I appreciate your reading, Brother
Robert. That passage that Robert just read is such a wonderful
passage of scripture. It's actually quoted twice in
the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter eight and Hebrews chapter
10. And what it speaks of is the new covenant in Christ. In Jeremiah 31, the new covenant
in Christ. One of the most important studies
that a person can do to understand the Bible is a study of the covenants.
Our God is a covenant God. He showed that from the beginning
when I believe he made a covenant between himself and Adam, Adam
representing the whole human race. It was a covenant of works. We simply said that Adam was
to fulfill the commandments that God had given him. It was expressed
mainly in a negative. When God told him, he said, you
can eat of all the trees of the garden except the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. And of course, that was what
we call a bilateral covenant. Now, it'd be good for you to
remember these things. A bilateral covenant is a covenant between
two parties conditioned, the blessings or the gifts or the
results of that covenant conditioned on both. It's kind of like God
will do this if you will do that. That's a bilateral covenant.
And there's only two bilateral covenants in the scripture. One,
that covenant made between God and Adam in the beginning, and
Adam broke the covenant, he didn't fulfill the conditions, and he
brought the whole human family into a state of sin, spiritual
death, and depravity. And Paul dealt with that in Romans
chapter five. He said, for all have, as in
Adam, Adam fell, and we all fell in Adam. We sinned in Adam. He was our representative. And
that's how we got into this state of natural depravity. That's
why we're born in sin. That's why we must be born again,
because we're born naturally in sin, in spiritual death. We have to be quickened. You
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. The second
bilateral covenant is what we call the Old Covenant. It sometimes
is called the Law Covenant. Sometimes it's called the Law
of Moses. It was given to the children
of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. when he gave the Ten Commandments,
but he gave plus the ceremonial, the civil, the dietary, all the
laws of the old covenant. And that's a bilateral covenant.
God would bless the nation if the nation would be in obedience. Well, that covenant failed too.
Because the nation, even though there were periods of time, short
periods of time, When it seemed that the nation and the majority
were in obedience to the covenant terms, most of the time they
weren't in obedience at all. They broke the covenant. And
the lesson of that is this. Salvation, if it's conditioned
on our doing or our deciding, it will fail. It'll fail. Why? Because we're sinful people. We're sinners. Now if you don't
believe that, then you're telling everybody that you're better
than those Israelites under the old cover. You're saying I'm
saved because I'm better than them. Do you understand that? You're no better than them. Paul
dealt with that in Romans chapter three. He said the scripture
hath concluded all under sin. Are we any better than they?
No, in no way. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. So if salvation is based upon
a bilateral covenant, that God will give us this if we will
do such and such, whatever it is, it will fail. Why? Because we're sinners. We're
sinners. And so thank God there's other
covenants in the Bible. And this one speaks of the new
covenant. Now the new covenant is not a
bilateral covenant, it's a unilateral covenant. And that's spoken here
in Jeremiah 31, 31. Notice how many times when Robert
read this, God said, I will, I will, I will. He didn't say, I will if they
will. He said, I will and they shall. That's the nature of a unilateral
covenant. Look at it, verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. I'll do this, God said. Now,
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, most of you know, if
you know anything about Jewish history, when Jeremiah prophesied,
the nation Israel was divided. There was the northern nation
called Israel, And then there was the southern kingdom called
Judah. And they were split. And they never came back together
as a nation. The northern kingdom, the Israelites,
were already dispersed, conquered by the Assyrian Empire years
before this. The southern kingdom, Judah,
was about to go into captivity in Babylon. They'd be brought
back out. and they would occupy the land
of Israel for a little time, but then in AD 70, they were
destroyed and dispersed. So that physical nation never
came back together. So what does he mean, a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah? He's speaking
of spiritual Israel here. A spiritual nation, not an earthly
nation. and that spiritual Israel is
made up of what the Bible calls God's chosen people, God's elect,
chosen by God before the foundation of the world, justified by the
righteousness of Christ, redeemed by his blood, regenerated or
given life, quickened and called out by the Holy Spirit and it's
made up of people among all nations, out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue and nation, we're told, Jew and Gentile. The name Israel
means those who have prevailed with God. Now think about that. How can a sinner like me, or a sinner like you, say that
we have prevailed with God? Well, you say, well, I've tried
to do the best I can. I've tried to be a good person.
Will that enable you to prevail with God? No. You say, well, I made a decision
for Christ. Will that enable? No. How does
a sinner prevail with God? A sinner prevails with God by
a union with the Lord Jesus Christ, a union in his death, his burial,
his resurrection, evidence by God giving you the gift of faith,
bringing you to Christ. Do you believe in him as he's
identified and distinguished in the word, the glory of his
person? Who is he? God manifest in the
flesh. That's who my savior is. He's
God in human flesh without sin. What did he accomplish when he
died for me? He accomplished my whole salvation.
The forgiveness of my sins by his blood. My justification before
God. How could God justify a sinner
like me? Based upon the merits of Christ's
obedience unto death. As he stood as my surety. My
sins imputed to him. His righteousness imputed to
me. He stood as my substitute. He died for me. He was buried
for me. He arose for me. He stood as my redeemer. He paid
the full price for all my sins. And I didn't have anything to
do with it. I didn't contribute one ounce
to it. It was all him. And what did he do? He sent his
spirit into the world to bring me under the preaching of the
gospel wherein he gave me life. Look at this passage. Verse 32,
Jeremiah 31. He says, this new covenant is
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt. Which my covenant they broke. Why did they break it? Because
they're sinful people. It was a bilateral covenant.
The blessings and benefits of that covenant were conditioned
on them. They broke it. You know what? So would we. That covenant was given, that
law was given. to show them their sinfulness
and their need of salvation by grace in a unilateral covenant
that depends only upon God the Son incarnate. You see, all of
our salvation, according to the terms of the new covenant, are
conditioned on Christ. And he fulfilled all those conditions.
He didn't break one ounce of that covenant. He said, I fulfilled
it all, every jot and tittle. He satisfied the justice of God
perfectly. And so he says in verse 32, which
my covenant they break, although I wasn't husband unto them, saith
the Lord. Although God did join himself to that physical nation
for a temporary period of time. And what was that time? It was
from the time of their inception on Mount Sinai, when God gave
the covenant to Moses, all the way up until the time of Jesus
Christ. And Christ finished all the terms
and conditions of the salvation of his people. And he abolished
that old covenant, that bilateral covenant. He said it's finished. And you remember what happened?
The veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. It's
over. And he says in verse 33, now
look here, here's the new covenant. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith
the Lord. Now listen to all the I wills
here. I will put my law in their inward
parts. What does that mean? He said
I'll write it in their hearts. Now how does God write the law
within the hearts of his people? by the power of the Spirit, through
the preaching of the gospel, which shows us that Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. God's law, God's word, written
on our hearts. And what is the heart? Our minds,
our affections, our wills, our conscience. cleansed by the blood
of Christ. And God says, I'm going to do
that. He didn't say, I'm going to do that if they'll do this.
He says, I'm going to do that. And he says, I will be their
God and they shall be my people. That's the language of a marriage
union there. God's gonna bind himself to those
people. He's already done it. God bound
himself to his people before the foundation of the world.
Did you know that? He chose us and gave us to Christ. Conditioned all of our salvation
on Christ. Imputed, charged, accounted our
sins to Christ even before he spoke the world into existence. And that's why Christ said in
John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. He said, this is the will of
the Father, which has sent me, that of all which he hath given
me, I will in no wise lose any of them. I'll raise them up again
at the last day. They shall be my people. And
verse 34 says, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord. Well, what do
you mean by that? Well, listen, he says, for they
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the Lord. They'll all know God. One of
the complaints of the prophets to the nation Israel under the
Old Covenant is that the people, even though they were bound together
under that Old Covenant, they didn't know God, the true God. They claimed to know him, they
claimed to worship him, but they worshiped in ignorance. The prophet
Amos said that God's people would be destroyed for lack of knowledge. You remember the apostle Paul,
spoke of Israel being ignorant of God's righteousness, going
about to establish a righteousness of their own. They didn't know
God. And so the message of the prophets
oftentimes was, know ye who God is. That's that old covenant. But under this new covenant,
every citizen, every spiritual child of God will be brought
to know the Lord. And how are we brought to know
him? Well, look over at John chapter six. And look at verse 44. And that's a question, an issue
that you need to set on your own mind. Do I know the Lord? Do I know the Lord as he reveals
himself in the word? Not as I think him to be. Not
as other people tell me he is, but what the word of God says
about him. John 6, 44. No man can come to
me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. Now how does the Father draw his people to Christ? Verse 45. It is written in the
prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard. How does he draw his people to
Christ? He gives them a hearing ear. A spiritual ear. Which we don't
have by nature. Remember Christ told his disciples
that when they asked the question, why do you speak in parables?
And he says, basically he said it's a judgment against those
who naturally refuse him. He said, they have ears, but
they don't hear. They have eyes, but they don't
see. It's kind of like this. If I'm
standing here preaching the gospel to you, which I'm doing, and
you walk out of this building in unbelief, You heard what I
said, but you didn't really hear it. Not with the spiritual ear. Well God says I'm gonna give
them a spiritual ear. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. So he said every man therefore
that hath heard, heard what? Heard the gospel. That shows
us our sinfulness and our depravity. That shows us our need of God's
grace. I need of his mercy. That's what
I need, I need mercy. I don't need God to come down
and try to make a bargain with me. Because I will not hold up
to the terms of that bargain. I need someone to lift the beggar
off the dung heap as the prayer goes. And set me on high. That's what I need to hear. I
need to hear of a righteousness. that I cannot produce, but one
that someone who's able to produce it did produce it. And who is
that? The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot save myself. And if
there are any conditions placed upon me to be saved, I cannot
meet them, no matter how hard I try. I need the salvation that's
of the Lord. And so he says, every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father. Remember what
Jeremiah said here. He said they'll all be taught
of God. How does God teach us? Through the preaching of the
gospel. And he'll use a weak, pitiful person like me to relay
the message. And that's all I do. I just point
you to Christ. I can't give you that new heart.
I can't write the law of God on you. I can't give you hearing
ears, seeing eyes. But God can. And he does for
his people. And they learn of the Father.
Now what does that mean? They learn how God can be both
a just and righteous God. as well as a loving father. How can he be both? How can God
forgive a sinner like me when I've earned nothing but death
and hell? How can he be just to forgive
me? How can he be righteous to save
a sinner like me when all I deserve is eternal damnation? How can
he be both a just God and a savior? Save me in mercy and grace. Well,
have you learned of that? Well, the answer's found in the
gospel, which is the preaching of the terms of the new covenant.
He does that by his grace through the righteousness of his son,
freely given to all of his people. as he imputes it, charges it
to us. And from that he gives us life.
So he says, we learn of the Father. Now how do you know that you've
heard with the spiritual ear and learned of the Father? Christ
says here, he that hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. You believe in Christ. You rest
in him for all salvation. All righteousness, all forgiveness,
all the blessings and benefits of glory are in Him, in Him alone. We'll go back to Jeremiah 31. He says, they shall all know
me from the least of them unto the greatest, verse 34. For I
will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no
more. Under that old covenant, that
conditional covenant, there was always a reminder of their sinfulness
through the sacrifices that were made daily, weekly, monthly,
and yearly. It always came back. The work
of the priest of the old covenant, it was never finished. You remember
that in the tabernacle and in the temple, there were no chairs? Because the priests there were
not allowed to sit down. Why? Because their work is not
finished. All of that was typical. It was
a picture of something better to come, and that's what the
book of Hebrews is about. When Christ came, our great high
priest, and sacrificed himself on the cross, he finished the
work, and the Bible says he was buried, he arose again the third
day, and he ascended unto the Father, and he what? He sat down
at the right hand of the Father. Well, when God says I will forgive
their iniquity, upon what ground? The blood of Jesus Christ. the
finished work of Christ. He says, I'll remember their
sin no more. What does that mean? It means he will not keep a record
of our sins. He will not impute our sins to
his people. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Think about it. Oh, we're such
a sinful people. How many times have we said,
Only two types of people on this earth, sinners lost in their
sins, sinners saved by grace, but still sinners. I'm only a
sinner saved by grace, that's my story. To God be the glory. But God does not charge me, does
not set to my account my sins. Well, what does that mean? Does
he just forget about them? Sweep them under the rug? No,
he sent his son to take care of those sins, to pay for those
sins, to satisfy his justice. And so I stand before God, washed
in the blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness, imputed
to me. That's what this is all about.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
it's risen again. Seated at the right hand of the
Father, making intercession for us. That's the new covenant. Now, that new covenant is the establishment in time
of the everlasting covenant of grace made before time. You understand that? God made
a covenant with his son before time began, chose a people, gave
us to Christ, Paul calls it a salvation that was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, imputed our sins to him, And the whole process of creation
and history was about God preparing a place and a time for his son
to come down and do the great work to ensure the salvation
of his people. Paul wrote about it in Galatians
4 when he said, in the process of time, in the fullness of time,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, that's his incarnation,
made under the law, that's that unilateral covenant, all the
laws demands, conditioned on Christ, to redeem them that were
under the law. So that everlasting covenant
of grace made before time, and in the process of time, God sent
his son. Christ came. He did the great
work. He fulfilled all righteousness.
The new covenant, is the fulfillment in time of that everlasting covenant. And then the gospel is the preaching
of the terms of that new covenant, even that everlasting covenant.
Salvation with all of its benefits and blessings conditioned on
Christ who fulfilled those conditions and secured the eternal salvation
of all of his sheep, laying down his life, bringing forth an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value, whereby God could be just and
justify his people. Aren't you glad that our salvation
is secured in Christ? That's our hope. That's our glory. And that's our faith. All right. Let's close with singing Hiding
in Thee, hymn number 282. 282, let's stand.