Well, the privilege is mine.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you in the name of the
Lord this morning. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 23.5. I'll begin reading verse 1. Now these be the last words of
David. David, the son of Jesse, said, The man who was raised up on
high, and the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist
of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his
word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock
of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light
of the morning when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds,
as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after rain. A man who rules over men ought
to have nothing to hide. He ought to be a man of impeccable or unimpeccable
character. I guess our generation call it
transparent. All his dealings ought to be
transparent. But David goes on to say, although
my house be not so with God, he confesses he's a sinner and
therefore not worthy of God's mercies as all of us must confess,
yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things,
ensure, for this is all of my salvation and all of my desire,
although he make it not to grow." David admits here that his standing
in and with the Lord is according to the edict of this everlasting
covenant. that he had no grounds to find
acceptance in anything that he was in himself or what he had
done or ever would do, but that because the Lord had made with
him this everlasting covenant. And he said, it's ordered in
all things and sure. Everything concerning the Lord
and his people was determined in this everlasting covenant
of grace before the foundation of the world, the Redeemer, the
manner in which He would redeem those who were involved in the
covenant, the outcome of the endeavors of the mediator of
this covenant. Everything concerning in the
covenant was fixed. And not only—and it is sure. Because when God determines to
do something, it's as good as done, even at that time. Now, every believer, every believer
can make that same statement. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, 3. And this is what I would call,
now the bow in the cloud was the token of the covenant that
God made with all flesh, that he did not destroy the earth
with water again. But this is a token of a covenant
that we can lay hold of and it's a It's like a foundation stone
for us, or a nail in the sure place. 1 Corinthians 12, 3, Wherefore
I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit
of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that
Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. So if we're taught of
the Lord, And all thy children shall be taught of God, and great
shall be the peace of thy children. And they shall all be taught
of God. Therefore, everyone that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father cometh unto me." If we're taught of the Lord, that
Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Son of God, and if that
is our personal knowledge, our heart knowledge, something that
we rely on and know to be a fact, It's not because we figured it
out or were instrumental in making that knowledge our own. It is by the anointing of the
Holy Spirit. It's that great secret that God
has hid from all mankind. with the exception of his elect.
Look at Acts 3, look at Acts 3 25. Now for some reason for years, and I don't know how many times
I passed over this before I finally saw it, but for some reason for
years I wanted to call the church the children of the covenant.
That's just something in my heart I wanted to do. I wanted to be
able to call them the children of the covenant. I guess because
I knew they were, number one, but it was just something that
was there. But I could never find scriptural
authority for it directly as is here. Look at Ephesians chapter
3, verse 25. You are the children of the prophets,
The prophets speak of the New Testament church and of the covenant
which God made with our fathers. Believers, then, are children
of the covenant. Paul, addressing the Hebrews
in Hebrews chapter 3, said, partakers of the heavenly calling,
considered the apostle and high priest of our profession. And
preachers today can be privileged to call believers children of
the covenant. In Galatians 4, 28, Paul said,
now we brethren are the children, now we brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of the promise. uh... isaac was a child of the
promise in that god had promised to abraham and to uh... sarah
a child between abraham and sarah when they were well past the
years of conceiving and bearing and birthing children and it
was in the in the power and strength of the promise that isaac was
born uh... i'd believe that's a the reason
that a bimalic when Sarah was 90 years old, was tempted and
lusted after her, and would have taken her, but God prevented
that. was that god was fulfilling his
promise to give abraham and uh... or yet to give abraham and sarah
uh... children and therefore she began
to she found found views in the prom she uh... came back to a point in her physical
anatomy where she was able to give birth and so did abraham
father children And so their strength was renewed and Isaac
was brought forth as a child of the promise. Now we are children
of the covenant. It is in the power of this covenant,
sealed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in
his blood, that we are made to believe that Jesus is the Christ. And therefore, no man can say
that Jesus is Lord, but by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. Ye, therefore, and we are the
children of the covenant. The form of the covenant. Look
at Revelation chapter 1. Now this covenant that we're
involved in, There's nothing preceding it.
It's an everlasting covenant. There can be nothing coming after
it. Because this covenant is between
God and Christ, and it is formed between three persons of the
Godhead before the foundation of the world. So there can be
no predecessor to it or no successor after it. It is the most stable
thing in the universe because founded in God Himself. Revelation 1.8, I'm Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. He made the covenant. He entered
into covenant. And in that covenant, he spoke
on behalf of all who are heirs or who are involved in that covenant. He was our advocate. He is a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He spoke for
us when we were not and had no being except in the mind, will,
purpose, and counsel of God. But the form of the covenant,
look at Isaiah 42. Now when we think of a covenant in
this world, we think of a legal document. probably signed by
everybody concerned in the covenant and put on file in the county
wherein it was made. But this covenant is in another
form. Look at Isaiah 42, 6. I, the
Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will
keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant of the people
for a light of the Gentiles. He who is the first and the last,
the Almighty, He's the covenant. Look at Isaiah 49.8. Thus saith
the Lord, In an acceptable time have I
heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee. And I will
preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish
the earth to cause to inherit the desolate heritage. All that
we lost in our fall, when by one sin of one man in
our nature, we lost all that God had given us in the innocence
of our creation. But all that we lost in Him and
more have we gained in the person and finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, look at Psalm 89. Psalm 89. And I'm not going to read through
the whole psalm, but I will pick out a few verses to speak from
in the psalm. And verses 3 and 4. Verse 3,
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David
my servant. Now that is he whom David was
a type of. It's the anti-typical David,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, I made a covenant with my chosen
in Isaiah 42, 1. He said, behold, mine elect in
whom my soul delighteth. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's the anti-typical David. Thy seed will I establish forever
and build up thy throne to all generations. Look at verse 19. Then thou spakest in vision to
thy holy one and saidest, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Now turn on over to verse 26. He shall cry unto me, Thou art
my Father. And our Lord Jesus Christ, as
He was man and mediator, God was His Father. And as He was
the Son, God was His Father. And my God, that He was as Christ
was man and mediator, the rock of my salvation. Also, I will
make him my firstborn higher than the kings of the earth.
And he certainly is that this morning. He's seated on the right
hand of God and he upholds all things throughout this entire
universe and nothing moves or does anything without the first
cause being the purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. My mercy will
I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him. Now look down at verse 33. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to
save. Now, when I first read through
this, or not the first time that I read, first time I saw this
that I read it, Thy mercy will I keep for him.
And I thought, well, why does the Lord Christ need mercy in
himself? He doesn't need mercy. And at
Calvary, there was no mercy shown to him. He drunk the cup of vengeance
absolutely dry. But let's read on. My mercy will
I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him. His seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven, if his
children forsake my law. Now it is his seed and it is
those that are in him whom he will not take away his mercy. And not only that, but they as
they are in union and oneness with him. If his children forsake my law
and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless, my
loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my
faithfulness to fail. So the mercy that is kept for
Christ is that mercy that is kept for Christ mystical. Look
at 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12, 12. For as the body is one and hath
many members, and all the members of that one body being many are
one body, so also is Christ. Christ spiritual, Christ mystical,
Christ the head and the body as one, the vine and its branches, the church and the Lord Jesus
Christ one in the purpose and will and accounting of the Godhead. For as the body is one and hath
many members, and all the members of that one body being many,
are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are ye all
baptized into one body, whether ye be Jews or Gentiles, where
the bond are free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member,
but many." Look at Ephesians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23. And hath put all things under
his feet. This, of course, again is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And put all things under his
feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. In Christ Mystical, the members
of his body are his fullness. as he is Christ's mystical. But
it is he that filleth all in all. It is he that fills, upholds,
supports, justifies, sanctifies, is the redemption of, is the
wisdom of all who are in him. So in Christ's mystical, it is,
he is the head of the body and his members are the fullness
of him. who is everything to all of them. Now I'll go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 again. And let's look at verses 18 through
20. But now hath God set the members,
every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him. And if
they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they
many members, yet one body. Now look at verse 27. Now are ye the body of Christ. Well, how long have you been
that body? Well, to answer that, you'd have
to be able to answer this. How long has Christ been the
Christ? Everlasting. An everlasting covenant. You cannot have a husband without
a wife. You can't have a vine without
a branch. You can't have a head without
a body. And there would be no purpose in Christ without those
whom he redeemed. God the Son would remain as he
is. And not having taken a human
nature into union with himself, But as long as there has been
a contemplation of the Christ, He has been considered as one
with all of His people in the purpose and will of God. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. And he's speaking of God here
from verse seven, who hath saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. You know, the Lord said, I know
my sheep. He's acquainted with them, he's
well acquainted with them, and we were his sheep in his knowledge
from the days of eternity. There's never been a time when
those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer
were not known and beloved to our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is Christ as considered,
the church as considered as a body. You can consider it as a temple.
Look at 1 Corinthians 3.16. Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? And then
look at 1 Peter 2, 4 and 5. and I'll begin reading back in
verse 1. Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and
hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babe,
desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby,
if so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom
coming as unto living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God
and precious ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual
house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to the Lord by Jesus Christ and then considered as
a temple look also at Ephesians chapter 2 and begin reading verse 18. For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are
no more strangers and foreigners as we were in ourselves in nature,
not considered as children of the covenant. Of course, God never considered
us that way. He's always considered us as children of the covenant.
But we, when we came into this world, as far as we knew, we
were children of wrath and just like everybody else. Now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed
together and joined together groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for inhabitation
of God through the spirit. So we're builded in that habitation
of God by the spirit that God is bringing to fruition in what
we call time, something that he has known from the days of
eternity. And everything, everything that
happens on this ball that we live on, is according to the
purpose of God in order to bring forth that second creation, that
spiritual city of God that he's now calling out of what we call
Earth and the peoples of Earth. So the persons who are involved
in this are one with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look one more place
or two here before we leave this point. Look at John chapter 14. John chapter 14, 6, Jesus said
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. And then in chapter 10, he said,
I am the door. He's the way to the door. He
is the door. And he said, by me if any man
enter in, by the door. Then down in verse 10, Believest
thou not that I am in my Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I
am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for
the very works sake. Now down in verse 20, in that
day. You shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you. That is that oneness. That union, that covenant union. And upon regeneration, it becomes
a vital union. It becomes our life. Christ,
who is our life. We are caused to live on that
and therefore have the life of children. and therefore called
children of the covenant. Now look at John 17, verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.
He had been praying for the apostles, and now he says, I'm not just
praying for the apostles, but for all who shall believe on
me through the apostles' words. through the scripture and the
preaching of the gospel, that they may be one as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have
given them, that they may be one as we are one. I was speaking
to a young fellow the other day, and he's a religious person,
although I don't think he understands the gospel. But he said, well,
why is there so much division? Why are there so many different
churches? Well, there's just one church. There's just one body of Christ,
one city, and one temple of God. And there is no division in that
church. They all look to Christ Jesus
alone for all of salvation. There's just one church. Verse 23, I in them and thou
in me that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may
know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast
loved me." The love of God is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Height nor depth nor principalities
nor powers nor life nor death nor anything can separate us
from the love of God Which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Yea, I have loved you, the scripture
says, Jeremiah. I loved you, in particular. Corporately,
in the church, but particularly in yourself, I have loved you
in Christ Jesus. Therefore, by love and kindness
have I drawn you. Father I will, verse 24, Father
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me
for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world and he
loved the church as he loved Christ. O righteous Father the
world hath not known thee but I have known thee and these have
known that thou hast sent me. I have declared unto them thy
name and will declare it. that the love for with thou hast
loved me may be in them and I in them. So we are one in the Lord
Jesus Christ. One church, one people, one God
and Father of our Lord and Savior, one hope, Now, I'd like to look for just
a few minutes at the covenant confirmed. Look at Romans chapter 4 verse
25. who was delivered for our offenses. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him and he used the instrumentality, the Roman Empire as his instrument
and he used the Gentiles, he used all the world as his implement or his instrumentality
to bruise his son and in bruising his son to crush the serpent's
head. And God laid on the Lord Jesus Christ
the sin of all of those with whom he had been in union from
the days of eternity. That's the reason, in my mind,
that's the reason it was just in God to lay the sin on Christ
because of that eternal union that existed between the head
and the body. And it was those sins of His
body and those sins only that were laid on him, and he bear
our sins in his own body on the tree. The Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. And as the surety of the New
Testament, Our Lord Jesus Christ was responsible to make reparation
to the honor and glory of the law of God in his person and
for his elect. He himself looked at God in that
hour. Look at Hebrews 5, 7. who in the days of his flesh
when he had offered up prayers and supplication with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death
and was heard in that he feared death. The flesh, he said the flesh
or the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He was a man. just like we are. He was a man
facing all of the wrath and fury of a thrice holy God. And not
only that, but his soul was to be made a sin offering. And he looked upon God as the judge
of all, as the avenger of his law. And He had to wade through hell for
us. He had to endure in His body all of the wrath, the punishment
that we deserve. Look at Psalm 18. The wages of sin is death. Psalm 18, verse 4. The sorrows of death compassed
me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed
me about. The snares of death prevented
me. Now, what the sorrows of hell
are, I know not. But I know the Lord Jesus Christ
endured 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. He was cursed by the
law of God. He was made to be sin or a sin
offering. And when God dealt with the sin
offering, there was blood everywhere. There was violence and vengeance
poured out. And the Lord Jesus Christ stood
as a sin offering. God has made His soul an offering
for sin. And he endured all the wrath
and vengeance of a thrice holy God. And then when that transaction
was done, the father said, fury is not in me. He was resting after conflict in the person of his son. God
trusted in him, and he rested in him and in his finished work. Now look back again at Romans
4. Well, while we're here, turn
to Psalm 42, 7. Deep calleth unto deep, at the
noise of thy water spouts, all thy waves and thy billows are
gone over me. All that was due, and think of
that, that's one sin plunged our whole race into ruin. And our Lord Jesus Christ bore
in His body on the tree an innumerable group of sins. Sins of all of
the elect for all time. Abraham's sin, my sin, sin of
every believer. He bore them in His own body
on the tree and He paid the debt. Because He's the Son of God.
Because He is an infinite person. He put away sin. Look at Hebrews
9. Hebrews chapter 9, verses 26 through 28. And I'll begin reading in verse
24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us. When He appears, the covenant
appears. He is the covenant. Everything
involved in that covenant, all the blessings of that covenant,
Everything that every child is to have appears, and he ever
liveth there to make intercession for us according to the covenant. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others, for then must he have offered
since the foundation of the world, but now once. In the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, and as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after
this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sin of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. When he appeared at the cross, There was no sin in Him. In Him
is no sin, but there was sin upon Him. He bare our sin in His own body
on the tree. He put away our sin in His flesh. It was He in His body putting
away our sin. He suffered for sin. He, the sin, sin was upon him
when he was, when he was put upon the cross. But when he returns and when
he arose from the grave, he was held in the prison of the grave. He was detained there for a while
and then he was loosed. And He was brought out after
a judicial manner, because He was justified from all things, from all of the sin that was
upon Him. Isaiah 58, He is near, He is
near, that justifies Me. It was God who brought Him out.
It was God who declared Him personally and all who were in him mystically. He and his body freed from sin
forever. Now the result of that cup, look
at 1 Corinthians 15 20. 1 Corinthians 15 20. Christ's resurrection from the
dead was God's declaration that He was satisfied with His offering.
That the transaction that had been agreed on from the days
of eternity was finished and over with forever. That the sins
of His people had been separated from us, removed from us, taken
away, cast behind the back of God, cast into the depth of the
sea, never to be remembered against us again. And in this respect, Christ rose
from the dead, Isaiah 15, 20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. And the offering of the first
fruit is the guarantee of the sanctification and bringing in
of the rest. All of Christ's spiritual members
spiritually and mystically got up together in Him. When the head arose, we arose in Him. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. We were crucified with Him. We
died with Him. to the law by the body of Christ.
We sojourned in the tomb with him. We arose with him. We're seated
with him. And someday that will be our
sight and not our faith. Faith will be done away in sight
and we'll experience All of the wonderful promises that God has
promised us. And all of these wonderful promises
that come to us, we have absolutely nothing to do in the procurement
of it. Nothing. Everything that God
gives us flows freely from Himself. I'll cause all of my goodness
to pass before you, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord. And what hath God called us to?
Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 14. Well, let me begin reading in
verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 84.11, God will give grace
here and glory hereafter. And 2 Peter 2.3, let me read
that and I'll get out of the way here. 2 Peter 2.3. According as his divine power
is given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness
through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be
glory forever and ever. Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of the
world through lust." Well, I lost that scripture anyway. Somewhere
in 2 Peter it says we're called his kingdom and glory or glory. And I'll quit there. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I learned a lot. And it was the things that blessed
my heart. It's hard to even comprehend
grace that went so far before us and came to us. abides with us
and will keep us forever, all in that one glorious person and
through his work. Thank you, Brother Allen. Our
Father, this day we give praise and thanks to you for your precious
gospel. We thank you for it because it
speaks of your precious son, our Lord and our Savior, our
hope, our Redeemer, our all. We thank you that you are pleased
to choose us out of this fallen race and purpose to bless us
with all spiritual blessings in him before the foundation
of this world. We're thankful that that assured,
that assured that we would be the possessors of your blessings
and that nothing could ever happen and nothing could ever be done
by us to foil that and keep it from happening. We thank you
for that grace that where sin did abound, that grace did the
much more abound. We thank you for this, our brother,
and his ministry. We thank you for his dear wife
and pray for her and for all that you might open the door,
Lord, and enable him to speak to. May he speak as he has been
able this morning clearly of the things of your word, the
good news that comes to the ears and hearts of your people. And
we thank you. We pray once again for these
that are sick and ask your help to each and every one. We ask
it all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.