I like that hymn also. The writer Nicholas von Zinzendorf
back in the 18th century. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress. He must have been thinking about
Ezekiel 16 when he wrote that. The child, the field, the Lord
said, your beauty was perfect through my comeliness. which
I had put on thee, saith the Lord. And the king's daughter
is all glorious within. Her dress was made by the king
himself. Hebrews 13. Read these two verses
again with me. Hebrews 13. Now, the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. God of peace. Remember that? I hope you will,
because it will give you peace thinking about our God. God of peace. Especially that
verse where he said, I know my thoughts toward you. Thoughts
of peace. That great shepherd of the sheep.
If you're a poor, dumb, ignorant, dependent sheep, then you need
a great shepherd. And you have one. The Lord is
your shepherd, you shall not want. And then he mentions the
blood of the everlasting covenant. And that's why these three things
struck me. Three grand and glorious things. that we just had to look at them
individually. God of peace, great shepherd,
the blood of the everlasting covenant. Now, when Paul said who is sufficient
for these things, my, my, if he said that, what about us? blood of the everlasting covenant. There's no way to simplify something
so profound. And it's far above our understanding
and way far above our appreciation. The half has never been and never
will be told. God's great goodness, His great
works, that work of salvation, the great salvation. which this
covenant speaks of. I heard Brother Mahan preach
on this very verse and theme, the blood of the everlasting
covenant. I was going to go out for a little jog, and I knew
he probably had a message on it, and I looked and he had about
ten. So I put one on my little player and went out And I think
I could have run 20 miles in record pace because it just had
my attention. It was just wonderful. In fact, I think I'll just take
that and play the tape for everybody tonight. I wanted to do that. It was so wonderful. So wonderful. The everlasting covenant. The
word covenant means testament or agreement. David said, It's
ordered in all things. And it's sure. He said, that's
my salvation. And this blood of the covenant
means that Christ ratified it, sealed it, made it certain by
His blood. Now, here it is. And you know,
when we preach these things, we don't want it to come across
as mere doctrine. Teaching. I love it. But it needs
to come across like Deuteronomy, where the Lord said, give ear,
my doctrine shall drop as rain. That's the way it needs to come
out. Not dead, dry facts, but it needs to be to the heart somehow. But that's up to the Spirit of
God. But here it is, God the Father.
In great love, great sovereign love, chose whom he would love. And in great mercy and grace,
chose to save from sin and death. Chose to save a vast number of
human beings out of Adam's fallen race. None of them deserve this. But God is so great in mercy,
in love, and in grace. He chose a number which no man
can number. That's how vast it is. He has
a number. The foundation of God stands
assured having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. But he chose a vast number which
no man can number out of Adam's fallen race to the glory of his
sovereign love and his sovereign mercy in electing great. And
he and the Son and the Holy Spirit in covenant, in agreement together,
in covenant. Now you understand we have to
talk about this like human beings talk. I don't believe they actually
stopped and decided anything. It was just done. Heaven and
under God are all His works from the beginning. They don't have
to ask each other, will you do this and will you do that? We
do that as an illustration, don't we? The Father said, I'm going
to choose a people. Will you? No, they both chose. They all chose. These three are
one. Nevertheless, so we'll understand. The Father chose a people and
he gave them to Christ to become the head of this covenant. The head of this covenant. The
one who would represent these people, do everything for them
to save them. I'm trying to simplify something
that's way above our understanding. He gave them to Christ, who agreed
to come to earth to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh."
Now, we just don't know what condescension that was. For us
to become a worm would not be as far as he had to go. Stoop. He agreed to be made in the likeness
of sinful flesh, made of a woman, the ancient of days and infant
of days. He who is Jehovah, dependent
upon nothing and no one, made himself dependent upon a woman's
breast. Made of a woman, a virgin, mind
you, so that he would be without sin. None of Adam's seed in him. Made under the law. He who made
the law. He who wrote the law. Put himself
under it. Subject to it. Why did he do
this? Why did he do all this? Because
God deals with two people. Alright? There are two heads. Two men that God deals with.
The first is Adam. We'll turn over to 1 Corinthians
15. Most of you know this. I'm not going to take it for
granted everyone does. 1 Corinthians 15. There are two covenant heads. Two covenant heads. The first
man, Adam, was our covenant head. Adam. We all come from the loins
of Adam. We all are sons of Adam. Okay? Adam was our covenant head. And God told Adam in the garden,
he and Eve, he said, I'm Lord over all and I've given you dominion
over all, everything but one thing, which is a token, a symbol
of my absolute sovereignty over you that you answered to me.
You can have anything but that one thing, that one trait. And in the day you eat thereof,
dying you shall die. Die and you shall die. Two deaths
he would face. He would die spiritually, and
he would begin to die physically, wouldn't he? Alright? We were in Adam. We were in Adam,
in his loins. We all come from Adam. Adam was
our covenant head. Adam, in rebellion against God. It wasn't an innocent thing.
It was rebellion against God. Like Satan, who said, I will. Satan deceived Eve, but Adam
said, yeah, we'll be as God. And because we were in Adam,
when Adam rebelled against God, Adam broke God's law, in Adam
we all died. Died spiritually and began to
die physically. Look at it in 1 Corinthians 15,
it says, Verse 21, "...since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die." All die. We died in Adam. When we were born, we were born
dead in trespasses and sin. I want to talk about that a little
more in a little bit. Our father Adam broke the law. He broke the law. That God had to cast him out
of the garden. Okay? But before he did, He told him
about one who would come and restore. Restore him. This is the second Adam. Okay? Another covenant head. The second
Adam. Covenant head. The Lord Jesus
Christ is who it is. He came to keep that law. He
came to keep what Adam wrote. He came to magnify it and make
it honorable. Law is good, holy and just and
true. And the second Adam, we'll probably
sing that song on Sunday, won't we? Is it Hark the Herald Angels
Sing? Isn't that great? Is Charles
Wester or Watson one of them? Second Adam from above, reinstate
us in thy love. Stamp thine image in its place,
in the place of the first Adam. But he came and honored the law
and honored God the Father and God Almighty was well pleased
for his righteousness. Well pleased. And the reason Christ did that,
number one, he did it for God. To honor God. He did it for God's
honor. He had to do that for God first.
Honor God's law. And God was well pleased. And
he did it on behalf of all of his people. And by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners, Adam. Even so, by the
obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." Right there
it is. Two covenants hit. Two covenants
hit. But you know, in reality, the covenant with Christ was
really the first covenant. Because Christ is called the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Before there was
a sinner, there was a Savior. Before there was a sinner, God
made this covenant with his son, knowing that man would fall. And he purposed it. Purposed
it. So the second Adam came. And God said that whatever Christ
did, by keeping the law, he would impute it and charge it to the
account of all of his people, just to trust him, just for believing,
like Abraham. Abraham believed God. And it
was counted on him for righteousness, as if he kept the whole law. Abraham just believed God. Looked
to Jesus Christ like that, and God said, You're holy, unblamable,
unreprovable in my sight. You're perfectly righteous in
my sight. I accept you. Why? What did Abraham do? Nothing. His covenant head did it all.
Jesus Christ. And he said the same thing is
for all who believe, not just for Abraham's sake, for all.
By one man, as I quoted, disobedient, Adam, many, all, were made sinners. Even so, by the obedience of
one, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall many an innumerable come. And verse 22 says, so in Christ
shall all be made alive. Everybody in Adam died. Whoever
is in Christ made alive. Made alive. That's the best I
can do with that. And then the Holy Spirit is part
of that covenant. The Holy Spirit comes in time
and regenerates, quickens these people by this gospel and calls
them by the gospel and regenerates them and gives them repentance
and faith and a new heart and eyes to see and ears to hear
and creates a new creature in the image of Christ in every
single one of these people. Now hold on a minute. I left
something out, didn't I? Sin has to be punished. Sin has
to be punished. God said the soul that sinneth
must surely die. That's right. But God, in great
mercy, great love to many sinners, Many sinners made his soul's
son an offering for sin. Yea, made him to be sin for his
people. Spared not his own son, but delivered
him up as a substitute. Our covenant head was not only
our righteous representative, but he was our substitute to
pay for our sin. God, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Who drew first blood? The soul that sins must surely
die. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sin. Who drew the first drop of blood on this earth? Who did
it? St. Cain? No. God did. A lamb in that garden. As Christ poured out His soul
unto death, Christ's blood was shed. He died the innocent for
the guilty, the lamb slain for sinners. And these are big words,
but these are Bible words to propitiate, to cover. as an atonement
for their sin. Like Adam and Eve in the garden
were naked and they couldn't cover themselves with their little
fig leaf, which is the only thing that Christ cursed while he was
on this earth, didn't he? We can't cover ourselves, our sin,
with our little turning over a new leaf or works of rock.
Can't do it. Nobody would be justified. But
we're justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Covered.
Propitiated. Remember that, Kelly? Propitiated. Atonement. Same word as pitch. That covered the ark. Noah's
ark. Inside and out. And the garden of the first sinner
and his wife. The Lord shed the blood of an
innocent animal and covered them in its skin. And the Scripture
says, by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin.
So death passed upon all men, but by one man, life. Life. And think about this. Go with me to Genesis chapter
6. We talk about death, sin. By one man, sin entered the world,
and death by sin. This has got a hold of me today. Not just the penalty of sin,
but the consequences of sin in all of us. Death. Death. We lost
the life of God. We died spiritually. The life
of God is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, gentleness, goodness,
meekness, faith, trust, holiness, righteousness. We lost all that.
We lost all that. Adam and Eve, when they sinned,
when sin entered them, anger, didn't it? Anger came in, hatred, violence. As we said recently in that message
on reconciliation, had not God shed that animal's blood, that
sacrifice, might have the first couple married end up in divorce.
And what reconciled them to God is what reconciled them to each
other. And it's the only thing that will
do it now. You know that? No promise will stay together
except we both look into Christ. But violence, bloodshed, death,
sin entered, and anger and bitterness and wrath and hatred began to
escalate. In chapter 6 of Genesis, You
know, Cain killed his brother, not an enemy, but his brother
because this thing of sin entered in. In verse 11 of Genesis 6,
it says, The earth was corrupt before God. The earth was filled
with violence. Verse 13, God said, The end of
all flesh has come before me. The earth is filled with violence.
Isn't it? And you know what Romans says.
Listen to this. Here's a description God gives
of the natural man because of sin. It says, There's none righteous,
no, not one. There's not one that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God. They're all going out of the
way, that together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
Their tongues have used deceit, poison of ass. Mouths are full
of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. The way of peace they have not
known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. And we kill
each other off. But God. This is all of sin. Paul said,
are we better than Gentiles? Gentiles better than Jews. No,
they are all together like that by nature. But God. And the thing
that, the only thing that will satisfy all this bloodshed is
when the Son of God came here to put an end to it all. Do you hear me? When Jesus Christ
came, He came and shed His own blood to pay for all the blood
shed and to keep us from shedding it. The only thing that will
get the hate and the violence and the murder and the death
out of us and reconcile us to God, make us peaceable toward
God, is that same blood. Listen to what I'm saying. It's
the only thing. See in Christ's death for us, which the Holy
Spirit does. And He did all this to the praise of the glory of
His grace. But this covenant, this covenant
is for Christ's sake. Turn with me to 1 Samuel, chapter
18. This covenant that God made is
to the praise of the glory of His grace, but it's principally
for the glory of Christ who's the head of that covenant, whom
God honors and creates a whole universe
for His glory. The glory of His Son. The whole
new kingdom is created for His Son. Why? Because Christ poured
out His soul unto death. Because Christ who was equal
with the Father, thought it not robbery, but made Himself of
no reputation, and came down here. And He said, I'm a worm
and no man. Came down here for the likes
of worthless creatures and did what He did and died for them
and shed His blood on Calvary's tree. And God gave Him a name
which is above every name. for doing this, the head of the
world, a covenant head who ratified this covenant with his blood,
proving it, proving it, proving it. You know, in the whole Old
Testament, blood, rivers of blood, and rivers and rivers and rivers
of blood. And people, their blood was shed.
And Christ came and by that one sacrifice forever put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. All that blood could not put
away any sin, not one single sin, but Christ, this man, after
he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, put it away because
of whose blood it was. And God charged to him all the
sin of all of God's people and charged to them His perfect righteousness. And Christ came as their covenant
head. And because He did that, God
Almighty has because he poured out his blood,
he got almighty ratified. Here's the point I wanted to
make. You remember that in the Old Testament, and God told them
to do that, to take that animal's blood and slit its throat and carry that
blood into the holy place Holy of Holies, where God would meet
and pour out that blood on the mercy seat on the ark, cover
the broken law on the ark of the covenant, pour out that blood
on the mercy seat. Remember that? Okay. That was one man that did that. One man who pictures Christ,
who entered into the Holy of Holies, a place made without
hand for us. Well, anyway, that man went in
there, and when he was in there, he had on his garment, you remember
what he had on his garment? Bells, actual little bells that
were ringing, so that the people outside would know he's still
alive. He's not dead. He's alive. And pomegranate, that's fruit
on the floor. And anyway, he had these bells. And so that the people would,
you know, if they could hear those bells ringing, he's still
alive. And what proved that God Almighty
was pleased anyway, accepted that blood, was what? He walked
out. He came out of the holy place. And smiling. And the people surely
must have let out a cheer or something, you know, a smile.
God accepted the sacrifice for us sinners, okay? All right,
God proved He accepted Christ's sacrifice on behalf of all of
God's people. How? The blood of the everlasting
covenant. How did He prove it? The God
of peace, who brought again from the dead our great shepherd,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's what all that's
saying. That's what all that's saying.
And so God did all this, this covenant for such worthless creatures
for Christ's sake. In 1 Samuel, you know the story
of two men who loved each other dearly, David and Jonathan. One story, one illustration will
do for this covenant. David and Jonathan loved each
other. And it said in verse 1, it came to pass, David made an
end of speaking unto Saul. The soul of Jonathan was knit
with the soul of David. Jonathan loved him as his own
soul. God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit dwelled together before
the world began. And Christ said, He said, I was
daily His delight. I was daily His delight. In verse
3 it says, Jonathan and David made a covenant. Because he loved
him as his own soul. They both made a covenant together.
What was this covenant? Go over to chapter 20. Chapter
20. Look at it. Don't let me lose
you here, okay? I'm trying my best. I can't make
it interesting. Only the Spirit can. But don't
lose me here. If you haven't got anything yet,
you will. 1 Samuel 20. This covenant. You know this story, but let's
look at it again. What was the covenant that they made together?
Verse 14, here's what Jonathan said to David, Thou shalt not
only while I yet live show me the kindness of the Lord that
I die not, But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from
my house for ever." No, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies
of David, every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan
made a covenant with the house of David, saying, let the Lord
even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan
caused David to swear again, an oath and a covenant. He swore,
he swore by no greater, David said, the king made this covenant. And this oath, because he loved
him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. He said, I'll do
it. I'll be merciful to the house
of Jonathan, for Jonathan's sake. I will. David said, I will. I'll
ever be mindful of that covenant. I will not cut off the house
of Jonathan, which was Saul's house. Enemies. Enemies, right? You know, our Lord, you remember
when our Lord prayed as our covenant head in John 17? He prayed to
the Father, Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. I've honored you, he said. I've
kept those things you've given me to do. I've finished the work
you gave me to do. I've honored your law. I've done
it all. Now, the men you've given me, remember your covenant. And
I speak as a man. God did that to me. But Christ
praised our covenant head, okay? All right? Will David remember
that? Where are we going to go? You
know exactly where I'm going. All right? 2 Samuel 9. 2 Samuel
9. I told you it would get good. This one story is worth it all.
In 2 Samuel 9, this covenant, the Father loved the Son, and
a covenant of love to His Son decreed that if Christ would
lay down His life for those people, He would show kindness and mercy
and never cut off any who came unto God by Him, no matter who
He was, enemy though He be. He would not cut them off, but
would show kindness for Christ's sake. And here it is, so here
it is in the end. Jonathan's dead. Jonathan died. His blood was shed. God's Word
is wonderful. Now David said, Is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul that I might show him
kindness for Jonathan's sake? of the house of Saul, a servant
whose name was Ziba. And when they called him unto
David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? He said, Thy servant
is he. The king said, Is there not yet
any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God
unto him? What Jonathan said. He's thinking
of Jonathan whom he loves. Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan
yet has a son who is lame on his feet. You know how he got
lame, don't you? A fall. He fell when he was a
baby. Lame on his feet. He couldn't
walk. The king said unto him, Where is he? I believe David
knew exactly where he was. I know he did. Nothing is hid
from the king. He wrote this. God had him write
this for our sake. Known unto God are all his works
from the kingdom. King said unto him, Where is
he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of
Maker, the son of Amul, in Lodibar." He's in a place of no pasture
and no bread, and he's lame, and he's lame. He can't come. That's where
he is. He's in sad shape. House of no
bread. Then King David sent and fetched
him. He sent two of his most powerful
men down there to fetch a cripple, to fetch a lame man. You reckon
he's coming? Oh, my. And they didn't ask him to come,
did they? They went and got him. The king gave the commandment.
David said, Thou hast given commandment to save me. The king gave the
commandment, go down there and fetch Mephibosheth. Well, what
if he won't come? You're kidding, aren't you? The
most powerful man on earth can't fetch one lame man? What kind
of king is he? He's coming, all right. They're
going to pick him up and they're going to bring him. What if he's
not willing? Oh, he'll be willing in the day of his power. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Oh my, and
once Mephibosheth came. Look at it, read on. Now, Mephibosheth,
son of Jonathan, son of Saul, was come unto David. When he
saw this most glorious king on the earth, he fell on his face. He feared him. He didn't know
what David was going to do, did he? He's an enemy. He didn't know what David was
going to do. He fell on his face and did reference. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Didn't we read that?
But David, being a man after God's own heart, is ever mindful
of his conduct. He's not forgiven. That's why
he's here. That's why he fetched the man. And David said, Lefebvre, he called his own sheep by name,
the Lord. He called them by name, Mary.
Mary, the Master's come. He called for you. Why? To show mercy on them. And Lefebvre
answered, Behold, thy servant. David said unto him, Fear not.
Does that sound familiar? Son of David, fear not. I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan, thy father's sake. And I will restore not only kindness,
but not only mercy, not only did he not give him what he deserved.
You know, later on, and we're not going to have time to look
at it, I was going to, later on, David had seven sons of Saul
killed. Saul was a bloody man. And the
Gibeonites, remember when Saul had those 85 priests killed? Remember that? And slew everybody
in that village that helped David, he thought. Slew them all. Later
on, when David was king, those men cried out for the blood of
Saul. Vengeance. And David said, okay, get seven
of Saul's sons and hang them up and kill them all. But don't
touch Mephibosheth. He chose Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth
witnessed all that. And God is going to destroy this
world. He really is. that he will ever
be mindful of his covenant. Everybody that comes to him by
Christ will not be cast out. No way. No way God is ever mindful. He remember mercy and covenant. He's a covenant God. Mercies
of a covenant God. And not only that, not only does
he spare Mephibosheth, not only does our Lord just spare us,
but with him freely gives us all things. Look at it. He said,
I will not only show you kindness, but I'm going to restore everything
you lost. Do you know how rich Saul was?
Do you know how rich Saul was? And Mephibosheth's down there
in the house of no bread? Now all of a sudden, for Jonathan's
sake, He gets it all back. He didn't do anything to deserve
that, but for Johnson's sake. Are you getting this, Mike? It's
for Christ's sake, isn't it? For Christ's sake. Wait, hold
on, that's not all. Not only am I going to restore
everything that you lost and your father saw, but you're going
to eat, my favorite chef, David says, at my table, read verse
7, Continually, from now on, and he gave commandment, down
in verse 10, that he will eat at my table as one of the king's
sons. Verse 11, he kept reiterating
this, kept repeating this to Mephibosheth, he said, verse
11, he's going to eat at my table as one of my sons. Not just mercy,
but he adopted him. Why would he do that? Because
David is a wonderful man. Because David is a merciful man. Because David is a kind man.
Because David loved Jonathan. And in honor to his friend Jonathan,
he did all this for his posterity, for his sake, Jonathan's sake. And it says, O Mephibosheth,
he did eat continually, just like the king said, at the king's
table. But I like the last line. He's
laying on both his feet. But somebody pointed out, you
know, sitting at the table, can't see those feet. Everybody looks
the same. Well, David, in writing You know,
David in the end, his dying words there in 2 Samuel 23, you know,
my favorite verse of Scripture right now. David wrote in that
his dying words. A man's dying words mean a lot,
don't they? Like a man says, I'm standing
on the rock. That means in glory. A man that
says that, his dying words, he's in glory right now. Look in the
cleft of the rock. But David said, Although it be
not so with my house." And his house was a mess, full
of turmoil and trouble. And I think he was probably talking
about himself too. This sinful man. And I've sinned,
and my sin is ever before me. But although it be not so, the
way I would have it, the way God would have it, to be, but
although it be not so in my house yet, but God, but God, has made
with man an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure."
And he gave that to Christ, and Christ did it, fulfilled it. And David said, this is all my
salvation. That's all my salvation. That's
it. Covenant. Let me read this in
closing to you. John Newton wrote this paraphrasing
that Hebrews 13.20. Now, may he who from the dead
brought the shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ our King and Head,
all our souls in safety keep. May he teach us to fulfill what
is pleasing in his sight, perfect us in all his will, preserve
us day and night. To that dear Redeemer's praise,
who the covenant sealed with his blood, let our hearts and
voices raise loud thanksgiving to our God.