All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis chapter 9. Genesis 9. The Lord gave instruction through
the prophet Isaiah. And he said in Isaiah chapter
40 verses 1 and 2, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Speak to her heart and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished. The spiritual battle is over. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. And you cry unto her that her
iniquity is pardoned. You tell my people that all of
their sins, past, present and future are forgiven. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. That word double, you've
heard me say this before, it means to fold. You tell her that
the blood of Christ covers her from all her sins. That the blood of Christ is the
atonement for her sins. Now you comfort my people. Now
for our comfort tonight, I want us to deal with a precious passage
of scripture And it's concerning the Lord being pleased to reveal
His eternal purpose to enter into a covenant, a pledge, a
covenant. He's speaking of a covenant here
with Noah totally based on the fact that God was pleased to
show mercy and compassion to whomsoever He would. Now, the
Lord has revealed in this covenant to Noah that He is not going
to cut off all flesh again by a flood. The covenant sets forth this
spiritual blessing though. The Lord has promised not to
destroy those found in his son. All that were in the ark were
preserved. All that are in Christ are preserved. The scripture starts this evening
Genesis chapter 9 verse 8, And God spake unto Noah and to his
sons with him, saying... Now, I always want to just be
careful. To just relate what a blessing
it is that the Lord speaks to His people. The scripture declares
that. We have spiritual ears, we have
spiritual eyes to see, eyes and ears that the world knows nothing
of. The scripture declares concerning
the Lord speaking, John 10, 3 and 4, to him, the porter openeth,
and the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name,
leadeth them out, And when he putteth forth his own sheep,
he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know
his voice." Now I've said this before, you've heard other preachers
say this before, but when you hear the gospel preached, and
it's consistent, you say in your heart, that's the voice of the
Lord. I related one time, I said, do you hear my voice? Now who
does this voice sound like to you? He said, well, that's marvelous.
I recognize his voice. We recognize the voice of the
Lord through the scriptures, in providence, in mercy, but
we recognize it in our heart. We hear it. So the Lord, the
scripture said, spake unto Noah. And this is what the Lord said
to Noah and his sons with him. He said in verse 9 and 10, and
I, Behold, take note of this, I establish my covenant with
you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature
that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast
of the earth with you. from all that go out of the ark
to every beast of the earth. Now, this covenant, this is a
pledge, this is a promise, this is a contract, this is a promise
of the Lord according to His will and purpose to His people. And this covenant was initiated
by God. Notice the Lord declared in verse
9, and I, behold, I establish My covenant with you. The covenant was of the Lord
and no one else shares His glory with Him. When Moses asked the
Lord, show me Your glory, listen to exactly what the Lord said. He said, I will make all my goodness
pass before thee. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. So all God's people
were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world according
to the everlasting covenant of God's grace for this reason,
that they might be holy and without blame before Him in love. So
the covenant, the pledge of God's grace concerning the redemption
and the salvation of God's people was eternally made between the
sacred persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the
Spirit, for the glory of God and for the eternal good of His
people. A covenant. God made a covenant.
A covenant is between parties. You have a covenant, you have
parties of that covenant. Someone makes a pledge. with
someone else. God made a covenant with Himself
on behalf of His people. So when He said, I made a covenant
with you, He made it on their behalf in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father and the Spirit. The holy, undivided,
three in one, engaged to save the elect, the bride, the church
from everlasting And this council of peace was eternally established,
but it was brought forth and known in time. And the way that
it's known is one way, through the preaching of the gospel.
That's how we know. How would we know that God had
eternally established a covenant of grace for a specific people. Not everyone, but for his people. Hold your place and turn to Titus
chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. Titus 1, 1 to 3. This is how we know concerning
this blessed Covenant of Grace, Titus 1, 1-3, Paul, a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness,
in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began, But hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment
of God our Savior. Look at 2 Timothy, just turn
back a couple pages, probably one page. 2 Timothy 1, verse
8 and 10. 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8,
be thou therefore Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us.
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light, through
the gospel. So this is how we know. This is how we know. God's got
a purpose. God's got a will. God's got a
counsel, an eternal counsel of grace, a covenant of grace. And
this is how we know. This covenant is the hope, the assurance of
salvation. We've read this before. 2 Samuel
23. 2 Samuel 23, this is the words
of David, you know this passage. 2 Samuel 23 verse 5, David said,
although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things ensured, this is
all my salvation. and all my desire, although He
make it not to grow. God Almighty has been pleased
to show mercy to David. He said He didn't show mercy
to all my family, but He made a covenant with me. And that
covenant is ordered, and it's sure in all things. David said
that's all my salvation. that God was pleased to show
mercy to this sinner. So God's covenant with Noah was
established for all that came out of the ark. Now that's a
picture. That's a picture of all that
were found eternally in Christ. That ark was a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Noah and all that's with
him in there is a picture of all God's elect. So the Lord
declared back in Genesis chapter 9 verse 11, He said, and I will
establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut
off anymore by the waters of a flood, neither shall there
anymore be a flood to destroy the earth, based upon the sufficiency
of Christ's sacrifice. Again, look at that ark, you
see the Lord Jesus Christ. You see that group of people
and all those animals, they're a picture. of God's elect inside
and all of their needs being met in Christ. All those animals
that you see, God supplied that for the sacrifices, for food,
He saw it was good in the beginning and He preserved it in that ark. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. So
here's everything secure in that ark. And so God told him, I will
establish my covenant, verse 11, with you. Neither shall all
flesh be cut off anymore. All of them that came through
that flood in that ark were saved, preserved. There is therefore
now no condemnation. to them which be in Christ Jesus. God's covenant with His people
is a covenant based upon that which the Lord eternally beheld. What did the Lord God Jehovah
eternally behold? Let me read you Revelation 13.8. This is what He eternally beheld. Revelation 13.8, And all that
dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written
in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Back in Genesis chapter 9 verses
12 and 13, and God said, now there's the promise. He's made
the promise. I have made a covenant with you.
I've established a covenant with you. I will not destroy this
earth again. Christ died one time. That's
what that sets forth. By one sacrifice for sin. He had perfected forever them
that are sanctified. He said, I'm not going to destroy
it again. It's going to be destroyed again. It's going to be destroyed
by fire. But that one arc that pictured
the Lord Jesus Christ suffering for his people, that one time
right there, no more. Not going to be destroyed like
that again. It's going to be a new heaven, new earth, but
not by flood. He said, now, I promise. A covenant,
I'm giving you my word, it's my pledge. It's not gonna happen. But he said in 12 and 13, God
said, this is the token of the covenant, which I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual
generations. I do set my bow in the cloud. And it shall be for a token of
a covenant between me and the earth. This is going to be the
token. This is going to be the sign. The sign. I cannot read and not think about
Brother Scott and that knife. I won't go any farther with it.
He said this is the token. This is the sign right here.
Here we have that blessed token of the Lord promising Noah, to
Noah and his sons, to all generations that will be born into this world
till time is no more. The Lord said, I do give. I have sent. I have applied my
rainbow in the cloud. He said, I have made, given you
a sign, a token from God himself to his people. He's declaring
this to all the world. All the world sees it. But his
people, he said, I'm giving you my word. And this is what you're
going to have. I'm going to send a cloud. When
I send the cloud, there's going to be a rainbow in the cloud. And he says in verse 14, and
it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that
the bow shall be seen in the cloud. Now, how gracious was
it that the Lord would tell Noah of his promise to not destroy
the earth again by fire, by water. How would Noah know that it wouldn't
happen again? Noah was a sinner just like every
other man. Noah had faults. Next time we're
going to look and see Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk. And
the Lord told him. He said, I'm not going to do
it again. And after having been in that
ark for a year, having felt that ark rolling, rocking in that
water, experiencing the sound of those torrential rains that
were outside, and surely after Noah came out of the ark, felt
the foundation of the earth again, he'd felt that foundation before.
He'd been on solid ground before. What must have gone through his
mind when the Lord said, verse 13, I do set my bow in the cloud
and it shall be for a token of covenant between me and thee.
It shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in
the cloud. like all God's sheep, he knew
something of himself. He felt the struggle of the old
man within him. And whenever we reflect upon
not only our past failings, but our failings present, we know
something of the struggles of that battle. We know something
of the old man And we know something about, but for the grace of God,
what we deserve. Have you ever caught yourself,
nobody else knew it but God, and you. I have, I tell you,
you know. Things that you've thought. And you think, how disrespectful. How disrespectful. Could I have been? And I'm sure when that cloud
came up, and Noah saw that cloud, and the weakness of his flesh,
how could he but not, for the moment, find himself doubting,
stressful? How many times have we doubted?
And we've got promise after promise. We hear the gospel, we hear the
gospel, we hear the gospel. And we know whenever that cloud
comes up, when that cloud of doubt comes up, that cloud comes
up. And Noah remembered why God poured
out that rain. Because the wickedness of man
was everywhere. Every thought of his imagination. And God sent a flood. And that
cloud comes up. And Noah knows something of himself. But there, according to the word
of the Lord, it says, it comes to pass, when I bring cloud over
the earth, that the boat shall be seen in the cloud. A rainbow. A symbol, a token of the covenant. He said, this is the token that
I'm giving you, that I made a covenant with you. I'm going to give you
something that you can see. You can behold, and here's that
token, and Noah and all like him, all God's elect, in that
token, in that rainbow, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
God's promise in Him. And when the sinners, Conscience
is dark with the clouds of doubt. And I remember, I have tried
to make a promise. I don't know if I'm saying this
right or wrong. I try to make a promise to myself or unto the
Lord. I don't want to tell you that
I'll never do something again. I don't ever want to tell the
Lord that. Because sure as a world, I make a promise, Lord, I will
never do that again. I can't keep that promise. I'd
like to. But I can't control my emotions.
I can't control my thoughts. I can't control. And here's Noah. That cloud comes up. Those struggles
immediately are there. But there's the boat. And when my conscience condemns
me, God is greater than my conscience. His Word. When we see our weakness,
and oh how often we do, how wonderful to behold by faith the suffering
Savior who gave Himself for us, the One who's promised. He said,
listen, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never Am I deserving of perishing?
Yes. I deserve it. I have never been faithful. Never. Only in Him. Only robed in His righteousness.
But also, not only does the Lord promise that when the cloud is
brought over the earth, that the bow shall be seen of Noah. Now listen, this is what it says.
It shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the
bow shall be seen in the cloud. But listen to this precious promise.
Verses 15 to 17. And I will remember my covenant. which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no
more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall
be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that's upon the earth. And God said unto Noah,
this is the token of the covenant which I have established between
me and all flesh that is upon the earth." You know, it's wonderful
that he's declared that we have his token to remember his promise. And when a believer sees a rainbow I would say, right now, that
I should never forget that eternal promise. That I should never,
I should look on that rainbow. I love a rainbow. I like rainbows. They're just
beautiful. Their colors, the soul spectrum
of a color. But let me be honest with you
and you just try to be honest with yourself. How many times
have we ever looked at a rainbow and we failed to remember? We looked at the rainbow and
we said, oh wow, look at that. Look at it. How many times have
we seen and we've forgotten? But the Lord said, He said, and
I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature, and the water shall no more become a
flood to destroy. He said, I'll look on it, verse
16, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature. It's truly a security. It's peace. of a believer that
the Lord remembers. I'm so thankful that the Lord
remembers. Because I don't have sense enough to remember. I know that I will forget, but
he never forgets. His memory infinite, his memory
immutable. But believer, our hope is not
built upon our ability to remember or to keep His promises. He says, I see it, and I remember
that I promised you, you that I chose in my Son, you that my
Son died for, you that are robed in His righteousness, saved by
my grace. I remember. I remember. Our hope is that he eternally
willed to show mercy and compassion to the objects of his love. Christ has finished the work,
his blood has answered for all our sins, and God remembers. when the children of Israel were
in Egypt, and the Lord told them to kill the lamb, put the blood
on the side post and on the lentil, and go inside the house. And
he said, I will come through tonight. And he was going to
kill the firstborn. And every family of all the animals,
the firstborn of all of them, without the blood. But he said,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. They were all on the
inside. They couldn't see the blood.
But the Lord said, I'll pass through. And when I see it, I'll
pass over. Our looking to the Lord by faith
brings great comfort to our feeble souls. But Jehovah, looking to
Him, the blessed Son, as our Redeemer and our Savior of the
sheep, He who has secured and established our salvation by
His shed blood, Jehovah looking at Him. When I see the rainbow,
when I see that token that I gave you, that's a token of my Son,
that's a token of victory, of conquering, of finished. When
I see, He said, I'll remember. Last passage of scripture, Revelation
chapter 4. John, the apostle John, is on
the Isle of Patmos. Revelation chapter 4, verses
1 to 3, he said, After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened
in heaven. You know, Christ is the door.
And if we're going to see anything, we're going to see through Him,
by Him. A door was opened in heaven. And the first voice which
I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me. Here it is. Here's the first voice. Here's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Come up hither. I will show thee
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the
Spirit. And behold, a throne was set
in heaven. And one sat on the throne, and
he that sat was to look upon like a jasper, like a sardine
stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight
like unto an emerald. Almighty God, in absolute justice,
poured out his wrath upon the sin-atoning substitute for his
people. By the shedding of his own blood,
the Lord Jesus Christ eternally justified all for whom he died. And the rainbow was, according
to John, in the sight likened to an emerald. It was precious,
beautiful, a glorious reminder of the everlasting rest and union
between the bride and the bridegroom and Jehovah's promise. He said, I will look. I'll remember. When I see the rainbow, I'll
remember. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Lord willing, by the grace of
God, may the Lord teach us, next time we look at a rainbow, there
might be one out there now. It's always after, it's always
after, after the rain, after the rain's passed, it just, there's
the rainbow. Pray that God calls us to remember,
he does, for Christ's sake, amen.