Let's look again tonight, if
you will, in Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah chapter 42, reading the
first eight verses. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth
judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he hath set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens, stretch them out, he that spread forth
the earth, and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. The Lord, I the Lord, have called
thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will keep thee
and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of
the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners
from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house. I am the Lord. That is my name. and my glory will I not give
to another, neither my praise to graven images." I brought
our message from these verses to Sunday Evening's past, and
I pointed out that in these verses we read three times that these
are the words of the Lord. These are the words of the Lord
God that is Jehovah. We see that in verse 5, Thus
saith God the Lord. We see this in verse 6, I the
Lord. And again in verse 8, I am the
Lord. And we recognize that this name
of the Lord is His name Jehovah. which reveals unto us his self-existence
and other things about him as well. And in these verses, we
saw that in the first few verses, he's speaking about someone.
He's speaking about someone. He's speaking about someone who
we see as his servant. And we saw who this servant is
and how the eternal son of God by coming into this world was
made the servant of Jehovah. And then in the last few verses,
he's not speaking about someone, he's speaking to this one, to
this one who he refers to as his servant. And I would just
point this out before I go any further. The passage begins,
behold, that's God Almighty. speaking to all men, behold my
servant. Men are commanded to behold the
servant of the Lord, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight,
I want to speak to us only from the Lord's words which he spoke
to his servant, that is Jesus Christ our Lord. In verse six,
when he said, I will give thee for a covenant of the people. Now last time, when I mentioned
those words, I just pointed out that this is the covenant of
grace, and the covenant of grace is all about Him, all about the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's servant. He is the messenger of the covenant,
He is a mediator of the covenant, he's the surety, and he is also
the testator of this covenant that is spoken of in this verse. And tonight, I want to divide
the message into three parts, but speak to us from these words. I will give thee for a covenant
of the people. The first division is, what is a covenant? That's important that we know
that, isn't it? When we hear that he is given
as a covenant for the people or of the people, it's important
that we know what a covenant is. If you look up the word covenant
in Marion Webster's dictionary, and I did, this is the definition
that you will find. And I quote, a usually formal,
solemn, and binding agreement, a compact, a contract, a marriage. When a man and woman unite in
marriage, this is a covenant. It is a covenant that the man
and the woman make one to the other. And it is a covenant between
two equals, called a covenant of equality. Well, obviously,
when God makes a covenant, He never enters into a covenant
of equality with man, because man is not equal to God. Husband
and wife, they are equals, but God enters into a covenant, but
it is not a covenant of equality. Now, I think it helps to understand
the meaning of the word as it regards God, in relation to God,
if we observe the way the Septuagint translators translated this Hebrew
word into Greek. You know, the Septuagint translation
of the Old Testament is the Hebrew translated into Greek. And I
think this took place for the Jews who were living basically
in Egypt about 250 years before Christ was born into this world
because they were being Hellenized, they were learning and speaking
Greek and so many of them didn't understand the Hebrew language.
And so the Old Testament scripture was translated into Greek and
it's been called the Septuagint translation. Now I heard when
I was in school years ago that it's called the Septuagint because
it was made by 70 men in 70 days. I'm not sure that's true any
longer. But it was made by authorities who knew both languages. But
the point is, they translated the Old Testament word, which
is here, translated covenant, with the Greek word, which actually
means put through. Put through. That's what the
Greek word actually means, literally means, that the Septuagint translators
use, put through. And the meaning, of course, is
the disposition of property by a will. And we're more familiar
with a man's last will or woman's last will and testament. Now in the New Testament, this
is, you know this, but as you read through the New Testament,
sometimes you read the word covenant. Sometimes you read the word testament.
Same Greek word. Same Greek word is translated
20 times covenant and 14 times testament. And we, I think most
of us all understand a man's last will, his testament. And
it is a contract. It is a contract that he has
made and he bequeaths He designates his property, how he wants it
to be divided. So that's the meaning of a covenant.
It's a contract. It's a compact. And the Lord
Jesus Christ here is given, God told him, I will give thee for
a covenant of the people. Now, the second thing, how were
these covenants usually made? In the Old Testament, how were
they made? And there's a lot of covenants in the Scripture.
Men made covenants with one another. How were covenants usually made
in the Scriptures? And I ask this because I think
it helps us to understand these words here. I will give thee
for a covenant of the people. Turn back with me to the book
of Genesis. And let's see how God made this
covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15 and beginning
with verse 7. I am the Lord, And he said unto him, that is
unto Abraham, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord
God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said
unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat
of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle
dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these,
now notice the word divided, and divided them in the midst. In other words, each one of these
animals, the heifer, the goat, and the ram are all divided. Abraham divided them, the birds
he did not divide, but the birds divided he not. And when the
fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And
when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram,
and lo and horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto
him, Abraham, know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom
they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come
out with great substance, and thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good
old age, but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again,
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Now notice,
and it came to pass, remember these animals are divided, and
it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, behold
a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those
pieces. In the same day the Lord made
a covenant with Abraham. unto thy seed have I given this
land. I pointed out that we should
notice especially the word divided in verse 10, and then we see
that this burning lamp, the burning lamp is an emblem of the majesty
of God, and this burning lamp passed between the two pieces. That's important. Because that's
the way covenants were generally made. The animal was cut in two
and men passed between them and that established the covenant. You see this very clearly. I
won't have you turn, but if you want to mark this down, Jeremiah
chapter 34 and verse 18. where the Lord says, and I will
give the man that have transgressed my covenant. Now, which, which
have not performed the words of the covenant, which they made
before me, when they cut the calf in twain and pass between
the parts thereof. That's the way generally these
covenants were made by dividing and passing between. That's the
way typically they were made in the Old Testament. Now, the
Lord tells his servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, I will give thee
for a covenant of the people. Now listen to our Lord's words
the night before he was crucified. He said, this is my blood of
the New Testament, the new covenant. which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. The Lord Jesus Christ ratified
this covenant by shedding his blood, which we know refers to
his death. What takes place when a man dies? What takes place? There's a division. The soul is divided from the
body in every death. There's a division. Even as these
covenants were made in the Old Testament among men, and even,
yes, with God with man, with Abraham, by cutting, making a
division and passing between. When the Lord Jesus Christ gave
His life, shed His blood, died upon the cross, He ratified this
covenant. I will give thee for a covenant
to the people. There was a division, that's
the point I want to make. There was a division by his death,
by the shedding of his blood, and that's the way covenants
were typically made. He said that day, Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said that, he gave
up or dismissed the ghost that is his soul. Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he immediately, when he commended his spirit into
the hands of God, his soul into the hands of God, he went to
heaven. You say, how do you know that?
Because he told that thief, today, he didn't just say, today you'll
be in paradise. He said, today thou shalt be
with me in paradise. He didn't go to hell. Don't ever,
don't ever believe that. He didn't go to hell, he went
to his father's bosom. What about his body? His body
went to the grave. If he went to hell, that's when
he went to hell, to Sheol, when he went into the grave, his body
in the grave. And there's that state is often
referred to as hell, when the body and soul are separated. But as far as the fires of hell,
that place that he spoke of, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of,
and told us about that rich man in Luke chapter 16 who died in
hell, lift up his eyes, being in torment. The Lord Jesus didn't
go there. He didn't go there. He experienced
hell hanging on the cross. And those for whom he died will
never go to hell, will never be punished for their sins. And
it's amazing sometimes that even people who profess to be believers,
they say, well, God must be punishing me for my sins. Not if you are
a child of God. Hear me now. Not if you are a
child of God. Christ suffered, he was punished
for your sins on the tree. And he satisfied God's justice. And God's justice will never
demand punishment twice. It will not demand punishment
first at our surety's hand and then again at ours. So I will
give thee for a covenant to the people. This is the way covenants
were made, by a division. And we know that he said, this
is my blood, this is the way this covenant, this covenant
that we are saved under, the covenant of grace, how it was
instituted by his death, by the separation, the division. of
his soul and his body. Now here's the third thing. I
want us to look tonight at four of the names that are given of
this covenant. Four of the names of this covenant
that God's messenger, the Lord Jesus Christ, ratified by his
death. And we're going to turn to four
of these places. I hope you'll turn with me. I
want us to go first to Hebrews chapter 13. One name of this
covenant is an everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant. We're only going to look at four
of these names, but there are more. There are more names of
this covenant. And we know it, and we like to
call it the covenant of grace. You say, why? Because it's all
about grace, that's why. It's all about the grace of God
that bring us salvation. But one of the names of this
covenant is everlasting. Here in Hebrews chapter 13, in
verse 20, we read, now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. This covenant is, according
to God's eternal, his everlasting purpose concerning the salvation
of his chosen people. It's a covenant of eternity.
And let me read a verse from, from Jeremiah. You may want to
turn back here to Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 40. And we say it is called
an everlasting covenant here as well. And Isaiah and Jeremiah
chapter 32 and verse 40. God said, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them. And 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, John Gill made this comment
about God making a covenant with them. You notice that word them
in that verse, I will make a covenant with them. Verse 40, and I will
make an everlasting covenant with them. And his comment was,
which is made known. That is this everlasting covenant
is made known and manifest at conversion. When God calls and,
and begins a work of grace in the heart of his chosen people,
this covenant is known and manifest unto them and in conversion when
the grace of it, the grace of this covenant is applied and
the blessings of this covenant bestowed and the promises of
it made good and therefore said to be made for otherwise the
covenant of grace here spoken of was made from all eternity
with Christ and His people in Him. It's an everlasting covenant. Yes, it was made with Christ
and all of His people in Him. An everlasting covenant. And
this is an everlasting covenant and that which is all wrapped
up in it is everlasting. An everlasting covenant. We receive
an everlasting righteousness. We receive everlasting life. We receive everlasting happiness
and glory and salvation. The mediator of this covenant
is himself everlasting, Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today,
and forever. So that's one name of this covenant. It is an everlasting covenant. Now I want you to turn to Malachi
chapter two. Here's another name. Malachi
chapter two and verse five. And this covenant here, the same
covenant, is called a covenant of life. Life. Malachi 2 and verse 5, my covenant
was with him of life. It is through the mediator of
this covenant that this life is granted. We lost life in our
federal head. Now there are two federal heads,
you know this, but remember there are two federal heads of all
men. The first is Adam. He represented
all men. And when he sinned, we fell in
Adam. We recognize that. There's another federal head
who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he represented us. All who were in Adam, which is
all men, we all died. But all who are in Christ, we're
all given life. Not just physical life, eternal
life, everlasting life. So in Christ shall all be made
alive. Thomas Brooks said, a man in
the covenant of grace had three degrees of life. The first in
this life, when Christ lives in him. Remember the apostle
Paul said, Christ in you, the hope of glory. The second, when
his body returns to the earth and his soul to God who gave
it. And third, at the end of the world, when body and soul
shall be reunited and enjoy God forever in heaven. It's a covenant of life. we receive everlasting, eternal
life because of this covenant that God made with Christ before
the foundation of the world and us in him as our federal head. Then, if you will, back in Isaiah
54, this covenant is also called a covenant of peace. I love this name, don't you?
I love all these names. But I love this name of peace.
I don't like to be out of sorts with anybody, do you? I love
peace. I love peace. I really do. And
I sure don't want to be at enmity with God. I've said this many times, but
that's a battle you're not going to win. If you're in enmity with
God, that's a fight you're not going to win. I don't care who
you are, where you are, when you live. Thank God there's a
covenant of peace. Isaiah 54 and verse 10. 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 on thee. The peace of this covenant is
the peace that we have with God. According to the Bible, that's
our standard, isn't it? I know people, a lot of people
that have never heard this, they don't believe it when they do
hear it. But I'm telling you on authority of the Word of God,
every person who is born into this world comes into this world
enmity with God, enemies of God. And because of this covenant
that God made with His people in Christ, we have peace with
God. We have peace. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. And it also includes not only
the peace we have with God, but the peace that we have in our
conscience. And this, of course, comes to
us as we hear the word of God, we hear the gospel, we believe
by the grace of God, we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
our conscience tells us Yes, yes, I'm guilty of many sins,
but the Lord Jesus Christ has paid for those sins. They're
gone. God in his holy word has, what
more can he say than to you he has said, you unto Jesus for
refuge have fled. Your sins, your iniquities, they're
gone. And if men make search for them
with candles or spotlights, they cannot be found. Why? Because
they're gone. They're removed as far as the
east is from the west. Peace in our conscience. Knowing that all is well with
my soul. all is well through the mediation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shed his precious blood. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver or gold. He shed his precious blood to
wash my sins away, your sins away, if you're one of his children,
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and
hath made us under God, kings and priests. He obeyed God's law on my behalf,
God's law which I cannot obey as God commands, to love God
with all my heart, all my soul, and all my being, to love my
neighbor as myself. Fallen man cannot obey that law. He did. unfallen man, Christ. And he did it for his people.
It surely includes eternal peace. So peace with God, peace of conscience,
and eternal peace. And that is what we call heaven. Heaven. I read this past week
or two that the old painters, the old painters, they painted
peace. You know, they painted peace
like a woman. And they painted her with a horn
of plenty in her hand. That's how they represented peace,
as a woman with a horn of plenty in her hand. And the covenant
of grace is that hand by which God gives out all sorts of peace
unto his people. And one other name, it's called
a new covenant, a new covenant. Look with me, this is the last
place I'll have you turn, but look with me to Hebrews chapter
8. It's called a new covenant. And here in this chapter 8 of
Hebrews, the apostle quotes Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 through
34. Here in chapter 8 of Hebrews, verse 10, that For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them
a God. And they shall be to me a people,
and 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. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities will I remember
no more. In that he saith a new covenant,
he hath made the first old. So if there's a new covenant,
that means there has to have been an old covenant. Now, the
old covenant is a covenant of works. And listen, every person
in this world is under one of these covenants. Every person
in this room. We are either under the covenant
of works or this everlasting covenant, this covenant of life,
this covenant of peace, this new covenant. Every man is under
one covenant or the other. The old covenant, a covenant
of works. And without this new covenant,
which is a covenant of grace, no man, no man, no woman would
ever be saved. Why? Because that old covenant,
that covenant of works, it requires not the best you can do. Not
having the Ten Commandments tacked up on your wall. Oh no. It commands perfect obedience
to that law. And no fallen son of Adam is
able to obey that law. It's a covenant of works, requires
perfect obedience, and man is unable to fulfill that covenant.
Thank God for a new covenant, a new covenant which has Christ
as the surety who performed all things necessary that God may
be just and justifier of the ungodly. And that's exactly what
all of us were when we came into this world. You say, what does
that mean? Ungodly. Unlike God. God is absolutely holy. We're ungodly. And yet God, through
this covenant, has a way. God who is absolutely just, to
justify the ungodly. the mediator by the surety, obeying
God, loving God, and yes, even suffering the penalty of the
broken law. He did that for his people. And I trust the Lord would bless
this study to all of us here tonight. And what a blessing it is to know
something about this covenant and have an interest in this
covenant. A child of the king, number 279,