So before we begin, I want to
make just a few general comments about covenants, and I guess
the two primary covenants that relate to the eternal destiny
of us all. There are two primary covenants.
You know, there's a lot of covenants spoken of in the Bible, temporary
covenants that God made with Abraham, with Noah, even with
David, a royal covenant to bring the Messiah through him. But
there are two primary covenants, the covenant of works, and the
covenant of grace, and they're primary because these are the
two covenants upon which God ultimately deals with all men
in an eternal way, not a temporal way, but an eternal way. That
is, these two covenants then have a direct relationship with
our eternal destiny, heaven or hell. So what we see is that
any sinner who lives and dies and ends up in hell, eternal
banishment from the presence of God he does so according to
the terms of the covenant of works as Galatians 2 16 teaches
us for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified that
is declared not guilty acquitted but oh we got the good news of
the gospel the gospel of grace he reveals that any sinner who
lives and dies and goes to heaven he does so according to the terms
of of the everlasting covenant of grace, and that is according
to the terms of God's gospel of grace, for by grace are you
saved through faith, Ephesians 2.8. So today we're going to
focus on that most important covenant made between God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, an everlasting
covenant, which David declares in our text today was a covenant
that God made with him. And that's what prompted my study
of this. I'd been giving thought, how
can it be said that God made this covenant with David? And
so closer to home, how can it be said that he, an everlasting
God, has made a covenant with me or with you? Well, the terms
of the covenant of works are simply this, do and live, disobey
and die. That was the covenant that God
dealt with Adam in the fall. Here's Adam, the only person
who ever walked on this earth for any time without sin other
than the God-man, Jesus Christ himself. Adam, who alone was
created in the image of God, and he put him in the garden
and he said, Adam, in the day ye eat of the tree and the knowledge
of good and evil, you'll die. And Adam, who was most capable,
had the best opportunity, who, unlike all of us, was not born
with any predisposition to sin, but yet who was the creature,
not the creator, who was not immutable like God, but was mutable,
who was not infallible but fallible. He did just that. He fell in
that covenant. And so what we see is the terms
of the covenant of works is a conditional covenant towards all of the descendants
of Adam as well, that is, towards the sinner. And in the terms
of that covenant, you know, when God dealt with Adam there, he
didn't say, now, Adam, in the day that you sin, that you eat
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely
die. He didn't say, but if you mess up and do that, here's a
provision for recovery. Not in the terms of that covenant.
There was no provision for salvation, for recovery, for redemption
under the terms of the covenant of works. No second chances set
forth therein. No mention of a mediator, of
a redeemer. And therefore, there's no hope
of salvation for a sinner. such as we all are, such as we
all come into this world as, in the covenant of works. By
the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified, Romans 3.20.
But the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace, and the reason
I'm spending some time here, you'll see in our text, and I
think you'll find in the study of the gospel of God's grace
that sets forth the terms that what I'm telling you is true
today. But our immediate text doesn't reveal all of these things
about the covenant, and that's why I'm spending a little time
with this background. But the terms of the everlasting
covenant of grace are simply this, this salvation condition. solely upon Christ's finished
work at the cross of Calvary, his righteousness, and that being
freely imputed or put to the account of all those for whom
he lived and died, those the Father gave him. Hold your place
in 2 Samuel 23 and turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1. This everlasting covenant
of grace, see, it is in a sense conditional. Now when we say
conditional or when I say conditional here, I don't mean conditional
like it might happen or might not happen. No, it was sure and
certain to happen for the terms of it to be fulfilled. It's an
everlasting covenant. But it was conditional towards
Christ. There were conditions and requirements
that must be met. It was conditional toward Christ
as the center's substitute and representative and surety, but
not toward any of those centers chosen and given to Christ and
eternity past. To God's chosen people in Christ,
it is totally unconditional. You see, it's a covenant of grace. It's also an everlasting covenant. Christ was set up, and we'll
see that in verse 5 of 2 Samuel 23, Christ was set up from everlasting
to be the mediator of this covenant. And all that he did in his incarnation,
in his walk here on earth, in obedience even unto the death
on the cross was in fulfillment of the conditions of this covenant
on behalf of sheep. You see, he needed no righteousness. This was God manifest in the
flesh. No, he did it not as a private
person, but he did it as a representative. And he did it on behalf of his
sheep, those he represented, a multitude which God had given
him. as we saw this morning in Romans
11, called the election of grace. That is, God chose a people and
it was an election of grace, not based upon anything he saw
in them, saw that they would do, but purely as part of his
own sovereign goodwill and purpose. And by Christ's obedience unto
death, he therefore established this perfect righteousness. That
is, a perfect obedience in the place of sinners. That's why
he had to come and walk here as a sinner. Not as a sinner,
as a human, excuse me. He walked here without sin. He
was anything but a sinner, but he was made sin. He had sin put
to his account. You see, he and the fullness
of time had to be made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. And so he did that whereby God
could be just to justify otherwise ungodly sinners. Look at 1 Timothy
1.9. We read, God hath saved us and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace. That's another way
of expressing the everlasting covenant of grace. But according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
before the world began. Now, God's gospel, that is, the
very gospel that he told the disciples to go and preach into
all the world in the book of Mark, and he said, they that
believe it shall be saved, they that believe it not shall be
damned. That gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation,
how he saves sinners, it is the proclamation in time of the terms
of the everlasting covenant of grace. So I don't mean to make
this sound complicated. It's that simple. But those terms,
they were set forth in a covenant agreement between God the Father
and God the Son, He is the mediator and representative of a people,
and the Holy Spirit before time ever began. The conditions, though,
of the everlasting covenant, make no mistake, they must be
met in time for all of God's elect who are born in time. As
I said, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. All that in accordance with God's revealed will and
purpose. So therefore, the covenant, the everlasting covenant, and
when we think of that, we think of an agreement made in the eternal
mind of a triune God, it itself demands that it must be fulfilled
in time. You see, for Christ obligated
himself, God obligated himself to accomplish in time that which
was necessary for God to justly justify the ungodly. So there
is no other way but by Christ's obedience unto death that God
could act in accordance with who he is in his redemptive character. Both a just God not setting aside
his justice in order to show mercy, but justice being satisfied
In the person and work of Christ so as to save anything It's the
only way it's possible. And so today we're going to read
of David's assurance of salvation That's expressed by his stating
that God had made with him an everlasting covenant And that
should prompt us all to ask, has God likewise made that everlasting
covenant with me or with you? Do I find my only representation
before God's eternal bar of justice to be in accordance under Adam,
that is, under the terms of the covenant of works? You see, whatever
terms we embrace in our hearts and minds, they reflect the terms
of one of these two covenants. We're approaching it, and you
know, that's consistent with what we often talk about. There's
only two religions in the world, religion of works and the religion
of grace. Right now, we all either, if
we expect, your very presence here suggests that we all anticipate
heaven's glory, that we have an interest in it at least. And
so therefore, we have an interest, and that interest is based upon
something done by us or in us or through us. are it solely
based on our confidence in what Jesus Christ has done for us. We'll look at verse 1, and I'm
just going to comment on these verses as I go through them.
It begins, it says, Now these be the last words of David. In
my study, I discovered that most agree that these are not literally
his last words spoken. He gave instructions, for example,
to Solomon to build the temple after these words were spoken.
So some believe that It's stated this way here because it was
perhaps the last words written after he had finished writing
all the Psalms. I have a sense, and I'm not sure
of this, but I'll share it with you, that it may be here, God
may have inspired these words to be written as the last words
of David, because what we're going to see here is we're seeing
David. It'd be akin to David expressing
that the words that follow here in these verses are to be considered
kind of as the last word on the subject. David, you'll see in
verse 5, he says this is all his desire. And yet, we know
David, being human, we know David was very human from all the stories
about David. And as with all of us, we all
have many desires. But it's almost as if he's saying,
I want to talk to you about the last word on the subject. You
see, when you're near the end of your life and you're sitting
around and you're going, you know, I've got an eternity to spend somewhere.
All those other desires kind of kind of just fall away when
you put your mind on it. I've got an eternity to spend
somewhere. So I want to talk to you. I'm going to share with
you the last word on the subject, so to speak. And I get that could
be the sense here. I'm not sure. But he goes on
and he says in verse 1, he says, David the son of Jesse said,
and he continues to describe himself. He says, And the man
who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob,
and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said," he's describing himself
here as the son of Jesse. Here he was, a shepherd boy from
a low estate, raised to the very throne of Israel. He was anointed
by God and by God's chosen one Samuel he was anointed to be
the earthly king. He was the sweet psalmist of
Israel who composed most of the songs and hymns that are written
in the book of Psalms and all that under the inspiration of
God's Spirit. Now what's interesting here is
all of these descriptions of David are really consistent with
David as he's often portrayed as a type of Christ. It was said
of Christ prophetically in Isaiah 11, and there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots. Christ, see, would be highly
exalted, an earned exaltation. He was anointed by God the Father
to be prophet, priest, and king. And Christ himself, you know,
expounded upon the Psalms. In Luke 24-24, when it says,
after the resurrection, he opened their eyes to the Old Testament
Scriptures that were available at that time. It included the
Psalms. And of course, the Psalms, we know many of them are what
we call Matheonic Psalms, speaking of the Messiah that David wrote.
So here was Christ, called the Son of David, who was born in
a manger of low estate, this carpenter's son out of Nazareth,
What good can come out of Nazareth who would finish a work on the
earth so as to be raised to the throne as the Lord our righteousness
as Jeremiah called him in Jeremiah 23. So he continues in verse
2 and he says the spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word
was in my tongue. Both the Psalms were composed
by David and all of his prophecies. They were not a product of his
own intellect. But rather, by the Holy Spirit, as 1 Peter 1.21
says, by whom holy men of God spoke as moved by the Holy Spirit. That's what David is saying here.
And then in verse 3, he continues and he says, the God of Israel
said, that is, the covenant God of Israel. He's speaking here
of God the Father said. And then he says, the rock of
Israel spake to me. And we know that Christ is throughout
Scripture portrayed as the rock, the rock upon which God builds
His church, the rock of ages. And so he's saying here, God
the Father and God the Son, they spake to me. And if you go back
and include verse 2 there with his saying that, you know, the
Spirit of the Lord spake by me, he's telling us real clearly
these are inspired words. But we see the involvement of
the entire Godhead, and I think that's consistent with the full
engagement of the Godhead in the everlasting covenant that
David rejoices in, in verse 5 we'll see, and having been made with
him. And now he begins their message. He says, here's the
message. He that ruleth over men must
be just, ruling in the fear of God. You see, this rule that
he's speaking of, this reign of grace, is grace reigning through
righteousness. In other words, God must be just. He will reveal in his rule and
reign the very justice of God in the person and work that he
would perform. in his obedience unto death.
And he says he will rule in the fear of God. That's not ruling
scared. That is with a reverential respect
for the honor of God's character. You know, in his high priestly
prayer, didn't he say that? He said, I've glorified thee
on the earth. I've revealed you. I've revealed you to your sheep. I've done what's necessary, and
they will be revealed when the Spirit in each generation comes
and enlightens them under the sound of the gospel. And we see
here that this God that we have to deal with is one whose reign
and rule must be in accordance with his strict justice and the
honoring of all of his attributes in the fear of God. It's an interesting
thing. You see, until we see that God
must be honored as he is, We actually walk around, as it's
described in the scriptures, having no fear of God ourselves.
I never will forget when I first was confronted with the gospel
and I was speaking with a former pastor here. And he was confronting
me with my former idolatry, you see, for I was going about trying
to establish a righteousness of my own, consistent with the
terms of the covenant of works. I thought I grew up under a religion
that taught me Christ died for all men if I just accept him,
that God would bless me on account of my doing. You see, do and
live, disobey and die. And as I explained that to him,
and as we talked about my former religion and the difference in
what I was now hearing, he said, he explained how what an unjust
monster God would be if in fact Christ had died for all the sins
of all the people. But according to scriptural testimony
we agreed that most perish in hell. What an unjust monster. And my first excuse was, well,
I just didn't think about it that way. And he very gently
but very directly told me Well, that's what it is to have no
fear of God before your eyes. You see, it's no regard for how
could God accept me a sinner. My issue was, what do I have
to do to be saved? Have I accepted Him? But that's
not the issue of the gospel. And so we see this one who would
come. He comes in consideration of the honor of God's character,
ruling in justice. And in verse 4, he continues
talking, and he tells us that the one that he's saying ruleth,
who must be just, and in the fear of God, here's how we know
he's speaking of Christ and His reign, because he describes Him. And he says, He shall be as the
light of the morning, light that dispels darkness, that guides
and directs His people. When the sun rises, even a morning
without clouds, there'll be a clarity about that. As the tender grass
springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. I suspect
we could spend several sermons here on expounding upon these
metaphors of our Savior. But for this morning's purpose,
I just want you to see clearly that that's who he's speaking
about. And we know that because the same metaphors are used elsewhere
in Scripture in referring to our Savior. And if you want to,
you may jot these down. We won't turn to them all. For
example, it's prophesied concerning his incarnation, his walk here
on earth, that he shall grow up as a tender plant, Isaiah
53, 2. He is the true light that shines,
John 1, 9. He's called the morning star
in Revelations 22, 16. He's called the day spring from
on high, Luke 1, 78. The sun, S-U-N, of righteousness,
in Malachi 4, 2. The light of the world, in John
8, 2. And it said of his going forth or appearance in human
nature, his incarnation, that it would be as the morning in
Hosea 6.3. So we know he's talking about
Christ. And then we get to verse 5 where I want to spend some
time today. And he says, David says, Although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my
salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow."
He begins with that phrase that says, although my house be not
so with God. Many think, and we have been
taught in years past, that David is referring to his own household,
and that very well may be. He's saying that he's made with
me an everlasting covenant, but the evidence of that doesn't
exist, perhaps, in my household. So it's not true with my house.
If you read of Amnon and Adonijah and Aslan, you can see his house
was a wreck. And so that very well may be the connotation.
I'll share with you another thought, and I'm not sure which is correct,
but just for your own study and thinking here, I'll share it
with you. Neither do damage to the context, I don't think, or
to the gospel. But that word house in Hebrew
is a word that means court also. And if you keep in mind that
David described how he described himself in verse 1 as in language
that is so clearly a type of Christ. Also, it could be David
is saying here what he's made an everlasting covenant with
me, but but my throne is not like this that I don't want you
to be confused, not talking about mine. I'm talking about an everlasting
throne, an everlasting rule in justice. and in the fear of God. And I think that may be the proper
connotation there. You see, for David, the only
promise he had in any covenant, a royal covenant, was that God
would keep those people together. And he did use David's kingdom
for as long as it survived. And we know that Christ, his
human lineage, did in fact come from David. So I think that could
be the proper interpretation there. And it would be interesting
to share with you. But he begins in verse 5 there,
and he said, Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant. And this covenant is described
as everlasting. The covenant of grace, entered
into by Christ as the head and representative of the sheep,
is an everlasting one. It was from everlasting, and
it will ever last. All of its terms he was certain
to be fulfilled, and it cannot be broken. And he says it's ordered
in all things and sure. And that's because it's on a
sure basis. It was purpose by God, the father. It was put in the hands of Christ. God, the son and its terms fully
accomplished by him on the cross of Calvary that he might have
all of the preeminent. And it's revealed to all for
whom this covenant was made in God, in Christ, made with them
by God in their representative, Christ, by God's Spirit in time. It's ordered, he said, in all
things. It's so well ordered so as to
advance the glory of God. He would rule in the fear of
God. And how the mediator How he would rule in justice and
in the fear of God. It's order. It shall take place
just as God promised and God purposed. All that is required
was agreed upon in this covenant and would and will and has with
a certainty taken place. So as to make the salvation to
all whom this covenant is made in their representative man that
we weren't many were not there. None were there. But their representative
was there in their surety and their substitute. It then makes
their salvation sure and certain all the way to life everlasting. It's sure. The promised mercies
here are sure. Because of the sure performance
of the conditions required, as we heard in the 10 o'clock hour,
Christ set his face like Flint to go to that cross. You see,
satisfaction had to be made and was made. And so therefore, and
he made that satisfaction for people. He needed no righteousness
of his own. He did that as a substitute and
therefore what he did fully accomplish and makes sure and certain their
salvation. I have so enjoyed considering
this verse because I love passages that remind me of our assurance
in Christ. All the way now to life everlasting. You see, it's sure because the
conditions were put upon the God-man to meet. not a fallible,
sinful creature. Salvation is conditioned on Christ,
not on the sinner. A covenant is defined as a binding
agreement. Now, this one, this binding agreement,
was made by all-powerful, all-knowing, triune God. And if God has bound
himself, obligated himself, it cannot fail. You know, to dare
suggest, as many of you once did, and I certainly once did,
and unfortunately, as many in Christianity, so-called, still
do today, that Christ died for a multitude of sinners who ultimately
still perish. You see, it's a denial of an
all-powerful, all-knowing, wise God who must be just. The idea
that we entertain that he would kill his son for sins of the
people to pay the debt they owed, and it didn't get the job done.
It's to deny him. It's to be looking at a counterfeit
Christ, as the Scripture calls him, another Jesus. Well, David
goes on there and he says it was all his salvation and all
his desire. And I'll come back to that in
a moment. And he finishes the verse and he says, although he
make it not to grow. Again, there may be two ways
of considering that. I'm not certain. It could be
that he's saying, though, he doesn't make that grow among
my household. In other words, they they're
being made aware of their potential interest if there was any. And
so, therefore, he has no basis to consider them as those with
whom God made this covenant. That's a possibility. But I lean
more toward believing that this is also referring to the distinction
between David's kingdom and the kingdom he's talking about in
some sense. Actually, the word grow, although
he make it not to grow that that Hebrew word means to bud. Now,
you consider what God spoke to him concerning the sun that would
rule in justice and in the fear of God. He described him as that
tender grass springing out of the earth. And I think what David
is saying here, and this is just remarkable to me, I love this.
It should get we should all be able to enter into this, because
it's something to rejoice in. Here's David. He says he's made
with me an everlasting covenant. It's ordered in all things. Ensure
for it is all my desire, all my salvation and all my desire,
though he make it not to grow, though Christ has not budded
forth yet. He's not even here, and yet David
can say, it's ordered in all things and sure, and here's how
he knows. Because God has made it all his
salvation and all his desire. Now think of that. That faith
that God gave him, no one can say from the heart that what
Christ accomplished in fulfillment of the terms of this covenant,
none of us could say this apart from God-given faith, life. life
which is solely the fruit and effect of what our Savior accomplished
on the cross of Calvary. Now, David had life, for without
it he could not see that what Jesus would come and do was all
his salvation and all his desire. Now, that's how sure and certain
this covenant was. David had life that Christ would
earn for him, though he had not even come yet. Now, think about
that. We look back at the cross, and
we see satisfaction made. And we can see our faith as a
fruit and effect of what Christ has already in time accomplished. And yet we walk around here,
if you want to draw a parallel to that, in these bodies of sin. We're not in heaven's glory yet.
But listen, this is an everlasting covenant all the way to heaven's
glory. And just as David, if Christ has been made to you all
your salvation and all your desire, you see, you know it. So it's
a direct result and only a result of fruit and effect of Christ
having died for you on the cross of Calvary. So you're certain
for heaven's glory. It's an everlasting covenant.
And that's a that's a great cause of should be a great cause and
comfort for God's people. Well, what about you and I? How
did David know? And I've already touched on it.
I got ahead of myself a little bit. But how did he know that
God had made that covenant with him, that he was represented
by Christ? Well, however, he knew this the
same way that you and I can know if we have a personal stake in
this covenant. It's a covenant you see that
God made. You don't make this covenant.
But God's people simply discover their interest in it, seeing
the necessity of it. And if you see the necessity
of it, you therefore see the certainty of your being involved
in it and being represented by Christ, your full representation
in Christ. You see that it must be, if I'm
to be saved, that when he died, I died. When he was buried, I
was buried. When he rose again, not me physically, But just as
real as it is for all those for whom he died, of whom it can
be said, they stand before God, holy, righteous, unreprovable,
blameless, accepted in the Beloved. So God makes this covenant with
his sheep in the person of their representative, their surety,
their substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. So how can you know with
the certainty expressed by David that God made this covenant with
you. Well, here's the test. As it was made to be for David
through God-given faith, is it all your salvation? Does your
salvation depend upon this covenant, really, and more specifically,
this certain fulfillment of the terms of this covenant by Jesus
Christ, the Lord, our righteousness? Nothing but what was covenanted
agreed to be accomplished by Christ at Calvary and was accomplished
by Christ at Calvary. Nothing else will save me from
my sins. Is that your heart's conviction? Is it all of your
salvation? It's exclusively Christ and his
righteousness. You see that I must have. There's
no other way that sinful men are reconciled unto a holy God. It's the only way. This notion
that those who would prefer not to be challenged with regards
to their thoughts of who God is and how Christ saves sinners
will say, well, I believe in God. You go your way and I'll
go mine. No, we'd better be found in Him
having His righteousness made ours by God's imputation. Now,
is that all of your salvation? And is it all? There's nothing
else to be added to it. It's not God did his part, and
now if you will accept him, if you'll receive him, if you'll
give to the church, if you'll walk him out, if you'll pray
a prayer. No, it was finished at the cross of Calvary. It was
finished, and all of the conditions of this covenant were fulfilled
then and there. Can that be said? That's what
David means when he says, it's all my salvation, I believe.
And he said, you see, he said, it was sure, for I know it's
all my salvation. That's how I know it. I know
I'm he made that covenant with me, and if it all your desire,
you know, it centers. I have many desires on this earth. I don't know about y'all, but
I believe that if we go back and we consider this the last
word, your last words I'm talking about with regards to your standing
before God. Is this all your desire? Get
down, peel away everything else that matters, and now you're
on your deathbed. You're fixing to go face an eternity.
And is all your desire to be found in Him, to see the terms
of this covenant fulfilled at the cross in your interest in
Christ and His work credited to you, accounted to you? Is
that all your desire? Is this your last word? is all
your hope wrapped up in the fulfillment of the terms of that covenant
by Christ at the cross. It's that simple. You see, can you
say that you really, when it comes to you standing before
God now, that you desire nothing else, nothing more, that you're
satisfied there because you know that's what you must have and
that nothing else will do and nothing else could be added to
that perfect work of righteousness? I must be found in him." Be turning
to Isaiah 55. We'll look at that in closing. You see, if you can say with
your heart that what was accomplished in the fulfillment of those terms,
that is, the righteousness of God in Christ, finished at the
cross, made yours by God's free imputation of it to you, if you
can say of that that it's all your salvation and that it's
all your desire, then rejoice with David. Not because you say
it, but because it's been made your heart's conviction. You
see, if so, he's made an everlasting covenant with you. And that's
good news. So thereby you can know that
you were put in Christ and the everlasting covenant of grace
and so represented fully in what he accomplished at the cross
of Calvary. And thereby know that you shall
live with him forever in heaven's everlasting glory. In Isaiah
55, this is the call of the gospel. God speaking through the prophet
says in verse 1, Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters. And he that hath no money, nothing
to offer, spiritually destitute, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread, which is not life-sustaining? And you labor for that which
satisfies not dead works? Why do you cling to the covenant
of works, in imagining that salvation might be conditioned on you in
some way, to some degree? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David." You know, how is it said here? He says,
come, it's a command to come, to come unto him, to hear and
live. If the terms of this everlasting
covenant are truly unconditional, to those with whom it has been
made in Christ. Are those conditions? Well, no.
The gospel of grace excludes that. The terms of the covenant
exclude that. You see, to come to him as he's
revealed in scriptures, to come, as he said, without money, without
price, is to believe the gospel which sets forth the terms of
that covenant. terms that exclude any condition
being met by you or me, the center, including your coming, including
your hearing, including your acceptance. You come with no
money to come to him. So he is to submit to his righteousness
alone for all of your salvation, all condition on Christ in accordance
with the terms of the everlasting covenant. So here's word. If
God draws you to incline your ear and come into him, then here
with God-given ears of faith of your interest in him. You
see, that's where the confidence comes from, for you can't go
there if God hadn't done a work for you in Christ. Christ said
in John 10, 27 through 30, a passage we often refer to, he said, My
sheep hear my voice. He doesn't say, become one of
my sheep by hearing my voice. No, my sheep hear my voice, and
I know them, and they follow me. They're going to come to
Christ by the fateful calling of God's Spirit as he fulfills
his role in the everlasting covenant of grace. And he says, and I
give unto them eternal life by virtue of his finished work in
fulfillment of the terms of the covenant of grace. And they shall
never perish. It's everlasting. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand, all which my Father gave
me." That is, God the Father, in the election of grace, in
his role in this everlasting covenant. He's greater than all,
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and
my Father are one. So how can you know if that everlasting
covenant was made with you in the person of Christ as your
substitute? as your surety, your representative,
as he was for all of God's elect, all that the Father gave him
from everlasting. Can you say with David that God
has made with you an everlasting covenant that's ordered in all
things and sure? Well, the answer is, is Christ's
person and his work at Calvary in fulfillment of the terms of
that everlasting covenant is in all your salvation and all
your desire. You see, if so, know that the
triune God has indeed made with you an everlasting covenant,
the sure mercies of David.