Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And today I'm going to be preaching
from the book of Hebrews chapter eight on this subject. This is
part two. I did part one last week on a
new and better covenant. And of course, what we're talking
about in a new and better covenant is the new covenant, which is
the establishment in time of an everlasting, eternal covenant
of grace made before time. And that's a good way to put
it, a good way to look at it. Salvation has always been by
the grace of God, not by the works of men, not even under
the old covenant law that God gave to the Hebrew children,
Israel, through Moses on Mount Sinai. That old covenant was
given to them for several reasons. One of the main reasons was it
was through that nation that God was going to bring Christ
through according to his sinless humanity. He was born a Jew. He came through the tribe of
David, which is the royal tribe, the tribe of Judah. And he was
born of the Virgin Mary. His deity, he is both God and
man in one person. And in the new covenant, which
is an offshoot of the everlasting covenant of grace, again, the
new covenant, which we're under now, is the establishment in
time. of the everlasting covenant of
grace made before time. And that everlasting covenant
of grace, the new covenant, was conditioned solely upon Christ. It was a unilateral covenant.
Wasn't conditioned on me or you. Anytime, and let me tell you
what that means. Anytime a preacher preaches a
message to you, that he puts salvation conditioned on you,
on your works, your will, your decision. That preacher's not
preaching the true gospel. The gospel is the gospel of the
covenant of grace, manifesting the terms of that covenant, preaching
that all of the salvation of God's spiritual people, spiritual
Israel, was and is conditioned on Christ. and it involves eternal,
spiritual, everlasting promises that can never be taken away.
And the book of 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 20 tells us that
all the promises of God are in Him, Christ, yea, and in Him,
Christ, amen. Ephesians 1 and verse 3 tells
us that those who are members of this covenant of grace, the
new covenant, that they are blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And it was all conditioned
on Christ. That's what grace is all about.
Salvation conditioned on Christ. And the fact that Christ as the
surety, the representative, the substitute, the redeemer of his
people, fulfilled all the conditions of that covenant by his obedience
unto death. on the cross, shedding His blood
to satisfy God's law and justice and secure the righteousness
by which God justifies His people and from which He gives them
life from the dead and brings them to faith in Christ. Do you
believe in Christ? That's the key. If you're a believer,
a true believer, you are a spiritual Jew. I read that last week in
Romans 2, 28 and 29. You can go back and look at that.
If you're a believer, a true believer now, not just saying
so, in the true Christ of the Bible, you are a spiritual Israelite,
one of the seed of Abraham spiritually. And so that's what you need to
understand. God, those who have that testimony
that Paul wrote about in Galatians 6, 14, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ
Jesus, circumcision means nothing and uncircumcision means nothing,
no matter whether you're Jew or Gentile physically. If you're
a believer, you're a spiritual Jew, a spiritual Israelite. Now
here in Hebrews chapter eight, he talks about Christ who came
into the world and by his work on earth as the surety, the substitute,
the redeemer of his people, he satisfied God's law and justice,
fulfilled the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace, and by bringing
that in in time, he made that old covenant law abolished by
way of fulfillment. The old covenant is done. He
takes away the first, that's the first in time now, that he
may establish the second, the new covenant again, which is
the everlasting covenant of grace fulfilled in time. So the new
covenant came when Christ came and did his work. And you know,
you see a beautiful picture of that when Christ gave up the
ghost on the cross, saying it's finished, the veil in the temple
that separated the holy of holies from the holy place, that was
torn in two from top to bottom. That was a physical sign from
heaven that the old covenant had been abolished. And he says
it here, he says in verse six, he says, but now Christ obtained
a more excellent ministry by how much he also, he is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Now the promises of the old covenant had to do with their prosperity
and safety in the land of promise that was given to them through
Abraham. And they failed. There were times when there was
general national obedience, but they didn't last. and God took
that land away from them, but that was meant to be from the
very beginning. That covenant, old covenant, that lasted 1,500
years from the time of Moses on Mount Sinai to the cross,
that was the time that God had allotted for it. And it was never
intended to be a covenant of salvation, eternal salvation,
because that, well, look back in verse 19 of chapter seven. Let's go back and look at this. He says it here. He says, for
the law made nothing perfect. The old covenant law couldn't
make anybody perfect. It could tell them what righteousness
and perfection was, but it couldn't make them perfect. Couldn't make
them righteous. But now under the new covenant,
and the everlasting covenant of grace, that's what God's people
are. They're justified before God.
They're forgiven of all their sins on a just ground, the blood
of Jesus Christ. and they're declared righteous
before God, in Him, perfect, legally, based on His righteousness
imputed. Now we're still sinners in ourselves,
but one day we'll be free of that presence and contamination
of sin of the flesh when we go to be with the Lord. So he says
in verse 19 of Hebrews 7, the law made nothing perfect, but
the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh
unto God. and that better hope is Christ.
Now look across to Hebrews 8 and verse 7. He says in verse 7,
for if that first covenant had been faultless, in other words,
if it could have brought about eternal salvation and eternal
life, then should no place have been sought for the second. Now
the second one is the new covenant, the first in time now. The everlasting
covenant of grace is eternal. It was made before time. It's
always been in effect. Salvation's always been by grace.
It's never been by works. The old covenant law was not
given to Israel as a covenant of salvation. It was given as
a covenant to hold them together as a nation until Christ would
come, according to the flesh, and it was given to show them
their sinfulness and the impossibility of salvation by their works.
By deeds of law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight.
So that old covenant had its faults. The new covenant has
no faults because it's a unilateral covenant. It's not conditioned
on you or me. If it was conditioned on you
or me, it would have faults because we are faulty. We're sinners. But Christ has no fault and it's
all conditioned on him. So, but if that first covenant
had been faultless, wouldn't have needed another covenant,
the second. Look at verse eight. This is Hebrews eight. For finding
fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. Now, he's quoting from Jeremiah
chapter 31. on the promise of a new covenant
and you need to understand Jeremiah's time. Jeremiah was a prophet
of God who stood against the majority of false preachers in
his day who were telling the people, you're okay, everything's
fine, God's going to bless you, peace, peace, when there was
no peace But Jeremiah knew that God was getting ready to punish
Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah, for their sins and their
idolatry. And God was going to take them
out of their land, going to destroy the temple of Solomon, lower
it to the ground, and take them captive in three waves to Babylon
for 70 years. And Jeremiah's message was, look,
God's wrath is coming. We deserve it. We may as well
accept it and praise God in spite of it because God's in control. But the false preachers would
say, oh, no, you know, Jeremiah, he's a burden. Don't listen to
him. But Jeremiah was right. But Jeremiah, with all of his
prophecy of doom and gloom, he did have a message of hope. And
the messages of hope was this. Think about it this way. That
great temple of Solomon that they were so proud of, and that
priesthood, that earthly priesthood, it was gonna be destroyed and
demolished, but don't put your hope there. That's temporary. There's no salvation there. But
put your trust in what's coming later in the new covenant. And that's salvation by God's
grace through Christ. Believe on it. See, salvation
was even by grace back then. And this is what he says. He
says, behold, verse eight, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. Now, you know, at the time of
Jeremiah, of course, this took place back in Isaiah's day. Well,
it actually took place back right after Solomon died. And the two
kings, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the nation split. and it became
the Northern Kingdom, which was called Israel, made up of 10
tribes, and then the Southern Kingdom, which was called Judah,
because Judah was the main tribe, then Benjamin was with Judah
in the Southern Kingdom. And so all the way through, that
nation was divided into the two kingdoms. Well, during Isaiah's
time, the Northern Kingdom was completely destroyed and scattered
throughout the world. And you know, there's a lot of
legends and myths run about the 10 tribes, the lost tribes and
all. Don't listen to that stuff. Read your Bible. Don't get involved
in stuff like that. And who are the actual seed of
Abraham, stuff like that. Don't worry about that stuff.
Read your Bible. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed,
Israel. Now you know the name Israel where it came from. It
came from Jacob when God changed his name to Israel because Jacob
wrestled with the angel and he held on for dear life and he
prevailed. And that doesn't mean that he
beat God or anything like that or beat Christ. It means that
he got what he wanted. And how does any sinner prevail
with God? We plead Christ. That's how you
prevail with God. I mean, you defeat him, he defeats
you. That's what happens. But Israel means those who have
prevailed with God. Some people say it means prince
of God. Well, that's okay. But it really
means those who have prevailed with God. And who is that? It's
every believing sinner. Everyone whom God has redeemed
by the blood of the cross and given faith in the new birth.
You've prevailed with God. You've gained salvation. You
didn't deserve it. You didn't earn it. but God freely
gave it. And he brought you to himself
by that means. Now, spiritual Israel is made
up of God's elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation.
Remember he told Abraham, he said, I'm gonna bless all nations
through you. How? God has a people out of
every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation. The elect of God. And that's the eternal spiritual
elect. And then Judah, which means praise God, That's the
tribe through which Christ came. They were held together all the
way up until the time of Christ, and then later on, they were
destroyed in AD 70. But when he says he's gonna make
a new covenant here in verse eight with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah, what he's talking about is under the
new covenant, there will be no division of people here. They will all be brought together
as one nation, Israel and Judah, those who have prevailed with
God, and those who truly praise God through Christ, united together
in Him. And that's spoken of in Ephesians
chapter two, talking about breaking down the middle wall of partition
and all that, how God has reconciled us together in Christ. And look
at verse nine, this is Hebrews 8, 9. He goes on, quoting from
Jeremiah 31, And he says, this new covenant
is not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded
them not, saith the Lord. See, they broke that covenant.
It was a bilateral covenant. Their prosperity in the land,
their safety in the land was conditioned on their national
obedience, but they failed, they broke it. They didn't keep it,
so God said, I regarded them not. But see, that covenant was
set up, number one, to keep them together, the tribe of Judah
anyway, till Christ would come. You see, that's what Jacob prophesied
on his deathbed, the scepter would not depart from Judah until
Shiloh, peace, came, that's Christ. And then he promised that it
would come through the line of David, that's the royal covenant.
Christ was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh.
You see what I'm saying? Well, they broke it, and he said,
I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Now, God didn't change
his mind there. That covenant was never set up to last forever. It was temporal, temporary, ceremonial,
purely. And so look at verse 10 of Hebrews
8. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. Listen to what he says now. Oh,
what a new and better covenant. He says, I will put my laws into
their mind and write them in their heart. Now, what laws?
That's the word of God. Whatever God says. It's gonna
be written in their heart. It's not gonna be imposed on
them, as he said back over in Hebrews 9. In other words, it's
not gonna be forced on them. He's gonna write it in their
heart. How's he gonna do that? This is regeneration and conversion. This is the new birth. He's gonna
give them a new heart. And that's what he says, I'll
write it in their heart. The natural heart. Jeremiah said
in Jeremiah 17, is desperately wicked, deceived, the heart of
natural man, fallen in Adam, born into a state of depravity
and darkness, ignorance, self-righteousness. And in order for a sinner to
be brought to Christ by faith, that sinner has to be given a
new heart. a new mind, a new affection,
a new will, new desires, a new conscience. And that's what the
Holy Spirit does when he brings God's people, spiritual Israel,
out of their lost estate into a state of salvation spiritually. That's what he does when he gives
them a new birth. You must be born again. He gives
them new spiritual eyes to see and value, see the beauty of
things that they didn't see before, the beauty of Christ, the beauty
of salvation, the beauty of his righteousness. He gives them
new ears to hear the gospel. which they hated before, but
now they love it. It's their life. And they hear
it with the hearing ear. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. And that's what he says, if any
man hears my word and learns of the Father, comes to Christ.
So here they are. He says, I'll put my, verse 10,
I will put my laws into their mind, my word, that's what he's
talking about. It's not just the 10 commandments.
We're not under the Ten Commandments as a code. We're under the moral
laws of God. I mean, it's just, you know,
no believer has any freedom to go out and murder anybody, thou
shalt not kill, go out and commit adultery, or anything like that.
We're to be the people of God obeying His word. And that's
always been. But he says, I'll put my laws
into their mind, write them in their hearts, and I will be to
them a God, and they shall be to me a people. That last line
is the language of a marriage union that cannot be broken.
There's no bill of divorcement here. God joined Himself. Christ is the husband. His church
is His bride. He takes His bride unto Himself. He pays their dowry by His blood
and buys them and we are His forever and ever. And it says
here in verse 11, And they shall not teach every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, For all shall
know me from the least to the greatest. Under the Old Covenant,
the people of Israel and Judah, on the whole, claim to be the
people of God, claim to be the elect of God, and they were for
a time, in a temporal ceremonial sense, until the time of Christ. But the biggest problem they
had throughout their history, the majority of them, they did
not really know the true Lord God of Israel. They imagined. And I'll show you this. Look
back at Romans chapter nine. I referred to this earlier. Listen
to this. What was Israel's problem, even
under the Old Covenant? Well, the Apostle Paul, as inspired
by the Holy Spirit, he sums it up here. In Romans 9, look at
verse 31. Now listen to what he says here.
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, trying
to keep the law now, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. They didn't make it. They tried. Now verse 32, wherefore, or why,
why didn't they make it? Because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law. They didn't
seek it by faith. How do you seek righteousness
by faith? You seek it in Christ. You find it in Christ. Not in
your believing, you do believe it, but you believe that Christ
is your righteousness. And he says here, they stumbled
at that stumbling stone. Well, the stumbling stone is
Christ. In other words, when the preaching of Christ came
along, they got trapped. He told them, except your righteousness
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you
shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. And it says in verse
33, as it is written, and this is from Isaiah 28, or Isaiah
8 and Isaiah 28, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and
rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. They tripped over Christ. They
were trapped by their own self-righteousness. And look at chapter 10 in verse
one. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. They really didn't
know God. Let me tell you, let me put it
to you this way. If any of you are seeking salvation by your
works or your own will, and you think that God will receive you,
you don't know God. My suggestion to you, my command
to you is know the Lord. Look into the word of God. God
will not accept or receive anything less than perfect righteousness. You say, well, that's not fair,
or that's not just. How can he require that? Well,
look at it, verse one of Romans 10. Brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
I bear them record. They have a zeal of God. They're
religious. but not according to knowledge, for they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. Now, what is the righteousness
of God? Well, look at verse four. For Christ is the end of the
law, the fulfillment, the perfection, the finishing, the completion,
the perfection of the law, for righteousness to everyone that
believes. and that's what's going to be
written on God's people's hearts. Go back to Hebrews 8. He says that all of them, he
said, I'll be to them a God, I'll write it on their hearts,
and they won't teach every man his neighbor, saying, know the
Lord, they'll all know me. When a sinner is brought under
the gospel and given eyes to see and ears to hear, given a
new heart, The understanding, the Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we might know Him that is true, the true
and living God. That sinner comes to know God.
And once you come to know God as He reveals Himself in His
Word through Christ, that'll humble you down and you will
submit to the righteousness of God. You'll stop trying to make
yourself righteous in God's sight and be accepted with Him by your
works. and you'll plead the blood and righteousness of Christ alone.
You'll repent of your dead works. Those works aimed at saving and
maintaining salvation by our works, that's dead works. That's fruit unto death. You'll
submit to Christ and you'll begin to obey him and fight sin in
the flesh, not because of legalism, And not because of mercenary
promises of earned reward, but out of love and grace and gratitude. And this is what he says over
in Hebrews eight and verse 12. He says, for I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember them no more. When God says he remembers them
no more, it doesn't mean he forgets them or acts as if they don't
exist. It means he won't hold them against us. He will not
impute them to us. And he says in verse 13, in that
he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that
which decayeth and waxeth or grows old is ready to vanish
away. The old covenant is gone. Here's
the new covenant, which is the everlasting covenant of grace.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. resting
in Him for all salvation and righteousness. I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.