to the tune Dennis, number 26. The men that fear the Lord in every
state are blessed. The Lord will grant whatever
they want, their souls shall dwell at rest. Hymn 832, tune
Dennis, 26. you. O let there be the Lord in every
state of health, The Lord will come a day before, His soul shall
rest at rest. His secrets they shall share,
His power shall they learn. Guided by grace, Shall walk each night, and in
each dread despair He let it flow their way, And
thinking makes them sway. He dries their tears, repays
their debts, and makes them trust Him. In His red emerald tomb, The
Savior sets the vow, Accounting each and to the rich,
and most of all his own. It takes the spirit of faith
and nothing makes that strong. And I'm just like Tybalt at night,
And I'll do all that's right. It gives refuge and life to all
that's well-precised, makes mercy sweet Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Psalm 25. Psalm 25. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not
mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress
without cause. Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach
me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach
me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait
all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy remember
thou me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the
Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek
will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, and to such
as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake,
O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. What man is
he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way
that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease,
and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet
out of the net. Turn thee unto me and have mercy
upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my
heart are enlarged, O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look
upon mine affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins. Consider
mine enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, keep my soul and deliver
me. Let me not be ashamed, for I
put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness
preserve me, for I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of
all his troubles. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is, and art, and art to come, we desire to bow before
thy great majesty we desire the spirit of humility and love as
we come to bow before thee humbled oh lord under the sense of our
fallen condition under that realization that the
heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked For I know that in me that is
in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. And gracious God,
we desire to bow in confession of our sins, of our wanderings
and of our backslidings. And we pray to be washed in that
precious sin-atoning blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
we pray to be cleansed from all unrighteousness and clothed upon
with that glorious, everlasting righteousness of Jesus Christ.
For this is all our hope. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are my glorious dress. In these arrayed, O that we may
be arrayed in that glorious, everlasting robe. For this, Lord,
is our hope. It covers our nakedness, our
emptiness, our poverty, our insufficiency or it takes away the curse and
the condemnation of the law. We thank thee for those lovely
words of grace that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Lord how true that is and we
desire to bow in thankfulness before thee this afternoon for
the Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of his name for the fullness
of His grace, for the wonder of His redeeming love. On such
love my heart still ponders, love so rich, so full, so free. Say whilst lost in holy wonder,
why oh why such love to me? So we come to bow before Thee
in humility and love, in faith and We pray for patience, patience
to wait upon thee, patience to watch unto prayer. We thank thee
for that profound mystery of godliness, of God manifest in
the flesh, made of a woman, made under the law. Oh, we do thank
thee for these wonderful scriptures that describe to us who Jesus
is and what he has done. We do thank thee that in that
holy sinless life of Jesus Christ everlasting righteousness is
brought in for thy people. In that holy sinless sacrifice
of the cross of Calvary divine justice is satisfied and God
and sinners are reconciled and we desire to bow in thankfulness
unto thee. for the glories of Calvary, for
the preciousness of the blood of Jesus. And we thank thee that
he rose again. He swallowed up death in victory.
He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
We thank thee, most gracious Lord, that he has ascended up
on high. He has led captivity captive.
He has opened the gates of heaven. Those pearly gates have lifted
their everlasting heads, and the King of glory has entered
in. We thank Thee, Lord, as we bow before Thee here this afternoon,
that such an high priest have we, who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, we do thank Thee, O gracious
God, for these wonderful things, these precious truths. We thank
Thee that Jesus is coming again, to receive His people unto Himself. He's coming in power and great
glory. And we thank Thee that the first
thing that He would do is to send His angels to the four corners
of the earth and gather His elect unto Himself. We thank Thee for
the safety and security of the Church in Jesus Christ. O most gracious Lord, we thank
Thee for that eternal covenant And the blood of Jesus is called
the blood of the everlasting covenant. Oh, we do thank thee
for these foundation truths. We think of those precious words
of Jesus, upon this rock I build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. We thank thee for the throne
of grace, whereby we can have communion and union with thee
in prayer, in praise, in thanksgiving and oh lord we do pray that thou
would visit us here this afternoon with thy great salvation that
thou would graciously grant the sacred blessing aid and power
of the holy ghost in the pulpit and in the pew give the preacher
words to speak open the word of truth to our heart and to
our understanding open the deaf ears open the blind eyes cause
the dumb of the tongue to speak, to speak to the glory
of thy great name, or to hear as thou hast said, Lord, I will
bring the blind by the way which they knew not. I will lead them
in paths that they have not known, or that we might see that wonderful
work of thy grace. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children, O Lord, we do beseech
of thee. We pray that thou would bring
our sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. We
read in thy word, until the spirit be poured upon us from on high.
And Lord, that is the day that we long for, for the spirit to
be poured upon us from on high, for the strongholds of Satan
to be pulled down, for the kingdom of the Lord Jesus to be set up
in the hearts of sinners. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth, we
do humbly beseech thee, and work mightily, and work powerfully,
and work effectually in this dark and solemn day in which
we live, when we see the powers of Antichrist and unrighteousness
abounding on every hand, Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray thee.
Remember, Lord, we pray the little churches up and down the land,
where thy servants stand, where thy gospel is preached, where
thy people gather. And we have those lovely words,
where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I. Oh, that
we may prove that this afternoon. Lord, we do beseech thee. Remember
all in affliction. trouble, trial, perplexity, sorrow,
sadness or bereavement. Lord, undertake for each one. We do humbly pray thee. Remember
the little ones and the children. Put the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, into their hearts. Remember the young
friends. Graciously bring them to living,
vital, saving faith in Jesus Christ. Remember the prodigals
and cause them to return. and thy mighty grace to be seen
in this. O Lord, there is nothing too
hard for thee. None are beyond thy power, and
we do thank thee for that. And the appointed time rolls
on apace, not to propose but call by grace to turn their feet
to Zion's hill. O Lord, we long for such a day. There is joy in heaven over one
sinner that repented and we pray that we might know that joy here
begun below over those sinners that repent and are brought to
faith in Jesus Christ. Lord we do pray that thou wouldst
graciously remember parents and give wisdom and help to bring
up their children in the nurture and in the admonition of the
Lord and that they may know thy divine guidance and blessing
and help. And O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst remember the families as they gather for divine worship,
for all things are sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
And O Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst graciously remember all
in the midst of the journey of life Remember them with the favor
that thou bearest unto thy people and visit them with thy great
salvation. Remember those, O Lord, that
have that desire to follow thee and to serve thee in their day
and in their generation. We pray, O Lord, that thou would
bring to fruition those desires and those longings of their heart
and that in love they may be able to follow thee in their
day and in their generation, we do humbly beseech of thee. Remember those in darkness and
bring them into light. Remember those in bondage and
bring them into liberty. Remember those that are far off
and make them nigh. Remember those of us that are
in the evening time of life's journey and graciously remember
us. We do humbly pray thee and pray
that at evening time it may be light, that the light of the
gospel of Jesus Christ may shine in our hearts, Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Remember those that are seeking,
grant that they may be finders. Lord, we pray for grace to lay
aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us,
and to run with patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame
thereof, and is now set down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. We pray, O Lord, for our nation,
that the light and truth of the gospel may again shine, give
wisdom to our leaders, bless our king and the royal house.
Remember, Lord, we pray thee, thy church throughout the nations
of the earth. We especially think of thy church
in those places on earth, in China and Iran and North Korea
and other places also where they suffer for the name and witness
of Jesus Christ. And they suffer the loss of their
goods, the loss of their freedom, imprisonment, and even death
because of their following of the despised Nazarene. Oh, do
hear us, Lord, we humbly pray thee. We pray that thou would
hasten that time when Israel shall be brought to the knowledge
of the Lord and shall turn unto our Lord Jesus Christ in truth
and verity. Hear us, O Lord, we pray thee,
and remember us for good here this afternoon, and come and
open the word of truth, and come and loose the preacher's tongue,
and come and grant, O Lord, that there may be that sweet flowing
together. We pray that we may love each
other, serve each other, and bear each other's burdens. thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 687. The tune is Hanover, 800 and seven ye broken hearts all
who cry out unclean and taste of the gall of indwelling sin
lamenting it truly and loathing it too and seeking help duly
as sinners must do hymn 687 tune hanover 807 ? Peace on earth, love in varying
strength ? ? Happiness in your duty, power in your strength
? ? And see him well-doing ? ? The
children trust him ? ? The Lord through his King ? ? Was kind
to your foe ? ? And sing to you, sing ? ? O hymns
of the Lord ? ? Hark, the herald angels sing ? The British are dying, and we'll
be first. We want every life, ? It takes no place for you ? ?
Let silence abide ? ? All that take a rest ? ? And in me guide
you ? ? And speak with his sonners, his
preachers, his prophets ? ? Of heav'ns and thrones ? ? Which
we reclaim for us ? ? And praises and signs ? ? Of Him give us ? In the dewy morning, the red
sun will rise. Come ye children, morning, to sing a friend's song.
? The season passing ? ? Is nothing
but snow ? ? Until he comes again before us ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 25, and we'll read verse 14 for our
text. Psalm 25, verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him and he will show them his covenant. We read in the book of Deuteronomy
about the secrets of the Lord and the Lord does have his secrets
and things that are discovered alone by the Spirit of God unto
poor sinners. And until the Holy Ghost discovers
those things to us, we might receive things intellectually,
what you've been brought up to know, but to receive something
spiritually is very different. It's when the Apostle speaks
of it in the first chapter of the Ephesians, eyes of your understanding
being enlightened and that is what each one of us needs the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened but in Deuteronomy
chapter 29 and verse 29 we read the secret things belong unto
the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto
us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words
of this law. So the secret things belong unto
the Lord our God. There are secret things. In many ways and in many senses,
when we read in scripture of a mystery, like the mystery of
the incarnation of the Son of And it is secret until the Lord
reveals it. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us until the Lord reveals the Word made flesh. This is
what is so vital, my beloved friends, in real religion. And
this, them that fear Him. We've sung together, the men
that fear the Lord. in every state are blessed and
you might say well surely a religion of fear is is something that
is not pleasant but you're misunderstanding the meaning of the word there
are two fears spoken of in holy scripture there is the fear under
the law that is the fear of the terrors of the law the fear of
the judgment of god the fear of the anger of god That's called
a slavish fear. And when we're under the law,
we are under, and by that I mean when we're realizing that we're
sinners under the law, and then there is that slavish sense and
realization and terror when we're convicted of sin. But this fear of the Lord, which
is in our text, is what is called the filial fear of the Lord. It works by love. The slavish fear is an awful
thing. It terrifies. But the filial
fear of the Lord is that it works by love. It says in Holy Scripture that
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. It says again, and it's mentioned
many times in the book of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord. And my
mind was much drawn to those early chapters in the book of
the Proverbs. And in particular, it says in
the first chapter of the Proverbs, verse seven, the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And that goes along with what
we've quoted the apostle from Ephesians chapter 1 verse 18. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened. It's something friends that is
really vital. It's only these persons that
have the fear of the Lord that come to saving faith in Jesus
Christ. I think of those very certain
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, many are called but few are chosen. Very solemn words, very certain
words, many are called but few are chosen. You might say, what
does it mean? many sit under the gospel the
preaching of the gospel and they hear the call of the gospel in
the outward sense of the word but it has no effect on them
they're not chosen they accept what they hear intellectually
they receive it intellectually but they doesn't enter their
heart. There's a distinction made in
Holy Scripture between that which enters the head and that which
enters the heart. And the Apostle Paul tells us
in the Epistle to the Romans, it is with the heart that man
believeth unto righteousness. This fear of the Lord which is
the beginning of wisdom or the beginning of knowledge is when
the Holy Spirit enters the heart and when he quickens the soul. Some of the Lord's people, their
religion, in fact many of the Lord's people, their religion
is here a little, there a little, line upon line, Precept upon
precept, it's gradual. It's gradual. The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, gradual. A realization of spiritual
need. Spiritual need. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter
2, from verse 9, But as it is written,
this is a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, I have not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God have prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed
them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searches all things. Yeah, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of man, save the spirit of man which is in him, even so the
things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received, remember
he's writing to Christian believers, now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned You know, friends, by nature,
as we're born, we're dead, spiritually. It's what the Apostle means when
he said, dead in trespasses and in sins. That's where we are,
until the Holy Ghost quickens our soul. Until the fear of the
Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, is placed in our heart. You know, doesn't the Lord Jesus,
He speaks of this, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come. He's
not speaking there only of the day of Pentecost, He's speaking
there of when the Spirit of Truth comes to the heart of a sinner.
It may be a little boy or a little girl. It may be a person of greater
age, but when the Spirit of God comes to the heart, He gives
life. It's what the apostle refers
to in Romans chapter 8. For the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. This is that fear of the Lord.
We've sung it in the hymn. It affects our conscience. The fear of the Lord affects
our conscience. And that is what the Hymn writers
refer into, which we've just sung as our first hymn, the fear
of the Lord is an unctuous light to all that's right and a bar
to all that's wrong. That's the fear of the Lord,
which is the beginning of wisdom. You can't do something because
your conscience won't let you. The fear of the Lord, which is
the beginning of wisdom. What a mercy if you and I are
made tender in the fear of the Lord. Not that slavish fear,
but that holy filial fear, so that we're drawn to the Lord.
The slavish fear drives us away from the Lord. The filial fear
brings us closer to the Lord. It brings us with spiritual desires
and spiritual longings after the Lord. It makes us cry. You may pray. You've never told
another soul that you pray. But you do. The Lord Jesus speaks
of prayer quite extensively in his teachings. And he speaks
of those that, like he gives illustrations of the Pharisee
going up to the temple and standing before all men and thanking God
that he's not as other men are. that he speaks of the publican
at the same time and the Pharisee said not as this publican who
couldn't so much as lift his eyes up onto heaven but smoked
upon his breath saying God be merciful to me a sinner what
did Jesus say when he looked at those two men this man who
the publican the publican this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other. He was self-condemned. He knew that he had done wrong,
he did do wrong, he knew it, he felt it. And so he has to
pray, God be merciful to me, a sinner. It's the fear of the Lord that
will make you do that. God be merciful to me a sinner. The
secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will show
them His covenant. That secret of the Lord which
is that eternal covenant ordered in all things and sure. David he speaks of it doesn't
he? When he's coming down to the close of his life. And what
does David say? Though my house be not so with
God. In his house, among his children,
among his family, things are not as he would have them to
be. Though my house be not so with God, yet has he made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things And sure, and in
that everlasting covenant, my beloved friends, we actually
sung of it this morning, didn't we? In the first hymn that we
sang this morning, that covenant of God. You know, the covenant,
the everlasting covenant, was made in the Godhead. The covenant
of the Old Testament, which is known as the law, was made between
God and man. And it was dependent upon man's
obedience to that covenant of the law. Do this and live. That's the covenant of the law. Do this and live. And man break that covenant. Man did and still does find it
impossible to keep that covenant. Nothing wrong with the law. The
wrong is in your heart and my heart. Your heart and my heart
are sinful, corrupt, unrighteous. I think of the apostle's confession.
For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no
good thing. You might have those thoughts
come into your mind and you think well you're not painting a very
good picture of man. I can't paint it black enough.
I can't. We are sold under sin. We are born in sin. We are shapen
in iniquity. I understand from those learned
Puritans that the word iniquity refers to that part of our nature,
that fallen part of our nature, that indwelling sin that is in
us. Sin, we're given that in the
first epistle of John a definition of sin. Sin is any transgression
of the law of God. It's when we break God's holy
righteous law, whether we do so in thought, in word or in
deed, it's sin. Iniquity, which dwells in us, is what is in us originally.
It's in our very nature. We're full of iniquity. We're
shapen in iniquity, says the Word of God. If you look at that
well-known Penitential Psalm, Psalm 51, and David's confession
there, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgression. He appeals to the mercy of God. And that's the only appeal you've
got, sinner. It's the only appeal you've got,
is on the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ. And the
secrets of his covenant. Now he says, wash me throughly
from mine iniquity. That's the original sin. And
cleanse me from my sin. for I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me against thee what I'd like to
point out here friends is that David doesn't make any excuses I'm always very skeptical when
people come and say that they have repentance and they've repented
of their sin And then they start making excuses. Oh, it was because
of this or because of that or because of something else. You
know, friends, that's not real repentance. Real repentance is when we're
brought to acknowledge our sin. And not, it's against God. And that's what you're brought
to acknowledge. You've sinned against God. For I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me against thee. Thee only have I sinned, and
done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Now he confesses
his original sin. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. doesn't mean it was a sinful
act of his mother, it means that what we receive by our natural
birth is a sinful nature. In sin did my mother conceive
me. You know it's a mercy if we know
conviction of sin. It's a mercy if we know that
we're sinners. It's painful very perplexing
it's very sorrowful it will cast you down when you are brought
into this secret of the Lord to understand that God is holy
that God is righteous that God has a holy law and that you have
broken it and you do break it it's a very solemn thing to feel
that but it's a secret that truly
only the Lord's people know, from the inward powerful work
of the Holy Ghost in the heart, revealing to them their lost
condition. When He, the Spirit of Truth,
has come, He will reprove the margins, convince the world of
sin. That's the divine work of the righteousness so he'll convince
the sinner that they've broken God's holy law he will convince
the sinner that God is righteous altogether and he will convince
the sinner that one day they must stand at the judgment seat
of Jesus Christ and give an account before the eternal God of their
sinful life when everything will be brought to light You know, that judgment of God,
it is so minute. He says, every idle word shall
be brought into judgment. Just throw away words that you
perhaps use many, many times and you just say them and you
don't think of it anymore. But in the day of judgment, every
idle word. shall be brought into judgment. When the Holy Spirit convinces
you of that, then truly you hang your head in shame. Daniel, he says in his prayer
in the ninth chapter of Daniel, shame and confusion of face belongeth
unto us as at this day, for we have sinned. Ezra, when he comes
before the Lord, it says in the book of Ezra, I blush before
them. Oh Lord, I blush before them. You know, we blush when we're
embarrassed. Ezra said, I blush. Why? Because of his sin. He was
embarrassed to come before the God of heaven with his sin, with
his iniquity, with his unrighteousness. Have you ever been embarrassed
to come before God? Have you ever felt embarrassed
to pray unto God when you realize your sinfulness, your wretchedness,
your uncleanness, your unrighteousness? The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. It says
in the margin, and His covenant to make them know it. His covenant
to make them know it. These poor sinners. Sinners can
say, and none but they, how precious is the Saviour. He will show
them His covenant, the covenant of grace, the covenant of salvation,
the covenant of redemption, the covenant that reconciles a poor
sinner unto the eternal God of heaven. this wonderful secret. What is
it? It's revealed. It's not just
reading about it and knowing about it intellectually, it's
the secret revealed that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. When that's revealed to you,
it's such a precious thing. That synodal blood of Jesus Christ,
it cleanses from all sin. precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ
reconciles unto God in that holy sacrifice of Calvary sin has
been put away and divine justice has been satisfied and the curse
has been removed why because Jesus made a curse for us that's
why and these are the secrets of this covenant and he will
show them his covenant I often think of that lovely word, it's
a beautiful word that I find so attractive in the Hebrews
chapter 13 speaking of the blood of Christ and it says the blood
of the everlasting covenant. That's what the blood of Christ
is. It's the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's the everlasting
covenant of salvation. redemption and all the safety
and security of the whole of the redeemed church is in the
glorious person of Jesus the Son of God and it's all in that
covenant you might say what is that covenant well the father
gave the church to Christ before the foundation of the world it's sometimes people mistakenly
say that God has made a covenant with man. Well, in one sense
it's right, but in another sense it's not right. The covenant
was made before the foundation of the world between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. An eternal covenant. And in that
eternal covenant, the Father chose a people from the ruins
of the Adam 4. some people when you speak of
the doctrine of election they say well that's not fair that's
not fair that's not right my beloved friends god would have
been absolutely just if he'd have condemned the whole of adam's
race to eternal perdition and everlasting damnation it would
have been to the glory of his everlasting justice to do that
but to show forth the wonderful glory of His love and mercy. The mercy of God is a divine
attribute. You listen to what David says
here in the Psalm, Psalm 103. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. It's from
everlasting. It's from eternity past. a covenant ordered by God when
the father lifted the sin off the church
this was all in this covenant and he imputed it to his son
so that the chosen people the church of Jesus Christ their
sin was taken away their sin was taken away by the father
in that covenant with the Son. And the eternal Son of God agreed
in that covenant to become a man, to take our nature, to become
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. That's what the Son
agreed to do. And so in that eternal compact
or covenant, It's actually, different words are used. The word Testament,
we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word Testament
and the word Covenant mean exactly the same thing. So you have the
Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant of the Law and
the New Covenant of Grace. what Christ agreed to do with
his eternal father in that covenant was that he would live as a man
the son of God would live as a man here upon earth and he
would fulfill that holy righteous law that you and I have broken
we've broken the first covenant you remember in the Deuteronomy
and when Moses went up into the Mount Sinai and the Lord he wrote
the law of the ten commandments on those two tablets of stone
we read that God with his finger etched or engraved the law of
God on those two tablets of stone that is the law of the ten commandments
and the Lord said unto Moses get thee down the people have
corrupted themselves when Moses came down from the mount he found
Aaron had made a golden calf and the people were worshipping
the golden calf. The exact things that were in
that covenant that God had given to Moses, thou shalt have no
other gods before me, thou shalt not bow down to them or worship
them, they broke that covenant. Moses in anger he threw those
tablets of of stone down and they break. What a picture of
where we are in relation to God. We've broken God's holy law. We've broken God's holy law.
And we must give an account. He is appointed to die. As it
is appointed unto man once to die, so after death the judgment. Now the wonderful mercy is this. that after that the Lord invited
Moses again up into Mount Sinai and again he wrote those ten
commandments on the two tablets of stone and Moses when he brought
them down and the Lord had commanded him to put them in the Ark of
the Covenant that's the visible presence of Jehovah The Ark of
the Covenant is typical of Christ. And those tablets of stone, the
Ten Commandments, were put into the Ark. And that shows us what
Christ has done. That law was not broken. And that covenant of grace, sealed by the everlasting
blood or the blood of the everlasting covenant, that precious blood
of Jesus Christ. And that is what is represented
in a typical way in the Ark, is the law of the Ten Commandments
completed in Christ. You can't do it, I can't do it,
we're born in sin, we're shaped in iniquity, but Jesus has done
it. Jesus has done it. There's nothing
for the sinner to do. You can't fulfill that covenant. But Jesus has done it for you.
This is the covenant of grace. The covenant of everlasting love. This is why the Father, where
we read in John 3, God so loved the world, God the Father so
loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son. And he came
and fulfilled that holy righteous law. And the apostle says in
the Romans, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
You'll never produce a righteousness of your own sinner. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. The law of works. You trying
to please God, you trying to make yourself right with God,
Jesus has done it. I love those words in John 19,
Jesus on the cross, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished. The law had been fulfilled in
that holy sinless life. And in that sacrifice, those
terrible sufferings of Christ, divine justice was satisfied. and the church is freed from
the curse of the law. He died for our sins. The law
says the soul that sinneth it shall die. He died for our sins. He rose for our justification
that we should be declared to be without sin. Why? Because
the father took our sin and he laid them on his son, Jesus Christ. and he was wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. That blood that
he shed on Calvary is the blood of the everlasting covenant and
it frees the church from all law charges and it reconciles
them unto God in union with the Lamb from condemnation free The
saints were everlasting were and shall forever be. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him and He will show them His covenant. His covenant. You know, to the true child of God, those that I brought to know
their sinful condition, and I raised up to a hope in the finished
work of Jesus Christ. Sin really troubles them. You might say, why? Because it
dwells in their hearts, and it always will. It always will. And it troubles them. It stands
out in this psalm. David says in verse seven, remember
not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According
to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord. According to thy mercy, that
wonderful mercy that flows from the cross of Calvary, that wonderful
mercy that flows from the blood of Jesus. That wonderful mercy
that has swallowed up death in victory and brought life and
immortality to light in the gospel. That wonderful mercy in that
ascended savior who has opened the gates of heaven and made
a new and living way into the holy place. If you look again
at verse 11, this is what I mean, it troubles the child of God.
For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity For it is
great. Your iniquity is great. But in Christ, it's swallowed
up. It's swallowed up. It's forgiven. Their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more. This is that eternal
covenant. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. When we get a sight of Jesus
Christ living that holy life on our behalf and a sight of
Jesus Christ suffering, bleeding and dying on the cross of Calvary
and a realisation that his blood has cleansed us from all sin
and that divine justice has been satisfied and God and sinners
are reconciled Light and life and peace comes into the heart. When the Lord reveals these secrets
of his covenant, he will show them. He will reveal unto us
the things of Jesus. He will reveal unto us that the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. He will reveal unto us that a
glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ covers
us. covers our nakedness. Ye are complete in Him. We are accepted in the Beloved. Oh, my beloved friends. You know,
one thing that the devil tries to do with the Lord's people,
when they feel the burden and the sense of indwelling sin, they have wicked thoughts some have terrible temptations
they feel so much the corruption of their nature they wonder where the scene will
end but what the devil tries to do he tries to tempt you that
because you have this indwelling sin that that you're actually
it's actually the sin has been done but it hasn't It dwells
in your heart and it's a great trouble and a great trial, but
you're not living in that sin. That's the thing. Sin is a trouble
to the Lord's people. But when Christ is revealed,
these are the secrets of His covenant, when Christ is revealed,
that sin is put away. We're reconciled unto God. Gadsby in one of his hymns, he
said the vilest sin, outside of hell, that lives to fill his
need, is welcome to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood
to plead. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him and he will show them his covenant. The great
trial of the living child of God is that they will fall into
sin, and they will never recover. That's the great trial. But you know the Lord has given
many words that all those in this covenant, they will be safely
landed in heaven, in glory at last. Because of this covenant,
we sung it this morning, this covenant O believer stands, thy
rising fears to quell. It does. have those lovely words. Thursday we spoke from the epistle
of Jude and my mind just goes to the last two verses. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise
God our Saviour be glory and majesty dominion and power both
now and ever. Amen. He's able to keep you from
falling. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him and he will show them his covenant. May the
Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 87, part one, and the tune is Millennium
551. With David's Lord and ours, a
covenant once was made, whose bonds are firm and sure, whose
glories ne'er shall fade. Signed by the sacred three in
one, in mutual love, air time began hymn 87 part one tune millennium
551 ? And earth her best to see ? ?
His courts above the sea ? ? His heaven and earth to see ? I will find you near to my heart
Yet I beg that The past, the lost, it fails. It's come, now shall it go. Exultant shall thy way in hills
from ev'ry mansion. When ruined days To faithless faith Each heart
and faith shall still praise thee ? Give her the seeds of grace ?
? Love, peace, and mercy, love ? ? Let all the love of God be
given to her ? ? Let all men of angels know ?
? The sacred theme ? ? Without a shore ? ? Who shall I be ?
? Eternal song ? ? Till then thy
feet shall come ? ? With people thou shalt see ? Praised to restore
thy soul, and mother more than three. Thee with delight shall
God behold, A chosen sheep in Zion's farm. Then went through Jordan's flood,
? My God shall be deeper ? ? His love shall be deep ? ? Heaven
and earth shall return to Him ? and in this covenant thou shalt
give sufficient strength to bring thee through. Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
for evermore. Amen.