All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. We tell this message, glorious covenant,
glorious Covenant or you can you call it a sure covenant.
I got a bunch of titles for it. It's it's wonderful It is it's
immutable covenant Unchangeable covenant It is a covenant of
God's grace Ezekiel chapter 36 again our reading in verse 16.
He says moreover the word of the Lord came into me saying
son of man and When the house of Israel dwelt in their own
land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings. Their way was before me as the
uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon
them for the blood that they shed upon the land and for their
idols wherewith they had polluted it. I scattered them among the
heathen. They were dispersed throughout
the countries according to their way and according to their doings,
I judged them. And when they entered into the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name. When they
said unto them, These are the people of the Lord and are gone
forth out of His land. But I had pity for My holy name,
which the house of Israel, had profaned among the heathen, whether
they went. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God. I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have
profaned among the heathen, whether you went. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you
have profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know
that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries, and I will
bring you into your own land, and I will sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land
that I gave your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I
will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn and for the
increase of it and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply
the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, and you
shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
which were not good. You shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight for your own iniquities and for your abominations. Not
for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord, be it known to you.
Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Pray God, I had the blessing
of reading of that. I'm going to study from this portion. Now,
this, first of all, we see is directed to the house of Israel. He says, Son of man, when the
house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it. This here is written, this covenant
of grace is written, first of all, to the nation of Israel.
We see this from a historical point of view. The nation of
Israel at this time was held in captivity in Babylon. And
God reveals that their captivity was a result of their own sin.
And God here swears that He is going to deliver them. And we
know this happened. We know that God did deliver
them as He promised 200 years before it happened that He would
deliver them by that man Cyrus. And He did. It was a great deliverance. But we know this, that this is
speaking not to physical Israel. but more so to spiritual Israel. This is a spiritual message. Why? Because the nation of Israel
throughout all the Old Testament scriptures is intended to be
a type, a picture. I'm not going to go into it fully,
but in Romans chapter 9 Paul reveals this very plainly when
he says that not all those that are born of Jacob, of Israel,
are the true Israel of God. But he says the sons of promise. These are counted for the children
of Israel. Spiritual Israel. I do want to take a minute because
there's so much going on in that land of Palestine today. That
nation that is there is not the Israel of the Old Testament.
Israel was intended of God for a time to be a picture It'd be
a picture And now then that time has passed
Christ has come into the world and they there's no longer a
need for a picture truly I know this that God has some of his
people there just as much as he has people here in this country
But I know this, don't fret yourself concerning that plot of land
over there. That has nothing to do with this.
And so this covenant that's laid out here is the covenant for
spiritual Israel. The elect of God, those that
are chosen by God before the foundation of the world and given
to Christ in a covenant of grace, that is the ones intended by
this text. Now my purpose tonight, My purpose
in expounding this covenant is to comfort the elect, to comfort
true Israel. You who are true Israel, believers
in Jesus Christ, this covenant is intended that no matter your
circumstances, no matter your troubles or sorrows, No matter
what situation you find yourself in, I want you to understand,
this covenant is sure. The covenant that God swears
to Israel is an eternal, immutable, unchangeable covenant. And so we begin, I've got six
things that I want us to consider tonight. First of all, God gives
us the condition of Israel. In verses 16-20, He gives us
the condition. Second of all, in verse 21-23,
He gives us the cause of this covenant. In verse 24, He gives
us the calling of this covenant. In verse 25, the cleansing of
this covenant. In 26 and 27, the creation of
this covenant. And lastly, the conclusion of
the covenant is verse 28 to verse 32. So let's look at these as
we go through. First of all, the condition of
Israel. Look at that. He said, Say, Son
of man, when the house of Israel dwelt on their own land, they
defiled it by their own ways, by their own doings. Their ways
was before me as uncleanness, as a removed woman. These to whom the covenant is
written, we see the condition. At this time, the nation of Israel
was in captivity. They were in captivity because
of their own transgressions, because of their own sins. Yet
we know this is true of everyone that is named in the covenant
of God's grace because this is the condition in which we are
all born into this world. We are born captives. We are
born captives to sin, dead in sin. When Adam sinned, we know this,
that he died spiritually. And what was the effect of this?
He did not come to God. When God came down, Adam did
not come to God. Adam ran from God. Adam did not
seek his righteousness from God, but sought to cover his sin with
the works of his hands. He did not sue God for mercy. And so God says in verse 18,
this is the result of our sin. Wherefore, I poured my fury upon
them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for
their idols wherewith they have polluted it. I scattered them
among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries.
According to their way and according to their doings, I judged them." What is the result of our sin
is that we did not seek God. We were scattered. We were scattered. We did not sue for mercy. Instead,
we profaned the name of God just like everyone else. You
know, there's no difference between the elect and everyone else.
Naturally, there is no difference. Just as the Babylonians, they
profaned the name of God, but so did the nation of Israel.
This shows us that the elect is no different in their lost
condition. Why? Because we were spiritually
condemned. We were spiritually condemned.
We were scattered, we were separated from God by nature and by practice
like Israel We profaned His name. But when God met Adam, how did
He meet Adam? He met him in this condition. He did not wait for Adam to get
better. Neither did He wait for Israel
to get better. Everyone that God meets in salvation,
everyone to whom this covenant is written for, He meets them
in this condition, in their defiled and captive state. He meets us in our depravity. And it's always at this place
that God exposes the guilt of our sin by displaying His holiness. When God meets those who are
named in this covenant, when God meets Israel in their sins,
how does He show us our sin? He doesn't show us the sin of
someone else and so we can compare. He shows us His holiness. He shows and displays His holiness. Look at Isaiah 64 with me. Look
at Isaiah 64. He said, O that thou wouldst
rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains
might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth,
as the fire causeth the water to boil, to make known thy name
known to thine adversaries, that the
nations may tremble at thy presence. When thou didst terrible things
which we looked not for, thou camest down, and the mountains
flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither
hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for
them that waited for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth
and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways.
Behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned, In those is continuance,
and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags. We all do
fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us
away. The prophet said, look, show yourself, manifest yourself,
and come down. But when he came down, he's talking
about when he came down on Sinai, it was not what they thought.
It is not what they expected. They said, oh, Moses, you tell
God to give us a law, we'll do it. Until when? Until he came
down and the mountains melted at his presence. And what was
the conclusion? What's the conclusion when God
manifests his holy presence? All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We see that we are nothing more
than a faded leaf being carried about by the wind. That all our deeds, all our works
can never measure up to the standard of God's holiness. This is where God meets, always
meets His people. in their defiled condition. So anyone named in this covenant,
you that believe on Christ, you know this to be true of yourself,
that's where God met me. He did not wait for me to get
better. But God in mercy, because of
this covenant, met me in this condition. The second thing Why? What is the cause of this covenant? Why did God come to Israel in
such a defiled state? Why did He not leave them to
perish as they deserved? Look at verse 21. But I had pity. Now listen, He didn't have pity
on them. He had pity for my holy name,
which the house of Israel profaned among the heathen, whether they
went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord,
I do this not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my
holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whether
you went. What is the cause of God's covenant? Simply this, his own glory. His own glory. Right off the
bat, God tells him the reason of this covenant, of His promises
He's about to give, is not based on anything or merit in themselves. I am going to have mercy on Israel.
He is going to show great mercy. This covenant is full of mercy,
but I want you to understand it's not doesn't have anything
to do with your merit. I do this for my own namesake. God says. I do this out of free grace.
Therefore, nothing in this covenant is dependent upon you. Are we not pitiful people? I don't care how pitiful you
are. God didn't do it because you were pitiful. You couldn't be pitiful enough
to deserve this. God says, I'm doing this for
my own namesake. Matter of fact, all that God
has made and does is for himself. Men don't like to hear that,
you know that? They don't like to hear that. Well, that's just
selfish. No, you're selfish. God deserves
all the glory. And all things were made by him
and for him, especially the salvation. This salvation, this covenant,
was made for his own glory. In Ephesians 1, He reveals the
sovereign election of the Father, that the Father in sovereign
mercy chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
It was the Father's will that every chosen, elect sinner should
be made holy. And that the means of this holiness
should be by Jesus Christ, but the cause according to the praise
of the glory of His grace. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. The whole purpose was the praise
of the glory of His grace. I do not this for your sakes. I do this for my own namesake. Oh, that men would cease to think
so highly of themselves. That men would bow down to God
who alone has purposed a covenant of grace to save and elect people
who he alone predestinated, he planned, he purposed, and he
executed their salvation. He applies it and he keeps it.
Who then receives the glory? You want to know if you're really
preaching the gospel? Who gets the glory? If you're not preaching the gospel,
then man receives some measure of the glory. But if you're preaching
the gospel, all the glory belongs to God. So this covenant, all
of it, from first to last, is all for the glory of God's name. In the end, when we are standing
before God, what will be our song? Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain and has redeemed us to God out of every nation, kindred,
tongue, tribe, and people. All the glory belongs to Him. Let's see the calling of this
covenant. We see the condition of those
who God has purposed to save. They're defiled, they're depraved,
they're in captivity. And if God's going to save them,
that's where He's going to meet them. Secondly, we see the cause
is not based on anything in them or anything done by them. It
is for the glory of God. And yet God declares in this
covenant that everyone that is named, everyone of Israel shall
be called. Look at this in verse 23. He
says, I will sanctify my great name. which was profaned among
the heathen, which you profaned in the midst of them in the heathen. They shall know that I am the
Lord God, I am the Lord, sayeth the Lord God, when I shall be
sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your
own land. Now notice this, two words here.
God swears to his covenant people. First of all, I'm going to take
you. Second of all, I am going to gather you. You who know the Lord Jesus Christ,
is this not the truth, the experience that we were taken and gathered? In Jeremiah 3 in verse 14, he
says, I will take one from a family and two from a city. What does
this mean to take? I will take you. Well, if you
remember in 2 Samuel chapter 9, it is the same word fetched. When David went and he sent his
man, he said, go and fetch him. Fetch Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth
was a Remember his condition. He was lame on his feet. He was
the son of the son of Saul, condemned, worthy of death. David had arisen
to the throne and he was right to kill the sons of Saul. But you know that he made a covenant,
right? With Jonathan or Mephibosheth. You see, when those men came
to take Mephibosheth, do you think he thought good thoughts?
He thought, well man, look, David's come to take me. No, when David
was sitting and fetched him, his soldiers grabbed him and
took him. They fetched him. And this is
what God does for us. Why? We are lame on our feet.
We could not come. Jesus said, No man can come unto
me. I could not come to Christ. Until what? He fetched me. And like Mephibosheth, we were
brought to the feet of Christ. And we bowed at His feet, recognizing
His right to kill us. We in fear knew our condition. We had defiled His name. That's
what He does first. He takes us and He shows us. In Psalm 110, he speaks of the
kingship of Christ. He said, the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. And you know what he said about his people? He
said, thy people shall be willing of their own free will. No, that's not how it worked. We were not willing. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. And that's what happened
to every one of these elect in this covenant. We are found guilty
before God and God says, I'm going to save you for my own
glory and then He goes out and He takes us. He takes us and
He brings us to the feet of Christ and we are exposed. But I like
this second word. He said, I will also gather them.
I will gather them. How does he gather us? He gathers us through the preaching
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He gathers us by the preaching
of the covenant of love. The covenant of love. The covenant
of grace. Through the preaching of this
gospel, what men call foolishness, this is the means God has chosen.
He said, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. Preaching
what? Preaching the gospel of grace. The gospel of mercy. Preaching the covenant. Isn't
that what David did? He took Mephibosheth, brought
him to himself, and then what? He gathered him in with his sons.
He said, let me tell you about a covenant I made with your daddy. I'm going to show you mercy.
for Jonathan's sake. You know what that good God does
for us? He said, look, you deserve death, but I'm gonna show you
mercy because of a covenant I made with my son. I'm gonna show you
mercy. And he gathers us, and when the
gospel is preached, he gathers us like his sheep. He said, my
sheep hear my voice. and they follow me. So what it
is to be gathered? It is to bring us in by the preaching
of this covenant. Preaching of mercy, the preaching
of grace. And then what does he do? Once
he takes us and brings us, he exposes our sin, then he preaches
Christ to us. He preaches this covenant to
us. And when the covenant comes in mercy, this is the fourth
thing, the cleansing of this covenant. Look at verse 25. He
said, Then, after I take you, after I gather you, after I show
you your condition, and I show you I'm going to save you from
my own namesake. Look, He said, Then I'm going to sprinkle clean
water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. God says, I'm going to take that
defiled, wretched sinner, one that has defiled my name, has profaned my name, and you
know what I'm going to do? I'm going to cleanse him of all
his sins. I'm going to wash him. I'm going
to purge him. Now, the question is, how can
this happen? How can a holy God forgive sin? How could God cleanse a filthy
sinner and maintain his just and holy integrity? The answer
to this question is simple. It is only through A substitute. A substitute. You see, God not only purposed
to save his elect people, but he also decreed and predestinated
the means. What is the means? It is Jesus
Christ. That is the means of God's cleansing. You see, in the eternal covenant,
the Father loved the people. He purposed to make them holy,
to gather them, but in order to display His grace, the Father
said, I will that all might elect be holy, even though they were
born in sin, and that this perfect holiness should never come by
their works. This perfect holiness must come
my representative, my Jesus Christ. Behold, Christ in this covenant
agreed to be surety, to be the federal head and high priest
of all that the Father had given him for this purpose, to cleanse
us of all our sin. He said, I will sprinkle clean
water upon you, and this is the result. You shall be clean. I like this way this covenant
reads, don't you? I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall
be clean. From what? All your filthiness. Believer, you've seen your filthiness?
You know what God says? You're clean. I'm going to sprinkle
this on you and you shall be clean from all your sin. And
so then in the eternal covenant of grace, God purposed that Christ
should come into the world for this purpose. They should come
and represent his elect and that he should be all their wisdom,
all their righteousness, all their sanctification and all
their redemption. He's all of it. Wrap your mind around this. This
was done before there was ever a sin committed. This was purposed. This was planned. This was an
agreement with God in the Trinity of His persons. That Christ should be made all
of these things. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made into us wisdom, righteousness. sanctification
and redemption. It is in this covenant of grace
that Christ in perfect love and grace for the elect willingly,
willingly in all of his heart, he said, I will be surety for
them. And you know the reference of
that is Judah for Benjamin. When Judah said that, that's
a picture of Christ. He said, I will be surety for
him. If I bring him not again to thee,
let me bear the blame. That's what a surety does. He's
a guarantor. And so the Son guaranteed the
success and salvation of all the elect to the Father in this
covenant. And so when Jesus, when He said
that in John chapter 6, He said, All the Father giveth me shall
come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will of him that sent me, that of all he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. You see,
this is the heart of the covenant. This is the fulfillment of the
covenant, is the work of Jesus Christ. And so then, In this covenant,
consider the first one who trusted in Christ was the father. He trusted his son with the souls
of his elect. Even so, Christ did come into
the world as a man to do the will of the father. Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, to do thy will, perform this covenant of cleansing,
by the which will we are sanctified. Isn't that what he says? He says,
in verse 23, he said, when I shall be sanctified in you before their
eyes, God declares he's going to make his people holy. And
he does this by the will of the Father through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And so now, behold how God can
be just and justify the ungodly. How can God cleanse the sinner
and still be just? It is by the blood offering of
Jesus Christ. That's what is meant by clean
water. It is the blood of Christ. By the one offering of Christ,
the scripture says, He hath purged our sins. He has washed us with
His perfect offering. Therefore, in Hebrews 10, He
said, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Look and see how God has redeemed
His elect, even as He gathers us together in Christ, our Head.
And as Christ honored the law of God by his own faith and obedience,
obtained righteousness, and by his suffering upon Calvary's
tree, he has forever redeemed us to God. Have you ever considered when
you were redeemed? Your redemption was purposed
in this covenant before the world began. But you were actually redeemed
when Christ died for your sins. When he died for your sins on
Calvary's tree, you were redeemed. Yet it was God's will and purpose
that you should also receive this by the experience of grace, that you should be called, fetched,
Gathered to Christ and that you should be cleansed Well, how
do we know if we are cleansed This is this covenants only for
the elect, you know that it's only for Israel God purposes
he knows their condition. He's got they're all sinners.
They're all defiled. But so is everybody so is everybody
God said I wanted to save him for my own namesake. I'm gonna
call him and I'm gonna cleanse him and How do we know we are
cleansed? Because everyone He calls, there
is a new creation. Look at this in verse 26. A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you, and will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will
give you a heart of flesh. A man was made of God, body,
soul, and spirit. Yet when Adam died, he had a
soul. His soul was alive. His body was alive. What died? It was his spirit. His spirit. When he died, he died spiritually. but in grace God purposed that
all of his elect should be quickened spiritually, be raised from the
dead. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4,
6, as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. How
did God command the light? He said, let there be light.
It was a creation. As God commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, He has shined in our hearts. to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And so then this new heart is
what we term the new nature. It's not just a fixing up of
the old. That's what religion wants to
do. It wants to fix it up. It wants to prop up the dead
corpse. Put some makeup on it. Fix its
hair. Make it look pretty. Our Lord
said that to those Pharisees. He said, you're nothing but painted
sepulchers, outside beautiful, but inside what? Dead men. Dead men. But God promises his
people not to be fixing up the outside, but to give us something
new. Something new. If it's new, it
wasn't there before. It wasn't there before. What
is the new thing? A new heart and a new spirit
I will put within you. In 2nd Ephesians chapter 2 and
verse 8, For by grace you are saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, yet faith is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. Everyone who believes in Christ,
I want you to know that you are His workmanship. Listen to this, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. And if you were to go to Ephesians
chapter 4, let's see, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 24, He exhorts us. put on the new man. Every believer knows this, that
we are to put off the old man. Why are you to put off the old
man? Because he's still there. You have to keep putting him
off, and his deeds, and continually put on the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Consider the
promise of this covenant. When God gives you a new heart,
what is He giving you? He is giving you a holy nature. He is giving you a holy nature,
a new nature. One created after God in true
holiness. This is a product and work of
the Spirit of God. This new heart, this new nature,
this new spirit, it is created in the very image of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is by this new
heart that sinners come to faith in Christ. You see, faith in Christ, friends,
is the evidence of a new heart. How do I know if I have a new
heart? How do I know if I'm cleansed? How do I know if I'm part of
this covenant? Simply this. Do you believe on the Son of God? See, to most people, that's not
hard. They say, well, that's not complicated.
That's not hard. No, it's impossible. It's impossible. If you believe on the Son of
God, it is because God has given you a new heart by which you
can believe. And so then our faith, true faith,
the objects of this covenant, our faith is not in ourselves,
is it? Our faith is not in our works.
Our faith is not in our works plus the work of Christ. Our
faith is not even in our faith. But true faith is faith in the
faith of Christ. My faith rests in His. I'm going to read a couple of
passages of Scripture to you. Romans chapter 3 and verse 22. It says, Even the righteousness
of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Where did your
righteousness come from there? Where did it come from? By the
faith of Jesus Christ. By His faith. If you go to Galatians,
chapter 2, flip there faster, Galatians
chapter 2 and verse 16, Knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ, Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ. You see the faith of Christ is
the cause of our justification and therefore by the grace of
God we believe in Jesus Christ for our justification. Galatians chapter 3 and verse
22. It says, But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe. You see, my faith rests in His
righteousness, in His justification, in His work, in His person, in
His obedience completely. This is the result of everyone
who has a new nature, a new heart. Upon this new creation of God,
the new heart that is given has faith in Jesus Christ. Yet we know this, that everyone
who has a new creation, a new heart, God did not destroy the
old. He did not promise. to destroy
the old nature. We know that. Therefore, there's
a constant warfare within the heart of every recipient of this
covenant. There's a constant struggle within
each one of us. We know this according to the
scripture in 1 John, Chapter 3 and verse 9, it says,
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Is that true? Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. Wait a second. I believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. I've been born of the Spirit
of God and yet I can't see anything but my sin. How can that be true? Because the new heart is created
after God in true holiness. It cannot sin. That which is
the seed of Christ cannot sin. But you know what? The old nature
cannot do anything righteous. So then we are constantly in
struggle with ourselves. Notice this in verse 27, go back
to your text, look at this verse 27. He said, I will put my spirit
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall
keep my judgments and do them. Wow, that's a big promise, isn't
it? Isn't that a big promise to the
covenant? That you shall keep my statutes
and you shall do them? You know how you're doing them?
Because God is giving you a nature that can only do that. Always. God promises to all his elect,
not only to create a new heart, but listen, we will continue
in this because his spirit resides in us. He said, I'm going to
cause this because my spirit is going to be in you. You know,
that's a that's a promise. If any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. You can't be saved without the
Holy Spirit constantly dwelling in you. And what's the comfort
of this? I know this, that it is the Spirit
of God in this covenant that keeps me believing. It keeps me believing. Peter
says that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation, ready to be revealed. at the last time. And notice
this, God has promised to give you the kingdom. Look at this,
verse 28, and you shall dwell in the land that I gave your
fathers and you shall be my people and I will be your God. God promises this, that we will
dwell in the land that he has prepared for us. And this will
be our constant theme. This is my hope. This is all
my hope that God is my God. And I am his. I'm his child.
I am his people. You know why I could say that
that I'm. I am truly a Jew. As one inwardly. Why God made me one. God said,
you're my people. You shall be my people. That's
why I'm weary as people. Because he decreed it. And he
says this, I will be your God. How gracious is that? Do we deserve
that he should be our God? No. But he says, I will be gracious. And notice this. He says, I will
also save you from your uncleanness. and I will call for the corn
and wine and the increase and lay no famine upon you. God swears that I will continually,
perpetually, constantly save you. Isn't this good news? Because
there's a lot of times I don't feel it. There's a lot of times I look
at my conduct or I look at my heart I'm like Newton, when he
looked inside, he said, all I see is vain and wild. I don't see
that new holy nature that he promised, do you? And so I began to doubt and fear,
but here's his covenant. This is what God swears to you.
Listen, I will save you from all your uncleanness. Do you
have uncleanness? God says, I'll save you from
that. I will save you from all your uncleanness. Does any of this covenant then
sound iffy? Does any of this covenant so
far sound shaky to you? No, because no part of this covenant
is dependent on you. This is a covenant made before
you. It was its conditions and execution was done before you
were born. And in God, in perfect timing
has called you just like he said he would. He's called you. He's shown you your condition.
He's fetched you. He's gathered you to Himself
through the preaching of His gospel. He's cleansed you from
all your sins. He's given you a new heart. He's
given you a heart of affection for Him. You know what He says? He says,
I'm not going to stop. Not until you are fully, completely
brought to Me. And all this time, I'm going
to increase the corn and the wine I'm going to cause you to
grow. And none of this is shaky because
God says I will. Because God says I will, you
shall. And notice the result, the last
thing, the result of this. Look back at your text and I'll
close with this. Look at the result of this. Verse 31, then. when God saves us, then you shall remember your
own evil ways and your doings that were not good. And you shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations. Is that not true? That's totally
against what the world thinks you should think about yourself. When God brings a sinner to himself,
this is what we constantly know. We loathe ourselves. Why? Because God said you would.
God said you would loathe yourselves. And then he reminds you, listen,
again, I'm not doing it for your sake. Isn't that good? Because there's no reason God
would do this. I have not done anything that would deserve this.
God said, it's all right. I'm not doing it for you. I do this not for your sakes,
do I this, sayeth the Lord, be it known to you. Be ashamed and
confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. And we are. We are ashamed and confounded
of our own ways. But you know what I delight in?
I delight in His covenant. I delight in His covenant of
love. So then remember, what's the
condition of all these in this covenant? They're defiled. What's
the cause of God having salvation, a covenant of salvation? He said,
I do it for my own glory. And what is He going to do? He's
going to call everyone that's named in this covenant. He's
going to take them, going to expose their sin, and then He's
going to gather them by the gospel. And then He's going to cleanse
them. from all their iniquities. By the blood of Christ, He cleanses
us from all of our sin. Then, He's going to give us a
new creation, a new heart by which we believe, by which we
love Him and serve Him. And then He's going to continually,
perpetually save us until He brings us home to Himself. Listen, just like he promised. Just like he promised. So what then is going to disannul
this covenant? What shall happen in time to
make this covenant null and void? What? Nothing. I don't have anything
to do with the planning or execution of this covenant. I don't have
anything to do with the application of this covenant. I don't have
anything to do with the keeping of this covenant. This is a covenant
of God for the glory of God concerning the salvation of His
people. I pray God will bless this to you. Stand and be dismissed,
I pray. Father, dismiss us with your
mercy and blessing. Thank you for this covenant that
you've made. I thank you that you have blessed us, that you
have called us and cleansed us, that you've given us a new heart
by which we believe. Father, help us to ever look
to Christ, who is the mediator of this covenant, whose blood
has ratified this covenant and cleansed us from all our sins.
but must always trust in Him and believe on Him. I ask you
to do this for your own namesake, in Jesus' name, amen.