This is a prayer addressed to
the Lord himself and for the perfecting of the saints. Our subject for a few minutes
this morning is the everlasting covenant. That's in verse 20. Now the God of peace. That brought
again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood. Here it is of the everlasting
covenant. This is such a blessed and deep
portion of God's word. I don't even pretend that I could
do it justice. But the Lord gave me these thoughts
this morning concerning the everlasting covenant. I fear that many churchgoers
do not really understand the structure
of the Bible and of the basis of God's salvation.
And the Lord has given me this. I want to try to speak in simple
terms. These some very basic truths. It's amazing how many
very important Bible words you seldom hear spoken either in
a sermon or in conversation. One such word is the word covenant. Though it occurs some 300 times
in Scripture, I'd say that's important, wouldn't you? 300
times. You seldom hear the word covenant. A covenant is an agreement between
multiple parties in which each party is responsible to uphold
the terms of the agreement. or the covenant. We all know
what that is. When you make an agreement of
any kind, you buy something on time and you've got to make the
payments or else, you know, agreement. In the New Testament, the Greek
word for covenant, now I want you to get this, is the very
same Greek word translated testament, a covenant and a testament, same
thing, an agreement. The Bible is made up of the Old
Testament and the New Testament, or rather the Old Covenant and
the New Covenant, or rather the old agreement and the new agreement. That's simple enough. And before
I proceed, let me say that normally in anything, the old
is older than the new. Not so with God. Grace is older
than law. Grace is older than works. The old covenant is a covenant
of works. Do, do, do. But the new covenant
is a covenant of grace. God has done. And so grace is
older than works. The new covenant is really older
than the old covenant. But the specific I want to get
to is this. The parties of these agreements
or covenants differ. The old covenant parties, it
was between God and man. And its requirement on man's
part was total obedience to every command of God. And in that total
obedience, man would live forever and not die. People are still trying to be
saved that way by trying to improve and increase their measure of
obedience. It's too late. What's required
in that old covenant is absolute, total obedience. Sinless perfection. And we were all born with a sin
nature. We were born too late to ever
be saved that way. Adam disobeyed. And in that moment,
he died spiritually. The Lord said to him, in the
day that thou eatest of this forbidden fruit, in that day
you'll die. He didn't die physically that
day. He died spiritually that day.
Immediately. He had no heart for God. He had
no desire for God. He's dead spiritually. And so
are all his posterity. including you and I, until the
Spirit of God comes and does a quickening work in our heart.
Now, he died spiritually immediately, and the corruption of sin started
the process of death physically. And Adam lived physically 930
years, and then he died. Now here's a great truth that
many have never heard and have never grasped, but oh, this is
so vital to our understanding. When Adam sinned, his action
was not just as a private individual. We can't say, oh, that was him,
that wasn't me. No, no, his sin was not as a
private individual. But as a representative person,
all his posterity were in his loins, including you and I, our
parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents, all the way
back to Adam. What he was, we are. We're Adam reproduced. We're
his offspring. When a rattlesnake has babies,
what kind of babies are they? Rattlesnakes. When Adam reproduces, generation
after generation after generation, what is it? Just Adam. Just a
fallen nature. That nature, a rebel against
the Almighty. That nature that says, I'll be
my own God. Nobody's going to tell me how
to live. No, no, me or no one else is going to tell you how
to live, because you're not going to do it, but God can. And unless he does, you'll die
in your sins. That's the only hope. So with
sin came death. This is why Paul said in Romans
5, 12, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered, that was Adam. entered into the world, and death
by sin. That was the promise. That was the law. The wages of
sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Sin entered into the world, and
death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. We all sin in our father Adam. First Corinthians 15 22 Paul
said in Adam all die. You don't have to die physically
because of anything personally you've done. You die because
the nature you were born with a sin nature in Adam all die. So in that old covenant between
God and man, we failed through Adam's disobedience. We broke
the covenant. So we reap the consequences,
spiritual death, and eventually physical death. No wonder the word covenant is offensive. Our guilt and our
shame. is evident in that this earth
has become one huge graveyard. We walk around so high and mighty
like other people around us die, but not me. I'm on top of it. No, no. God gives you one breath
at a time. That's all. And if he don't, you're a goner.
So death is a reality. But now That's the old covenant. That old covenant was not given
as a remedy. It would have been if Adam had
never seen. He had been perfect. We could be perfect. But no,
no, no. So it's not given as a remedy.
It's given as a reminder that we need a remedy. We need something. We need some
hope beyond our own ability to perform. And that's where the
new covenant comes in. The covenant of grace. Now we
said the old was between God and man, but the new covenant,
the new Testament is between God and his son. It's not based
on man's obedience. That failed. But it's based on
Christ's obedience. And he never failed. And that
is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not the gospel of Carol
Poole. Oh boy, he's really something. He's done everything right. No. It's not the gospel of Lehi.
Boy, that guy, he's really with it. No, he's not with it. It's
the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's the only one that's ever
made the grade. So, if you're hung up this morning
on what more you can do, Listen carefully. Just stop doing
it. And get a hold of what Christ
has done. We're here not to worship ourselves. Strut in here like a bunch of
peacocks. How well I've done this week. Well, you know, I
didn't cuss out loud this week, so God ought to really bless
me today. No, he'll bless you if you did
cuss out loud. you believe on his son huh here in verse 20 I want to just
hurriedly note five things about this new covenant these things
are so blessed so encouraging and I hope you can grasp them
this morning there's so much more we could say so many direction
we could go and I'm feeling in my heart we will get to that
another time but This morning I just want to give you these
five things. Number one, the source of the covenant. Throughout history, men have
devised many, many things to supposedly make peace with our
maker. Nothing's ever worked. But the
real remedy don't begin with man and his imagination and his
religion. Here's the source, now the God
of peace. He's the source. God, the infinitely
holy one, who owed us nothing, took the initiative. He's called
the God of peace. meaning he's the one who took
the initiative to make peace with man. We never took the initiative.
Fallen man is content to live at enmity with God and to live
independently of God. And in our generation, to resent
the very mention of God. That's the society we live in. They say, give us everything
senseless, give us everything foolish, give us everything destructive,
give us everything damning, give us everything filthy and ungodly,
but don't give us God. We don't want him. Yet, God has
so bridged the gap He's here titled the God of Peace. Man didn't ask for peace. He
didn't want peace. But God did it. When Adam sinned, he didn't repent,
say, oh, Lord, forgive me. I want you. No, you know the
story. He ran and hid. and made excuses. I'll handle my end. God, you
just stay over there. Don't interfere in my life. This
is all about me. Many years ago, I was thinking
of this yesterday. I'm talking about 60 years ago. I was a boy. grew up down here
in South Carolina. And there was about a half a
dozen of us one day playing on the creek bank, muddy, barefooted,
summertime. And there's a couple of guys
thought they was bullies on the other side, and they wouldn't
let the rest of us across. We could not invade their side. They didn't want us over there.
Every time we'd try, they'd push us back down the muddy bank We'd
try to lay an old log across and start a cross, and they'd
throw the log all back. Nobody could get across. Finally, one of the wolves on
our side went upstream about as far as from here to the wall,
and there was a vine hanging down out of a tree, a big old
vine. He grabbed that thing and went back to get ready to swing,
and they saw what he was doing, and they went running up there.
So he starts the cross. And he rams right into them,
knocks a couple of them down, and he's on the other side. And
by that time, the rest of us had done crawled through the
creek and made it up the bank. We invaded that side, but they
didn't want us to. I told that little silly story
to say this. What sin has done to us, it's
called depravity. It's called not wanting God,
not desiring God. Saying, I'll live my life, I'll
do my thing. And if you're God's child this
morning, he broke through that rebellion on your part. He got across the creek anyway and changed your heart. He made
peace. when we wasn't even looking for
peace. He's called the God of peace. He has bridged the gap. How blessed that is. When we sinned in our father
Adam, we already said he didn't repent, he never asked forgiveness,
he never pleaded for a savior. God took the initiative to cover
Adam's naked physically and God took the initiative to cover
our shame and nakedness spiritually. Thus he is titled the God of
Peace. He's the source of the New Covenant. Now number two, the surety of
the New Covenant. A surety is when one person stands
good for another. Kind of like collateral or kind
of like a bales bondsman in some sense. You remember back in Genesis
when Joseph demanded of his brothers to bring Benjamin on their next
trip down to buy corn. Don't come back if you don't
bring him. Well, their father Jacob refused.
No, Benjamin's not going. But Judah said, one of the sons,
fourth son, Judah, Genesis 43, 9, he said to his father, I will
be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. I'll be responsible. I'll be
surety for him. That was a big undertaking. Well, the new covenant, rather
than require our perfect obedience, it required Christ's perfect
obedience. He is our surety. Hebrews 7.22, Jesus was made
a surety of a better covenant. It is so much better because
you and I with a fallen nature could never please God. But Christ
who knew no sin, who did no sin, he's the surety of the new covenant,
a better covenant. Zechariah 6, 14, speaking of
the Father and the Son says, The Council of Peace shall be
between them both. This is the Almighty that has
accomplished this for us. The Source is the Father, the
Surety is the Son. And then number three, the Substance
of the Covenant. It is nothing less than Christ's
blood. What was required, not just a
few commandments to keep, to do a little better tomorrow
than you did today, that's not enough. What's required in this new covenant
is death and the surety The shedding of
Christ's pure and sinless blood. So it's called here the blood. Of the everlasting covenant. How beautiful that is. Hebrews
912 by his own blood. He entered in once. Into the
holy place. Hebrews 1019 we have boldness.
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. This is in
contrast to all those Old Testament animal sacrifices required of
God to shed the blood of innocent animals. But the blood of those
animals could never take away sins. They were simply a token. They were offered in faith. FAITH
IN WHAT GOD HIMSELF WOULD DO ABOUT OUR SINS IN SENDING HIS
ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. SO IT'S HIS BLOOD. HIS BLOOD. CHRIST. NOW MANY FOLKS TODAY
WILL WORSHIP JESUS THE BABY IN THE
MANGER. THAT SEASON IS COMING UP. and
it gets sicker every year. They'll worship the babe in the
manger. And many will acknowledge intellectuals,
they'll acknowledge Jesus, the profound teacher. And of course, everybody welcomes
the Jesus to heal our diseases and sicknesses. but to embrace Him as the surety
and His blood as the substance of the covenant. You must acknowledge
His suffering and death. And He did it representing us
in our stead, His shed blood. What can wash
away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It matters not that you don't
lie, steal, gossip, you don't break the speed limit, you don't
cuss out loud, you don't drink liquor, you don't smoke dope.
You ought not do those things, that's true. But the issue is
that he who knew no sin was made sin for us. And he whose blood
was not required of him It was required if he'd represent us,
and he did. He did. His is the blood of the
everlasting covenant. If you study the Old Testament
order of worship, there were so many things involved. There
was the order, and there was the offerings, and there was
the priesthood. But apart from the blood of the
sacrifice, all the rest of it was worthless. That's the thing,
the blood. And number four, the satisfaction obtained in the new covenant. We read that Christ having been
made the surety and laying down his life and shedding his blood,
God the Father was satisfied with it because he brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus. The resurrection is the token
and the proof of God's satisfaction with what Christ did on the cross
for his people. And I promise you, if God were
not fully, fully satisfied with the payment of His Son for our
sin, He would not have risen from the dead. But He did. He did. And so many of us are still saying
today, every day we live, Lord, I hope I've been good enough.
Lord, I want to do better. Oh, hey, hey, hey, Christ did
better. He did better. We're not to whine
about our failure. We're not to waste our energy
trying to make the grade. We're to believe on him who did. The blood. The satisfaction obtained. Christ is called in John 10,
the good shepherd that laid down his life for the sheep. Not the goats, not the wolves,
but the sheep. Here, he's the great shepherd
of the sheep. Not the shepherd of the goats
and the wolves and all of Adam's race, but the sheep. And having died, conquered, taken
the keys of death and hell, he ever liveth to make intercession
for us, the sheep. In I Peter 5 and 4, he's called
the chief shepherd who's coming again. Upon whose appearing,
Peter said, we'll receive a crown of glory. not a crown of gold, but a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Number five, and I'm finished
the security of the new covenant. And I'll conclude with this one
word in the verse everlasting. It's called the everlasting covenant. The old covenant was never meant
to work and didn't. Not that there was anything wrong
with it, but sin disqualified us. But this new covenant worked
and continues to work forever. It's everlasting. What, I ask, in this world is
everlasting. Not our weak carcass, oh no. Not that house, not that job, not that bank account,
nothing is everlasting. But the new covenant what God
did in His Son through the shedding of His blood for His people. That's forever. I'm going to
tell you, at least some people would shout about that if they
was here today. God the Father initiated it,
designed it, decreed it, God the Son shed his blood and died
and kept the terms required. And God the Holy Spirit applies
it to the hearts of all who believe and we're justified before God. Our message then is not to do
but to believe. BELIEVE WHAT GOD IN CHRIST HAS
DONE. BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THAT IS, BELIEVE WHAT HE'S ACCOMPLISHED
IN THIS EVERLASTING COVENANT. YOU SAY, OH, I BELIEVE ON JESUS.
I'M DOING MY BEST TO BE SAVED. I'M DOING MY BEST TO MAKE IT
IN. NO, NO, NO. him believe in what he did what
he accomplished the satisfying of divine justice for our sin
and rest in what he's done believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved that don't mean just believe that he exists
Believe that he is who he says he is. No, no, no. Believe what
he has done. He's the surety of the everlasting covenant. Bless his holy name. Do you believe
this morning? I trust you do. I trust you do. I'm resting in
him. All right. Thank you so much.