Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
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for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us for the message. Today I want to
talk to you about this subject, a perfect covenant. A perfect covenant. And I'll
be preaching this from the book of Hebrews chapter 8. I've been
going through this chapter. And what this chapter is talking
about is the summation of the gospel ministry the glory of
it, the power of the gospel ministry, the success of the gospel ministry,
all because salvation, the gospel of salvation, is conditioned
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And this passage in, for example,
the whole book of Hebrews is showing the greater glory, the
superiority of the new covenant over the Old Covenant law of
Moses, Mount Sinai, that the nation Israel was under for 1500
years from Sinai to the cross. Which covenant could not save
anybody? The blood of bulls and goats.
That refers to the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. The human
priesthood of Aaron and the line of Levi. There was no salvation
in that Old Covenant. and in its elements. The Ten
Commandments. Somebody says, well, I'm going
to keep the Ten Commandments. Well, you cannot be saved by
keeping the Ten Commandments because you can't keep the Ten
Commandments perfectly. I cannot either. Righteousness
does not come by our works of the law. But the Old Covenant
was never given to Israel as a way of salvation. as a way
of attaining and maintaining righteousness. The old covenant
was given to show them their sinfulness, the depravity, the
impossibility of any sinner being saved, being made right with
God by their works. Salvation has always been by
the grace of God according to another covenant, which is a
perfect covenant. And the perfection of that covenant,
which is the everlasting covenant of grace, and then we're gonna
talk about the new covenant here, the perfection of that covenant
is not in the sinner who is saved by grace, but it's in the Savior
who saves by grace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Hebrews
chapter eight, in verse seven, after he had talked about how
Christ, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the second person of the Trinity,
God the Son, God in human flesh without sin. That's who Jesus
Christ is. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted as God with us, God
manifest in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ has obtained
a more excellent ministry than what Moses attained under the
Old Covenant. Jesus Christ has provided a greater
priesthood than what Aaron and the Levitical priest attained. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God, is full enough valuable enough, powerful enough
to take away all the sins of all of God's chosen people. Who
are they? Those who come to believe in
Christ. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. The Jewish sacrifices could not
accomplish that. there was a tabernacle and a
temple under the old covenant christ is our tabernacle our
temple he is the very shekinah glory of god the very presence
of god for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily
and you're complete in him now under that old covenant there
were conditional promises given to the nation israel whereupon
god promised to bless them in a temporal, earthly, ceremonial
way, as a nation, conditioned upon their national obedience. But if you read the history of
Israel under the Old Covenant, you'll see that they failed miserably. Now, I don't say that in a self-righteous
way, as if we, or myself, as if we could have done better,
because we wouldn't have. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. But the reason that old covenant
could not save a sinner is because it was conditioned on sinners.
And that's what he's talking about in verse 7 of Hebrews chapter
8. He says, for if that first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second. Now the first covenant, he's
talking about the first covenant in the process of time. and that's
the old covenant given on Sinai. The second covenant that he's
talking about here is what we call the new covenant. The new
covenant was not established in time until the Lord Jesus
Christ came and did his redemptive work on the cross as the surety
and substitute of God's elect. Remember Christ met with his
disciples in the upper room And when he, on the Passover, and
he instituted what we, under the New Covenant, the New Covenant
Church sees as the Lord's Supper. And he, when he gave them the
cup of wine, he said, this is the New Testament, or the New
Covenant in my blood. You see, the New Covenant is
ratified by the blood of Christ. But now let me explain something,
so that you won't get confused here. It's called the New Covenant
not because it is a new way of salvation, because salvation
has always been by grace, even before the law, even before Sinai. Go back to Adam in the garden. Go back to Abel. How was Abel
saved? The Scripture tells us he was
saved by grace based upon the righteousness of the promised
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's called the New Covenant
just because in the process of time, it was worked out by Jesus
Christ, who fulfilled all of its conditions, who redeemed
his people by the shedding of his blood on the cross. He died,
was buried, and rose again the third day. He instituted the
New Covenant. So the New Covenant is the establishment
and working out in time of an everlasting covenant of grace
made before time. Now that may be a little bit
difficult to understand, but just look at it this way. Salvation
has always been, is now, and always will be by grace through
the Lord Jesus Christ, based on his righteousness imputed
alone, not on our works. Now that old covenant was conditioned
on the nation Israel. And that's why it had fault in
it. Let's read verse seven again
and go on to verse eight, Hebrews chapter eight. For if that first
covenant had been faultless, indicating that it was not faultless,
then should no place have been sought for the second. Now, where
was the fault in the old covenant? Was it in the covenant itself?
No, the law was good. But verse eight shows us where
the fault was. For finding fault with them,
that is the nation Israel under it. Now let me show you something
now. I want you to understand something.
Any covenant of salvation that is conditioned on sinners is
a failure. Why? Because it's conditioned
on sinners. And that's why salvation cannot
be by works. So here's what he did. Here's
what happens. Now, the writer of Hebrews, by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit here, is going to quote from
the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31. Where Jeremiah, in seeing the
sad and spiritual state of the nation, Israel, Judah, Jerusalem,
where, and in his day, they were about to get, it was coming close
to the time when Israel, Judah was going into captivity. They
were gonna be broken up as a nation or conquered as a nation and
taken to Babylon. And he's, Jeremiah, the prophet
of God is showing them that the hope of salvation is not in that
old covenant. It's not in that physical nation.
It's not in the physical temple. but it's in the promise of God
to send the Messiah according to the terms of another covenant,
a new covenant the new covenant one that is faultless and the
reason it is faultless the reason it is a perfect covenant is because
its terms and conditions and stipulations and blessings are
all conditioned upon a perfect person, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord, our righteousness. Now, listen to how he does this.
In verse eight, he says, for finding fault with them, he saith,
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. Now, the reason he divides those,
I said this last week in the message, that it was a divided
kingdom, at that time. After Solomon, the kingdom divided,
the northern kingdom was called Israel. Its capital was Samaria. The southern kingdom was called
Judah. The capital was Jerusalem. The northern kingdom consisted
of 10 tribes of Israel. The southern kingdom consisted
of the tribe of Judah mainly, but also the tribe of Benjamin.
And what he's saying here is that under this new covenant,
there won't be a divided nation. It'll be a unified nation. And
listen to me now. It's not referring to that nation
over in Palestine today. It's referring to spiritual Israel. That's already been well established
in the New Testament. The seed of Abraham. Who are
the seed of Abraham? Let me tell you who the seed
of Abraham is in the New Covenant. Believers. Read Romans chapter
two, read Romans chapter nine, read Galatians chapter three.
I've been over that so many times in other passages. If you're
a believer, you're a spiritual Israelite, scripture says. And how do you know that you're
a spiritual Israelite? Well, here's the covenant. Look
at verse nine. He says, 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, because they continued not in
my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." In other
words, this new covenant is not going to be like that old covenant,
which they broke. He says in verse 10, "'For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those
days, saith the Lord." Now listen to what he says, I will put or
give my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts
and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.
Now what he's talking about is the work of the Holy Spirit in
the new birth there. What the Bible calls circumcision
of the heart. Over in the book of Romans, Chapter
2. Let me read this with me. Mark this passage down. What
the Apostle Paul has been doing in Romans 1 and 2 is bringing
in every fallen son and daughter of Adam into the state of deserving condemnation. We fell in Adam and we cannot
be saved by our works. And he concludes it by saying
this, look at verse 28 of Romans 2. He says, for he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh. But, verse 29, but he is a Jew,
which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God." Do you see that? That's what the writer of Hebrews
is talking about. That's what Jeremiah was talking
about. When God made a covenant with the nation Israel, we have
to understand that He made that covenant with a rebellious people. And they stayed rebellious. There
were some brief times of what we might call national obedience,
but they didn't last. And the nation was a rebellious
nation. God said, I've reached out my
hand to a rebellious people. They broke the covenant. He says
here, back in Hebrews chapter 8, He says that they broke that
covenant. continued not in my covenant
in verse nine. And over in Jeremiah it said,
which covenant they break. But under the new covenant, it's
not gonna be that way. Under the new covenant, God's
gonna have a people whom he chose before the foundation of the
world, whom he gave to the Lord Jesus Christ, upon whom he conditioned
all of their salvation. A people whom Christ is going
to come in time and redeem by His blood. These are the people
whom God has justified based upon the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, freely imputed. And based upon that, that righteousness
imputed, the righteousness of God in Christ, is the ground
of their justification. That is, they're not guilty,
they're not condemned, that's what that means. They're righteous
in God's sight based upon Christ's righteousness imputed, and that
righteousness is the source of spiritual life in the new birth.
They're gonna be born again. They're gonna be given a new
heart, a new mind, a new spirit. Remember Christ said to Nicodemus
in John chapter three, you must be born again, or you cannot
see or enter the kingdom of heaven. They're going to be given spiritual
eyes to see the glory of God. They're going to be given spiritual
ears to hear and heed the gospel. They're going to believe. They're
going to be given faith. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, that not of yourselves, the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And that's what this is referring
to. In other words, this covenant is not going to include rebellious
people who are unbelievers and who are enemies of God, But God's
going to bring them to Him and He says, I'll put my laws into
their heart, into their mind. I'll write them in their hearts
and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.
That's a covenant contract. That's a marriage union. So God's
going to, just like Christ is the head of the church, He's
the bridegroom. And the church is the bride,
he's the husband, the church is the wife. And look at verse
11 of Hebrews 8. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord. For all shall know me from the least to the greatest. Do you see that? Under the old
covenant, there was a rebellious nation and the prophets and the
priests had to continually admonish the people for their
ignorance. It's like today when people who
claim to be Christian and they either go to a church where the
scriptures are not known and not preached, you see, you don't
know God. You're like the rebellious Israelites.
But he said they shall all know me. Now how are they going to
know the Lord? Well back in the book of John, chapter 6, We see
how this all comes about by the power of God in Christ. And he
says in verse 44, this is John chapter 6 and verse 44. He says,
no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me
draw him and I will raise him up at the last hour. God's gonna
draw his people by the preaching of the gospel in the power of
the Holy Spirit, and here's how it happens, verse 45 of John
6, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard, heard what? Well, look at the next line,
and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. That's hearing
the gospel, because it's only in the gospel that a sinner can
learn under the power of the Holy Spirit, God teaching him,
even though he uses a preacher now. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. God teaches them how
he can be both a just God, a righteous judge, and punish sin, and still
be a loving, gracious, merciful Savior, a loving Father. How can God be both? He has to
be both. God cannot just ignore my sin. He cannot just look over it.
He cannot deny it. He cannot act as if it didn't
happen. God must punish sin. He's a just
God. God could not show mercy to a
sinner apart from justice being satisfied. If you're going to
know God, Isaiah 45 says you must know Him as a just God and
a Savior. Oh, you say, well, I beg for
mercy. Well, that's okay. But mercy without justice is
an empty thing. It will not happen. I've been
thinking about Noah. We talk about the ark, and that
ark was a picture of Christ. And we talk about the rainbow,
and we see how beautiful a rainbow is. And somebody told me, he
said, every time I see a rainbow, I think about God's mercy. Well,
I do too. But I also think about God's
justice. You say, well, how? Well, remember
before there was a rainbow, there was a flood. God punished sin. So when I see a rainbow, I think
about mercy established upon justice. Now, where am I going
to find mercy from God established upon justice? In Christ, the
perfect one, the righteous one. the one who died in my place
and satisfied justice. He's the mercy seat. Look at
verse 12 of Hebrews 8. He says, for I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. This is the perfection of the
New Covenant. Every believer, every born-again
person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and every born-again
person does, They have a perfect righteousness before God. And
that's the righteousness of Christ imputed, which they've received
by God-given faith. And in that righteousness, they
stand before God eternally, unchangeably perfect and accepted. That's
right. He says their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. That doesn't mean God forgets
about them. God cannot forget. He doesn't
change. It means He will not keep record
of them. He will not charge them to Him.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? And so
he says in verse 13, now, because of that, that perfect covenant,
a perfect covenant, because of the perfect savior, the perfect
one upon whom all of it was conditioned, I'm not perfect in myself, but
I am in Christ. I'm not righteous in myself,
but I'm righteous in Christ. He says, now all of that, here's
the conclusion, verse 13, in that he saith, a new covenant,
he hath made the first old, Now that which decayeth, that's talking
about the old covenant, and waxeth old or groweth old is ready to
vanish away. The old covenant's gone, friend.
Preachers today try to bring up the old covenant and attach
its promises that were given to Israel conditionally upon
the church and it doesn't work. All the blessings of salvation,
All the benefits of salvation for a sinner are conditioned
upon Christ who fulfilled those conditions. All the promises
of God, 2 Corinthians 1.20 says, in Christ, are in Him, yea, and
in Him, amen. You see, it's not conditioned
on me. Now, does that mean that I don't have any responsibilities
to obey God? No. Being in Christ under that
perfect covenant with which he fulfilled and satisfied, I am
made by God. And what did he say up here?
He said, I'm going to put my laws into their mind. I'm going
to give them, I'm going to write them in their hearts. Over in
Ezekiel 36, he said, I'm going to give them a new heart and
a new spirit. I'm going to cause them to walk
in my statues. You see, in that, He gives us
the spirit of faith in Christ, the spirit of repentance of dead
works, the spirit of godly sorrow over sin, the desire to obey
God and to honor and glorify Him in everything we think, say,
and do. And it's a struggle. It's a warfare.
But none of our obedience, none of the obedience of a sinner
saved by grace, is the conditions that he are the conditions that
he must meet in order to attain or maintain salvation or to attain
and maintain righteousness that's all perfected in Christ God in
in salvation makes his people willing in the day of his power
willing to fight sin willing to to strive to obey him not
to be saved but because they already are saved perfectly in
Christ, all the conditions in Him. He gives us a heart of love
and obedience. as willing, loving bond slaves
whose debt has already been paid in full, perfected by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so that they serve their
master, not because they have to, not because of legal fear
of punishment or mercenary promises of earned rewards, but because
of grace, love, and gratitude. That's the issue of salvation.
And all of that is from that perfect covenant that Christ
fulfilled and that His work is the perfection of. His righteousness,
His blood, all the forgiveness of sin, all the righteousness
that God requires of me, I find perfected in Christ. And that's the issue of a perfect
covenant. Now, I'm not under the old covenant, never have
been. In fact, no Gentile has been unless they back then during
that time period converted to Judaism. But they broke that
covenant. There was no salvation in that
covenant. But my friend, there is a perfect
salvation in this perfect covenant because of the perfect Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath perfected forever. them that are sanctified. So
look to Christ for salvation. Don't look to the law. Don't
look to yourself. Don't even look to your church.
Look to Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.