Blessed covenant in which you stand!
Blessed promises which it holds out to you!
Blessed grace which it bestows! Your faith-
ful Father will never forget it — never forget
that you are His child. Hear Him:

I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of
thy youth, and will establish unto thee an everlasting
covenant.— EzEK. xvi. 60.

Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of
the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there
should not be day and night in their season; then may
also my covenant be broken. — Jer. xxxiii. 20.

As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no
more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would no
more be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be re-
moved; but my kindness shall not depart from thee,
neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith
the Lord that hath mercy on thee. — Is. liv. 9, 10.

This covenant He has made with you in
your Baptism. By virtue of it He is your
Father, and you are His child. You may
have been a very unworthy and disobedient
child; and you may remember, in bitter
penitence, how often you have neglected His
grace, and grieved His Spirit, yet a child is
still a child though it has gone far away from
its father’s house. The prodigal son was
still a son when in a foreign land, feeding
swine, and desiring husks. Hungry, ragged,
and forsaken of all, he was still a son, and
his father had still a father’s heart toward
him, and his arms and house were open for
his return.

Though you may have thus wandered, and
sinned against a Father’s love, call to mind
your baptism; and the remembrance of
God’s unchanging covenant love will give
you a warrant, and inspire you with confi-
dence and courage to return. Let the good-
ness of God, in bearing so long with an un-
grateful and disobedient child, lead you to
repentance.