To continue today with the same
theme that I have dealt with the last two Sundays, because
I believe it is such a wonderful and such a glorious truth, and
how it blesses God's people, comforts us, gives us assurance,
and gives us encouragement as we go through this life. The
theme is the union, the union which exists between Christ and
his church. And his church, remember, is
his body. Not any local church here, not
any visible church that we may know of in this world, but his
church, which is made up of every saved individual, everyone whom
God loves, and has chosen, and Christ has redeemed, and God
the Holy Spirit calls. We make up His church, which
is His body. What a wonderful truth. What a blessed truth to meditate
and think upon this fact, that if you are one of His children
today, you are in union with Christ. that he is in union with
thee. Now the first message, you remember,
we took our text from Ephesians chapter 5, verses 31 and 32,
which tells us of the marriage union. In the theology book,
this union is referred to as the conjugal union. The Apostle Paul makes this statement
in Ephesians 5 and verses 31 and 32. He repeats the law of
marriage which was given when God created Eve and brought her
to Adam. The scripture says, for this
cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh." Here we have two
individuals, a man and a woman, and in marriage they are joined
together, there's a union, and they become one flesh. a picture, because Paul says
in the next verse, this is a great mystery. Remember, a mystery
in the scripture is that truth which only God has revealed. It is beyond the comprehension
of the natural man. When we come into this world,
all of us, we are natural men. We have a natural mind, and the
natural mind does not understand the things of God. They must
be revealed unto us by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God
has revealed this great mystery, that just as there is a union
between husband and wife, the two become one, so there is a
union between Christ and every one of His children. Paul said
this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. And then last week we looked
at this union. Our text was in Colossians chapter
3, if you want to look here again. Colossians 3, verses 1 and 3,
1 through 3. And this union we call the representative
union. So we've got the marriage union
first, the representative union. If ye And I mentioned the fact
that that could be better translated, For as much as you are risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. The representative union. Christ is the head of his body. His body is His church, and every
saved individual is a member of the body of Christ. He is
our head, just as in this physical body we see there's a union.
Here's the head, and from here down, the members. There's a
union. So Christ is the head of His
body, the church, and every one of us were represented by Him
and in him. Look back if you've turned to
Colossians to chapter 1 and verse 18, where the Apostle said, For
he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. And because of this representative
union, every believer You, if you are a child of God, you died
when your head died. You rose from the grave when
your head rose from the grave. You ascended when your head ascended
to the Father's right hand. And today, in Christ, you sit
in the heavenly places. I say this is a wonderful truth,
isn't it? This is a great, marvelous truth. And look in Colossians 2, if
you've turned there, this is how this is true. Verse 10, where
the Apostle said, and you are complete in Him. Isn't that a
wonderful truth? I don't need anything. I don't
need to do anything. I am complete in Him. And so
are you, if you are one of His children, complete in Him, in
your head. And just as He is there at the
Father's right hand, so one day we too shall be there with Him. Now the union that I want to
speak to us about today, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter
7. And someone might say, well you've
saved the best for last. I don't know if that's true or
not. Each one of these unions is a wonderful truth as I've
looked at them. But this union today is what
I'm going to call a legal union. A legal union. Hebrews 7 and
verse 22 will be our text. And by so much was Jesus made
a surety of a better testament. Now let me just say this before
I go any further. You know that the same word is
translated sometimes testament and sometimes covenant. Same
word, means the same thing. But if you look at the word testament,
it does bring out truth to us that we don't see in the word
covenant. But just keep that in mind because
I'm going to use the word interchangeably, I'm sure. But we see here that
Jesus Christ our Lord is the surety of a better covenant. Now the word surety, the English
word surety, is only found two times in the New Testament. It's
found several times in the Old Testament, but only two times
in the New Testament. And in both of these places,
The Greek word from which the English word surety is translated
is a different word and has a different meaning. Now it's here, but it's
also found in Acts chapter 12 and verse 11 when the apostle
Peter made this statement. He said, I know of a surety. This is when the angel of the
Lord delivered him from prison. And he said, I know of a surety. In other words, I'm certain.
I'm certain, he said, that the Lord has sent his angel and has
delivered me out of the hand of Herod. The word there means
certainty. I know of a surety. I'm certain,
Peter said. He didn't have to pinch himself
anymore to realize that he was free, that he was out of that
jail. Herod had him in prison, but God sent His angel and delivered
him. Just walked out. Gates just opened
and he walked out. He said, I know of a surety.
I'm certain. The Lord sent His angel. But
the word surety here in our text, Hebrews 7 and verse 22, it refers
to a person. A person. the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the surety of a better
testament. Now the better testament or covenant
of which Jesus is the surety is a new covenant as it is called
in the New Testament and also an everlasting covenant. Better
shows there's a comparison, right? He is the surety of a better
testament. In other words, there's a comparison
here with another covenant. Now the first covenant, God made
with Adam. And if there was a surety of
that covenant, Adam was the surety. He had to obey. And upon his
disobedience, That was a covenant of work upon His disobedience
Himself and all of His posterity. All of us who have descended
from Adam, we would all become guilty before God. Now there was another covenant
that I'm going to mention. There's other covenants, but
there was a covenant that God made with the nation of Israel. And He made that covenant with
them at Mount Sinai. And if there was a surety of
this covenant, it was Aaron and his priesthood. The priests that
followed Aaron. If there was a surety for this
covenant, it was Aaron. But we know that that covenant
also was a covenant of works. It all depended upon the obedience
of the people of the nation of Israel. So we've got two covenants. Covenant that God made with Adam.
that required His obedience. And if He disobeyed, He would
die. And not only would He die, but
everyone who springs from Him, which is every person, we too
would die in Him. Then there's that covenant God
made with the nation of Israel. But here the writer of Hebrews
says, but the Lord Jesus Christ is a surety of a better testament,
a better covenant. This better covenant, if you
look in Hebrews 13 and verse 20, it is called an everlasting
covenant. Hebrews 13 and verse 20 speaks
of this covenant as an everlasting covenant. Now the fact that it
is called an everlasting covenant tells us that this covenant was
made before the foundation of the world. This covenant, this
better covenant, it was made before the foundation of the
world. Well, what then does the term
surety mean? It means a bondsman. And we all
understand what the word bond means when you bond something
together, you unite two pieces, you glue them together, you bond
them together. A bondsman, that's what a surety
is. The Lord Jesus Christ, as surety,
is in union, or bound, if we might say, bound to every saved
individual in a legal sense. So before the law, now get this,
before the law they are one. The bondsman and the ones for
whom he is bound. the surety, and those for whom
he is surety before the law of God, we are considered as one. If one pays the debt for which
he is bound, it is just as if the other had paid the debt."
This is a legal union. I hope that I'm able to convey
this truth to all of us here today. As a surety of this better
covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ made himself responsible as surety
before the foundation of the world. He made himself as surety
in this everlasting covenant to pay the debts, the sin debts
of his people. He, as a surety, agreed not only
to pay the sin debt of His people, but to obey, and it's just as
if the person for whom He stood as surety obeyed and paid the
debt. Now we have two excellent examples
of this truth about suretyship given to us in the Scripture.
The first one is real close here if you turn back a few pages
to the small letter of Philemon. One chapter, book, Philemon. And we read verses 18. This is the Apostle Paul. Of
course, he's writing to Philemon. And he's writing to Philemon
on behalf of a man named Onesimus. And Onesimus was a runaway slave. That's what he was. He ran away
from his master, Philemon. And he made his way to Rome,
where the apostle Paul was a prisoner. And he heard the gospel. No doubt
he had heard the gospel before, but he'd never believed it. But
while in Rome, he came into Paul's presence and heard the gospel
and believed the gospel. Now Paul is writing back on behalf
of this runaway slave to his owner, Philemon. And notice what
he says in verses 18 and 19. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Albeit, I do
not say to thee how thou owest unto me, even thine own self
besides. What a picture here we have of
those for whom Christ stood as a surety. in the everlasting
covenant. This man, Onesimus, he was an
unprofitable servant. What a picture. What a picture
of every one of us. Of every child born into this
world. We have all sinned and we come
short of the glory of God. God created man for His glory,
for God's glory, and yet man sinned, and we have all come
short of the glory of God. We may all be described as unprofitable. We do not profit God. We do not render glory to God
by our obedience, but rather we disobey God. What a picture is onesimous of
every one of us here this morning. But Paul's actions, what he wrote
to Philemon, picture the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety of
this better covenant. Paul told Philemon, now he said,
whatever he owes you, put that on my account. Whatever he owes you, Put that
on my account. Do you realize, in a sense, this
is a picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ has said to His
Father? For you, if you are one of His
children, for everyone for which He stood as a surety, put that
on my account. And He didn't just say, put that
on my account. He said, put that on my account.
I will repay it. And that's the reason He came
into this world. That's the reason He was made flesh. The eternal
Son of God was made flesh and came into this world as a man.
Why? Because He's the surety of this
better covenant and because He had agreed in this covenant before
the foundation of the world to pay the sin debt of all of those
that the Father gave unto Him in this covenant. In a sense,
he said, just like Paul, put that on my account. Whatever
he owes you, whatever she owes you, and we owe a lot, don't
we? When we think about our life,
think about our sin, we owe a lot. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ
in love for his bride, for those whom the Father had given him,
he said, put that on my account. I will repay. You know, in a sense, I believe,
or truly, not just in a sense, But that's scripture in 2nd Corinthians
5 and verse 21 where the apostle made this tremendous statement. 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 21. He said, for he, let me just read the
scripture and then I'll come back and make some comments.
For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He, God, God,
hath made Him Christ, who knew no sin. He is the sinless, holy,
separate from sinners, Son of God. He was born of a virgin,
He never sinned in word, in thought, or in deed. He walked this world
for 33 years, and He did always those things that pleased the
Father. The first Adam, our Father, He
displeased God. He disobeyed God. But the second
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is the surety of
this covenant, He always did those things that pleased the
Father. And no one could convince Him
of sin, accuse Him of sin, for He had no sin of His own. And yet God, He hath made Him,
that is Christ, to be sin for us. Isn't that the same thing
that Paul told Philemon? Put that on my account. Whatever
He owes you. So God took the sins of His people
and laid them, charged them, imputed them unto His Holy Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we, all of us onesimuses, all
of us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,
that we might be justified freely by the grace of God through the
redemption that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. What a picture here
in this small letter of Philemon do we have of what it means to
be a surety. Now here's another one I want
us to look at, this time back in the Old Testament. Let's go
back to Genesis chapter 43 first. Genesis chapter 43. And in this example we are going
to see that Judah, Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Remember, he was one of those,
along with his other brothers, who sold Joseph into slavery. And Joseph goes down into Egypt,
taken down into Egypt, and he ends up in the providence of
God. God set him on, not on the throne,
but he was second to Pharaoh. He controlled everything that
went on in Egypt. God sent that drought seven good
years first, and then seven years of famine. And there's no corn. There's no food anywhere but
in Egypt. And so Jacob commands his sons
to go down into Egypt and buy corn. Now Jacob thought Joseph
was dead. That's the word that he had received.
And he sent 10 of his sons down there. He wouldn't let Benjamin
go down there. Benjamin was Joseph's full brother. His youngest son. His son of
his right hand. He wouldn't send him down there.
So they go down there and Joseph recognizes them and he asks them
some questions and they told who they were and how many were
in their family and their dad. And they told Joseph that they
had a younger brother. Now Joseph already knew that.
But he sold him the corn and told him, now if you don't come
back with Benjamin. And he kept, I believe it was
Simeon, he kept him in jail while he sent the rest of them back
to their dad. And he said, now don't come back
unless you bring Benjamin with you. You're not going to see
my face. You're not going to buy any corn. Your whole tribe is going to
die. unless you bring Benjamin back. Well, you know the story. Jacob, oh no, you're not taking
Benjamin down there. Joseph, he's already dead, and
I'm sure not going to let Benjamin go. He was, those two sons were
of his wife, Rachel, that he loved so greatly. And she had
passed away in giving birth to Benjamin. Not going to take him
down there. Well, as they got hungrier and
hungrier, no food, Jacob said, go buy some corn. There's no
need to go back there. He's not going to see us. He's
not going to sell us any corn unless we take Benjamin. Well,
finally, Jacob, he gave in. He said, okay, take him. Well,
Joseph, he had a plan, didn't he? He filled their sacks up
with corn, but in Benjamin's sack, he put his special cup. Joseph did. Had his servants
put his special cup. And they're on their way back.
They made about a day's journey, and here comes the police. Here
comes the soldiers, the army of Pharaoh. And they accused
them of stealing. And they said, oh, no, we didn't
steal anything. He said, well, somebody stole
something. They said, well, whoever sack
you find it in, that's who will be guilty. And they take the
sacks off their donkeys and start looking and come to Benjamin.
He's the last one. And there it is. There's the
cup of Joseph. Now what I failed to mention
in telling this story is, you know it, that the only way Jacob
let Benjamin go back with them was Judah. He said, I'll be a
surety for him. That's what we see here in chapter
43, if you've turned here. Chapter 43, verses 8 and 9. And
Judah said unto Israel, that is Jacob his father, Send the
lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and
not die, both we and thou, and also our little ones. I will
be surety for him. I will be surety for him. Can
you see the Lord Jesus Christ standing up in that covenant,
when that covenant was made, and yes, striking hands with
the Father and saying for you, I will be surety for him. I will
be surety for her. And notice what Judah goes on
to say, I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever.
The Lord Jesus Christ, He was given His sheep by His Father. He agrees to be the surety for
each and every one of them. And He's not going to be ashamed
in heaven. And He would be if He lost want. If he lost one of those for whom
he was a surety. So turn to the next chapter,
chapter 44. And after they're found out and they've come back,
they're before Joseph. In verse 32, Judah is speaking
now to Joseph, who he doesn't know. For thy servant became
surety for the lad, and to my father, saying, If I bring him
not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. The Lord Jesus Christ stood as
your surety in this better covenant. And he said, Father, if I don't
bring him, if I don't bring her and set him or her before you,
I will bear the blame forever. I don't think anyone here would
be so foolish and so ignorant spiritually to think that the
Lord Jesus Christ is not successful in his work. What he agreed to
do, he has done. Just as Judah said, you let me
take him and I'll bring him back and if I don't, I'll bear the
blame forever. So the Lord Jesus Christ and
that eternal covenant of grace For those He stood as surety,
said, I will bring them and set them before Thee. And we have
that scripture in Hebrews 2, which is a quotation from the
book of Isaiah, where one day the Lord Jesus Christ will stand
before His Father and He will say, Father, here am I and the
children which Thou has given me. And there's not going to
be one lost. There's not going to be one missing.
This union, this legal union, the Lord Jesus Christ agreed
to be our representative, to stand before the law of God,
and to answer for us, to pay our sin debt, and yes, to satisfy
God's law, establishing a righteousness which is imputed unto everyone
that believes. Now this makes three messages
that I've brought on this subject, the union between Christ and
every saved individual. And the two previous times and
today, I have not failed to point this out. That even though these
unions are real, they're revealed in the Word of God, and yes,
they are a great mystery, the union is mystical, no doubt about
it. But my friends, I'm here to tell
you today, every person here, you must believe in Jesus Christ. There is a vital union, and that
vital union is established by faith, you believing in Jesus
Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. You are in union with
Him by faith, and yes, He is in union with you by His Spirit. It is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. I never want to so preach that
I do not try my best at least to impress upon every person
here your responsibility. I believe with all of my heart
in what I preached to you this morning about Christ being the
surety for all of His covenant people. But I also know that
in the scripture you are commanded to believe in Jesus Christ. And if you fail to do that, you
will die and spend eternity in hell. You will be separated from
God throughout eternity. You must believe. This is vital. You must believe. And you see,
out of union comes communion. Because we are in union with
Christ, we have communion with Christ. He's not just some historical
figure. He is that. He was a real man
in history. But when you are in union with
him, there's a communion with him, a fellowship with him. We
sing that hymn sometimes he lives. He walks with me and talks with
me while on life's way. He lives. He lives in us. We're in union with Him, communion
with Him. You know, the service, the Lord's
Table, many people refer to this as a communion service. And it
is a communion service. But our communion is with Christ. And it's not just once a month
when we eat the bread and drink the wine. It's every day. Every day we are in union with
Christ, we are in fellowship with Christ, we know Him. As
a hymn writer said, He walks with me and talks with me along
life's way. He's real. I've never seen Him,
neither have you, but He's real. And I pray this morning that
the Lord would bless this word to every person here today and
impress upon us the wonderful truth of this union that exists
between Christ and you, if you're one of his children. This blessed
union, wonderful union, to encourage you, and also, when tempted,
when tempted to sin, how can I do this great evil? I'm in
union with Christ. My body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit. That's what God said, isn't it?
How can I do this? I'm in union with Christ. Christ
is in union with me. I pray it might be a deterrent
for all of us as we go through this world. Just this very fact,
this very truth. He's in union with me. I'm in
union with him. We're going to sing a hymn now,
number 216.