Good morning everyone. Let's
begin our morning service by standing and singing 50. Fairest
Lord Jesus, number 50. Hymn number 50. Cherished Lord Jesus, Ruler of
all nature, O Thou of God and man the Son, Me will I honor, Thou my soul's
glory, joy, and crown. Fair on the meadows, fair still
the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer Who makes the woeful heart to
sing? Fair is the sunshine, fair still
the moonlight, And all the twinkling starry host Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer, than all the angels heaven can boast. Beautiful Savior, Lord of all
the nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor Now and forevermore be done. Thank you. I'd like to read Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against
his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the
Lord has set unto me. Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a prodigal
vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye
judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Our heavenly and merciful Father,
we thank you again for opening these doors this morning and
allowing us, Lord, to assemble as a local congregation to hear
the glorious gospel declared to us from your word. Father,
we thank you for delivering us from the power of darkness, from
the power of false religion, and from the power of our own
flesh. Father, we thank you for your complete, full, and free
salvation, wrought in us by the Lord Jesus Christ, where he has
paid it all. Father, we thank you for continuing
to watch over us and protect us. And Lord, remember us in
mercy. We do not know what the future
holds, but Lord, with you, all things are possible. Remember
us, Lord, in regards to this assembly, whether it's financial,
or other issues, Lord, continue to bless us and pour out your
mercy upon us. And Lord, if it would please
you, call out your sheep from this local community that they
may also rejoice with us and worship you. Father, remember
those that are struggling. You know things perfectly, Lord.
Those that are struggling with physical or other ailments, Lord,
give us strength and health where it is needed. You know all things.
And also, Lord, we think of our loved ones, our children, our
relatives, our parents, and we think of our neighbors. And Lord,
if it would please you to open our mouths at the appointed time
and give us words to speak, that we may declare what great things
you have done for our souls as sinners. Father, remember us
in mercy. And we think again of Brother
Eric, where he hopes to stand before us again. the second time
today. Father, pour out your grace and
mercy upon him and release his tongue, Lord, that he may declare
the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ to us and that
our strength may be increased and that we may have rest for
our souls for Jesus' sake alone. Amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing 53. 53. Sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrow, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear. Dear name the rock on which
I build my shield and hiding place, My never-failing treasury
filled with boundless source of grace. Jesus, my shepherd,
brother, friend, my prophet, priest, and king, my Lord, my
life, my way, my end, accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thought. But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I'll praise Thee as I ought. Till then I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath. And may the music of thy name
refresh my soul in death. Thank you. Good morning. Let's be turning
to Genesis chapter 9. Everything that we see that God
did for Noah, to preserve Noah, to save Noah and his family,
along with the living things and all the cattle that was in
the ark, it was all for the glory of Christ. all to glorify Christ
in the hearts and minds of his people. And so it should come
as no surprise that everything that we see here regarding this
great deliverance brought by God with Noah and his family
is a picture of the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ for
his church, for his people, those whom he calls effectually by
his grace. And so it's given to glorify
Christ in the hearts and minds of his children, of his people. Now today, We see the grace of
God for sinners in Christ. The grace of God in Christ. And
it's pictured in this covenant that God makes with Noah and
every creature that God makes with Noah. And in our text, he
speaks of it in three ways. He gives us three points in our
text here in chapter nine. He speaks of the covenant established. Then he speaks of the token of
the covenant. And then there's the remembrance
of the covenant. That's what we'll see here in
our text this morning. I titled this message, Our Bow
in the Clouds. Our bow, our rainbow in the clouds. Now we read in verse 11, this
is where our text begins. He says, and I will establish
my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut
off anymore for the waters of a flood. Neither shall there
anymore be a flood to destroy the earth. Now, in light of Christ,
light of Christ, and he is how we understand the scriptures. If you would know what God is
saying to you in his word, He's speaking to you in Christ. Everything
he says here is to put your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and
how that he has saved his people from their sins. And what he's
declaring to you here in this chapter and what we've been seeing
is that in Christ, judgment is put away. The judgment of God
is satisfied. There's no judgment hanging over
the heads of you that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
judgment of God is satisfied. It's been poured out in Christ.
The debt that we owe has been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ,
you that believe on him. And so God is saying, my church
shall never be destroyed. shall never be destroyed by my
judgment and wrath." It's been satisfied for them. Now this
is a mystery of God revealed by faith. It's understood in
Christ, it's declared in Christ, and we understand it and receive
it by faith in Christ. Now I want to say a few helpful
things about this covenant that God makes with Noah because what
God is doing here is giving us a picture, an understanding of
the covenant of grace made between the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost that God may be gracious to his people. It pictures the
covenant of grace. Now, in this verse, we see who
makes or establishes this covenant. God says, I will. I will establish my covenant. I'm going to establish my covenant.
And this is a covenant that God establishes with Noah. He makes it with Noah, saying,
I will establish my covenant with you. with Noah, and because
of this covenant with Noah, all the creation is blessed. All
the creatures are blessed. All the living things are blessed
because of this covenant that God makes with Noah. Now let
me just remind you again, I just want to repeat this again, that
what our God is doing is for the good of His people in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's not putting any condition
on man. He's not putting any condition
for the creature to fulfill. This is a covenant of grace. And God never puts a condition
on the man whom He will save, on the one whom He will save.
He does the whole work graciously for you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now regardless of how wicked
man is, when we look at this covenant made with Noah, regardless
of how wicked man is, because man is desperately wicked, his
heart is desperately wicked, so wicked we can't even plumb
the depths of just how evil we are in our nature, just how dark,
how corrupt, how vile this heart is which is in us. God says My
judgment's put away. I'm not going to judge the earth
again by destroying it with water. It's put away. That's why. And God actually ties it to the
sacrifice of Noah, and we'll see that in a bit. What I want
you to remember here is that we're not looking at the flesh
of man. When I'm saying these things,
my eye is not upon Noah as a man and what a man of flesh has done,
but upon Noah as a picture and type of the Lord Jesus Christ
and who he is and what he has done in delivering his people. He offered up himself to the
Father. for the sins of the people. He
made an atonement for our sins with His blood and has satisfied
God. Now look back there at this sacrifice
in Genesis 8. Genesis 8 verse 20 and verse
21. Noah comes off the ark, and it
says, Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean
beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on
the altar. What a picture of Christ. Noah
is a type of Christ, and we see in him the high priest. The Lord
Jesus Christ is our high priest, and he is the author built. He
worked all righteousness. He, with his people, fulfilled
all righteousness for us. in showing that He is the Lamb
of God. He is the high priest, He's the
altar, and He's the sacrifice. He's the sacrifice of every clean
beast and of every clean fowl. Seems to me a picture of the
body and that soul of Christ which was offered up to the Father
to make satisfaction for the people. Everything we need, Christ
has provided for us. And the Lord smelled a sweet
savor." A sweet savor, that's Christ. Christ is the sweet savor
that the Father smells and is satisfied. And the Lord said
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for
man's sake. For the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite anymore
every living thing as I have done. God shall not smite His
church because she's been smitten in Christ. We were crucified
with Him. We're dead to the law. The law has nothing more to say
to us. God is well pleased with us in His Son, the sweet-smelling
Savior. Rest in Him. Believe Him. Be
comforted in your hearts looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. So
God's promise here, as you see, does not depend on man's doing. Not our keeping it, not our putting
it in place. We can't even break it. We cannot
break this covenant that God has established Himself. God
declares in His word His sovereignty, His sovereignty, and He tells
us in His word that He does exactly as He pleases, and saving whom
He will. For He saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
He tells us in that same chapter of Romans 9 that he raised up
Pharaoh for that very purpose. And he hardened Pharaoh in Pharaoh's
own sin, he hardened him. in order to destroy him, to display
his power and his destruction. So that we see that God is able
to destroy whom he will, but to whom he will, he is gracious
and compassionate and receives all who cry out to him for grace
and mercy, for help in time of need. He's merciful. And not
only Pharaoh, but again, we see another king, King Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon. He was humbled by God and brought
to confess that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And God doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? None of us can say, what are
you doing? What do you think you're doing? How dare you do
that to me? He is God. We are the creature. And God is able and does do exactly
what pleases Him according to His good pleasure. And what He
does is right. It's good. It's perfect and just
every time. Now, in this covenant established
by God with Noah, we are given a picture of the covenant of
grace. It's established for us by the
Lord Jesus Christ, who came and fulfilled the will of the Father
for you, for you his people. This covenant of grace is revealed
to us for our peace and for our comfort. that we may rest in
the promises of our God given to us freely in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Nothing about this covenant has
been left to chance. Nothing yet remains for your
hand to do. Everything that you will do has
been predestinated by God in such a way that He will bring
the revelation of Christ to you, manifesting His grace in your
heart, making you to know what He has done for you, and cause
you to cry out to Him for grace and mercy, because He makes all
things new for His people in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing's left to chance, and
it certainly is not dependent on you and me. It rests on the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. and in everything the sweet savor
of Christ is manifested in the creation. whether in them
that believe or in them that believe not, it all manifests
and reveals the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So
God the Father made a covenant with His Son and the Holy Ghost
for the salvation of the elect. And let me just give you five
things here regarding the establishment of this covenant. Turn over to
Ephesians 1. Let's go to Ephesians 1. that you may be assured that
it rests on Christ, that all things are ordered and sure by
God for you in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it's not resting
on you, but Him. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ. And so he's
telling us this is between the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. Verse four, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. God chose a people. before the foundation of the
world and committed us, committed his people to the care of Christ
himself, that he would redeem them. And this was all done before
the world was created, before Adam was created, before he fell,
before you and I came forth and did any good or evil. God had
purposed this in his own purpose of grace with the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost. Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, not according to your works,
not according to whether you're a good person or a bad person,
not according to what you have or have not done or said, or
want to do, it's according to God in Christ. It's according
to His good pleasure. So the Father chose whom He would
in Christ. In Christ. Verse six, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. So you see, brethren, it's all
between the Godhead. It's not dependent on what you
or I have done. The second thing that we see
about this established covenant is that it's ratified by Christ. It's put into effect. It is already
established. It is the covenant now by which
God may be gracious and merciful to whom he is compassionate and
merciful to in Christ. This has been ratified by the
blood of Christ. It's signed with his own blood. It is in effect, brethren, this
covenant. Hebrews 13, 20 and 21 says, 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. And I add verse 21, 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. I add that just to say
that when the natural man hears of the grace of God. He thinks,
how is this possible? Man's going to go and do what
man wants to do. Well, yeah, man is going to do
that. But God for his people, to the glory and praise of Christ,
reveals and manifests this life, this salvation, this work of
his grace in the hearts of his people so that we love him even
as he loves us. And we serve him and serve one
another in love, in faith, in hope, and joy to see his kingdom
established in the earth. So we rejoice in him. Christ
established this covenant. He had the authority as the Lamb
of God and he came in the flesh and laid down his life and shed
his blood to put away the sins of his people, to make satisfaction
and to obtain eternal forgiveness for us. The third thing we see
is that the blessings of the salvation by Christ is effectually
wrought in the heart of every child through regeneration. It's not that this flesh is still
as wicked and wretched as it's ever been. But we are effectually
redeemed and saved and have this knowledge of what Christ has
done, this understanding of what he's done in the new man through
the regeneration of the Holy Ghost. 2 Corinthians 1.22 says,
who hath also sealed us. and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts, so that all for whom Christ died, the
Holy Spirit of God seeks out the lost sheep. and brings that
gospel to them, giving them life to hear the things that are being
said with an ear of faith, and to believe those things, to believe
the Lord Jesus Christ, to receive that which God has done for us,
not by our works, but what He's provided in Christ. Fourth thing, because this covenant
of grace is established for us by Christ's blood, the children
of God are assured and comforted in this grace toward us. And
we see this, how he works this in our hearts. When you hear
what Christ has done, it's peace. It's a joy. We're made thankful
to the Lord for what He's done in Christ. When we see what sinners
we are, and how merciful, how patient, how kind God is, it
is a great comfort and peace to the child of God redeemed.
David, we see that comfort in David. In 2 Samuel 23 verse 5, He said, although my house be
not so with God, although I have children and friends and loved
ones who don't believe the grace of God and don't look to the
Redeemer, who I know lives, though it be not so with my house, yet
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. ordered in all things
and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he
maketh it not to grow. I'm thankful for what the Lord
has shown to me. How many people have, you've
probably seen it when you've spoken the gospel to somebody
and they hear for the first time how that God has accomplished
the full complete salvation of all his people. And it looked,
you could see a light goes off in their head and they realize,
well wait a minute, my husband or my grandmother or somebody
I knew that is dead didn't know this and they immediately shut
it down because they can't bear the thought. And what the Lord
is saying is, don't worry about what they know or don't know.
What is God saying to you? What is He speaking to you? What
is He revealed to you in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because we're
all sinners and we need the grace of God. We need Him, what He's
given to us in Christ. And so, to you that hear it,
in spite of what you know to be true, or what you think, because
we don't know anything. when the Lord reveals Christ
in your hearts and your need of Him, it's a comfort. It's
a comfort to the people of God. Even Isaiah said it this way,
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now fifth, the hope that
believers had then is the same hope that you have this day,
that the children of God have this day. Look over at 2 Timothy
1. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter
1. We're going to pick up in verse
9. We see here that it is indeed
not of works. But it's of Christ, it's of what
He has done for His people. 2 Timothy 1.9, who has saved
us. and called us within holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. through the preaching
of the gospel, through the giving of the gospel that speaks of
Christ, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and
a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. When the Spirit comes and gives
life to a child, and you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, what
He reveals in us is that we're done trying to work our own salvation. We're done trying to please God
by the things of religion, by the things that we do. We're
done trying to earn a righteousness for ourselves and we're made
to look to Christ. And that belief in Christ is
a committing all our salvation. That we dare not go before the
throne of God in our own works of righteousness which we have
done. Because we know that what we do in this flesh is sinful. It's marked and stained and covered
with sin. But what Christ has done is perfect. and holy, and He has made us
righteous so that we come in the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. Alone. He's all our hope. All
our hope. And we commit everything to Him
just like Paul said, I've committed everything. I gave up the law.
I'm done with all the things I did when I was a Pharisee.
They're done to me. They're worthless to me. It counts
for nothing. My standing here in the pulpit
as a preacher is not my righteousness, it's not my good works, that
is not my hope to stand before God. I have the same hope that
every saved sinner has, which is the blood of Christ has availed
for me. He's washed me clean of my sins. That's my only hope, and that's
the only hope I or you need, the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
So the covenant that God made with Noah is a covenant of grace. It pictures the covenant of grace
that God made for us with Christ before the world began. Now the
next thing that we see is the token, the token of the covenant
that God gives to his child. It's given to remind us of this
covenant of grace. Look at verses 12 through 14
in Genesis 9, 12 through 14. And God said, this is the token
of the covenant which I make between me and you and every
living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. This is all that are in Christ
is what he's speaking of. I do set my bow in the cloud,
and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the
earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the
earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. Now I don't
know, but I've heard that back then it had never rained upon
the earth. As we read in the early part
of Genesis that the way the plants and the ground was watered was
through a misting that rose up and watered the earth. And there
were rivers and streams that watered the things that needed
to be watered. But there was a canopy of water above the earth
separated by that firmament, that atonement, that separated
those that were under the atonement and those that were above it.
And so when the Lord brought the flood on the earth, not only
did the fountains of the deep break open and all that water
down there, but all the water above. came pouring down. And there was climate change
then. There was a change in the atmosphere and how things worked
there so that now there were clouds. Now there was thunder
and lightning and atmospheric changes that brought on rain. And so when there was rain, there
was now seen a rainbow in the clouds the way we see it. Right? When do we see the rainbow? when
there's clouds in the skies, when there's rain clouds in the
skies and that rain is passed over you and that sunlight comes
shining through, through the raindrops, you see that spectrum
of light revealed in the rainbow there. And so that token of the
rainbow, the rainbow is the token, that token declares to us that
the judgment is put away. That the judgment is put away.
Even if it did rain before, The point is that we have a token
now, the rainbow, and that judgment is put away. You imagine that
when Noah and his family heard the thunderclouds roar and the
rain began to fall, think about what went through their head
that first time. They had to walk by faith, didn't
they? They had to believe that promise of God made to them that
I shall never flood the earth, never destroy the earth with
a flood again and every living creature. I won't do it. I won't
do it. There will be floods at times. as we see, but not to
destroy all the earth, not an overwhelming flood as he did
to destroy it in Noah's day. So Noah and his family walked
by faith, believing the promise of God. And when they saw that
rainbow, they were reminded of what the Lord had said. Well,
when are you walking by faith? When everything's peaceful, everything's
going your way, there's no difficulties, there's no sorrows, you're at
rest? Is that when you walk by faith? Or are you walking by
faith when you're tried, and you're troubled, and there's
sorrow, and hardships, and difficulties? That's when we walk by faith.
Lord, you say in your word that you would appear for me, that
you remember me. Lord, save me, help me. That's
when we cry out to him and we walk by faith. Well, so it is
with the rainbow. The only time you see the rainbow
is when there's clouds in the sky. When there's dark clouds
in the sky and the rain is falling and somewhere that light is shining
through and reflects that rainbow, that spectrum of light to remind
you of the token of His grace and mercy. And to this day, you
know, just speaking of the word on its face here, to this day,
God has not destroyed the earth with a flood. But as he said
in Genesis 8.22, the last verse of that chapter, while the earth
remaineth seed time and harvest and cold and heat and summer
and winter and day and night shall not cease. That promise
has never failed. It didn't fail Noah and it's
failed no one to this day. He's kept his word. So though
your life, though you go through times where the skies are filled
with clouds, yet God has declared to you through his gospel word
the token of his love, the token of his peace, the token of his
grace, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's given to him to
remind you to look to him and to believe. that you that believe
the promise of His Word, that He is gracious to you, not for
what you do, but for Christ's sake, rest in Him. He is the token of God's love
and peace for us, to remind us that the wrath of God is put
away for all who come to Him, believing Christ. All who trust
the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and rest in Him. He sent this word of grace to
proclaim it again in your ears. He's not turned you away, He's
not sent you away, but He's drawn you again to hear the words of
His grace declared freely, boldly, sovereignly in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Believe Him. Trust Him. He is faithful and kind and gentle
to all who cry to Him. He is the assurance, Christ is
the assurance that God has given. that the judgment is satisfied,
the debt is paid, and He gives you all you need in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The covenant is established and
you add the token. Now finally we see this, the
covenant remembered by God. Let's look at verse 15 and 16.
And I will remember my covenant. which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no
more become a flood to destroy all flesh, and the bow shall
be in the cloud, and I will look upon it that I may remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is upon the earth. So not only is Christ
a token, given for us, seen in the rainbow there, to show us
that the wrath of God is put away. But he tells us that when
he sees the rainbow in the cloud, he also remembers his covenant
of grace. He remembers His covenant of
grace with every living creature because the view is in Christ. As we saw this morning, warning
every man, teaching every man, that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus. That speaks of the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. All in Christ are saved and none
is lost. In Adam, all die. Christ all
his body are saved and so every living creature are you that
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and God himself gives us assurance
that for Christ's sake he is gracious to us in this statement
beginning here in verse 9 and the bow shall be in the cloud
and I will look upon him He's saying that when I see the blood
of my Son which was shed for you, I'll pass over you. I will
not destroy you. I will not give you according
as your sins deserve because I've put them all away when I
judged them in my Son Jesus Christ. put them away for you. The atonement
has been made. Now one day Christ is going to
return, and when he returns, heaven and the earth shall be
made new. But Christ has assured us that
until that day this gospel is to go forth, to be proclaimed,
to declare the grace of God, that covenant established graciously
in and by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. To declare, to
lift up that banner, that token, that ensign, which is the Lord
Jesus Christ. For the people to look to, for
the people to have hope and to trust and know that God has saved
them and delivered them, and it's that same token that the
Father looks to, that holy God looks to and is satisfied. Now when he returns, or until
that time of his return, the Father remembers his covenant
of grace for his people. This is what we see in Acts.
Let's go to Acts. Acts 1. Acts chapter 1 and verse 7 through
9. And he said unto them, this is
our Lord, our risen Lord saying, speaking, it is not for you to
know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in
his own power. In other words, we don't need
to worry about it. He's already told us back here that the seasons
are going to continue. There's going to be summer and
winter. There's going to be sunshine and rainfall. It's not going
to change. It's going to continue as it
is. You don't need to worry yourselves about it. But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And ye shall
be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Paul described it this way when he said, I've preached this gospel
to every creature under heaven. every creature under heaven.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight." Now,
he's not in our physical eyesight anymore, brethren, but he is
in the eyesight of God. He is in the eyesight, who said,
and the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that
I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. Now let's
see this further illustrated in scriptures. Let's go to Revelation
4. Revelation 4, and make sure you
leave a marker, because we're going to come back to another
scripture in a bit. Revelation. So Revelation 4 and
look at verse 2 and 3. And immediately I was in the
Spirit and behold the throne was set in heaven and one sat
on the throne and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper
and a sardine stone and there was a rainbow round about the
throne in sight like unto an emerald. The picture there of
the the rainbow all about the throne is that any creature,
any request that comes to that throne, that approaches that
throne, must pass through the rainbow, must go through the
rainbow, and any decree, any blessing that comes from that
throne passes through the rainbow. It's a picture that we are received
in Christ. Our God receives us in Christ.
Our God blesses us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And without Him
is not anything given and nothing is known because the rainbow
surrounds that throne of our God so that He's ever before
the face of our God. He's known of God and so When
we approach that throne, we approach that throne in Christ, flawless,
flawless, without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish, perfect
before the holy, all-knowing eye of God, thanks to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, hold your place there in
Revelation 4, but back in Jeremiah 31, let's turn there. I'll read
one verse while you're going there, verse 3. The Lord hath
appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee." What a picture that when our God draws us to
himself, he's drawing us to Christ. He's bringing us through the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's how he draws us to himself. And so nothing is going to alter
this established covenant of grace with God. He's going to
make sure that none are ever lost. None of his people shall
ever come short of the glory of God in Christ. Now he promises
us this covenant in his word, Jeremiah 31, verse 31 through
34. 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, 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 a husband unto them, saith the Lord. That
covenant that he's speaking of there is a covenant of works.
It's a covenant of the law made with Moses. That is not how we
come to God. That's not how we worship God.
We do not come to God in the law, even to this day. Even to
this day. He's given us His Spirit. And
he says here in the next verse, this is the covenant that I shall
make with the house of Israel after those days. Sayeth the
Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in
their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people. He's speaking of the regeneration,
the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he gives to us to know
the mind of God, to know his heart, to see the love of God
given to us in Christ. It makes us new creatures. so
that we love him and walk by his spirit in faith being led
in paths of righteousness for his namesake he keeps us. He
teaches us how we are to love one another and walk before our
God and walk among one another, caring for one another, being
tenderhearted and forgiving one another as God has forgiven us
for Christ's sake. He reveals that in us by His
Spirit, not the law. That's not the believer's rule
of faith. It's the grace of God. It's the love of Christ in us. Verse 34, And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, 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 covenant
is the covenant of grace established in the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and God remembers that covenant, which He made with
Christ, who shed His blood to redeem His people. It's put away. We have fellowship with God.
And so, we shall know the fullness of these things. We shall see
it all come to pass and all brought together and wrapped up in and
by Christ. Let's go back to Revelation 10.
This is our last passage. Revelation 10. It says in verse 1, And I saw
another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud
and a rainbow was upon his head and his face was as it were the
sun and his feet as pillars of fire. We see there a bow in the
cloud. A bow in the clouds always shows
Christ with that rainbow and Christ in the cloud coming again.
Verse two, and he had in his hand a little book open, and
he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the
earth. Everything's under his dominion, everything. And he
cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars, the lion of the
tribe of Judah. And when he had cried, seven
thunders uttered their voices. And John was about to write these
things. And the Lord said, don't do it, John. We're going to keep
that, otherwise we might know what we ought not to know. Keep
that silent. It's not for us. But he tells
us what the coming of Christ means. When Christ comes to the
earth, he tells us what it means in verse 6 and 7. And swear by
him that liveth forever and ever. created heaven, and the things
that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are,
and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should
be time no longer. But in the days of the voice
of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery
of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants
the prophets. And so when Christ comes again,
when we see that cloud with our own eyes and that rainbow in
the cloud, we'll know that the end is at hand. It's here. But until that time, we have
this blessed gospel to declare the established covenant in the
blood of Christ to proclaim this token of his love and mercy and
grace. to bless and comfort the people
of God who are afraid and shaken and terrified looking to their
own works. He says, don't spend in labor
anymore, look to my Son, look to my servant whom I have sent
to bless you, to comfort you, to give you peace in your hearts,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that's how God is merciful
and gracious to us, in the Lord Jesus Christ, our bow in the
cloud. Amen. Our gracious Lord, we thank
you for your grace. We thank you for your mercy,
which is richly, freely, abundantly given to us in Christ. Lord,
we thank you for this covenant of grace. We thank you for the
knowledge and understanding which you've given to us in our hearts
and minds, renewed, reborn, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, whereby we
know the things that our God has done for us in Christ. Lord,
Keep our hearts, anchor us to Christ. Let us see Him and behold
Him, remembering Him and what you've done for us by Him, the
token of your love and grace and mercy in Christ. We thank you that you have put
the rainbow of our Savior about your throne so that you receive
us always in Him and bless us always in Him. Lord, we pray
for our brethren, we pray for those that could not be with
us this week, that you would bless them, that you would be
gracious to your people, that you would gather us together
again next week to hear your word and to fellowship with one
another. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. 288. Wonderful piece. 288. And we
won't sing stanzas four. So just the first four verses
we'll sing. We're not singing number five,
but we'll sing the first four like we usually do. Yeah. Far away in the depths of my
spirit tonight rolls a melody sweeter than song. In celestial-like strains it
unceasingly falls, For my soul like an infinite cone. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless billows of love. What a treasure I have
in this wonderful peace, Buried deep in the heart of my soul. So secure that no power can mine
it away While the years of eternity roll Peace, peace, wonderful
peace Coming down from the Father above Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. I am resting tonight in this
wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus' control. For I'm kept from all danger
by night and by day, and His glory is flooding my soul. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless billows of love. And he thinks, when
I rise to that city of peace, Where the author of peace I shall
see, That one strain of the song which the ransom will sing, In
that heavenly kingdom shall be. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. Thank you.