As you can see, the title of
the message this morning is Surety of a Better Testament, taken
from Hebrews 7.22. This better testament here that
we'll be talking about this morning is the new covenant, which has
been accomplished in the person and finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And all that he did is our substitute
and our surety and our redeemer. It's called new and better in
contrast with the old covenant. And that old covenant is all
of his terms and priesthood and sacrifices. which could not bring
eternal salvation and spiritual life to any of those participants,
the nation Israel. Now these verses here that we're
about to read are referring to the old covenant law, which God
gave the nation Israel, which only pictured and typified the
Lord Jesus Christ. We'll begin reading here in Hebrews
10, beginning at verse one, It says, for the law, that old
covenant law, having a shadow of good things to come, now that
good things to come, speaking of Christ, and not the very image
of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they
offered year by year, continually make the comers therein too perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers who once
purged should have had no more conscience of sin. Sins would
have been taken away. But in those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year. And that's speaking
of that day of atonement. Every year, the high priest went
into the holiest of holies with the with the blood, offering
it for the sins of the people. And he did this year after year.
He never said that it was continual, year after year. Then it says,
for it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should
ever take away sin. Now, the new covenant is essentially
the same as the everlasting covenant of grace made before time in
which Christ was made surety of a people whom God chose and
gave to him. He had to be their surety because
in their fall in and by Adam, and in their own personal sin,
they incurred, they billed up a debt to God's justice that
had to be paid. As the elect surety, Christ took
responsibility for them to pay their debt to God's justice. which they could not pay. And
in time, he came. He came as their surety, became
their substitute and suffered unto death under the justice
of God to redeem them from their sins by paying that sin debt. In time, Christ fulfilled all
the conditions and all the requirements of the everlasting covenant of
grace for his elect. And this accomplishment in time
is the establishment of the everlasting covenant of grace that was made
before time. This is called a new covenant
because it was new as to its fulfillment in time, which is
after the time of the old covenant. So when we read here that Jesus
was made the surety of a better testament, What it means is that
he is the guarantee, the guarantee for the promises that are found
in the word of God in that better testament or that covenant. I
begin this morning by looking at the meaning of assurity, exactly
what is assurity, especially as it relates to the elect sinners. Now, I imagine that One time
or another, I won't ask you to raise your hand, but that you
might have stood a surety for a debt. This would be similar to a bondsman.
When somebody's in jail, you go to a bondsman. But a surety
for a debt is, I know I have. And so many times, it don't work
out too well when you become a surety for somebody else. because
you actually become responsible for that debt. If they don't
pay it, you gotta pay it. Now, in this sense, Christ stood
in front, up in front, and obligated himself. It wasn't like, if we
don't pay it, he'll pay it, we can't pay it. So, a surety is
a substitute, it's a sponsor, and an individual who stands
surety for a bond. An individual who legally involuntarily
assumes, either singly or jointly, the obligation of another. He
binds himself as a bondsman to perform all of the duties and
all of the obligations of another person or persons. When suretorship
is applied in case of debt, there are three parties concerned.
Now, we're going to be speaking of surety as it relates to God's
elect. Three parties concerned. The
creditor, that's the one for whom the debt's owed, which is
God the Father. The debtor, that's God's elect,
the one that owes the debt. And the surety for that debt,
God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the case of Christ as surety
for the elect's sin, Christ gives the creditor, God the Father,
a single bond or a solemn promise in which he engages to fulfill
the whole obligation of the debtor, God's elect, on condition that
the debtor is released from the obligation to pay the debt, and
the creditor accepts his bond at the surety's hand. The creditor,
God the Father, by that very act, of him accepting that solemn
promise by Christ, our surety to pay the debt of the debtor,
God the Father, the creditor, transfers that debt. He transfers
that debt from the debtor to the surety and fully discharges
or releases the debtor, God's elect, from any obligation or
payment of that debt. You see, there's no legality
or no justice in Christ's surety, or in the elect's sin debt surety,
back in eternity. And at the same time, the elect
also responsible for that same debt. That's not justice. This is the
picture of the procedure in human affairs that Jesus is called
a surety of a better testament. In Hebrew 722, it says, by so
much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. By the
better testament, the apostle means a covenant or the everlasting
covenant of grace being fulfilled in time by the suffering and
death of Christ. This is the covenant into which
the Godhead entered before the foundation of the world. This
is the testament of the covenant that Jesus was made a surety. In Hebrews 13, 20, it says, 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. What an amazing thought. of an
infinite uncreated mind in which our supreme God at once determined
to glorify himself and to devise all the different and all the
mysterious means by which he would complete this design. This was a design of a gracious
plan by the Holy Trinity to save sinners and accomplish it by
means which are perfectly consistent with the perfection of each one
of those divine persons of the Godhead. All of this is set forth
under the presentation or the image of a human covenant in
which the parties engage and assume certain obligations set
forth by that covenant, for the fulfillment of which they solemnly
pledge themselves to each other. Now, the part which second person
of the sacred trinity, God the Son assumed, is presented as
acts of assurity. Now within that covenant, all
things relating to the salvation of sinners and the glory of each
one of these divine persons and the perfection in that great
work, all of this was wisely and immutably or unchangeably
determined. in God's infinite and eternal
mind. And folks, God doesn't change
his mind. Once these things enter through
his mind, that's it. He doesn't change his mind. He's
immutable. And of the very same testament,
or covenant, of which Christ is the mediator, is also the
surety. Christ's suretyship is part of
his mediatorial office, and it is of the eternal covenant of
grace that Christ is the mediator. In Hebrews 8 verse six, 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
promises. Therefore, of the everlasting
covenant of grace, Christ is the surety. In that eternal agreement,
complete with wisdom and love, God the Father was in Christ,
reconciling the world of his elect unto himself. Now, it says
not imputing their trespasses unto them. How's he gonna reconcile
that? They're sinners. He says he's
not gonna impute their trespasses unto them. Well, he got imputed
into somebody, and so that somebody, someone, was Christ, I assure
you. Look at 2 Corinthians 5, 18. And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that is to say, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. And this will of God not to impute
the sin of his people, or not to punish them for it, existed
in God from everlasting. This will of God not to impute
sin to his elect, is no other than a justification of them.
For to whom the Lord does not impute sin, he imputes righteousness. And these individuals are properly
justified in the eternal mind and purpose of God. God does
not leave his elect in some sort of limbo, with neither charge
with sin nor charge with righteousness. Now, in that everlasting covenant
of grace, it was then that God laid help upon one that's mighty,
Jesus, mighty to save. Look at Psalms 89, 19. I have
laid help upon one that's mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Now, this verse is speaking of
King David in a physical sense, but in a far greater sense, it
is speaking of Christ, our surety. David is a type of Christ, but
in a spiritual sense, Christ is the one that's mighty, the
one chosen out of the people. Look at Isaiah 42.1. Behold,
my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. Christ, God the Son, is the one
that was chosen out of the people. He is God's first elect, and
we're electing him. It must, therefore, be for those
in 2 Corinthians 5, 19, that God was in Christ's reconciling
world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. It
must be for those, God's elect, that Christ engaged his gracious
word His covenant promises to become the surety. For without
His suretyship, there could be neither reconciliation to God,
nor peace made toward God, nor could there be any hope for any
sinner on earth. Our being reconciled to God must
have depended on Christ, our surety, taking our place in order
to take on that sin debt that we owe but we could not pay. It was upon a definite but vast
number of human race of which scripture called God's elect,
God's sheep, his children, the Israel of God. God placed his
immutable, unchangeable love in his own son. And he chose
this number of fallen, sinful humanity in him, in Christ. They were chosen in Christ to
be to himself a special treasure and ordained them to everlasting
glory. Let me bring up this point. In
the Bible, there's so many places that's mentioned so many times
the phrase of in Christ, in the beloved, and so forth. And you would think that it'd
be wise for us to find out exactly what that means to be in Christ.
This act of God placing his unchangeable love in his own son and choosing
his elect in Christ was all done to the praise of God's own glory.
And it was done in the face and in the person and work of Jesus
Christ. This was done within the relationship
of God himself, his son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, we're gonna
be looking at a few scriptures here that speaks of God's eternal,
everlasting love in choosing his elect. We begin here at Romans
9, 23. It says, and that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he had called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Another scripture
that speaks of this glorious covenant made between Father
and the Son is John 6 beginning verse 37. All that the Father, this is
Christ speaking here, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which he, the Father, hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last
day. That's sure and certain there.
That's sure and certain language. Also look at Ephesians 1, 4 through
6. According as he hath chosen us
in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the blood." Another 2 Timothy 2.19, nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that
are his. Also Revelation 21, 27. And there shall in no wise enter
into it, speaking of the new Jerusalem or heaven itself, anything
that defile it, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh
a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. The Son of God obligated himself
to the Father in order to become the surety, the surety for God's
elect. He assumed their character as
man, to stand in their place and answer for them in all things
essential to God's honor, and for the elects being made free
from bondage, sin and death, and to provide them immortal
happiness. In Hebrews 10, 7, it says, then
said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of
me to do thy will, O God. This was the language when he
came into the world and clothed himself with our nature. And
it was no less the language in those eternal transactions between
him and the Father relating to his future incarnation. obedience
and suffering for the glory of his father and the salvation
of the church. All that Christ said and did
in time was the complete fulfillment of the covenant of grace that
was made before time. God who caused those things which
are not as though they were, as if it had already been done,
Christ is, therefore, called the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. The covenant in which Christ
engaged and was accepted of the Father as the surety of his people
was ratified by divine oath, and that according to Hebrews
6, beginning verse 17, wherein God will him more abundantly
to show unto the heirs a promise, the elect. The immutability of
his counsel confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things,
that is, his counsel and his oath, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have strong consolations who have
fled for refuge to lay hold upon that hope that set before us.
The very Son of God stood before the Father as the whole body
of God's elect. representing them and their position
as debtors. As a result, Christ standing
as surety for the elect, and as such, he obligated himself
to perform perfect obedience to the law and to shed his precious
blood for the payment of sin. Christ stood bound to fulfill
God's law to its full extent. He was as much liable to suffer
the full weight of divine indignation due to their sins as he could
have if he had committed them all himself. This would be just
the same as a human surety who has bound himself to pay the
debt of another. Christ would be just as much
liable to pay it or suffer an arrest for it as if he had really
created that debt himself. This is God. He's a just God. He's going to do what's right.
And God really considered his son as a fulfiller of his holy
law and the end of it for righteousness to all his people. Christ was
charged with every sin which his elect committed and was truly
responsible for all their guilt. God the Father, Father's eye
of divine holiness and justice were always upon the Son of God,
who was the only person for whom the elect were to receive their
due honor, which could only come from the perfect fulfillment
of God's law and his justice. Those who would deny the eternity
of Christ's surety ship and to call into question his binding
force of law and its value prior to Christ's death, well, that
would be to make void the covenant and counsel of the Most High
God, and it would make it impossible to account for the salvation
of any of those Old Testament saints who died before Christ
suffered for those sins. Deny the eternal stewardship
of Christ would be to make large portions of Scripture very confusing,
and difficult to understand. For example, if you deny the
eternal suretorship of Christ, that is, as he stood up in eternity,
in that everlasting covenant of grace, stood up for surety
for his elect, if you deny it, and you deny this thing of God
reconciling to himself his elect, by Christ. And that's how in
the world, when you reconcile something, you've got to balance
them out here. He charged Christ with those
sins of His elect and charged His elect with Christ's righteousness
that He would fulfill in time as He come to this world. If
you deny the eternal suretorship of Christ, where is the value
and effectiveness of His suretorship prior to the death of Christ? And how did any of those Old
Testament sinners who died before the suffering and death of Christ
took place ever escape the damnation of hell? Were none of them saved
who departed out of this world all those years during that old
covenant that passed before his crucifixion? Surely. Many entered heaven. We have
evidence of that, many evidences in scripture on that. And on
what ground did they enter heaven? It was not in the consequence
of their own works. For then, as it is now by the
deeds of law, no flesh living could be justified before God
by their works. The only way by which the Old
Testament saints could have been saved and justified before God
was by the Son of God's eternal covenant engagement is the surety
to suffer for him in the fullness of time. On this ground and on
this ground only, those saints before the cross rose to immoral
glory. Now if such of the elect as died
before the death of the mediator had so complete an exemption
from all liability to suffer the divine displeasure for their
guilt and for their sin and were exalted to heaven and actually
placed in the bosom of God's eternal love, can anyone give
a reason why the whole election of grace before and after the
cross would not have this same exemption from all liability
and have it on the very same ground? Did not they all stand
alike related to Christ as their surety? Did Christ not engage at once
and alike for them all? How then can any man reasonably
think that Christ's engagement and surety produced more and
greater effects in part, in favor and part, just one part, not
the whole part, of the election of grace than all of the election
of grace. And how could one of them be
in any sense liable to wrath? One moment after Christ became
their surety. Also, by saying that there was
any possibility of God's elect suffering for their sins is to
bring in doubt the covenant of grace of which scriptures affirm
by King David when he said in 2 Samuel 23 five, Although my house be not so with
God, yet he, yet God, hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure. Then David said, for this is
all my salvation. Now, if it was ordered in all
things, it most certainly includes in its nature and makeup the
non-imputation of sin to the elect, and the imputation of
it to Christ. and the transfer of all liability
to suffer for sin from the elect to Christ. These all being acts
of God's divine mind and will and not actually taking place
in time, they must have been as complete at the instance they
passed God's eternal mind as ever they were or could have
been afterward. Logical conclusion is In eternity,
in the everlasting covenant of grace, Christ, our surety, took
on the full responsibility to suffer for the sins of God's
elect. God the Father imputed and charged
God the Son with the sins of His elect, and Christ accepted
that responsibility with delight. Therefore, Christ was the only
person liable to suffer for the elect sin. Remember what God's
word says about the blessed man. Look at Romans 4, beginning at
verse 6. Even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works, saying, this is what he said back in Psalm, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. If and all things in which this
everlasting covenant was ordained, it was made sure. And if it contains
all salvation, which it does, all the elect must have been
eternally secure by it. and free from all liability of
wrath, even in eternity. And it had to have taken place
when it was ratified by the joint oath of the Holy Trinity. Before time, as much so as they
were when Christ and his sure-to-ship responsibility suffered for him
in the fullness of time. I'll say this, I go back. There
are individuals that say, well, what you're saying is so Christ
would never had to come down to this earth. That's not good thinking there.
That's dishonoring to God. See, Christ obligated himself,
assured to come in time to do this work, to pay this debt. This just reveals the faithfulness
of Christ, our surety, to do all these things. This exalts
Christ in this matter. And to say something like, well,
he would never had to come. No, no, that's not good thinking. We
read in scripture that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, We also
read that Christ was made the surety of a better Testament.
And finally, we read in scripture that God hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob. Neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. I'd hope that this message in
some way, some little way, helps individuals become a little bit
more familiar with that everlasting covenant of grace and Christ's
assurity of that covenant toward his elect. Amen.