The Lord Jesus Christ, we're
met here this morning to observe what we call the Lord's Table,
what He called the Lord's Table. And it has to do with representing
the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we do this
in remembrance of Him and His precious blood that was shed.
And His blood in the book of Hebrews is called the blood of
the everlasting covenant. There's our word again. Covenant. I want us to see that word in
the Scripture some this morning. And I try to weigh carefully
what I say to you, because I realize what a relatively short time
I have to speak to you. Just a couple of hours a week.
Less than that. I have to say some things to
you from the Word of God. And this matter of God being
a covenant God is so important in the Scriptures. I want us
to understand what that means. And look at v. 19 of Genesis
17. We read v. 1-7. Now look at v. 19. God said, again speaking
to Abraham, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac. A son indeed. You remember when
we were studying in John The Lord Jesus saw Nathanael coming
and said, there's an Israelite indeed right there. Well, Isaac
is a son indeed. And God said, I will establish
my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. Why was Nathanael an
Israelite indeed? Because he was one of the seed
to whom this promise was made, as we're going to see in this
study this morning, I pray. and with his seed after him. Nathanael was one of those. He
was one included in that seed, which is Christ. And I pray that
this will be clear to you this morning. He said, why was Nathanael
an Israelite indeed? Because he wasn't just a Jew
outwardly, but as Paul said, he is a Jew which is one inwardly.
He is a Jew which is of the faith of Abraham, which is of that
promised seed that God established his covenant with. And Isaac
is a son indeed, because God said, I will establish my covenant
with him. Abraham had another son called
Ishmael, and he wasn't a son indeed. And God did not establish
his covenant with Ishmael. He established it with Isaac.
That's so important that we see that. I will establish my covenant
with him, with Isaac, for an everlasting covenant, and with
his seed after him. Now, in Acts 13.32, turn over
there. This covenant is spoken of there,
when the gospel is preached. You say, well, this is old-timey
stuff. The covenant was made so long
ago with Abraham. What does that got to do with
me? If you're a believer, it's got everything to do with you.
Everything. Listen to what the preacher said
in Acts 13.32. He said, How that the promise which was
made unto the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob eventually, I will
establish my covenant with Isaac. And then he said, Jacob have
I loved and Esau have I hated. He established his covenant with
Jacob and not Esau. The promise which was made unto
the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children. in that He raised up Jesus again. He's the seed. As it is also
written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son. This day have
I begotten Thee. And as concerning that He raised
Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
He said on this wise, I will give you. The Father said to
His Son, I'll give you the sure mercies of David. Christ is that
seed to whom the covenant applied. The Father said, I make this
covenant with you and with your seed. And He just made it right
there with His seed. Christ, I'll give you the sure
mercies of David. And what's Mine is His if I'm
in Him. Now this covenant is distinguishing.
We've already seen that. He didn't say, I'll establish
My covenant with your son Ishmael whom you bore after the wisdom
of man. You said, well, God promised
I'd have a son, That's just not going to happen.
I'm too old, Sarah's too old, so I'll go into my handmaid and
we'll work it out that way. We'll do it after the wisdom
of the flesh. God must have meant it that way
because it doesn't make sense any other way. God said, I'm
not going to establish my covenant with Ishmael. He said, he's the
son of the bondwoman. I'm going to establish my covenant
with the son of the free woman. I'm going to establish my covenant
with the one I promised I would. I'm going to give you a son.
named Isaac. And I'm going to establish my
covenant with him." And he established it with Jacob under the fathers
and fulfilled it when Christ came and ratified that covenant
with the blood of the everlasting covenant. And the father said,
I'll give you the sure mercies of David. The promise was fulfilled
in Christ, you see. And the preacher in Acts 13 there
said, and unto us, their children, the ones that are included in
that seed. And as we saw, this covenant
is distinguishing in 2 Samuel 23. Let me read that to you.
David, before he died, King David, God said, He's a man after my
own heart, a wicked, sinful, deceiving, murdering, adulterous
man. But God gave him a new heart
and said, He's a man after my own heart. And that man on his
deathbed, Said, Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant. Not with my house. My house is
a mess. There are a bunch of reprobates,
and God's going to judge them and put them in hell. But he
had mercy on me. Mercy on me. That's mercy right
there. He's made with me an everlasting covenant, and it's ordered in
all things and sure. We're going to see what that's
about in a minute. For this is all my salvation and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow." Now see again in Genesis 17 that
God made that covenant with Abraham and his seed, but that did not
mean all of his offspring. For God distinguished that the
promise was established with Isaac and not Ishmael. And David
said, he's made his covenant with me, not with my house, but
with me. This covenant is made in eternity,
but He also makes it with men. Let's look at that in a verse
in Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. Turn there with me. In verse 3, God said, Incline
your ear and come unto Me. Here and your soul shall live. Now that's the Almighty God that
introduced Himself to Abraham, speaking to sinners. Are you
in on that? He said, Here in your soul shall
live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. The word everlasting
means, it doesn't just mean never ending. It means without beginning
or end. This covenant was made in eternity,
altogether outside of time. And yet He said, I'll make this
covenant with you. You didn't even exist when this
covenant was made, but He comes where the sinner is in time and
establishes this covenant with you. We're going to read a verse
in a minute in Acts where Peter said to the folks listening to
him, this promise is unto you. You see, it's made in eternity,
but it's a covenant made with men. What men? Who is this promise
given to? Look at verse 1 of Isaiah 55.
Ho! Ho! Listen! Attention! God is speaking! Everyone that's
thirsty. Is that you? The Lord Jesus Christ
said, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be If you're not interested in the things of God
this morning, if you're not interested in righteousness, in God's righteousness,
in how God can be just and justify a sinner, then this covenant
doesn't have anything to do with you, most likely. Maybe you will
be interested later. But I wouldn't trifle with God
if I were you. I wouldn't trifle with Him. I
wouldn't assume that I could stir up an interest when I get
good and ready. If you're not interested in this,
Fear before God, because this promise is to those that are
thirsty. Those that are thirsty. Incline your ear and come to
me. Here, what did he say? I'll call
my people from the north, south, east, and west. I'll call them.
I'll call them. Come unto me. Here, in your soul
shall live. And I'll make this covenant with
you. Which one? Even the sure mercies of David.
That covenant that's ordered in all things and sure, David
said. And David said, it's all my salvation and all my desire. He'll make that covenant with
you. Are you thirsty? This is an eternal covenant,
but it's a covenant with men. God said, Abraham, between me
and you, I've established my covenant. What a blessing. What
grace. What grace. In Galatians 3.16
we learn something about this covenant. Turn to Galatians 3
because we're going to look at more than one verse in Galatians
chapter 3. And this is what I promised you I
would read you. Galatians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is talking
about this covenant that God made with Abraham. And in verse
16 he says this, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not unto seeds, as of
many..." Although God did include many of Abraham's seed in that
covenant because He said, "...thy seed and their generations after
you." But then He also said, "...after that to thy seed."
All of those in their generations who are included in this seed
are included in this promise made to the Lord Jesus Christ
that I'll give you a people And the Son has agreed to shed his
blood for them, to live for them righteously and perfect, and
to shed his precious blood for them. That's why he said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Giveth me when? In
that covenant. In that covenant. Okay. Now, to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, unto thy seed. which is Christ. Can anybody misunderstand that?
That's so simple, isn't it? Thy seed, which is Christ. When
God made that covenant with Abraham, he said, it's between me and
you. It's to you and it's to the Lord Jesus Christ, my son,
my beloved son, whom I'll send into this world. And when Christ
paid the price that was included in the terms of this covenant,
when he became surety for us, And his blood was indeed the
blood of the everlasting covenant. The Father said, I'll give you
the sure mercies of David." The covenant is fulfilled. It's fulfilled
in Christ and everybody in Him. The promise, Peter said again,
is to you. It's to you if you're in Christ. Look at verse 29 of Galatians
3. This is what I've been saying
now. Maybe you thought I made it up.
Galatians 3.29, Paul just got through saying now, to his seed,
which is Christ, was this promise made. To Abraham, to sinners,
and to Christ. And look at verse 29, and if
ye be Christ's, apostrophe S, if you belong to him, then you're Abraham's seed. Not
if you're a Jew. Not if you're born in the land
of Israel, not if your name is Goldman or something like that,
has gold or silver in it. If you be Christ's, you're Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. Is that clear now? This
blessed my heart when I studied. I'd never seen this so clearly
as I did in the Word of God. When God made that covenant with
Abraham, I was in on that because I belong to Christ. You see that? Heirs according to that promise
God made with Abraham. In blessing, He said, I'm going
to bless you. God said, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. And when I'm blessing sinners
with my mercy, I'm going to bless you. Are you Christ's? So when God made this covenant,
He made it with His seed also, which is Christ, and everyone
who believes on Christ. God made the covenant with you.
You just didn't know it yet until He came and the gospel was preached
unto you, and He revealed to you that you're in on this covenant. You weren't even born when it
was made, but God's an eternal God. His covenant is an eternal
covenant. and His blessings, His mercies
are everlasting, the psalmist said. And God made that covenant
with us. That's why He says, come and
I'll make my covenant with you. That is, He's already made it,
but He's going to fill you in on it. That's what He's saying. And that's why Peter spoke the
way he did now in Acts 2. Turn there, Acts 2.37. This is
where I was talking about a while ago. when I said Peter told these
folks this promise was to them. It's to them. It's to everybody
that believes. This is why Peter spoke the way
he did in Acts 2.37. It says when Peter had preached
the gospel to them, and you know in that context there, Peter
preached the sovereign Christ in whose precious blood there's
remission for sins. There's salvation in His name
and His name only. And it says now when they heard
this, They were stabbed in their heart. That's what that word
there is. Stabbed in their heart and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? What
are you going to do when you find out you've murdered the
Son of God? Peter said unto them, Repent. That's what you're going
to do. All of your thoughts, all of
your thinking about who God is and who you are before God and
how God saves a sinner is going to have to change. God's going
to have to grant you repentance to the believing of the truth.
And Peter said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For if you do, if
you believe and repent and are baptized, if God gives you faith
and repentance toward Him, faith in His Son and repentance toward
Him for your sins, And He indwells you with His Holy Spirit. This
promise is unto you, the promise that He spoke of, that David
prophesied of. And to your children and to all
that are far off, how many? Even as many as the Lord our
God shall call, shall call, shall call. How does He do that? By
the gospel, by the gospel. For whom He did foreknow. them
he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of
his Son. And whosoever he predestinated,
them he also justified, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." And whoever they are, whoever
he foreknew in eternity past and predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his Son, and called out of darkness into his
marvelous light, and justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus, the promise that God made with
Abraham, he made it to them too. Did he make it with you? When
you hear the gospel and believe, you'll find out whether he did
or not. And if you believe, he did. He did to everybody he calls. Everybody he calls. Now this
covenant is unconditional. And it's important that we see
this. David said it this way, God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, and it's ordered in all things and sure. Now what
did he mean by that? A covenant many times is contingent
upon the terms of the covenant being met. The Old Testament covenant under
the law of Moses, that God gave to Moses, was a conditional covenant. He said, you obey this and I'll
bless you. You disobey me and I'll curse
you. This covenant is not conditional. It's ordered in all things and
sure. It's not waiting to see if something's
going to happen. in order for the covenant to
be fulfilled. You see that? That's why David said it's ordered
in all things and sure. There's nothing left for me to
do. There's nothing for me to do. God has ordered it all. And
it's sure. It's a covenant. It's called
a promise. Paul called it a promise. There's
nothing contingent upon a promise. When God makes a promise, He
keeps it. Period. He says, I will. And He says,
if I said it, I'll do it. That's God's covenant. of grace. It's unconditional. It's not
contingent upon anything. Listen to Romans 4.16. Listen
to this verse carefully now. Paul said in Romans 4.16, Therefore
it is of faith that it might be by grace. Salvation is by
God-given faith. Faith is the gift of God. Ephesians
2.8 and 9. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. If you believe on Christ, God
gave you faith. Flesh and blood hadn't revealed
this to you, Peter, but my Father revealed it to you. He gave you
eyes to see His Son. Therefore, it is of faith that
it might be by grace." If it's of works, then it can't be by
grace because if you add works to grace, then it's not grace
anymore, you see. And he said, it's of faith that
it might be by grace to this end that the promise might be
sure. to all the seed. That's what
we've been talking about. This is not a covenant where
God says, well, if you'll do this, this, and this, I'll do
this. No, no. It's not that way because this
promise is sure. It's ordered in all things and
sure. If it's contingent upon you,
then there's nothing sure about it. The only thing that's sure
about it is that it'll fail. That's why Paul said, Finding
fault with the old covenant, which did fail, God sought for
a new. That's human language. God didn't
have to figure it out. He had it established from of
old. But you see the language there. The old covenant could
never save. The blood of bulls and goats could never put away
sin. And God, when He gave His law and said, do this and I'll
bless you, don't do it and I'll curse you, He said, make a mercy
seat so when you break my law I can meet with you there and
commune with you anyway. by the blood of a substitute."
You see that? The law wasn't a system of works
that was given so that we might keep it and live and be saved.
Paul said the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. You see
that? The Old Covenant never saved
anybody, nor was it ever intended to save anybody. The law can't
save. All it can do is show you that
you're a sinner and you need to be saved. Therefore, it is of faith that
it might be by grace, that it might be free and sovereign to
this end, that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not
to that only which is of the law, not to the seed only that
are born of Israel, that are Israelites by nature, but to
that also which is of the faith of Abraham. From every kindred,
tribe, nation, and tongue that believes on Christ, the promise
is sure to you. who is of the faith of Abraham.
Everybody that believes on Christ. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And when they do, I won't cast
them out. I won't cast them out. The message of the book of Hebrews
is of a better covenant established upon better promises. Because
the messenger of that covenant far excels everyone else in his
universe. the messenger of the covenant.
How is the new covenant better than the old? In what way? Turn
there and let's look at it. Hebrews chapter 8. Now I want
you to see this. I've quoted this verse in recent
messages, so I'll be brief on this, but I want you to see this.
It's so clear. Hebrews 8. For finding fault with them,
he saith, God said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of the land of Egypt." It's not going to be like that
covenant because in that covenant God said, Thou shalt and thou
shalt not. And everything He said thou shalt
do, we didn't do it. And everything He said thou shalt
not do, that's what we did. We broke His law in a million
pieces. And we always have and we always
will. This flesh always will. And look
at it. Here's why this new covenant
is not going to be like that old one. Because they continued
not in my covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord." Why
would God make another covenant that's contingent upon your obedience?
Why would He do that? Is that what the gospel is? That's
the gospel that most people are preaching this morning who are
calling themselves preachers in this generation, all throughout
this land and this world. They're just making another covenant
with sinners just like the old one. If you'll do this, this,
this, and this, follow the Roman Follow the seven easy steps to
salvation. If you'll just do this, if you'll just make a decision
for Jesus, if you'll just walk an aisle, if you'll just do this,
God will bless you. That's the old covenant. And
nobody's ever kept it and nobody's ever going to keep it. This covenant, God said, is not
going to be like that one. Here's what this one is like.
Verse 10, this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel After those days, saith the Lord, I will." Not you do. Here's what I'm going to do.
I will put my laws into their mind, and I will write them in
their hearts. And He's not just going to write
it on stone and say, if you can measure up, I'll bless you. He's
going to write it on your heart. He's going to do a heart work
on you. and I will be to them a God."
Not, if you'll do this and keep my covenant, I'll be your God
and you'll be my people. I will be to them, whoever them
is. God said, I'll be your God and
you shall be my people. You see the difference in the
covenants? It's night and day. It's night and day. Verse 11,
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord. That doesn't mean that
you're not going to learn, that you're not going to hear messages
and learn things about God. What that means is that's not
how you're going to know God, by learning it from somebody
else. Flesh and blood hadn't revealed this to you, Peter.
My Father revealed it to you. Under the terms of this new covenant,
God Almighty showed you who Christ was. You're not going to learn
it from your neighbor or your brother, and they're not going
to teach you. God's going to have to teach you. They shall
all be taught of God, the prophet said. You see that now? They'll say, know the Lord. I'm
saying to you, know the Lord. But that's not how you're going
to know Him. God's going to have to do a work in your heart. For
all shall know Me. Who? Them. Those with whom He
establishes this covenant. Those who are in on this promise
from God. In blessing, I'll bless you.
All of them are going to know me. All that the Father giveth
me again. They're coming. They're coming.
If God's not a liar, they're coming. They shall know me from
the least to the greatest. It doesn't matter who they are
or where they're from. They're going to know me because
I'm going to reveal myself to them. I'm going to write my law
in their mind and put it in their heart. From the least to the
greatest. For I will be merciful." Are you interested in that covenant?
You see why we call it the covenant of grace? Because in this covenant
God said, I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness. Not be
righteous. Not do this, don't do that. Even though you're filthy, even
your righteousness is filthy rags, I'm going to have mercy
on you. You talk about night and day.
They're preaching the covenant of works everywhere I know of
in this city this morning. But this is the covenant of God's
mercy now to sinners. You don't have to measure up
to anything. All you've got to be is a sinner. Do you qualify? I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." That's
why I want us to, when we hear that word covenant, think about
the mercy of God. Think about God agreeing to enter
into a covenant with a sinful, wretched worm like you and agree
to fulfill all of the terms of that covenant. There were terms. This covenant is conditional
in a sense. It's just not conditional upon
you. And it's not conditional in the traditional sense that,
well, if something happens... Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. His blood ratifies this covenant.
If God Almighty is pleased with Christ, And He is. If His blood is sufficient to
wash the sins of His people away, if His righteousness is enough
to please a strict, inflexible, holy God, then this covenant
is ratified and fulfilled. To everybody who's of that seed,
according to the promise What a beautiful covenant this is.
Their sins and their iniquities I'll remember no more. Moses
led the children of Israel for 40 years through the wilderness,
but he was not able to take the children of Israel into the land
of Canaan, the promised land, the land flowing with milk and
honey. Why? Well, because Moses sinned against
God. Moses became angry at the children
of Israel, and God had told him The smitten rock in the wilderness
whereby all the water gushed out of that rock, a river of
water flowed out, and the children of Israel were able to drink
and were saved from certain death by that rock that followed them
through the wilderness. Moses had smitten that rock under
God's direction, and the water flowed out. And God said, All
right now, from now on, the rock's been smitten. From now on, just
speak to the rock. Don't you smite it again. And
Moses got angry with the people of Israel. And he said, must
I get you water out of this rock? And he smoked the rock again,
and God said, all right. For 40 years, Moses had been
thinking about one thing, the promised land, the promised land,
the promised land. And God said, you're not going
in. I'm going to take you up on a mountain, and I'm going
to show it to you. And then you're going to die right there in that
mountain. And that happened because Moses sinned against God, but
there's another reason for it. It's because Moses represented
the law. And the law can't take you into
the promised land. You know who did take him? Joshua. It's the same word in the Hebrew
that Jesus is in the New Testament. Thou shalt call his name Joshua,
for he shall save his people from their sins. He shall. That's the New Covenant. It's
ordered in all things and sure. And David said this, what does
this covenant have to do with salvation? David put it this
way, God has been pleased to make with me an everlasting covenant
and this is all my salvation and all my desire. Let's bow
in prayer. Lord, thank you for condescending
to meet with sinners and to speak in such gracious language. Between me and you will I establish
my covenant. Between you and a worm, between
you and a dead dog sinner, how humbling and yet how we rejoice. that You'd have mercy on such
as we and include us in that promise. To as many as the Lord our God
shall call, thank You for calling us out of darkness into Your
marvelous light. We know that we couldn't come
to You, Lord, except You'd draw us, except You'd call us. And we delight in sovereign,
free mercy. As we take these elements this
morning, Lord, help us to remember Him whose precious blood is the
blood of the everlasting covenant. And very simply, Lord, let us
just be thankful. Let us remember Him and what
He did for us and just be thankful and praise Him from our hearts
for all that He is and has done for such as we. In His precious
name, amen.