Jeremiah chapter 31. Also put your finger in Hebrews
chapter 8, as we'll be going there later on. Today's message
is called the covenant of grace. Today we'll be looking at the
covenant of grace. It's spoken of both in the Old
Testament and in the New Testament. And it finds its fulfillment
in Christ Jesus our Lord in the New Testament. Now the promises
of the covenant of grace are sure because our God is everlasting
and it's ordered in all things by God who is from everlasting. He's God, supreme over all. And God's spiritual family are
chosen in Christ in the everlasting covenant. The scriptures declare
this in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things. And sure, David's writing this,
for this is all my salvation. Well, Christ is all our salvation,
isn't He? He's all our salvation. and all my desire, though He
make it not to grow." And we know in the New Testament, in
Hebrews chapter 7, the Scripture declares in verse 22, by so much
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament, a better covenant. And this better covenant is spoken
of in Jeremiah 31 and in Hebrews chapter 8. It's the everlasting
covenant of which Christ is the surety. He's the surety, the
guarantor. the guarantee. See, we have a
debt that we cannot pay. In our shirt, He paid it for
us. He paid it for us. And in the place of all His people. And it is the Word of God, the
second person of the Trinity, who came to this earth, coming to be Savior of His people.
Coming to purchase His bride whom He's loved from eternity
with His own blood. With His own blood. He is Christ
the God-man. Fully God and yet fully man. And He came to be the Savior
of His people. He came to die. He came to redeem
us from all our sins. He came to be our substitute, our surety, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. The sinless one, the perfect
one, the spotless one, dies for sinners. dies for sinners. And He came to be sure for His
people to work out a righteousness for us by perfectly obeying everything
that God demanded in our place. To purchase us, to redeem us
from our sins. To do that which is impossible
for us. and yet possible for God. We can't never save ourselves,
can we? But Christ saves all who come to Him. And when He
bled and died on that cross, He died for every one of His
sheep. Every single one. God gave Him an eternity. And
He gives them eternal life. He gives it to us. We're merely
receivers of His grace and mercy. As we looked at in Sunday school,
we are no different. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins, and we're no different in that way than those who have
received mercy. The only thing that has made
us to differ is God, from those who do not receive the mercy
of God. We do not get what we deserve. We do not get what we deserve.
We get mercy and grace because God purposed it. Never forget
that God purposed to show mercy and grace to you if you're one
of his people in eternity. He did that in eternity. So let's
read Jeremiah here with in mind. What a sacrifice. What a sacrifice.
Amazing love. What a sacrifice that Christ
should die for me. The believer says for me, every
believer says for me. Look at Jeremiah 31 verses 31
to 34. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant
I made with their fathers in the day, I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they
break. Although I wasn't husband unto
them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. There's no doubt there, is there?
They shall be my people. And notice who's doing all the
work. It's God. He's doing it all. Israel's just receivers of this
grace and mercy. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord. For they all shall know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Note the words in verse 31. Proclaims, behold, the days come. John Gelbring's fourth, this
refers to the gospel times. The gospel times. Being clear
from the quotation and application by Paul, turn over to Hebrews
chapter eight now. We see Paul apply this scriptures
here in Hebrews chapter eight in verses six to seven. Hebrews 8, verses 6-7. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry, and this speaks of Christ, by how much
also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established
upon better promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, there should no place have been sought for
the second. For finding fault with him, he
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." Or look at chapter 8 of Hebrews
a little further down in this message. But the words, Behold,
the days cometh, saith the Lord, again refers to the gospel times,
the times of the Messiah. It is introduced with, behold,
as a note of attention. Take note. Take note. Pointing the covenant of grace,
its blessings and its promises, pointing out the covenant of
grace and its blessings and promises, which are all found in Christ.
Wonder of wonders that God should make a covenant with sinners
such as we. Wonder of wonders. that God should
make a covenant with sinners such as we. God says, I'll make a new covenant with
the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. This new covenant
is called new, not because it's newly conceived, but rather because
it's newly revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen
again to what John Gill brings forth about this covenant. It's meant the covenant of It's
called new not because newly made, for it was with the elect
of Christ from everlasting. Not by types and shadows and
sacrifices formally, but more clearly manifested under the
gospel dispensation. It's the everlasting covenant,
beloved. It's the everlasting covenant.
Turn, if you would, to Hebrews 13.20. Hebrews 13.20. Hebrews
13.20. Now the God of peace that bought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's what it's called. It's
called the everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace, the everlasting
covenant. And it provides all things new
for the believer. We're given new spiritual life.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We're given a
spiritual heart, a new heart. A heart that hungers and thirsts
after righteousness. And we're given a new song, aren't
we? And it's a song that the redeemed sing in glory. And we
sing it here too. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. But we say right
here on earth, worthy is the Lord. He gets all the glory. He gets all the honor. He gets
all the praise. He saved me. He did that which
I could never do for myself. He redeemed me. He purchased
me. He left the glories of heaven
to purchase my eternal soul. This is what the believer cries
out. And we say, as a result of all that, knowing that He
chose us, that God chose us in eternity in Christ, knowing all
that, we say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Give Him
all the glory. Give Him all the glory. We know
Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's
what the scripture declares. And it's His blood that was typified
by the blood of the Passover lamb. All those living creatures
killed for sacrifice in the Old Testament were by types and shadows
and pictures of Christ. And His blood which would be
shed for the everlasting covenant. This covenant was new because
it revealed Through the preaching of the gospel, a new manner,
more fully and particularly, plainly and clearly taught that
Christ is the substance of that which was typified in the Old
Testament. They were but shadows. And he's
the substance. You walk on a nice sunny day
and if you're standing on one corner here and you can see somebody
walking up, if the sun's hitting right, you'll see their shadow
first, won't you? And then you'll see the substance. when they
come around that corner. All those Old Testament types
were just but pictures and shadows. Christ is the substance. He's
the substance, beloved. He's the substance. This covenant
was new because it It had no mixture of promises of temporal
blessings based upon people's obedience, because all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ, in Him alone. In Him alone. Let's go back to Jeremiah and
read those verses again. We'll read verses 33 and 34,
and then we're going to go right back to Hebrews 8. So put your
finger in Hebrews 8, we'll go right back there. And that's
where we'll be for the remainder of the message. Jeremiah 31 verses
33 and 34. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, For they shall all know me from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. No more. Now let's turn to Hebrews chapter
eight. Hebrews chapter eight. Hebrews
chapter eight. Let's read verses one to seven
here. Paul again. brings forth that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the high priest of a better covenant. And we see that the covenant
that Jeremiah wrote is the covenant of which Christ is the high priest.
Paul again brings forth the priesthood of Christ, Jesus our Lord, and
how it is far superior to the priests of Aaron's line. Our
Lord ministers in a better place, heaven, and has a better sacrifice,
his blood, and has a better tabernacle, His body, and provides a better
covenant with better promises, which we'll see. Hebrews 8, verses 1-7, Now
of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such
a high priest, who is sat on the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched in not man.
For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices,
wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also
to offer. For if he were on earth, he should
not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer
gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished of God
when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, saith he
that Thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee
in the mounds. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry.
This is speaking of Christ. By how much also he is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, there should no place have been sought for
the second. The priests of the Old Testament
never came, never entered into the Holy of Holies without a
sacrifice. And we know that their sacrifices
could never take away sin. We know that. They were but types
and shadows pointing to Christ. But Christ offers a better sacrifice.
His blood. His blood. And He's both the
priest and the sacrifice. and the altar, you can just keep
going. It all pictures Him. It all pictures Him, but Christ
offered a better sacrifice, His blood. The blood of the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. And He alone is the believer's
hope. He alone is our Savior and our
Redeemer. Note in verse 6 that Christ has
a more excellent ministry. He has a more excellent ministry.
It says, but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by
how much also he is a mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises. So we see here that Christ has
a more excellent ministry. Christ alone, again, is the one
mediator between God and man. That's clearly brought forth
here too, isn't it? He's the mediator. We know the scripture
declares that, that there's no other mediator between God and
man but Christ Jesus. And he's the mediator, it says
here, of a better covenant. And it says established upon
better promises. Now think of this in light of
a better covenant. The Levitical priesthood was a temporary and
typical one. It pointed to Christ. But now
it's ceased. Now it's ceased. And in Christ
we have a full and clear revelation of the mercy and grace of God.
Of the mercy and grace of God. This covenant, the everlasting
covenant, has better promises. The promises of the old covenant
consisted mainly in earthly temporary blessings such as Canaan, a land
of peace, plenty, and prosperity. Contrast that with the promises
of the everlasting covenant In Christ. The promises that we
receive are eternal. Everlasting. And they all find
their fulfillment in Christ. And in Christ alone. It's all
about what He's done. It's all about the fact that
He went to Calvary. And that He bled and died on
Calvary's cross for the sins of His people. And so the promises that we have
in Christ, again, are everlasting promises, eternal promises. It is He who has reconciled us
to God. He did it. It is He who has bought us nigh.
We were far off, the Scripture declares in Ephesians 2. But
He's bought us nigh, huh? By His blood. He's brought us
nigh into the presence of God. It was He, through the shedding
of His precious blood on the cross, that satisfied the justice
of God that was against us. And the law which demanded our
death. And Christ dies in our room and
place to satisfy that law and to satisfy that justice fully. Fully. And it is He who makes us sons
of God. It's a work of God. We're indwelt by the Holy Spirit
of God. And it is God who makes us priests. And this is a covenant,
beloved, with better promises. Better promises. And it's the work of Christ and
Christ alone. Look at verses 8 and 9 in Hebrews chapter 8.
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the day is
cometh, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according
to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. So the first covenant spoken of here is the covenant
of the Levitical priesthood made with Israel and delivered by
Moses, which was a typical covenant. The people of Israel with whom
it was made were typical of true Israel. Israel is a picture of
the church, beloved. Israel in the Old Testament is
a picture of the church in the New Testament. The blessings
and promise of it, of the Old Covenant, were in shadows of
good things to come. Just shadows and types, which
again find all their fulfillment in Christ. The sacrifices of
which were mere pictures of Christ's sacrifices, all those sacrifices
in the Old Testament, again could never take away sin, but they
were pictures of the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, they were shadows, and
Christ is a substance. Substance. The mediators, the
priests, because only the priests could go in the Holy of Holies,
the mediators, they were the priests, the high priests, were
just types of Christ. Who is the one true mediator
between God and man? They pictured Him. So then the covenant spoken of
in verse nine was only typical, as the priests
were sinful men. But Christ is the sinless great
high priest. And he was absolutely sinless. And the sacrifices of a covenant
spoken of in verse nine were animal sacrifices and they could
never take away sin, we know that. They could never take away
sin. But our great priest is also
the sacrifice. Our Lord is our high priest and
he's our sacrifice, beloved. And he offered up himself. By the shedding of His own precious
blood, He has purchased our eternal souls. Purchased us with His own precious
blood. And as a result of His great
work, we have an eternal pardon. Not a temporary one based upon
what we do, Because that would never do anything, would it?
We can't even get a pardon by our own works before God. But we are so forgiven, so forgiven in Christ, that God
finds no fault in us. That's amazing grace, isn't it?
That's absolutely amazing grace. If the old covenant could have
redeemed, there'd be no reason for Christ to come. If the old covenant could redeem,
there'd be no reason for Christ to come. But it could not redeem. It was typical. It just pictured
Christ. The one redeemer of sinners. I'll read Jeremiah again. It
says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and
will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall
teach no more, every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Now let's go back to Hebrews.
Chapter 8. And we know from what we looked
at so far that Paul was bringing forth that Jesus Christ is the
high priest of a better covenant. Of a better covenant. Which we know is the everlasting
covenant. The covenant of grace. Now look
at these words in Hebrews and we see that those words in Jeremiah
were speaking of spiritual Israel. God's elect. Because we know again, we know
so far Paul's been bringing forth that Christ is the mediator,
the high priest of a better covenant. Look at this in verse 10 to 12.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, 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. 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 iniquities
will I remember no more." Now let's keep in mind what we just
read about and what God would do for his people in verse 6.
Let's look at verse 6 in Hebrews 8 again. But now hath he, that
being Christ, obtained a more excellent ministry in contrast
to the Levitical priesthood, by how much he, being Christ,
is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. Better promises. So note again,
Christ alone is the mediator of the better covenant, the new
covenant, and it was established upon better promises. In verses
10 to 5 are five specific promises to God's people. Five specific
promises to God's people, which are established in Christ for
the elect, and God's people have these promises, not as things
conditioned upon their obedience, but as accomplished by the death
of the testator, the Lord Jesus Christ. the testator of the covenant,
Christ and Christ alone. Let's look at verse 10 first.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. 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. First promise we see in verse
10 is that the law, the word of God is written in the hearts
and the minds of God's born-again blood-washed people. The believer in Christ can say
without hesitation, with my mind I serve the law of God. But we
battle this flesh, don't we? We battle this flesh. Obedience
is a characteristic of the believer's new heart. We love the Lord and
we seek to please Him. But we know that our salvation
is based wholly upon Him. And we rejoice in that precious
truth. And also take note that the covenant of grace reveals
that salvation is a heart work. It's a heart work. Note in this
verse, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws
into their mind and write them in their hearts. It's a heart
work, beloved. It's not just a head knowledge
of who Christ is. It's a heart work. God's given
us a heart now for his people that hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Who's our righteousness? Christ. So our heart that hungers and
thirsts after righteousness, thirsts after He who is our righteousness.
the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't so before we were saved,
was it? But it is now. Glory be to God,
it is now. We hunger and thirst for Him,
for Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. So we see
this as a heart work. I'll put my laws into their mind
and write them in their hearts. The salvation that is revealed
in the covenant is a revelation of the glory and greatness of
our Savior. It shines in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the law that is established
in the heart. It's a principle of love. The
standard of salvation accomplished by Christ in Him alone. The second promise we see here
before us, and remember, This covenant is established upon
better promises. And note who's doing all the
work. God's doing all the work, isn't He? He says, I will do
this. I'll put my laws into their mind
and write them in their hearts. Here's the second promise so
before us. And this one will make the believer's heart filled
with joy. Our God says, I will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people. In Jeremiah, our great God promised
His people that He will be their God and they shall be My people. This is God saying this. This
is not man saying, well, I've decided to follow Jesus. Because
we know that we never would in our natural state. But we know
we're made well in the day of God's power, aren't we? And then
we do run to Christ, don't we? We do. We flee to Him. We run
so fast to Him when we're born again in the Holy Spirit of God.
We flee right to Christ. This is a work of God, beloved.
But what a promise we have here. The God of the universe says,
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And note, it's God who's saying
this. We know the Scripture says there's
none that seek after God. I'll be their God and they shall
be My people. They shall. So we see here before
us that the covenant of grace is certain, sure, and guarantees
salvation to God's elect. I will be their God and they
shall be My people. God and God alone is the Savior
of His covenant people. Christ is the God-man. came here
to redeem his bride, to save his people from their sins. Peter
says this, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. Well, think of that. I'll be
their God and they shall be my people. He called us out of that
darkness, didn't he? Because we are his people from
eternity. And he says in time, Peter says this, which in times
past were not a people. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy. And all the believer in
Christ say, I've obtained mercy. I've obtained unmerited mercy
and unmerited grace in and through Christ and Christ alone. Oh, what a Savior we have, beloved.
Look how sure this is. I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people. It's sure. It's sure. What peace floods the believer's
soul when we read these words. We see that God's elect are His
special, peculiar people, distinct, chosen people in Christ. Chosen in Christ by the sovereign
maker of the universe. Chosen in Christ by the one who
holds all things together by the word of His power. And the believer says, he chose
me. My, what mercy, what grace has
been bestowed upon the people of God. And God never changes. You ever think of that too? God
never changes. So this promise is sure. As Brother
Tim read, he's the same yesterday, today and forever. He's the one
who says, I'll be their God and they shall be my people. That's
sure. That's settled, beloved. That's
settled. Oh, marvel at this precious promise
here before us. The fact that God has fixed His
heart upon you who believe. From eternity. And all we can
say is praise His mighty name. Praise his mighty name. Let's look at verse 11. We see
the third promise from God to his people through the covenant
of grace. 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. We see here that Lord God, the
God of the universe, the sovereign God of the universe, promises
to all his people that we'll know him. We're known. For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. Think about all that you know now about the
scriptures, about who God is, about who Christ is. And think of all you know now
that you never knew before. Think of how he's revealed himself
to you now. Now, we may have read the Bible before we were
saved, but we didn't know him. I didn't know him. I told you
before, when I read the Bible before the Lord saved me, it
was just paper and ink. I remember, I remember that day.
I remember closing the Bible and saying, well, I'm not allowed. But now, oh my, I see Christ
everywhere. I rejoice over the preaching
of the gospel, something that I never used to rejoice over.
Is it so for you? That's amazing grace, beloved. That's amazing. You know things
about Christ now that you never knew before. That's what the
scripture says. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know the
Lord for all should know me from the least to the greatest. So
we see here before us that God's covenant people are taught by
God of who He is. He teaches them. He teaches His
people who He is. He reveals Christ to us. And it's a revelation of God,
beloved. It's a miracle. And the Scriptures here declare
before us, they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall
all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest, saith
the Lord. All who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God are
taught by God. Are taught by God. They are taught,
what are we taught? We're taught to look to Christ,
aren't we? We're taught the things of Christ. We're taught who He
is. We're taught what He's done.
We're taught where He is now. He's in glory. And we're taught that all spiritual
blessings are only found in Him. We're taught that salvation's
of the Lord. That there's no hope outside Him. We're taught
these things by God. And we believe, don't we? We've
been granted faith to believe. to rest and trust in Christ.
Listen to what Brother Tim James writes about this verse here. He says, they will not have to
be told to know Him. In the sense that this is something
to be strived after or to be accomplished by human endeavor.
They will know Him by the power and authority of the mighty Savior.
Tim goes like this. I'll let Tim's write, it's a
done deal. They will know God. And that's
truth, isn't it? We know him. We know him who
we never knew before. He's revealed himself to us.
Let's look at the fourth and fifth promises of God to his
people here in verse 12 now. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness. and their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more." Now remember, Christ is the mediator
of a better covenant with better promises. What we've seen so
far is a lot better promises, isn't it? It's wonderful. It's
absolutely wonderful. We see here that our great, sovereign,
majestic God promises to the elect of God, those that He chose
in Christ, that He will be merciful to their unrighteousness. that here be merciful. He says,
for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. What a promise
we have here. What a promise we have before
us. We who are the people of God know that we're unrighteous
by birth, don't we? We know we're unrighteous by
nature. And we know that in our natural state, we're unrighteous
by our deeds and our acts. But what a promise of forgiveness
for the born-again blood-washed believer here. This is a promise
from God. A promise of forgiveness, beloved. And God is just to do this based
upon the redemptive accomplishments of His blessed Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And on Him alone. And on Him
alone. What a declaration is here before
us. And what a declaration will follow
as well. But what a declaration here before
us, I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. What a salvation
the believer has in Christ. Now look at the next declaration. And this is better promises,
beloved. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. No more. Look at this fifth promise. And
remember, this is brought forth by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. We saw it in the Old Testament, and now we're seeing
it in the New Testament too. And we know it's only through
Christ, and Christ alone. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more." Brother Tim James says it's not like God gets amnesia,
it's not that. They've just been put away by
Christ. They've been absolutely put away by Christ. This is metaphoric
language. He's put away their sins and
iniquities. And he uses metaphoric language when he says they're
cast behind his back. That's what I meant to say is
metaphorical. When it's cast behind his back or when they
were in the depths of the sea. But this is truth proclaimed
right here by God. Their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more. Marvel at these words, beloved
of God. We who are unrighteous by birth
and nature, sinners by birth, nature, and choice. the people
of God, the blood-washed saints of God, God says to them, and
their sins and iniquities, who I remember, no more. What peace
the believer can find here? What rest we can find here from
this fifth promise brought forth here? We struggle as saints,
don't we? We struggle as saints through
this world. We struggle with sin. But the Scriptures declare here, for the struggling saint of God,
that in Christ, God will remember our sin no more. Because it's
bought and paid for. Go over to Hebrews chapter 10, two
chapters over. It's done. Hebrews 10, verses 15 to 18. Whereof the Holy Ghost is also
a witness to us, for after that he had said before, and notice
who said this to us, the Holy Ghost. He's the author of scriptures,
beloved. This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days. Saith the Lord, I will put my
laws into their hearts and in their minds. Will I write them? And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. The precious blood of Christ
has washed the believer from all their sins. And there's no
more need for an offering of sin. It is finished. Wonderful words, beloved! Finished! It means finished! It means accomplished! It's perfect! There's nothing
to be added to that perfect work of Christ. And the Scriptures
boldly proclaim here, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And that's God who says that
to his people. That's God who declares that. Oh, is this covenant not a covenant
with better promises, beloved? It's wonderful, isn't it? And
it's all based upon what Christ did. All on what he did. It's God doing all the work in
this text. All of it. Hebrews 9.12 says this, "...neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." Having obtained eternal redemption. Never to be repeated. It's done. It's eternal redemption.
So God says, because of that eternal redemption, because of
that great sacrifice of Christ, for whom he died, for the people
he died, God says, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. What grace, what mercy is this? Here's another quote from Brother
Tim James. He says, the Lord God has promised
that he will remember their sins and iniquities no more. There
is a wealth of peace here in these words. God has not developed
amnesia. This is a declaration, a declaration
that the sins of His people, according to a strict requirement,
have been put away. Hallelujah! What a Savior, eh?
Put away! Put away! We have good news! The believer! Is it any wonder
the Lord told the demoniac, go and tell the great things the
Lord had done for you? That's what we do, isn't it? We just
tell people the great things the Lord had done for us. He's
done all these things for us. Isn't he wonderful? He's a wonderful
God. Oh my, what a merciful God. In
light of this, let's turn to Galatians chapter 3. And we're
coming to a close here. Galatians chapter 3. And rejoice,
you who are the born again child of God. Rejoice in the fact that
your sins and iniquities God will remember no more. No more. Galatians chapter 3, let's read
verses 10 to 14 here. Rejoice, you who are born again
child of God. Rejoice, rejoice. Look at this. Verses 10 to 14. For as many as are the works
of the law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Man wants to live under
the law, he's got to do every single thing. No one can do that. No one. No one. For as many as
are the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are contained
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law, very clear there, in the sight of God, it is evident,
for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. What a Savior! What a Savior! The word of God
brings forth that the believer in Christ's sins are put away
by the sacrifice of Christ. Put away. He made such satisfaction in
paying for the sins of his people that they are never, and let
this sink deep into your soul, beloved of God, that they are
never and they never will be laid to our charge. That's amazing grace. That's
amazing mercy. That is a depthless ocean of
mercy, beloved, for undeserving sinners such as we. And this
is why we say, flee to Christ. He is the only hope for sinners. There's no hope outside of Christ.
So, beloved, are these not better promises that we've looked at
today? Is this not a better covenant than the first covenant? And
we have all these promises we've looked at today, beloved, in
Christ, in Christ, in Christ alone. All glory, honor and praise
to our great God. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank
Thee for Your Word. Oh, what a, what wondrous things
we've looked at today, O Lord. We see that the salvation that
you provided is all the work of Thee, O Lord. Planned and
purposed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God, and
executed by all three. We glory and marvel, we who are
your people, that we were included in this plan of salvation. We
marvel. as we've read the scriptures
today, that you remember our sins no more. They've been so
put away and satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ that they're
gone. Hallelujah, what a Savior you
are, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray.