the mercies of our covenant God. Paul wrote in the book of Acts,
chapter 13, the Lord said, I'll give you the sure mercies of
David. I'll give them to you. And God
has given them to us. And I address this congregation
as Paul addressed the church at Thessalonica. when he said,
I know you are the elect of God. I know that. I'm persuaded of
that. Because our gospel came unto
you not in word only, it came to you in power, in the Holy
Ghost and in much assurance. I know you're God's elect. Because
you became followers of the Lord and of his apostles. I know you're
God's elect, because you became examples in conduct and conversation
before those about you. And in other countries, you became
an example. Your faith is spoken of throughout
the whole world. I know you're God's elect, because
you became and are witnesses of the grace of God and of the
blood of the Lamb in all countries. Then the Apostle John wrote to
the early church and said this, I know, I'm persuaded that you've
passed from death unto life. I'm sure of that. You know why
I'm sure of that? He said because you love each other. That's right. That's the proof of it. That's
the evidence of it. You love Christ and you love
one another. Not only that, but the Son of
God has come and given you an understanding that you may know
him, the true God, Jesus Christ whom we have sent. And not only
that, but because you have an advocate with the Father, a mediator,
who is Jesus Christ, the righteous. I know you're God's elect. And I know you've passed from
death unto life. And I know it thoroughly because
the grace of God, the grace of God is real and sure to you and
for you, as sure and real as the throne of God. And because
the gospel of Jesus Christ is real to you, it's not just a
catechism or a confession of faith. It's a reality. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, has cleansed you from all sin and regenerated you by his Holy
Spirit and made you new creatures in Christ Jesus. And you can
sing. and say with David, the Lord's my shepherd, I shall not
walk. He leadeth me in prayers of righteousness
for his namesake. And surely, certainly, goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I know, we know whom
we have believed. We're persuaded that he's able
to keep that which we've committed to him against that day. And
we know, because he taught us that, all things work together
for good to them who love God, who are the call according to
his purpose. And that's why Paul wrote in
Acts 13, I'm sure, I'm persuaded that God will give you the sure
mercies of David. What are they? Alright, Ezekiel
36. Turn to Ezekiel 36. Now, this has not always been
the case. I want you to read first verse
16 of Ezekiel 36. This is what we were, children
of wrath even as others. In Ezekiel 36, 16, the word of
the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, when the house of
Israel dwelt in their own land, That is, they were delivered
from Egypt and then they went down into Canaan. What happened?
They defiled it by their own way and by their doings. Their
way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore
I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed
upon the land. This is what they were and what
we were. And for the idols wherewith they
had polluted the land. And I scattered them among the
heathen, and they were dispersed throughout the countries. According
to their way, according to their doings, I judged them. It's always
judgment before grace, you know that. I judged them, God said. And when they entered unto the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they
said to them, These are the people of the Lord and have gone forth
out of his land. Watch this now, verse 21. But
I had pity upon them. He had pity upon us, didn't he?
You know, Paul wrote over here, let me just turn and read it
to you. Paul said over here in Ephesians 2, he said, You hath
equipped them who were dead. in trespasses and sins, just
like Israel of old, dead in sins, profaned his name, walked our
own way. In times past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom we all had our behavior in times
past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our
flesh, and of the mind and And we're by nature, by birth, children
of wrath, just like those others, just like the heathen, children
of wrath. But verse 21, I had pity upon them. Why? Because they deserved it? No,
sir. Because they were worthy of it? No, sir. Like their fathers,
they profaned my name. But I had pity upon them I had
pity for my own holy namesake, for the house of Israel has profaned
among the heathen, whether they went. Therefore, say to the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, I will do this for your sake,
O house of Israel. Not for your sake. I will not
do this for your sake, because you deserve it, because you are
worthy of it. I will not do this for your sake.
I will do it for my holy I do it for the glory of my holy name.
You see, what God does eternally, spiritually, for his people is
not because we are worthy, or we deserve it, or we earn it,
because like our fathers we profane his name, but he does it for
his namesake. The Lord is speaking concerning
his holiness for his namesake. Turn to Psalm 106. Psalm 106,
listen to this. Psalm 106, verse 6-8. This is why the Lord showed mercy
to us, why we have the sheer mercies of David. In Psalm 106,
verse 6, listen. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We've done wickedly. And our
fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remember not the
multitude of thy mercies, but provoke him at the sea, even
the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he saved them. He saved us for his name's sake,
that he might make his mighty power to be known. That's the
reason. That's the reason. That's what
he's saying here. I'll show pity for my name's sake. I will do
this not for your sake. old house of Israel, but for
my holy namesake which you profane." Here is another scripture I want
you to look at, Isaiah 48. Isaiah 48, verses 9-11. Listen
to this. For my namesake will I defer
my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut you not
off. That's the reason. Behold, I
have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen you in
the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine
own sake will I do it. For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory
to another. Even so, father, it seemed good
in thy sight. Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and thou hast revealed them unto the babes.
Even so, father, it seemed good in thy sight." That's the reason. Look at verse 23. Consider this
carefully now. And I will sanctify my great
name. I will sanctify my name. I'm going to exalt my name, my
word, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned
in the midst of them. I'm going to magnify and exalt
my great name. I'll make my name to appear in
holiness. You know, Moses learned this
lesson in a harsh and disappointing way. God says, I will sanctify
my great name. And if you turn to the book of
Deuteronomy, chapter 32, and read how Moses learned this lesson
so well, for a lot of reasons, but nevertheless he learned it.
You remember at the smiting of the rock, when God gave water
to Israel? Well, the second time the Lord
said to Moses, speak to the rock. Speak to the rock. And Moses
was angry and he stood in front of the people and he said, must
I get water out of this rock for you? And he smoked the rock
in anger. And the Lord told him that he
would not enter Canaan. He would be able to get up on
the mountain and see it, but he'd never entered it. He would
never enter the land. Joshua would take him in, but
Moses after 120 years, died before he saw the Lamb. Why? He didn't
sanctify the name of God. Read this, Deuteronomy 32, verse
50. Deuteronomy 32, verse 50. You'll die in the mountain, die
in the mountain, whither thou goest up. You'll be gathered
unto the people, as even your brother died in Mount Hor. and
was gathered to the people, because you trespassed against me among
the children of Israel, at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in
the wilderness of Zin, because you sanctified me not. You sanctified not my name in
the midst of the children of Israel. And you, you'll see the
land, but you'll not go in it." And that's what the Lord's saying
here. God's greatness lies chiefly in his holiness, and he'll make
his name to appear in holiness, in reverence. Why? When I look at verse 23, the
last sentence, I'll sanctify my name, and the heathen shall
know that I'm the Lord, saith the Lord. when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes." I'm going to sanctify my people,
my elect believers. I'm going to sanctify them in
you before the eyes of the world. Can I make good on that? Turn
to John chapter 17, and I'll show you that I can. God's going
to elevate, exalt, magnify, sanctify his name in front of this whole
world one day, this whole universe, in his people, in his people. Let me show you that, John 17,
verse 20. Our Lord said, Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them which shall believe on thee through
their word. You're going to believe the gospel,
and you have and you do. But know that they all may be
one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
may also be one in us, that the world, that the world may believe
you sent me. And the glory which you gave
me and showered upon me, I've given them, showered upon them,
that they may be one even as we are. I in them, thou in me,
that they may be perfect in one, that the world, the heathen world,
the unbelieving world, the profane world may know that you sent
me and you've loved them just exactly as you've loved me. I'm going to sanctify my name.
And we better hear it, and better regard it, and better adore it,
and better stand in respect and awe before the name of our God,
because the day is coming when that name is going to be sanctified
and exalted above all things, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
in you, that the whole world may know that God sent him, the
whole world is going to know God sent him, and God loved you
just exactly as he loved him. That's just so. And then he begins
verse 24 with the word, I will. I will. I'm going to tell you
what I will do. What I will do. For you. You who believe. This is what
I'll do. I'm going to do it. I think about that when I read
this, I will, he says, I'll take you. I'll take you from among
the heathen. When I see that, I will, when
the Lord says, I will, I think about that leper. When our Lord
came down from the mountain and this leper ran to him and fell
down at his feet, a leper, unclean, doomed, damned, dying, and he fell at the feet of Christ
and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. If you
will, you can make me whole. clean. And our Lord said, I will
be thou clean. I will. I will. You know, James read this too.
James said, don't say we're going to town and go shopping, we're
going to town, buy this, we're going to work tomorrow, we're
going. You say the Lord willing, I'll go. The Lord willing, I
work. The Lord willing, I do this,
that, and the other, for your life's a vapor, and you only
live and move and work by the will of God. I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will,
I will. I will, listen, I'll take you from among the heathen.
I'll take you from all these countries. I'll gather you out
of all the countries. Here they are. many of them right here, taken
from all the countries, all walks of life, rich and poor, old and
young, male and female, etc., etc., etc. I've called the call
of Christ Jesus. I'll take you out of these places. I'll deliver you. I will. Turn back a couple of pages to
Ezekiel chapter 34. Listen to this. I love this scripture,
Ezekiel 34, verse 11. For thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I, I, even I, I will both search my sheep and seek them out, I'll
do it, my sheep, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the
day that he is among the sheep that are scattered. Scattered
we were, weren't we? Oh, how we were scattered. Say,
I will seek out my sheep and deliver them of all the places
where they've been scattered in that cloudy, dark day of sin
and death. And I'll bring them out from
all the people. I'll gather them from all the
countries. I'll bring them to their own land. And I'll feed
them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, in all the inhabitant
places. What is this, I'll bring them
to their land? Our Lord said to the disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, when I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and I'll receive you to myself. Where I am, there you may be
also. That's what he's saying. I'm going to take you from among
the profane and the heathen and the idolatrous and idolatry and
I'm going to gather you from all the country. I'm going to
bring you into your own land. And that's what I our patriarchs
and forefathers looked for. Let me read you about it over
here. I'll just find it and read it
to you. Listen. He said they desire a better country. That
is a heavenly country. Do you? I do. I know you do. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city,
that's what he said, I go to prepare a place for you, where
there be no tears, no pain, no death, no sorrow, and God will
be there, God will be his shelter. I'll gather you, I'll bring you
to your own land, and then look at verse 25. And Ezekiel 36, 25, I'll sprinkle
clean water on you. What is this water? It's water
and the blood, three that by record in heaven,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, three that by record
on earth, the Son, the water and the blood, the water and
the blood. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed, be for me from my sins a double
cure. Save from wrath and make me pure,
justified and sanctified. Save from wrath by the blood,
sanctified by the water. I'll sprinkle clean water on
you, clean water. And you shall be clean. The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. We are clean. And we are sanctified from all
our filthiness. Sin and sins. Not only our sins,
but why are we sinning? What I do is as important as why I do it. That's right, I'll cleanse you
from all your sin and all your filthiness. Not only your sins,
but your filthiness, that nature. And then I'll cleanse you from
your idols. That's what Paul said, he said
something about his idols. He said, what was gained to me
I counted lost for Christ. I count all things but lost for
the excellence and the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, all
my idols. And then look at verse 26, sure
mercies of David. I'm going to give you a new heart,
a new heart I'll give you. Now this right here, this is
the peculiar, the particular and the crowning feature of the
covenant of grace. This is the peculiar, particular
and crowning feature. of the covenant of grace, I'll
give you a new heart. I'll give you a new heart. The
religion of this world and the religion of works and the religion
of human merit doesn't begin on the inside, it begins on the
outside. God begins on the inside, giving
you a new heart. The religion of the world begins
on the outside. You're given a day to observe.
You're given a tithe to pay. You're given a place to go. You're
given a rule to obey. And you're given duties to perform
and just hope that it'll bear fruit inside. But it won't. But
God says He begins the work from within. You must be born again. Born from above. That which is
born of the Spirit is spirit, and God gives us a new heart,
a believing heart, an obedient heart, a loving heart, a new
heart that loves him and loves his
word, loves his will, and loves his people. We know we've passed
from death into life because we love the brethren. an obedient heart, a new heart
and a new spirit. That's what he said in verse
26. A new heart will I give you,
and I give you my spirit. I put my spirit in you. That's what Paul said about conversion. He said God who separated me
from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to
reveal his Son in me, not just to me, in me. And that's the
reason when the Lord said to Peter, do you love me? Peter didn't say, with my new
heart I love you, but with my heart of nature I hate you. No
way. No way. He said, Lord, you know
everything. You know I love you. Believers
don't hate God at any time in any way. They love Him. That's
right. A new heart I give you. A new
spirit I put within you. That's right. We're new creatures
in Christ Jesus. We have a new nature. Of course we battle and conflict
with the old nature, but we have a new nature. And watch this
next line now. The new heart I give you twenty-six.
I'll put my spirit within you. I'll take away that stony heart
out of your flesh. I'll take it away. We're not
only given something, we have some things taken away. I'll
take away that stony heart. A heart of stone. You know that's
a terrible description, but it's a description of every natural
heart. It's a heart of stone. And I'll tell you something about
that heart of stone. It's hard. It's hard. This new heart is flesh, it's
pliable. It's workable. But this heart
of stone is stony. And if you hit it, He'll come
back at you. You hit that stone, he'll bounce
right back at you and get even with you. That's the hardest
stone. You can soak it with tears. Soak it with tears. It may have
an effect for a moment. You can wet it good with tears,
but it'll dry up. And you'll never soften it with
tears. I don't care how much you cry. It's not only hard,
but it's cold. It's a cold heart. Build a fire
on it. Try it. It'll warm it. Not inside,
but outside. It'll warm it temporarily. But
oh, how quickly it gets cold again. It gets cold again so quickly. Stays hard, stays cold, and it's
dead. That old heart's dead. Speak
to it. It will not hear you. We know something about that,
don't we? We preachers speak, they don't hear. Cut it, it won't bleed. Teach
it, it will not learn. Threaten it, it won't respond. Try it, it won't respond. There's
nothing to be done with a cold, dead, hard heart but take it
out. That's what God ought to take
you out. I will take out of your flesh
that stony heart and give you a heart of flesh, a heart sensible
to sin, a heart to hear the Word and believe it, a heart to love
and worship God and give thanks, a heart to respond to the love
of others, to their heartaches, to their trials, to their need.
A heart to rest in Christ and long for his return. A heart
to glorify God. And verse 27, and I put my Spirit
within you, I put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
my statutes and keep my commandments. I want you to look at 1 John
4. This is a powerful lesson here,
1 John chapter 4. I will put my spirit within you
and you will, and cause you, I will cause you to walk in my
statutes. In 1 John 4 verse 4, Now you
are of God, little children. You're the elect. You're the
children of God. You're people He's had pity and sanctified
you and given you a new heart and taken that old soul to start.
You're of God, little children. You've overcome. Why have you
overcome? Because greater is He that's
in you than he that's in the world. What did the New Covenant
say? I will put my spirit within you. Greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. And because I put my spirit in
you, you walk in my way. You walk in my word. You walk
in my judgments and commandments. In verse 5 says this, they are
of the world. We're not of the world, we're
of God. They're of the world. And they think like the world,
and they act like the world, and they talk like the world,
and they live like the world. They're not overcomers. They're conformists. But they
are of the world. They speak of the world, and
the world hears them. But we are God, and he that knows
God hears us. He that is not of God hears us
not. This is the way you know the spirit of truth and the spirit
of error. I put my Spirit within you, and
you'll walk in my ways, and you'll keep my commandments, constrained
by his love, influenced by his Spirit, strengthened by his grace,
and what a covenant. Look at verse 28, and I close.
And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers.
This is the sure mercies of David. This is the mercies of the everlasting
covenant. This is the mercies of our covenant
God. You'll be my people. You will. You shall be my people. There's
no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You shall be my people. And I'll
be your God. What a heritage. What a covenant.
What an inheritance. I will and you will. I will, you will be my people,
and I will be your God. That's the sum and substance of the mercies of the covenant
God.