Turning to God's Word once again
I want tonight to direct your attention to words that we find
in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 22 Hebrews chapter 7 and verse
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament Think of the names and offices
that belong unto the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a remarkable
list to be found, of course, in Alexander Cruden's concordance. I still think in many ways that's
the best of all the concordances. We might have Young's analytical
concordance or Strong's exhaustive concordance. but personally I'm
still much drawn to dear old Alexander Cruden and he does
have a remarkable list there of the various names, titles,
offices that are given to the Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Scripture. Remember how he's prophesied
in Isaiah chapter 9 as wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. How there is so much
in each and all of the names that are given unto him. And here in the text, he is said
before us as the surety. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. Here, of course, in Hebrews we
also read of him as the mediator of the New Testament or the New
Covenant. He's the testator of that New
Testament also. But it's this particular office
of surety that I want us to consider for a little while this evening
first of all to say something with regards to the office of
surety and then secondly to consider what's to be understood in this
reference to a better testament by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament firstly then the office. What are we to understand by
this reference to a surety? It is a judicial term. It belongs of course to the law
court. A surety is that one who is responsible
for a person's appearance at a specified time in the court
and when one stands a surety for another a payment might well
be required, a payment to service a bond or a guarantee and should
the person not appear, well the payment then is forfeited. It's interesting that the word
surety occurs on this single occasion in the New Testament
Scriptures. The word that used here is not
to be found anywhere else throughout the New Testament and yet the
equivalent Hebrew word is to be found many times in the Old
Testament Scriptures. We have it, for example, on a
number of occasions there in the book of Proverbs. Solomon speaks of suretyship
and he says much with regards to the responsibilities and even
the dangers of suretyship. In Proverbs chapter 6 he says,
my son, if thou be sure to, and it's interesting that the particular
word that he uses there is derived from the Hebrew verb to barter
or to exchange. In a sense we can say then that
the surety is one who is exchanging places as he stands up for another. That's the way in which the American Presbyterian commentator
Albert Barnes understands the word surety. He simply says that
the surety is that person who stands in for another person. And we certainly see that in
the Old Testament. We see that Judah stands forward
as surety for his brother Benjamin. Remember, when that time of great
famine and death came, it was necessary for the sons of Jacob
to go into Egypt. We're familiar with the history
of Joseph, how his brethren had betrayed him, they'd sold him
into slavery, and in the strange and mysterious providences of
God there in the land of Egypt. After many setbacks, Joseph was
exalted to the highest position next to the Pharaoh, and he was
the one who had interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh and He advised
that provision needed to be made in the years of plenty, so that
when the years of famine came, there would be much corn in Egypt,
and the people from the nations round about Egypt would go into
Egypt to obtain corn. And it was Joseph. it was to distribute that provision
and Jacob's sons had gone and Joseph was unknown to them, he
treated them roughly and he made it plain that should they come
again they must bring their youngest brother with them well they'd
returned and now the corn was spent and they must go again
and Jacob is so loath to send his youngest son. He had lost
Joseph, so he thought. Joseph, very much his favorite
child. And he is so reluctant to send
Benjamin with the brothers. And it's Judah who comes and
stands forth and says he will stand as surety for Benjamin
in Genesis chapter 43. we read about how Judah speaks
to his father in seeking to persuade him to let the young man go with
the other brethren verse 8 of Genesis 43, Judah said unto Israel
his father send the lad with me and we will arise and go that
we may live and not die both we and thou and also our little
ones I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require
him if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee then
let me bear the blame forever there we have it the office of
the surety and the words are repeated judah rather says much
the same when he appears before joseph the end of chapter 44
thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying,
If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to
my father forever. Now therefore I pray thee, let
thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord,
and let the lad go up with his brethren. Clearly there we have
a demonstration of what is entailed in standing as a surety. And whilst it's true that the
word surety only occurs on one occasion here in the New Testament
Scriptures, yet we see that Paul, although the word is not used,
but Paul stands as surety for Onesimus. in that little epistle
to Philemon. Philemon had received this letter or would
receive this letter concerning his life. He would run away. and had come into contact with
the Apostle and had been wonderfully converted and now here is Paul
sending Onesimus back to his master and in that little epistle
that appears just before this letter to the Hebrews we see
how Paul stands assuredly on behalf of Onesimus. Verse 18 he says if I have wrongly
If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine
account. I, Paul, have written it with
mine own hand. I will repay it, albeit I do not say to thee how
thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Here is Paul. He will stand shortly on behalf
of the slave Onesimus. There we see then something of
what is entailed. There is this exchange as it
were and the surety standing in for the person who must appear
before the courts. And remember in the book of Job
Long ago, one of the earliest books, of course, of Holy Scripture,
the book of Job, Job seems to anticipate the coming of Christ.
Job is looking for the coming of Christ there in chapter 17
and verse 3. He cries out, put me in a surety
with the earth. He wants one to stand as his
surety before God and in the fullness of the time.
We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is that One who comes to be the
surety for sinners, to be the substitute for sinners, to be
the Saviour of sinners. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law that they might
receive the adoption of son. He stands there in the very law
place of his people. He will answer before that law
of God which is holy and righteous and just and he will meet all
the demands of that law on behalf of those whom he is representative
of, those to whom he stands as a surety. Now what are the terms
of that law, that Old Testament law, that Old Covenant? It simply demands obedience. The language of the law constantly
is do, do, do. Exodus 19 verse 5, If ye will
obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant. Obey. Keep. Again look at the language
in Leviticus 18 verse 5, Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and
my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. Do and live. Do and live. That
is the language of the law of God. There is a law to be kept,
there are commandments that must be obeyed and that obedience
must be complete, it must be perfect. James says if a man
is to keep the whole of the law of God and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all one act of disobedience. Mars everything. Perfect, complete obedience is
what is required. Paul says, Moses, describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. All that law of God, how demanding
that law is, and how we see that there is only curse upon those
who in any sense disobey it. And that Lord, of course, is
not only concerned with the exterior, he's not only concerned with
an outward obedience, it's a spiritual Lord, as Paul discovered. He didn't understand anything
of the spirituality of the law when he was a proud Pharisee.
He imagined that his external demeanor was enough, but then,
as he says in Romans 7, he discovered the spirituality of the law.
The Lord is spiritual, he says, and I am carnal. I'm sold on the sin. Now Christ
brings out that awful spirituality of it. Why, hatred is murder. The wanton look is adultery,
says Christ. Oh, that law of God. And those
that break the law, cursed be the man that obeyeth not the
words of this covenant says God in His Holy Word. As many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. But here is Christ assured. He
is made of a woman, He is made under the law, and Christ obeys
the law. He obeys it in every one of its
precepts, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, a life
of perfect obedience and then how that holy, righteous and
just man is the one who dies the accursed death. He doesn't
only obey the precepts, but he bears the punishment of all of
those transgressions that his people are guilty of. Paul says, Our God hath made
him to be sin for us. Made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. There's the blessed exchange,
how he has taken to himself all the sins of his people. and being
punished as their substitute and now in exchange He has given
them all that righteousness that He accomplished when He stood
as their surety. Christ, the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believes. All that blessed work
that Christ accomplished and here we have Him, you see, a
surety. the one who comes into that law place made of a woman made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us for
it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree that's
Paul's language writing to the church there the Church of the
Galatians. Oh, what a work it is. It's a
perfect work. He has not just made salvation
a possibility, he has accomplished a sure and a certain salvation
by his work, as assured to. You know the language of Toplady
in that great impayment, God cannot twice demand. First at
my bleeding shortest hand, and then again at mine. If Christ
has stood surety, all those that He stood surety for, they're
all redeemed. And who is it that He stood for?
Even as many as the Father had given to Him in the eternal covenant. So let us turn in the second
place to the covenant. We've sought to say something
with regards to the office. What is entailed in Christ being
the surety of a better Testament. Why? He has come and He has made
the exchange. He has become responsible for
those that the Father has given to Him. And before the Lord of
God He has answered everything on their behalf. Well, let us
now turn to consider this better Testament. The word that's used
here is oftentimes rendered covenant. The context determines whether
it's to be translated one way or the other. Sometimes testament,
sometimes covenant. It's the same word really. So
we could render this, you see, that is the surety of a better
covenant. The contrast is between that
covenant that was given at Mount Sinai, a covenant that is expressed
in terms of the Ten Commandments, and that covenant that proceeds
from Mount Zion. Now, earlier today we were reading
in chapter 12, and do we not see the contrast there between
these two? in chapter 12 at verse 18 following
Paul says you are not come unto the mount that might be touched
and that burned with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and
tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words and so
on then he goes on to speak of Moses he's speaking of Manzana
and he contrasts that then at verse 22 with Manzana But, he says, you have come unto
man's eye, and unto the city of the living God, to heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God, the Judge of all, and to the Spirit of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant,
or as the margin says, the mediator of the New Testament, and to
the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that
of Abel. There's a contrast. On the one
hand we have Mount Sinai, the giving of the law, the terrors
of the law, on the other we have Mount Zion, and Christ, and all
that Christ accomplished. And here it is the same, you
see. He is the surety, it says, of a better testament, a better
covenant, that is better than that that was given at Mount
Sinai. And what is this covenant? Why,
this is the new covenant. This is the covenant of Christ. Remember how in the Psalm he
speaks of it. In Psalm 25 he speaks in terms of that covenant
that God is pleased to reveal to his people. Psalm 25 and verse
14. And it's interesting because
there we have statements that are really parallel statements,
one of the peculiarities of course of the Hebrew poetry in Psalm
25 and verse 14 the secret of the Lord is with them that fear
him and he will show them his covenant the same truth expressed
in slightly different ways in those two clauses the secret
of the Lord is equivalent to his covenant now the Lord reveals
it to his people or are we those who have ever
known what it is for the Lord to come as it were and to reveal
that secret to show us something of that covenant that covenant
that's ordered in all things and those sure mercies of diving
Are there not those occasions sometimes under the Word of God,
under the ministry of the Word of God, when the Lord comes and
He does speak to us and the preacher then is truly God's mouthpiece
to us. Sometimes we feel as if we're
the only ones present because all that is being said is all
together for us. It's the Lord coming and making
His covenant known to us. revealing His secrets to us.
And it's not just under living ministry, is it? Sometimes we
might be reading, maybe we're reading sermons and as we read
we feel that the Spirit is there and these things are opening
up our own experiences. And we can relate to what one
who has long since died is saying. I can remember occasions like
that in the past, sometimes reading some of Mr. Philpott's sermons. And as one read, one was so encouraged
because I thought, well, if this man is in the secret, and I have
every reason to believe that he is, well, I'm also in that
same secret because I can relate to these things. Or when the
Lord shows us His covenant, when the Lord comes and opens up to
us the truth of His work, and makes us to know Him who is spoken
of here in our text, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. By
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament, a better
covenant. Now remember, four things concerning
this covenant that make it a better covenant. Better that is than
the law First of all, we have to remember
that really it is before the Law. Although we refer to it
as the New Covenant because it's revealed to us in all its fullness
with the coming of Christ, yet it predates the Law. Now, doesn't
Paul say that? In Galatians chapter 3 and verses
16 and 17. He says there that the promise
to Abraham was 400 years before the giving of the Lord at Mount
Sinai. And what was that promise that was given to Abraham? That
was the Gospel. And we have it recorded there
in Genesis, in chapter 15 of Genesis, we read of the covenant
that God made with Abraham. It's after that battle between the kings after
his meeting with Melchizedek who of course is spoken of here
in the context of our text. There in chapter 15 we read of
how God then enters into this remarkable covenant with Abraham. And see how that chapter opens. After these things after this
tremendous battle between the kings in chapter 14 and after
the appearance of Melchizedek, after these things the Word of
the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision. What are we to understand
here? The Word of the Lord came. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and
the Word was God. Here is Christ appearing And
Abraham is given a certain commandment. Verse 9, he said unto him, Take
me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a
young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them
in the midst, and made each piece one against another, that the
birds divided in half. He takes the sacrifice, and he
kills the animals that are to be made a sacrifice and he lays
out these animals. And then we read something else
strangely at the end of the chapter. Verse 17, he came to pass. But
when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. in the
same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. Now the margin
might say in your Bible that the Hebrew there in verse 18
literally says, and the same day the Lord cut a covenant with
Abraham. Now with a covenant of course
normally there are at least two parties. In the marriage ceremony
we have a covenant, a man and a woman, they come together,
and they exchange solemn vows and promises. In the presence
of God, in the presence of a congregation, they enter into a covenant. And
they each have responsibilities. But what we have here, you see,
is a unilateral covenant, a one-sided covenant. The cutting of the
covenant is that passing through the midst of the sacrifice. As
we saw, those animals are taken previously and they are slain
and they are laid out, but what does Abraham do? He doesn't pass
through the midst, he hasn't cut the covenant. Behold a smoking furnace and
a burning lamp that passed between those pieces in the same day
the Lord cut a covenant. The Lord made the covenant. It is a one-sided covenant, it
is God's covenant. All the law says do and live. That's the terms of the law. There is something for the sinner
to do. But the sinner cannot do the thing that is demanded
or commanded of him. But what says the gospel? The
gospel says live. All the gospel you see, it's
the great work of God. It's all the work of God. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ himself who comes as the great mediator
of the covenant. We have to remember these things.
This is what makes it a better covenant. It is older than the
law. It's 430 years before the law. It's a one-sided covenant. And
then we also see this here, do we not? We see the death of the
testator is necessary. The Testament, the covenant only
stands when the testator dies. Chapter 9 verse 16, where a testament
is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator
for a testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is
of no strength at all while the testator liveth. If someone is
kind enough to make some request to you in their last will and
testament you only enter into that inheritance when the person
dies. then you receive your inheritance
the testator must first die and so too here the testator has
died him who is spoken of is assured to the Lord Jesus is
that one who came to lay down his life all these are the things
that make it a better testament you see and then also here we
see how it is better in terms of God's oath. How that promise
has been confirmed by God taking a solemn oath. We read there
in chapter 6, verse 13, when God made promise
to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore
by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless, multiplying I will
multiply the Oh, he has sworn, and he has sworn by himself. Now, what does that mean? Well,
it means that God has staked himself upon the performance
of his word. He is not a man that he should
lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. As he said
it, shall he not do it? As he spoke it, shall he not
make it good? If God's word fails, if God's
promise is broken, God is no more. That's what it means. The psalmist says thou hast magnified
thy word above all thy name. All God's word, God's promise. That is the promise in the New
Covenant. And thou Christ, you see, is
here said to be made a priest and a surety by the oath of God. Look at the language, verse 20.
and inasmuch as not without an oath. He was made priest, for
those priests, that is the priest of Aaron, the Old Testament priest,
those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath,
by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Paul
is quoting from Psalm 110. the Lord swear and will not repent
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek by so
much more those three words you see, by
so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament all there
is the oath of God in it the promise of God, the promise confirmed
by a solemn oath We referred just now to Job, and Job's desire
for a surety, put me in a surety with thee was his cry. But look
at that in its context, look at the whole verse there in Job
17.3, he says lay down now, lay down now, put me in a surety
with thee, who is he that will strike hands with me? the laying
down, the striking of the hand, this is the oath. This is the
oath of God. And we see it again in Proverbs. In Proverbs 6 and verse 1, My
son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken
hands with a stranger, it's the striking of the hand. That's
the confirmation. That's the oath. How the Lord Jesus Christ, you
see, is that one who is made a surety of a better testament
and all of this is in terms of the oath of God. Now what do
we see? What is there to be discerned in all of this? Two things, here
we see God's great favour to sinners but here we also see
God's great faithfulness to sinners. We need to look at those various
verses in the book of Proverbs that speak of suretyship. And
I said at the beginning how Solomon the wise man speaks of the responsibilities
and also the dangers of suretyship. In Proverbs chapter 6 we've referred already to the
opening verse of that chapter, but see what Solomon goes on to say,
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken
thy hand with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of
thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. There's
a danger of it. Be aware. of what it might cost
to stand as a surety for another. We see it again in chapter 11
and verse 15. He says, He that is surety for
a stranger shall smart for it, or as the margin says, shall
be sore broken for it. And he that hateth suretyship
is sure. or be aware of the great dangers
associated with standing as surety for another. Again there in chapter
17 of Proverbs and verse 18. A man void of understanding striketh
hands and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. It's
not a wise thing to do. there's going to be a great cost. Ah, but such is God's great favour,
such is God's great love towards sinners, that Jesus is made a
surety. Jesus is made a surety, no matter
what the cost, if thou be surety for thy friend. And the Lord
Jesus Christ as those who are his friends, Why they are those
who were given to him by God in the eternal covenant. What
does Christ say in the Gospel? Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And this
is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, is it not? He has laid
down his life for his friends. though given to him in the Eternal
Covenant, what is their natural condition? They are in a state
of alienation to God. By nature they are enemies of
God. But in the Covenant you see Christ
is that One who befriends these sinners, these who are so far
from God. He that is a surety for a stranger,
it says, shall smart for it, shall be so broken for it. And
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He was wounded. Wounded for our
transgressions. Bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our place
was upon Him with His stripes. We are healed. Oh, when He came
to die for His people, they were in that awful state, they were
not really the friends of God, they were the enemies of God,
and yet Christ comes, and what does Christ do? He gives Himself
as a sacrifice for these very characters. Romans 5, 6, when
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. for scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die, but God commendeth His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Or the language of the
Gospel, you see. The favour that God has towards
sinners. This is what we see in this better
covenant. This is what is revealed to us
in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only God's favour,
but also the faithfulness of God is to be seen here. Not without an oath, it says
in verse 20. Not without an oath. He was made a priest by so much
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. It's all by oath,
it's a promise of God. It's that eternal purpose of
God that is revealed in the gospel and that gospel promise, all
of it confirmed by solemn oath and all of it sealed with precious
blood in the death of the testator. When Paul writes to Philemon,
we referred to out there, we see the Apostle so ready to stand
for Onesimus, to stand as his surety. How does the Apostle
express it? I, Paul, he says, have written
it with mine own hand. I, Paul, have written it. And
I've written it with mine own hand, that's the end of all argument.
I'll stand as He should. And that is but a very inadequate illustration of what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done in standing as surety for His
people. All the language you see, the
language of the Gospel, it is ever, it is always this language
of God's promise, of God's oath. Psalm 89, the Messianic Psalm.
My covenants 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 David. For by so much was Jesus made
a surety of a better testament. Wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise The immutability of his counsel
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things. What are the two immutable? What
are the two unchanging things? It's the promise of God, it's
the oath of God, in which it was impossible for God to lie.
We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay
hold of the hope sets before us. All this hope you see, it's
set before sinners, is it not, in the Gospel? Isaac Watts says,
the Gospel bears my spirit up. The faithful and unchanging God
lays the foundation of my hope in oaths, and promises, and blood. By so much, all the Lord Jesus
Christ, we see Him in the scriptures we see him in all the glory of
these various names and titles and offices all necessary to
reveal to us something of the fullness and the richness of
that grace of God that is laid up in the person and the work
of his only begotten son. Are we those friends who truly
know Him. Or if we know Him not, are we
those who have such a desire? We long to know Him. Or we would
come with those Grecians, time and again, and say to the preacher,
Sirs, we would see Jesus. Or God grant that He might grant
such a revelation of Christ to us, to you, and to me. Even Christ as that One who is
the surety. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. Amen.