your property; you have buried the darlings that nestled in your bosom; you say, “I am the man who has seen affliction”; but, for all that, not a drop of God’s wrath, nor even a rebuke, in the strong sense in which that word is used here, has fallen on you. You have had gentle, tender, paternal rebukes, and still expect to have; but no such rebuke as indicates fierce wrath, no such rebuke as brings a withering curse with it, can ever fall on you if you hide yourself in the Redeemer’s pierced side, if you trust in the covenant of grace which Christ has made with his Father on your behalf.

18. There will yet come on the earth greater convulsions than have yet been experienced, for, in the verse following our text, we read, “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed.” Before the history of the world is complete, there will come dreadful shakings and upheavals. I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but, just as it has been in the past, so may we expect that it shall be in the future. Dynasties will die, and empires will collapse, and there will be wars, and famines, and pestilences, and we do not know what else, for the earth is subject to all these things; but the Church of God shall never suffer from famine; her dynasty shall never be dissolved, the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, and her King shall sit on his throne for ever. And you, dear friend, may have such troubles that it shall seem to you as if the mountains had departed, and the hills had been removed, and you yourself shall seem to have no resting-place for the sole of your foot; but if you are trusting in Jesus, he will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you, for so God’s promise stands, “ ‘The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,’ says the Lord who has mercy on you.” Ah, the most terrible convulsions may come; — the star called Wormwood may fall, and the seven vials be emptied out, and the earth may shake with the tramp of the armies gathered together for the last dread battle; — but, whatever may happen, the people of God must for ever remain —

    “Safe in the arms of Jesus.”

Stormy may be the outlook, but all are safe who are within the ark. The huge billows may threaten to overwhelm us; but, “with Christ in the vessel,” we can “smile at the storm.” His kindness shall not depart from us, nor shall the covenant of his peace be removed.

    Firm as the lasting hills,
       This covenant shall endure,
    Whose potent shalls and wills
       Make every blessing sure;
    When ruin shakes all nature’s frame,
    Its jots and tittles stand the same.

19. I should like to sit down, and think over the blessed truths, and enjoy them. May the Lord be pleased to give each of us the grace to feed on them, and to know, by personal experience, their blessedness. Think, dear brothers and sisters, how can there be any wrath treasured up against God’s people when it was all poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ, their Surety and Substitute? For —

    Payment God cannot twice demand,
    First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
       And then again at mine.

If Jesus suffered in my place, how can God’s wrath fall on me? Does infinite justice demand two victims? Can God strike the Substitute, and then strike the sinner for whom he stood as Substitute? I know, in my innermost soul, that this is utterly impossible. If Jesus really did suffer in my place, — and well do I know that he did, — if, in the place of all his believing people, he has bled and died, and well do we know that it was so, — then, beloved, the wrath of God cannot fall on us, for there is none, it is all gone, Christ has borne it all so far as all his people are concerned.

20. Observe, too, that there is such a close union between Christ and all his people that, if God’s wrath did fall on Christ’s people, it would fall on Christ also. If you were to scald one part of my body, — the sole of my foot, for example, — you would scald me. You could not crush my little finger without hurting me. Brothers and sisters in Christ we are so vitally united to Christ that, if we were lost, Christ would not have a perfect body, for “we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,” so his inspired apostle assures us. Be comforted, then, you who are one with Jesus. How can wrath fall on any part of the body of Christ? And you are a part of that body, and therefore you are safe from wrath for ever.

    If ever it should come to pass,
    That sheep of Christ should fall away,
    My feeble, fickle soul alas!
    Would fall a thousand times a day.

That shall never be, for he will keep his own, and preserve them in righteousness and true holiness, in faith, and love, and hope, until he brings them to his eternal kingdom and glory. When our great Shepherd counts his sheep at the last, each one of them shall pass under the rod of him who counts them, and every one of them will be there. That little lamb, that was all but devoured by the lion, shall be there. That poor weather-beaten ewe, that was seized by the bear, shall be there; — the one that had the hardest lot of all shall be there, for the Lord will never let it be said that he kept the strong, but could not keep the weak. He will not let it be said that he kept those who were not tried, but that he could not keep those who were tried. That cannot be. The good Shepherd will never have to say of any of his sheep that he has lost them, but he will say to his Father, “Those whom you gave to me I have kept, and none of them is lost.” He will give the full tally of his flock in the presence of him who gave them to him. Oh, I think I hear the muster-roll being read out at the last; in it are the names of all those who ever put their trust in Christ. Let not any true believer say, —

    What if my name should be left out,
       When thou for them shalt call?

It will not be left out if you are one of his. If the question is asked “Is Mrs. Much-Afraid here?” she will sweetly answer to her name, and say, “Yes, Lord, I am here, by your grace, but I am afraid no longer.” “Is Little-Faith here?” and Little-Faith will sing out, “Yes, Lord, for Little-Faith’s grain of mustard seed has grown into a tree.” “And is Mr. Ready-to-Halt here?” “Yes, Lord, but without his crutches, for he no longer needs them.” “And Mr. Feeble-Mind, — is he here?” “Yes, Lord, but he has left his feeble mind behind him, and now he sings of the eternal love of Christ for such a poor sinner as he was.”

21. Besides, do you not know that “the Father himself loves you,” and that he loved you so much that he gave his only-begotten Son to die for you? Will he cast you away after doing that? Never; “for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, how much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” If he so loved us, when we were in the horrible pit and in the miry clay, when the filth of sin was all over us, as to lift us up into the bosom of Christ, do you think that he will not love us enough to keep us there? From eternity he has chosen us, and by the precious blood of Jesus he has bought us. His is no child’s love that burns brightly today, and goes out into cold ashes tomorrow. His love is no spark of transient passion, it is an eternal flame, and he will never allow it to burn itself out. Let us not be afraid, therefore, that the waves of his wrath will ever go over us, or that the torrent of his stern rebuke will ever sweep us away. Let us rest in the joyful assurance that, if we are indeed in Christ, any question about the wrath of God falling on us can be laid aside for ever.

22. What you all need is to have that precious truth brought home to your heart. Possibly, some of you are like a sea captain to whom I was once talking about the precious things of the kingdom. We were going up the river, and he pointed to the great posts to which the barges and ships could be moored. “Ah!” he said, “they would hold me firm if I could only get a rope over them. But, sometimes,” he added, “we cannot fling the rope so that it goes right over the head of the post, and gives us a firm hold.” If any of you, dear friends, are in such a difficulty as that, I pray that the Lord, as he stands on the shore, may throw a rope to you, and that you may lay hold of it, and be moored firmly to this sure truth that, as certainly as the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so the waves of God’s wrath will never go over the man who is safely sheltered in the wounds of Jesus.

23. The other point we were to notice is that, in both covenants there was a sign. As I read about the covenant of Noah, I like to dwell on that part where God said of the rainbow, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.” So God has a sign for himself, for us, and for every living soul that is in Christ. The rainbow is a very precious sign of the ancient covenant. We cannot often see it; but now and then God hangs it out, — often enough, I have no doubt. But he has given to us, in the covenant of grace, a sign which we can always see, and I think it is this our Lord Jesus once said to his disciples, “Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” As certainly as the Father loves Christ so certainly does Christ love his people. If you could look up into heaven, what would you see there? You would see Christ at the right hand of the Father, — Christ the beloved of the Father, Christ whom the Father delights to honour, Christ the very apple of the Father’s eye. That is your sign of the everlasting covenant made with Christ on behalf of all his people. Whenever you can see that sign, — and you can always see it, for there is not a single child of God who has any doubt about the love which the Father bears for Christ — that is the sign to you of the covenant made with Christ for you. “Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.”

24. And, in a minor sense, I think that this communion table, around which many of us will presently gather, furnishes us with another symbol of the Father’s love, as instructive as the rainbow itself. Let me speak of it for a minute or two. Child of God, the fact that your Father loves you, and that he will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you, is certain, for there stands his table furnished and prepared. For what purpose? Why, that you may feast with him. At the institution of the supper, Christ himself sat and presided at the table, and it is no Lord’s supper if he is not still there. “You are my friends,” he says to you who believe in him, and he invites you to come and sit at his table, and feast with him. If he did not love you, he would not have spread the table for you; so, if you have had any doubt about the continuance of his love for you, see the table spread for you. I am sure that the poor prodigal, when he came back from his wanderings, was comforted, among other things, by the killing of the fatted calf, and the loading of the table at which he was a welcome guest. See how your Father loads the table for you.

    Never did angels taste above
    Redeeming grace and dying love; —

yet, these provisions have been set before you. Oh believer, rest assured that the Lord will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you; otherwise he would not have called you to sit with him at his table. “Go to bed, sir, without your supper,” is what an angry father says to his disobedient boy; but “Eat, oh friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, oh beloved,” is what your Father says to you; therefore, be greatly comforted.

25. If you look on the table, what do you see there? You see the bread and the wine, the emblems of the body and the blood of Jesus, and as you see the two emblems separate from each other, they become to you the emblems of the death of Jesus, whose blood streamed out of his body through his many wounds. God invites you to come here, and think of Jesus your Saviour. He does not invite you to come here, and sit and groan, because of your sins; but he would have you think of the death of his dear Son by which all your sins were put away. Our Father in heaven says to us who have believed in Jesus, “Come, my children, to this table, and see how you were cleansed from all your guilty stains. Come and see how all that could provoke me to wrath against you was put away for ever. Come to my table, and partake of the tokens of the great propitiatory sacrifice offered by my well-beloved Son on your behalf.” When I look into the wine cup, and think of the precious blood of Jesus shed for many for the remission of sins, and when I understand that he intends this emblem of his shed blood to be a luxury, a source of exhilaration, a means of spiritual strength to us as we drink it, I understand that his mind is not full of thoughts of wrath against us, but rather of thoughts of a sacred hospitality which also invites his children to be happy while feasting with him at his table.

26. I do not have time to say more, except just to remind you that all who lived in the days of Noah did not enter the ark of safety. They did not all have a share in that covenant of which the rainbow in the cloud was the visible sign, for the vast majority of the population was swept away by that terrible flood. As I look on my present congregation, I bless God that it will not be so with you, for most of you have, I trust, believed in Jesus. It is a melancholy reflection, however, that there are many here who have not entered the ark of salvation, or, so far as we know, have any share in the covenant of grace. Every time the communion table is spread here, it seems to me that it would be a wonderful sermon even if I did not say anything. Tonight, as soon as I have finished preaching, many of us will begin to gather around the communion table, and the congregation will at once begin to break up into several parts. There are some of you who will be going home, and others of you will be going upstairs to look on while we are gathered at the ordinance. I do not know how you feel about this division, but I do not like it, especially with regard to some of you whom I respect and esteem, and who, I believe, have many admirable points about you. But you are not decided, you have never given your hearts to Christ, so you will be lost for ever if you die as you now are. You know you will; and, years ago, it caused you quite a pang to have to go away when others remained for the communion. You have to leave your wife, do you not? — and your sisters, and some of you have to leave your father and mother; and I grieve to say that there are some parents here who have to leave their children to sit at the table while they themselves go away. There was a time when you could hardly bear to do that, but you are getting used to it, I am afraid, — some of you. I pray God that you may not get used to it; because, if you do, there will come a day when these partings will be final, — when you will not merely be going home or going up into the gallery, but you will be driven from God’s presence, far away from the everlasting halls where his saints will be feasting, and be cast down to the prison of black despair, where weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth must be your portion for ever. What does that old-fashioned hymn say that the Revivalists used to sing?

    Oh, there will be weeping!
    Oh, there will be weeping!
    Oh, there will be weeping —
    At the judgment seat of Christ!

The sharp, two-edged sword will cut many families in two, and sever the husband from the wife whom he so fondly loved, though he did not love her Saviour; and the son will be cut off from the mother whom he truly loved, but whose God he did not love. Why should we be divided like this? Why should we be divided, Why should we not go hand in hand to Emmanuel’s land? Dear Saviour, put your almighty arm right around this Tabernacle, — it is only like a little box to you, — and take the whole Tabernacle full of us, and let us all be yours in the day when you shall make up your jewels! Oh, that you could then say, “They are all here, as they were all in the Tabernacle on that first night in August, 1875; — all here, and all mine, and all saved.” Oh, how fervently I pray that it may be so! Will you not yourselves all pray the same prayer? God will hear you if you do, for he waits to be gracious. There must be a separation now, but let this be the last time that it shall happen; and, between now and the first Sabbath in September, may God grant that you may all have resolved to cast in your lot with Christ and with his people too. I can assure you that, if you do so, we, who love the Lord, will greatly rejoice, and you also will rejoice with us. May God bless you all, and so grant us our heart’s desire, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

Expositions By C. H. Spurgeon {Ge 8:20-22 9:8-17 Isa 54:1-10}

20, 21. And Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; —

A savour of rest, —

21, 22. And the LORD said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again strike any more every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

So that you all live under a covenant, — a gracious covenant; and, by virtue of it, the day succeeds the night, the summer follows the winter, and the harvest in due course rewards the labour of the seed-time. All this ought to make us long to be under the yet fuller and higher covenant of grace, by which spiritual blessings would be secured to us, — an eternal day to follow this earthly night, and a glorious harvest to follow this time of seed-sowing.

9:8-10. And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, “And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you. And with every living creature that is with you, of the birds, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

Happy birds, and happy cattle, and happy beasts of the earth to be connected with Noah, and so to come under a covenant of preservation; and we, — though only worthy to be typified by these creatures which God had preserved in the ark, — are thrice-happy to be in the same covenant with him who is our Noah, our rest, our sweet savour to God.

11-17. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there be a flood any more to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign for a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look on it, —

What a wonderful expression that is! It is similar to that remarkable declaration of Jehovah, recorded in Ex 12:13. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” The blood was not to be sprinkled inside the house where the Israelites might be comforted by a sight of it, but outside the house, where only God could see it. It is for our sake that the rainbow is set in the cloud, and we can see it there; yet infinite mercy represents it as being there as a refreshment to the memory of God: “The rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look on it,” —

16. That I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

So, when my eye of faith is dim, and I cannot see the covenant sign, I will remember that there is an eye which never can be dim, which always sees the covenant sign; and so I shall still be secure notwithstanding the dimness of my spiritual vision. For our comfort, we must see it; but for our safety, blessed be God, it is only necessary that he should see it.

17. And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Now let us read what the Lord says, through the prophet Isaiah, concerning this covenant.

54:1. “Sing, oh barren, you who did not bear; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says the LORD.

This promise is made to the long-barren and desolate Gentile Church. She may well sing, for God has visited her in mercy, and, at this day, her children are more numerous than those of the Jewish Church. We have waited, but we have been well repaid for our waiting, for we have a larger and richer blessing than God’s ancient people ever enjoyed.

2-4. “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; do not spare, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Do not fear: for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.

Oh child of God, have you passed through a time of great sorrow, in which the Lord seemed quite to desert you? Have all your hopes been blighted, and have all your joys fallen, like untimely figs from the trees? Yet the days of your rejoicing shall be many, you shall soon put aside your sackcloth and ashes, and dancing and holy gladness shall be your portion.

5. For your Maker is your husband; —

Rejoice, oh Church of God, that you have such a husband! Rejoice, every member of the Church of God, that you have such a husband to help you! “Your Maker is your husband”; —

5. The LORD of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; he shall be called the God of the whole earth.

Well might Paul write, in the Epistle to the Romans, “Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also”; and Isaiah here says, inspired by the same Spirit who taught Paul what to write, “He shall be called the God of the whole earth.”

6, 7. For the LORD has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused.” says your God. “For a small moment I have forsaken you;

A moment is a small period of time, but it is made to appear even smaller by that little word “small.”

7, 8. But with great mercies I will gather you. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

Oh, what a blessed mouthful this text is! I might rather say, What a heart full! What a soul full! It fills, and overfills my soul, and gives me sweet contentment: “ ‘With everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer.”

9. “For this is as the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

See how our faithful and unchanging God lays the foundation for our hopes —

    “In oaths, and promises, and blood.”

10. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,” says the LORD who has mercy on you.

Or, as the Hebrew has it, “says the Lord, the Pitier.” Was there ever a sweeter title to comfort our hearts than this, “the Lord, the Pitier?”

Just Published. Price One Penny each.

Spurgeon’s Illustrated Almanac for 1906 (50th year of publication), and John Ploughman’s Almanac for 1906.

Four of the short illustrated articles in the Book Almanac are by C. H. Spurgeon, others are by Horatius Bonar, W. Y. Fullerton, and other writers. Pastor Thomas Spurgeon has again selected the Texts for daily reading, and written the letter to accompany them.

The five large pictures on the Sheet Almanac represent farm scenes similar to those which “John Ploughman” liked to have on his broadsheet, and it is hoped that the daily mottoes will prove as interesting and helpful as the proverbs of earlier years.

Both Almanacs can be obtained from all booksellers and colporteurs, or from Messrs. Passmore & Alabaster, 4, Paternoster Buildings, London, E. C.