Let's start that off. Okay, well
my text this morning is in Isaiah 49 and verse 8 and it's a phrase
in the middle, I will, and I'm going to miss out, preserve thee
and I will give thee for a covenant of the people, the gift of Christ
for his people. Now thinking about covenants,
if you live in Britain you know that the news is absolutely full
of Brexit the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. And
they say that it's going to happen on the 31st of October, though
the majority of our parliamentary representatives are doing whatever
they can to stop it from happening, even though they delegated the
vote to the people and the people voted for it to happen. But never
mind, that's the state of politics and democracy in the day in which
we live. And the great talk is about a deal or no deal Brexit. Are we going to leave with a
deal? Because why do we want a deal? We want a deal so that
we know the way we trade and interact once we've moved beyond
that date of the 31st of October when in theory we're going to
be out of the European Union. At the moment we're in a relationship
with them because we're in the European Union but after that
date we'll be out. So is there going to be a deal that defines
how we interact with the European Union after that date or not. A deal is a covenant in Scripture. A covenant is a deal. If you'll
excuse the slightly irreverent tone of the word deal, is there
going to be a covenant that determines how we're going to trade. Because
people say, and quite rightly so, that it's uncertain. And
there are dangers of launching into a new situation, i.e. one
where Britain is outside of the European Union, without a covenant,
without a deal in place. And a lot of people, I suppose,
are quite rightly concerned about this. People that do business
with the European Union a lot are quite rightly concerned about
this. But, you know, it set me thinking as I was looking at
this passage, that there's a much more serious change of circumstances
which we all face, much more serious, about which when that
change has happened, have we got a covenant in place or not? Have we got a deal in place or
not? The situation I'm talking about is the situation of death. the situation of death. When
it comes to death, we move from what we know here and now into
what to us is completely unknown. After the time when our eyes
close in death, And none of us know when that's going to be.
None of us know how old we'll be when that happens. None of
us know how it's going to happen. None of us, absolutely none of
us. Not scaremongering, but it's just a fact. None of us knows
when or how our death will come. But we launch into a situation
which is unknown. But I tell you this, it's a situation
where we must face the living God. And the question is this,
deal or no deal? Do we have a deal in place with
God, or do we have no deal in place? Do we have a covenant
in place that governs our relationship with God after our death, or
do we not have a covenant in place? This is the question that
this passage has brought very much to the forefront of my mind.
You see, most people when it comes to thinking about death
and that change, and especially religious people, and especially
those that call themselves Christians, they think they have a covenant,
they have made a covenant. We read about it in Isaiah 28
and verse 15, where it talks about this. God says to them,
you who claim to be my people, you have made a covenant with
death. You have hidden behind a refuge
of lies. You've said it's not going to
come near us, it's not going to hurt us, it's not going to
do us any harm. We're OK, we've got our religion,
we've got our traditions, we're going to be OK. And God says
it's a refuge of lies. In what respect is it a refuge
of lies? The lie that most people delude
themselves with is this, that they can live their lives as
they want, with no thought for God, and they can pass into eternity
whenever it comes, and the justice of God will be of no significance
or no concern whatsoever. The justice of God which would
condemn them as sinners will not come near them, it will not
touch them, it will not do them any harm, and that's a refuge
of lies. but you know what the scripture
says Hebrews 9.27 it is appointed to man to die once and then the
judgment it is certain it is coming you face an appointment
all of you face an appointment I face an appointment there is
a day coming when I will die and I will pass into eternity
and the scripture says that in my experience that means immediately
the judgment the judgment I die and then the judgment, appointed
to die once and then the judgment. Will I have a covenant in place
that covers my relationship with the just and holy God, me a sinner? Will I have a covenant in place
to govern that relationship beyond that date? Will it be a no-deal
death? A no-covenant death? Because
that is a fearful, fearful option. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. The scripture says our God
is a consuming fire. Oh, that men and women would
listen to this. Our God is a consuming fire.
Oh, well, there isn't a God as far as I'm concerned. Oh, really?
Oh really, how do you account for all of this? You can't. Of
course there's a God, and you must face that God. It's appointed
to die once, and then the judgment. We must have an effectual covenant,
a covenant that works. A covenant that works, a covenant
that accomplishes its purpose. And in a covenant, a covenant
is an agreement between two or more persons. A covenant must
have a mediator, one to mediate the covenant. a mediator of the
covenant. We must have a competent mediator,
by which I mean one who is able to do all that is required to
implement the terms of the covenant, to make it happen, to justify
it, to make it real, to stand between God and me. We must have
a mediator, a competent mediator, a mediator to stand between God
and the multitude of people He has purposed to save from their
sins in that covenant. And the Scripture tells us who
it is. We don't need to speculate about it. 1 Timothy 2, verse
5, we're told by Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, his people. Who is that? The man, who is
also God. The man, Christ Jesus. He, he
is central. He is pre-eminent as the scripture
says. He is above all and before all
and in all, all things made by him and made for him. He is the
centre, he's not an adjunct, he's not something that you can
add on because he adds some nice things to the concept of God
and heaven. He is the sum and substance of
the covenant that saves his people from sins. If you want to know
what is the covenant, It's not this and oh Jesus Christ had
something to do. He is the sum of that covenant. He is the substance of that covenant. Everything that that covenant
speaks of and accomplishes and assures is in Him. everything. And in verse 49, verse 8, Thus
saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee,
and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the
earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages. I will give
thee for a covenant of the people. As we look at this this morning,
I want to think about who's speaking. Then I want to think about the,
the, to whom he is speaking. Then I want to just briefly remind
you of the people, that this says he's a covenant of the people. Who's the people? And then to
think about his purpose and his call finally. But most of the
time we'll spend on those first couple of points. Thus saith
the Lord. Who is speaking? Thus saith the
Lord. Well, look at verse 1. It's the
same one who is speaking here. Listen, O Isles unto me, and
hearken ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me. It's
this same Lord. The same Lord. The one who called
his servant, verse 3. He said to me, the Lord said
to me, thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
The one who called his servant is God the Father. The Lord is
God the Father. You see it's in small capitals
there. He is God the Father. Who has called me? Who is me
here? It's Christ who is speaking.
It's Christ, the servant. He's called Christ for the work
of salvation. Just look with me at these first
seven or eight verses. Listen, O Isles, unto me. This
is Christ. The me is Christ. Listen, says
Christ, O Isles, the world in general, the Gentile world. Listen
to me, and hearken, ye people from far. not just the Jews immediately
in the day of Isaiah when he was writing, Christ says the
Lord God the Father has called me from the womb, he's called
me from the womb of eternity, he's called me literally from
the womb of my mother as the Messiah. God become man, laying
aside his glory that he might come for the salvation of his
people. From the bowels of my mother
hath he made mention of my name. Right there in Matthew chapter
1 and verse 21 when the angel says to Joseph, you shall call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
He's made mention of my name. This is God the Father commissioning
God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the work of salvation, to
be his servant. He has made, look, how do we
know it's him? He has made my mouth like a sharp
sword. Who is that? Whose mouth was
made like a sharp sword? Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ?
The Word of God. He is the Word. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And he is the
Word, and his Word is as a sharp two-edged sword. And when we
see the vision of him in Revelation, the one, this glorious being
who, where is he, about chapter 19, the one whose name is the
Word of God, You remember that vision? The
Word of God. This is his name. His name is the Word of God.
And out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. Because the
sword pierces. The sword pierces to the core
of our being, as Hebrews says. It pierces to the dividing of
bone and muscle and sinew. It comes in and it hits. In this world of antichrist lies,
the Word of God comes and pierces through that. In the shadow of
his hand hath he hid me and made me a polished shaft, like an
arrow, a sharp arrow. His arrows come, the Word of
his truth comes as arrows. In his quiver hath he hid me
and said unto me, Thou art my servant. Christ is the servant
of God, the suffering servant. the messenger of the covenant,
the one coming, God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, coming
to be made man, to lay his glory aside, who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. He came and laid his glory aside,
why? For the purpose of death, that
he might redeem his people. As the children had partaken
of flesh and blood, so he, our God, partook of flesh and blood. but without sin, that he might
by death conquer him who had the power of death, that is,
the devil. And look what he calls him. He calls him Israel. You
say, well, isn't Israel the people of God, not the Christ of God?
Well, God actually calls his Christ, he calls him Israel.
Israel means a prince with God. a prince with God. And in the
sense that all of God's people are united with Christ, their
federal head, Christ the federal head of his people, he calls
him with the name of his people. He calls him, in this case here,
he calls him Israel, because all of his people, the Israel
of God, not the nation of the Old Testament, though they contained
the people of God in that day, but But all of the people, as
I told you a week or two ago, maybe both, whenever we read
Israel, we're reading about Zion, the church of the living God.
And it's in him, in Christ, that God is glorified. And how is
God glorified? Moses said, show me your glory.
And what did God show him? He showed him his grace. I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. Then I said, Christ
said, I have labored in vain, I've spent my strength for naught,
and in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work
with my God. What's he talking about there?
I think he's probably talking about his earthly ministry among
the Jews. The vast majority of those that
he ministered to rejected him, the vast majority, even those
who seemed for a while to want to see his miracles. In actual
fact, were wanting to indulge their flesh, like the 5,000 when
they came following him in John chapter 6. And he said, you're
not coming because of the truth I'm preaching, you're coming
because of the food I gave you. You're coming to get your bellies
full again, as you did yesterday. That's what he says to them.
The vast majority, he labored in vain, or so it appears to
be. Though in truth, none of the
work of God is in vain. It is all for his glory. And
now, verse 5, saith the Lord, that form me, Christ, from the
womb, to be his servant, to bring Jacob, sinners, his people, his
sinful people, again to him, though Israel in general, though
Israel the nation in general be not gathered, Yet shall I
be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my
strength. Although the majority of the
nation rejected Christ, look in verse 6, he said, it is a
light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the
tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. In reality,
those that were the remnant amongst the people of Israel is a relatively
small number, but I will also give thee for a light to the
Gentiles, the Gentiles, the wider world. God so loved the world,
God so loved the world of his elect that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. A light to the Gentiles, that
thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith
the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel. The Redeemer, not of the nation,
but the Redeemer of the Israel of God. The Redeemer of the Zion
of God. The Redeemer of the elect of
God. It's very particular. very particular. The message
of the Gospel is always a particular message of salvation. And his
Holy One, thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his
Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, the Jews despised him, he was
despised and rejected of men as we'll see in a few chapters
time in Isaiah 53, despised and rejected of men, to him whom
the nation abhorreth, even though they cried Hosanna to the One
who comes in the name of the Highest one week. The very next
week, one week later, they were shouting, Crucify Him, Crucify
Him. the one to him whom the nation
abhorreth, to a servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise. Princes
also shall worship. Is this not what Philippians
is telling us, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow? Because the Lord that is faithful
and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. Thus saith
the Lord in an acceptable time I have heard thee. In his earthly
ministry, in Christ's earthly ministry, God the Father heard
him. He prayed to his Father. This
is what it's talking about. And in the day of salvation I
have helped thee. He upheld him. When Christ prayed
Father, if it be possible, take this cup from me, the cup of
the wrath of God for the sins of his people. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. He said, I will preserve thee,
and I will give thee for a covenant of the people. God giving his
son, God the Father speaking to his son in the eternal covenant
of grace, giving him as a covenant for the people. Now, let's focus
on Christ. as the gift of God to his people. So my next point is the gift
of thee, I will give thee, the gift of thee. In giving Christ,
God giving Christ as a covenant for the people, what is it that
God has given to the people of his sovereign choice? What is
it that God has given to the people who are his elect? And
the answer is this. God has given himself in a form
tangible to human sense. No man has seen God at any time. No man shall see my face, says
God the Father. No man shall see my... You cannot
see God. No man shall see God and live.
and he gives his son. Who is God? In a form that is
tangible to human sense. John the apostle says, I leaned
on his breast. We touched him. Thomas put his
fingers in the nail prints of the risen Christ. God in tangible
form. Show us the Father and it will
suffice us, says Philip. Philip, have I been so long with
you And you have not known me. He who has seen me said, this
man standing amongst them, he who has seen me has seen the
father. Is that not about the most profound
thing that was ever recorded? That a man should say, he who
has seen me has seen God the Father. Because in giving Christ
as a covenant for the people, God has given himself in a form
tangible to human sense. So God has given himself in a
form which says, I call you no longer servants, but I call you
my friends. my friends, because I've told
you all the secrets of eternity. Christ has told us by His Word,
for He is the Word. He's told us His secrets, the
secrets of God. He's revealed the mystery of
God to His people. And He's given Christ to His
people so that believers possess God in His divine attributes. We need God. What do you need
for that day of your death? You need God. You need the righteousness
of God. You know, we're told that we're
made, believers are made partakers of the divine nature. Partakers
of the divine, is this not mysterious, yet is it not glorious? Believers
possess God in his divine attributes, by which I mean, what divine
attributes? The love of God. We possess the
God of the universe, not just as a distant, untouchable force
that has the power to create all things and sustain all things,
but as the one who is love. God is love, and we, his people,
believing people, we possess God in his divine attribute of
love, in his divine attribute of grace. Oh, bless God for his
grace. God is gracious. God's riches
at Christ's expense. Grace. The riches of God, in
without favour, without any qualification on our part, by sovereign grace
and sovereign grace alone. He has paid the penalty for our
sins that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. God in His faithfulness
who will never fail us, never leave us nor desert us, the one
who will strengthen us, the one who we need every... we possess
God in Christ in His faithfulness. The truth, Jesus said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. We possess God in his truth, for God is truth. God is truth. Thy word is truth,
said Christ. Thy word is truth. What is truth?
Thy word, Pilate asked, what is truth? The word of God is
truth, and the word of God is Christ, and we possess that truth,
that truth of God. And then all the things that
we don't know about, all of the things that are far too big for
us. What things are far too big for us? Concerning God, his omniscience. Do you know what omniscience?
Omni means all. Omni means all. So an omnibus is a vehicle on
which all people can travel. That's a bus, an omnibus. It's
a vehicle on which all people can travel. We possess God as
believers in his omniscience. Science? No. No. He knows everything. Omniscient.
God is omniscient. Means that God knows everything. There is nothing that God does
not know. And we possess God in his omniscience. Where are
you now? You're here. Where is God? He
is everywhere. He is omni or present. He is
present everywhere. Can you do any everything? You
can hardly raise a finger to do half of what you want. And
when you do, you feel the effects of it. But he is omnipotent. Omni, all, potent, powerful. Powerful. He's potent, omnipotent,
powerful. We possess all of these things.
So in union with Christ, the power of God is yours, believer. Every movement of the being of
God, this scripture assures us, is the possession of the people
of God. How else? Well, in his offices,
in what he is as God to us, and Christ to his people, he is prophet. What does that mean? What does
a prophet do? Brings the word of God. Christ
is our prophet. He is our great prophet. He is
the prophet who brings us the truth of God, the word of God,
for he is the word of God. And he brings it to his people
so that his people can say with Paul, we have the mind of Christ. He's prophet to us, and we possess
Him. We possess this, for God has
given Him for a covenant of the people. He is priest to us, to
intercede between us and God, for we need such an intercessor. He is king to us, such a benign
king to His people. There are despots who rule with
cruelty, And then occasionally in history one crops up who is
a benign ruler that the people love. Queen Elizabeth I, no doubt
with many human faults, but the people generally loved Queen
Elizabeth I, for she brought freedom and liberty and mutual
respect and all of these things. Christ is supreme as the king,
the benign king of his people. Oh, Oh, are we not in great debt
to the justice of God? Are we not in unpayable debt
to the justice of God? Yes, we are. Ah, Christ is the
Redeemer. God the Father is the Redeemer
of His people, accomplished in His Son. In His Son, whom He
has given as a covenant for the people, He is the Redeemer, the
payer of the price, the payer of the price of liberty. If we
sin, what if we sin? Do we sin? Of course we sin.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us. But says John, if we sin, when we sin, we have
an advocate with the Father. If you're accused of something
and the justice of the land is a fearful thing for what you
have done and you're about to be tried in a court, the thing
that you need more than anything else is a powerful advocate,
a lawyer. to stand and to speak for you,
to answer the charges for you, to present your case in the way
that is most convincing of your innocence. And God says, we have
an advocate who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is it that he
pleads? What is it that he pleads so
that the guilty go free? He pleads the fact that he has
paid the debt and there is no more charge to bring. Who shall
lay any charge to the elect of God? For Christ has died. There
is no charge to bring. Satan, the accuser of the brethren,
is completely disarmed. Who is it that's going to stand
for us, for we have no strength in ourself? Who is going to be
the guarantor of this covenant? You know when, often you will
find that when you make a legal arrangement, maybe to rent some
property or something like that, you need, for the agreement,
you need somebody to stand as a third party guarantor, so that
if you fail to keep your part of the bargain, the guarantor
steps in for you. Christ is such a guarantor. He
is the surety of the covenant. He is the one who guarantees
that it will succeed. When you think of death, if your
faith is in Christ, you have nothing to fear. Why? Because
you know that there is a surety who cannot fail. The scripture
says it, he shall not fail. He intercedes. He stands in our
place in the courts of the God of the universe. He is our possession. He is the possession of His people. His death as a man, for that's
why He took on Him flesh, the flesh of the children. As a man,
He took that flesh upon Him and He died a death that is your
death and my death as His people. Why do I say that? Because Paul
says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, now I live yet
not I, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live
in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. His death. because
the law demands my death the law says the soul that sins it
shall die I need to die and I look to him and I possess him and
he died and that death is my death and the law is satisfied
in all his works all of his works in his life as a man he came
and it said why was he circumcised? why was he baptized? why did
he go to all the feasts? why did he do all those things?
it says to fulfill all righteousness and in his works to fulfill all
righteousness. He is the believer's possession,
because in possessing Christ, you possess all that is necessary
for eternal peace with God. Turn over to Colossians with
me, the epistle to the Colossians, because I think this, in just
a few verses, this puts it so clearly. You see, this is the
center. This is it. When God says, I
have given you Christ as a covenant of the people, What is he given? What is it that you have already
said? He's given himself. God has given himself in a form
tangible to human sense. Let's look at it in Colossians
chapter one, verse 12, where Paul, just breaking into what
Paul's saying, he says, giving thanks to the Father, which has
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. Made us meet, qualified us. He has qualified us, who
has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated
us into the kingdom of the son of his love, is what the original
really says there. He's translated us, he's made
us citizens of the kingdom of the son of his love, the kingdom
of God. The son of his love? In whom?
In this son, in this Christ whom he has given as a covenant for
the people. In him, we his people, his elect
people, his people who are brought to hear the gospel and believe
it, in whom we have redemption through his blood. What do you
mean, Paul, redemption through his blood? Even the forgiveness
of sins, the sins that would separate you from God in hell
for eternity. We have redemption. We have the
purchase price paid. And who is he? Look, verse 15,
he is the image of the invisible God. Is that not exactly what
Hebrews tells us? He is the express image of His
person, the brightness of His glory. If you would see God,
you would look to Christ. Look to Christ, you will see
God. For He is the outshining of the being of God. He is the
image of the invisible God. The God that we cannot see, Christ
is the image. He is the firstborn of every
creature. Those who pedal error tell us that that means he's
the first created, nothing of the sort, the word doesn't mean
that, he means he's the cause of it, he's the source of it,
for it explains it in verse 16, for by him, by Christ, were all
things created. All things made by him, without
him was not anything made that was made. All things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth. visible and invisible,
spirits, whatever it might be, whether thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, listen, all things, this creation,
all of it, was created by Him, and why? For Him. For Him. Because on the canvas of this
creation, the beautiful work of gracious redemption is painted
and displayed. And He, Christ, is before all
things. He's before all things. And in
Him, by Him, all things consist. They all hold together. Upholding
all things by the word of His power, says Hebrews. And He,
Christ, is the head of the body, the church. He's the head of
His people, His kingdom. He is the beginning. He is the
firstborn from the dead. In other words, He is the first
one raised from the dead in the work of salvation, and all of
His people shall be raised in the same likeness of Him. He's
the firstborn. He's the firstfruits. And that
in all things He might have the preeminence. All things preeminent. This is Christ who is the center.
Now look at chapter 2 and verse 6. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, spiritually, by belief, by faith, so walk
ye in him spiritually, by faith, rooted and built up in him, and
established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit. People come along with their
religious theories and doctrines and all sorts of other things,
and they spoil you, because the centrality is Christ. Beware
lest they spoil you after the tradition of men, after the rudiments
of the world, and not after Christ, because Christ is all and in
all. In Him, in Christ, in this man
that we see, that John saw, that the disciples saw, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He who has seen me, said
Jesus, has seen the Father. And ye, his people, Ye his people
are complete in him. There is nothing that you need
before God. that you lack if you are in Him. You are complete. Oh, you must keep the law, you
must get yourself more sanctified. You are complete in Him. Do words mean anything? Religious
folk who might hear this, religious preachers of legalism, do you
hear what the Word of God says or will you stand and shake your
fist in the face of God and put your theories first? Ye are complete
in Him is what the Word of God says. I have no other plea. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply
to thy cross I cling, Naked come to thee for dress. Do you see
that? Do you see what the hymn writers
knew? The hymn writers knew the Gospel of Grace. Most of what
calls itself Christianity today doesn't know the Gospel of Grace.
They know a legalistic system of legal worship. You are complete
in Him who is the head of all principality and power. Everything
you need, you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. It's in Christ that these sins
of this body of flesh are put off. It's in Christ that we're
dead, that we're buried with Him in baptism. We're also risen
with Him in His resurrection through faith of the operation
of God who has raised Him from the dead, and you being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive,
quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
because He was able to, because He paid their debt, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it away, nailing it to His cross. And
chapter 3, verse 1, if ye then be risen with Christ. Are you? Are you risen with Christ? You
proclaim it to the world by being baptized. When you go down into
the water, you say, I'm identified with Christ as I go down into
the water into his death. And I come out of the water saying,
I identify with his resurrection. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on the things of the earth, for ye are dead. You're
dead, as far as this flesh is concerned, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. Your life. He's the possession
of all believers by the gift of God, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. And
then verse 11, at the very end of it, but Christ is all and
in all. Christ is the center, the pivot
point. He's the pivot point of this
space-time creation, for when the fullness of the time was
come, halfway through, God sent forth His Son made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem those who are under the law,
why? That they might receive the adoption of sons. He, Christ,
is the essential key. In Him, in His face, we see the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in His face. He
is the way, the truth, and the life. Here's the question. Is
He yours? My beloved is mine. Is He yours? You must have Christ. This is
the covenant. I have given you as a covenant
for the people. For if He is yours, you have
a covenant relationship with God that secures your peace in
eternity, your bliss in eternity in heaven. I'm going to have
to be very brief because I've spent all the time on that, but
I will be brief and I'll just finish very rapidly. The people,
for the people, not just people in general, Christ was given
by the Father for a covenant of the people, the people called
of God. the people called of God. Romans
8.30, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. He's speaking
about his elect, the innumerable multitude of every tongue and
tribe and kindred on earth in all ages. When I looked, says
John, in Revelation in chapter 6, he says, then he sees all
the tribes, he sees the 144,000, which I believe speaks of those
on the earth at any one time. And then he looks, as the vision develops, and he
sees a multitude that no man can number. He doesn't just do
some math and say, ah, X times that equals, no, it's a multitude
that no man can number. This is God's elect, and this
is particular redemption, because it's a specific people, and the
payment that Christ made in his redemption is a targeted debt
payment. This is the mark of the true
gospel versus the false. Why did God do it? I'll be very,
very brief. Just a couple more sentences,
right? Verse 9 of Isaiah 49, that thou
mayest say to the prisoners, go forth. This is why. Liberty, to pronounce liberty. Freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom
from the curse of sin. Freedom from the consequences
of sin. Freedom from the hell that sin
demands. Freedom from what the justice
of God demands for sin. that thou mayest say, Go forth.
Liberty, the day of jubilee. Declare the day of jubilee to
them that are in darkness. Show yourself light, the people
that walked in darkness in the ignorance of our flesh and no
knowledge of God. He gives light. He shines light,
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. And it's all
by virtue of the covenant established, enacted, fulfilled, and completed
by Christ, the servant of God. This is the gospel. Gospel? Good
news. This is good news. Do you believe
it? Can you say, my beloved is mine? then all of Christ and the blessed
covenant of grace in him is yours. It's your possession, for God
has given him a covenant for the people. You maybe say, well
I don't know, I'm not sure, or perhaps not. Let me ask you again. You face a day of death. Thinking
about the European Union and UK, are you in a deal or no deal
situation when it comes to death and judgment? Are you in a deal
or no deal situation? Is there a covenant that will
be effectual in that day for you? Or do you want to remain
in a no deal situation? Hiding under a refuge of lies,
God calls you to hear his gospel. Call upon the name of the Lord.
and you shall be saved, whosoever calls. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved. And having called, show yourself,
make yourself known. Verse nine, show yourselves,
identify with the people of God, bear witness to his saving grace.
As he said to the man, the demonic possessed man at the tombs, he
said, go home and tell them what the son of man has done for you.
we face death in the sure and certain knowledge, if we have
Christ, if we possess Christ, this covenant for the people,
we face death in the sure and certain knowledge that it is
well with my soul, because all is guaranteed in the covenant
of God's grace in Christ. Amen.