That's a great, great song. I love that hymn. My parting gift, as it were, to all of my students and those that I cared for in India was to give them a printed copy, each of them a printed copy of that hymn because, in a sense, it's such a beautiful summary of what it is for our God to be the God and how Little we know of the eternal covenant of grace in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and how extraordinarily significant it is in the scriptures, and I didn't know about it. until I went to India and all of a sudden God shone a light on the wonders of that eternal covenant and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in that covenant. speak about it a lot because God's people in the Old Testament and the New Testament spoke about it a lot.

In fact it's extraordinary isn't it when you think about it We've just read that David died with those words of the covenant on his lips and Moses died with that. And every time you read the words everlasting and eternal and the eternal work of God and his union with his people and the 270 times as well that the word covenant is used in the scriptures, It is a word, it is the word that speaks of Christ and I want us to see that what I want us to see if the Lord would allow this morning is in verse 6 of Isaiah 42.

He says, God says, I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, there is just one righteousness, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and I will hold thine hand and I will keep thee and give thee for ever. covenant of the people. We keep saying the gospel is a person. In declaring the gospel we are declaring who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And you can't separate the Lord Jesus Christ in his being from his works and from his word.

And so God's servants in the scriptures are servants who serve to the people of God, they declare to the people of God the glories of the everlasting covenant, which is to declare the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. So every time you read the word promise and everlasting and eternal and all of those glorious words in the scriptures, we are in one way or another going back to what happened in eternity, which determines everything that happens in this world now. The heavens do rule. And God's servants are declaring that the Lord Jesus Christ rules over all things.

That's what they declared in Acts chapter 2. with that first sermon in this resurrection age, let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. To declare him to be the Christ is to declare him in the terms of this everlasting covenant. There is much talk about religion and about covenants, and particularly the covenant that was given to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 in this world of ours.

And one of the things that's been really interesting is that we're living in a world where we are witnessing, in a way, the first sort of war that this world has had that, for the Western world, is, in a sense, an openly religious war. And people are talking about it in religious terms. But it's been interesting to me the number of times, and I don't watch a whole lot or listen to a whole lot, but the number of times people have said in their commentary on things to do with God is that they really, really respect the Lord Jesus Christ. I think his life was amazing. I think to live according to the dictates that he set forth in the Sermon on the Mount and other things, to live that way is to live a better life in this world.

But I've heard a number of these people who are not claiming to be Christian. A number of them said, I like this idea of Jesus, but I don't like the idea of Christ. It's interesting, isn't it? You can't separate the two. What's his name? Jesus Christ.

We will one day, and I pray through the eyes of faith, we will come to know and rejoice in the fact that the heavens do rule. that what determines everything that happens in this world is determined in the everlasting covenant, determined by the promises that God made. That phrase comes out of Daniel chapter four, isn't it?

You know the story of Nebuchadnezzar. He was a great king and he thought himself great and other people thought himself great. You know something of the story of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel comes along and interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar. When he comes to interpret that dream for Nebuchadnezzar, he says, He says in Daniel chapter four, I've lost my page here. He says in Daniel chapter four in verse 26, you can turn there with me if you like, but I think these are amazing words. Nebuchadnezzar had exalted himself and prided himself on the wonders of the kingdom that he had established for himself. But Daniel says to him, Whereas thou, verse 26 he says, whereas thou commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, this is his vision that he had, thy kingdom shall be sure under thee after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

And you know what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, he had spent seven years or seven seasons, whatever it was, crawling around with hair like nothing and just eating grass like a beast. In verse 34, this is why I want us to contemplate these things and see the glory of this God and to see the glory of this covenant. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes.

Isn't it wonderful? What have you got to do, Nebuchadnezzar? You've got to lift up your eyes unto heaven. You lift them up to heaven. You lift them up as high as you possibly can and you look to the glory of God as much as you can. And my understanding returned unto me and I blessed the Most High and I praised and honoured him that liveth forever. whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing."

That's what Isaiah said, didn't he? The nations are a drop in the bucket. When was the last time you tipped out a bucket of water and you were concerned about one little drop in there? Isaiah says they're like dust on the scales. When was the last time you bought a packet of potatoes and complained to woolies or coals that there's a bit of extra dust that you're paying for there?

That's the nations of the world, brothers and sisters in Christ. The inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doth, listen to this, he doth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand.

None can stop him. The heavens do rule, may be goodness, the heavens do rule, Angus Fisher. When you look at this world and all the turmoil that's coming, that has come and has come and will come, the heavens do rule. And among the inhabitants of the earth, none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He does it, he does it. can evil befall a city unless the Lord has done it.

Okay, I want us to see that the heavens do rule and I want us to see how glorious it is, the ruling of the heavens by our great and glorious God. So turn with me back to Isaiah chapter 42 and let's, I pray that we will see how glorious the covenant is and I pray that we will see how glorious The covenant makes the Lord Jesus Christ to be. And I love the first word of this passage of scripture. And it's a great word, isn't it?

God says, behold my servant. Behold my servant. Almost all the problems that I have spiritually in this world when I look at anything but him, we look at him, we behold him. Fix your eyes on him. Gaze upon him. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.

Why does he delight in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because of the beauties of holiness within him. He is God Almighty. He is God the Son. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. But in the beginning, before the beginning of all the beginnings that we see, there was this glorious union between God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

And in that union and in that place, in that delight, They made this covenant. My soul, though I have put my spirit upon him, you might remember that the spirit is given without measure to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the spirit that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah chapter 11. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, and listen to this, the wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. That is the servant that God delights in.

I put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He will bring forth the judgment of God in himself on the cross of Calvary to all the Gentiles that are saved. And he will be the judge. He is the judge of all of this earth. All judgment is given into the hands of the Son. And he is the standard by which men are judged. How good do you have to be? How holy do you have to be? You have to be as holy as God and as good as God.

He'll bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He's gonna bring it forth. And I love this next phrase. He shall not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He's going to bring forth judgment, but he's going to be a meek servant. He's not going to be a beggar before men. He's no beggar, our great God, our almighty God. And listen to this.

A bruised reed, verse three, shall he not break? And a smoking flax shall he not quench? A bruised reed. You can't think of anything more fragile and more pathetic and more about to waste away than a bruised reed. A little reed that grows up in a marsh and it's broken over and he's not going to break it. A smoking flax. So often our faith and our love and our walk with him seems to have been completely died out and it seems like we're just withered up. And he says, a smoking flax, will he not quench?

He's going to bring forth judgement. He is God Almighty. He's going to be a meek servant and He will be a tender and compassionate servant. He's a saviour touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He knows what it is for you and me to be like bruised wreaths and smoking flaxes. and he's not gonna break his children, and he's not gonna break, and he's not gonna quench out that which he puts in them. He'll bring forth judgment unto truth.

This next four words, or six if you want to, seven if you want to add them all together, should be just written everywhere on our hearts. He shall not fail. Don't you love that? He shall not fail. Nor be discouraged. He shall not fail. What a great and glorious God we have. What a great and glorious covenant. He achieves all that he sets out to do. He is almighty God.

That means that God has no wants that are unfulfilled. He's not offering things to men. He's just saving them. He doesn't try and do anything. He doesn't want and can't get it done. He's not frustrated like we are. All of our plans get thwarted in one way or another so often. He rules from heaven. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Christ is the covenant. He's mine elect. He's my servant. He's my willing servant. He volunteers and he's supremely successful in all that he does until he's set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law. They waited a long time and his law came to them all.

Thus saith the Lord God. So God begins by describing how glorious the servant is, how wonderful he is, how he is the elect. You can't preach the gospel and not preach election. He is mine, says God the Father, and all of the elect are in him, in this covenant. And now, in these next five verses, we get to see something, as we do so often in the scriptures, we get to look into the councils of heaven before the foundation of the world.

Listen to what God says. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he giveth breath unto all people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. He that created the heavens and stretched them out. He that created the heavens. He created all of them and he stretched them out.

That's how this universe is what it is now. And science can spend so long. Isn't it wonderful how the Bible sets science in its proper place over and over and over again? The heavens do rule. God stretched them out. He created them. He said, light be and light was. and spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it. He give breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. Where does your breath come from? Him. Where does your spirit come from? Him. We are not animals. We are not to be likened to animals.

He did it. for a covenant of the people. If you read the book of Hebrews, you'll see that the writer of the Hebrews picks up this all the time and he continually talks about the people, the people, the people, and he's talking about the elect people, the chosen people.

He's talking about those to whom he gives the Spirit, the Holy Spirit in new birth. These are the people, these are the people of God's love and God's choice and God's purpose and God's grace. These are the people who are in covenant union with God Almighty in the Lord Jesus Christ.

They are the people redeemed. We read Hebrews 13, 20, and I have to keep reminding us of how glorious it is. to whom be glory for ever and ever. They are the sheep. They are the sheep that he gathers to himself. They are the Gentiles who see in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ the glory of who God is and the glory of his salvation.

He is the covenant. Christ is the gospel. He is the covenant. But he's going to do things. This covenant is a covenant that has recipients, it has parties to this covenant, there are recipients of this covenant because of their union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And look what they are when he finds them. Verse seven, what's he going to do? to these sheep, these light for the Gentiles, to open blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from prison and to them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. How does he find us? And he goes searching for his sheep in this world, his covenant promised sheep. Other sheep have I, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring. They shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

They're blind about themselves. They're blind about who they are. They're blind about how lost they are. They're blind about the fall. They're blind about Satan and his deception of them. They're blind about God and his eternal covenant and his Christ. They're blind about the covenant. by which they must be set free by his grace. They're blind about the darkness in which they live. They're lost in superstition and darkness and blind and they're just groping around and God comes to them.

Listen to what he does. He opens the blind eyes. He brings out the prisoners. He doesn't say you can get out if you can help yourself a little bit. He brings them out of the prison. And to them that sit in darkness, he brings them out. And to them that sit in darkness, out of the prison house, into the light.

Adam's children, in their fall, became prisoners. They became slaves. Whoever sins is a slave to sin. And they're chained and condemned and captive to Satan. They're bound under a law which condemns their every act and thought. These are the sinners that Christ came to save.

Behold the servant. Behold the covenant. Behold him. That's what he was sent to do. Does he do it? The covenant is a promise and it's a promise to perform a declared task, a specific task at a specific time and for a specific purpose. All the blessings of grace and salvation are covenant blessings. They're promised blessings. All the promises of God are yay and amen in him. And there is a time, there is a time of love when God comes to these people and he reminds them that Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of that covenant.

He reminds them that as the surety, Hebrews 7.22 is a wonderful, wonderful verse, I just love it. He says, Jesus was made surety of a better testament of this new covenant.

And that just simply means that surety ship that the Lord Jesus Christ entered into before the foundation of the world simply means that God the Father looks to God the Son for absolutely everything he requires from all of his people. That's what it is to be a surety. That's what the word means. That from the moment that that covenant was made before the foundation of the world, God the Father was looking to his Son.

If you were Bruce Reed, And if you're a smoking flax, if you're blind, if you're a prisoner, thank God for a saviour who does all of this. Behold my servant. We read about it in Psalm 38. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. And then the psalmist cries out, forsake not the work of thine own hands. Can he forsake the work of his own hands? He can't because he cannot fail and he cannot be discouraged.

Our great God is not troubled about what's happening in this world. He made it so. Our great God is not troubled about the circumstances of the lives of all of the sheep. Because as the great shepherd of the sheep, he knows where the sheep are. He knows what the sheep need. He knows how to gather the sheep and bring them into the fold.

Forsake not the work of thine own hand. He's the surety. He's the mediator. It's in his blood. And this covenant was made before Adam fell. Thank God it was made before Adam fell. This covenant is a covenant of grace. Thank God it's a covenant of grace.

This covenant is a covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians says that he is the head and we are the body. all of the members of his body. If you think about that body that was hanging on that cross of Calvary, there wasn't an inch, there wasn't a part of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that was not covered in blood. This is a covenant that's sealed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was commissioned, he was covenanted to accomplish this great work and what a great work it was. What a great work on the cross of Calvary.

The son of God must make his soul an offering for sin. And the father would give him the people that were purchased with his blood. He's covenanted to bring in everlasting righteousness. He's covenanted to satisfy divine justice. He's covenanted to make an end. He's covenanted to save God's elect. The covenant is a person and the person applies the covenant to the hearts of his people. I love how Hebrews 10 speaks of him.

It talks about how we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, just once, Hebrews 10.10.

And every priest standard daily ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, behold my servant, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever. on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting until his enemies be made his footfall. He won't fail, he cannot fail or be discouraged. For by one offering he hath perfected forever. Just read, listen, just read it with me. Hebrews 10, 14. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, that after he had said before, this is the covenant I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Why can't he remember them? They cannot be punished in Christ and us be punished for them ever again. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Therefore, this is the result of that, brothers and sisters, therefore having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil. Having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. There's a new and living way. This covenant is a new way and it's a living way. That means, new and living means freshly slaughtered. The blood of Christ is applicable and applicable and applicable.

The father was saying in the councils of eternity, my son, you can do this work. You alone are the covenant. You beat the conditions of the covenant. There is one mediator between God and man. You are the one who brings all the blessings of this covenant with you.

We can't obtain the covenant blessings except by laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. God the Father trusted his son. God the Father accepted his son. And all that the son gets, all of the people in the covenant get. He brings light, he brings liberty, He brings it all to his people by the power of his glorious work. Verse eight, I am the Lord, that is my name. This is at the heart of it, isn't it?

My glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things that come to pass, the new things I declare. the new things, this new and living way that we read about in Hebrews chapter 10, a new creation he brings forth, a new relationship with God, a new heavens and a new earth, a new name and a new song. Behold, the former things have come to pass. Is that our assurance? That God has spoken.

God saves in a way where he gets all of the glory and his people get all of the comforts and the blessings of being in union with him. Not unto us. No, unto the psalmist says, not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. And what's their response?

What's the response of the children of God when this covenant comes to them in power from the Holy Spirit? Sing unto the Lord. Why do God's children sing? They're singing because of the covenant being enacted and engaged. They're singing because he who is the covenant sits enthroned in heaven. We sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise from the end of the earth.

You that go down, to the sea and all that is there in the isles and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities lift up their voice, the villages that Caddaea doth inhabit. Let the inhabitants of the rocks sing. Let them shout from the tops of the mountain. Let them give glory unto the Lord and declare his praise in the islands.

It's all got to do with the covenant. It's all got to do with the surety of the covenant. It's all got to do with my servant, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. He does it all. Let's turn with me down to verse 16 and we'll close with these last few verses. Listen to what he's promised.

I will bring the blind. by a way that they knew not. He's going to open the blind eyes. But he does more than just open their eyes. He brings them by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that they have not known. He will lead us. He will make us to lie down in green pastures. He will make us to rest beside the still waters of His grace and His love and His mercy. I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them. I just love that. I'll bring the blind. I was blind. What did that blind man in John chapter 5? One thing I know, just one thing I know, I was blind.

And now I see. What did he see? He saw the Lord Jesus Christ and he worshipped Him. He worshipped Him. I will make darkness lie before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. That's what he's going to do. That's what he's done in the hearts of all of his people. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to molten images, you are our gods.

And then he says this, hear ye deaf, look ye blind, that ye may see. Only God can ask of his people that which is impossible for them. Isn't it? How do the deaf hear? He has to give them ears to hear. How do the blind look? How do they see? He's opened their eyes. He'll bring them by a way that they did not. I will lead them in paths. A great God. Our assurance is in him.

David had what the scriptures declared to be the sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he has chosen us in him, in the elect, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Christ is the covenant. Amen. Amen. Let's have a break. Thank you. May the Lord bless his word to our hearts.