I don't reckon we've had a hand
raised in this auditorium in a long time, so I believe we
ought to have one. This is for my information now,
because I'm going back and repeat something that I gave this morning
if I have enough demand. So now be honest. This is not
to find out where you were this morning, but everybody who was
not here this morning, raise your hand. I'm serious. I want
to say, okay, I'll have to repeat that message. I'm going to bring
out some things that I brought out this morning in order to
pave the way for tonight's message, since many of you did not hear
the message this morning. Now, turn to Isaiah 55. That's
our text. Isaiah 55, and I'm not going
to preach the whole thing. Now, don't be frightened. Somebody
said, let's go get a hamburger while he preaches that. But I'm
just going to give some things that we need to know. And I will
say this, I will say that three or four
things that I'm going to bring out tonight are the foundation and rock-bed
truth of salvation. I'm going to bring out some things
that, what I brought out this morning and again tonight, that's
the difference between knowing God and having a false God, being
saved and being religious, though unsaved. That's right, Isaiah
55, verse 3, so I'm dead serious about this. This is exactly what
I believe. The last line of verse 3, Isaiah
55, God said, and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure, certain, definite
mercies, mercies, not what you earn, mercies of David, man after
my heart. David, the type of Christ. Now,
as I said this morning, the word covenant, here's the first truth,
just briefly, appears in the Bible over 250 times, the word
covenant. I'm not asking you to go to seed
on a covenant and neglect responsibility and neglect all these things
that God commands, giving yourself over to the study of the covenant.
But I do tell you this, our God is a covenant God. And a word
used that many times in the Bible would bear study. He made a covenant
with Noah. He made a covenant with David.
He made a covenant with Abraham. Just keep on covenant. Well,
there are two covenants with which you and I are mainly concerned. The first covenant, that first
covenant, we're vitally involved in. You and I are vitally involved
in this first covenant. We're affected by this first
covenant. It's called the covenant of works which God made with
Adam. And it's summed up in four words,
this, do, and live. That's the covenant of works.
God said, Adam, this, do, and live. Do this and die. That's where it is. It's still
there, summed up in those four words. That's the covenant of
works. It was made with a creature, it was doomed to failure from
the start because the creature is a failing creature. He's failed
under every dispensation. The angels fail, man fail, Noah
fail, David fail, Solomon fail, the disciples fail under every
dispensation. The creature has failed. That
covenant failed because man did not keep God's commandments.
It was doomed to failure. And the covenant of works is
broken. It has nothing for me and for
you except one thing, condemnation. If you look to it, condemnation. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
That's all. That covenant says the soul that
sinneth shall die. Be sure your sins will find you
out. The wages of sin is death." Now, so I say this, roll up that
old covenant and cast it aside. Whether it be one word to Adam,
tree, whether it be ten words to Moses, thou shalt not, or
whether it be the hundreds of commandments to Israel, just
roll up the old covenant. There's nothing in it for you
but condemnation. You won't find a glimmer of hope.
By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. By the deeds of the law, no man
is justified by the law or by works in the sight of God. It
is evident. That's what the scripture says.
So forget it. It was given. It served its time. It failed. It has nothing for
us but condemnation. By the law is the knowledge of
sin, not cleansing. All right, God says, I will make
another covenant. I will make an everlasting covenant.
Now, I want part in this one. And let me just tell you briefly,
it's a covenant of grace, not of works. It's a covenant for
the unworthy, not the worthy. He said, I've come not to call
the righteous, but sinners. It's an unconditional covenant.
There's not one condition in that covenant for me to meet.
They've all been met by Christ. I'm talking about the covenant.
And then it's an everlasting covenant. It'll never be revoked.
It'll never be broken because it wasn't made with you. It was
made with Christ on your behalf. It'll never be broken. The first
covenant was broken. It failed. It's ordered in all
things that God didn't leave one speck, not one jot or one
tittle to be fulfilled by one person other than Christ. I'm
saying back before the world began that God made a covenant
with his Son. It's called an everlasting covenant.
He's called the surety of the everlasting covenant. His blood
is called the blood of the everlasting covenant. It's called a new covenant
because it's newly revealed. But it's really the first covenant.
It's the oldest covenant, and as far as we're concerned, our
salvation is concerned, it's the only covenant. It's ordered
in all things, and it's filled with the sure mercies of David.
Now, what's this? In the Scripture, there's just
two men considered, really. That's just true. I know we're
responsible, living, accountable, morally responsible men and women.
But I'm simply saying that God has dealt with us on the basis
of representation, on the basis of federal headship. The Bible
tells us this. Turn to Romans 5. This old covenant,
the covenant of works, was made with Adam. God spoke to Adam. God didn't come down here and
speak to every one of us individually. He spoke to Adam. Adam was created
holy. He was created upright. He was
created in the image of God. He was created without sin. And
God said, Adam, you're a king, but I'm the king of kings. Adam,
you're a prince, but I'm the eternal prince. Adam, you're
a strong man, but I'm almighty. Adam, you're to leave alone that
particular tree. Have any other tree, but that
one is a token of my sovereignty and your dependence upon me.
Don't touch it. Don't eat it, lest you die. Do
not. That's my covenant. As long as
you leave it alone, everything's all right." Adam said, yes, sir.
But he didn't leave it alone. And that covenant was destroyed.
And when that happened, death passed upon Adam. Death moved
into his veins, into his bones, into his soul, into his spirit,
into his heart, into his mind, and spiritual life went out.
He died. He became nothing but a fleshly
individual with no spiritual life, and every son born after
that is born the same way. It's exactly right. And death
passed upon Adam and his whole race. Now let me show you that
Romans 5 verse 12. Wherefore by one man sin entered
into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men
for that all sin. When Adam sinned, we sinned.
When Adam died, we died. When Adam fell under condemnation,
we fell under condemnation. Now that's so. And verse 17 says,
for by one man's offense death reigned. Verse 18, therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Verse 19, as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. My friends, how did sin come
into the world? Through one man. By that one
man's disobedience against God. By that one man breaking God's
covenant with him. And He stood for us and we stood
in Him. He represented us. He was the
head of a race. He was the head of a people.
He was the trunk. We are the branches and the twigs
and the acorns and the leaves. And when the trunk died, the
whole tree died. That's so. That's what Scripture
teaches. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Let
me show you that. 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15, verse 21. Now listen to this. For since by man came death. By man also came the resurrection
of the dead." There's two men. There's by man came death, by
man came life. For he says, as in Adam, all
die. All who identified with him,
associated with him, died. Even so in Christ shall all be
made alive. Okay, there we have the other
covenant. Almighty God made with Adam a covenant. And when he
made it with Adam, the whole human race was involved. Everybody
identified with Adam, everybody from Adam's loins, everybody
in Adam, everybody whom he represented. That's so. And when Adam, who
represented us when he fell, when he sinned against God, we
all were condemned. Unrighteousness and sin was charged,
reckoned, imputed, and imparted to the whole race. That's the
reason we're in this shape we're in. Man died, death passed upon
all men. Judgment, condemnation passed
upon all. What's this other covenant? God
said I'll make an everlasting covenant. Covenant, covenant,
covenant, covenant. A covenant with Christ before
the foundation of the world. God gave Christ to people and
he made a covenant with Christ. Now let me tell you something,
this covenant, you get the blessings and the benefits And all of the
good things of the covenant, but it wasn't made with you any
more than that first covenant of works was made with you, is
made with your father Adam. This second covenant is made
with Christ. And it's called the second covenant
because it's revealed secondly. It's called a new covenant because
it's revealed, newly revealed. That which is first is that which
is natural. That which is second is that
which is spiritual by way of revelation and manifestation. But by way of purpose and truth,
that which is spiritual is first. You see that? And then that which
is natural. So God made a covenant with Christ
and he gave him a people. And he made them their surety
and everything, all the stipulations of that everlasting covenant
of grace and mercy was made with Christ. And he came down here
into the world as a man born of a woman and walked this earth
and fulfilled all requirements and conditions of that covenant.
It's just like God saying to me, here I am a sinner, and he's
saying now, If you'll keep my law, be without sin, born without
sin, live without sin, walk without sin, think without sin, die without
sin, rise without sin, you'll live always. Well, I can't do
it, but Christ did. You see, and God made that covenant
with his Son, the second person of the Trinity. You say, explain
the Trinity. I can't. I just know that's what the Scripture
says. And his Son took upon himself the responsibility of a people.
Now let's read I Corinthians 15 before we leave there, and
this is what we're saying in I Corinthians 15, verses 21 and
22, "...by man came death, by the man Jesus Christ came the
resurrection. In Adam everybody in Adam died,
in Christ everybody in Christ to be made alive." Now look at
verse 46. Verse 45 of I Corinthians 15,
and so it is written, the first man-atom was made a living soul,
the last atom, that's Christ, was a quickening spirit. Howbeit
that was not first which was spiritual, first revealed, but
that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. The
first man-atom is of the earth, earthy, the second man is the
Lord from heaven. And as is the earthy, such are
they that are of Adam, earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. I turn
back to Romans 5, and this will sum up what I'm saying. Romans
chapter 5, beginning with verse 18. Now listen to this. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so,
by the righteousness of one, not of many, but of one, by the
disobedience of one, by the offense of one Adam, judgment, condemnation,
and wrath came upon all men. By the obedience of one, Jesus
Christ, the righteousness of God, the free gift came upon
all men in Christ to justification of life. Now look at the next
verse. For as by one man's disobedience,
that's Adam, it's obviously Adam, many, the many, somebody asked
me today, what is that many there? It's a word expressing a vast
number and it's a word expressing identification with the one about
whom he's talking. In other words, by the disobedience
of Adam, the many who were in Adam, the many who were affected
by Adam, the many who were involved with Adam were made sinners.
They became sinners by one man's disobedience. Now watch the next
line. So by the obedience of one, by the
disobedience of one, the many were made sinners. So by the
obedience of one, shall many, the many involved with him, identified
with him, the many of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto
heaven, the many shall be made..." You know what righteous means?
It means holy. It means without sin. And I'm
saying this. I'm saying that I'm aware that
we're living, accountable, morally responsible men and women, that
rebellion will be punished and faith will be rewarded, that
God commandeth all men everywhere to repent, that we're called
upon to believe on Christ, and a man will not be saved who does
not believe on Christ, but I'm saying that our justification
before God, the putting away of our sins, was accomplished
by Jesus Christ. It was an arrangement between
the Father and His Son. It was a covenant made between
the Father and the Son in which the Son would assume all of my
responsibilities, assume all of my obligations, assume all
my debts, take upon himself all my sin, and fully, completely,
infinitely pay for them. And Christ cried, it's finished,
and that means the work's done. And I'm saying as far as my redemption
is concerned, the redemption from sin, the redemption before
God. I know every preacher in the
United States preaches that Christ died on the cross, that he was
buried, some of them preach he rose again. They all talk about
the blood and the payment of sin. But what I'm asking is this. I'm asking when Jesus Christ
came down here in the flesh and went to that cross and died,
Before whom and toward whom? And on whose account was he making
that sin offering? Now, that's a serious question.
A lot of people say he died as an example. Some people say he
died as a martyr. Some people say he died as a
reformer. Some people say he died as a
payment. I'm saying this, that when Jesus Christ took those
sins in his body on the tree, he died toward God. He died on
the behalf of God's justice. He died under the afflicting
hand of God's wrath. He died to fully, effectually,
sufficiently pay for the sins of all people for whom he bore
their sins and died. And that debt, God was satisfied. And as far as we're concerned,
we are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. And that was
the fulfillment of the covenant. As far as my sanctification is
concerned, that I am sanctified. What does the word sanctified
mean? It means set apart. It's set apart as belonging to
God, set apart for a holy purpose, sanctified, made righteous, made
holy, regarded as righteous. I'm saying that I am sanctified
fully, wholly, and completely in Christ. It cannot be progressively
changed because if it is, it's imperfect. If it can't. There's no way that I can become
more sanctified before God than I am right now. No way in the
world. Because Christ is my sanctification. Now, I can grow in grace, I can
grow in love, I can grow in faith, I can grow in patience, I can
grow in humility, I can grow in these things as far as the
the human body's concern and my relationship with others.
But Jesus Christ, as my representative, fully, completely sanctified
me, justified me, redeemed me before God. That's the reason
that the thief on the cross could go from the cross to glory without
any progressive sanctification. It doesn't matter if a man's
saved and lives a hundred years, or if a man's saved and lives
five seconds. Christ is our redemption. Now so, Joe, we're redeemed. We're sanctified. We're justified. And here's the thing. God cannot,
as far as God is concerned, one offense is to be guilty the whole
lot. One stain is to be cast away
from the presence of God. One, just one mistake. erring
in one point. So in order for us to be received
by God, for us to be seated on the right hand of God, for us
to enter within the veil, for us to have communion with God,
because sons of God, we've got to be perfect as God's son. And that's what he did in the
covenant. That's exactly what he did. Now then, let me show
you that 1 Corinthians 1.30. Look at this just a moment. 1
Corinthians 1.30. 1 Corinthians 1 30 what but of
him are you in Christ Jesus who of God this is all of God is
made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption
that according as it is written he that glorieth let him glory
in the Lord my friends the old covenant roll it up and toss
it away has nothing for us that covenant of works is broken destroyed
and put away. He taketh away the first, and
he may establish the second. God's made with Christ an everlasting
covenant. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I'll lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one foal,
and there shall be one shepherd. They are redeemed by Christ.
Now then, What are these benefits and sure mercies of God, of David,
in the covenant? Turn to Jeremiah chapter 31,
first of all. Jeremiah 31. I'll give you three briefly from
this scripture, and then three briefly from another. What are
these sure mercies? What are these mercies of the
everlasting covenant that God works in us, that God gives to
us? All right, Jeremiah 31 verse
33. Now here, let's go back to verse
31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Now,
my friends, don't take that and give it to the Jew. See, Israel,
national Israel, is a type of spiritual Israel. And what God
says over here of national Israel, He's speaking of spiritual Israel,
speaking of us. And He says here, In verse 33,
this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. Now watch this, I'll
put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts
and I'll be their God and they'll be my people. Number one, the
sure mercies of David. God says I'll put my law, my
commandments, my truth in their inward parts and write it on
their hearts. We've had God's law on tables
of stone. Moses came down from the mountain
with them. People were carrying on something awful and he dashed
them to pieces. God's law written with the finger
of God himself and it didn't help this human race. Moses just broke them. And then we've had God's law
written on paper and parchment. God gave it from the Mount Sinai. Thou shalt not take the name
of God in vain. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image. Thou shalt not bow down before
any false god. Remember the Sabbath day. Honor
your father and brother on down the line. God gave that law.
It hadn't helped man much. What's he done with broken, every
one of them? He has a distaste for them. And then we have God's
law. We had it written, first of all,
on stone. They dashed it to pieces. We had it written on parchment
and paper. And then God said he wrote it
to some degree on every man's conscience. Isn't that right?
So that without excuse. Well, that hadn't accomplished
much either, has it? No, it hasn't. Well, what are
we going to do? I'll tell you what needs to be
done. And the only way that it can be accomplished And that
is for God, in saving grace, not to write this law on stone,
and not to write it on paper, and not to even put it on a man's
conscience, but write it on his heart so that he'll love it.
Now there's the difference. Write it on his heart so he'll
love it. Here's what I'm saying. I'm saying that the true believer,
if you talk about, thou shalt have no other God before me.
Now, if that's handed to a man as a rule, then he'll try to
keep it. He may not like it. He may want
to make a God out of his child. He may want to make a God out
of his wife. He may want to make a God out of his job. He may
want to make a God out of his house or a God out of something
else. And he'll have a real struggle, and he may suppress this desire
to have another God, but it's still there. But a man who loves
God and whose law is written on his heart, he doesn't want
any other God. He loves the one God. He delights
in God as he is. You see what I'm saying? And
even when it comes along and he feels that something in his
life is taking precedence, it's possible that it could. Something
moves into his life, he sees it taking precedence, and he
says, this ought not to be, and he pushes it down. He suppresses
it. All right, thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Here's a man who says,
well, I must not curse because I'm a Christian. I must not say
GD, I must not use the name Jesus Christ, I must not say God's
name, I swear by God Almighty, things like this, because I've
got to clean up my mouth, I'm a Christian. A person who loves
God in his heart and whose law is written on his heart, he doesn't
want to take God's name in vain. You see what I'm trying to say?
There's a difference there. He loves the name of God. He
praises the name of God. He doesn't blame God for his
problems and blame God. He praises God. You see what
I'm saying, Mike? That's the difference. And you talk about
loving your father, I shall honor thy father and thy mother. Here's
a fellow who says, well, I'm a Christian, so I've got to keep
my parents up. You know, the church says we're
supposed to honor our parents, and so I'll have to give the
old lady a dollar every month, or the old man. See, that's no
good. A person who loves God and has
a new heart and a new nature, he loves his parents. He respects
them. He wants to care for them. You
don't have to enforce any rules on his part. You don't have to
put the Ten Commandments over here on the wall and say, honor
thy father and thy mother. All you kids honor your father
and your mother. They ain't going to do it unless they love them
in their hearts. unless God has given them a new
heart. That's the difference. You hand out your rules and regulations.
They're not worth that much. God wrote them himself. God wrote
them with his own finger, and they dashed them on the ground.
God gave them through the thunder and the lightning and the smoke,
and the people trembled and ran off, but they didn't run to him. You take loving your neighbors.
I shall not kill. We may rise up in our hearts
anger against someone in the heart of a child of God, but
he suppresses that because it's not glorifying to his God. He
may think for a moment, oh, that fellow did me, I'd just like
to... No, I don't want to wring his neck, I want God to bless
him. It's different, you see what I'm saying? And this is
the difference in the Pharisee, religionist, moralist, and a
true believer. The Pharisee has his rules and
regulations. You have to make him tithe, or
he won't give a dime. If you don't give him a rule,
if you don't give him a regulation, he won't know what to do. That's
right. He's got to have rules. He's
got to have laws. He's got to have guidelines.
He's got to have a road map because he's lost in this area. That's exactly right. But if
you're at home in this area, you don't need a road map. And
that's the reason you have to have all your church rules and
regulations and tell people what they can do and what they can't
do, and the preacher has to get up and tell them how long they
can wear their sleeves, how short they can wear their shorts, where
they can go to the show, where they can watch TV, what programs
to watch, and all these things, how to give. Now we've got to
have your tithes and your offerings, all that tommyrot. Let me tell
you something. God says in this new covenant,
of people whom I gave to Christ, for him he died, I'm going to
write my laws on their hearts. I'm going to write my commandments
on their hearts, and they're going to love them. They're going
to delight in them. You don't have to give them rules
and regulations because they love God. The believer is motivated
by love, and he desires the happiness and the well-being of others,
and he desires his God to be glorified, and he's generous,
and he's compassionate, and he's kind, and he's loving. No, he's
not perfect. Sure, he stumbles and falls,
but he regrets it, mourns over it, weeps over it, begs God's
forgiveness, picks up and goes on. That's so. And here's what I'm saying, here's
the critical difference. If you're one of those that have
to have the rules and regulations, if you've got to have them, you're
one of those who've missed Christ. You're a Pharisee, you're a moralist,
you're a religionist, and you've missed Christ. I'm just sure
of it, because God says, I'll write my law on their hearts,
They'll love each other. I've known professing religious
people, church members, to be so exact. They're just so critical. They wouldn't dare not miss paying
a bill, or they wouldn't dare welch on a contract of some kind. They're just so precise and so
exact. in their business dealings and
in their so-called honesty. They're real proud of their honesty
and proud of their morality and proud of their exactness and
proud of their precision. And they're the meanest people
in the home in the world. They're mean to their children,
they're mean to their neighbors, they're mean to their friends,
they're people with a bad spirit and a bad attitude and nobody
likes to be around them. You see, this is walking by a
rule, and this is walking by a law of love, if you love somebody.
There's a difference. I hope you understand what I'm
saying. He says, I'll put my law in their inward parts. The Pharisees. Our Lord said
you clean up the outside of the cup and you appear beautiful
to men, you're so exact. He said we're fast, we're tired,
we give on, we don't commit adultery, we're not extortioners, we're
not unjust. You're clean on the outside, but God said on the
inside you're mean. And mean as snakes. And cruel
and tight. And greedy and grasping. Boy, I'll tell you this this
is where it is. It's it's a it's a it's a law
written on the heart All right. Watch the second thing verse
34. I Could preach all night on that
one point, but that's it's this thing is a difference There's
a difference in religion based on rules and a salvation that's
born of grace and love All right, then secondly, he said, and they
won't teach every man his neighbor saying, know the Lord. They shall
all know me. They'll all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest. Every one of them will know me.
Now, my friends, men by nature do not know God. Men by religion
do not know God. Our Lord, they have a God, but
they don't know the living God. Turn to John 17.3. Let me show
you something. And I don't know I don't know
what I can do with this, and don't know whether I'll make
good on it, and those who know God will understand what I'm
saying, those who don't know God won't understand it. But
he says here in John 17, 3, this is eternal life, that they might
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent, that they might know thee, not just know a God, but the
living God, the only true God. Our Lord said to the religious
men of his day, you don't know me. You don't know me. These men knew the scriptures.
These men knew the laws. These men knew the ceremonies.
These men knew the religious rituals. These men knew the sacrifices. These men knew those things,
the theology, but they didn't know him. They weren't acquainted
with him. And he said, no man knoweth the
father save the son, and he to whom the son will reveal him.
And Paul's prayer was this, oh, that I may know him, that I may
know him. This is the question. Has God
revealed himself to us? Do we know God? Is God just to
us, is the living God, the living Lord, Is he just an image or an idol? Or does he dwell within us, a
living person? I know you, John. We're friends.
We know each other. We're friendly with one another.
We care about one another. We think about one another. We
communicate with one another. I know him. Do I know God? That's
what I'm asking. I believe if we know God, we'll
know the things that are of God. And this is what worries me about
folks who are always talking about, always giving credit to
some of these preachers that are not within spitting distance
of the gospel. And I have folks who watch those
fellows and they're not touching the gospel, topside, bottom,
or sideways. And I hear people say, well,
they're pretty good. They're saying some good things.
And I think, my friend, if you knew God, you'd know that's not
of God. if you knew God. Now, what I'm
saying is I know John House. I mean, you could come tell me
some ridiculous thing, and I say, that's not John. See what I'm
saying? That's not John. That's not his
way. You say, John, I saw John last
night, stone drunk, over there on 29th Street, roaring up and
down the street. No, that wasn't John. That wasn't John. See what I'm saying? Not of him. And this is the thing. Christ
said, they'll know me. They won't need somebody running
around saying, that's not of God, and this is of God, and
that's not of God. They'll know from the least to
the great. They'll know what's of God. You see what I'm touching
on? They'll know God. They'll recognize. The disciples said, show us the
Father. And the Lord said, if you've
seen me, you've seen God. You've seen God. All right, thirdly,
I'm going to move on. Those are two things. Back to
Jeremiah now, verse chapter 31. These are the sheer mercies of
David. These are the evidences of covenant
mercies. He said, I'm going to write my
law on the heart. I heard somebody say, well, if
I believe this grace stuff, I'd live like I want to. You know,
if I could live like I want to, I'd live totally without sin. If I could live like I want to. I wouldn't say another evil word,
I wouldn't think another evil thought, I wouldn't do another
evil deed, I'd be just like Jesus Christ. That's what I want to
do, don't you? And so the man that says that's
ignorant of the gospel. He doesn't know God, you see,
he doesn't know God. God doesn't whip his people in
line, his people are held in line by love and grace. Don't
know God. And then the third thing he says,
verse 34, and I will forgive their iniquity, I'll remember
their sins no more. Now brethren, turn to Hebrews
10. Hebrews 10. Now this is, I'll tell you, I
wish we could get some confidence in Christ. I'm a little troubled about folks
who who are presumptuous. I'm troubled about them, but
I'm a little troubled about folks who have no assurance at all.
They just never have any assurance. They never have any confidence.
They're always confident. They're always uptight, upset
about whether or not they're saved. Now, you listen to Hebrews
10 in connection with what I just read, verse 12. This man after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected,"
you can't get any better than that, perfected, how long? Forever, them that are sanctified. Well, the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us. If he dwells in us, he's a witness
to us, for after that he said before, this is the covenant,
and I just quoted this from Jeremiah, that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord, I'll put my law in their hearts, in
their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities
will I remember No more, no more. Now where remission of these
years, there's no more offering for sin. It's done. It's done. The debt is paid, the sin is
put away. Do you believe God? Then we ought
to have some confidence. And that's what he's saying to
us, the third thing. He says, I'll remember their
sins no more. I don't even remember them. I told Our class this morning,
I'll tell you one reason we have problems with this is we're not
able to forgive like that, we're human beings. And if somebody
does something wrong to us, we say, well, I buried it. I buried
it. Yeah, we buried it about that
deep. Just about that deep, out pretty close to the house. So
we can always go out and get that old skeleton up and rattle
it if we need to, if we really need it, you know. If something
ever comes up, we need to get back at that person, we can go,
we know right where it is. God says, I buried their sins
in the depths of the sea, and I'll remember them no more. Do you believe that? Then I'll
tell you, we ought to have some joy, instead of moaning around
and filled with doubts and fears. Whom are we doubting? He says,
I'll give them confidence. I'll remember their sins no more.
Let's look at two or three other things, and I'll quit. Back to
Jeremiah, chapter 32. I have confidence in my Christ.
I have confidence in my sin offering. I have confidence in my Lord.
You know, I think a lot of times, I have people do this. They'll
get in trouble. They'll get in trouble. And they'll
come running and say, well, maybe I'm not saved. Maybe I'm not
saved. And this bothers me because I
think, well, how were you saved before? Well, I was saved by
Christ. Well, how are you saved now?
Well, I'm saved by Christ in what I do. You see, the troubles
don't keep me from Christ. If I'm redeemed by Christ, my
sins, God remembers them no more. Now watch this, Jeremiah 32,
verse 38. And they will be my people. and
I'll be their God." Jeremiah 32, 38. They'll be my people
and I'll be their God. Can you comprehend that? Can
you embrace what that's saying? Sons of God. Sons of God. I have a son here in this congregation. I have a daughter, son-in-law
and a daughter-in-law, but in some peculiar, particular way,
this is my son. Some special, peculiar way. He
knows it. I know it. There's a relationship.
an airship, it's not going to be changed. And this is what
God has said, I'm going to be, they're going to be my people,
I'm going to be their God in a very peculiar, special way,
sons of God, heirs of God, never to be cut off. There's no way
he can ever cease to be my son. He could change his name, he
could change his habitation, he could change his looks, he
could change anything, he's my son. My blood's in his veins. And that same way of God's sons
and God's daughters, I'm God's son, ain't nobody going to change
it. That's what he said. I'm their God and they're my
people. That's it. And then the next
thing, listen to this. Now watch this. And I'll give
them one heart and one way. There's going to be a unity.
One heart and one way with God in Christ, and one heart and
one way with one another. They're going to love one another.
And I'll tell you this, John says it stronger than I can.
Let's turn over to 1 John 4. This is exactly what I want to
say. I hear all this division and
all this strife and all between professing Christians, and it's
almost a hatred. It's abusing one another and
misusing one another and slandering one another and criticizing one
another. dividing from one another. God
says in this new covenant, they're going to be one heart and one
way. They're going to be a unity of spirit and a unity of direction. That's exactly right. First John
4, listen. Beloved, verse 7, let us love
one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth not
God. That's clear as it can be said,
for God is love. And we can make, we can say,
but I believe on Jesus. The devil bleeds and trembles.
But there's a principle in the heart of love. Of love. He says here in Jeremiah 32,
I wish I could make it strong enough, they are of one heart
and one way. One way. And Christ said, I am
the way. the truth and the life, no man
cometh to the Father but by me. I'm saying wherever you find
one who is an object of that love and wherever you find one
who's redeemed by that grace and is a part of that covenant,
you're going to find a heart that blends and you're going
to find generally one direction, and that's the glory of God and
the gospel of God's grace. That's so. You're not going to
be one of these people in this covenant One talking about works,
one talking about grace, one talking about law, one talking
about love, one talking about Christ, one talking about man's
good deeds. No, sir, one heart. They love
each other. They don't agree on everything,
but they agree on this. They agree on who Christ is and
what Christ did and why he did it. And last of all, and I'll
quit with this, this next thing. He says in verse 40, this is
so good, and I'll make an everlasting covenant with them And I will
not turn away from them." You know, I hear people arguing about
once saved, always saved. That's the silliest argument
in the world. I used to do it. I was silly too. Still am pretty
silly, but sillier then. And they're arguing about once
in grace, always in grace. Let me tell you something. If
you ever understand covenant mercies, you won't have another
argument. You won't even have another discussion
on that point. Everybody in Adam is in Adam, born in Adam, died
in Adam, sinner in Adam. Everybody in Christ is in Christ,
redeemed in Christ, sanctified in Christ, accepted in Christ,
crucified in Christ, risen in Christ, seated in Christ, and
glorified in Christ. Ain't no way to get him out of
Christ. That's just so. And that's what he's saying here.
I'll make a covenant with them, and I will not, I will not turn
away from them. to do them good. But I'll put
my fear, now this is not a slavish fear, I'm scared of God, no,
it's a fear of sonship, it's a respect, it's an awe, a reverential
fear. I'll put that love, that fear,
that respect, that awe in their hearts. That's where, rather
than everything God does, he does in the heart. We do it on
paper. We write our constitutions, and
our bylaws, and our rules, and our regulations, and our boards,
and our committees, and all this junk that's plagued the churches
for years, and Almighty God, with one word from His Spirit,
does it in the heart, and all that's over with. I'll put it
in their hearts, and listen, and they'll never depart from
me.