xvii. 2.] A covenant is a promise made under solemn conditions, and
it is God's covenant of grace which converts the soul. Such a promise as
we have in Ezekiel: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh: And I will put my Spirit
within you." [Footnote: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.] God says "I will" five times in
those few lines, because He wants us to understand that in giving this
promise He undertakes to do in us and for us what we can never do for
ourselves.
This reminds me of a young woman who was troubled because, although she
was longing to be saved, yet she felt her heart was so hard. One Sunday
the minister took this verse as the text for his sermon. When he gave it
out it seemed to her as if a voice was speaking these words close to her,
right into her ear, "I will give you an heart of flesh." It came like a
message direct from God. She was so deeply touched she could not listen to
the sermon, and after it was over she went into the fields to find a quiet
place that she might look at the words again in her Bible. She is now a
very bright earnest Christian.
It is through the Word that God speaks to our hearts, and when the Holy
Spirit makes it a living Word and quickens us to receive it with faith,
then we are converted. If you are not saved, take your Bible and read it
prayerfully, and you will find in it just what you want.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92