So let's read that one verse,
Matthew 26, 28. Then flip to Hebrews chapter
8 and verse 8, both of them having to do with the new covenant that
came in with Christ. Look what the Lord said in verse
28. He was instituting the Lord's
Supper. He took the cup. He took the
bread. And verse 28, He said, This is
my blood of the New Testament which is
shed for many for the remission of sin." He gave them that cup
of wine and he said to them, all of you drink of it. This
is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the
remission of sin. Now here, Hebrews chapter 8 and
verse 8, I'm sorry, verse 6, but now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant which was established upon better principles." Now,
I said this morning that we're diving off into the deep end
of the pool. There are some deep things in
God's Word regarding this. The apostle Peter conceded that
some things written by Paul were hard to be understood. 2 Peter 3 and verse 16. Paul himself, in writing, spoke
of the deep things of God as he wrote to the Corinthians in
1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 10. Things that must be revealed
unto us by the Spirit of God. things that the natural man is
not capable of understanding or receiving. And with all of
that said, I submit unto you that there are two things or
doctrines in the Bible that are exceedingly hard to be understood,
to rightly divide, and to put them in their place. Number one
is the law of God. If you think that that's an easy
matter, then begin to study it. And number two, the Old and the
New Testament, their correlation, their relation one unto the other,
that except one has had a good teacher or has read some good
books or has been taught they're not likely to properly understand
the covenants at first when they become a Christian. Now, one
thing that is prominent in the Scripture, Old and the New Testament,
is that of covenants. You read the Scripture, how often
and again you stumble upon one covenant or another. Therefore,
I premise with you this morning from the Scripture, number one,
that as Thomas Brooke wrote, it is common for God to deal
with men by way of a covenant. Read the Bible. You will find
that God made this covenant, that covenant, and another covenant. That it is God's will and way
that He treats with men through a covenant arrangement. God makes
covenant. For example, or here are some
examples, God made a covenant with Noah in Genesis chapter
9 verse 11 through 15. Remember the bow in the cloud
that the earth would never again be destroyed by water. And then God called Abraham,
and God made a covenant with the good man Abraham in Genesis
chapter 17, verses 1 and 2, that his seed would be as the sand
of the sea. And then come to Mount Sinai,
smoking, thundering Sinai, There God made a covenant with the
nation of Israel in Genesis chapter 19 and verse 5, and this covenant
is spoken of very frequently in the Scripture. In fact, it
is the summation of the Old Testament. So, secondly, we find several
instances in the scripture of one man making a covenant with
another, or a nation making a covenant with another nation, of men making
covenants between themselves, not just between God and men,
but also man and man. binding themselves unto a covenant,
taking oaths with each other about that covenant, and such
a covenant was made between Jacob and Laban in Genesis chapter
31 and verse 44. 1 Samuel chapter 18 and 3, Jonathan
made a covenant with David, concerning the house of Jonathan. In 1 Chronicles
11 and verse 3, there was a covenant made, or struck, between David
and the elders of Israel. And, of course, there are others
that we don't have time to mention this morning, for we want to
get to our subject of the day. But we will remember one thing,
that the Scripture teaches that men are covenant breakers. They make a covenant and then
they break it, as Paul said in Romans chapter 1. Now, for this
study, We are interested in that holy and unfailing covenant made
between the Holy Three, God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit, before the world ever began. We read about that
in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. It is called the everlasting
covenant. And it is something that is everlasting
in regard to the fact that, A, it was made before the world
ever began. It predates the world. And then, B, it is everlasting
as compared to that one at Sinai which was to give way to a new
and a better covenant with the appearing of Messiah. And this
new covenant that we're talking about this morning, none other
will ever come in its place. It is the new and everlasting
covenant. Now, there may be something about
the covenant that confuses some of us from time to time, confuses
us because of this. In the Scripture, we read of
an old covenant and a new. We read of a first covenant and
of a second covenant in Hebrews 8 and verse 13. And the prophet
Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31 and verses about 31 to verse 34, that's
quoted in Hebrews chapter 8 by the author, spoke of a time when
God would make a new covenant, not the same that was made with
Israel at Sinai, and a novice in covenantology might conclude
that these two covenants are totally unrelated, having no
connection whatsoever, nothing in common, being total opposites,
right and left, as if they were two distinct covenants with no
connection or relation at ever. John Gill was the first author
years ago that I can remember reading that it made an impression
and seemed to be true that what is called the Old and the New
Covenant, what is called the First and the Second Covenant,
is but two administrations of one and the same covenant of
grace, that both covenants are one, two different administrations
of them. In other words, the same covenant,
differently dispensed. And I think in a minute I can
tie a knot that would prove that in your mind. The two economies,
yet one covenant, one everlasting covenant made by our God. Now, not understanding this,
not allowing for this, has caused some to think that there is a
different way for sinners to be saved under the Old Testament
than to be saved in the new economy. This is a very serious error
to think that there is more than one way in any time that a sinner
might be saved. Consider this, if you will. Here
we'll tie the knot, I believe. Noah found grace. Genesis 6 and verse 8. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. We come to Abraham. Genesis 15,
mentioned in Romans 4. 1 through 3, mentioned in Galatians
3 and verse 6, and we find that Abraham was justified by faith. From Genesis 15 and 6, living
under that old economy, or the first economy, he was justified
by We'll deal with this later, but here are two very important
verses of Scripture that Christ was the sacrifice for the sins
under the old covenant as well as the sins under the new. and
the two verses are Romans chapter 3 and verse 25, Hebrews chapter
9 and verse 15. Now, the aforementioned John
Gill wrote in his Body of Divinity these words, quote, The different
administration of the covenant of grace in time are called,
first and second, old and new." I have a work by Hermann Wittje,
one of the most extensive works on the covenant ever written,
two great large volumes. He wrote extensively on the covenant
and he said this, quote, there are two economies or dispensations
under which the covenant was administered, unquote. Let me
give you one more from those who have studied heavily on the
covenant. Thomas Brooke, an old-time writer,
wrote a rather lengthy discourse on the covenant of grace also,
saying this, and I quote, These were not two distinct covenants,
but one and the same covenant differently dispensed." Now,
there is another twist that is put upon the covenant by some
theologians which make the distinction that I will dismiss. Some say that there is a covenant
of redemption made between God and the Lord Jesus Christ, that
there is also a covenant of grace made with the elect and God through
Christ, made a covenant of grace when they become believers. But does not this make two covenants
instead of one? I agree with John Gill. There
is but one covenant and not two, and that the one covenant includes
grace and redemption." And this grace was given us in Christ
before the world ever began. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9. Who has given us grace in Christ
before the world ever began. And it includes the Son of God's
agreement. The Lord Jesus Christ's agreement
to become incarnate. to become a man, to put on flesh
and redeem the people of God out of the bondage of their sin. Now, we call it a covenant of
grace because nothing is given by way of merit, of works, or
reward unto the sinner. Not one thing spiritually is
bestowed upon a sinner for any of these things. It is all of
grace. Salvation is strictly and only
by the grace of God, which means that it is undeserved, it is
unverited, and it is unearned. There is nothing that God will
receive from the sinner for which he will repay them with the grace
of God. Now, under the premise that there
is an Old Testament administration of the covenant of grace and
a New Testament administration of the covenant, we then consider
the predominant word for each testament. because it gives us
some light on the nature of the covenant and what is signified
by the covenant in each place. First of all, the most common
word used in the Old Testament, you'll find it again and again,
is the Hebrew word berech, berech. And some content is derived from
several different root meanings, such as to create, also to divide
or to cut, to strike hands, to elect, to choose, to predominate,
meaning being to create or to make, arrange and dispose of
matters, to put them in a particular order according to God's divine
will, and purpose. So that is the Old Testament
word b'eth. And it is interesting that it
is the same word in the Old Testament, whether it refers to a covenant
between God and men, or whether it refers to a covenant between
man and man. Whether Noah or Abraham, whether
Isaac or David or Israel. And the same word when men are
said to make a covenant between themselves. It is even the same
word that Job used in a passage in chapter 31 and verse 1 when
he said, I have made a covenant with mine eyes. It is the word
b'eth. Isaiah 28 and 15. We have made
a covenant with death And with El we are in agreement,
said Isaiah. That's the same word that the
covenant of God is described by. Now, secondly, the most common
word in the New Testament is a translation of that Hebrew
word breath into the Septuagint or the Greek version of the Old
Testament Scripture. And only one word is used. And it is translated covenant
some twenty times throughout our New Testament. And it is
also translated testament about twelve times, about a dozen times
in the New Testament. So that when you read in the
New Testament the word covenant or the word testament, they are
one and the same word exactly. Both are from the same word,
so that covenant and testament are one and the same word, not
two different things, which make us wonder then, why did the translators
not translate it uniformly, either one or the other of the word
in every place? John Gill said that the word
means to dispose. this word covenant or testament
in our New Testament. It means to settle. It means
to put a thing firmly into place. In a covenant way, that is. It
means to set things in order and literally, it means to make
a last will and testament. The last will and testament of
our Savior or of our great God. Hence, we learn. that there is
an eternal covenant, that that covenant stands between the Holy
Three, the Trinity, and that salvation is according to that
covenant made between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
before the world ever began. and that both manifestations
of the covenant stood or stand upon blood." Now, let's not lose
sight of that. whether the first administration
or the second, both of them stand upon blood. Such as when Jesus
said in our text in Matthew 26 and verse 28, this is my blood
of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission
of sin. Remember again Hebrews 13 and
20, it speaks of the quote, the blood of the everlasting covenant."
The blood of the everlasting covenant is the blood of Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Savior and God's Son. While the blood of
the first or the old covenant or testament was the blood of
bulls and goats and animals and such like slain by the high priest
at the altar. Now, I think there is a very
profitable discussion to be had in the ninth chapter of the book
of Hebrews that a covenant or a testament needs or requires
two things. There are two things necessary,
and by the way, the author here sort of draws off of the last
will and testament of a man or of a person, and a last will
and testament or covenant requires these two things. Number one,
blood or death. a sin sacrifice for the covenant
of God to ratify the covenant and to give it standing. Secondly,
there must be the death of the testator, the one who has made
the last will and testament to put the covenant in effect to
make it come to effect, to make the airship pass to the air,
there must be the death of the testator, as the apostle put
it in Hebrews 9, verse 16 and 17. Look at it. A covenant is
a force over the dead, it literally says in the Greek, that where
a covenant is, In order for the heir to receive the inheritance,
there is the necessity of the death of the one making the testamentary
disposition, the one who parts his property unto the heirs,
and it does not occur until there is death. And in verse 17, a
testament is a force after men are dead. having no force, having
no strength, while the testator is alive. That is, while the
one who makes and establishes their last will and testament
is alive, it does not pass on. The NIV has it this way, and
I wanted to share it, quote, because a will is enforced only
when someone has died. It never takes effect while the
one who made it is still living. Such a will concerns the disposition
of the inheritance upon the death of the testator, unquote. There's a point of application.
This is why we see so many crimes in this area. This is why so
many children murder their own parents, their mother and their
father, or have them murdered by someone else, or wives hire
someone to kill their rich husband, or a husband kill his wife because
of a heavily insured life. because the inheritance cannot
become theirs as long as they are living. The inheritance can
only pass to the heirs and the beneficiaries when there has
been a death. P-O-D, if you will, payable on
death. Then in Hebrews 9, verse 18 through
verse 22, the apostle applies the principle, he says, a covenant
or a testament requires death or the shedding of blood because,
in verse 18, the first testament was ratified, was confirmed,
was put in place or effect by the shedding of blood. That first,
or old, covenant was put in place with bloodshedding. Now, as proof,
the author of Hebrews refers to the passage in Exodus 24 and
verse 7 and verse 8. That was when the first covenant
was ratified with the nation of Israel And Moses, as the mediator,
took the blood of the sacrifices that had been shed, and he sprinkled
that blood upon the altar of Israel. He sprinkled that blood
upon the book containing the word of God, and he sprinkled
that blood upon the people that were being taken in the covenant. And he said this to them on that
occasion, Exodus chapter 24 and verse 6, Behold the blood of
the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all
of these words." This," he said, sprinkling it about, is the blood
of the covenant that God has made with you. In fact, says
the apostle in the 22nd verse of Hebrews 9, nearly all things
in the law require to be cleansed or sanctified by blood. And watch what he said. Without
the shedding of blood is no remission of sin. Catch that. All things
under the law are purified by blood, and without the shedding
of blood is no remission of sin. For a minute, let's go back to
the words of our Lord in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 28, and
how it resembles the words of Moses in Exodus 24 and verse
8. As the Lord tells His disciples
this, This is my blood of the New Testament, or covenant, which
is shed for many for the remission of sin. See the connection. My blood, the New Testament. My blood in the New Testament. Now this blood, as the Lord was
eating the annual Passover supper with his disciples, and during
that time he initiated what we now know as the Lord's Supper. That is, Passover supper was
a great memorial supper commemorating their deliverance out of the
bondage of Egypt. So the Lord's Supper, the cup
and the bread, is done in memory of the death of the Lord. Listen,
this do in memory of me. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 15. Verse 26, it shows there the
Lord's death. As we take the supper of the
Lord, it shows the Lord's death till He comes. It commemorates
the Lord's death that He has died for us. The cup was a symbol
of His blood. which blood he then called the
blood of the New Testament. And the emphasis is upon the
word new and also upon the word blood, in that it was not a renewing
of the old, and it was not simply an extension of the covenant
made through Moses using animal blood. It was the blood of the
God-man, the blood of Christ. It was the end of the old covenant
and the bringing in of the new. It was a moving out from under
the tides and the shadows into the substance and the reality. It was as leaving adolescence
and coming into mature age. It was a new and a lasting ministration
of the covenant of grace in one's head exhibited and established
in the blood of Christ the testator." Now, a transition from Judaism
to Christianity was the death and the bloodshedding of our
Lord. There were mighty attestations
when Christ died. Have you not read them in the
gospel that no man ever died like Christ died? that no death
ever affected nature and creation like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are some things that happened
when our Lord died and was a dying upon the cross. Earthquakes went
off in the area. Darkness for three hours as our
Lord hanged upon the cross. The mighty voice of God like
thunder out of the heavens did speak. The dead rising out of
their grave in the city of Jerusalem. But one of the most significant
things that occurred when our Lord died at the cross and gave
up His life, one of the most significant things and the most
important things occurred yonder in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. When Christ died, we read in
Matthew 27 and 51, hear this, the veil in the temple rent from
top to bottom as the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross. Hebrews talks about the veil
of his flesh by which we have entrance into a new and living
way, Hebrews 10.20. So the veil in the temple was
torn into, didn't rot into. The earthquake didn't cause it. It wasn't meant to. It was thick
and strong and had been there for centuries. But it split because
it was a testimony that this is the end of the old and the
bringing in of the new. It signified, as Spurgeon wrote
in his commentary on Matthew, Christ's death was the end of
Judaism." No more animal sacrifices. No more human priests of any
kind. No more special days and seasons. no more worshipping at the temple. Those things belong to the old
and abolished administration. The old manifestation of the
covenant is then replaced by the new and the better administration
of the covenant in the hands of Christ our Lord and our Savior. What was done by the incarnation
and the death of Christ was according to the purpose and the eternal
counsel and covenant of God." Isaiah 42 and verse 6 foretold. I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness. I will give thee as a covenant
for the people for a light unto the Gentiles." And then verse
7, "...to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from
them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." Again,
in Isaiah, 49 and verse 8, and part of this applied to Christ
in Luke chapter 2 and verse 32, we ought not to lose sight of
the high aim of the everlasting covenant made between the Trinity,
which, as Gil said, concerns the salvation of the elect. This was a covenant that had
to do with the salvation of His people, with the saving of sinners. Eternal life was by and through
this covenant. And remember this, this eternal
life was promised before the world began. Titus chapter 1,
verse 1 and 2. And even then was there a deposit
of saving grace in the cabinet of the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy
1 and verse 9. The purpose of the covenant is
to save sinners and bring them unto glory. and that in a way
that Christ only is glorified. Now, let's return again to discuss
the relation of what Scripture calls the old and the new covenant,
or the first or the second covenant, whether they are two separate,
unrelated, contrary covenants or not, or are they two manifestations
of the one covenant? I freely grant this is likely
to stumble some in the Christian faith, some from whom they have
not studied it out or thought it out. Now, the essence or the
substance of the covenant that Christ brought in is set forth
in Jeremiah 31, 33, Hebrews 8 and verse 10. God will be their God. They shall
be the people of God, like in Exodus 19 and verse 5, that by
the covenant God said to them, quote, You shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people, unquote. Now, the covenant as
to its substance or essence was the same to all the elect, in
whatever period of time that they live, though not the same
as the circumstances and degree of revelation. Now, there are
three things true no matter which manifestation of the covenant
one lived under. One, it was one and the same
eternal life that was promised and that was gained. Two, it
was the same Christ of God that is the author of them both. And three, the same means of
revelation by faith, through faith, unto the people. So as
which is footed, if the salvation be the same, if the giver be
the same, if the means be the same, if the manner of communion
be the same, then it is certain that the covenant is one. For
me, one of the strongest ties between the two, the Old and
the New Covenant, is the passage which declared that Christ died
for the sins of those under the Old Covenant as well as those
under the New Covenant. Again, they are Romans 3.25 and
Hebrews 9 and verse 15. Now, those sins or transgressions
under the First Testament went unpunished, as it were, until
Christ bore them in the cross in His death. And Paul, in Romans
3.25, calls that passing through the forbearance of God. that those sins that passed through
the forbearance of God, that had not yet had a proper expiation. The Old Testament sacrifices
were but typical, and they could not take away the sins committed. Hebrews 10, 1 through 4. They could not purge the conscience
of the worshiper. They could not perfect the worshiper
and the faithful who lived under the old economy lived with their
eye of faith toward the promised coming Messiah. Because their
sins passed through God's forbearance did not mean that they were suspended
or forgotten, but they in fact needed a propitiation. Christ has the closest relation
to the covenant, being first the covenant head or the federal
head of the elect, As they were chosen in Christ before the world,
Ephesians 1, 3, 4, and 5, they were given to Him by way of charge
and reward, John 17, 1 through 9. Now, this covenant cannot
fail. This covenant cannot be broken. It cannot be annulled either
in whole or in part because, number one, Christ is the mediator
of this new and better covenant, Hebrews 8 and 6. The covenant
was established upon better promises. In Hebrews 9 and 15, He is the
mediator of the New Testament. Hebrews 12 and 24, Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant. As mediator, the Lord acts as
the middleman between God and the elect to reconcile them again
unto God by His death and intercession, taking away what separated men
and God, that is, their sin. Secondly, Christ is also the
surety of the covenant, Hebrews 7 and 22, so much was Jesus made
a surety of a better covenant. Because that's my subject in
the second service today, I will not say anything further about
it now. As stated earlier, Christ is
the testator of the covenant or the testament. The covenant
is founded upon the will of God. The will of God to bequeath,
to give, to impart an inheritance to the legatees or to the heirs,
and this required his death. The testament is contingent on
the testator dying. the one who made the last will
and testament and leaves a rich legacy of grace and mercy and
salvation and eternal life. It required the death of the
testatator, and he died. He died that death that was required. Now we close with two considerations. That salvation is only and strictly
and always according to covenant arrangement. A salvation never
stands outside of a covenant arrangement. The covenant is
an eternal compact between the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. And it concerns the elect of
God. And Christ's blood is the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Christ fulfilling all the terms
of the covenant that were agreed upon in the council of eternity. It will not fail. It cannot fail. Hell and all
of its imps cannot make it fail because it is founded upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. I close by asking you to think
how few know of the covenant and of its effect upon salvation. How little preaching is there
today in the Christian world on the everlasting covenant.
And if it is mentioned at all, it is made to stand upon the
free will of man, or to be established by the free will of man, as if
a sinner must fashion a covenant himself with the Almighty. Nor is the knot a very tight
one, in that some say many may make void the covenant with God
or that God has made. Jesus said, this is my blood
of the New Testament, shed for many for the remission of sin. He hath brought in the new and
the better covenant and the better promises are attached unto it. So the new covenant is brought
in by, through, and in Christ. His death upon the cross He brought
in the new covenant. He shed the blood of the new
covenant that established that blood. All covenants stand upon
blood. And the blood of this covenant
is the blood of Christ. And it cannot fail. It cannot
miscarry. It cannot lose its power, its
standard, effectual forever for the covenant status.