Thanks so much for that song. But back to Isaiah 56. Isaiah 56. The Jewish people, that is, most of them, were a very arrogant people who believed that only the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were the people of God, and they were the only people in covenant relationship with Jehovah. If you would hold your place here, because I'm coming back to Isaiah 56, but would you look at Romans chapter 10 with me?

The Jews looked down on the Gentiles. As most all of you know, the Hebrews, the Jewish people, considered the Gentiles to be dogs. And that which irritated them so much was when the prophets of God spoke of the Lord showing mercy to the Gentiles. And over here in Romans chapter 10, look at verse 19.

But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people. And by a foolish nation, I will anger you. Now, who's he talking about? He's talking about the Gentiles. God said, it's gonna anger you. It will provoke you to jealousy. Verse 20. But Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them that ask not after me.

Who's he speaking about there? He's talking about the Gentiles. And back over here in Isaiah chapter 56, the Lord is speaking about the mercies that he would show and dispense to Gentiles. They're referred to as being strangers. They're referred to as being eunuchs. They're referred to, look at verse 8. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others. Who are the others? The others are the Gentiles to him beside those that are gathered to him. He's speaking of God showing grace to Gentiles.

In Isaiah 56, the prophet of God boldly declares the covenant of God and that we are to take hold of that blessed covenant. that covenant to which the Gentiles appeared to be cut off from. But listen to what he says, and let me reread some of these verses that Alan just read to us. Look at verse four. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, that choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant." Now, who's speaking? You say, well, that's Isaiah. No, it's not Isaiah speaking. Isaiah is writing. It's the Lord himself. It's Jehovah, our God, who is doing the speaking.

And he says in verse five, even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place. I've got a place for Gentiles too, he says. And a name better than of sons and of daughters. A name that is better than many of the Jews have. Because though they be the sons and daughters of Abraham, they're not the sons and daughters of God. And the Lord says in the end of verse 5, I will give them an everlasting name. that shall not be cut off. Look at verse six.

Also the sons of the stranger of the Gentiles that joined themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my covenant, even them, even them, though they be Gentiles by birth and aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, even them will I bring to my holy mountain.

I'm gonna join them to the church. and make them joyful in my house of prayer. They'll rejoice in my grace. They'll rejoice in my gospel. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar. For mine house shall be called an house of prayer. Why will I gather others to him beside those that are gathered unto him?

Now, as Alan was reading this passage of Scripture just a few minutes ago, and I'm sure that all of you were reading with him, and those of you who are watching, you were reading right along with him, you couldn't help but notice one particular phrase that is repeated.

It's in verse 4. HE SPEAKS OF THOSE THAT TAKE HOLD, GOD SPEAKS OF THOSE THAT TAKE HOLD OF MY COVENANT, WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING WHO TAKE HOLD OF MY GRACE IN CHRIST JESUS. AND THEN AGAIN IN VERSE 6, RIGHT AT THE END OF VERSE 6, AND TAKETH HOLD OF MY COVENANT, TAKES HOLD OF THE CHRIST OF THE COVENANT, TAKES HOLD OF THE GRACE OF THE COVENANT.

My subject tonight is take hold of the covenant. Take hold of the covenant. And remember, the Lord is the speaker. This is His covenant. It's not our covenant, it's His covenant. And He is specifically speaking of the covenant of grace that was made with Christ Jesus, the representative of God's elect, before the world began. And he says, take hold of the covenant. That is, take hold of the grace of the covenant, take hold of the Redeemer of the covenant, take hold of the Christ of the covenant, take hold of the covenant.

Now I want to ask and try my best to answer five questions from this passage of scripture. Number one, what is this covenant? Number two, how can I take hold of the covenant? Number three, what is in the covenant for me? I'm kind of interested in that, aren't you? What's in the covenant for me? It's God's covenant. It's God's covenant with the Lord Jesus, our Savior. Well, what's in the covenant for me as a poor sinner?

And number four, why should I take hold of the covenant? And then I want to ask, when should I take hold of the covenant. So stay with me, see if you can follow along. What is this covenant? We must know the truth of this statement. God always deals with people through a covenant. He doesn't deal with people any other way except through a covenant. And I want you to be mindful of this. And an old writer said this many years ago when I wrote it down.

He who understands the covenants holds the key to all true doctrine. He who understands the covenants Not all the covenants in the Bible, because there are several covenants in the Bible, but the two main covenants. He who understands the covenants holds the key to all theology or all true doctrine. Theology means the study of God. Ology, you know, means the study of, and theos is God. He who understands the covenants, that God only deals with people through covenants, that person has the key to all theology.

Actually, very few people today know anything about the covenants of God. And they certainly don't understand the covenant of grace. Therefore, they cannot take hold of a covenant that they know nothing about. And the sad thing is most preachers don't talk about the covenant of God from the pulpit.

They may study it in secret, but they consider it to be too deep, too difficult for people to understand. I think most preachers, they're not deep anyway. Like a friend of mine said, he said of a preacher who said, I'm gonna preach some deep things. He said, no, they weren't deep, they were just muddy. Just muddy. And I don't wanna preach muddy doctrine, I wanna be very clear.

But the doctrines of the word of God are vital. Now, in the Bible, in the Old Testament, There are several covenants that are mentioned, covenants between God and men. But all of the covenants that are mentioned in the Old Testament can be summarized into the two major covenants.

And the two major covenants are, number one, the covenant of works, and number two, the covenant of grace. The covenant of works, that's the first one revealed, though it's not the oldest. The oldest is the covenant of grace. But the covenant of works is the first one that's revealed in the Bible. They're also called the old covenant.

That's works. And the new covenant, which is grace. Now the covenant of works was introduced to Adam, who is the representative of the whole human race. And the covenant that God made with Adam, and you say, well, what is a covenant? It's a legal binding agreement between two or more parties. That's a covenant. It's a definition of a covenant. And God made a covenant with Adam. It was called a covenant of works. And in essence, that covenant can be summed up this way. This do and live. Disobey and die. Remember, God put Adam under a covenant.

Of every tree of the garden, the fruit of the trees of the garden thou must freely eat. But of the tree of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day thou eatest thereof, God didn't say if you eat. He said in the day you eat, you'll surely die.

And here's the thing about Adam, as we know, most all of you know this, Adam was not a private individual. He was a representative man of all of the human race. He acted for you and for me. and the billions of people who have populated this earth or who will populate this earth. When Adam was obedient to God, in Adam we lived, not spiritually, but physically. But God said, in the day ye eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. He was our covenant head. The old timers referred to him as the federal head of the human race. And it was up to Adam to obey or disobey.

Now I know in the purpose of God, sin came into being first with Lucifer, And then it was introduced into this world, but not by accident. According to God's secret purpose, nothing happens outside the sovereign will of God. Know that. And the Lord in formulating this covenant of works with Adam, He set in motion that which would result in the sinfulness of Adam and thereby opened an opportunity for the purpose of God's grace to be manifested through the Lord Jesus Christ and mercy shown to a multitude that no man can number through Christ Himself. You see, God got glory and is getting glory still. More glory through man's fall than if man had maintained his innocence. Because in the fall of Adam, God manifested the wonders of His grace and His mercy, His forbearance with men, and His love to His own in sending His Son to do something about the sin problem. That which Adam introduced in his violation of the covenant that God made with him opened the door for the amazing grace of God to be manifested to us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

That was the covenant of works. The covenant that God made with Adam in the very beginning of time. And I suspect, though I don't know for certain, It was on the sixth day. We know Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and I believe on that day God put him under a covenant. That's the first covenant mentioned in the Bible, a legal binding agreement between a holy God and Adam himself.

He stood for us, Adam did. And when Adam fell, he fell for us. And we all fell in him. Romans 5, 12 says, wherefore by one man sin entered into the world. One man, that one man's Adam, right? Well, what's the result of sin? Well, what did God say to Adam?

In the day that you eat, you'll surely die. In the day that you sin, in the day that you violate my law that I'm putting you under, you will surely die. And when Adam died, we all died. You can talk about how good people are and how men can exercise their free will and so forth and so on and go about that all you want to. But in Adam, we died. In Adam, all died. In Christ, all that he represented are made alive.

Adam broke the covenant. And he plunged all the people he represented into a state of sin and condemnation and death. Mr. Spurgeon said this, we might say of that sad event, Adam's fall, what Mark Anthony said of the murder of Julius Caesar, quote, oh, what a fall was there. my countrymen, then I and you and all of us fell down. That's what happened when Adam broke the covenant. We all fell. We all fell. And you can read in Romans chapter five, by one man's sin, the many that he represented We sin, too, and we fail, too.

Now, concerning this covenant of works, it was initially given there in Genesis, the second chapter. But this covenant of works is later magnified in the giving of God's law at Sinai. God entered into a covenant with Israel. And you can read about the stipulations of that covenant. And Moses went to the Israelites and said, this is what God said.

If you'll do all that he tells you to do, then you'll be a great country. I'll bless you. You'll live. Things will go well with you. And Israel spoke to Moses and said, you go back and tell God, all that you say, we will do. All that you say, we won't violate the covenant. We'll keep the covenant. We will obey. Did they obey? No. No, they violated the covenant. And man's been breaking that covenant ever since.

Somebody said, and a lot of preachers say this, the law of God is a believer's rule of life. I beg your pardon. Know this about the law of God. It's not the rule of life, it's the rule of death. You read in the book of 2 Corinthians, the law is administration of death. It's administration of condemnation. If you dare attempt to approach a holy God upon the basis of your works or your thoughts or your deeds, your imagination, something you've done for Him, you're going to die. That's all there is to it. You'll die. The law is not a course to righteousness. You cannot arrive at righteousness by means of the law. The law was never intended to save us or give us everlasting life. The law kills. The law punishes offenders. And you can't keep it.

Know this also about this old covenant. All who seek to be accepted by God, who seek to be saved upon the basis of their works, will perish under the wrath of God. Hold your place here and look at Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three. I hope none of you have it in your mind that you can do something for God that will cause God then to be good to you and show mercy to you and show grace to you.

It doesn't work that way. We're used to thinking this way. If I do something good for somebody else, he'll do something good for me. Well, that's a good possibility. But there's nothing you can do for God that will put him in debt to you to show you any favors whatsoever. And that just runs contrary to the natural mind.

Look at Galatians 3 in verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law, could I just call that the old covenant, the covenant of works? They're under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. And the law is not a faith. But the man that doeth them shall live in them. If you can do the law, you'll live in the law. But nobody can.

Thank God for the verse 13, 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 on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

I warn you, don't ever get it in your head THAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING TO APPEASE OR TO CAUSE GOD TO BE PLEASED WITH YOU. DON'T EVER GET AN IDEA LIKE THAT IN YOUR HEAD BECAUSE GOD WILL NOT BLESS YOU AS A SINNER, AS A LOST PERSON BY YOUR OBEDIENCE TO SOME OF HIS LAWS. HE BLESSES PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF A PURE, SINLESS SUBSTITUTE, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. He won't bless you for what you do. You won't be welcomed into the family of God because you pray or read your Bible. Praying is good. Reading your Bible is good. Giving an offering is good. A lot of good things, as we would call goodness, but those things do not merit one iota of mercy from God.

The covenant of works will kill you. It's deadly. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans chapter three, therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. People might say, well, you're justified, look the good you do, but you're not justified in God's sight in anything you do. He justified in God's sight because of who Christ is and what he did for poor sinners.

In 1709, Isaac Watts wrote, let me read you these words. They are the hopes the sons of men on their own works have built. Their hearts by nature are unclean and all their actions guilt. Let Jew and Gentile stop their mouths without a murmuring word.

And the whole race of Adam stand guilty before the Lord. In vain we ask God's righteous law to justify us now. But to convince and to condemn is all the law can do. Jesus, how glorious is thy grace, for in thy name we trust. And our faith receives a righteousness that makes the sinner just.

That's the old covenant. Thank God there's another covenant. It's the covenant of grace, the second covenant spoken of in the Bible, the covenant that God made with Christ on behalf of God's elect before the world began. See, remember this. The covenant works. Adam was a representative. He represented all of our race. But back before the world was ever made in eternity, another covenant was made. It's a covenant of grace. And that one was entered into between God and Christ Jesus, our Savior. Now, of Adam, we know he was a creature, and he failed. He failed. But the Lord Jesus, who's the federal head, the representative of the new covenant, He's God. He can't fail. Failure with Him is an impossibility. In that covenant, Christ, our representative, Christ, our surety, He promised to assume our nature in time.

He promised to obey God's law in His flesh. He promised to go to the cross of Calvary and by his death take care of the indebtedness owed to God by his chosen people for all their sins toward God. He promised to die and doing so under the wrath of God to satisfy the justice of God. And he further promised in the covenant of grace, or covenanted, to bring in everlasting righteousness by his obedience unto death. and He promised to bring all of those who were entrusted to Him in the covenant of grace home to God, perfect, without spot, without blemish, having all their sins fully paid for, and His own righteousness, which He established by His death, imputed to each of the elect ones.

It's called an everlasting covenant. It's ever new. It's called the covenant of pure grace. That first one revealed, the first one seen in Genesis 2 was a covenant of works. Adam broke that one. Christ has fulfilled all the conditions of the covenant of grace. His is a covenant of life. It can't result in death because he is life himself.

Understand this, in the covenant of grace, everything pertaining to salvation was included in that covenant. Must there be repentance toward God? Yes, but that was in the covenant. Must there be faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? That was in the covenant. Must there be regeneration and redemption and preservation and glorification? Absolutely, but all that was in the covenant. Every stipulation in the covenant of grace was dependent upon the faithfulness and the obedience of our Savior, our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's never been dependent upon us. Aren't you thankful for that? Nothing has been dependent upon us. all things necessary to secure everlasting salvation and perfection for all of the elect of God, the responsibility was laid on Christ, and He can't fail.

This is an unchangeable covenant made by the unchanging God with His unchanging Son. It's a covenant of salvation. God doesn't try to save. He saves every person whose name has been written down in the Lamb Book of Life. It's a legal binding agreement ratified and made effective by the blood of the Lamb of God. And it's a covenant enforced by the living Redeemer. You read Hebrews 9. He's the living testator of his own covenant. He lives to see that everything promised in the covenant of grace to the people chosen of God in election, everything they will receive.

Well, let me go quickly. Second question. Well, how can I take hold of the covenant? And I take that phrase to mean we're to appropriate the blessings and the benefits of the covenant ourselves. But how can I do that? How can I take hold of the covenant of grace? Stay with me.

I cannot take hold of the covenant of grace till I release my hold on the covenant of works. Does that make sense? You can't hold two things at the same time. You can't hold on to works. Well, surely a little bit of salvation is dependent upon my attitude toward God. You still hold on to the covenant of works. Release your grip. Oh, that God the Spirit would cause you to turn loose of that covenant of works and lay hold of the only covenant that saves, God's covenant. of grace. Augustus' top lady said, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. You can't hold on to your works and take hold of grace at the same time. That's impossible. When we lived in Louisiana, there's a seafood restaurant there that we enjoyed going to. It was a buffet. I liked them buffets. You could probably tell I liked buffets. But anyway, it was very good seafood.

And the owner of it went to the church that I pastored. And he was telling me about a little boy. See, they had ears of corn stuck down in butter. And this little boy, and got him, his mom and dad got him an ear of corn just soaking, soaked in butter. And he was just excited to eat that corn cob, or cob of corn, whichever way you want to say it. Anyway, he's sucking the butter out of it, and then his mom and dad said, well, it's time for us to go. And he said he wanted to take that with him, and he got butter all over him anyhow.

I said, no. And the owner of the restaurant told me, he said, I saw what was happening. There's going to have a problem. He didn't want to turn loose of the corn on the cob. So he said, I went back to the ice cream machine. I made him a cone of ice cream. I took that cone of ice cream to him. I said, here, you want this? He said, boy, he dropped that ear of corn and he took that ice cream cone, gave him something better. And I'll tell you what, I'll tell you when you'll drop, holding on to the covenant of works, when God shows you there's something better.

There's a covenant in the which nothing is required of you. How do you like that? Now that appeals to me. Especially since I can't do anything anyhow. It's a covenant totally dependent upon Christ Jesus. And the first grasp, the first taking hold of the covenant is this. Taking hold of the covenant head. Christ Jesus, would you be accepted by God? It's only in the beloved one. Thirdly, what is there in the covenant for me to take hold of? Well, I'll tell you what's in the covenant for me and what I took hold of. Number one, atonement, full atonement.

When I first saw by faith God laying my sins, my iniquities on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, transferring it from me to Him forevermore, I was overjoyed. You see, I did know this. I'm not the smartest guy. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I understand this. Something can't be in two places at the same time. And if Christ Jesus took my sins, then I don't bear them anymore.

He bore them, and He bore them away. They're behind God's back. He buried them in the depths of the deepest sea. I take hold of that, don't you? Full atonement. No wonder the hymn writer said, full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah. What a Savior. I tell you something else I took hold of, substitution. I believe that glorious doctrine. He died my death. Christ took my place. It cannot be that he would die and then I would also die. No, that's impossible. He took my place. He died my death. He suffered the wrath of God.

My sins deserve it. And I saw righteousness freely imputed to me. Just a sinner, I still am. But in the sight of God, I made the righteousness of God in Christ. Full redemption, my debt's paid. Divine providence, that's in the covenant too, that all things are working together for my good. Don't fuss about the providence of God, it's written in the covenant. Well, I don't like the bad things that happen to me. Well, the good and the bad, health and sickness, times of plenty and times that are lean, they're all written in covenant. Why should we gripe? Why should we ever murmur?

Never failing intercession. I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He always represents my interest. He's there at the right hand of God as my representative, my advocate. Divine preservation. That's promised me in the covenant. Divine glorification. One of these days the Lord's gonna glorify me.

Well, when should I take hold of the covenant? Right now. When should you take hold of the covenant? I'll tell you when I take hold of it, when I need mercy. When I see my guilt over and over again, I run to the covenant of grace. After all, David said of that covenant in 2 Samuel 23, he said, this is all my salvation. That's why I take hold of it.

When should I take hold of it? When I need grace, when I need pardon, when I need righteousness, I take hold of the covenant. When you need comfort, times of trial, times of trouble, times of temptation, take hold of the covenant. When should you and me, when should we take hold of the covenant? When we're ready to leave this world.

David said, this is all my hope right here. In what God through Christ Jesus has done for me. Why should you take hold of the covenant? Because so many others have. And they found that it suited their case. Self-righteous man like Saul of Tarsus. The covenant took hold of him and he took hold of the covenant. A condemned thief. A harlot.

Oh, there's a long, long list of sinners who've come to God through Christ Jesus upon the basis of the covenant of grace. Now, why should you take hold of the covenant? Because nobody who's ever come to God through Christ, through the covenant of grace, has ever been rejected. He's never turned anybody away. Because if you're interested in Christ, if you're coming to Christ, it's because the Lord is drawing you to Him. And if He's drawing you to Him, He's surely not gonna turn you away. Why should you take hold of the covenant?

You say, well, but Jim, I'm a sinful person. But here's some good news for you. The covenant of grace was made for sinful people. It's made for sinful people. Don't let that stand in your way. Well, I'm just too sinful. Well, I'm not going to argue with you about the fact that you're sinful, but this is a faithful saying. I go right back the way I started this service off. This is a faithful saying, this is a faithful word, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. And he saved sinners on the basis of the covenant of grace that was ratified by the Lord Jesus Christ. Take hold of the covenant. And you'll take hold of the covenant when the covenant takes hold of you.