In all felt dependence upon the
Lord for His gracious help, I would direct your prayerful attention
to the epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 8, verses 10 through
12. The epistle to the Hebrews, chapter
8, verses 10 through 12. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the
greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. These words you will recognize
are taken from the chapter that we have read together this evening
from the prophecy of Jeremiah. And how wonderful it is when
we come to the Word of God that Scripture confirms Scripture. There is no variation in the
Word of God. because it is the Holy Spirit
who inspired men of old to write down these things for the edification
of God's people. And how we see time and again
in the New Testament that the old is referred to. And I believe
this should be a great help to us in understanding that the
God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Your pastor this afternoon was
quoting from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ being there, that is, from the
very beginning, from all eternity, but there when the world was
made. goes on to say that by him that
is by Jesus Christ all things were created and without him
nothing was made that was made and so he is the author of these
things the author of all things concerning his people because
as we mentioned in prayer the Lord God, the Father Almighty
chose a people whom he would deliver from the wrath that is
to come and make no mistake about it that those who are out of
Christ will be lost out of Christ my God is a consuming fire And
so the vital necessity is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that is, in a relationship with him. That we might know him and
the power of his crucifixion, of his resurrection, of his ascension,
of his Godhead in heaven, our High Priest, who ever liveth
to intercede on our behalf. And that we may pray unto this
God in heaven, this Lord Jesus Christ, as also it was mentioned
this afternoon, co-equal with the Father and the Spirit, one
God, world without end. Then, in these verses before
us, the Lord, through the instrumentality of the Apostle, speaks of a covenant. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days. What are we to understand by
the covenant? I believe that in the scriptures
basically there are two covenants the covenant of works which we
have from the beginning of this world and you remember how it
was distinguished between Cain and Abel that Cain offered up
a sacrifice unto God without blood a sacrifice of his own
construing of his own making and this sacrifice was rejected
but there is the covenant also of grace and that covenant of
grace proceeds because it was from all eternity and will be
to all eternity And like the priesthood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as is mentioned in the type of Melchizedek, it is without
beginning and without ending. And all of God's people are under
that covenant. That covenant ordered in all
things and sure. That covenant that can never
be altered not by God himself, can never come to an end, can
never be overridden, can never be confused, but will stand forever. And here is the believer's hope
in that covenant of grace, that covenant of mercy, where God
undertook to save his people. And the Lord Jesus Christ being
complicit in this offered himself, made himself willing to come
and deliver his people. And it is said concerning him,
yea he loved the people. And the Lord's people are loved
with an everlasting love. Therefore in loving kindness
does he draw them. Draws them unto himself in this
life that they might serve and follow him. Draws them to heaven
above that they may be part of that one church which soon will
be complete and when every last elect vessel of mercy is safely
gathered in. But we might consider the covenant
that was given to Israel when they came out of the land of
Egypt, when the law was given through Moses unto the people. And it was a covenant that was
dependent upon two parties. It was dependent upon God on
the one hand, And it was dependent upon man on the other hand. Now when Moses first delivered
that law unto the people, they recognised, they fully assented
unto it. They said this law is a good
law. And they also assented that they
would keep the law of God. But how miserably they failed. how very quickly they turned
away from God to the idols of the nations round about them. They forgot the one who had given
them a mighty deliverance and brought them forth from under
the hand of Pharaoh. And when they came into difficulties,
instead of turning to God, they murmured against God's servant,
and effectively against God himself. And they remembered all the advantages
that they had in the land of Egypt, where they were sustained,
where they had water, to drink and wine, etc. But they forget
also the discomforts, the burden that was laid upon them, a burden
too heavy for them to bear. And it was God with a mighty
hand that brought them forth in that miraculous way. But then
in the wilderness, in the desert, The Lord fed them upon angels'
food, but they murmured even against that. They said, we loathe
that light bread. And so we see a people that were
rebellious unto God. Rebellious thou wert, rebellious
thou hast been, rebellious thou art still. And man is a rebel
against the Most High God. They will not submit themselves
under His authority. Man thinks that he knows better
than God, who is God, that we should obey Him. And this is
a language, and you know if you will accept it, it's a language
of your heart. and of my heart by nature but it is a mercy that God will
save his people and the prophecy was for a latter time for this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days The house of Israel is so often through the scriptures
set forth as the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ. This is what this volume that
we have in front of us was written for. Although it may refer to
the wickedness of man, the unbelief of countless thousands, yet nevertheless
it was written for the benefit of God's people, to help them,
uphold them, encourage them, bring them through this desert
land into the land of milk and honey that God had provided for
them. And so these things were to be
fulfilled. And when the Lord says, I will,
who can stay his hand, who can say unto him, what doest thou? And what the Lord wills and purposes,
he will effect in due season, according to his own time and
purpose. And the Lord will gather whomsoever
he will, whensoever he will, and howsoever he will. because
we have to recognize that this God in heaven is a sovereign
God, sovereign ruler of the skies, ever gracious, ever wise. All things are in His hands. All things are according to His
purpose. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
teaches the people and says to them, not a hair of your head
shall fall to the ground without your heavenly Father's knowledge,
then see the minute detail that God, as it were, goes to for
the encouragement of his people. And if one hair from our head
falling to the ground is known by our God, what about all the
providences of our lives? What about all the circumstances
which come upon us from time to time? You know, young people,
they grow up and they get married. Now, the Scriptures say a good
wife is from the Lord. The Lord provides wheresoever
He will or purposes a husband or a wife. Also, the gift of
children is from the Lord. The Lord gives as many as He
believes or thinks is suitable for each person. and we have
an accountability to bring up our children aright faithfully
before God and before man. For this is a covenant that I
will make with the House of Israel after those days. And I believe
those days speak of the Old Testament. And covenant may in this respect
be set forth as a testament the Old Testament and the New Testament,
the Old Order and the New Order. And the days are determined by
the Lord that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be fulfilled. Now, if you examine from the
book of Genesis right the way through to the end of Malachi,
how many times the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to. And that
first promise that was given to Adam and Eve concerning the
serpent bruising his heel, Christ's heel, that Christ would bruise
the serpent's head. And so through all the types
and shadows that we have in the Old Testament, Christ is set
forth. I've often thought of the detail
that is given in the books of Moses. concerning the erection
of the tabernacle and all the instruments that were to be used
there and the articles that were to be placed within the tabernacle. And Moses is told to do exactly
according to the pattern that was given unto him in the mount. Moses was a man of God, no doubt. And yet he could not go outside
of God's remit. He had to faithfully follow what
God has said. And it is incumbent upon us that
we follow the Word of God. Now God has spoken in His Word. This is the Word of God to us. We have a very solemn warning
at the end of Scripture that nothing is to be added and nothing
is to be taken away. Well today, sadly, solemnly,
we find churches everywhere adding to and taking away from the Word
of God, introducing things that God has never ordered and taking
away from the service of God those things which are to the
honour and glory of His great and holy Name. And so the Lord
Jesus Christ came to fulfil everything that God demanded, as he says
in the volume of the book, it is written of me, I come to do
thy will, O my God, thy law is within my heart. Now we might
speak of the laws of God in a moment, I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts, but we just need to consider
that Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament types and shadows. And we could speak at great length
upon these types and shadows. Think of Abraham and Isaac, and
Isaac inquires of his father, where is the offering? what is
to be offered unto God. We've got the wood, we've got
the fire, we've got everything necessary, but the one essential
thing is missing. We need an offering. And Abraham,
under the grace of God, says, God will provide himself a land. And so we see this mapped out
through the Old Testament scriptures the promise of Christ's coming. You cannot read surely through
the book of Psalms without seeing the Messiah there, the Messianic
Psalms as we call them. Nor can you read through the
book of Isaiah, which is probably the greatest book concerning
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in those two books
alone, we have Christ in his birth, in his labours, ministry,
in his sufferings, in his death, in his resurrection, in his ascension,
and in his glorification. As we have it in Psalm 25, lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And the question
is posed, who is this King of Glory? And the answer is given,
the Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory. So this covenant is a new covenant, for this is
a covenant that I will make. What are we to understand then
when he says, a covenant I will make? suggesting that this covenant
had not been made before. As I said right at the beginning,
I believe that basically there are but two covenants in the
Word of God. Now don't take me as a debtor
for a word. We have the covenant of salt,
for instance. There are various covenants mentioned,
but these are the two foundational covenants, if you like, found
in the Word of God. And the covenant that was given
at Sinai, given unto Moses for the people, really is a word, a covenant of works, Do
this or die. Do this or die. If we do not
keep the law, we are a debtor to the law. And so it was necessary
that one should come who was able and willing to live a life
free from sin and obedient to the very last jot and tittle
of God's law. And Christ fulfilled that office. He lived perfectly upon this
earth. And even Pilate, when he gave
judgment, had to say, I find no fault in him. He was, He is,
He ever will be the pure undefiled Son of the Living God. Now this
Christ is set up in the New Testament and it is that New Testament
consideration of the covenant. As I said the types and shadows
are being fulfilled. the law of God given in ordinances
has passed away. They were there. The offering
that the high priest would bring into the holiest of all once
every year was no longer necessary. Those high priests, they lived
for a season upon this earth and it is recorded of some of
them at least and he died. They lived until they died and
death took away the ability to fulfill that office so that another
high priest had to be instituted to continue on and I think I
read that it's something like a hundred high priests through
the Old Testament Scriptures to the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and his finished work at Calvary. And so the Lord Jesus
Christ is that new covenant, that new covenant of blood, that
one sacrifice offered for sin once and forever. And of course
the high priest had to continue year by year. There was a daily
sacrifice which continued every day of every year. There was
a continuation of these things simply because of the blood of
bulls and goats could not take away sin. They were a representation
They were a finger, if you like, pointing to something that was
required, something that was necessary. They pointed, as I
say, to that one perfect sacrifice. And Christ was the one who fulfilled
that commission. that He came to lay down His
life for His friends. He came at the Father's behest. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. After those days, so a new economy
comes in. a new covenant or a covenant
renewed by the merits of Jesus Christ. A covenant now set before
the people that was not dependent upon them, but dependent upon
their mediator. We have a representative if we
are the Lord's people. We have one who stands between
our sinful souls and God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
mediator of the new covenant and he has fulfilled all things
on the behalf of his people. And as it is said, now there
is nothing to pay. payment God cannot twice demand
once at his bleeding shorty's hand and then again at mine that
would be injustice but the Lord accepts his people in the beloved
in his beloved son the son of his eternal love and he loves
his people in that same way. He loves them through him perfectly. They are loved and they love
in return. But then he says, I will put
my laws into their mind and write them into their hearts. What are we to understand by
the laws of God? You know, there is again in the
majority of churches this where it is not necessary to keep the
law of God. And so we find churches do no
longer keep the Lord's Day as being Old Testament law. But let us go back. Who created
the world? Who appeared unto God's people
as the angel of the covenant? Was it not the Lord Jesus Christ? And the Lord Jesus Christ was
in everything. Without me, he says, there was
nothing made, there was nothing done. The law was there. So who gave
the Old Testament law? And of course the simple and
easy answer to that is God. Well, is Christ God? That Christ
is God I can avouch, and for his people cares, since I have
prayed to him as such, and he has heard my prayers. Christ
is God. He ever was, he ever will be. Now, let us ask another simple
question. Has God changed? Doesn't He say,
I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Do we not read later on in the
Hebrews, Jesus Christ the same, the same, yesterday and today
and forever. there is no change with him.
Therefore, how can we say that the laws of God are now redundant? They're no longer necessary. So does it mean I can commit
adultery? Does it mean I can steal? Does
it mean I can murder? Of course not. The law of God
still stands. what has passed away is the ceremonial
law. And again that ceremonial law
was only instituted for the benefit of God's ancient people before
the coming of Christ and also to show as a picture as it were
of what was necessary. And Christ has fulfilled everything
in that respect. So when it says I will put my
laws into their mind that is I will give them understanding
of my law. I firmly believe that when a
person is truly converted They are given a spirit of discernment. They are able to distinguish
between good and evil, between right and wrong, between truth
and error. We may not have complete understanding
of all things contained in the Word of God. I don't believe
anyone does have that complete understanding. But we have sufficient
to be able to show us that which is true and that which is a lie
and if a minister comes and stands into this pulpit and preaches
error I believe that there are those here with sufficient discernment
to say stop we don't want error we want the truth Satan has been
a liar from the very beginning And it is Satan that sears the
minds of men and women and brings them under his control. His whole
device and desire is to bring them into evil and bring them
at last to hell. Satan hates anything of a true
nature and will try and destroy anything that is good. Well, our minds then are active
every day in our daily affairs, in our businesses, in our family
life and in the church itself. We are given a reasonable mind
that we might have some understanding. But then he goes on and or also
write them in their hearts. Well, our hearts are the seat
of our affections. This is where love and hatred
come from. They emanate from the heart. But the Lord has said concerning
his people, a new heart also will I give unto you. And so
at conversion, a new heart is given unto God's people. Now let us understand that a
child of God who's been renewed by the Spirit of God has two
natures. He has still his old nature and
he now has a new nature. And there will be a conflict
from that moment on till his dying day. The old nature wants the dominance
and seeks that it might be so. But the new nature is after God
and after godliness. That we might live a holy life. And as I say, there is that conflict
between the two. And Satan is very subtle. He knows us probably better than
we know ourselves. He knows our vulnerabilities. He knows our weaknesses. He knows
where to attack us for the most harm to us. But the mercy is
that the Lord said He will write them in their hearts. He will
write them with an indelible pen, write them in a way that
it can never be erased, never be taken away. So once the work
is done, it cannot be reversed. We don't believe, as many do
in the doctrine of the Church today, that you can be saved
today and lost tomorrow. know once in Christ in Christ
forever thus the eternal covenant stands and none shall pluck us
out of the hands of Christ and as he goes on to say and none
shall pluck us out of the Father's hand which is greater than I
so it is a great mercy if we know the law of God if we understand
what it means and if we have it in our hearts because this
was a problem with the Old Testament Israel that they might have had
it in their minds but it wasn't written upon their hearts and
so they soon became wayward as it is recorded concerning them. Forty years long was I grieved
with this generation and said, they do always err in their hearts,
they have not known my ways. And so many perished in the wilderness,
they came short of the promised land. and really if we examine
it there was only a remnant that ever came into that promised
land and so it is a remnant that shall
be saved the question is will there be many when the Lord comes
and I believe the answer there is there will be very few See
the church is declining at an alarming rate, a great falling
away in this our day and generation, wickedness appearing such as
could not perhaps been dreamt of not so many years ago. And the churches have taken that
attitude, well we can worship God however we like, and we can
do whatever we like because God is love, he loves everyone therefore
we're all saved. What does the Bible teach that?
Does it set that doctrine forth? No, it doesn't make God's people
lawless. They become obedient and as David
says in his Psalms Read through Psalm 119 and in various expressions
he speaks, oh how I love thy law, how I love thy commandments,
how I love thy testimonies, etc. Because it was written in his
heart. He loved the truth and he wanted to walk it out. He
wanted to be an instrument for good in this world and I believe
every child of God who is possessed by the Spirit of God will desire
to walk out the profession of their faith without wavering. But even more than this, and
I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. Are
we unable to say that this God is my God forever and forever? He will be my guide even unto
death. This God, my God. What a profession
of faith that is. To believe that there is a union
between God and us. How can it be? Why me? Why gracious God? Why was I made
to hear his voice and enter whilst there's room while thousands
make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? Why me? What is there in me that God
should have compassion upon me? Well, the Apostle in writing
to the Galatians He says, and such were some of you. Such were
some of you. And when you read that catalogue
of what they were drawn out of and what they were drawn into,
then how great is the compassion of God towards sinners. It is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. not the righteous sinners Jesus
came to save and so to know that this God
is our God also gives us that confirmation that we are his
people there is a people that are known
unto God a people out of every nation kindred and tribe and
tongue old people, young people, rich people, poor people. God
is no respecter of persons in that. And you will, if you examine
any one of those people, you will find nothing but sin in
them. Nothing but sin I, thee, can
give. Nothing but grace shall I receive. So all the praise and honour
and glory will be unto Him. Think, what a blessing to be
adopted into the family of God, to be the sons and daughters
of the Most High. You know, children of a privileged
family have many benefits, many benefits which rank and file
and know nothing of. There is a family on earth whose
father fills the throne, But these are the sons of the most
noble birth because they are born again of the Spirit of God
into that relationship which can never be broken. That relationship
with God which shall be forever and ever. This is a great blessing
to know that the Lord has set us among the sons He's made us
His people and we are the objects of His eternal choice. When one
speaks of amazing grace, surely it is amazing that grace, that
compassion, that love that the Lord Jesus Christ so had toward
His people when they were wallowing in their own blood, in their
filth and in their shame. It's like the man that went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and what a downhill slide it was,
from the Lord's chosen city to that city that was accursed. And there he falls among thieves. and the priest and the Levite
pass him by on the other side the sight is too obnoxious for
them and they have no interest that they should save this man
but then the Samaritan comes and he comes where he is and
he attends unto his wounds pouring in the oil and the vinegar and
sets him upon his own beast and takes him to the inn to be cared
for. What a beautiful type we have
there of the church. The Lord Jesus Christ as that
good Samaritan comes where his people are, shows himself propitious
toward them, not offended in their blood and in their stain,
in their guilt and in their dying state, but willing to deliver
them from all evil and set them free, and at liberty that they
might serve and follow him. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. Now some people have taken this
that once they're converted they no longer need to sit under the
preaching of the gospel. I have a young man in America
that calls me quite often and he's truly instructed in the
Word of God. If I mention a word, he'll tell
me the chapter and verse where it is. He has a knowledge in
the head, but he knows nothing of it in the heart, sadly. He
knows, in an academic way, the Scriptures, but he doesn't know,
I don't believe, in a saving way. But here you see, there
may be those, I believe there are those, in my congregation
here tonight, who are better taught than I am. But you still
need the preaching of the Gospel. You still need those words of
encouragement, those words of comfort, those words of advice.
And even if it be words of rebuke, these are necessary for our spiritual
growth. that we might grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We
ever need the preaching of the Gospel. We ever need to be taught
of God and God has instituted the preaching of the Gospel so
that it should not be despised. How beautiful are the feet of
those that preach the Gospel of peace. For I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. God's wonderful, propitious thoughts
toward his people. His mercy. Thy mercy, O God,
is the theme of my psalm. as we have cried out God be merciful
to me a sinner God has shown his wonderful compassion and
there are those who have gone home justified justified because
Christ has had compassion upon them and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more You know, we can look back
over our lives and we remember the sins of our youth. We remember
the sins of our omissions, the sins of our commissions, sins
of every sort and size. And these are a plague at times
to us. As David said, remember not against
me the sins of my youth. David obviously had those sins
in sight, he knew all about them. But what does God say? He says
in another place, I will cast all thy sins behind my back and
look upon them no more, again, forever. If our sins are taken
away, what does it mean? It means we have peace with God
and afterward the plenitude of heaven. Peace, perfect peace
in this dark world of sin. The blood of Jesus whispers peace
within. We may be in terrible conflict.
There may be many troubles and trials in our lives. We may have
bodily afflictions, we may have many disappointments in this
life, but no one, but no one can take away the peace of God
once He has given it to us. You know, in everything, He has
all the honour and all the glory. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name be glory given. It is our desire that
we might lift a precious Christ. As Moses lifted up the servant
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. But whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. You know, we have before
us a most precious Gospel. I trust that each one here will
value it more and more as the days of their lives go on and
read the Scriptures, for these are they which testify of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have Christ Jesus written
on every page. Oh, do find him out, because
that is profitable for you. You know, I mentioned this recently,
the Bereans heard the Apostle Paul, the greatest of the apostles, yet they wouldn't take his word.
And some may think, well, surely it is right we should take the
word of an apostle, and in many cases, yes, of course it is.
But they took it to the word of God to see if these things
were so. And whoever may be preaching,
whether it's your pastor, a visiting minister, one of your own ministers
preaching to you, take it to the word of God. Because if they're
a faithful minister, which I believe they are, then it will bear scrutiny. And it will be a confirmation
to you that what has been set before you is honest and good
and true. But we must leave it there, may
the Lord be pleased to bless his own word to us for his great
name's sake. Amen. Now concluding, here is hymn
number 720, and the tune is Holy Warfare, 471. Endless blessings
on the land, broken hearts repeat the same. His dear heart was
broken too when he bore the curse for you. Your dread crimes once
pierced his heart, sank his soul in vengeful smiles. I don't know if you don't sweat and see. This is not your song.