We'd like to say a few words
tonight about covenants, covenants. This first one of chapter two
shares with us a wonderful statement about God. He shares with us
in Judges chapter two and verse one, and the angel of the Lord
came up from Gilgal to Bochem and said, I made you to go up
out of Egypt and have brought you upon the land which I swear
unto your fathers. And I said, now this is where
we'd like to spend some time tonight. I will never break my
covenant with you. I will never break my covenant
with you. Now, I just wrote a note. God
never broke his covenant with Adam, but Adam broke his covenant
with God. And God never broke his covenant
with Israel, but we'll see continuously time and time again, they broke
their covenant with him. And God never broke his covenant
with Cain, but Cain broke his covenant. So it's just, I'd like
to look at this subject of covenant. When you read these verses, we
are so blessed with the words of God about himself. And that's
one thing I really appreciate about the Bible. God says a lot
about himself, and we rejoice in those words that God shares
with us about himself. When we started the book of the
Psalms, I mentioned there that The Psalms so often are the words
we wish we could pray and sometimes that's what we use to pray. It's
just those are the honoring words to God. And we find in the scripture
that God says a lot about what we just read in that verse of
scripture. I will never break my covenant with you. I will
never, ever, ever break my covenant with you. because God does not
change. And that is such a blessing to
the church. It was a blessing to everybody
in the Old Testament that knew God, and it's a blessing today.
Everybody that knows God, it's a blessing to know that He does
not change. And when we have people tell
us that God changes, then we find out there's a whole bunch
of people that are in dire straits if God should change. Because
we have a verse of scripture we've often gone to in the book
of Malachi. And I'd just like to read it
again because it shares with us so much about God. As we think
about, I will never, never break my covenant with you. So turn
with me, if you would, to the book of Malachi chapter three
and verse six. Probably most of you can quote
that verse of scripture. But we're just going to go over
there and I want to read it correctly. The book of Malachi, the last
book of the Old Testament, what a closing statement for God to
share with us here in this last book of the Old Testament because
it sums up how God has spoken to Israel throughout the Old
Testament and how He's going to bring His Word through the
New Testament too. In Malachi, the third chapter
of the book of Malachi, and there in verse six, we have these wonderful
words left for us, for I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. Now that's
who God revealed himself to and by throughout the whole Old Testament.
I am Jehovah. I am the I am that I am. I am
the one that appeared to Moses. at the burning bush. I'm the
one that spoke in the Garden of Eden. I'm the one that was
with the children of Israel when I brought them out of the land
of Egypt. And he said, I am Jehovah. I change not. So if there's ever
anybody that wondered how God was going to deal with Jacob,
the true Jacobs. He said, therefore ye sons of
Jacob are not consumed. Now we find in the New Testament
a similar statement is made in the fact that there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that in the Lord. Why? Because God
doesn't change. And when he purposed to save
a people in the covenant of grace, he intends to save those people
as a result of the covenant of grace. Now back up a little bit
here in the book of the Psalms, if you would, I'd like to read
a verse in the book of the Psalms, Psalm 89. As we think about this
wonderful subject, what a blessing it is to the church, I change
not. I will not break my covenant. God has promised over and over
he will never break, because he doesn't change. That's just,
it is so, it's hard for me to understand completely a being
that never has changed. Because we are around each other
and we know what we have done, but he is a being that has never
changed. He never changed in eternity. He's never changed, never changed
his mind, never changed his purpose, never had any changes necessary
because he is God and he changes not. Here in the Psalm, Psalm
89, in Psalm 89, And there in verse 34, if you'd
read with me, Psalm 89 and verse 34, we have these words left
for us for our consolation, for our encouragement, for our blessing.
It says, my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that
has gone out of my lips. So, you know, we've said, boy,
if we could have just caught that word right here. but you
just caught that statement right here. Well, the Lord never has
that issue because whatever goes out of his lips is going to be
the absolute way he's going to deal. That is the law. He is
the law. I change not, I lie not, I don't
move from the position that I'm in. We find, going back to the
book that we've been going through for a while, in the book of Numbers,
we have another passage of scripture that shares with us this wonderful
consolation to the church. God does not change. When He purposed to save a people,
He will save that people and He will, as He promised, because
He changes not, lose none of them. He will not lose one. So
here in the book of Numbers chapter 23, Numbers chapter 23, and there
in verse 19, we have this record, God is not a man. And you know,
when we're saved, we say, thank you. Thank you. I've had religious men tell me
lies. And you know, as a pastor, I've
lied. But I have a God that's never lied. He says, I'm not
a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should
repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken,
and shall he not make it good? What a statement to Israel here
in the book of Numbers so long ago, and there were a few in
that host. There were a few in that host
that understood what he was saying there. They were thankful that
he had taken complete control of their eternal life and he
would carry it out to the very end. And there were some that
didn't comprehend that. God's not like that. You know,
God is this idol I have created in my own mind. Well, he is not
a man. He doesn't have that tendency. And we also find that he ever
should repent. You know, I don't know how many
times I've had a young man bring up, well, God repented. Well,
he did not repent. God does not change his mind.
God doesn't change his mind about anything. And sometimes it appears
that way for us to say, this is just the picture of a God
that doesn't change his mind. He's using it as an illustration
to us. Well, you know, there's a passage
of scripture over in the book of Hebrews that goes right along
with this in Hebrews chapter 13. Here we find this wonderful
statement about the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, Jesus Christ,
the same, the same. You know, I saw some old friends
today, Regina's parents, and they have changed a lot since
I saw them last. And guess what? My youngest brother
reminded me that I've changed a lot. I was down there with
John and Kathy and the church and rescue. And one of those
guys came in from, that used to come to the conference. He
said, I have a DVD with you when you had black hair, Norm. We
are in constant change. But this one, that God has granted
us the privilege by grace to worship, never has changed. And here we read in this blessed
passage of scripture in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 13,
we have these words. left for us to be consoled with,
to be comforted by. We're not dealing with a man. We're not dealing with someone
that changes his mind. We're not even dealing with an agency. But everyone, every new administrator
changes the mind about what's the policy of the agency. You
know, our daughter Rachel is dealing with all the change of
lead nurses. You know, it's just a constant
barrage of things that they are expected to do that the other
one didn't. expect them to do. Well, here we find with regard
to our salvation, with regard to our position in God, with
regard to our hope, with regard to our peace, Jesus Christ the
same yesterday and today, and it doesn't say tomorrow. It says
forever. This is Jesus Christ. Now, when
we look at Christ in the Old Testament, we are looking at
the Messiah. I am so blessed by those words
that that woman at the well used. Now she didn't know the gospel
and she didn't know the grace of God, but she said, when Messiah
is come. Now she knew the Messiah was
coming. And something was going to happen after he came, but
she found out what was meant by when Messiah comes. And she's
speaking to the Messiah and the Messiah is speaking to her and
she went on her way rejoicing as a result of that. So God never
has changed, never changed his mind, never changed his policies,
never changed his word, never changed the gospel, never changed
how he dealt with people. Now we find that as we look through
the scriptures, we find that people often, break their covenant
with God. I like, this doesn't have anything
to do with that, but in the book of James, it says, every good
gift and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of life
with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. You can't put a stick in the
ground and see the shadow move, because it doesn't. There's no
shadow of turning. He's not going to change his
mind. He's not working an agenda. And
he didn't change his mind about the gospel since the very declaration
that he gave in the garden, as he gave Adam and Eve a covering,
that's gospel, a covering that would withstand and would stand
in his presence. And so that has never changed.
And you know, as a result of him never changing, We are told,
being confident, just turn over to Philippians there, as you're
in Hebrews, turn to Philippians for just a moment. Philippians
chapter one, Philippians chapter one, verse six, being confident,
being confident. Now, how can we be confident?
Because God does not change. We have confidence. He does not
change. He's not altering his course.
He's not changing his mind about us. Boy, I had a terrible day
today. I didn't really, but I'm just
saying that as an illustration. Well, God doesn't change his
mind for our eternity over that. It's not based on that. It's
based on Christ's blood and righteousness, not our works, not our righteousness,
not our prayers, not our Nothing has to do with us. It is God. That is the issue. Christ, Almighty
God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit, on
our behalf. And they all, in agreement, the
three, great three in one, are on our side. And I said, I will
never change my mind about you. I loved you in Christ before
the foundation of the world. I loved you in time, and I will
love you for eternity. So we have this great blessing.
All right, here in the book of Philippians, as a result of him
never changing, we have this, being confident of this very
thing. Have great confidence in God's
unchangeability, that he which hath begun a good work will in
you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." What's
that? When he comes again, he's going
to carry it out, being confident that he that has begun a good
work in you is going to continue it and continue it until the
day of Jesus Christ. And then, there will be no more
of this sin that we carry around. We'll be changed in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye, and we'll be able to worship God,
like we've never worshiped God. I'm thankful that Christ, the
Lord, worships God for me, because my worship is so imperfect. I'm
thankful that the Holy Spirit prays on my behalf, because my
prayers are so imperfect, but God is perfect. Now, When it
comes to a covenant, we want an agreement that cannot be broken. And I just wrote this, what about
an agreement or a covenant we made with God? Now, there's enough
illustration in the Bible with regard to Israel that will share
with us what happens when people make an agreement with God. Now,
we want God to make an agreement with us. That's the covenant
of grace. But oh God, we find out that
as best God was to Israel, they could not keep their word to
God. God never broke his covenant
with them. In fact, if we follow it out, we'll find out he was
a whole lot more generous than you or I probably would have
been with Israel. And that's one of the reasons
for the judges We're going to have 12 judges in the book of
Judges. And by and large, we find out
that Israel did what they did through the wilderness. They
were caught in their wrong and they, oh, mercy, we'll never
do that again. Boy, have you ever done that
to your parents or had your children do that to you? I'll never do
that again. I will never, ever do that again. And they did. And that's what
we follow with Israel. All right, let's just look at
that. The covenant that Israel made with God. Now, a covenant
has to have two members, at least two members. And in this covenant,
it was God, Jehovah God, Elohim God, God the very God, the promising
God, the everlasting God, made a covenant, and Israel agreed
to keep their side of the covenant. They agreed. Instantly they said,
of course we will, of course we will. Well, turn with me,
if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31. If you
ever thought that you could make a covenant with God, let's go
to the most favored nation, to the favored people that we have
in the Bible. We're not going to the Hittites
or the Hivites. We're not going to the Canaanites. We're not
going to the way out in outlanders, we're going to Israel. The people
that God had through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, promised land
and all of the blessings that he gave to them and the promise
that they made to God, let's go and see that. All right, here
in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31 and
there in verse 16. There are many verses of scripture
about like this. We're going to read a few of
them, but if you ever want to take a look at it, just go and
look up covenant and find the covenant that Israel made with
God, and you'll find out God had a lot to say about them never
keeping it. They couldn't keep it the first
day, not alone the second day or the third day. But look at
this verse of scripture. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Jehovah said unto Moses, behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers
and this people will rise up and go a whoring after the gods
of the strangers of the land. Now, we've mentioned in the past
that the immoral word that is used here is more often used
with religious connotation than it is in physical connotation.
And the Lord shared through Moses about Israel that they are going
to go whoring after other gods. Why? It says, and strangers of
land, whether they go to be among them and will forsake me and
break my covenant, which I made with them. They will break my
covenant. And this is not just a single
time that this term is used in scripture. It is multiple times
that God said, Israel, my chosen people, the ones I blessed with
many blessings, and it didn't change one heart, they broke
the covenant with me. Well, let's just look at a couple
more as we find if we ever thought that we wanted to make a covenant
with God and that we would do our dead level best And you know
what? We did, in religion, and we promised
God that we would do everything necessary for us to be in heaven
with Him for eternity. Lord, I believe. Lord, I will work. Lord, I will
do. Lord, I, Lord, Lord, Lord. And
you know what Jesus said in the book of Matthew? Many shall say
on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not done many mighty, wonderful
things? And his comment is, depart. All right, let's look at one
over here. In Deuteronomy again, chapter 31, verse 29. And here
is brought up again. For I knew that after my death
you will utterly corrupt yourselves, Moses speaking, and turn aside
from the way which I've commanded you and evil will befall you
in the latter days because ye will do evil in the sight of
the Lord and provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
on and on this kind of goes. Let's turn over to the book of
Joshua for just a moment. The book of Joshua, Joshua chapter
seven. If you ever thought about making
a covenant with God, let's just look at some examples of some
of the finest people this world has ever known. They could trace
their line right back to Abraham and to Noah and to Adam. And you know what? Jesus dealt
with these folks during his personal ministry and he said, we be of
our father Abraham. We be of our father Abraham.
And you know what Stephen brought up? Your father Abraham was,
no, he said our father Abraham was an idolatrous person in Ur
of the Chaldees. And something very special happened
to him. The God of glory appeared unto
him. Now, why didn't that happen to
the rest? Because God didn't see fit to
do that to the rest. All right, notice here in the
book of Joshua chapter seven, Joshua chapter seven, and there
in verse 11, it says, Israel has sinned and they have also
transgressed my covenant, which I commanded them for they have
even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and disassembled
also and they put They have put it even among their own stuff. This happened with AI. This is
the incident around AI. And they said, they've transgressed
my covenant. Well, we could just go down through
and time and time again, they have transgressed my covenant.
They have not kept my covenant. They have not been with me. They
said they would, but they can't and they won't. Well, let's just
look over to the book of First Kings for a moment here. First
Kings chapter 19. First Kings. And it's an ongoing
issue. Now we have ongoing issue. God
does not change. God does not change. God does
not change. Never will change. And we have
an ongoing issue. Israel can't keep it. Well, in
reality, they can't change either. They can't change themselves.
They can't change their mind. They can't change. They can't
change. So here in the book of First Kings, chapter 19, First
Kings chapter 19, And there in verse 10, it says,
and he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts,
for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant. Now this
is one of the prophets saying this. I have been very jealous
and For the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant They have thrown down thy altars. They
have slain thy prophets with the sort, you know, it goes from
bad to worse Not only did they not keep his covenant, but they
have destroyed and they have killed slain the prophets with
a sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life
to take it away." Now, we're thankful for the covenant of
grace because the Lord steps in and says, you know, I've preserved
7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal, unbeknownst to
him. But he tells us what it is like
to live among Israel in that day and time without the gospel. They have destroyed my covenant.
They have not attempted to keep it. They have torn down everything
that God stands for. And besides that, anybody that
comes along with the gospel, they've killed. Now, part of
the gospel is to know we are ruined by the fall. And that
raised the most ire among Israel. Jeremiah spent a whole long time
down in the pit over that very issue. John the Baptist was killed
over that issue. All right, so as we find this,
now, in Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31. Turn there with me, in Jeremiah
31. Now, in Jeremiah, we have some
wonderful words said about that I'm not gonna keep that covenant
that I had with Israel. They broke it. It's disannulled. It's no longer in effect. It
does not stand. of all of the centuries, all
the times that this has happened, it's dust and all. I will not
longer honor it. As we find here in Jeremiah chapter
31, verse 31, it says this. Jeremiah 31, verse 31. 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 by covenant they break. Although I was in
husband unto them, saith the Lord. I'm not going to make that
kind of covenant. I'm not going to make another
covenant that can be broken. Now we know back here in eternity,
the covenant has already been made. It is already an everlasting,
it's already an eternal covenant, and Jeremiah the prophet is bringing
it up. He's not going to make another covenant. Do you agree
to keep it? Then he will help. Bless you.
That's a waste of time. We see centuries wasted over
this. Now we're thankful that in the
behind it all, God has saved the people because of the covenant
of grace. He never saved anybody through
the covenant of works. Nobody was ever saved by the
covenant of works. Nobody that agreed to say, I'll
keep the covenant, kept it, number one. And if they did, God was
not going to give them salvation over it, because you're not saved
through a covenant of works. You're saved through a covenant of grace.
So in Jeremiah, it's not according to that covenant I made with
them. Go back to Sinai, it's not going to be like that one.
Go back to Adam, it's not going to be like that one. Go back
to Noah, it's not going to be like that one. Go to David, it's
not going to be like that one either. It is not going to be
like the regular covenants that I've made with people. I am going
to make a covenant that they'll recognize, but this covenant
was made in eternity past between the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. They are not involved in this.
The only thing they have is recipients of it. I'll take care of that
part too. They will be the recipients of
the blessings of the covenant. They already have demonstrated
that they cannot keep an agreement with me. Israel, the best of
the best, can't keep a covenant with God. And they demonstrate
it time and time again, century over century. In fact, as we
look here in the book of Judges, turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Acts for just a moment. the book of Acts is we just take
a very quick brief view of the book of Judges. Notice with me
here in the book of Acts chapter 13, chapter 13 and verse 20. How long, how long, how many
centuries, how many years did God deal with Israel by Judges? It says here, and after that
he gave unto them Judges. about the space of 450 years
until Samuel the prophet. Now for 450 years, he's going
through this all over. And he hears them every time
they get an invasion comes, and those invasions were on purpose.
God sent those people in there on purpose. He tells us he sent
them in there on purpose. And then when it got so bad,
they would cry unto the Lord and God would raise up a judge.
I like what it says over there. It says, the Lord raised up judges
because of their groanings. not of their repentance, but
of their groanings. And he raised up 12 different
judges and these judges threw off the oppressor and the people
for a season said, we will follow the Lord. And before you know
it, they're doing what we did and what our kids did and what
our parents did and our grandparents did. I promise I will never ever
do that again. Just forgive me and don't beat
the tar out of me. I promise. 12 times they promised
and 12 times they failed. So God said, I'm not going to
have a covenant like that. I will not make a covenant with
the people like that again, not like the covenant that I made
with them. I'm going to make a covenant, but it's not going
to be like that. It's going to be an effectual covenant and
it will be a covenant that is on their behalf and they cannot
break it because they're the recipients of it. And the covenant
is between the father, the son, and the Holy spirit. This is
that covenant, and God said, I will not break this covenant.
Well, let's look at this for just a bit as we think about
it. You know, our ability to make
and keep a covenant with God is absolutely impossible. We cannot make it. I promise
God, if you'll just write that off, I'll do better tomorrow.
Lord, if you'd just write that off, I'll do better tomorrow.
And that's just the way it goes. Well, we find out in the book
of Romans, chapter eight, we have the problem identified. Romans chapter eight, verse three. Romans chapter eight, verse three.
And first of all, we find out we're not as strong as we thought
we were. We don't have the ability. We have a weakness. And that
weakness was given to us because of the fall. It's a weakness. We can't get above it. We're in a pit and we can't get
above the edge of our pit. And it says right here, for what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. That's my problem. I have the
flesh and I can't get above it. It's a problem. No wonder Israel
cried 12 times during the Judges, we'll do better, we'll do better,
we'll do better. And all of the times there in Israel, going
through the 40 years of wandering, we'll do better, we'll do better,
we'll do better. And God continued, oh, how? There's that passage
over there in the book of Romans, is it chapter nine, where he
said, long suffering. towards miscreants. I was long-suffering towards
those who were fitted to destruction. God was long-suffering with Israel. 40 years in the wilderness, how
long under Joshua, and then the judges, and then the kings? There's
only one reason that that whole group of people stuck together
was there is a Messiah coming through these people, and I'm
going to get them down to AD one or zero or whatever it is,
and have that Messiah born, and the rest of this is not gonna
be in force ever, ever again. All right, so it's weak through
the flesh. It's weak through the flesh.
Now, we have a favorite verse of scripture over in 2 Samuel. Let's go over there. God said
to Israel, I'll never break my promise. And here in the book
of 2 Samuel. Now, this is the last words of
David. And now you know where I'm going.
2 Samuel chapter 23. 2 Samuel chapter 23. And in verse 5. David admits
something now. As good as he was as a young
man. Washed his father's sheep. You
know, that didn't buy him one ounce of eternal life. He was
born in the tribe of Judah, didn't buy him an ounce of eternal life.
All of that, as he would admit, just as Paul would admit later,
was dung. You know, my father was a sinner,
my grandfather was a sinner, and guess what? I brought into
children into this world that were sinners, and their children
are sinners. And yet he says, although my house be not so with
God, he recognized that God was very specific in who this covenant
was for. And even members of David's household
were not covered by this covenant. He understood that. Oh, Absalom,
Absalom. He understood. Now what's it
say? Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. David understood that God had
made a covenant with him. That is sure. It changes not,
because God changes not. Ordered in all things and sure,
and for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although ye
make it not to grow. This is all my salvation. This
is all my hope is based upon God making a covenant with me. An eternal covenant, an everlasting
covenant that God would deal with sin by the blood of the
Messiah. That he would take away sin,
the real issue that prevented Israel from ever obeying the
covenant of God. They couldn't do it. And time
and time again, they tried. They tried. If anybody ever tried,
they tried, but they couldn't do it. And they made a mess of
it every time they said they could try. You know, God is pleased
when people come and say, oh, I'm a sinner. What's that mean? I missed the mark. I can't get
there from here. Well, David said he's made with
me an everlasting covenant. What a blessing. In the book
of the Psalms, Psalm again, Psalm 89. Psalm 89, this is just, this
Psalm, these words are just such a comfort. It's so characteristic
of God's everlasting work on our behalf. That it wasn't up
to us, it's up to Him to keep the covenant. You know, and we
may do as the best we can, but that's not good enough. But God
does everything, provided everything to the best. Here in Psalm 89,
it says, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my
mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have
said, mercy shall be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shall
thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my
chosen, and I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will
I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. See, did you notice that in verse
three, I have made a covenant with my chosen. Now the church
he's made a covenant with. And in that covenant, he promised
to deliver every one of them from their sin. And he promised
to give every one of them eternal life. And he promised them that
he would do it all. And even in that day, when we
stand before him and he welcomes us to the kingdom prepared for
us from the foundation of the world and says, when I needed
this and this and this and this, you did it. And you know what
they're going to say? You know what we're going to
say? When did we do that? When did we do that? because
He has a covenant that He will not break. All right. What a blessing. What a blessing.
Hebrews chapter 8. Let's go over there. Hebrews
chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8, we have these
words. We're going to look at a repeat
from the Old Testament. We started that in the book of
Jeremiah, but let's look here in Hebrews chapter eight, and
I think it's chapter 10, it's repeated here that God is going
to do something for his people. He says here in Hebrews chapter
eight, verse 10, for this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days. So it identifies
here in the New Testament who the covenant is with, it's with
the church. It was the church, that group
that God chose in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the
world, that people that was assembled with him in spirit before the
world was ever created. Those that he had purpose to
save from eternity, the church, the assembly of God. He says,
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord, I'll put my laws in their mind and write them in
their hearts. and I'll be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord. I want you to go to church with me so you can know the Lord.
No, God says, I'll take care of that too. They will know me. They will know me as God, they
will know me as sovereign God, they will know me as savior,
they will know me as Elohim, they will know me as Jehovah,
they will know me, as he goes on to say, and saying, know the
Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest, for
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. God never showed spiritual mercy
to the unrighteousness of national Israel, but he shows spiritual
mercy to everyone that is in spiritual Israel. And when he
shows mercy to the last seed of spiritual Israel that may
not yet be born or may be born, then this is going to be wrapped
up like a carpet. All right. It goes on to say,
I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. In that covenant that he made
that physical covenant that he made with Israel. Did he forget
their sins? No, not on your mind. He brought
it up continuously. You have forsaken me. You have
turned to idols. You have gone after the gods
of the inhabitants of Israel or of the promised land. In fact,
if you'll go back with me to the book of Judges chapter two,
Judges chapter two. In Judges chapter two, Verse
two, that word league in verse two
is the same word covenant that's in verse one. You shall not make
a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. You shall not make
a league with the inhabitants of the land. You shall throw
down their altars, but ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have
you done this? I told you not to make a covenant
with them, and you have. Time and time and time again,
this is brought up, and then the Lord shares with us, and
it's an everlasting covenant. You know what? He appeared to
Adam in the covering of them, Adam and Eve with the covering
of skins. This is the covenant that I've made with you, that
I will put away your sin. What did he say to Noah? This
is the covenant that I've made with you. I'll put away your
sin. What did he say to David? This
is the covenant that I've made with you. I'll put away your
sin and iniquities. And that's what he said to the
church. He shouted it from the mountaintop, but he's whispered
it in every one of their ears. This is the covenant that I will
make with you. I will put away your sin. And you know what? We will love him because he first
loved us. and we will be his people, but
he shall be our God. He's gonna take away our natural
tendencies to idolatry and cause us to worship him, the true and
the living God. This, he goes on to tell us,
what a blessing, what a blessing that he has made. I will not
break my covenant with you. Now, many have broken their covenant
with him. Israel did it consistently. And
all of those religious covenants that we made, promises to God,
I promise to turn over a new leaf, I promise to dedicate my
life, rededicate my life, rededicate, rededicate my life, promises
we cannot keep. He steps in, fulfills the requirements,
does everything that is required and says, I have made an everlasting
covenant with you. Now, For the remainder of this
book, we see his kept covenant. That's the book of Judges. We're
gonna get into the Judges now, and we're gonna find out what
whiny people, what whiny people, they forgot his covenant, tore
down his altars, and everything else, and then he brings in judgment. And then whine, whine, whine,
whine. And he raises up a judge, 12
of them. Not one of them could do what
Christ could do in one day. Put away sin. Turn with me in closing to the
book of Romans. The book of Romans chapter nine. The book of Romans chapter nine.
What a covenant keeper God is. We're not. I don't know if they're
still around, covenant keepers. What a group of liars. What a
group of liars. I promise, I promise, I promise. There's only one that can keep
the covenant. That's God. All right, Romans
chapter nine, verse 27. Let's read that. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, A remnant shall be saved. I will keep my
covenant. And then in Romans chapter 11,
Romans chapter 11 and verse 5. Even so, aren't you glad this
is in present tense? This is not just to the church
at Rome, this is to the church. This is to Israel, spiritual
Israel. Lost ones, found ones. Even so,
at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And what's that mean? According
to the everlasting covenant. And he's the covenant maker,
he's the covenant keeper, and he's the one that, see, the covenant
is carried out And everyone that he has written in the Lamb's
Book of Life shall join him in heaven for eternity without blot
and without sin. And God said, I will not break
my covenant with you.