Our sermon this morning is going
to be, as you see on the screen, God's Everlasting Covenant. And
it's 2 Samuel 23, if you want to go ahead and turn
there. I took the liberty of borrowing
this sermon from Pastor Gary Shepard, the ones you had to
call to worship, sung this morning. He had a message about 10, 12
years ago. And as I was looking at this
message on the everlasting covenant of grace, I saw what he had preached. And so I took the liberty of
borrowing it from him. And I'm sure he won't mind. Now,
as you can see in our text this morning, this is King David speaking. And as the Spirit of God directs
the prophet here, he describes this man, David, who is also
a type of Christ. He describes him as being the
son of Jesse, a man raised up on high, the anointing of God,
the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. And what
we have recorded in these verses here are David's last words. These are the deathbed words
of David. And we ought to listen to all
the words that are given by the inspiration of God, and I suppose
especially given by a man in his dying hours. You see, David
knows what God requires. and he has some understanding
of the character of God. He knows what God will bless,
and in these last hours here, he's contemplating these things.
He does not hope or think that in his dying hour that God will
lower himself or his standard to receive him. As a matter of
fact, in verse 3 he says, The God of Israel said, the Rock
of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God. And such a ruler, such a king
as that, he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
even the morning without clouds, as a tender grass springing out
of the earth by clear shining after rain. He says this is what God requires.
This is what God blesses. But then he has to confess something. He has to confess in verse five,
my house is not sold, God. Many of his own family, of his
own children had been in rebellion against David himself. They had
showed themselves for what they were, being natural descendants
of David. One of David's sons named Hamnan
was the man who forced his half-sister. Absalom was the man who killed
his own brother and tried to dethrone David himself. And even
as David was in his last days, his fourth son, Adunayahu, he
also tried to usurp the throne. And not only was it these graceless
children, but it was also David's own personal sins and failures. First of all, his numbering the
people. God had commanded him not to
do it. His own adultery, his own sins, one after the other. So much so that God had said
to him long ago, in 2 Samuel 12 beginning verse 9, Wherefore
hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his
sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with a sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall
never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised me,
and hast taken the wife of Uriah to Hittite to be thy wife. He
even sent Uriah the Hittite out to the front lines of battle
just so that he would be killed by the Amorites in order to have
his own sins covered up and then take Bathsheba to his wife. Not
only these things, he was like us also of another house. He
was of the house of Adam. And in Adam, just like you and
me and every one of us, he had sinned against God. And so whatever
God required, whatever God would bless, whatever would be the
ground of him to be ushered into God's presence, he could not
find hope in himself, even in his deathbed and in his dying
hour. But what we find is, that he
who could have no peace in his conduct or his works or his accomplishments
as a father and a king, but can he in this hour have any hope? Can he find in this moment, as
he looks out into the vast eternity before him, can he have any peace
in himself? Now do you think that this man
David, the king of Israel, who was speaking by the Spirit of
God, will he have any reason to have hope or peace with such
a life as he's lived, and also confesses, my house is not so
with God? But if you notice here in that
fifth verse, it begins with that word although. Although my house
be not so with God. And then it continues with another
word. That is one of those words of
grace. He says, yet. And that is the
same way that Apostle Paul describes all of the elect of God in Ephesians
2. And all that they were by nature,
and all that they were in themselves, dead in trespasses and sins. And then he says in Ephesians
2, 4, but God. who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us, but God who is rich in mercy. And that's exactly where David
is found in this hour. He says, although my house be
not so with God yet, even though these things are true and are
confessed by this man, although my house be not so with God.
But then David says in 2 Samuel 23 verse five again, yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
For this is all my salvation, he says, and all my desire, although
he make it not to grow. Now I want to tell you something
this morning. Not only was this David's hope, And not only is
it the hope of all that we read about in this book that believe
God, but this is the only hope of all of God's children who
have been enabled to come to true faith and repentance. It
is in something that the everlasting God has done. Now listen. to what he says here, be not
so with God yet he. In other words, it will not be
and it cannot be as men in religion, false religion confessed before
men and God, something that they've done, a decision that they've
made, a work or some kind of ritual that they introduced.
And neither will it be for you and me or anybody else something
that a false preacher or priest or someone else might utter at
our graveside. You know, you've never went to
a funeral, Harley, that everybody pretty much goes to heaven. If
we have any hope of salvation, of mercy and peace and of heaven,
it will have to be something that this everlasting God has
done. God can only accept that which
he gives. He can only receive and bless
and honor the work that he himself has done in the person of his
son. And you and I, and every one
of us, like David, we've done nothing and are nothing but sin. But the Bible says he has done
marvelous things. You see, that's why the gospel
is so unpopular in our day. That's why the pews in this building
are not filled to hear the true gospel this morning. It's because
the gospel has to do with that which God has done. And sinful
men by nature would rather be praised and bragged on, they'd rather be bragged on for
what they've done. He says, this is something that
God has done. And I'd ask you this very moment,
is this where your hope is? Is this where my hope is? Now what he says here is that
God has done something. First of all, it's not a hope
in what God will do. But it's a hope that is in something
that God has already done. And what is that? David says,
although my house be not so with God yet, he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant. Do you know anything about this
covenant that we're talking about this morning, that covenant that
Most of religion today, you won't find somebody up in the pulpit
talking about this everlasting covenant. But yet David here, on his deathbed,
he said, this is all my salvation. It's something to do with a covenant.
What is a covenant? Well, the dictionary defines
a covenant as a formal, solemn, and binding agreement, a compact.
It defines it as a written agreement or promise usually under seal
between two or more parties, especially for the performance
of some action. But what David says here is that
God has made with him not just an ordinary covenant, but an
everlasting covenant. And by the way, what the word
covenant actually means in the Hebrew oftentimes has something
to do with the symbolized by flesh coming together, like the
shaking of hands. I've heard it said over and over
again that a man's word is his bond. What we say and what we
speak in agreement with someone else, when we shake hands as
a ceiling of an agreement and a pledge and a compact to do,
something than we ought to with all our strength, all the strength
that's in us, attempt to do it and try to do it. But this everlasting
covenant is far more than this earthly bond. As a matter of
fact, you could say, in the light of what it means and in the light
of what it says in this book, that within the Godhead, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit, those persons of the Godhead struck hands in
full agreement, in a covenant agreement, an everlasting covenant. And though David says that God
had made with me an everlasting covenant, how could an everlasting
covenant and an eternal covenant have been made with one who was
not yet even born? How could not only David, but
you and I and all of God's chosen elect children, if we were not
present in old eternity before the world ever was, which is
certainly what everlasting means. Well, he made with David this
everlasting covenant, the same covenant that he made with all
of his people in eternity. When he made that covenant and
he entered into that covenant, on David's behalf, as well as
all of God's elect, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the covenant
head. And when the Godhead within itself,
Father, Son, and Spirit, entered into this covenant, all of this
covenant people were represented in that Godhead. And in that
covenant, they were all represented by Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ. So every believer, every one
of God's elect, they can in faith, according to this word here,
according to the very witness of God's spirit in our heart,
they can rejoice that while we were in that state, which is
only in the mind and purpose of God in eternity, all the while
in ourselves, not yet born, we can rejoice in knowing that God
had made with us an everlasting covenant in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's for this reason that
David says that it's sure, that it's certain. And yet we, by
nature, in direct contrast, as we're born into this world, direct
contrast and contradiction to that. We want to base our whole
soul salvation on something that you and I by nature think that
we can do or promise to do, which is anything but sure. Well, there's
nothing that you and I could ever do or promise or pledge
to do and at the same time guarantee the accomplishment of it, not
100%. David said this covenant was sure. And when Paul writes
in the book of Romans, he said, all of this is made to be received
by faith. That faith God gives in order
that the promise might be sure to those that it was given. That's
why he made it to be by faith. Faith doesn't accomplish anything.
We don't have this God-given faith apart from God giving it
to us. Faith is God enabling us to believe
just what David believed as he lied there on his deathbed, and
to look to God alone for what he's already accomplished. That
makes it sure. That's what guarantees it. Because
the things in this covenant, everything in this covenant,
they all depend not on what you and I would do, Certainly not
on what David would do, but on Christ and what he did and what
he accomplished. That's what God says in Psalms
89 verse 19. Then thou speakest
in vision to the Holy One and sayest, I have laid help upon
one that's mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. God has not put the responsibility
and the things that pertain to all his glory for all eternity
and the salvation of this people that he loved from everlasting.
He's not committed it into the hands of his enemies or into
the hands of one who's weak, but he's committed it into the
hands of Christ. the one that is mighty to save. You see, everything depended
in this covenant on Christ doing everything that was necessary
to assure that David and the others in this covenant would
receive every blessing and every benefit of this covenant. This
is the new covenant. You could use the words testament
and covenant interchangeably, and it is a covenant of grace,
and it's in Christ. Now you remember what we read
in Psalm 89, 19. This is Christ, the one that
is mighty, the one chosen out of the people. Also look at Isaiah
42. In Isaiah 42, listen to what
he says beginning in verse one. He says, behold, my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I put my
spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. Then he says in verse four, he
shall not fail nor be discouraged. And then in verse six, the Lord
have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and
will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles. I'll give you what? What's this
covenant about? Says, I'll give you my servant.
I'll give you my servant, one who cannot and will not possibly
fail. I'll give you Him for a covenant. Also in Malachi 3. Malachi 3, verse 1, still talking
about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Behold, I will
send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and
the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant. whom ye delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Christ is the messenger
of the covenant. He is someone who brings their
desires into reality. And he is the one in whom a sinner
has what's called everlasting consolation. Listen to what Paul
says when he writes to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2. Now our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which has
loved us and have given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace. That's what David had on his
dying bed. He had everlasting consolation.
Even in the light of his failures and his sin, he had everlasting
consolation. looking to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who would come, because God had made with him an everlasting
covenant, and it's a covenant of grace. It was born out of
the everlasting life, love, and in it, God gives to his people
everlasting life, because he's made them one with Christ, and
described him in this covenant as being the everlasting Father
because of the sons that were given to him in that covenant.
You see, what is called the new covenant is simply the everlasting
covenant of grace. And it is new only in the sense
of being newly revealed. And it is compared and yet contrasted
to that old covenant. again and again in the book of
Hebrews. Hebrews 7, beginning at verse 19, the apostle says,
for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better
hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as without
an oath, that is, speaking of Christ, he, was made a priest,
for those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath
by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And he said, the Lord confirmed
this with an oath. He swore by himself because there
was none greater. This is his pledge. This is his
promise. concerning this new covenant.
It has a priest and a sacrifice. Now, let's look at Hebrews 7,
22. By so much was Jesus made surety
of a better testament. Under that old covenant, there
was priest and sacrifice, but nothing to compare to this better
sacrifice, better covenant. This better covenant had a better
priesthood, and it had a better sacrifice. As a surety, Jesus
was a surety of this everlasting covenant of grace. Now, what
is a surety? Whatever a surety is, it says
Jesus was a surety of this covenant. He was the one opponent to fulfill
all these things in that covenant. glorification of the Father,
salvation of sinners. Well, assurity is not a guarantor. You know, when you take out a
loan or you get a loan and you sign them, all these papers,
this is about the only time that you ever look over them again.
As you're signing them, you look down at it and it says guarantor. Sometimes you have to get someone
to sign with you or for you. And when they sign, it means
that if you fail to pay this, they're going to be responsible
for that debt. However, this is not a surety
that's spoken of in earthly affairs that we're talking about here.
A surety in the Bible guarantees himself the payment of it up
front. This is Christ. And this covenant,
which is a covenant of salvation, was never a covenant wherein
those in that covenant, it was pledged that if they failed to
perform, then he would somehow step in and pay off the debt.
No. Christ is the surety of it. He
guaranteed to pay the full of it up front. It never depended
on us one bit. It always depended on the covenant
head, the covenant surety. And Christ stood as the surety
of his people. Those individuals that God chose
in the everlasting covenant and blessed with all spiritual blessings
in him before the world was ever created. In Ephesians 1, beginning
at verse 3, said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blaming before him in love, having predestinated
us into the adopting of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. He blessed them with all spiritual
blessings in Christ before the world was ever created. That's
why he's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And when you read David's words here, his peace, his comfort,
his dying hope, He says, he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, ensured. And since it was everlasting,
it included everything before we were born, everything before
we believed, everything after we believed, and everything for
all eternity. It's ordered in all things, ensured. Was David safe? and secure there
on his deathbed? Yes, he was. Because Christ was
his salvation. He says in that Psalm 89, if
my people, this covenant people, the seed of Christ, if they break
my commandments, he says, I'll not break my covenant. I'll bring the rod of chastisement
to bear against their transgressions. And I bring them back unto myself,
but I won't break my covenant. Why? Because Christ, the covenant
head, the glory, depended on it. First John 2, beginning at
verse 1, my little children, these things I write unto you,
that you sin not. Any man's sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. All things pertaining
to God, every detail of this covenant, salvation committed
into the hands of Christ, our surety. Everything always depended
on Him. He would bring in what's described
by David as an everlasting righteousness. Daniel 9.24 tells us about that. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people, upon thy holy city, to finish the transgressions
and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity
and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and
prophecy and to anoint the most holy. He'd do everything, and
especially the chief thing, which was to come in human flesh and
to go to the cross, and there, under the hand of God's inflexible
justice, die in the place of his people as their substitute
and surety for their sins. Hebrews 9, beginning at verse
14. How much more? shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God. And for this cause, he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were in the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. How is Christ this mediator between
God and men? It says that by means of death, because the wages of sin is death,
that by death for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9 beginning verse 16,
It does a comparison with that old covenant and this new covenant.
It says, for where a testament or a covenant is, there must
also, of necessity, be the death of a testator. It's Christ. For our testament is enforced
after men are dead. Otherwise, it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood, for Moses had spoken every precept
to all the people according to the law. He took the blood of
calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and
sprinkled both the book and the people, saying, this is the blood
of the testament which God hath enjoined unto us having to do
with that old covenant. And so when Christ came, and
instituted the Lord's table. He handed those disciples there
at that first Lord's Supper that cup of wine. And he said, this
is my blood of the New Testament, which was shed for you. As the
apostle closes out this epistle, he says over in Hebrews 13, verse
20, Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. It says that God brought
him from the dead through the blood, through the sacrifice
of the everlasting covenant. This covenant stands in the dying
of the covenant head, the Lord Jesus Christ. This covenant stands
in the dying of this covenant. And David says, although my house
be not so with God yet, he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordering all things in sure. And this is all my salvation.
This is the sum total of it. It's not this plus something
else. It's salvation by God. by grace,
by Christ, and all that he is and does outside of you and me. That's my hope. That's all of
my salvation. Covenant mercy. God's grace to you in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Free grace. His blood shed in
your place. He is making you righteous in
Christ. David is saying in another place,
he only is my rock and my salvation. Then he said, this is all my
desire. Psalm 27 4. One thing have I
desired of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. to behold
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. You see, with all David's failures,
God described him as a man after his own heart. Ponder that just a little bit,
knowing David's history and our history, background. How can God say that? because David looked to the one
that God looked to. He looked outside of himself
and away from himself to Christ and to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. He's all my desire. You say, well, what do I do? What do I have to do? Do like
David. Let's look to Christ. Look to
this everlasting covenant as being fulfilled by Christ our
Savior. It's ordered in all things and
sure. And that's all my salvation. Well, I pray that God will use
this message to His glory, to the exaltation of Christ our
surety. Mark, do you want to come forward?