we find the first usage of the
word covenant in the Bible. Now, there are some covenants
that preceded this, and the Lord willing, I will deal with that
subject next Lord's Day morning. In fact, for the next couple
of Sunday mornings, I intend to be dealing with covenants. But this is the first usage of
the word in the Holy Bible. A covenant is a contract or an
agreement between two or more parties. There are lots of covenants
mentioned in the Bible. I don't have the time to go over
them. But in every covenant that involves God, in every covenant
that involves God, He is the originator of the covenant. He's
the designer of the covenant. And you can be sure of this,
when God makes a covenant, He will fulfill His part of the
covenant. In the Bible, you will find that
there are some covenants that are unconditional. That is, everything
is dependent upon God. And those covenants, they will,
they shall, they must come to pass. But there are other covenants
even that God enters into, whereas He lays some responsibility upon
men, such as the covenant He made with Adam. And I'll get
into this next Lord's Day. He actually made two covenants
with Adam. The first covenant had an if.
That is, it was conditioned upon the the blessings, the physical
blessings that would result from the covenant, the agreement that
God entered to with Adam was conditioned upon Adam being faithful
to God. The second covenant that God
made with Adam was an unconditional covenant, whereas God promised
that in due time He would raise up the seed of the woman. There's
no condition of man there. God said that the seed of the
woman, he would come and the seed of the woman was our Lord
Jesus Christ. So there is no if or maybe about
that covenant. It was a certainty because God
had ordained from eternity that his son would come into the world
and he would be the savior of sinners. So in the Bible, there
are some covenants, some agreements, some contracts that God enters
into that are unconditional, that require nothing of man,
such as the covenant He made with Noah. And then there are
other covenants that God enters into with man that are dependent
upon man keeping that which God requires of him. Something else
to remember about a covenant in the Bible. And this is very
important that you remember this. Our God always, always deals
with people by means of a covenant. He never deals with anybody outside
of a covenant. Always. And when He deals with
people by means of a covenant, That covenant is irreversible
and it is certain. And that covenant that God makes
with a group of people, like with Noah, with his family, and
then the earth, the covenant that God entered into with Noah was on the basis of a representative
of those to whom the covenant is promised. In this case, God
made a covenant with Noah on behalf of others because he dealt
with one man. Another illustration of this
is later on in the book of Genesis where God deals with Abraham.
and he promised him a seed. Abraham was the representative
of a lot of people, but God dealt with him. And then there's another
covenant, and this is the everlasting covenant of grace, in which God
dealt with one who represented a bunch of people. A multitude which no man could
number. You go all the way back to the
first Adam. In fact, turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, and maybe you could keep your place there in Genesis
chapter six. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In the Bible, there are only
two representative men, really. And the first one is Adam, who
represented all of the human race. When he stood in the garden,
and I'll go into this more next Lord's Day, God willing, when
he stood in the garden, he was our representative. He was our
voice. He stood for us. the other representative of a
large number of people, the Lord Jesus Christ. And God deals with
all men on the basis of a representative. In Adam, we fail, like it or
not. Believe it or not, that doesn't
change the fact that in Adam, we all became sinners. In Adam,
we all became guilty. What's the reason for that? Because
God designed that covenant for us to have a representative who
acted on our behalf. God purposed it that way. And
in that one man, we fail. But God had already designed
another representative before time ever began. This is what
he would be the God man, the son of God made flesh. And he
was the representative of a chosen race whom God himself elected
unto eternal salvation. Here in 1 Corinthians chapter
15, we have these two representative men. Verse 45, 1 Corinthians
15, 45. And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made
a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. The first man, Adam, of course,
is the man that God created, and that's recorded back in Genesis
chapter one. God made man out of the dust
of the ground. And he stood before God, God
having made him without sin, he stood before God as the spokesman,
let's put it that way, as the spokesman or the representative
of everybody who would come forth from Adam. And that includes
you and me and everybody else born of a man and a woman, and
the union of a man and a woman. But the last Adam, he was also
a representative man, and he was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first, which
is spiritual, that is, his body was not on this earth, but that
which is natural, and afterward, that which is spiritual. The
first man is of the earth. He's of the earth. He was made
from the earth. He represented others who are on the earth,
all who would ever live. The second man though, who is
he? He's the Lord from heaven. And
God Almighty deals with all people of all nations, of all races,
of all times through these two men, their representatives. Here in our text in Genesis chapter
6, God's going to deal with nature, the earth, the fish, because,
you know, God destroyed the animals whose breath was in them. So
there's still those underwater. God dealt, however, with all
mammals, all those whose breath They're dependent on for life. God dealt with those, the people
who would survive, that being his family, through Noah. To that man was given instructions
to Noah. Now this is about, I'll just
round it up, about a thousand years since the creation of all
things. About actually 900 and some,
Pretty close to a thousand years. And God's going to deal with
Noah's family. Not that he's going to deal individually
with them, but he's going to deal with them through Noah. And God deals with us, who are
believers, through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we have no right,
we have no ability to draw near to God except through this representative
we have, the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no fitness, you have
no worthiness, you have no goodness, you have no righteousness to
draw near to God on your own because God is a consuming fire. The only way you can draw near
to God is through that representative whom God sent into this world,
even the very Son of God, who eternally is divine. So remember this. A lot of covenants
in the Bible. Some are unconditional. That
means nothing is expected of us. Nothing is demanded of us. There's the covenant of grace.
I'll be talking about that, of course. And in that covenant
of grace, God ordained the salvation of a multitude which no man can
number. But as it comes to that salvation,
nothing concerning salvation was left up to us. God decreed, God determined,
God purposed before He ever made the world in Jesus Christ that
an elect multitude would be saved by His bloody sacrifice. And
I'll tell you this, so often in the Word of God when you come
across a covenant, if you'll read in the context, you'll find
there's a sacrifice somewhere there in the context. Because
when God deals with us according to the everlasting covenant of
grace, He does so on the basis of His strict justice being satisfied,
and it was satisfied by our Lord Jesus Christ. And as you go through the Old
Testament, you can get a concordance. If you don't own a concordance,
you can check one out of the library. You'll find the word
covenant is used a multitude of times in the Bible. But remember
this, all of the covenants of mercy, of promise, all of the
covenants of mercy and promise that God made with men in the
Old Testament are but partial revelations of the everlasting
covenant of grace made with Jesus Christ before the world began.
You can file those things away in your memory banks. Don't misfile
them either. Like I tend to misfile things. I can't remember them. But remember
if you can, a covenant is dependent upon the representative. Now in this case, nothing was
dependent upon Noah because God didn't say if you do this and
that. God didn't say if you decide to go into the ark because chapter
7 verse 1, God says, come thou and all thy house into the ark.
That's a command, that's a statement of the necessity of Noah entering
into the ark and there was no way he could stay out because
God commanded him. It was an irresistible command. And then remember this, all the
covenants of promise, all the covenants of mercy that God made
with men in the Old Testament were but partial revelations
of the everlasting covenant of grace that God made with our
representative Christ. In this context, God made a covenant
with Noah. And really, my main text is verse
18. But with thee will I establish
my covenant. Whose covenant is it? Is it Noah's
covenant? No. Is it the covenant of his
family? No. God said that's my covenant. My covenant. which is a picture
of the everlasting covenant, that's God's covenant. We weren't
around when that covenant was formulated and established, we
weren't around to voice our opinion about the covenant. And nothing
about the covenant, the fulfillment of the covenant of grace, of
salvation for us, nothing about that covenant is dependent upon
us. You say, yeah, but we have to
repent and believe. Oh yes, but that's not even left
up to us because God gives us the gift of repentance. God gives
us the gift of faith. Because without repentance and
faith, we're not going to be saved. Except you repent, you
shall all likewise perish. Well, what's the certainty that
the elect of God will repent? God will gift His people with
repentance through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. What's
the guarantee that God's people will believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and bow to Him and trust Him and own Him as the only Savior
of sinners? And remember that it was his
sacrifice that put away our sins. What guarantee is it that we
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? God's eternal purpose
ensured that. Nothing was left up to chance. Nothing was left up to us. So
whose covenant is this? This is God's covenant. God's
covenant. Turn over to chapter nine. Chapter
nine. This is after the flood. Verse
nine. Verse eight says, and God spake
with Noah and to his sons with him, saying, and I, this is of
course after they have, the ark landed on Mount Ariad, and they're
out, Noah has offered a sacrifice. Remember, these covenants of
God, It's tied to a sacrifice. That's why in Hebrews chapter
13, the everlasting covenant, there's a statement made about
that. The blood of the everlasting covenant. Don't leave that out. It's the blood that ratified
the everlasting covenant. Noah has offered the sacrifice
to God. By the way, that's in chapter
8 in verse 20. A good many very conservative
writers, and their notes on this, agree that really chapter eight
and verse 20, that should be the beginning of the ninth chapter.
Because Noah, immediately after he came out of the ark, he offered
a burnt offering unto God, picturing the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Death that satisfied God's justice
temporarily, but pointed to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But look in verse nine of chapter nine. And I behold, I establish
my covenant with you. This is not something, Noah,
that you have to contribute to. God says it's My covenant and
I establish it with you. Thank God for irresistible grace. Thank God for that calling which
when God issues the call to come to Him and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and be saved, when God issues that call, there is
no will too stubborn or too rebellious, but what must give way to the
almighty power of God. Again, look at chapter nine in
verse 15. And I will remember my covenant. Watch this, which is between
me and you, you representing all the other living. My covenant,
that's what God says. Salvation was never our idea. The ark was not Noah's idea. God mercifully provided a safe
haven for humanity in the person of Noah, and then his wife, his
sons, and his daughters-in-law. And God said, this is my covenant. Don't ever try to steal that
which belongs to God. In Isaiah, the Lord said, I am
the Lord, that's my name. I'm Jehovah, that's my name.
I'm the governor, I'm the ruler, I'm the God of grace, that's
my name. He said, in my glory will I not give to another. Don't try to take that which
does not belong to you. So this is the first time back
in our text in chapter six and verse 18, it's the first time
the word covenant is used. And let me just give you a few
things here. Number one, it was a covenant with Noah. Noah's
name is very significant. It means rest or resting place. Rest from fear, rest from wrath,
rest from vengeance, rest from judgment. Though all the world
would fall, and be victims of this worldwide flood. Yet in this covenant made with
Noah, whose name means rest, God assures him he would have
rest. He would have rest, not be troubled. The wrath was on the outside
of the ark. The judgment was on the outside
of the ark. The condemnation was on the outside
of the ark. God commanded Noah, gave him
the willingness, come thou into the ark, and he did. And that's
where safety was. And this is a picture, the ark,
as you know, is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
only safe haven. There's no place safe, my friend,
except in Jesus Christ the Lord. God's never again going to destroy
the earth, the world with water. But He will destroy it. It's
not going to be destroyed by nuclear weapons. Man's not going
to destroy it. Don't worry about stuff like
that. Liberals try to scare you with things like that. I tell
you, there's a greater fear than what men talk about. There's
a fear of God who holds your life in his hands. He's not going
to destroy the earth again by water, but he is going to destroy
it with fire. But even now, there's an arc
of salvation, and the door is open. The door is open. Oh, that God
would issue to you the call of grace, the call of mercy, the
irresistible, the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. When Christ
says, come unto me. See, that's what he said to Noah. Come unto me. Come in here. Come
thou into the ark. And when God issued that call,
well, he came. He came on in. And if God issues
that call to you, you will come in. For the Lord says in Psalm 110, David says of the Lord, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. The Lord didn't pick me up and
throw me in the ark of salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ against
my will, he made me willing. I'm right where I want to be. I'm right where God purposed
me to be. In the ark of God's salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners, He's my resting
place. Did not our Lord Jesus say, Come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest? rest of conscience, rest from
fear of condemnation, rest even in the presence of a holy God,
rest. I'll tell you something else
about this covenant, not only made with Noah concerning rest,
but it was a covenant of promise, promise. All the promises of God are yes
and amen, so be it, in Christ. Every promise of God pertaining
to salvation is only in the Son of God. That's what I want you
to understand. Oh, may the Spirit of God make
that clear to you. Every promise concerning eternal
life, everlasting life, Heaven, eternal paradise, every promise
of God of forgiveness and righteousness and acceptance with God, every
promise of God is given to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
outside of Him, He doesn't make any promises. But He does make threats. It was a covenant of promise.
It was a covenant of grace. In verse eight, it says, but
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace. Thank God there's grace for sinners in the Son of God. And verse 9 says, Noah was a
just man, he was a righteous man. But wait a minute, doesn't
the Bible say in Romans chapter 3, there is none righteous? No,
not one. Well, how could it be? that God pronounced Noah to be
a just man, a righteous man. He was justified by God based
upon the obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Noah
was a righteous man. Don't tell me the people in the
Old Testament weren't justified. The Bible says God's Spirit says
Noah was a just man, he was a righteous man. He was a justified man. And he was perfect in his generations. What does that mean? Well, Jim,
does that mean that he's better than most everybody else? Doesn't
mean that at all. It means he had been made whole. That's what the word perfect
means. He'd been made whole. Healthy spiritually. Healthy spiritually. While all
the rest of the world was in wickedness and ungodliness, Noah is wholesome before God,
perfect in his generation, and he walked with God. Do you remember
a little verse of scripture found in Amos chapter 3 and verse 3? Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Which means that Noah walked
with the Lord because he agreed with him. He didn't take issue with anything
God said. You show me a person who constantly
takes issue with what the Word of God says, well, I can draw
this conclusion. They don't walk with God. You
can't walk with God if you say, well, I don't believe that. It
may say that, but I'm not going to bow to that. God's people
believe what God says. We believe what God says about
us. We're not righteous in ourselves. We're not good. We're sinners. But I believe this, the Savior
of sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way that he dealt
with our sins was in a manner that was pleasing to God, satisfying
to God's law and justice. He put away our sins by a sacrificial
death. Yes, Noah was perfect or complete
or whole. The rest of the world was diseased
in sin, wicked before God. Noah was healthy in Christ. And
I say to my sick, ill brothers and sisters in Christ, your body
may not be whole. It may not be well. It may not
be healthy, but in Jesus Christ you cannot be more whole and
healthy because you're in Him. And God sees nothing in you that
is disagreeable to Him because He sees us in His Son. I'll tell you, this covenant
that God made with him was a covenant of life. Covenant of life. All other human beings would
be destroyed in a flood. That's the judgment of God. And
I know how people think today, because people express it to
me. Well, that's the God of the old Bible. That's the God of
the Old Testament. Let me tell you something, the
God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament
is the same God who will not condone sin, who must punish
transgressions. And either God the Spirit will
lead you effectually into the Lord Jesus Christ to be found
in Him, not having your own righteousness, which is according to the law,
but according to the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Spirit of God leads us to Christ for forgiveness, for the total
pardon of sins. But if He leaves us outside of
Christ, outside of the ark of our salvation, We're as good
for hell as if we were already there. And I'll tell you this, the cry
of your soul, the cry of your heart, those of you who are here
and those of you who are watching, your cry ought to be, oh God,
oh God, bring me to Jesus Christ. He's the only ark, He's the only
refuge, He's the only place of safety, and in Him alone I find
rest. Don't you? I find rest. Really
no need for me to worry about anything. Because my God's working all
things together for my good and for his glory. It was a covenant
of life. And it was a covenant of safety
and protection. This is the covenant. that God
said, this is my covenant that I'll make with you. I'll make
with you. And he says over here in chapter
six and verse 18, watch the language. With thee I will establish my
covenant. Well, when did he establish the
covenant? That's in chapter nine. In chapter
eight and verse Number 20, when Noah and his family came out
of the ark, look at it, 820. And Noah built in an ark unto
the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And if you study the
book of Leviticus, Especially the first chapter, you'll find
out God met with sinners and sinners met with God at the place
of the burnt offering. Because that pictured the sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's not going to meet with
you or me or anybody else except upon the basis of the brazen
altar where the sacrifice to God was offered. And I'll tell you this, in this
passage of scripture, all these promises of God, I leave you
with this, verse 15, chapter nine, verse 15. And I will remember
my covenant. I cling to that. I take hold
of that. I may forget, But God says, I will remember
my covenant. Because in that covenant of grace,
in the Lamb's book of life, God had chosen a people. They were
written down in indelible ink, as it were. And God said, I'm not gonna forget
my covenant. The covenant that I make with
you, And of course, he made a covenant with Noah that he wouldn't destroy
the earth again, not with water. How do you know? See a lot of
flooding around the world because God said so. And God says to all who come
to Jesus Christ, our Savior, by the drawing power of the Holy
Spirit, God says, I'll always remember my covenant that I've
made with my son on your behalf. Therefore, the Lord says in the
book of Hebrews chapter 13, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. I'll never forget you. I take
a lot of comfort from that. He's a God of faithfulness. Let's
sing a closing song, shall we?