Such a blessing. I always pay
attention to the words of songs. And they move me. They touch my heart. These songs that are honoring
to our Lord. And I just love listening to
the words of that. I'm just going over home. One
of these days we'll leave this world and we'll go home to be
with the Lord Jesus. And I'm like old Bunyan. Some of you've read Pilgrim's
Progress. And if you haven't, you ought
to. And there are some simplified
versions of it, even young people can read. But when he was dying,
his family gathered around him. They were crying because he was
leaving them. And he said, don't weep for me.
He said, weep for yourselves. He said, I'm going yonder to
see my Savior who will most assuredly receive me because He gave Himself
in my stead and He answered all my sins. So he said, don't weep
for me. Weep for yourself. You've got
to stay here. I get to leave. And so, death
for the child of God is a passage over to everlasting glory. And I don't know how I'll do
in that day, and you don't know how you'll do, but I hope that
God will give us grace that we may go peacefully and rejoice
in that wonderful hope we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter
13, please. Hebrews chapter 13. Permit me
to read two verses, verses 20 and 21. Hebrews chapter 13, verses
20 and 21. 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. Amen. Now the minister of the gospel,
the preacher who has been taught by God, who has learned that
salvation is of the Lord and of Him only, that man who has
been instructed of God, taught of God, called of God, who has
the burden of God, to set forth the message of the gospel. This
is what he's learned. This is what every one of God's
servants have learned, that the salvation of men and women and
young people has to be attributed to the God of covenant grace. That's the title of my message,
the God of covenant grace. Every one of God's preachers
has learned that in our flesh dwells no good
thing. I understand this morning I'm
speaking to people who have no natural ability to receive the
message of the gospel of God's salvation in Christ Jesus. I
understand that if God leaves you to yourself, if He had left
me to myself, we would never have believed the gospel. I understand
that. Our Lord Jesus said to the people
of His day, the religious leaders of His day, He said, and you
will not come to Me that you might have life. I have life. I am life, but you won't come
to me to receive that life. God's preachers have, we've learned
that no man can come to Christ, except the Father who sent the
Savior draw him. The Lord Jesus will raise him
up at the last day. We've learned that God demands
all men everywhere to repent. The Savior said, God now commands
all men everywhere to repent because He's appointed a day
in which He's going to judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom He ordained. And He's given evidence of it
in that He raised Him from the dead. One day some mockers came to
the Lord Jesus They talked to him about some people of Galilee
who had irritated the pilot, and they got under his skin to
such a degree that as they went over to the temple to offer their
sacrifices, he killed them so that their blood was mingled
with the blood of their sacrifices. And our Lord Jesus told those
people, do you think those Galileans that they were worse than other
people from Galilee, that they were worse sinners than other
people from Galilee because they suffered death at the hands of
this man Pilate. He said, I'll tell you no, they're
no worse than anybody else. Well, he said, except you repent,
you're also going to perish. Then he said to them, about 18
people died some kind of building, a tower, fell on them. He said, you think those people
were ungodly above all others in that area? I tell you, no. No. But he said, here's the thing,
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. You see,
God commands all men to repent. We're wrong. We're going in the
wrong direction. We're ungodly. I hope God gives
us a sorrow over that. God teach us to repent over our
idolatry, over our dead works. What are our dead works? Works
that we perform thinking they'll give us some kind of spiritual
life. They can't do that. We've all got to be brought to
repentance. God demands it. God requires
it. But we can't do it. We can't do it. It is my responsibility
this morning to say to all of you, unless you repent, you're
also going to perish. But I also know you don't have
the ability to do that. No, you don't. Because you are
spiritually dead, even as I was. Here's my hope. My hope for you
is the same as my hope for me in the God of covenant grace.
That He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We know God demands faith. In
fact, the Scripture says, without faith no man can please God.
The Savior says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. We've got to believe on the Lord
Jesus. We've got to lay hold of him.
Do you understand that? We have to rest in him. We have
to come to him. And indeed, we do compel men,
flee to the ark of our salvation. Flee to the sacrifice. God shows
mercy one way, through the Son of God. God shows grace through
His Son. And this is the only Savior of
sinners, and we preach, believe on Him, rest in Him, embrace
Him, fall in love with the Lord Jesus. And yet, I know, that if God
leaves men and women and young people to themselves, if God
just leaves you where He finds you, you'll never believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Preacher, what then is your hope
that any of us will believe Him? My hope is in the God of covenant
grace. Sometimes preachers We can get
a little dejected because we see so little faith.
Maybe some of you of this congregation, maybe you're a little discouraged.
You say, you know, Pastor, we haven't seen anybody verbally
profess faith in Christ Jesus, and a good bit. And I'm a little discouraged.
Maybe that's the way you feel. And we can get that way. Isaiah
did. He is a preacher of the Gospel. He said, Lord, who hath believed
our report? What does the word report mean?
Message. Our Gospel. I've got a good message. Isaiah had a good message of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He had and I have a good message
of salvation, all of grace. We have a good message. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. It's a great message. But who's
believing it is what Isaiah said. Lord, who's believing our report?
And the arm of the Lord, Christ Jesus, he's the arm of the Lord. To whom is he being revealed? This is a message of glad tidings,
of great joy. But it seems so few believe the
message. But when we get dejected, if
we do, when we get discouraged, if we become discouraged, let
us remember the issues of life and death, both physically and
also spiritually are in the hands of the God covenant grace. That's why we read in Acts the
second chapter, God added to the church daily, such as should
be saved. God adds when he will. He works when he will. And it
may appear to you or even to me that there are seasons of
drought, seasons of a spiritual famine, but that's not the case. Because first and foremost, listen
to me, first and foremost, here's why we meet. To honor God. I do want God to reveal Christ
to sinners. And I have a burden about that.
And as you read the Old Testament prophets, the burden of the Lord
was upon them. They saw judgment coming. And
the people didn't see it. And the people lived like they
were going to live forever. as though there was no answering
for their ungodliness, no answering for their sins, and it broke
the hearts of the servants of God, and they were burdened.
But their hope is the same as my hope in the God of covenant
grace. It's the only hope we've got.
God's got to do something. We can't force the issues. I
can't force anybody to believe. I can't cause anybody to believe.
I can't give the gift of faith. Only God can give that. I can't
give the gift of repentance. Oh, preacher, I want to see people
who are broken over sin. As I'm broken over sin, they
come to God in confession. Oh, God, I've sinned against
you. Oh, God, show me mercy. Well, I want to see the same
thing, but that comes in God's time. Until then, it's our responsibility
to be faithful. You see, God must reveal Christ
Jesus. He must quicken the dead. He must give repentance. And
He must give faith. And then, perhaps there's someone
in here this morning or someone watching or listening to this
message later and you've been humbled by the Spirit of God
to see your natural sinfulness, to realize your spiritual deadness,
to know that the natural mind doesn't receive the things of
the Spirit of God because the truth has to be spiritually discerned. And you're interested in the
things of God. Preacher, I don't want to perish.
I want to know Christ. I want to know God. What hope do I have in my condition? What hope do I have of ever being
saved? I look at other people in this
congregation and I see them with such interest. I see other people
in this congregation who for years have remained true to the
gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus to the ungodly. I see how
they've been steadfast in the faith for all these years. What
hope is there for me, O preacher? What hope can you give me? I'm
such an ungodly person. What hope do I have? Your hope
must be in the same one my hope is in, the God of covenant grace. Not what I can do for God. I
can't do anything for God. My only hope is what God can
do and must do but doesn't have to do for me. That's my only
hope. The God of covenant grace. Because you see, I understand
the sinfulness of a sinner is no obstacle to the God of covenant
grace. It's an obstacle to us. In fact,
you're an obstacle to yourself. You're the biggest problem you've
got. Got news for you. That's right. It's your own unwillingness. It's your own lack of faith.
It's your own depravity. It's your fault. The only hope
you've got is the God of covenant grace. Because He can do, if He will,
if He will, He can do what nobody else can possibly do. He can break your heart. He can give you a new heart.
That's a heart of faith. He can bring you effectually.
He can draw you with cords of love to the Lord Jesus Christ. He can make you see you're a
hell-deserving sinner. And then open your eyes, the
eyes of your soul, to see there's a Savior. who's not willing that
any of his people should perish, but that they all come to repentance. He can do that. He can do that. My hope is in the God of covenant
grace, and he must be your hope too. And I say to those of you
who are the people of God and you have loved ones who are lost
and don't have any interest, And that burdens your heart.
I know it does. You see them, they're without
Christ, without God, without hope, without life, without salvation. And you know your relatives and
your friends, they're not naturally inclined to receive the things
of God because no man is. And we know something about the
holiness of God, don't we? We know something about his holiness. We know God can't put up with
that which is anti-God and anti-Christ. We know God will only accept
that which is perfect. We know that. You know that.
We know God will not spare the guilty. Doesn't matter if it's
in your family or my family. We know that God's too holy to
allow even one sinner into his holy presence. We're not fit
for his presence. You're not and I'm not either,
naturally. That's why the scripture says
in Psalm 1 verse 6, therefore the ungodly shall not stand in
the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Those of you who are the people
of God, you know, you know this, without holiness, no man shall
see the Lord. How holy preacher's a man gotta
be, how righteous has a person gotta be before God will accept
him? He's gotta be, he's gotta have
a righteousness equal to the righteousness of God. We're not
talking about doing the best you can do now. No, we're talking
about something way above that. We're talking about being as
good as God. And we know as we've read through
the scripture, those of us who are believers now, those of us
who are somewhat learned in the scriptures, we know a little
bit about the holiness and the perfections and the glory of
God. We know He is way above us, and
yet we've got to be as holy as He is. Well, what hope do we
have that our loved ones and our relatives, our acquaintances,
what hope do we have that they'll ever recognize the absolute purity
of God and the necessity of being found in Christ Jesus, who is
the Lord our righteousness? What hope do we have that they'll
ever discover their lost condition and flee by faith to Christ Jesus? The hope is still to be found
in the God of covenant grace. The God of covenant grace. The Lord has to act. The Lord
has to do something. The Lord has to reveal that He's
mighty to save. He's mighty to save. And I know
there are obstacles, lots of obstacles before sinners who
are lost and undone. Many obstacles, many things in
the way of them coming to Christ Jesus. But the God of covenant
grace can remove every obstacle. He can just move them out of
the way and then draw you effectually to Christ Jesus and you'll see
in Him everything you've ever needed for this life and the
life which is to come. You'll see in Him that God has
made Him to be for poor sinners, wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. And you'll give Him the glory.
This is our hope. Our hopes in the God of covenant
grace. And then, when a child of God comes down
to the very door of death, when our physical strength gives
way to weakness, when our health gives way to disease and sickness,
when we face what the prophet of God said when we faced the
cold waters of the River of Jordan, speaking of death, of course.
In that time, what will be the basis for us believing that when
we finally close these eyes, when we finally breathe that
last breath, that God has given us, what hope do we have that
we'll wind up in the regions of the blessed and be forever
happy, forever joyful in the presence of the King? On our deathbed, I hope we find
our comfort where King David found his comfort in the God
of covenant grace. Could I read these verses to
you again? 2 Samuel 23. We looked at these a few weeks
ago. Let me just read them to you.
Let me just read them to you. 2 Samuel 23. Here's the words of
the sweet psalmist of Israel. He's dying. Dying. I'm interested in what
a dying man has to say. He has no promises to fulfill
later on. Whatever promises he's made,
he's either live to keep them or break them. Here's a man getting ready to
step out into eternity. Here's a man getting ready to
meet God. That's a sobering thought. I'm
going out to meet God. Here you are, David, dying. You're
an old man. What's your hope? I guess you'll find your hope
and peace in the fact that you wrote a lot of the Psalms. No. That's not where he finds his
hope and peace and joy. I guess you'll find to be a blessing
all the good things you've done for the Lord. No. He said in Psalm 51, my sins
ever before me. I need mercy. He is not going
to find any hope, any joy, any consolation while facing death
in anything he has ever done. He doesn't even bring up his
faith. He doesn't mention his repentance,
though he did believe and though he had repented. Listen to what
this man has to say. 2 Samuel 23, now these be the last
words of David. David, the son of Jesse said,
and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, the one who's the sweet psalmist of Israel said,
the Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my
tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock
of Israel spake unto me, he that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light
of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds.
as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after rain. Although my house be not so with
God." My house is a wreck. That's what he's saying. My house
is a wreck. I hadn't done very good as a
father. And while I tried to teach my children the things
of God, oft times I wasn't a very good example and most all of
them are lost. They're dying in their sins.
And God hadn't been pleased to reveal to their hearts that which
He's revealed to my heart, salvation by grace. Yet, though He hadn't
done with all in my household as He's dealt with me, yet He
hath made with me, He has confirmed to me an everlasting covenant. He's confirmed that to my heart. He's sealed that in my heart.
Watch it. Ordered. What does that mean?
Furnished. Ordained. Arranged in all things. Ensured. He's guarding this. You see what David is saying? My hope is in God and what He's
done. Watch this. And this is all my
salvation? Where is your salvation, David?
Well, what are you relying on? Well, you know, one day I had
an experience many, many years ago. He didn't talk like that. Why don't we talk like that?
You ask somebody, is everything okay between you and God? Yeah,
I remember 25 years ago, I'll tell you, you got time, preacher,
I'll tell you a story. I've had people do it. Let me
tell you a story. I was in church, and I remember
preachers that preach, I didn't want to go to hell, and they
give an altar call, and I'll tell you, my heart was broken.
I went down, I got saved, and that preacher, I'm okay. David didn't talk like that.
David didn't go back to some experience he had. Do you have
to go back, do you have to go back a few years, some kind of
experience you had for the assurance of your salvation? This is David's desire, the God
of covenant grace and the covenant of grace that God made. So this
morning I'm preaching on the God of covenant grace. Tonight
I'll preach on the covenant grace of God. This is all the hope he's got
in what the Lord had done. I want you to get that. If you
don't get anything else from this message, go away with this. God's got to do something. This
is salvation of the Lord. I know that as a preacher. And
the people of God here, you know that by experience. That's why
we pray for our loved ones. Lord, you've got to do something
for them. You gotta do something for them like you did something
for me. You gotta woo them, you gotta draw them, you gotta win
them. The scripture says, he that winneth
souls is wise. He is all wise. He is the wisdom
of God, Christ is. And he knows, he knows how to
raise the dead. He knows how to give sight to
the blind. He knows how to give hearing to the deaf. He knows
this. He knows how to make you willing
in the day of His power. He knows if you'll do it. If you'll do it. Well, who is this God of covenant
grace? Go back to our text. I'll give
you this real quick. Who is this God of covenant grace? Just the first statement of verse
20. That's all I'll deal with. He's the God of peace. He's the God of peace. It's God
of covenant grace. He's the God of peace. You know,
in a lot of ways, as you read through the book of Hebrews,
you'll find Hebrews is a It's sort of a fighting letter
because it's written to oppose people who are going in a dangerous
direction. There were Hebrew believers or
professors of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they were going
the wrong way in their doctrine and in their practice. We're
told in chapter three, Here's what the writer said, whoever
the writer was, he said, take heed, lest there be in any of
you an evil heart of unbelief. Take heed now. Be careful. He even says in chapter three,
exhort one another daily. And be fearful, lest you fail
to enter into the rest of Jesus Christ. We're commanded to hold
fast. We won't look up these verses,
but in chapter 3 verse 6, chapter 4 verse 14, chapter 10 verse
23, hold fast. Be steadfast now. Stay the course. Don't go back to a religion of
laws and rituals and ceremonies. Stick to the new message of the
gospel of grace. Stick to the new covenant. Don't
go back to the old. Don't go back to the old laws. In chapter 3, he says, don't
harden your hearts like your forefathers did. And they were
buried in unmarked graves from the lack of faith. The wilderness was just... They had a trail of unmarked
graves leading all the way to the Promised Land. People who
didn't enter in because they didn't believe God. Don't you
do that! Don't you harden your heart!
The Lord says, I was grieved with that generation. God said in His heart, they always
err from Me. They've not known My ways, so
He's sworn His wrath. They're not going to enter into
My rest. The book is full of warnings, warnings. It's an admonition. Now to be sure, God is not always
the God of peace. In Hebrews chapter 10, vengeance
belongeth to the Lord, is what it says. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. I'll get even with you. That's
why we read it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. I know he is the God of peace
to his people. I'll tell you, ask Pharaoh about
him. The children of Israel, when they came out of the Red
Sea, And they looked back, they looked at Pharaoh's armies drowned
in the Red Sea. They said, the Lord, He's a man
of war. He's a man of war. That's a far
cry from a God of peace. But at the very heart of the
everlasting covenant of grace, is peace. Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. How'd you like to have peace
with God? Huh? Peace with God. How would you
like to have in your heart a blessed assurance everything's all right
between me and a holy God? Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
it be wonderful to just find some rest for your soul? That
everything's just fine. Nothing between my soul and the
Savior. Nothing at all. To have the assurance
that that mountain of iniquity that stood between me and God
has been borne away by the bloody death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, He gives that kind of peace.
He's a God of peace. See, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. His blood speaks peace. We have
peace through His substitutionary sacrifice. He's the God of peace. And He's at peace with His people.
through his Son. In Christ Jesus, God is perfectly at peace. But
outside of Jesus Christ, there is no peace, saith my God, to
the wicked. That's what he says. There's
no peace. He's not gonna speak peace to
you outside of Christ Jesus, because there is no peace outside
of Christ Jesus. I'm telling you, the only hope
you got is a God of covenant grace. You're not going to find
any hope in your works. You're not going to find any
peace in your labors, your prayers, your Bible readings, any of those
things. And those are wonderful things
to do now. Don't misunderstand me. Read the Word of God, but
God's not going to accept you because you read the Word of
God. He's not going to accept you because you pray. He accepts us for Christ's sake. I wish we could learn that. I
wish God would put it in our minds and then burn it, brand
it into our hearts. He's a God of peace through the
blood of the cross. And our hope is that the God of covenant grace
will do something for us and then keep us. And He will. He
will. And I'll give you this. He's
never turned a sinner away. Never has. You come to God as
a needy sinner through Christ Jesus, you're welcomed. You're welcome. Because that
desire to draw near to Christ is because of the effectual grace
of God. And He gets all the glory. We lean on the Savior. We lean
on the Word of God. Get your song books.