Turn with me if you will this
morning to the book of Jeremiah, the book of Jeremiah chapter
32. I want to read this morning beginning with verse 38 and read down through verse 41.
Verse 38 through 41 of Jeremiah chapter 32. And they shall be my people,
and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart
and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them
and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they
shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with
my whole heart and with my whole soul. My text this morning primarily
is verse 40. Verse 40. Now let me read this
text one more time. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they
shall not depart from me. In the world, there are a number
of men and women who stand in covenant relationship with the
God of the Bible. Now these are all mixed up in
the world along with the God-defying, the Godless, the unholy, the
wicked and the profane. They're all mixed up in the world
with them. But nevertheless, these people
are in covenant with God. They're a number. They are numbered
with those that are covenanted with God. They think of God.
God is in all their thoughts. They know God by the Spirit's
work. They trust God and are even in
league with God. They are those that are in the
everlasting covenant, included in the covenant, the everlasting
covenant of God. Now God has made with them a
covenant. This is a wonder of mercy that
God was pleased to make with them a covenant, an agreement,
whereby God would agree on the basis of what His Son would do,
that God would give them all of the benefit of the righteousness
and merit and works of his own son, that he would give all of
that benefit unto these ones that he chose an everlasting
relationship with himself in Christ before the world began. Now then, this is a wonder of
mercy. We know that those that God made the first covenant with,
that they break that covenant. They did not live in obedience
to God. God made a covenant with them,
saying, This do, and thou shalt live. This do, and thou shalt
live. Well, they did not. They rebelled
against God. They broke God's law. They refused
to submit themselves unto the will and purpose of God as it
was revealed unto them. We were reminded of the words
of John Bunyan, who said, The law commands us to work and run,
but provides us not with feet or hands, and truly that's the
case. But beloved, we are not under
the first covenant, thank God, that covenant which we break,
which our forefathers break, which those that were under it
broke, but we are under the new covenant. We're under the covenant
of grace, under the everlasting covenant that is spoken of here
in our text. This covenant shall stand when
the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed when
the hills are removed. It's not a thing of passing time. This is an everlasting covenant.
It's like its author. God Almighty is from everlasting
to everlasting. And this covenant, my friend
this morning, will never be removed because God said it's everlasting. So happy is that people that
is joined to the Lord with an eternal bond such as this everlasting
covenant provides. Now, beloved, these people may
be known by certain marks. There are certain marks that
identify these people. God, number one, is doing these
people good. Has God been gracious to you? Could you sing this little chorus
this morning? Oh, how merciful, how merciful. Blessed Lord, you've been to
me. Can you sing that with meaning from your heart? Has God been
good to you? Has he been gracious to you?
Now, beloved, has he appeared to you in the gospel? Has He
been pleased to reveal Himself to you this morning unto your
soul, to meet the needs of your soul? Has He given to you the
renewal of the Holy Spirit? Have you been born again? Has
God given Christ To you, that one who is the surety of the
new covenant, has God given Christ to your heart? Have you been
made to know Him? If so, then, beloved, then God
has been pleased to be good to you. God has favored you. And
this is one of the marks of those that are in and covered by this
everlasting bond, this everlasting covenant, is God has been good
to them in a spiritual way. God has joined them unto himself
with a living union in his Son. Now, another thing I think that
is evident by our text is that God has put a holy awe and fear
in the hearts of these that are the covenanted ones. Now, beloved,
to stand in awe at God, We know that there are very few who have
the knowledge of the one true and living God. We know that
only those whom God has been pleased to make Himself known
to, know Him. We know that those that are the
elect of God, we're told that they shall know Him, and they
shall follow on to know Him. God's people know the Lord, and
they have an awe and a reverence of God. They fear God in their
hearts. Do you fear the Lord? Do you
desire to please God? Do you want to do that which
is right in the sight of the Lord? Do you fear not to do that
which God has commanded in his word for you to do? Do you this
morning have an awe in your heart of that thrice holy God, that
God of majesty and power, that God that inhabiteth eternity?
Do you have a holy awe in your heart toward Him? Not only that,
beloved, but these people are known in their hearts by the
desire that they have. They have a desire toward God.
You can't pry these people away from God. It is said that these
will not depart from the Lord. Do you feel ashamed when you
in any way, shape, or form feel in your heart that you would
go away from Him, that you would move away from Him. Well, beloved,
if this be the case, I think that this is one of the evidences
that God has been pleased to make you one of those that He
is in league with, one of those that He has covenanted to save. Now, is God's presence here on
earth your heaven? Can you be happy in this world
without the presence of God? I think this is one thing that
has been so enlightening to my own soul, and that is that if
you ever really know the presence of God and feel the presence
of God in this life, then beloved you have a desire for the world
to come you have a great desire for heaven itself because in
heaven we shall enjoy his presence always without interruption and
in this life in this world Beloved, oftentimes we're favored with
the presence of God. And I think that those that are
of God's elect and those that are covenanted with God and those
that God has been pleased to include in this covenant, that
they are those that desire His presence and long for His presence
in this world. Well, if these things be the
case, these things are the seal. Then let me say of the covenant
with you, and God has thoughts of love towards you, which will
never change. God has thoughts of love towards
you. He has said, I will do them good.
I'll do them good, and I'll not turn away from them. I will do
them good. Now, beloved, there are about
three things here in this text that I want to talk to you about
a little bit this morning. The first thing is this everlasting
covenant that is made mention here in our text when he says,
I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Secondly, we'll look
at the unchanging God of the covenant. He said, I will not
turn away from you to do you good. And thirdly, we'll see
this persevering people in the covenant. We'll see this people. He said, I'll put my fear in
their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Now, beloved,
there's enough meat here in this text that would be fit for a
good spiritual meal. Make no difference how we carve
the meat. It will be good. And if you could
just simply this morning put all thoughts out of your mind,
except thoughts that you're here to worship God and to feed on
God's Word, I believe that you'll receive a blessing. I hope that
we all have an appetite this morning for this truth. Now, beloved, let me say this.
I want to make it clear to you. that I believe that this is a
door, and this is a great door, and if an individual would enter
in to this door, I believe they would find pasture indeed. I think that most of the people
of God in this world do not understand this truth. I think that most
people are stunted spiritually and they simply do not have an
understanding of these covenants that God made with these people
and therefore they are blind to many truths that would give
them rest and comfort and peace in their souls. It is said that
the doctrine of eternal security is a debated doctrine and that
it is a doctrine that has been debated down through the ages.
Beloved, let me say that the reason that the doctrine of eternal
security has been debated down through the ages is because men
and women in religious circles are ignorant of the God of the
Bible and they're ignorant of the truth of God. They're ignorant
of it. If they understood, now listen
to me, I'm telling you, and I say it without fear this morning
of being contradicted, I'm telling you that men and women who do
not believe the doctrine of eternal security are ignorant of God
and they're ignorant of the Bible. They do not understand what the
Word of God teaches. And I challenge you this morning
to become a student of what the Bible teaches about how God saves
His people and the truth about how God secures their salvation
and the fact that it is an everlasting covenant that God has made with
our representative. our representative, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I say this is a great door. If
you could enter in through this door, it will provide you with
sufficient pasture to last you for the rest of your life. Now,
beloved, if I was up here this morning and saying I'm going
to open a door for you, and on the other side there was nothing,
There was absolutely nothing. There was no grass. There was
nothing green on the other side. There was nothing over there
to feed upon. Listen, sheep will not quickly
go through a gate if there is no pasture on the other side.
But beloved, in this message this morning, in what we have
to say here today, if you will listen carefully, you will see
that there is pasture on the other side of this door. And
if you enter in, if you receive the truth, And in or in, you'll
be strengthened, you'll be blessed, and you'll have something to
feed upon the rest of your days here in your pilgrimage. Number
one then, let's say a little bit about this everlasting covenant. Now in chapter 31 and verse 31,
we read these words. Now look at it. In chapter 31
of Jeremiah and verse 31, I believe this is the verse that
I want, yes. Behold the days come, saith the
Lord, that I'll 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 that I took them out
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my
covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith
the Lord. Now this covenant that we're
talking about is, as God explains here to us through the prophet
Jeremiah, it's in contrast with the old. The new is in contrast
with the old. It is new as to the principle
upon which it is based. Now the Lord was faithful to
the old covenant, the people were not. The people were not. But in these last days, the Lord
hath made in his Son, in Christ Jesus, he has made with the true
seed of Abraham, even with all believers, this new covenant. Not after the tenor of the old,
not liable to be broken as it was, God has made a new covenant
founded upon different principles. Now we must take care to distinguish
between the old and the new covenant. They must never be mingled. Listen
to me. There are many who never catch
the true idea of the covenant of grace. They do not understand
a compact, as it were, a pure promise. of pure promise. They talk about grace, but they
regard that as being dependent upon human merit. They speak
about God's mercy, and then they combine it with conditions which
makes it rather justice than grace. It is not of works, or
grace is no more grace, the Bible says. The new covenant is all
of grace from its first letter to its last word. It is an everlasting covenant
we are told. And this means, if language means
anything at all, this text insists on this, beloved, that it is
not of short duration like the first covenant, But it is, it's
gonna last forever. It is an everlasting, an everlasting
covenant. And so it covers all time from
the time that God instituted this covenant until we're in
heaven, until all of the elect are in heaven until we all join
there with the Lord Jesus Christ in eternal glory. Now the first
reason that I want to give why this is an everlasting covenant
is because it was made with us in Christ Jesus. It was made
with us in Christ Jesus. Adam failed and Jesus stood up
under the strain. Now, beloved, somebody must keep
the holy law of God. Nobody can go to heaven unless
they themselves have kept the law of God, establishing for
themselves a perfect righteousness before God, or else they must
have a substitute that keeps the law, honors the law, magnifies
the law, and obeys every jot and tittle of it, and provides
for them, and God being willing to accept that on their behalf,
gives them a place in heaven. Beloved, somebody has got to
stand up under the strain. Adam did not stand up under the
strain. Neither did the children of Israel
when God made this covenant with them. They break that covenant
even though God was a husband to them. God was merciful, gracious
to them, providing for them, leading them, blessing them,
and still they break this covenant. But Jesus stood up under the
strain. I have given him, God says, for
a covenant of the people. He is both in his nature and
in his work eternally qualified to stand before God. That is our substitute. I'm talking
about Jesus. God made this compact between
him and Jesus. Our representative, he made it
with his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam could not stand
the strain. Christ cannot fail. And the covenant
stands secure in him, the covenant head. The surety of this covenant
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The covenant cannot fail because
the human side of this covenant has been fulfilled. Now I want
you to understand what I'm saying. This side of the covenant, the
human side, it might be that we would regard that as the weak
side of it. Especially it would be the weak
side of it if the covenant had been made with us. Everybody
here understand that? If the covenant had been made
with us, God gave up on the children of Israel, they break the covenant,
they couldn't endure, they could not stand up, and they failed
the test. And so God says, I'll make a
covenant with somebody who will not fail. I'll make a covenant
with somebody who can stand. And so let me say that the Lord
Jesus, in that that he became our representative, the representative
of the elect, that that side of the covenant, the human side
of the covenant, was sure It was absolutely sure because the
Lord Jesus could not fail. The Lord Jesus kept the law.
He was not unholy. He was holy and he was spotless. He was a lamb without spot and
without blemish or any such thing. And the Lord Jesus Christ lived
a perfect life which God demanded that I live. And he gave that
life to me, and God said, I'll accept it on your behalf. I'll
accept it. And so the human side of the
covenant has been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the
law is more glorified. Now get this. The law is more
glorified by the merit righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, by
the obedient life of the Lord Jesus Christ, than it was ever
dishonored by my sin. I want you to understand that.
Somebody says, well don't you think we ought to keep the law?
I think if you can keep the law, you keep it. But I'll tell you
this, that the law was more honored by what the Lord Jesus did than
it was ever dishonored by the sins of men. And so I think that's
wonderful to know. Furthermore, the covenant must
be everlasting for it is founded upon the free grace of God. divine
sovereignty determined to deal with men. Now this is what the
scripture means in Romans 9, when God said, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Divine sovereignty determined
to deal with men not according to merit, not according to their
merit, but according to mercy. Not according to personal character
of men, but according to the personal character of the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not according to what men might
do, but what the Lord Jesus Christ would do. God determined I'll
deal with men on that basis. Aren't you glad that he said
I'll deal with men on that basis? I won't deal with them on their
personal merit. I won't do it. Them having not it done any good
or evil, God said, I didn't take it into consideration. That's
not it. Sovereign grace, free grace says
I'll deal with them on the merit of my son. I'll deal with them
through his righteousness. I'll deal with them because of
him, what he will do. Don't you see why God could say
this is an everlasting covenant? Because it's a settled covenant. Okay, now again in the covenant,
everything that can be supposed to be a condition is provided. Did you get that? In this covenant,
the only way it can be an everlasting covenant is for everything that
is supposed to be a condition, it is provided for us in the
covenant. We are commanded to repent and
believe the gospel. Have you not read in the word
of God that Jesus was raised up out of the grave and he ascended
into heaven to give repentance unto men? Have you not read that? The repentance of the gospel
is given by God Almighty. It's a free grace gift. We know that repentance is a
disposition of the heart. God must give it. God must give
it, and he does. And faith, the Bible says, by
grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Faith is
a gift of God. We have the faith of Christ.
That is the gift of the covenant. It was provided in the covenant. And then holiness, the Bible
says that we're holy without blame before Him in love as we
stand in Christ. We're holy without spot, without
blemish or any such thing. That's the church of the living
God. That's the Israel of God. That's God's people. That is
that true circumcision that has no confidence in the flesh but
trusts Christ. They have a they have a holiness. Now if there be anywhere in the
Word of God any act or grace mentioned as though it were a
condition of salvation, it is in another scripture described
as a covenant gift. So the covenant is in no danger. The covenant is in no danger. God's people are secure, persevering
in a settled way of grace. God's people are persevering. Now this covenant must be everlasting
because, now hear me now, because it cannot be superseded by anything
more glorious. God goes from the worst to the
better. God goes, listen to me now, there
cannot be anything more glorious than this everlasting covenant.
It must last till a fault be found with it. There shall never
be a fault found because there are those that tried to find
fault with the Lord Jesus Christ and they could find no fault
with him. He had no sin and there was no
fault that could be found with Him. There could be no fault
found with the surety of the covenant. No fault can be found
with Him. Now listen to me. It is the glory
which excelleth It is the glory which excelleth because no brightness
can exceed the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The covenant of grace is the
masterpiece of divine wisdom and divine grace. The moon gives
way to the sun. And therefore, there can be no
fault found with this covenant. It will never be superseded.
Nothing can come along that's better. Do you agree with that?
Amen? Nothing can come along that will
supersede this everlasting covenant. It's everlasting, and it is ordered
in all things, David said, and it is sure, ordered in all things
and sure. Now, let's go on to the second
point. We've talked about the covenant,
the everlasting covenant. Now, let me say a few words about
the unchanging God of the covenant. the unchanging God of the covenant. Notice what he says in verse
40. He says, I will not turn away
from them. I will not turn away. But that's
not all that he says. He says, I will not turn away
from them to do them good. Now this is the unchanging God
of the covenant. Somebody said, well, why is it
that you believe this? that God will not turn away from
his people. Why do you believe that? I believe
it because he said so. God said so. He's the one that
said, I will not turn away. He said it. Is that not reason
enough to believe it? Do you think that I ought to
believe what God says? I'll tell you, I think I ought
to believe what God says. I think you ought to believe
what God says. I think a lot of your misery is that you don't
believe what God says. I think we must believe what
God says in his word. People that do not believe in
the eternal security of the believer, just simply, I said, do not believe
the Bible. They don't believe the word of
God. God said, I will not turn away. And this ought to settle
the matter, but alas, it does not. It does not. It don't settle
the matter with a whole lot of people, because they don't believe
this book. Now, you say, well, but now,
preacher, wait a minute. You've got to take into account
the unworthiness of these people. You've got to do that. Well,
now listen, if you want to bring up the unworthiness of these
people, let me deal with this just a little bit. When the Lord
began to do them good, when the Lord began to do them good, I
mean when the Lord came to them, when the Lord first touched them,
when the Lord first laid hold of them, were they not as unworthy
as they could possibly be? Were they not at that time as
unworthy as they could possibly be? Were they not dead in trespasses
and sin? Were they not enemies of God?
Were they not rebels? Were they not under the wrath
of God? Were they not under the condemnation of God? Did they
not hate God? Were they not out to do everything
they could to offend God and to do that which was contrary
to God and to His law and to His truth? Were they not a mass
of misery? Were they not a pit of wants?
Were they not a dunghill of sins when He first began to do them
good? How'd the Lord find you? What
kind of shape were you in when the Lord found you? What kind
of shape, I say, were you in? Most of us have got nothing more
to say than to say, amen, I was indeed a dunghill of sin when
the Lord found me. Now the same motive, now get
me, that moved him towards me when I was in a lost state is
the same motive that moves him toward me now, and that is his
grace. His grace. his wonderful mercy
and his grace and his love. I will not turn away from them
to do them good. I will not. God said I determined
to do them good and the basis upon which I'm going to do them
good will never change and so therefore I will not change toward
these people. I don't look on these people
anymore. I look upon their representative and I do them good for his sake
and because of him I do them good. They become the beneficiaries
of what my son purchased and what he has a right to. And I
move toward them by grace. Moreover, there can be no reason
in the faultiness of the believer why the Lord should cease to
do him good, seeing that he foresaw all the evil that would be in
us. No wondering, wondering child of God can ever surprise the
Lord. Somebody said, well, don't you
think we surprise Him every day when we get carried away or when
we take off on a tangent or when we just blow up and when we just
do all kinds of silly things and when we fall into sin and
when we don't do as we ought to do and do things that we shouldn't
and all of this and that? Don't you think that we surprise
God? No! I don't think you ever did surprise
God. Your daddy, God knew him, didn't
he? The Lord knew about him. Well, if he knew about him, he
knows about you. Well, the Lord knew about old Adam. He knew
a whole lot about old Adam, so therefore he knows every one
of us. We came out of his loins, every one of us. We got the same
nature he had. Ain't nothing surprises God.
Ain't nothing about you that's gonna surprise God, I'll tell
you that. Nothing whatsoever. That's why I give up on you.
That's why I said I'll make an everlasting covenant with them,
that is with their representative. I gave up on them. I gave up
on their daddies. And I don't have anything to
do with them. I can't deal with them. I'm gonna deal with their
representative. And he, he's faithful and he'll
not fail. We are by God at this day viewed
in the same light as ever he viewed us today. He said, well, I've been in the
way a long time. I've made a lot of mistakes,
preacher. Well, he saw me ruined in the fall, yet loved me notwithstanding
all. We're yet without strength. We
were without strength when Christ died, and we are yet without
strength. And he sees us now in Christ.
And until he rejects Christ, he will not reject me. Now, I
want you to understand that clearly. Oh, don't you think often about
how that God must be displeased with you? Don't you think about
it a whole lot? I do. I think about it. I think
about it a great deal. But let me ask you this question.
Have you ever read in the Bible where that God was displeased
with his son, Jesus Christ? I ask that question. Has anybody
here ever read in the Bible where God was displeased with his son? Nobody ever read that in the
Bible. That's not in the Bible. God is always pleased with his
son. He always is. And he always has
been. And never will it be anything
other than pleasing. This is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. Now, beloved, this is so important
that we see that. Until he rejects Christ, he cannot
reject me. You see, we too are in union. We are in union with Christ.
We are joined unto the Lord. We're in union with Him. And
God says, all my dealings with this bunch is with Him. It's with Him. And He went to
the cross, and He paid the price of our redemption. He paid for
our sin. He suffered and bled and died
in our place. And God said, I'm gonna deal
with them on this basis. I'm going to have mercy on them.
I'm going to have mercy on their iniquities. I'm going to blot
them out. I'm going to forgive them. I'm going to forgive them,
because my son has died for them. Until he rejects him, he cannot
reject us. He has shown them so much kindness
already, and all that he has done would be lost if he did
not go on through with it. I'm talking about this God of
the covenant. I'm telling you, don't the Bible
say it? Well, he says, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not also through him freely give us all things? That's the
investment God's made in your salvation. And he's put too much
in it to go back on it. He's put too much in it. He invested
the best he had And he can't do anything else for you than
to give his son in our place. He can't do anything better than
that. There is no place to go. And if a man turns away from
the gospel, he turns away from the only answer there is. The only answer. The only way
to get into favor with God if he turns away from Christ. He rejects the way. His son is a sure pledge. And whenever he gave his son,
you know what that says to me? When I read the Bible and I see
we're hearing this love, not that we love God, but that God
loved us and gave his son to be a satisfaction for our sin,
you know what that says to me? God's gonna finish this thing.
He started it, he gave his son, and he's gonna finish it. He
gonna finish my salvation. Let the critics say what he will.
Let the fellow laugh if he wants, if he's given to that. I'm telling
you, if God invested his son in you and I, listen, if God
invested his son in us, he gonna finish the work. I'm talking
about the God of this covenant. That's what I'm talking about.
If you know him, then you know what he's doing. And he's gonna
save his people. And then he's involved his honor
in the salvation of his people. I said a little while ago this
covenant was the masterpiece of God's wisdom and of God's
love and God's grace, this gospel, this everlasting covenant. And
his honor, do you think that the God of the Bible has and
should have honor? He does have. And if they could
fail, Where is his glory? Where is his glory? He will ever
be mindful, the scripture says, of his covenant. Does he have
power and will? He is of one mind, Job said,
who can turn him. And if God has power, and he
does have, power belongeth unto God. He has power. Then will he not bring to pass
his will? He'll bring it to pass. God said,
I'm working in my people to will and do of my good pleasure. I
got some honor at stake here. And my glory I'll not give to
another. I figured this thing out. I determined
to save them on the basis of the merits of my son, and that
I will do. I'm gonna save them. They're
my people. I'll be their God. They shall
be my people. No question about it. Now then,
the third thing, the last thing, we must hurry here. The persevering
people in this covenant, these people that the Lord has invested his
son in, I want you to see what the scripture says about them.
He said, I'm going to put my fear in their hearts that they
shall not depart from me. I'm going to put my fear in their
hearts and they're not going to part from me well now if this
was the only text in the bible that taught eternal security
i'd believe it because of what this verse says god said they're
not going to part from me they're not going to part from me now
you know these people run around here and they think that they're
been called to god to be watchdogs and And they just happen to be
judges. They know this, they know that,
they know something about. They know old David's fallen
and he's not one of God's people and he couldn't possibly be one
of the Lord's people because he had some problems. And you
know this dear lady here, she's had some problems. She couldn't
be the Lord's child. Or this has happened or that's
happened. And you know, this fellow's cantankerous and this
is wrong and that's wrong. So many imperfections it couldn't
be. Well, God said, whatever you got to say, God said, they
shall not depart from me. In their hearts, God said, I've
done enough in their hearts, they're not gonna depart from
me. It's plain, it's clear, it's unconditional, it's positive.
They will not depart from me. They're not gonna depart from
me. His salvation lies in the fact that he will never, that
the believer will never, never utterly lose the life of God. This cannot occur. If grace be
grace, and if safety is in grace, then beloved God's people are
indeed safe. Regeneration is once for all. It can never be repeated. They
will not, shall not depart from me. Now that does not mean that
temptation is not removed or that temptation is removed out
of their lives so they can't fall. In other words, There have
been times when I have been very strong, and I could almost challenge
the devil. And I could challenge anybody
around me, put anything in front of me that you want to, I will
not fall. I will not. You felt that your
feet was firm, established, strong, and that you were able to stand.
And the reason you were able and the reason you felt that
way was because there was no temptation. There was no temptation. No gunpowder, no fire. Therefore,
no explosion, right? No explosion. But beloved, listen,
the people of God, their temptations, all kinds of temptations in our
life, all kinds of pits into which we can fall. But God didn't
say, I'm gonna take their temptation away so that they shall not depart
from me. No. The scripture says they may
fall seven times, but the Lord said, I'll just lift them up.
That's what I'll do. I'll raise them up. I'll lift
them up. That's what I'll do for them.
Now then, they have a divine principle within them. Listen
to what it says. I'll put my fear in their hearts.
I'll put my fear in their hearts. I'll put this holy awe we talked
about. I'll put that holy awe in their hearts. Now I want to
tell you something. I want to tell you young people
something. You know, your daddy and your
mama's doing all they can to teach you to do right. They're
trying to tell you the right thing to do. And you ought to
pay heed to what they have to say. But let me tell you something.
The only guarantee there is in this world that you will ever
do the right thing, both at home and away from home, both when
they're looking and when they're not looking, is for God to put
his fear in your heart. So that you have that holy awe
of God in your heart. and that love toward God, and
that desire to please God, that desire to want to do what God
wants you to do. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his ways, but by taking heed thereto according to your
word. That's the way God's people are
kept in this world. God put a fear, a holy awe in
their hearts, and not only that, God's people, due to the work
of God in them, they're grateful in their hearts toward God. and
they have a love toward God as their father. They do not want
to offend him. They do not want to cross him. They do not want to go astray
from the paths in which he would lead them. They want his way. God said, I'm gonna give them
one way, and they're gonna want this way, and they're gonna wanna
walk in that way, the way of faith, the way of confidence
in God, the way of the word, the way that's spelled out in
the word. And they have, listen, gratitude,
somebody says, bars the door against a whole lot of things
that would try to come into our lives. Gratitude for God bars
the door to a lot of things that would try to come in to our lives. If you love God, if you have
the fear of God in your heart, if you want to do what God wants
you to do, if you want to please him. If you're just a little
bit like God in your heart. I mean if it's no more than a
glow worm is like the sun. If you're just a little bit like
God, you'll want to do what's right. You've got the fear of
God in your heart. And you have some gratitude toward
him. And that bars the doors. Keeps
a lot of things out. Well, God's people have been,
by this principle, fear all reverence. For the majestic God of the Bible,
this has radically and lastingly changed them. Now, the Holy Spirit
maintains this fear of God in our lives as we go along, and
I think he does this by means And that is the means of the
Word of God. Through the hearing of the Word, the fear of God
is kept alive in our hearts. We keep reading the Bible, and
we ought to. You ought to be ashamed of yourself
if you don't have any time whatsoever for the Word of God. No time
to go to church. No time to listen to the Word
of God. No time to read it. No time to meditate upon it.
No time to try to figure out. What it is that God has done
for us in His Son, the Lord Jesus. Every one of you ought to get
Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. You ought to get some other good
devotional book. And you ought to begin to read
it. You ought to begin to read it. And you ought to begin to
pray every day, God keep me from my foolishness. And Lord lead
me in the way I ought to go. Lead me in the way I ought to
go. I'm blind and I'm stupid and I'm foolish. And I'm going
to end up just like everybody else would end up if it wasn't
for your grace on the downhill. If you don't intervene in my
life and begin to pray and begin to beg God to lead you and direct
you in the way, just ask God to do it and he will do it. Hear the word and believe the
word and use the means of grace. Use it. God keep his fear alive
in your heart. Well, then we've discussed these
three things. The everlasting covenant, the
God, the unchanging God of the covenant, and the people, the
persevering people in this covenant. May God bless these truths to
your heart. May the Lord help you. And like
we said earlier, there is enough meat here for a good meal. Make
no difference how it's carved. And I don't carve very well myself.
But I'll tell you this, you get a hold of this, go through this
door, and I'll tell you, you're going to have some pasture out
there, and you're going to rejoice the rest of your life. Salvation
secure. Salvation bought and paid for.
Salvation through the surety of the better covenant. I will
give Him for a covenant of the people. I'll give Him. Father,
in the name of Jesus, use this message. Glorify yourself. Honor yourself. Bless our Father
and some trembling poor soul here today. Lord, do them good. do them good, reveal thyself
to them, help them to begin to cry out in their hearts, even
if the cry be feeble, cry out unto thee that you'd have mercy
upon them and that you'd show them this kindness and this goodness
that you said you'd show unto your people. We ask now that
you'll receive the glory and the praise and bless us as we
spend a little time together in the early afternoon. We beg
it in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.