this morning I want to speak
again around verse 19 of Jeremiah chapter 3 but I said how shall
I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land
a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations and I said thou shalt
call me my father and shall not turn away from me when we look
at the context the Lord is dealing with Israel the northern kingdoms
and Judah two kingdoms that were separated but originally were
called by God's grace to be a people who would serve the Lord in spirit
and in spirit and truth that's for ourselves
according to the law i should say confusing myself but according
to the law which they were given but before i go into that verse
i'd just like to remind you of a verse which or some verses
from romans chapter 16 about the seriousness of the
subjective which we shall be looking at this morning and did
look before the difference between law and grace i'm not going to
into it in in great depth but because of the situation that
i've been reading since i was last here and not so much surprised but appalled
by some of the things that i have read spoken of by others but
we'll leave them aside and paul's words now i beseech you brethren
mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which he have learned and avoid them for they that
are such serve not our lord jesus christ but their own belly and
by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Now I know that even in verse
17 the statement those which cause divisions and offenses
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned can to some people
mean something totally different to what I mean but I take this
in the light of the context of scripture that there are also
other verses to Thessalonians chapter 2 and I think it's to
John also which speak of the same things that the doctrine
which you have learned is not the doctrine of men it's the
doctrine of Christ of the apostles indeed in verse 25 of Romans 16 now to him that
is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest
and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience
of faith To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. And this to me speaks of
the truth from the scriptures, not men's ideas, not what they
managed to put together by cobbling, and I mean cobbling together
different verses from the scriptures and make something other than
what we have a sure testimony of in God's holy word. So, to return to Jeremiah chapter
3 it's apparent from this passage the whole passage that we have
read that man is in a hopeless helpless state under the law
of God to be right with God totally and utterly incapable of doing
anything good which is acceptable in the sight of the Lord. We can see that especially in
the Old Testament. We have a lot of doctrine from
Paul, Peter and the other writers of the scripture in the New Testament.
But we have a lot of examples of it all in the Old Testament. I believe the reason, part of
the reason why the Old Testament is so long is because it should
be showing us and it does show us how incapable man is of following
simple directions from the Lord we go back to when Israel was
brought out from Egypt how the Lord brought them across Jordan and how it wasn't long before
they were engaged in idolatry remember the golden calf all
these things and if you go through judges, kings, chronicles books
of Isaiah and Jeremiah who also and Ezekiel they're all telling
us what is going on we see clearly and we we should see clearly
the inability of man to be obedient to God is a total inability and if we
go back and forward in the scriptures we see the Lord's command we've
looked at them I'll look at them again in a minute but also as we look at the New
Testament we will see that our God is a holy God and there is
also judgment yes he is a God of love and we've heard a lot
about that in my lifetime our God is a God of love he loves
everybody but he just doesn't and he's a holy God who will
judge wickedness now I trust each one of us here knows that
I would hope so but let us not forget As we go on in our lives,
and I'm just going to relate to some, not by name, but people
who I've read about, who seem to have started so well in the
50s and in the 60s, and yet, you know, I say, where are they
now? People I knew from years ago. Where are they now? Okay, we might say there's a
Well, they've gone that way because they weren't sound. Well, were
they or were they not? I don't know what they were like. But there's a tendency, as we
see in the Old Testament, as I just said, for man to be okay
to start with. They seem to be going along the
right path. And then slowly and surely they turn aside. I don't know if I mentioned it,
you're probably aware of it. Mr Norton, he wrote a letter,
I received one of them. He said about the aiming of a
gun. He was thinking of artillery,
just the same with a rifle. If you're not bang on target,
you're going to miss. you're going to miss what you're
aiming at and as I look at that back door and if I had a rifle
if I was aiming one centimetre to the side of the brass plates
here I'll miss it by a centimetre but the further I go the further
along in life the further and further I diverge so what was
a centimetre at this range becomes half a mile whatever and it's
the same the moment we go away from the sovereignty of God and
grace and mercy then we go further and further away from the pathway
of truth judgment seems to be a something which is not spoken
of a great deal in some of the congregations that I've been
in but to remind ourselves and remind myself as well I'm just
as prone as any man to wander from the truth Hebrews chapter
9 and I'll just read verse 27 and this is appointed unto men
once to die but after this the judgment now that's in the middle
of speaking about Christ who was once offered to bear the
sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation but it's there it's
there it's speaking about Christ the sacrifice but it's also talking
about Christ as the testator of the new covenant
the testament the new testament covenant the blood that was shed to save
people, his people, from their sins. But it's that point, judgment,
the judgment of those, of all men. Thankfully our judgment
has been completed in Christ concerning our eternal souls. we could go to Romans 14.10 as
well which I read last time I was here but we can go also to Matthew
chapter 25 where it speaks of the sheep and the goats I haven't heard that spoken of
in evangelical circles not that I've moved in them for a very
long time but there it's quite plain the sheep will go into
eternal life with being in heaven with God but the goats shall
go into damnation eternal damnation sometimes you just say damnation
but let us not forget there is eternal life in Christ but eternal
judgment eternal damnation into hell and then also Mark chapter 9 which is a very clear statement from the Lord Jesus
Christ's mouth it's not a it's truth it's a reality I'm trying
to think of words that describe it and some people say it's only
a parable it's only a relative term I've heard it said been
spoken to me but the Lord's words I'll read from verse 42 to 48 and whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones that believe in me it is better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck and be were cast into
the sea and if thy hand offend thee cut it off it is better
for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into
hell into the fire that shall fire that never shall be quenched
where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched and
it goes on Remember that there is judgment
and it's leveled against all those that do not walk according
to the truth of God and if we are under the law we shall be
condemned. I'll remind you of some verses
that we read in Deuteronomy 7 verses 12 to 15. Wherefore it shall
come to pass if ye hearken to these judgments and keep and
do them that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant
and the mercy which he swear unto thy fathers. and he will
love thee and bless thee and multiply thee and it carries
on it's about the blessings of that covenant but the covenant
was dependent upon their obedience it's in the light of earlier
verses thou art a holy people this is verse six and seven thou
art an holy people and to the lord thy god the Lord thy God
hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all
people that are upon the face of the earth the Lord did not
set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any people for ye were the fewest of all people
but because the lord loved you and because you would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto your fathers hath the lord brought
you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house
of bondman from the hand of pharaoh king of egypt and as we know
they failed they failed they were under the law it was their
righteousness if they kept all the commandments verse 24 of
the previous chapter and the Lord commanded us to do all these
statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always that
he might preserve us alive as it is at this day and it shall
be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments
before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us there you go
It shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these
commandments. But as we see, they can't. And
even as the Lord's people, we can't. We don't. Remember the rich young
ruler, the Lord took him up on the law. But only the last six
commandments. It's noticeable that he didn't
deal with the first four. What are the four commandments?
Have no other god but God. Make no idols. Not to take the Lord's name in
vain. And to remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy. Didn't mention those. And which
one of us can say that we have kept any of those commandments?
Those first four, let alone the other six which are commandments
from ourselves unto others, but still the Lord's commandments. It's obvious then that when the
Lord speaks to himself, as it were, sets it before us. But
I said, coming back to Jeremiah three, verse 19, how shall I
put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land? It
continues. It has to be with a different covenant. we can only be received by the
Lord by a covenant that deals with our disobedience with our
sin and that covenant is a covenant we call it a covenant of grace
because that's the only way we did look a bit at this that we can be made acceptable in
the sight of God remember I read Habakkuk 1.13 you might not remember
it's a while ago thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil
and cannot look upon iniquity that's the lord god his eyes
are too pure than to behold evil notice the word behold there
says look as well look on iniquity to behold Remember, behold John's
words concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. Don't just look at him,
glance. Behold, take it in. Think upon it. Behold, the Lamb
of God. Christ is in front of them. And
John points to him as the Lamb that taketh away the sin of the
world. The Lord cannot countenance sin
and does not engage with it in any shape or form. He detests,
he hates the workers of iniquity. So there must be something done
for us which we know is in Christ because man cannot and he will
not serve God under the old covenant because there's the fault of
the covenant. what is that fault the fault
is man Hebrews chapter 8 you may think well we've heard
this before yeah maybe you have but like I said earlier it's
good for us to rehearse these things as the law was rehearsed
every seven years I think it was to Israel thanks Cliff it's good for us to rehearse
these things to go over them get the Bible out and relate
all things that you read to other passages in the Bible good having
commentary there can be very helpful but also know that commentators
don't always agree either Hebrews chapter 8 verse 7 but now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant which was established upon better promises for if that
first covenant had been faultless then should no place have been
sought for the second For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I 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 when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I'm going to say, well, you know,
it carries on because I've got a lot really that needs to be
put together this morning and I don't think I'm going to manage
it. but i trust that you understand what i said it's two different
covenants i was talking to somebody who used to be a baptist and
became a presbyterian and i was saying well look you know it
says old covenant new covenant the old covenant is ready to
pass away and he said no no no it's a renewed covenant i said
well how do you manage that renewed doesn't mean new renewed means
renewed refurbished brightened up refitted that's what it means
but this is a definitely two covenants spoken of here if you
want to argue fine but please don't argue with me argue with
the scriptures i might return to that subject
in a minute so despite all that people might say we have these
two covenants the fault in the old covenant is a fault with
man not and all these things are written
for us for admonition for our understanding that we might not
go back to those old ways remember what i said at the beginning
those who teach Mark them which cause divisions
and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned,
and avoid them. I don't know where their souls
are. I pray for them. I pray for all who go into the
pulpits of this land, but I pray that the Lord might make them
faithful, that they hold fast to this blessed covenant, sealed with the blood of our
Redeemer, and with his substitutionary atonement and his vicarious death
in our place that's not what the law can't give the law can
give us death but it can't do anything for our eternal life
that is solely in the prerogative of the Lord Jesus Christ according
to the covenant made with the Father and the Spirit how then how indeed referring
back to Jeremiah can he make how can he put the children of
Israel with his people put thee among the children I believe
it's referring to his children the children of grace and mercy
the children who are who indeed we speak of the saints, the children
of God. Sorry I got diverted a bit. Well
the point is you can't mix the covenants.
The problem we have here is that Judah and Israel were called
under an old covenant But now, as we see, he speaks of a new
covenant, later on in a passage I read in Hebrews, he's also
spoken of in Jeremiah 31. We can't serve the Lord under
both covenants. We can't. And the reasoning,
and I'm gonna have to be brief, is as we see, there's two ways
of annulling or dealing with the old covenant the first one
is through divorce and we see that in verse 8 of jeremiah 3
and i saw when all the causes whereby backsliding israel committed
adultery i had put her away and given her a bill of divorce so
he's put her away and if you go back to 2 Kings 17 verse 23
he said he removed Israel out of his sight so it was a divorce
he cut himself off from them Judah he didn't now that's not
to say as Paul says in I think it's in Romans that Israel has
no possibility of salvation it's not to say that But Israel as a nation is now
finished with. He continues with Judah. But
even as he continues with Judah, because they went into Babylon. When they came out of
Babylon, the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, the temple was rebuilt. So Lord's worship was re-established,
but no Ark of the Covenant. Noah, where has it gone? I believe
the scripture is silent but as it says here that no more mention
it neither shall it be done anymore they shan't visit it it's going
to be out of mind out of sight but the covenant with Judah that
was finished with but the Lord doesn't say divorce them but
that was finished with in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed
and the nation of Judah was dispersed again the purpose of Judah has
been finished with I believe but there's still the nature
of the covenant or the covenant to bring the people of Israel
who are saved from that covenant has got to be dealt with somehow
I said one way is through divorce the other way is through death
and if we go to Romans chapter 7 I've read the passage many times but
I say I had a sort of light bulb moment a couple of months ago
when I came to this Romans 7 no you're not brethren
for I speak to them that know the law how that the law has
dominion over a man as long as he liveth for the woman which
hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as
he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the
law of her husband okay but remember it's a spiritual book so then
if while her husband liveth she'd be married to another man she
should be called an adulteress and just stop there for a second
and if we're still under the law and then we are married to
Christ under the covenant of grace I see that as an adulterous
relationship maybe I'm wrong but how can you be under law
and under grace how can the Lord bring his people into a new covenant
if they're still under the old covenant it carries on If her husband be dead, she is
free from the law, so that she is no adulteress. Those should
be married to another. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. There you have it. It's so plain. You know, I'm
amazed at my own blindness. that I could not get this together you go down
to verse 6 now we're delivered from the law that being dead
where we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and
not in the oldness of the letter well have I died yes in Christ I was in Christ all the Lord's
people were in Christ upon the cross Ephesians 1 again verses 1 to
5 and it is such a dear verse to me I mean all the scripture
is dear to me but there are certain passages you're probably the
same that means so much more after we have greater light I'll
read from verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself and
it goes on in it's to the praise of his own glory of his grace
in whom we have redemption through his blood forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of his grace but we are in union with
Christ there's so much there are other verses that speak of
us being in Christ but that's us dying we're not under the
law anymore as it says here we're dying so that we're no longer
under the law all the confusion that has been caused is solved
by a couple of passages which okay i speak as one of the lord's
people seems so clear to me why not to them either those who
speak and say you know you're an antinomian is this antinomian? antinomian is without law they
say without law well when you consider the other passages of
scripture about holiness about how we're to shun evil speakings
the many warnings i've got their passages written down Hebrews
12, Ephesians 5, 2 Corinthians 6 it all shows that this is the
Lord's commandment, this is the Lord's word, this is the law
of the Lord from Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 to the end of Revelation
this is the law of God but not under the law under condemnation,
I'm under grace and all the Lord's people are under grace there
should be no doubt in our minds if people want to consider me
have called me it and i dare say some of you have been also
an antinomian they have to say they better get a new bible because
this is antinomianism as they see it we're not under law we're
under grace romans 6 also speaks of it to
do with baptism buried with him by baptism into death here that's
one of the passages i was going to read like as christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also
should walk in newness of life two things buried with him in
baptism which is a testimony to what something has gone on
within not outside of us what it should show what's happened
in our bodies in our souls should show in our lives and that's
evident as you read through the scriptures but it's something
with the new man created by the Holy Spirit new man created in
righteousness in Christ and then we are raised not just buried
with baptism as we come out of the water it's a testimony that
we have new life we also should walk in newness of life for if
we've been planted together in the likeness of his death we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this
that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin
might be destroyed for he that is dead is freed from sin freed
from the condemnation of the law doesn't mean we don't sin
that is evident as we look elsewhere likewise in verse 11 likewise
reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive
unto god through jesus christ our lord let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal bodies there you know there's enough there
to encourage us to look deeper into it and then we come down to verse
15 shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace
god forbid being we're not under the law
because if we were under the law we would still be under condemnation
but being under grace we are free the condemnation of the
law and no longer under judgment because we have died in Christ. Now I mentioned that chap who
became a Presbyterian it was interesting when our daughter-in-law
Isabel was baptized she the a pastor baptised him. I don't mean sprinkled
baptised even though he did sprinkle too. The one passage that he
never referred to was here in chapter six. That's telling. I did speak to him about it but
to me that was telling. What was he denying? Well he
denied the new covenant he just said it's renewal of the Old
Testament in other words he must believe that it's just one covenant
but by not reading this to me he's saying it's still under
the law now did he mean that I don't know didn't say I couldn't
get it out of it but to me it sounds like he still thought
we were under the law I mean I'm trying to put two and two
together and hoping I've got the right answer at the end of
it but regardless the scriptures speak of us dying in Christ no
longer under the old dispensation no longer because the law affects
every one of us and by not referring to this
passage to me it's a denial of being baptized into Christ's
death being in union with Christ upon the cross now he may not
believe that but whatever he believes to me that's that's
what it speaks of where does this leave us well
I want to conclude if I can by referring to a passage and it
may be difficult for you to tie it up but I hope you might. I
read, I remember reading Romans 10 If thou should confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. There's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, but the same Lord over all is
rich unto all them that call upon him. for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved it goes on and
it does continue and we should always be mindful that we should
not take verses on their own but in the whole context but these verses here are not
an appeal they're a conclusion we have several conclusions through
Romans we have two easily seen ones one is chapter 5 verse 1
therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
and chapter 8 there is now therefore now no condemnation no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk after the who walk not
after the flesh but after the spirit their conclusion because
of everything that's gone before the as you read through romans
you come to the paul holy spirit through paul brings us to a conclusion
but there's two other ones as well chapter four verse one what shall
we say then that our abraham our father as pertaining to the
flesh of that because it's speaking about um prophet uh what advantage then
hath the jew or what prophet is there in circumcision then
it speaks about the righteousness of god without the law in verse
21 of chapter 3 but it's all leading us to a One might say
a sub-heading. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham
were justified by works, he hath to wear off to glory, but not
before God. What saith the scripture? Abraham
believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. And
that's grace. That's the grace of God. Abraham
believed by faith in God. and that what God had promised
he was able to perform to him that worketh not but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness
now there's a also another subheading as it were in chapter 6 verse
1 i won't go into it and here again in Romans 11 Romans 10
in these verses there is a conclusion, a bringing together
of everything that's gone on in the chapters and verses before
we get to there. But the scripture does say, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. These are true statements. So you might be here, if you're
still in your sins, thinking well, is this for me? how does
this affect me i've listened to you for x minutes listened
to other people as well but how does this affect me well we've
mentioned judgment we've mentioned that we cannot satisfy the law
of god we cannot be acceptable in god's sight because we're
sinners and god hates he hates sinners that's the reality He's merciful to all them that
call upon him. He loves his people. He's not
a God of two minds that says he loves everybody and then sends
a number into hell. That would be an unjust God.
It would be a God who's contradictory indeed from his scriptures. whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved well let us remember that man Luke chapter 18 the publican doesn't say a lot about him what
he says about him he prayed this prayer God have mercy on me a
sinner And it's the Lord says, that
man went down to his house justified. Justified in the sight of God.
What does justified mean? It means he's righteous. Not
according to the law. Not like the Pharisee, I've done
this, I've done that. God have mercy upon me, a sinner. Now you have to add, do you realise
you're a sinner? To call upon the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ is to acknowledge the name of the Lord what is
the name of Christ? it's his character but it's also
his work upon the cross you can't call him Jesus Christ and then
deny all that he did because his name like the name of God
it's all wrapped up with all of the scripture what Christ
has done upon the cross as redeemer sanctifier of his people through
his blood He's the one who worked atonement. He was our propitiatory sacrifice. He was the one in whom we have
our life. And so when we say, whosoever
believeth on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's because
we call upon Christ as the Holy God, but also acknowledging He's
the Saviour of His people. Saviour of what? Saviour of His
people from sin. Call His name Jesus. but he'll
save his people from their sins so when we see these words we
should be acknowledging that we are under condemnation and
wrath unless we believe believe faith is given us by the Holy
Spirit works in us but it says call it says call You must see
your sin, it's not an easy, one might say it's no easy step,
but it's the simplest step of all. It seems paradoxical, contradictory,
but it's not. You must pray. And if you're
still in your sin, you must pray. As people, other
people pray, I pray. I'm very mindful of congregations
where parents are believers and their children aren't. and pray
for them think of our own grandchildren what a privilege we have to pray
for them pray for their salvation let's not get too worried about
election predestination for those of you still in your sins the
thing is your soul where do you stand before an angry god a god
who is angry at sin do you pray then that if you're still in
your sense still in darkness you will seek light seek the
opening of God into your soul by his spirit to show you just
what you are in his sight but also then to show you the marvelous
light then of Christ doesn't necessarily come today tomorrow
a couple of minutes as it were may take a while carry on, continue,
seek mercy at the throne of grace and for us who the Lord has blessed
many years ago or even just a few years ago let us not forget the
truth behind the things of which I've spoken of today that this
is Christ and this is the only hope for souls which is in his
sovereign mercy and in that covenant, that promise. Covenant is a promise.
Like you were mentioning about divorce, it's to do with marriage.
A promise made between husband and wife, to stay husband and
wife through thick and thin, to honour each other, to love
each other, even when we really annoy each other. Speak with
authority on that. But that's where we are. It's a covenant. And a covenant
that is sealed with the blood of Christ. We can't unpick it. We can't undo it. If we're in
that covenant, we're in that covenant. Thanks be to God. May we remember these things.
Don't get drawn away with idle tales. fair words, sorry, good words
and fair speeches that deceive. Let's hold fast to God's holy
word. Yeah, I don't understand everything,
but I know certain things are true, that I cannot serve God
under the law. Israel tried and they had far
more, far better privileges than I did in those days. The one
privilege I have that they don't is the work of Christ in my soul
and the Holy Spirit to guide me through his word in the ways
of righteousness and through peace. May the Lord bless each
one of us, himself as well, and speak to myself here with his
word that we continue in the faith once delivered unto the
saints. Amen.