turn with me, please, to Revelation
chapter four. Revelation, the fourth chapter,
and let's read verses two and three together. Immediately I was in the Spirit,
and behold, a throne was set in heaven. That throne, the symbol
of God's his sovereignty, his dominion, his power, and his
glory. There was a throne set in heaven,
and one sat on the throne, a sovereign ruler, sitting in the serenity
of total control over all things. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round
about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. I want us to
give some consideration to this rainbow round about the throne. I believe it will be profitable
consideration. After God had destroyed the world
with the waters of the flood, because of his fierce anger with
man's continued sin, depravity, and rebellion. Once the flood
was over, God promised Noah that he would never again send the
waters of a flood to destroy the world which he had made.
And he made a covenant with Noah by which he assured him that
he would stand by his word. And as a perpetual reminder of
that covenant, God set a rainbow in the sky. You can read it in
Genesis chapter 9, verses 11 through 16. Now, since the days
of Noah, the rainbow had stood as a perpetual reminder of God's
covenant. He declares in Isaiah 54, this
is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that
the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, So have
I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart,
and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy upon thee. And when Ezekiel describes
his vision of God's glory, of God's throne in Ezekiel chapter
1, he tells us that he saw a rainbow, the symbol of the covenant encircling
God's glorious throne. He said, as the appearance of
the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the
appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of God. so that he informs us
that the glory of God itself is somehow tied up in that bow
or in that covenant that was represented by the bow. Now,
when the apostle John was called up to heaven and he beheld the
throne of God, he said, as I beheld that throne, that throne of God's
glory and power and dominion and majesty, that throne with
the brightness of the jasper and the sardine stone, There
was a rainbow round about the throne, a rainbow circling the
throne, the color of an emerald, green in appearance. The rainbow
is a symbol then of God's covenant, just as the throne is a symbol
of his sovereignty. John Gill said the rainbow is
a reverberation. or a reflection of the beams
of the sun upon a thin watery cloud. And the covenant of grace
is owing to Jesus Christ, the son of God's righteousness. It is the reflection of the beams
of the son of righteousness, our dear Savior. It is Christ
who made the covenant for us. It is Christ who fills the covenant
with all the blessings of grace. Christ is the mediator of the
covenant, the surety of the covenant, the messenger of the covenant,
and the essence of the covenant. In Revelation chapter 10, verse
1, John describes a picture of our Lord Jesus as one clothed
with a cloud with a rainbow upon his head. Now the fact is that
the whole covenant of grace is Jesus Christ himself. The whole
of the covenant is Christ Jesus. It is the revelation of Christ. It is the mercy of Christ, the
goodness of Christ to his covenant people. In fact, in Isaiah 49,
he's described it just this way. In Isaiah 49, in verse 8, the
Lord said, I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant
to the people, so that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that
divine covenant that God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit made one with the other before the world was. Now I want to call your attention
to several things that I believe this symbolism clearly sets forth. First of all, I want you to see
that the rainbow is indeed an emblem of mercy and of peace. The rainbow is an emblem of the
covenant of grace. Its many colors might very well
be expressive of the promises of God in the covenant. The covenant
symbolized by the rainbow is the everlasting covenant described
for us in the word of God. Let me read to you some of the
references to that covenant. Come back to Jeremiah 31. I want
you to follow along with me. I realize that in this day, in most churches,
even in most Baptist churches, even most conservative Baptist
churches, talk of a covenant is altogether strange language.
People aren't accustomed to this kind of preaching. They're not
accustomed to looking into what the Word of God has to say about
the covenant. I realize that most Protestants
are of the opinion that a covenant is a church order by which the
children are brought into the kingdom of God by being sprinkled,
by being baptized, and so they are brought into a covenant family
and a covenant relationship with God by joining the church. Now,
the word of God has nothing whatever to do with that kind of a covenant.
But the Word of God does teach us that God deals with men on
the basis of a covenant. God dealt with all men in a covenant
way in our father Adam. The Lord God made a covenant
with Adam. And Adam broke the covenant.
It was a conditional covenant, a covenant that God made with
him when he put him in the garden. And when Adam broke that covenant,
we all reap the repercussions of Adam's transgression, for
we died in Adam. The Lord God deals with all of
his elect. through another covenant, the
covenant of grace. Now the covenant of grace was
made before the world was. It was made with the second Adam,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Those are the only two men God
deals with. Those are the only two men God
deals with. If you ever do business with
God, you'll do business with God through a substitute. You'll
do business with God through a representative man. God deals
with Adam and Christ. And he deals with everybody either
on the basis of Adam's disobedience or on the basis of Christ's obedience
as our covenant head and representative. Let me show you this covenant
in Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make, that is, I'm
going to reveal, I'm going to bring into revelation, a new
covenant. A covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah. Now he's not talking about
the physical seat of Abraham. He's not talking about the physical
nation of Israel. He's talking about the Israel
of God, God's elect, His church, His kingdom, you and I who believe. He says, not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. which
my covenant they break, that is a covenant of law, covenant
of works, although I was a husband to them, saith the Lord. But
this shall be my covenant, the covenant that I will make with
them, or with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord.
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. You're not going to
need a priest or a prophet to come along to you and say to
you, Now you, this is what you must know about the Lord. You're
not going to need someone to come and show you who the Lord
is and what he's done. You who believe are all priests
unto God. You who believe are all made
kings unto God. They shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more." Now remember what he said in this part. Then turn
to chapter 32, Jeremiah 32. And verse 38, we won't read all
the passages. You can back up verse 36 in your
leisure if you want to. But let's begin at verse 38.
God said, I'm going to gather my covenant people. He said,
and they shall be my people and I will be their God. Do you see
the shalls and the wills of God's covenant? What God says in the
covenant must come to pass. It must come to pass. He said,
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. Now
listen to what he's promised in the covenant. Go back to chapter
31. He promised to reveal Christ
to you so you'd know Christ yourself. He promised to forgive you all
your sins by reason of this covenant. He promised here in chapter 32
to give you one heart and one way by which to walk before him. The heart of faith, the way of
faith in Christ Jesus. He promised that he would not
turn away from you to do you good and he promised to make
certain that you would not turn away from him either. Now then
let's see if that covenant speaks of us. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
8. Hebrews the 8th chapter. We've just read Jeremiah 31 and
Jeremiah 32. Now here in Hebrews chapter 8
The Apostle Paul is giving us a direct quote from Jeremiah. He's telling us that what God
promised in Jeremiah's day, he has fulfilled in our day. He's
telling us that what the Old Testament prophesied, the New
Testament has fulfilled through Christ Jesus. Look here in chapter
8 of the book of Hebrews and verse 8. Finding fault with them,
with the physical seed of Abraham, with the nation of Israel. He
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord. That's this day. That's the day when Christ is
revealed. That's the day when Christ came. 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 old covenant.
Look in verse 10. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I'll put my laws in their minds.
and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people. They'll not have laws written
on tables of stone, but law written in the heart. I'll give them
a new heart, a new nature, a new will, a new principle. I'll give
them a heart to fear me, a heart to worship me. Look at this,
verse 11. They shall not teach every man
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord,
for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. That is,
the youngest believer, the youngest babe in Christ, and the most
age-wise man in Christ, all are made to know Him, all are priests
unto God, all are kings before God. He says in verse 12, For
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. Look in chapter 10, Hebrews chapter
10, verse 16. This is the covenant, this is
it, that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord.
I'll put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them. That's what God does in regeneration. And their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now that's the covenant
that God has made himself on our behalf. That's the covenant
spoken of, symbolized by that rainbow. Let me show you one
more passage. Turn to the book of Psalms, Psalm
89. Psalm 89. Here's a prophecy of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of David. As a matter of fact, in this
text, whenever you read David, read Christ. That's how we'll
read it. Christ, the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
one spoken of here. In verse 19, Then thou spakest in evasion
to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found Christ my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him, with whom my hand shall be established. Mine arm also
shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon
him, nor the son of wickedness afflicted. And I will beat down
his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But
my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my
name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me,
Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also
I will make him my firstborn. You see it? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'll make him higher than the kings of the earth.
My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant
shall stand fast with him. His seed. Now, that's getting
to us. His seed. His seed shall endure
forever and his throne as the days of heaven. Well, what about
his children? What about you and I? What if
they sin? What if they break his law? What if they transgress
his covenant? If his children forsake my law
and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, Then I'll visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquity with the stripes. I'll be a faithful
father. Those that I love, I'll rebuke
and chase them. Nevertheless, oh, I love that
word, nevertheless, nevertheless, nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him, from Christ, from Christ,
nor from his seed. I'll not suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn
by my holiness that I will not lie unto Christ. His seed shall
endure forever and his throne as the sun before me. It shall
be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness
in heaven. All right, Don, what are all
these passages telling us about the covenant? There is considerable
debate among well-learned and capable men as to what the covenant
of grace is. Some suggest that it is a contractual
agreement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some say it
is a sovereign disposition or a sovereign declaration of the
will of God completely agreed upon by Father, Son, and Spirit.
It really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. For
whatever the Father, the Son, and the Spirit have agreed upon
is God's sovereign disposition. Whatever God the Father, Son,
and Spirit have contracted together to accomplish shall be accomplished
by God's sovereign purpose and decree. But this covenant of
grace was made not between God and man as the covenant with
Adam was, but it was made between God and God before the world
was. And the one who represented us
in that covenant is Jesus Christ, God's Son. As we saw this morning,
he is that one who stood before the Father as our representative
in whom we are blessed, by whose hands we have received eternal
salvation as a covenant surety and representative. He is described
in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 22 as the surety, the representative
of his people in an everlasting covenant. in that better covenant,
the covenant of his grace. In this everlasting covenant
of grace, the salvation of God's elect. Now listen to me. In the
covenant of grace, the salvation of God's elect was agreed upon,
wrought out, and accomplished by the oath and the purpose of
God before the world was made. I often have people want to argue
with me, and they'll come along and say, well, Do you believe
in eternal justification? I believe in an eternal justifier.
Do you believe in eternal redemption? I believe in an eternal redeemer.
Do you believe in an eternal salvation? I believe in an eternal
savior. Certainly I do. These things
were wrought out, purposed, decreed, and accomplished in the person
of Jesus Christ before ever the world was made. Before it was
made, I'll show it to you from the word of God. Turn to the
book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. Verse 18, we're redeemed not
with corruptible things as silver and gold, but by the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot. Look
at verse 20, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you. He was foreordained
in God's heart, mind, and purpose. Jesus Christ was slain before
the world was. So, well, that doesn't count
for anything. God counted it with Abraham. Abraham took his
son to Mount Moriah and killed him. He killed him. No, he didn't kill him. Yes,
he did. He didn't draw his blood. No, but he killed him. For in
his heart he had already killed him. In his heart he had already
made the sacrifice to God. And God said Murley killed him.
God said so. God did that with his son. Turn
over to Revelation 13. Revelation chapter 13 and verse
8. Tells us about those that dwell
upon the earth and worship him. Worship the beast and the false
prophet whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb,
look at it now, slain from the foundation of the world. Yes, Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, the Lamb of God was slain before the world was made. in
the mind and the purpose and the decree of God. He was slain. Justice was satisfied. Sins were
put away. Atonement was made. God was honored. All things were done for God's
elect before ever the world was made. How can you be sure of
that? Were that not the case? Were
it not for this fact that Christ Jesus, before the world was,
stood as our Redeemer, our intercessor, our surety, our covenant head
and representative, having fulfilled all things in the mind and decree
of God, then when Adam sinned, God would have destroyed the
world. When Adam transgressed, if there had not been an atonement
already made, God in his holiness must have destroyed the world.
But because there was already an atonement made in the mind
and purpose of God, the race of man stood and God's elect
are born in this world and they are brought to faith in Christ
Jesus and brought into glory because this was purpose, it
was accomplished before the world was. You read in the book of
Romans, chapter 8, and the apostle Paul will tell you that in the
purpose of God, we are predestined, we are called, we are justified,
we are glorified, and he puts it all in the past tense. Those
whom he foreknew, those whom he knew by way of covenant love. He called and He justified and
He glorified. It's already done. It's already
done. I'm not getting that across to
you. What I'm telling you is there's not any question mark.
There's not any question mark. There's not any possibility.
There's not even the slightest remote possibility that ever
was for whom that covenant was made. shall fail to attain eternal
glory. They're not the slightest possibility
because the covenant is the guarantee of the salvation of God's elect.
Indeed, as we read in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9, it was already
accomplished before the world was made. In time, this covenant
of grace made in God's eternal purpose was ratified It was fulfilled
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the place of his people. And all the blessings and promises
of this covenant are sealed to the hearts of God's children
by the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not seal us into
the covenant of grace. The Spirit of God is the seal
of the divine covenant. Circumcision in the Old Testament
represented the cutting away of the foreskin of the flesh.
It did not represent the foreshadowing of baptism. It represented the
Spirit of God coming and regenerating power and giving dead sinners
life, bringing to our hearts. All the sure mercies of David,
all the blessings of Abraham, all the covenant blessings of
God promised before the world was. As the rainbow is an emblem
of mercy, peace, and reconciliation in God toward man, after he had
once destroyed the world by a flood, so the covenant of grace is a
covenant of mercy and peace. It comes from the God of mercy.
It is full of God's mercy, and it provides abundant mercy, peace,
and reconciliation for sinners through the blood of Christ.
Secondly, the rainbow is the security of the world. I've already
hinted at this, so I'll just be brief. When God set his bow in the sky,
he said, Look at that bow and be assured I'll never do this
again. I'll never do it again. I can
almost picture old Noah. First thunderstorm came up after
the flood. I suspect probably Noah was a
fairly smart man. I imagine he probably busted
the ark up, burned the wood. If anybody ever found it, some
fool would make a shrine out of it, bow down and worship multiple
sacrifices on it. But the ark was gone. And the
thunder began to roll, and the lightning began to flash, and
the rain began to fall. And Noah and his sons, and everybody
came running to Noah. And he said, do you see the bow
in the sky? No need to fret. No need to fret. God said he wouldn't do it again.
I believe him. I believe him. That bow is the
security of the world. Now listen to this. It is God's
covenant that holds back the hand of his justice and keeps
him from destroying this earth and all of its inhabitants. Why
is it that God is long-suffering and patient and tolerant with
the ungodliness that we see all around us? Why is it that God
in heaven will tolerate men upon the earth blaspheming his name?
Why is it that God in heaven doesn't speak in mighty judgment
and rid this world of his adversaries all at once? Why not? Is it because
there's no will in God to punish sin? No. Is it because God is
not angry with the wicked? No. Why then? What holds back
the hand of God's wrath? It is His covenant. It's His
covenant. Let me try to get it down where we
left it. Mabiestus, for the world was
made, Jesus Christ, made a covenant in your name. He promised not
only to redeem you, but to call you by his spirit, make you righteous
in his sight. He promised to do it. If he killed
Adam, he couldn't have done it. If he had destroyed your mother
and daddy, he couldn't have done it. If he had destroyed that
lady before you met her and you hadn't been brought here to hear
this word, he couldn't have done it. Do you see what I'm saying? It is
that covenant that God made on your behalf before the world
was that preserves the rebels in this world because God is
long-suffering to us not willing that any of his covenant people
should perish but that every one of them should come to repentance
and the knowledge of the truth. You have another illustration
in Lot. There's Lot down in Sodom. God said to his angels, go down
and get Lot out of Sodom. Why? Because I can't judge that
city till Lot's removed. I can't judge that city until
the righteous is redeemed. I can't judge that city till
my covenant one is brought out. And I'm telling you that when
God has brought the last covenant child, When he's brought the
last elect member of the covenant to faith in Christ Jesus, when
he saved his last, then judgment shall fall on this earth. Until
then, God preserves this world for the sake of his covenant
people. That's what's holding this world
together. That's what's holding it together. Preacher, you act like normal
folks. God cares for His covenant people. I'll get to that in a
minute. Above all else, it is the firm and everlasting covenant
of God's grace that secures the eternal salvation of all God's
elect. Why do you believe in eternal
security? Well, there are lots of reasons. Number one reason,
because I believe in the immutability of God's covenant. the immutability
of God's covenant. God made a covenant with me and
for me in Christ. God will not alter his covenant. He will not do it. We believe
in eternal security because we believe in the immutability and
faithfulness of God toward the covenant. God is faithful to
His covenant. God will honor His covenant.
God will keep His covenant. And God's faithfulness to His
covenant is not in any way dependent upon the faithfulness of His
people in time. Not in any way. We read it in
Psalm 89 just a little bit ago. He said, if they sin, I'll chase
them. I'll visit them with stripes
and with the rod. Nevertheless, nevertheless, I'll not alter
my covenant. I'll not destroy them. In Ezekiel
16, you read there how that God came and mercy. He found us when
we were naked, polluted, dead in our sins. He spread his skirt
over us and he said, live. And he decked us with rich ornaments,
and he put a bracelet on our hand, and earrings in our ears,
and a necklace around our neck, and he clothed us with his beauty. He caused our renown to go forth
with the beauty that he had put upon us. And still we sinned
against him. He said, but I'll remember my
covenant. I'll remember my covenant. And when I do, you'll remember
it too. You'll remember it too. Do you
mean to tell me that it's not possible for a child of God to
send away his salvation? Sure, I mean to tell you that.
Sure, I do. I know people scared to death
of that kind of doctrine. They say, well, preach that folks
and they'll go out and live like hell. Most people I know do anyway. But God's people don't. God's
people don't. I'll tell you what it causes
me to do. It causes me to turn to my God and cry, Oh Lord God,
faithful covenant keeping God, make my heart faithful to you.
Make my soul to be knit to Christ as his soul is knit to me. Make my heart to be knit to the
living God as his heart is knit to me. That's what it does. That's
what it does. Here's a third thing. The rainbow,
as John describes it, completely encircles the throne. It completely
encircles the throne. What does that mean? The throne,
you remember, is the emblem of God's sovereignty, His dominion
and His power. The rainbow round about the throne
tells us that God's sovereignty is bound, hedged about, and limited
by his covenant. In other words, God cannot and
God will not do anything contrary to or inconsistent with his covenant. He can't lie. He can't lie, and
what he has sworn, he will do. What he has declared, he will
accomplish. He cannot and he will not do
anything contrary to or inconsistent with that covenant. God has bound
himself to his covenant. Let me give you three things
here. First of all, since the covenant circles the throne,
Since the rainbow circles the throne, God always sees the covenant. He always sees the covenant.
He's always mindful of his covenant. The psalmist said he will ever
be mindful of his covenant. No matter which way he turns,
the covenant is always before his eyes. God certainly remembers
the covenant for good to his people. and he constantly is
compelled to do so for his circles the throne. God faithfully keeps
his covenant. No matter how he turns to come
to his people, he comes to us by way of the covenant. No matter
what he does, he is fulfilling the covenant. The covenant, the
rainbow circles his throne. Secondly, the fact that this
rainbow encircles the throne suggests that no man can come
to God except through the covenant. That's the only way you can get
to it. If you read the fourth chapter of Revelation here again, strip away the rainbow and all you have is the throne. The dazzling brilliance and brightness
of the glory of God. which no man can approach him
to. That brightness of our God, which
is a consuming fire. Strip away the rainbow and no
man can approach that God. He would consume any that draw
near to him. But with that rainbow round about
the throne, that same God is an inviting God. Sinners can
approach Him. They can approach God in the
covenant by a new and living way. By the blood of the everlasting
covenant. That's what the blood of Christ
is called in Hebrews 13 20. We could never draw near to God
with our own works. Never. I know people say they
believe that. Most folks don't. Most folks
still think their works do count for something before God. Cain tried to draw near to God
with his works. My friend, God will not accept
your works, no matter how sincere they are, no matter how costly
they are, no matter how regularly performed they are. no matter
how highly commended they are by me, or no matter how good
they make you feel, God looks on your works as nothing but
a discarded minstrel's cloth, filthy rags, a stitch in his
sight. God's wrath is kindled by your
goodness. His anger is vented against your
righteousness. You can't draw near to God with
your works. How do you expect to please a holy God? We cannot
ever draw near to God with the strange fire of our religious
deeds and our religious sacrifices and our religious ceremonies.
People think they come to God, come near God, when they go through their little
religious rituals and little religious ceremonies. I don't
care what it is. I don't care what it is, we're
about to observe the Lord's table, a blessed ordinance of Christ
Jesus to his church. But I want to tell you something.
If you think that by that bread and wine you automatically have
some kind of a near close relationship with God, you're eating it in
idolatry. In idolatry, nothing else but
idolatry. You read your Bible and you think
that by reading your Bible and going through your religious
devotions in the morning, you automatically gain some merit
and favor with God. You're doing nothing but trying
to draw near to God with strange fire. It's idolatry and God kills
idolatrous. How then can a sinful man approach
a holy God? Through a covenant. Through a
covenant. That's how. You see, we draw
near to God. on the basis of the covenant,
pleading the merits of Christ's righteousness and shed blood.
We come to God in the covenant name, Jesus Christ. The password
into God's presence is Christ. That's how we get to Him. That's
how we get to Him. We come and offer prayer in Jesus' name. What does that mean? There's
a whole lot more than just tacking the name of Jesus on the end
of your prayers. It means that you come before God with a conscious
awareness in your heart that you have no right to be there
except through Christ's blood and righteousness. And that through
His blood and righteousness, you have every right to be there.
Do you see that? We've come here tonight, I hope,
I believe, I trust, gathered in Christ's name We've come here
to worship God in the name of Christ. Lord, God, receive our
worship, not because our worship is fit for your reception, not
because our songs are fit for your ears, or our prayers are
fit for your acceptance, or this preaching is fit for you to honor
it, but receive our worship because Christ is fit, Christ is worthy,
and we trust Him. We're saved in Jesus' name. We're
saved trusting his blood for all our cleansing from sin, for
all our pardon, for all our atonement, and we're saved trusting his
righteousness for all our righteousness before God. And the fact that
this rainbow encircles the throne of God tells us that God's government
of the world is determined by and is in exact agreement with
the covenant of grace. Now that's how you interpret
Romans 8, 28. Turn over there and look. Romans
chapter 8, verse 28. We know that all things, what
does that include? Well, you name it. You name it. And what you can't name, it still
includes that. All things work together like
a huge piece of machinery for good, eternal spiritual good. Not to everybody, but to them
that love God, to them who are the call. Now how is it, how
is it that all things work together for good? to God's elect according
to His purpose. You'd spell it another way, Lindsay.
C-O-V-E-N-A-N-D. According to His covenant. According to His covenant. In all the great events of providence,
God is simply fulfilling His covenant. That's what he's doing. I read in the Word of God about a lot of nations. There was Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,
Greece, and Rome. But all of those nations came
across the stage like so many pieces of scenery. That's all. The purpose of everything was
God's elect mission. Everything was done for God's
chosen people, his church, his kingdom. In the Old Testament,
the nation of Israel. Go through that book and come
to this day, you're talking about the whole Israel of God, the
whole church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those nations Egypt to
Syria, Babylon and Greece. They arose and they were toppled
down. Like background settings. Their pomp, their grandeur, their
wealth, their power, all were just accessories. Just accessories. You know why Egypt was so rich?
So those Jews could take their earrings. That's why they're
so rich. Because God required them to
have something to build that temple with and all the ornaments
of the temple. Why is it that God allows these
nations to rise and fall with such insignificance? Just insignificance. Egypt's gone, so what? Assyria's gone, so what? Great Babylon is gone. So what? It's insignificant. It's meaningless. It's trivial.
Trivial? Yeah, trivial in God's eyes.
Trivial in the eyes of this book. Because you see, the central
figure is Israel. God's elect nation, His church. The rest of the nations are nothing
but props. Scaffolding. They are gardeners
for the Lord's vineyard, nothing more, nothing more. God has chosen Jacob for his
portion. And the only concern of God's
heart is for Jacob, for Jacob. He does everything for Jacob. He honors Jacob. He chooses Jacob. He preserves Jacob. He gives
nations for Jacob. He preserves Jacob. I am the
Lord, the Lord of the covenant. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob, tricky, conniving, deceitful, scoundrel, but chosen
of God and precious, you're not consumed. Because I change not. I change not. I fully agree with
this statement by Spurgeon. He said, I believe that when
kings and potentates meet in the cabinet chamber and consult
together according to their own ambitions, a counselor whom they
never see pulls the strings and they are only his puppets. Well, preacher, I don't like
being reduced to nothing but a puppet. Well, I'm sorry, you
don't like that. That's the way it is. That's
the way it is. You are in the hands of a sovereign
God, and I am too. And he does with the nations
what he will for Jacob. What's going on with this nuclear
weapons acceleration? What's going on in Iran and Iraq? What's going on in Afghanistan
and Moscow? What's going on in South America
and Africa? What on earth is going on? God's
gathering his elect. That's what's going on. He's
calling his redeemed ones. That's what's going on. He's
arranging it so that everyone named in the covenant shall be
with him when the covenant finally is tallied on the other side. When you read your newspapers,
you can read them with some peace if you read them that way. God's
ruling this world. And what's true of the great
momentous events of providence? is equally true of all the minute,
small details of everyday life. The promise of the covenant is
surely blessing, I will bless thee. And God always does. He always does. I think I've
told you before, when I was in West Virginia,
there was a businessman nearby us I used to do a good bit of
business with, mostly because I bought used cars from him and
I had to take them back and get them repaired. But he got a little
religion after I'd been there a while. Well, he got a pretty
good dose of religion, but it was just religion, Arminian free
will junk. And he used to say to me, he'd
say, well, Don, may the Lord bless you. And I would say to
him, Bob, he has, he is, and he shall. That's his promise. That's his promise. I don't always
perceive it. I don't always perceive it. That's
my fault. I don't always sense it. And
I don't always act like it. But Merle, he always blesses
me. Always. You mean in everything? That's what he said. That's what
he said. David recognized that. He said,
although my house be not so with God. There's Absalom. What father could take comfort
in such a son as that? I sure messed up with him. There's
Amnon. Boy, he's a reproach to his daddy's
name. There's Tamar. Bathsheba, no
comfort for me in my house, no comfort to be found. Yet God has made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and And this is all my salvation
and all my desire, although he makes it not to grow. Even when
I can't see him doing anything by it, this is what he said.
This is all I want. It's all I trust. It's all I
lean on. It's all I expect. It's all I
need. God blesses his own according
to the tenor of the covenant. and brought into temptation. But he promised he will, with
the temptation, make a way to escape so that I may be able
to bear it. Oh, but pastor, I fall in temptation. He promised that if you fall,
he'll raise you up seven times in a day. Oh, but what about
my afflictions, my heavy afflictions? heartaches and the trials and
the difficulties of this life. Did he not declare in the covenant
I've chosen you in the furnace of affliction? I refined you
as silver is refined and fried you with the fire. But there's so much apparent desertion of my soul
so that I made to cry like David, how long, O Lord, how long? Will you be angry forever? Will
you cast off forever? I read the word and my heart
is so cold and I pray and my prayers are nothing but words.
I groan unto God and my groans are nothing but selfish sighs. Did he not also promise in the
covenant as many as I love I rebuke and chasten? Did he not? He's
faithful to his covenant. There's a rainbow round about
the throne. Let that throne decree whatever
it may. Let that throne decree whatever
it may. The decree shall never run contrary
to the covenant of his law. Never. Never. Even when I am most distressed,
And when my circumstances in life seemed most perplexing and
most contrary in my mind to what they ought to be, David looked at the prosperity
of the wicked and he said, man, that's almost too much for me
to bear. You know how he began that psalm?
That psalm of terrible depression and despair and that psalm of
terrible conflict with his fleshly unbelief. You know how he began
it? He began it with these words of assurance. Truly, God is good
to Israel. Truly, God is good to Israel. And I'm telling you, my friend,
there's a covenant, a rainbow round about that throne of God's
sovereign dominion that makes me to know at all times truly,
God is good to Israel, always, always. And by that, I read and
interpret what he does in Providence. This covenant, symbolized by the rainbow, is
pictured by John as encircling the throne declaring to us that
God's rule of the world is by a covenant. I had a couple of
other things to say. Let me just wrap it up. Be sure you understand the covenant of which this rainbow is an emblem. In understanding the gospel of
God's grace, you've got to come to grip with
this thing we're covering. God saves sinners altogether without
their works. Altogether without their works. And God saves sinners altogether
by a substitute. a covenant surety, a federal
head, Jesus Christ our Lord. His obedience, his sacrifice
is our only hope before God. I would urge you, children of
God, ask God to give you a constant regard to the covenant. Even if we can get our eyes,
the eyes of our hearts and souls fixed on this covenant, It'd
do away with our despair. It'd do away with our depression.
It'd do away with our doubting and our fear. It'd do away with
our uneasiness in this world. Ask God to give you grace so
that you may draw comfort from the covenant. I want at all times
to be like David on his deathbed and cry, although my house be
not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant.
ordered in all things insure and this is all my salvation
and all my desire. God help you never, never, never,
oh Don Fortner never be so base, so terribly base as to speak
evil of God, murmuring against his providence, murmuring against
In His rule of this world, He rules it by His covenant love
for you and me. Amen. Lindsay, come lead us in
the hymn, will you?