to be here. Open your Bibles
if you would to Nehemiah chapter 9. We'll finish this chapter
tonight. Lord willing in two weeks when
we meet again on Sunday evening, we'll finish, we'll go through
all the Psalms, Psalms chapter 7 and then Lord willing one more
message of Psalms, Psalms chapter 8 and then we'll finish that
and then we'll start Back to another series I started just
to give us a little break of Christ in the Old Testament.
We'll look at types and shadows and pictures and we could be
there for a long time and it'll be wonderful. It'll be a wonderful
study. So tonight we'll look at Nehemiah
chapter nine and we'll look at from verses 22 to the end of
the chapter. The name of the message is our
covenant keeping God. Our covenant keeping God. Now
last week in our study in Nehemiah chapter nine we looked at how
our God is the God of mercy. He's so merciful. And we saw
the Israelites, they would rebel, they would rebel, and he didn't
forsake them. and they'd rebel, and He didn't
forsake them. And we're seeing more of that
tonight. Our God is such a God of mercy, and such a God of grace. Now, the Israelites, they rebelled
against the Lord, and He continued to have mercy upon them. He never
removed the pillar of fire by night, which directed them by
night, or the cloud by day. And remember, we looked at how
if He had removed the cloud, The son would have scorched them
to death, probably within days, they'd all been dead. But he
didn't remove that. Despite their rebellion, he never
removed his protective hand from them. And what a picture we have
of what Christ does for the church, beloved. And we saw today, this
morning, the security that we as believers have in Christ.
It's wonderful. And it fills our hearts with
joy because we know how we are, we know what we are, we're sinners.
And in desperate need, still even after we're saved, in desperate
need of Christ continuously. And so as we looked at this morning,
we saw how God's saints, his blood-bought people are secure
in him. And what a picture we have in
the Old Testament, here before us with God's protecting Israel,
in the same sense that he protects his church, now in the New Testament. And we looked at last week how
our great God is a God ready to pardon. He's ready to pardon
His people. And what great mercy has manifested
to the born-again, blood-washed saint. in and through the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because even after the
Lord saves us, that's all we desire to hear. We desire to
hear Christ. We desire to hear the wondrous
things that He did. We desire to see Him all through
the scriptures. We desire to hear about the One
who redeemed us with His own precious blood. And that's all
we want to hear about. Don't tell us about what we have
to do, because there's nothing we have to do. We just look to
Him. We look to the One who did it
all. The One who did it all, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
walk by faith, and our faith is a gift from God. He gives
us that faith. And it's wonderful, beloved.
It's wonderful. So with that in mind, let us
consider starting in verse 22, and we'll just go verse by verse,
or a couple verses at a time here. Moreover, look at 22 here,
moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and this is talking
about Israel, and didst divide them into corners, so they possessed
the land of Sion, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the
land of Og, king of Bashan. So God here delivered the two
kingdoms of Shion and Og and the seven nations of Canaan into
their hands. And note the word corner there.
He gave the Israelites the land of Canaan so that they possessed
the whole of it. A few cities accepted. And Poole comments
in this way, God in the great measure destroyed the enemies
of Israel. Destroyed them. And the remainders
of them dispersed into corners. And that's what this is speaking
of. The remainder of those nations dispersed into corners. and the
Israelites came into these large domains and large habitations
and their enemies were now cooped up in the corners in one city
or another. Look at verse 23, their children
also multiplied, this is speaking again of Israel, multiplied thou
as the stars of heaven and brought them into the land. Note again
who's bringing them in, it's God bringing them in. He brings
them into the land of Canaan, concerning which thou has promised
to their fathers that they should go in to possess it. And remember
in Genesis 15, it said this, and he brought him forth abroad
and said, look now toward heaven, and this is God speaking to Abraham,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them, and he said
unto him, so shall thy seed be. And we see that fulfilled right
here. We see that fulfilled right here before us. The land of Canaan
promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their seed is the
land spoken of here in verse 23. And note again, it's the
Lord who bought them into that land. It's him who bought them
into that. Brother Matt bought that out
really well to this morning in Sunday school. They were bought
into that land by Joshua, which is a picture of Christ. And he
was the instrument, but it was God who made it all come to pass.
It was God who made it all come to pass, just as He had promised
to do. In Genesis 15, He promised that
their seed, the seed of Abraham, would be as the stars, and so
it has occurred. And we see this turn, if you
want, to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. Note this.
God had promised the Israelites that He would bring them into
the land of Canaan. And the land of Canaan, of course,
we know, pictures heaven. Pictures heaven. Look at this
in Exodus chapter 3 verses 7 and 8. So what God promises will
come to pass. Will come to pass. Exodus chapter 3 verse 8. And the Lord said, look at verse
7 first. I have surely seen the affliction
of my people. Notice says my people. Which
are in Egypt. and have heard their cry by reason
of their taskmasters, for I know their souls. And I am come down
to deliver them." Who came down from glory to deliver us? Oh,
what a picture, beloved. He came down from glory to deliver
us out of the hand of our taskmasters, the taskmaster of our own sin,
eh? And I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the
land unto a good land in a large and a large unto a land flowing
with milk and honey unto the place of the Canaanites, and
the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jezebites. Now turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 12, verse 37. Note here it said in verse 23
of Nehemiah 9, I'll read it again, Their children also multiplied
as thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into a land
concerning which thou hast promised to their fathers that they should
go in to possess. And then again, we read Genesis
15.5, where God told Abraham that his seed would be like the
stars. Look at this in Exodus 12.37. The number of them when they
came out of Egypt was 600,000 men, not including women and
children. Look at this in Exodus 12.37. And the children of Israel
journeyed from Ramesses to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot. that were
men beside children. 600,000 men alone. That's not
including women and children, beloved. So it was already a
vast people. And what we would consider a
vast people. But God had told them they're gonna multiply even
more. They're gonna multiply even more. Well, we know that
speaking of the church, and we'll see that later on too. We'll
see that later on in our study. So this is what they are speaking
of in verse 23. recalling the fulfilling of God's
promise to them. Now let's look at verses 24 and
25 and note in verses 24 and 25 of Nehemiah chapter 9 that
what that which God had promised to come to pass comes to pass
because we know it was God who delivered those nations into
their hands and it was God who went before them. Scripture says,
not by might nor power, but by my spirit saith the Lord. He
goes before us, beloved. That's a prayer of mine before
I step in this pulpit every time. Lord, go before me. Don't let
me go where you don't go before me, Lord. And that's a prayer
of most preachers. We ask the Lord to go before
us. We don't want to get in the pulpit
on our own. At all. We want the Lord to go before
us. Not by might nor power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
And this was all accomplished by God's almighty sovereign power,
what we see here. And note the word subduist in
verse 24. It means to vanquish in the Hebrew.
It means to vanquish in the Hebrew. And we know when we look at verses
24 and 25, this is all by God's power, all by his might. And
again, the word subduist is vanquish. And note, who did this? The Israelites gave God all the
glory for what he had done. Look at verses 24 and 25. So
the children went in and possessed the land. And thou subduest,
God vanquished them. He vanquished their enemies,
beloved. He's vanquished our enemies, hasn't he? Before them,
the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them
into their hands with their king. God delivered them into their
enemies into their hands, beloved, with their kings and the people
of the land that they might do with them as they would. And
they took strong cities and a fat land and possessed houses full
of all goods, wells digged, vineyards and olive yards and fruit trees
in abundance so that they did eat and were filled and became
fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. Now note,
they took the strong cities. They fell before the mighty.
These strong cities fell before the mighty hand of God. They
fell before the mighty hand of God. Like dust in the wind. You ever see dust get blown around
in the wind? That's what it was like. They just were scattered.
They were just scattered. And note too, they possessed
houses full of goods. They spoiled their enemies. They
left their homes full of goods. full of goods. They spoiled their
enemies, taking their home, which were already built and furnished,
one commentator said, for them. Both with good provisions and
good furniture, one commentator said. So they just fled. And God made this occur, didn't
He? Just like He had them spoil the Egyptians. Remember the Egyptians
were giving them jewels and stuff? Just handing them over things.
And note the latter part of verse 25, and it said, and delighted
themselves in thy great goodness. Now one commentator said this,
not in praising the Lord for it, and using it for his honor
and glory, to whom he is the only one deserving of praise,
glory, and honor, but they indulged themselves to luxury and self-indulgence. And note the next verse we see,
in verse 26, nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled
against thee. and cast thy law behind their
backs, and slew thy prophets, which testified against them,
to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations."
God had just done a huge, great thing, hadn't he? And they turned
to rebellion. Oh my. But here is a, now remember,
here is a penitent confession of sin. They are not only in
this chapter confessing their own sins, but also the sins of
their fathers. They're recalling the sins of
their fathers. Note again they're blessed with
favors. And we've looked so much in this chapter at the favors
of God which was bestowed upon them. The mercies and blessings
which came from God's providential hand and yet they still rebelled.
And yet they still rebelled. We who are saved sinners know
this to be true of all of us, don't we? We do. We can look at these Israelites
and say, well, they'll go high but for the grace of God, but
we do the same thing, don't we? We do. We're saved sinners and
we know this to be true of all of us. We fall into sin so easy.
I'm beset by sin so easy. But yet God keeps me. He keeps
me. It's wonderful. It's wonderful.
He has mercy on us, doesn't He? Continuously. Continuously he
keeps having mercy on us and truly we can say we've been we've
been blessed in Christ with manifold mercies We can say that can't
we manifold mercies. He's so forgiven All our sins
and trespasses are forgiven in Christ Look at verse 27 and God
delivered them again according to his manifold mercies. Oh My
blood we have been delivered from our enemies by the manifold
mercy of God in and through Christ Jesus alone Look at verse 27,
Therefore thou deliverest them into the hands of their enemies,
who vexed them. And in the time of their trouble, when they cried
unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven. And according to
thy manifold mercies, thou gavest them saviors, who saved them
out of the hand of their enemies. They were delivered from their
enemies, not on any account or any merit in them, but all according
to the unmerited Abundant mercy of God. The mercy of the Lord towards
them. What a picture of the Church of God. What a picture of the
blood-bought, redeemed saints. We are saved because of the merit
of another. We are redeemed because of another's
work, the Lord Jesus Christ. And who were our enemies? our
own sin, the law of God, the wrath of God, which had a just
claim on every one of us who are here as blood-bought saints, and how blessed we are with manifold
mercies. How blessed we are with manifold
mercies in Christ Jesus our Lord. We've been saved from our enemies,
haven't we? Sin was my enemy. I've been saved from it, the
penalty of it, Not the presence, but one day I'll be free of that,
and so will you who believe. But we've been saved from the
penalty of our sin. We've been saved from the power
of our sin. It once had absolute dominion
over us. Now we fight. We struggle with
our sin, don't we? We've been saved from the law
of God and the justice of God, which had a rightful claim upon
each one of us. We're reconciled with God. We
have peace with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in him
alone. When once we were enemies in our minds with God. And note the latter part of this
verse, thou gave us them saviors who saved them out of the hand
of their enemies, though they forsook him, he did not forsake
them. My, what a picture. What a picture,
beloved. You know, one commentator said,
justly he might have done that. But no, he continued his care
of them and his favor of watching over them and providing for them. He never forsook his people.
He cared for them just as a shepherd does his sheep. And what a picture. of the Lord Jesus Christ keeping
His blood-washed saints despite our sinful ways. Despite our
sinful ways. And when they were settled in
Canaan and sold themselves by their sins into the hands of
their enemies, upon their submission and humble request, He gave them
saviors. They cried out to Him. They cried
out to Him. And the saviors here are judges.
The judges in the Scriptures. Turn, if you would, to Judges
2, verse 18. Judges 2, verse 18. This is what this is speaking
of. By whom God wrought many a great deliverance for them.
They were on the brink of ruin. And God would send them one of
the judges. Look at Judges 2, verse 18. And the Lord never left them
because He was with the judges that He raised up. Judges 2.18, and when the Lord
raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered
them out of the hand of their enemies. What a picture of Christ.
What a picture of Christ. All the days of the judge for
it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason
of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And this he did again, not according
to any merit in the Israelites. not according to any merit in
the Israelites, because they deserve nothing but wrath, right?
What did we deserve, beloved, for our sins? Wrath. If we got
what we deserved, we'd get the wrath of God, wouldn't we? But
praise be to God. God has mercy upon his people,
and the wrath of God has been appeased by Christ, satisfied. That's why he's our propitiation.
He's appeased the wrath of God. So the wrath is satisfied, but
it's satisfied in another for God's people. And that's Christ
Jesus our Lord. He's satisfied in him. So we don't deserve mercy, but
we get mercy. And we don't just get mercy,
we get manifold mercies. Manifold mercies. God has such
mercy upon his people in Christ. Look at verses 28 and 29. they had rest, they did evil
again before they. Therefore leftest thou them in
the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them.
Yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou heardest them
from heaven, and many times didst thou deliver them according to
thy mercies. Nehemiah 9.28 and then look at
verse 29 and testified against them, that Thou mightest bring
them again unto Thy law. Yet they doubted proudly, and
hearkened not unto Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgment,
which if a man do, he shall live in them, and withdrew the shoulder,
and hardened their neck, and would not hear." Note in verse
28, they had rest from their enemies, and then they enjoyed
their liberty and were in prosperity, and they did evil again. Oh my! But did God abandon them then?
Nope. Nope. Did God abandon them after
so much rebellion? Nope. They're a picture of the
church, beloved. They're a picture of the church.
And God has promised His blood-bought people that He will never leave
them nor forsake them. And what a promise a believer
can rest in. The promise of God. And He is the one who's the promise
keeper, isn't He? He's the only one who's the promise
keeper. What He promises will come to pass. He keeps His promises.
And we know that from Scripture. We know that from Scripture.
And note there, He delivers them again and again. Note according
to the latter part of verse 28, it's all according to His mercies.
All according to His mercies. And note in verse 29, and testified
against them, God sent them prophets. He sent them prophets to admonish
them of their sins and to remind them of their duty. Look again,
that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law to regard
it and walk according to it. Yet they dwelt proudly. They had a holy spirit and they
rejected the counsel of God. And hearkened not unto thy commandments.
They didn't yield to them. They weren't obedient to God.
But sinned against thy judgments. They transgressed his laws. which
were just, and righteous, and holy. And then it says, which
if a man do, he shall live in them, or by them, in the land
of Canaan. We see this spoken of in Leviticus,
chapter 18, verse 5, it says this, Ye shall therefore keep
my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live
in them, I am the Lord. And then look at the latter part,
it says, and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and
would not hear. This is like an oxen that wiggles
and struggles and draws back when the yoke is placed upon
him. They're stiff-necked. They're stiff-necked people.
But note the long-suffering of God. Look at verse 30. Yet many
years didst thou forbear them. We could just stop there, eh?
How many years has the Lord forbear with us? Oh my. And what a long-suffering God
we have. What a merciful God we have. We're saved sinners. We sin and
He just pours His mercies out upon us, doesn't He? It's wonderful. He's a wonderful God, a wonderful
Savior. "...and testify against them by thy Spirit and thy prophets. Yet would they not give ear,
therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the
lands." And yet for many years, note there, didst thou forbear
them. God was longsuffering with them. Think of that, throughout
the reigns of several kings. Several kings. How longsuffering
our great God is. And how longsuffering He is with
His blood-bought saints before we're even regenerated. Did you
ever ponder that? How longsuffering God was with
you before you were saved? Have you ever pondered how longsuffering
is with us even after we're saved? Oh, what a great God of mercy
we have. What a great God of mercy. He's truly the longsuffering
one. The longsuffering one. And note
verse 30 continues, "...and testified against them by thy spirit and
thy prophets." God reproved His people and admonished them by
His prophets. And as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit of God, they spoke in His name. And it says, they
would not give ear. They would not give ear to what
the prophets said in the Spirit of God in them. What a picture
we have of us in our unregenerate state. Before God revealed Himself to
us, we wouldn't give ear to the things of Christ. We wouldn't
give ear to the Gospel. We wouldn't give ear to God's
people, would we? Or the Bible, even. We were blind, deaf, and hardened
against the things of God and against those who preach the
gospel. But after the Lord regenerates us, after we're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, oh, we love Christ. And we love the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we love God's people. And
we love his word. And it's only because God has
had mercy upon us. His mercy upon us. And then the
text continues. It says, therefore gavest thou
them into the hands of the people of the land, and these people
were the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. And then note in verses 31 and
32, we have a mountaintop portion here before us in this chapter.
Look at verse 31. Nevertheless, for thy great mercies
and all God's mercies, they're not just mercies, beloved, they're
great mercies. They're great mercies in Christ.
Nevertheless, for Thy great mercy's sake, Thou didst not utterly
consume them, nor forsake them, for Thou art a gracious and merciful
God. Now remember, oh, it says here, when I read
that, Thou didst not utterly consume them. I think of the
wrath of God and how it would consume, it consumes sinners. My, and then it says, nor forsake
them. And remember, all the rebellion
that occurred before this. Nevertheless, for thy great mercy's
sake. Oh, he's long-suffering, he's merciful. Thou didst not
utterly consume them, nor forsake them, for thou art a gracious
and merciful God. Now, therefore, our God, the
great, the mighty, and the terrible God. who keepest covenant and
mercy let not all the trouble seem little before before thee
that hath come upon us on our kings on our princes and on our
priests on our prophets and on our fathers and on all thy people
since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Note here
in verse 31 the mercy of God is once again bought forth and
the fact that our God is gracious and merciful. He never forsook
his people. He never did. Because he's a
gracious and a merciful God. And we who are blood-bought saints
have tasted that he's gracious, haven't we? We've tasted that
he's merciful. We've tasted it. Oh my. And let us never forget that
His mercy here in this chapter was manifested and on display
in the fact that the cloud by day and the pillar by night never
left them. It was manifested right there
before them when they were in the desert.
And it was manifested before them when they went into the
land of Canaan. And all these things were there
for them, all by the power and might of God. They had abundant proof of how
merciful God was to them. They had abundant proof, beloved.
Let us never forget that all means are in his hands, and the
Lord has all power, and when he says he will not leave us
nor forsake us, he is the one who has all power, because his
power is infinite. A father may promise a son or
a daughter something, but lose the power or the ability to fulfill
that promise. But our Lord is the one who has
both infinite power and infinite ability to fulfill all that He
promises. And He has proved to we who believe
how gracious and how merciful He is to His people. And He's
done this for His elect all through the ages, hasn't He? I can personally
say that I see that in my life. And I know you, you who are his
blood, but people could say that you see that in your life. But
all who came before us can say the same thing. And all who will
come after us until the Lord comes back can say the same thing. Oh, we've tasted how merciful
and gracious he is. We've seen it manifested in our
lives, beloved. Truly, he is merciful to his
people. Look at verse 32. Now therefore
God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest
covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before
thee, that thou hast come upon us, on our kings, on our princes,
and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers,
and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria
unto this day. Note here, the character and
faithfulness of God in this chapter has been manifested in contrast
to His people and their unfaithfulness. It's emphasized and brought forth
all before us when you study this chapter. And note in this
wondrous verse, our God is the great God. the one true God,
the mighty and terrible God. Now, terrible there in Hebrew
means this, to fear, revere, be afraid. It's not what we think
in the word terrible. It leaves you in awe. It leaves
you in awe. To stand in awe of or be awed. To fear, reverence, honor, and
respect. to cause astonishment in awe,
be held in awe, to inspire reverence or godly fear or awe. This is the underlying Hebrew
word. It's He's to be. He's the one who we should have
reverence to. We should be in awe of our God. We should be in awe of who He
is. It should never become commonplace to us who our God is. We are to stand in awe of his
majesty. We are to stand in awe of his
sovereignty. We are to stand in awe of his
holiness. He is the great God. There's
no other gods. And he's the mighty one. The
one true God. Turn, if you would, to Nehemiah
chapter 1. Nehemiah uses these same titles when speaking of
the Lord. In Nehemiah chapter 1, verse
5. And said, I beseech thee, O Lord
God of heaven, the great and terrible God, The one to fear
and revere and to be afraid of. And this is not a slavish fear
for the believer, remember that. This is one of reverence and
awe of who our God is. That keepeth covenant and mercy.
There, that's spoken of in the same verse that we looked at
over there. For them that love him and observe his commandments. Now let's go back to Nehemiah
9.32 again and look at this. Now therefore our God, the great
the mighty and terrible God, look at this, who keepest covenant
and mercy. Now there's a key phrase right
there within this text, who keepest covenant and mercy. Here before
us is a great request by Israel to the covenant God of their
fathers. We have seen them acknowledge God's justice in all that had
and was to come to pass upon them. But note that they still
plead for mercy on the ground of God's covenant. On the ground
of God's covenant mercy. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 12. Our God, beloved, is a covenant-keeping God. He's
a covenant-keeping God. And the only reason that we are
saved is because of a covenant that is called the everlasting
covenant, beloved. The everlasting covenant. And
our Lord and Savior is the mediator of that covenant. It's also called
the new covenant. The new covenant. But it's the
everlasting covenant. It's older than all the other
covenants. Oh my. Hebrews chapter 12. Look at this.
This is wonderful. Verse 22 to 24. Our God is a
covenant keeping God. But ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. Now note that, I always like
reading that. It says just men made perfect. The only reason
we're just is in Christ. The only reason it says we're
just man-made perfect is because of Christ, because of his righteousness,
beloved. No other way. No other way. We're
still sinners though, aren't we? But we're just men and women. It's amazing. And look at this,
into Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, into the blood
of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now turn one chapter over. One
chapter over to chapter 13. Again, our Lord and Savior is
the mediator of the new covenant, which is also called the everlasting
covenant. Which again is the covenant that
came before all other covenants, beloved. Our Lord's blood, our
Lord's blood ratified the new covenant, the everlasting covenant.
His blood ratified that covenant. It was shed to redeem His people's
eternal souls. Look at Hebrews chapter 13 verses
20 and 21. Now the God of peace. Oh, our God is a God of peace
and mercy, isn't he? That bought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. Oh, he's the only
shepherd of the sheep. He's the great shepherd of the
sheep. Look at this. Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. And that's His shed blood, beloved. That was shed to ratify the everlasting
covenant. Shed to ratify the new covenant. Make you perfect in every good
work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing
in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. Now through His own blood,
through His own blood, He ratified the everlasting covenant. And
the covenant of grace, or the new covenant, the everlasting
covenant spoken of here beloved and It's called the everlasting
covenant because it commenced from everlasting It commenced
from everlasting It is from everlasting because it flows from the everlasting
love of God Beloved to his people in and in through Christ and
and it's it's God who is the everlasting one That is the cause
and foundation of this covenant from the council halls of eternity,
this covenant was set forth by God. It was issued from Him. From Him. And Christ from eternity
has been set up from everlasting as the mediator and surety of
it. And the promises contained in
the everlasting covenant were made before the world began. the world began and all the spiritual
blessings of God's grace were in it and they were given to
God's elect who were chosen in eternity in Christ before the
foundation of the world that takes us right out of the equation
hey we're just receivers of this mercy and grace aren't we does
it leave you in awe that you're a receiver of this mercy It's
amazing grace. It's amazing grace, beloved.
And this covenant. Which was ratified by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ will endure forever and no other covenant,
it'll never be succeeded by any other covenant. Never. The blood of Christ may be called
the blood of the everlasting covenant because it is by the
shedding of Christ's blood that the covenant is ratified and
confirmed. And all the blessings that come
through the eternal covenant come through his precious blood.
Redemption. Redemption for his people. Peace
with God. comes through the blood of Christ.
Pardon of all our sins comes through the blood of Christ.
Justification and even heaven itself for the believer. All
come through the shed blood of Christ because He died for us. He died for us. We who were chosen
by God in eternity. And by the shedding of His own
blood, Christ fulfilled His covenant engagements. He satisfied the
divine justice in the place of His people, and He abolished
our sins. He abolished our sins, even death
itself too, didn't He? So death for the believer is
just a doorway to glory. Did you ever think of that? It's
just a doorway to glory for us. It's like walking through a door. And He's with us. He's with us
then. Note in verse 33 here, look what
the Hebrews say here. How abate thou art just in all
that is bought upon us, for thou hast done right, but we have
done wickedly. When I read this, I thought of
Scott Richardson, who used to say, when God saves us, we take
sides against ourselves with God. Look what they say right
here, it's right here. How abate thou art just in all
that is bought upon us, for thou hast done right, but we have
done wickedly. My goodness. They take sides with God against
themselves. Against themselves. And that's
what every believer does. That's what every believer does.
Now let's read to the end of the chapter, verses 34, to the
end of the chapter here. Neither have our kings, our princes,
our priests, nor our fathers kept thy law, nor hearkened unto
thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify
against them. And I thank God that Christ kept
the law for me. And for you who believe, because
we could never keep it on our own, could we? Never. We couldn't
even fulfill one piece of the law. For they have not served thee
in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest
them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before
them, neither turn they from their wicked works. Behold, we
are servants this day. And for the land that thou gavest
unto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof, and the good thereof.
Behold, we are servants in it, and it yieldeth much increase
unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins.
Also they have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle
at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because
of all this we make a sure covenant and write it, and our princes,
Levites, and priests seal unto it." So this chapter closes with
the account of the solemn sealing of the covenant anew by the princes,
Levites, and priests. Let us keep our eye to the Lord
Jesus Christ. God has given His dear Son for
our covenant people to redeem His people from their sins. And
we are clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. And in the publication of this
covenant to Abraham and his seed, we see We see Christ, Jesus the
Lord. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 17. Genesis chapter 17. Remember, the Lord told Abraham,
In thy seed, which is Christ, shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 17. And then put your finger in Galatians chapter 3. Because we'll be going right
there, right after that. Genesis chapter 17. In Galatians chapter 3, our Lord
told Abraham, in thy seed, and we know that's Christ, shall
all the families of the earth be blessed. Look at this in Genesis
17 verses 1 to 8. And when Abraham was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him,
I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. And Abraham, and I will make
my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abraham fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt
be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abraham, but thy name shall be called Abraham. For
a father of many nations have I made thee, and I will make
thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee. and I will establish my covenant
between me and thy seed after thee in their generations for
an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed
after thee. And I will give unto thee and
to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God. Now turn to Galatians chapter
3. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 and we'll
look at verses 16 to 29. Galatians chapter 3 verses 16
to 29. Now to Abraham and his seed where
the promise is made, he saith not unto seeds as of many, but
as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God and Christ The Law, which
was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul that it
should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the Law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to
Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the Law?
It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin. See, the law shows us our sin,
beloved. It shows us our desperate need
of Christ. It brings condemnation. The law always kills. It brings
condemnation. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Shut up unto faith, which should
afterwards be revealed. Remember, faith is a gift of
God. Even the knowledge of Christ, he reveals himself to us. It's
a revelation of God, isn't it? Wherefore the law was our what?
Schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ. that we might be justified
by faith. And who's the object of our faith? Christ, and Christ alone. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Well, that's pretty clear there,
isn't it? We're not under the law anymore. So you say that,
and people say, well, you're a bunch of antinomians. No, we're
not. We don't believe we can go crazy. But I'm not under the
law anymore. Praise be to God. Christ fulfilled
the law in my place. And if you're a believer, He
did that for you too. We can't be justified by the law. We're
only justified by Christ and Christ alone. Look at this. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Look at this, there
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, this
is speaking of the body of Christ, there is neither male nor female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Now we looked at that
on Wednesday night, didn't we? But look at this last verse.
I just love this last verse. And if ye be Christ, then ye
are Abraham's seed. That's spiritual Israel, brother.
That's speaking to God's people. That's speaking to his elect.
And if ye be Christ, then ye are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise." Oh my goodness. That just warms
my heart. Doesn't it, you? It's wonderful.
It's absolutely wonderful. So let us close this chapter
in chapter 9, having seen the setting forth of the glorious
and manifold character of Jehovah, our God. And this is all done
in striking contrast to the sinful conduct of His chosen people.
It's amazing. The Almighty is here recognized
as the God of creation in verse 6 of Nehemiah 9, the God of the
covenant verses 7 to 9 in Nehemiah 9, the God of redemption in verses
9 and 11, the leader of his people in verses 12, the lawgiver in
verses 13 and 14, the sustainer of his people in verse 15, and
a God ready to pardon who is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and who shows great kindness and never forsakes his people,
verse 17, and the God of manifold mercies, which we know as believers
that we found in Christ, in Christ alone, the manifold mercies of
God, but that's spoken of in verses 18 and 27, The God of
compassion and the hearer of prayers, verses 27 and 28, and
the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, meaning the one
to fear and have reverence of, in verses 32. And this is who
the believer flees to. This is who the believer in Christ
flees to. This is the God of the Bible.
This is who He is. Oh, and what does the believer
in Christ say? Praise His mighty name. Heavenly Father, we thank
Thee again for the time that we could spend in Thy Word, and
all to see that You are the one true God, mighty, great, and
the one who we should reverence and fear. But it's not a slavish
fear, O Lord, we know that. It's a fear of awe and wonder
at who You are. And as we see the manifold mercies
that You pour out upon the people of Israel, we know as believers
what manifold mercies you have poured out upon us, we who are
your blood-bound people. We glorify you and praise you.
May we think upon these precious traits we've looked at tonight
through this week. In Jesus' name, Amen.