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. I'm glad
you could join us today for today's message. And I'll be teaching
from the book of Hebrews chapter 8. And the subject is Jesus Christ
and the Better Covenant. Jesus Christ and the Better Covenant.
This is part two. of a two-part message. Last week
I preached on this and dealt with some issues in this passage
and I want to continue that today. So I urge you, if you didn't
hear last week's message, order a copy of that. We offer them
free of charge. As you know, our ministry is
a ministry of evangelism. It's Reign of Grace Media Ministries
and you see all the information on your television screen. on
how to order, how to contact us, our website. And Reign of
Grace Ministry is a ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church.
here in Albany, Georgia. That's where I'm the pastor.
And I certainly, I don't do this every program, but maybe I should.
I invite you to join us for our worship services. We have a Sunday
morning worship service. We have a 10 o'clock Bible study
and 11 o'clock worship service. And any of you who live close
enough or want to come and visit, we invite you to come. We also
offer our services on the internet in live streaming, and you can
get the information to get on live streaming to watch our services.
But also with this program, we offer it as a tool of evangelism
to get the gospel out. I'm afraid we're living in the
last days where there is all kinds of religion, much of it
which comes in the name of Christ, but not much truth. There's more
emotionalism, psychology, all of that kind of thing. But studying
the scriptures, where has that gone, you see? And that's what
I wanna do in this program. And I also present this program
to you as a tool of self-examination. If you claim to be a Christian,
It's a good thing and actually we're commanded in the book of
2 Corinthians chapter 13 and in other places to examine ourselves. Put our faith to the test. I
believe certain things. Test them with the scripture.
And that's what I want you to do. Put it to the test, let it
challenge you. Don't ever be offended when somebody
challenges your salvation or challenges your faith, because
that's a good thing. The scripture says, be ready
to give an answer to them that ask you for the reason for the
hope that you have. So that's what I want you to
do. And this message, Jesus Christ and the Better Covenant, it's
in Hebrews chapter eight, in verse six, It says, but now hath
he, that is Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the Messiah, hath
he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, another word for covenant is
testament, which was established upon better promises. Now that's
the new covenant. In contrast to the old covenant,
the law of Moses, Over in Hebrews 7, 19, I read this last week,
but look at it. For the law, that's the law of
Moses. That's the whole covenant now.
The Ten Commandments, the ceremonial law, everything, it was all one
unit. You can't split it up, separate
it. He says, for the law made nothing perfect. The law completed
nothing, finished nothing, and made nothing righteous. The blood
of bulls and goats could never take away sin. The earthly priesthood
could never, could never save sinners. but the bringing in
of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God." Now that
better hope is the hope of salvation, the hope of acceptance with God
that comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ based on His blood,
that is His death, which is His righteousness. And I explain
that last week how he obtained a more excellent ministry. He
obtained it as the surety and substitute of his people, God's
elect, chosen before the foundation of the world and given to him.
All their sins, all the debt of their sins was imputed, charged,
accounted, reckoned to him. He took responsibility. My sin
debt, I fell in Adam, fell into sin and death, and I was born
in sin, dead in trespass and sin, and I've sinned, I'm a sinner. All the debt of my sin was charged,
accounted, reckoned, imputed to Jesus Christ. He took responsibility
for it. He said, put it on my account.
And that stood true for all of his sheep, all of his people. And He, as the surety, substituted
Himself, took the place of His people on the cross, and died
for their sins. And when He shed His blood unto
death, He satisfied the debt. He satisfied the justice of God
for the sins of His people, and brought forth a righteousness,
the merits of His obedience unto death, that God has imputed,
charged, reckoned, accounted, to His people. So I stand before
God, you see, I stand before God not in my own righteousness,
not by my own works, not by my own power, but I stand before
God in Christ the Lord my righteousness. I plead His merits, not mine. I plead His work, not mine. I plead His suffering unto death,
not mine. And that's why it's better promises. You see, when a sinner comes
before God based on anything other than the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm telling you that's eternal death
and damnation. That's proven back in the Old
Testament, Genesis 4, when Cain brought the works of his hand.
Abel brought the blood of the Lamb. Now these covenants, I
mentioned this last week, but one of the most profitable studies
that you can do has to do with the covenants of the Bible. God
is a covenant God. He dealt with human beings in
covenant terms. There are several covenants in
the Bible. Biblical scholars, so-called,
have different ways of identifying these covenants, dividing them,
different names for them. The main covenant of the whole
Bible as far as the salvation of sinners, the only covenant
of the Bible as far as salvation of sinners, is the everlasting
covenant of grace. Or it's sometimes called the
covenant of redemption. And some people say, well, those
are two separate covenants. Well, listen, the covenant of
grace is a covenant whereupon God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, before the foundation of the world,
came to agreement on the issue of salvation. God chose a people
and gave them to Christ and put all of the conditions of their
salvation upon Christ. I mentioned how some covenants
are bilateral. In other words, they depend upon
the cooperation of two parties upon some common ground. And
then there's a unilateral covenant. It's all conditioned on the one
party who initiates it, who makes it successful, who applies it,
and that's the covenant of grace. It's a unilateral covenant. Listen,
the success of salvation, the success of the covenant of grace
is not dependent upon me or you. If it were, we'd all fail. It'd be a failure. But that's
why the covenant of grace, now he's talking about the new covenant
and I'll give you a distinction here and give you some definitions. But that's why this is a more
excellent ministry, the ministry of Christ. You see, if salvation
were conditioned on me, it would fail. But having it conditioned
on Christ who did not fail and could not fail, it's a more excellent
ministry. This is a better covenant for
me, I'm a sinner. Why is it so much better for
me? Because as I said, if salvation were conditioned on me or you,
we'd fail. Now that's not an insult, that's
just the truth. I mentioned this last week, by
deeds of law shall no flesh be justified. People today believe
that salvation is either conditioned on their works or what they call
their free will choice or some combination thereof. What does
the Bible teach? The Bible teaches that it's impossible
for a sinner to be cleansed from sin by his works. Our works,
our efforts, in any way, will not wash away our sins. Not even
religious works, not even ceremonial works. Baptism, for example. There's a denomination that says
that the blood of Jesus Christ is applied in the actual physical
waters of baptism. That is not scriptural. The blood
of Jesus Christ, my friend, is applied by God before the foundation
of the world as the sins of His people were charged to Him and
His righteousness charged to them. And in time, God brings
us to a saving knowledge of that by the power of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth. And He cleanses our conscience.
And we confess that in believer's baptism. That's what water baptism
by immersion is. It's a confession of something
that's already happened. So baptism cannot wash away our
sins. Only the blood of Christ. And
listen, works of men cannot make men righteous. Only the blood
of Christ makes a sinner righteous. My righteousness before God is
Christ. Even now as a sinner saved by
grace, I have no other righteousness but Jesus Christ righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. Now I have spiritual life. I have a new heart. a new spirit
given by the Holy Spirit in the new birth. But that's not what
makes me righteous before God. It's that new heart and new spirit
that enables me to look to Christ for righteousness. And that's
why it's such a better covenant and better promises. Now, what
does the Bible say about the will of man? In other words,
is the success of the covenant of grace conditioned on your
free will choice? Well, here's what the Bible teaches
now. And I know this is offensive to so many people because the
freewillism is such a popular message today. In other words,
you'll hear preachers say things like, well, Christ has done everything
he can do. Now the rest is up to you. And
that's not the way that the Bible presents the gospel. You see,
the preaching of the gospel is the preaching of the terms of
the covenant of grace. and the terms of the covenant
of grace, our salvation conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ who
by Himself fulfilled those conditions and ensured that His people are
justified before God and that they will be saved, they will
be regenerated, they will be born again, they will come. Christ
said in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. Now somebody says, well, if that's
the case, it doesn't matter what I do. I'll just go about my life
if God's gonna say, no, no. See, you're not God and don't
try to play God. He also said, on John 6, 37,
he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And
he said, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out. I've had people tell me, say, well, if I believe what
you believe, then I might try to come to God and plead for
mercy and he'll turn me away. Oh, no. You see, if you're left
to yourself, you will never come to God and beg for mercy. You
might come to an idol, but you'll never come to the true and living
God on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood and
righteousness alone. And that's what the Bible teaches.
He says, no man can come to me except the Father which hath
sent me. Draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day, John
6, 44. And then the Bible tells us that there's none righteous,
there's none that doeth good, there's none that seeketh after
God. You see, our wills are in bondage to sin and selfishness
and pride and ignorance and darkness. That's our natural will. If left
to ourselves, we will not desire God's way of salvation. Now,
men and women by nature, even in their fallen state, they desire
salvation. But not God's way. Because God's
way glorifies Him and exalts Christ and gives us no room to
brag or to boast. God's way shows me that I can
never stand up before men and say, I made the difference. I
can only tell you this, Christ made the difference. And that's
it. So you understand that. That's what the nature of this
covenant. Now back over here in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse
6, when he says, he hath obtained a more excellent ministry by
how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises. I want you to read a little bit
farther here. Look at verse 7 of Hebrews 8. for if that first covenant had
been faultless." Now the first covenant there is the old covenant
law of Moses. And what he means as the first
covenant is it came before, in time, the actual coming of Christ
into the world. Now the everlasting covenant
of grace is an everlasting covenant. It's an eternal covenant. It
was made before the foundation of the world. But in creation,
And in God's purposes and time, the old covenant came before
Messiah came into the world. And that's why he says the first
covenant. And he said, if it had been faultless, then should
no place have been sought for the second. The second one now.
Let me show you something about script. Let me give you this
in scriptural truth. The everlasting covenant of grace
according to the purpose of God, the plan of God, was made before
the foundation of the world. The scripture teaches that. Paul
spoke of it in 2 Timothy 1. Talked about how salvation was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Read Ephesians
1. You read the whole chapter. Before
the world began, before the foundation of the world. But what God purposed
before time, before creation, had to have its accomplishment
in time. And when were the terms of the
everlasting covenant of grace fulfilled in time? Now remember
what I said. God chose a people and gave them
to Christ before the foundation of the world. All the conditions
of their salvation were placed squarely upon the shoulders of
Jesus Christ. What were those conditions? Well,
he had to satisfy the justice of God for their sins. He had
to die. And in order for him to die,
he had to have a human body without sin. He had to come in time and
be made flesh and actually dwell among men, walk among people.
He had to keep the law. Galatians 4 and verse 4, in the
fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son made of a woman,
that's His incarnation, that's the human body of Christ that
was created for Him in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy
Spirit, made of a woman, made under the law, that is, that's
what He had to, where the conditions of the law were put upon Him.
made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them
that were under the law, that he might pay the price. So everything
that was purposed before time had to have its fulfillment in
time. And in time, that came after
the Old Covenant. You see, the old covenant in
Mount Sinai was in time 1,500 years before Christ actually
came into the world and was born, lived, died, was buried, and
rose again. And so that's what he's saying,
that first covenant, that's the old covenant. Well, it wasn't
faultless. It was not a covenant of salvation.
You see, there's no salvation in that old covenant. No salvation
by works of the law. No salvation by the blood of
bulls and goats. No salvation by the earthly priesthood
of Aaron. You see that? Look at Hebrews
chapter 10 and verse one. It says, for the law having a
shadow of good things to come. and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually, every year, week, month, make the comers
thereunto perfect." The law made nothing perfect, made nothing
righteous, cleansed nothing spiritually and eternally. Verse two, for
then would they not have ceased to be offered. In other words,
if sinners could be saved by the terms of that law, then those
offerings, they would have ceased to be offered. It would be a
done deal. Because that the worshipers once purged, once washed away,
once cleansed from sin, should have no more conscience of sin,
no more guilt. That's what that's talking about.
In other words, the guilt of sin is removed from the conscience
only as we look to rest in and plead the blood of Jesus Christ,
pleading His righteousness imputed. He says in verse 3 of Hebrews
10, but in those sacrifices there's a remembrance again made of sins
every year. It just brought it up every year.
It just reminded us of the guilt. Verse four, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sin. There was no salvation, no cleansing,
no justification, no righteousness in that law. It was not faultless. He says, go back to Hebrews eight
and verse seven. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. Verse eight, for finding fault with them, he said, behold,
the days come. In other words, because that
old covenant was not a covenant of salvation, that bilateral
covenant conditioned on Israel, they failed, we would have failed
too, we have failed. We're sinners, all right, we
come short of the glory of God. for finding fault with him, he
said." Now, he goes back to a prophecy that is found in the book of
Jeremiah, chapter 31. And what Jeremiah in that prophecy,
what he was trying to do, Judah, the southern kingdom, was about
to be overrun by the Babylonian army and they were about to be
taken into captivity. Jerusalem was about to be destroyed. the Temple of Solomon was about
to be leveled. Okay? And the people, now all
of this was God's punishment upon the nation for their sins
and their idolatry. That's what it was. And anytime
you see that, people being punished for their sins and their idolatry,
how should we react to that? Oh, they're getting what they
deserve. Well, let me tell you something, they are getting what
they deserve, but here's the way we should react to it. Thank
God he doesn't give me, this preacher, what I deserve. If God ever gave me what I deserve
or what I've earned, it would be eternal death and damnation.
Do you realize that? That's the issue. Thank God. But God manifested His wrath
toward that nation. So the people, knowing that this
was coming, they were in despair. We have no hope. Well, what does
the prophet Jeremiah do? He's given a message from God,
and he talks about a bright future for God's people, not just the
nation Israel, but for all whom God chose before the foundation
of the world, Jew and Gentile. And that bright future is not
wrapped up in the Old Covenant. It's not wrapped up in an earthly
temple. It's not wrapped up in the earthly
city of Jerusalem. What is that bright future about?
Well, here's what he's talking about. Look at Hebrews 8 and
look at verse 8. For finding fault with them,
he said, 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. Israel and Judah there are emblems of the true church,
spiritual Israel. Now many people call that replacement
theology, but that's not true. It's not replacement theology,
folks. It's fulfillment theology. How were these promises fulfilled?
Not by the old covenant, but by a better covenant. Jesus Christ
and the better covenant. This is all fulfilled in the
Messiah. It's a new covenant. Now how is it new? Well, the
new covenant is the establishment in time of an everlasting covenant
of grace made before time. And the gospel is the preaching
of the terms of this covenant. Verse nine, he says, 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 the land of Egypt,
because they continue not in my covenant. They didn't keep
its conditions. And I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. They sinned. And that's what we are. We're
sinners. Thank God we're not under the old covenant. If we
were, we'd all be doomed. if that were the way of salvation.
So he says in verse 10, for this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. Now
listen to what he says. He says, I will put my laws into
their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to
them a God and they shall be to me a people. He's talking
about the new birth there. In other words, Israel was a
rebellious people and they failed. and God cast them off. Jeremiah
even said he wrote him a bill of divorcement. We're sinners
and we have no rights, nothing to recommend us unto God. And
we will not come to God of our own will if left to ourselves. But what's going to happen in
this new covenant? Jesus Christ is going to come and fulfill
all of its conditions. That's what Jeremiah was talking
to. This has already been fulfilled at the time the book of Hebrews
was written. Christ will come and fulfill all of its conditions.
He would put away the sins of his people, establish righteousness
for them, the only ground of their salvation, their justification
before God. He redeemed his people from sin,
and then he will send his spirit to do what? To put God's law
into their mind and write them in their hand, give them a new
heart. Ezekiel said this in Ezekiel 36. It's a prophecy at the same
time. He said, I'll put my spirit within
them. I'll give them a new heart. That's the new birth. regeneration,
ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood, regenerated by
the spirit. And he said, I'll write them
in their hearts and I'll be them to God, to them a God, and they
shall be my people, to me a people. 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.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember them no more. In that he saith
a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Jesus Christ
and the Better Covenant. I hope this message has been
helpful. 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. 317-07. Contact us by
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today and may the Lord be with you.