Brother Marvin, my devotions
last two hours, so everybody get ready. First Timothy, chapter one. I'd like to read the 16th verse
right now in First Timothy, chapter one. Howbeit for this cause I obtained
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. Paul tells us that he is the
pattern. He's the form. He's the mold. Now, while we're all unique individuals,
nobody's got the same thumbprint, we're all unique individuals,
we have everything that makes us different. Difference good.
Lynn always tells me that. Difference good. If I'm a believer,
I better be poured into this mold. This is what this is. It's a mold. It's a form. Every
true believer will fit perfectly into this form or mold that Paul
speaks of. They'll follow this pattern.
Now, look back up at verse 12 and let's look at the pattern
that Paul gives us and examine yourselves in the light of this
passage of Scripture. If I'm a believer, if you're
a believer, we'll fit into this form. We'll fit into this mold. Verse 12. And I thank Christ
Jesus, our Lord. He gets all the glory in my salvation. Do you fit into that mold? Who hath enabled me, if I have
faith, it's because He enabled me to have it. If I have love
to God, he enabled me to have it. If I'm faithful, he enabled
me to be faithful. He goes on to say he enabled
me for that he counted me faithful. Now the reason he counted him
faithful is because he enabled him to be faithful. And enabling
him to be faithful, he counted him faithful. I thank Christ
Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry. I didn't put myself into the
ministry. He put me into the ministry. Wherever you are, it's
where the Lord's placed you. Do you fit in that mold? Wherever
you are, it's where the Lord has placed you. Verse 13. Who was before? A blasphemer and a persecutor
and injurious. Who was before? Look at Paul's
before. Before the Lord had done something
for him, he saw himself to be nothing more than a blasphemer
and a persecutor, injurious. You know, a lot of folks don't
seem to have a before. They've always been saved and they just
came to a more accurate knowledge of truth and they've just, there's
no before. But Paul said, who was before? A blasphemer and a persecutor
and injurious. But I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Every believer's got a but. But
God. But. I obtained mercy. God gave me mercy. Now, he's
not saying the reason I got mercy is because my sin wasn't all
that bad because what I did was ignorantly and unbelieving. He
said, because I was so ignorant, so given over to unbelief and
sin, The only way I could be saved is by the sheer, free mercy
of God in Christ Jesus. That's how I was saved. I was
ignorant and in unbelief. And God had mercy on me. Do you fit that mold? Verse 14,
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant. It's superabounded with faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. The grace of our Lord superabounded
to me. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. And wherever there's abounding
grace, you have these two things, faith in Christ and love to Christ. Faith and love. Verse 15, now this is a faithful saying. This statement had led to the
status of a saying. A saying. This was a saying in
the early church. It was something that was often
heard said by the believers at this time. This is a faithful
saying. It's something that can utterly
be relied on. You can rely on this saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. This ought to be the best news
I've ever heard. It ought to be what I embrace
most completely, this faithful saying. To everybody here, this
is a faithful saying. This is worthy of my acceptation,
my willing reception. This is worthy of your acceptation,
your willing reception. What is it? This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus, God's anointed
prophet, priest, and king, the Christ, God's Christ, who so
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. Christ Jesus. Matthew 121, Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Christ Jesus came into the world. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. The Son of God came in the flesh. Now, he was before he came. He's
the eternal son of God. But he came in the flesh and
he did what he came to do. Whatever it was that he intended
to do, that's what he did. Now, listen to what it says.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save. Now, you see the word,
but what if it said the elect? That'd be true. That'd be true,
but I'm glad it didn't say that. What if it said believers? That'd
be true, but I'm glad it didn't say that either. What's it say? Sinners. And something I'm real
thankful for. There's no adjective before the
word sinners. Didn't say repentant sinners
or believing sinners. I always found this one interesting. The old writers talked about
sensible sinners. I thought sinners were stupid.
They are, aren't they? I know what they meant by that.
You do too. But sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. No adjective. Just sinners. Now, do you fit into that group?
What's a sinner? What is a sinner? Well, a sinner
is the one who commits the sin. God doesn't put sins into hell.
He put the ones who committed the sins into hell. The sinner
is the one who commits the sin. Now, what is a sinner? A sinner
is somebody who all they do is sin. A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. A sinner is someone who cannot
look down his nose on anybody. A sinner is someone who has no
claims on God. If God passes him by, he can't
complain. That's not fair. No, just and
holy is his name. Now, if you are a sinner, Christ
came to save you. And you know what? He did what
He came to do. He came into the world to save
sinners. Did He succeed? When He bowed His mighty head
and said, It is finished, the sins of everybody He died for
were blotted out. Isn't that wonderful? Now, Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Well, did he come
to save me? Are you a sinner? That's the
only question I ask. I don't ask if you're a believing
sinner. I don't ask you if you're a lex sinner. And I'm thankful
for election. I'm thankful for believing. But
the only thing he says is sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And look what Paul says next.
of whom I not was the chief, of whom I am chief. I am chief. Albeit, verse 16,
for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ
might show forth all longsuffering, Remember how Peter said in 2
Peter 3, 15, the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation. In 2 Peter 3, 9, he said, God
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. Everybody he's longsuffering
toward, he's not willing for them to perish. They will come
to repentance. Albeit for this cause I obtain
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern, for a mold. Now, have you ever seen somebody
put up a form for concrete? Sure you have. This same word
is actually translated form in the scripture. You pour the concrete
in the form, it takes the shape of the form. Every believer We'll
enter in here. This is how God saved you. You
will fit into this form. Every believer will, without
exception. Paul says, I'm the pattern. I'm the form to them
which would hereafter believe. That's us. Right now, we're some
of those people who are hereafter believing. What a gospel. What a gospel. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that Your Gospel might be preached
in the power of Your Spirit. And Lord, we ask that You would
give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. Lord, we
ask that You would speak in power for Christ's sake. May He be
glorified and may we be enabled by Your grace to see something
of His glory, something of His beauty, something of His power,
something of His salvation. Oh Lord, that we might fit into
this mold, this pattern, this form. I bless this meeting for
Your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Brother Todd. I was
thinking when Brother Todd was talking about a center, I can't
help but think about Brother Scott. And boy, I tell you what
a privilege it was for me to be able to be here, just to be
able to talk to him. The Lord teach me something through
him. But he said this about a center.
He said a center, boy, he said that's a precious thing. I said,
there's so few of them. I thank you. Thank you, brother.
I know it's short, but we're going to take just a few minutes
break. Anybody visiting, restrooms are
downstairs if you need to go to the restroom. We'll just take
just a few minutes break. Then I'll have the ladies come.
When you hear the piano start playing, just find your seat. We'll be back in a hurry. Danville, Kentucky. So, Don,
thank you for coming. Thank you, Pastor. Well, Shelby and I have been
looking forward to this meeting. It's been a long time. I think
last time I was here about five years ago, and for her, long
time ago, 10 or 12 years ago. So, she was really excited, and
I was too. So, we're thankful for you and
for the privilege of being here. And I believe God has given me
a message for you. Let's open our Bibles to 2 Samuel
chapter 23. 2 Samuel chapter 23. There was a nervous hush over
the city of Jerusalem. everything quiet in the king's
palace as people moved about the palace. They were fearful
and anxious. The king is on his bed. His brow is cold with the sweat
of death. His palms are clammy. His pulse
is weak. David, the great king of Israel,
is dying. For 40 years he reigned as king
over Israel and the marvelous reign he had. He had led Israel
into battle after battle and over enemy over enemy from one
conquest to another. He had ruled well. He had ruled
in righteousness. He had ruled in justice. He had
ruled Israel in the fear of God. Oh, what a privilege those people
had. What a king for a nation. For 40 years, David had led the
nation both in civil righteousness and in spiritual devotion. He
had been both God's king and God's prophet, but now David
was dying. What would become of Israel?
what will become of the kingdom when the king is gone. David
had led them and David had spoken to them in the name of God, the
very word of God. What would they do without David? Would they ever hear from God
again? David's family and friends are gathered around his deathbed,
anxious to hear his last words. The people are gathered around
the palace and in the palace halls, in the streets of Jerusalem. anxious for any word from their
beloved king. Are you there? 2 Samuel 23. Now
these be the last words of David. The last words of David. That's my subject. These are
the words of David, the son of Jesse, the man after God's own
heart. What will his last words be?
What will he say? First, David describes himself,
the son of Jesse. Now, these be the last words
that David, the son of Jesse, said. He was a plain, ordinary
shepherd boy. Looking back to his humble, obscure
birth, David takes the name son of Jesse. an ordinary, plain
man. Our Lord Jesus, David's son and
David's Lord, is here. He uniformly is spoken of as
root out of dry ground, though Lord of all, yet he became the
servant of all. He became Jehovah's servant and
the servant of his people, washing his disciples' feet, serving
our interests all the days of his life, He became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. David, the son of
Jesse, the man who was raised up on high, anointed of the God
of Jacob. David never got over the wonder
of God's grace. You remember how God sent Samuel
to Jesse's house looking for a king to anoint? And Jesse brought
all of his sons in, one after the other, beginning with the
greatest. And the Spirit of God told Samuel, this is not the
man, this is not the man. And finally, he brought David
in, this young boy. This young boy no one had any
confidence in that might possibly be the one chosen of God. And
God said, Arise, anoint him, this is he. David was anointed
of God to be king in Israel. He said to his wife, Michael,
when she despised him as he leapt and danced before the ark of
God, he said, the Lord chose me. That's the reason I'm leaping
and dancing. The Lord chose me, not your daddy. The Lord chose
me, and he never got over the wonder of it. So, too, our Lord
Jesus is God's anointed, God's chosen king over Zion, God's
chosen deliverer for his people, God's chosen prophet, priest,
and king for his people. David rejoiced, saying, Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, and calls us to approach unto
thee. But God chose his Son before he chose you. He chose his Son
and chose you in his Son. So Christ Jesus is truly that
blessed man in whom all blessings reside and from whom all blessings
come. And having been obedient unto
death, accomplishing the redemption of his people, having saved his
people that were in the world, the Lord Jesus is now exalted
to the most sovereign, supreme honors of the universe. All power
in heaven and in earth is given to him. All power resides in
the hands of that man who lived and died in our room instead,
that man who sits upon the throne of glory so that he rules and
governs everything, all the time, everywhere, just for you. It's just for you. He performeth
all things for me. Can you grasp something of that?
He performeth all things for me. Then he speaks of himself
as the sweet psalmist of Israel. Robert Hawker asked, why are
the psalms of David so sweet? He said, it's because they're
psalms of redemption and grace. Redemption by Christ and grace
in Christ. They're songs of the work of
God's grace for us and the work of God's grace in us. His constant
performance of providence, his constant deliverance of his people,
his constant saving of his people. And then next, in verse 2, David
speaks about the psalms and prophecies the Lord God inspired him to
write for his people. Remember in Psalm 116, he said,
I believed, therefore have I spoken. Look at verse 2. The Spirit of
the Lord spake by me. His Word was in my tongue." Now,
truly, David speaks that concerning himself as the author of the
Psalms, as the author of many of the portions we find in the
Scripture, so that he spoke as one of those holy men who spoke
by the Spirit of God as they were moved by the Spirit of God
with absolute inspiration, giving us the very Word of God. the very Word of God. You have
it in your hands. Imagine that, Houston. God's
given you His very Word. His very Word. Oh, now, may the
Spirit of God speak by me. Put His words in my mouth for
you so that God speaks to you by His Word. Third, the great
King of Israel describes his rule, Luke verse 3. The God of
Israel said, The rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be
as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning
without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth
by a clear shining after the rain. Read as the scripture here
is written in the present tense, these two verses describe God's
servant David. He was saying the very same thing
that Paul said when Paul faced the end of his race, the end
of his pilgrimage, the end of his time in this world. I fought
a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. There's also a description here
of the one true and living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
in the Trinity of His sacred persons. There are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. Here's God the Holy Spirit, verse
2, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me. Here's God the Father,
the God of Israel said. Here's God the Son, the Rock
of Israel, spoke to me." And then fourth, look at verses three
and four again, David spoke prophetically. He spoke prophetically of his
great son and his Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. Read in the future
tense, these two verses speak of our Lord Jesus. The God of
Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over
men, that's our Redeemer. He must be just. He must be just. Don't ever allow yourself to
be enticed by the evil of your own heart and the evil of society
around you to question what God does. Carl, we're far too guilty. Who
am I to set in judgment over God? Who are you to set in judgment
over God? God comes and takes a husband
you love or a wife you love or a son or a daughter, a pastor,
a friend, mother or dad. Don't be so arrogant and so foolish
as to question what God does. What God our Savior does is right. It's right, and it's ours to
bow to it. He must be right. He must be
just. And bless God, he is. He is. He must be just, ruling in the
fear of God, ruling for the honor of God. So our Lord Jesus rules
the universe, everything in it, even our current life and situation
in this world today. He rules the universe for the
glory of God. What's going on? Christ is performing
the will of God and the glory of God. He is performing the
will of God and the glory of God, and when he gets done, all
hell is going to acknowledge it. Let us acknowledge it now. He is performing the will of
God for the glory of God, and he shall be as the light of the
morning, the sun of righteousness, when the sun shineth, even a
morning without clouds. Oh, what a morning it shall be
when he rises, not in everlasting glory alone, but when he rises
in our souls to give light and understanding in any circumstance. Then it's a morning without clouds
as the tender grass springing out of the earth by the clear
shining after the rain. Oh, what a great picture this
is of our dear Savior and his all-perfect salvation in all
his providence with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning. Then fifthly, David declares
his dying hope. This is what I want to look at
now with you for a few minutes. Although my house be not so with
God, Oh, what a word. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. For this, this covenant,
everything promised in it, everything accomplished in it, everything
performed by it. This is all my salvation. Now, preacher, can you read the
psalmist's words and make them yours? And all my desire. All my salvation and all My desire,
although he make it not to grow." When David lay on his deathbed, leaving this world, looking behind
over all the age that he had lived in this world, in all the
experiences, in all the circumstances, all the failures, all the frustrations,
all the sin, all the rebellion, all the unbelief, all the sorrow,
all the heartache, and it looked to prospect of meeting God in
his glory. This is what gave him comfort,
and this is what gave him peace. This is what rejoiced his heart.
This is what sustained his soul. Now, as God the Holy Spirit will
enable me, I want you to see four things in this declaration
of David on his deathbed, these last words of David. First, we'll
look at David's sigh and then his solace, then his salvation,
then his satisfaction. First, look at David's sigh.
He lays on his deathbed. and looks within himself, say,
well, you shouldn't do that. I'll tell you what, you tried. You tried. You've been there,
Todd. You have an immediate prospect. And I say, you shouldn't look
in yourself. Try not to. Try not to. An honest man's got
to. And he looks all around him.
And he looks on his family and his friends, God's church, his
kingdom. And he remembered many things,
things that caused him to sigh, although my house be not so with
God. Remember the Lord God said to
David concerning his house, he said, they'll never lack a man
to sit on your throne. He said, I'll make your people
to be possessors of the universe. I'll make your people to be my
people forever. And David looked over his house
and he said, hadn't been done yet. Hadn't
been done yet. Your son shall sit on the throne,
the throne of heavenly glory. And David knew full well that
was the promise. He knew full well that from his
household, from his seed, God would raise up the Christ, the
Messiah, the Redeemer of his people who would sit on the throne
of God in heaven. And David says, I haven't seen
it happen yet. Although my house be not so with God. His heart
was heavy because many in his household were in hell. Many of his household neither
knew nor worshipped God. He had for a wife a woman who
hated him and hated God, Saul's daughter Michael. He had for
a son a fellow named Adnan who raped one of his daughters. Absalom
killed his brother Adnan, and then Absalom led a revolt against
David and was expelled from the kingdom and led a revolt from
David and finally died, and David wept over Absalom. The fact is
we must be made to know that it is corruption, not grace,
that runs in bloodlines. Look at Nancy Parks from that
Rocky Mount. You married into that family.
I've known them all the lives of your in-laws. And God's taught
them something. You don't get grace from mama
and daddy. It can't be inherited from mom and daddy. Your nearest
relationship can't communicate God's grace to you. It's corruption
that runs in bloodlines. The only thing that comes from
daddy is your evil nature. The only thing that comes from
mama is your corrupt disposition. That's all. If you have any grace,
it's because God graciously intervened in your life and put his grace
in you. Only corruption runs in bloodlines. Learn this too. David's house
was not as he wished while he lived. And he didn't pretend that it
was. He said, my house is not what I wish I was leaving. And it doesn't look like it's
going to get any better. But David's house, I'm certain this
is what he has in mind more than his own family. David's house,
the nation of Israel, was God's church. It was God's typical
Israel, God's typical church, God's kingdom. It was typical
of the church and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
is the house of God. And he said, my house is not
with God as I would want it to be. Things in the church of God
are not as I would desire. The kingdom of God is not yet
as the Lord God has promised me by his spirit and in his word
that it would be. He's not yet established his
church as the kingdom of the world and made all nations subject
to his church. Things are not as I would desire
them to be. David's heart, I'm sure, was
made to sigh as well. because of his remembrance of
his own sins. His vengeance against Nabal when he changed his behavior
and acted like a madman before Achish. The matter of Uriah the Hittite. But did he know God had forgiven
him? Knowing forgiveness doesn't make the taste of sin any less
bitter. The numbering of Israel, because
of his pride, one day, Todd, God killed 70,000 of his faithful,
70,000. David found no hope and no comfort
in anything about himself, no hope, no comfort in all of his
Good deeds, no hope, no comfort in all the labors he had performed,
no hope, no comfort in all the psalms he had written, no hope,
no comfort in all the years of his labor and faithfulness as
the servant of God, the king of Israel, the prophet of God
to the children of God. No hope in any of those things.
Only reason for sorrow. That's all. Only reason for sorrow. You see, the best of men understand
that the labor of our hands, if it has Don Fortner's fingerprints
on it, it smudges everything with corruption. It smudges everything
with Don Fortner. And there's nothing Don Fortner
can do in which Don Fortner can find comfort. Nothing. No thought, no word, no work,
no feeling, no wish, no noble desire. Now look at the next
word. Yet. Now, this is another story. Here
is David's sweet solace. Yet He, the Lord God, my Savior,
the Rock of Israel, the Triune God, my Father, He hath made
with me an everlasting covenant made with me? He wasn't around. He had made
with me? God made a covenant with me,
personally, with me. But I wasn't there. Oh, yes,
I was. He made it with my surety, my
head, my Redeemer, my God, my Savior, the God-man, Christ Jesus,
in the beginning. And all that God the Father,
Son, and Spirit promised to God the Son on condition of His obedience,
He promised to me. All that He performed for His
Son and in His Son before the world began, He performed for
me and in me, in His Son. Well, I'm going to keep hammering
this away until somebody gets it. Folks say, well, that's the
way God sees things. Come here. I'll tell you a secret.
Are you listening? However God sees things, that's
how they really are. However God sees things, that's
how they really are. That's how they really are. He
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
insure, for this is all my salvation. and all my desire, although he
make it not grow." Now, let me tell you, in time
of trouble and sorrow, there is no pillow for your aching
head, no balm for your breaking heart, no solace for your sorrowful
soul like covenant grace. Here are old paths wherein God's
people find rest. Here are the still waters beside
which the good shepherd leads his sheep and causes them to
lie down. Here are the green pastures upon
which the Son of God feeds our souls." David knew something
about covenant mercy. His bosom friend, Jonathan, and
he made a covenant before Jonathan died. He made David swear to
him that he would be merciful to his household, that he wouldn't
destroy his house. And you remember how David sent and fetched Mephibosheth
and made Mephibosheth to eat at the king's table as one of
the king's sons all the days of his life. And every time David
looked at Mephibosheth, all he could see was Jonathan. That's
all he could see. And every time God looks at you,
Every time God looks at me, you who are His, you who are born
of His Spirit, you who believe His Son, every time God looks
at you, all He can see is His Son. All He sees, His Son. This covenant, John Gill spoke
of it on his deathbed. Let me read this to you. He wrote
in a letter to his nephew just before he died, I depend wholly
and alone upon the free, sovereign, unchangeable love of God, the
firm and everlasting covenant of grace, and my interest in
the persons of the sacred trinity for the whole of my salvation,
and not upon any righteousness of my own, nor on anything done
by me under the influences of the Holy Spirit, not upon any
services of mine which I had been assisted to perform for
the good of the church do I depend, but upon my interest in the persons
of the Trinity, the free grace of God and the blessings of grace,
strengthening to me through the blood and righteousness of Christ
as the ground of my hope. These are no new things to me,
but what I have been long acquainted with, what I can live by and
die by. And then he said, this you can
tell to any of my friends. This is my hope. God's covenant. God's grace. This covenant is
a covenant of pure grace. Pure grace. Not in any way like
what's called the covenant of law or covenant of works. that
covenant made with Moses and the children of Israel at Sinai
where God said, do this and I'll do that, do this and I'll do
that, you obey and I'll bless, you do this and I'll reward.
Not that at all. This covenant is totally unlike
that. This is a covenant where everything
depends on nothing in you, where everything depends entirely upon
the obedience of the one with whom the covenant was made, Jesus
Christ our Savior. Turn to Psalm 89. Let me show
you. Psalm 89. Verse 19. Then spakest thou in
vision to thy Holy One and saidest, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. That's our Savior. I have exalted
one chosen out of the people. Verse 20. I have found David,
now wherever you read David here, read Christ, that's what we're
talking about. I have found Christ my servant. With my holy oil
have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established.
Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact
upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat
down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him."
Verse 24, now watch this. But my faithfulness and my mercy
shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I'm going to make him mighty in my name. I will set his hand
also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall
cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Also I will make him my firstborn." My firstborn. The law of the
firstborn was all about him. He's the firstborn. higher than
the kings of the earth. Now watch verse 28. My mercy
will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him. And now it begins to talk about
you and me. His seed also will I make to endure forever, his
throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law,
and walk not in my judgments." Brother Todd has just told us
plainly, we have, we do, and we will. If they break my statutes
and keep not my commandments, if any man say it, then will
I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes. Oh, God will get you. You've
misread the passage. He got His Son. The chastisement
of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.
God's corrections of us are not chastisements to punish sin,
but God's correction of His people are acts of love for His children
whom He's determined to correct. He punished our sins and our
substitute. Read on. Verse 33. Nevertheless, what
a great word, my loving kindness, Will I not utterly take from
them? That's not what it says, is it?
My lovingkindness, will I not utterly take from him? Oh, children of God, the God
of glory can no more withdraw his lovingkindness from you than
he can from his son. My lovingkindness, will I not
utterly take from him? nor suffer my faithfulness to
fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that
is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not lie unto Christ. His seed shall endure forever.
His throne is the sun before me. It shall be established forever
as the moon, and as the faithful witness in heaven." That word, seelah, listen to
the shining. Pause and roll this over. Turn
to Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah 31. Now the statements
here made in Jeremiah 31 clearly have reference to you and I who
are God's Israel, and you don't have to guess about that. If
you read the eighth chapter in the tenth chapter of the book
of Hebrews, you'll find Jeremiah 31 quoted by the apostle writing
in the book of Hebrews telling us this is God's covenant with
His people today. This is His new covenant. Jeremiah
31, 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. A new covenant. Now, people foolishly
had the idea that's talking about new in point of time, and that's
not the case at all. This new covenant was made before
the old covenant. This new covenant was made with
Christ before the world began, 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 and 10,
Ephesians 1, verses 3, 4, 5, and 6. It was made with Christ
before the world began, but it is newly revealed, and it is
always new in the experience of it, and it's new to you when
you're born in God's kingdom. I'll make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 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 break, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the Lord." Verse 33. But this shall be the covenant
I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write
it in their hearts. I'll make them new creatures.
I'll give them a new nature. They'll be made partakers of
the divine nature in the new birth. I will cause them to love
what they once hated. I will cause them to cherish
what they once despised. I'll put my law in their inward
parts. I'll write it on their hearts so they will delight in
the law of God after the inward man. And I will be their God
and they shall be my people. They shall teach no more every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord. Wait a minute, that's what you and Brother Don are doing
here this weekend, teaching us. Not quite the same. This is what
the Lord God is saying. They shall all be taught of God.
Every one of them will know Me. Every one of them will know Me.
As they are taught of God, God reveals Himself to them in the
face of His Son. For they shall all know Me. You
see that? It helps a whole lot to read
the next line. from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more." This is an everlasting
covenant, God says. Everlasting. In the New Testament,
the word everlasting and the word eternal both come from exactly
the same word in the original. But the translators of our King
James Bibles wisely translated it sometimes eternal, sometimes
everlasting, because everlasting has the idea of that which we
experience in time continuing forever. Eternal referring to
that which is eternal, done from eternity, accomplished in eternity,
continuing through eternity. This covenant is everlasting
both ways. It reaches back before time was and reaches beyond the
scope of time, and all that's intervening, everything that
intervenes from the beginning to the end in this thing called
creation, in this thing called the earth, is but the outworking
of this covenant in time. For the glory of God, that all
creatures may know He indeed is God, this covenant is ordered. Ordered. What does that mean? Ordered. Everything is according
to precise, accurate purpose. Everything comes to pass exactly
according to divine stipulation. Everything is done exactly as
God himself would have it done in all places throughout time
because of this covenant. by which God exercises wisdom
and prudence in all things, and it's sure, ordered, and sure. God ordered it, and when God
ordered it, that made it sure. Turn to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. It will be performed. Its blessings are sure to all
who trust God's song. Many of you who hear my voice
right now walk through those doors, rebels, without hope,
without God, without Christ, without faith. I bid you now
trust the Son of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and go home Rightfully claiming every promise of God in the covenant. You mean I can go home and rightfully
claim? I'm not talking about these Pentecostal
fools who tell you to claim a million dollars. I'm talking about claiming
eternal life. I'm talking about rightfully
claiming righteousness and peace and redemption and forgiveness.
Rightfully so. because this covenant is what
God promises to every believer. Read with me. Isaiah 65. Don't
take my word for it. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye buy and eat ye. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me. and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness." I know we live in this skinny
age. Everybody wants to be skinny.
I never did desire that, and I succeeded. Look here, look here. When I
get up from the dinner table, you ladies, I thought I'd be
at your table. I'm always satisfied. I never
go away hungry. There's something to be said
for this. Delight in self and facts. That is taking in everything
you can. Taking in everything until there's
nothing more wanted. Taking in everything until there's
nothing more desired. No, I don't want another thing. That's all I want. Read on now. Incline your ears and come unto
me. Here in your soul shall live.
Now here's the fatness I'm talking about. God says, God says, God
says to David Wright, you come to me right now. You come to
me right now and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you. Even the sure mercies of David. Look at verse 7. Let the wicked
forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him
return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him to our God
for he will abundantly pardon. Verse 12, For ye shall go out
with joy, and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the
hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the
trees of the field shall clamp their heads. The whole world
will be different to you, everything different. Instead of the thorn
shall come up the fir tree, instead of the briar shall come up the
myrtle tree. Pastor Starnaker mentioned to
a former pastor, our dear friend, Brother Scott Richardson, a little
bit ago. You'll remember this. He said
so many times that there's no bad news since we got the good
news. God took away the thorns and
briars for us. It's all goodness now. It's all
goodness. Read on. And it shall be to the Lord for
a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off." Now,
back at our text. Hold your hands and come back
to Jeremiah and back to our text. We're at Jeremiah 32 now. Here in our text, here's David's
salvation. This is all my salvation. This is all my salvation. Now,
I could just hear somebody say, But Christ is all our salvation,
that's exactly right. But God's work is all our salvation,
that's exactly right. But God's covenant is all our
salvation, that's exactly right. You can't distinguish these things.
Christ Jesus is the covenant. God said, I will give thee for
a covenant to the people. And all his work is part of him. It all flows from him. This is
all my salvation, David said. All right, look here in Jeremiah
33, verse 38. And they shall be my people,
and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and of their children after them. And that's not talking about
your physical seed. He's talking about those who are born in the
kingdom following you. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. Now watch this. This is my covenant that I will
not turn away from them to do them good. I will not turn away
from them to do them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me." I hear lots of others talk about
perseverance of the saints, and we recognize that the righteous
shall hold on his way. He that hath clean hands will
wax stronger and stronger. I recognize he that endureth
to the end shall be saved. Man puts his hands in the plow
and looks back. He's not fit for the kingdom of God. I recognize
all those things. But most people make this idea of perseverance
to be something that's totally dependent on you. You've got
to, oh, you've got to hang on and hold out and work and be
good. Now, do that. Do that. Doctrine and error, you hang
on and hold out and do the best you can, but nothing depends
on you. Nothing depends on you. If it did, you'd be in hell in
a heartbeat. Me, too. Me, too. We believe in the preservation
of the saints because we believe in the perseverance of grace.
God says, I'll not depart from them to do them good and I'll
put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. I'll give them eternal life and
they shall never perish. But what if they shall never
perish? But what if they shall never perish? But what if, did
you hear him, they shall never perish? They don't. I'll not
depart from them to do them good. Turn to 2 Timothy. I referred
to it just a moment ago. I place all my hope for time
and eternity upon this blessed covenant and Christ my surety. You see, in the covenant, before
the world began, the Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
trusted to Christ the Mediator, that one who would come in human
flesh. He stood before God as the God-man
Mediator before the world began, though he had not yet assumed
human flesh. He stood there as our Mediator before the world
began. And the Lord God trusted to his
Son all his people and all his glory upon condition of his obedience
unto death. And when He came at the end of
His days, He said, This commandment have I received of My Father,
I lay down My life for the sheep. Therefore doth My Father love
Me, because of His obedience, as the God-man mediator. And
that's the reason the Father holds us in His grace. You see,
when the Father struck hands with the Son in the covenant,
God Father, Son, and Spirit ceased to look to you who are his for
anything. God doesn't look to me for anything.
If he did, he wouldn't get anything. He looks to his Son for everything
from whom he gets perfect righteousness and complete satisfaction of
him or ye in Christ Jesus who of God has made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. This
is all my salvation, all my desire. Look here in 2 Timothy chapter
2, chapter 1 rather, verse 9. God hath saved us. I didn't pay much attention when
I was in school, but I believe that E.D. at the end of the thing
is past tense. I believe that's talking about
something that was done in the past. Any grammar teachers correct
me with that? That's past tense, isn't it? God hath saved us and
called us. An unusual word for called. Doesn't
mean to call to dinner. Doesn't mean to call to the marriage
feast. It means to name. God has saved us and named us. He named us his sons in Christ
before the world began with a holy naming, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, now watch
it, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. I like that. I like that. Somebody says, well, that's hard-shelled
doctrine. I don't care if it's Buddhist doctrine. It's true. I heard a paperstone television
last night about 3 o'clock. Someone turned the thing off
and went to bed. It said something about Jesus being God, our Redeemer.
I believe that just because he said it doesn't make it wrong.
I believe that. God has saved us. and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in a covenant
head, in a surety, before the world began, Christ Jesus the
Lord. But what happens when God says
that, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light by the gospel? He came and gave you light and
then He calls you to see the light. He gave you life and calls
you to see the light. He calls the light of the glory
of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ to shine in your
hearts so that you're made to appreciate what God did for you
from eternity and does for you in time and does for you to eternity. This is God's covenant grace.
Here's David's satisfaction. Last statement. This is all my
desire. Matthew Henry said, let me have
an interest in this covenant and the promises of it, and I
have enough. I desire no more. You see, to
be an heir of the covenant means I'm chosen of God. I'm redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ. I'm forgiven of all sin. I'm
justified. I'm born again. I'm sanctified.
I'm an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. To be an heir
of the covenant. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. To be an heir of the covenant. I'm not looking for something
to say, I want you to hear me. To be an Arab cousin means that all is well. All is well. All is well. All is well. All the time. Hebrews 13, 20. Now, the God
of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, That
great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will.
Working in you, that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.