Series: Isaiah
Title: The Everlasting Covenant
Text: Isaiah 55: 3
Date:
May 11, 2014
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 55: 3: Incline your ear,…
In
order for any sinner to be saved, you must incline your ear. It is our
responsibility to use the ears God has given us to hear God speak. God says, “Incline
your ear.”
Not
just to anyone--Isaiah 55: 3: Incline
your ear, and come unto ME: We must incline our ears to God, who alone can
do the saving. We come to God through the ear—through the heart—through the hearing
of the good news that salvation is of the LORD.
Then God
says, Isaiah 55: 3:…Hear. Don’t just
incline your ear, don’t simply come to where God’s gospel is preached, God
says, “Hear.” Do so diligently!
Illustration: We are in a bad economy. How diligently do you keep your
finances? How diligently do you keep watch over that which you deem most
valuable? God says incline your ear to
him with even greater diligence than that! Does not our Maker deserve to be heard!
He is true life, not our money! Now, just look at these three simple, light and
easy, precepts: Incline your ear, come unto me, and hear!
Next, God
makes two promises, first he says, Isaiah
55: 3:..and your soul shall live. We are dead sinners. God gives spiritual
life. God must draw us. God must make us: incline the ear, come to him and
hear. God promises here that by coming and hearing the word of the Lord, we
shall have something to live upon, good, solid, substantial food; and that we
shall live comfortably and plentifully, forever.
Has God
given you spiritual life through his gospel? How do I know preacher? Have you
found lately that God has gotten your attention? Do you find yourself having an
interest in what God has to say?
Then
you will be vitally interested in this second promise of God. God says, Isaiah 55: 3: and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. God promises
to bind himself by everlasting unbreakable covenant, to helpless sinners like
us.
Oh,
what a proof of our totally inability in sin.
After hearing God—God—God—who cannot lie—make these promises—everlasting
life and everlasting covenant mercies—any man—were he in his right mind—would incline
his ear, come to God and hear right away.
Title: This
morning, I want to spend the first hour on the subject of: God’s Everlasting Covenant.
Then we will spend the second hour on the subject of: Sure Mercies
Is
there anyone here interested in: God’s
Everlasting Covenant.
Proposition: There are two covenants: the everlasting covenant and the
covenant of works. In the day of judgment, all men will be found under one of
these two covenants and all shall be saved or dammed based on the works one of
two federal heads under one of these two covenants.
I. FIRST, LET’S BEGIN WHERE GOD BEGAN—THE
EVERLASTING COVENANT.
In the
scriptures, the covenant of works is sometimes called “the first testament” but
this covenant was really first. It is of Grace and is Eternal: everlasting
means eternal: it is an unending, unchangeable, unbreakable covenant. It is founded in the everlasting love of God:
toward his Son and toward his people. It is ordered in all things according to
the eternal purposes of God.
Illustration: If we set out to start a business, we first come up with
a plan. So did God. God purposed from eternity: to bring glory and honor to the
triune God, to give his Son all preeminence in all things and to do this by
saving his people from our sins.
So God
left no part of this everlasting covenant in the hands of his people. The contracting
parties in this covenant are the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity: God the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God the Father chose his Son to be the
Christ. From eternity the Father said,
Isaiah 42: 1: 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 [my people scattered all over the world.]…4: He shall not fail…
God the Father required his Son to accomplish this doing all things necessary: to glorify God:
declare his righteousness, to magnify and honor God’s holy law, to make God just
and Justifier of his people, to purge the sin of his people and make us the
righteousness of God in him. In short, God the Father required the Son to save
the church in a way consist with the perfections of God and the honor of God’s
holy law.
God the Father promised his Son: his Spirit would be upon
him when he became Man, to give Christ full protection, to raise Christ from
the dead when the work was finished, to give Christ his glory, to give Christ
the honor of revealing himself in his people, that he should see His Seed.
Here is God giving his solemn everlasting covenant promise to Christ his Son.
Isaiah
42: 5: Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched 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: 6:
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and
will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the
Gentiles; 7: To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8: I am the
LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my
praise to graven images.
This
promise was made to Christ Jesus the Son of God before the foundation of the
world. He is the Head of all whom he represented.
God the Son consented to the will and
requirement of the Father.
Christ
agreed to come at the time appointed to be made of a woman, to be made
flesh—because those he came to save are flesh, to be made under the law, to be
made sin for us—to take away our sins, to be made a curse for us—to redeem us
from the curse of the law, to lay down his life unto death to satisfy divine justice—the
wages of sin is death—to give life to all that the Father draws unto him, to
lose none but raise them up again at the last day, to fulfill every stipulation
of the Covenant of grace.
John 6:38: For I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Hebrews 7: 20: And inasmuch as not without an oath he was
made priest: 21:…The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchisedec:) 22: By so much was Jesus made a surety of a
better testament.
Hebrews 8:6 But
now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
By
virtue of Christ’s perfect obedience, his finished work, every blessing of the
covenant is sure to all them that are called by God’s grace (Heb. 9:15).
Hebrews
9: 15: And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
How shall we be
called and given this promise? God the Holy Spirit, entered covenant with the Father, and with Christ
his Son.
The Holy Spirit agreed to glorify our the Lord Jesus, at
the intercession of Christ to his Father, to come into each child, regenerate
and sanctify each one to guide each believer into all truth, teaching Christ in
our hearts, to abide in his people, to raise us from the dead, to give us glory
with Christ
That is
why this everlasting covenant is full of SURE mercies—this covenant is ordered
in all things and sure because the triune God fulfills it all in Christ Jesus.
Who was this covenant made for? This Everlasting Covenant was made by the
three in One on behalf of every sinner that God chose in Christ, which shall be
called to faith in Christ.
In
eternity, Christ was made the Head and Representative of every child which
shall be born again of God, each child who shall believe on Christ, to whom God
will reveal this everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure in Christ
Jesus.
Oh, incline
your ear, come unto God and hear: for perhaps, this covenant was made on your
behalf. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you came here this morning for some vain
reason, yet you had no idea God was drawing you here to tell you the good news!
II. SECONDLY, THERE IS ANOTHER COVENANT
CALLED THE COVENANT OF WORKS.
Covenant with Adam
In the
beginning of time, in the garden, God made a covenant of works with Adam. In this covenant of works, God put a work in
the hands of man. God gave one command in the garden.
Genesis 2: 16: And the LORD God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17: But of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The
covenant of works gave man one work, “This do—obey this one law. God promised “thou
shalt live forever.” But God said, “Disobey
and thou shalt die.”
Do you
see the difference in these two covenants?: The everlasting covenant says,
“Believe and thou shalt live and have all these promises freely given.” The covenant of works says, “Do and thou
shalt live.” It was a conditional covenant—it required a work by man. That is
the covenant of works.
But Adam
failed to keep his part of the covenant of works and he died. Adam was a type
of Christ in that Adam was the head and representative of every child that
would be born from him. Therefore, when Adam failed, we all failed. When Adam
died, we died in Adam. And dying we
died—we came forth sinning as soon as we were born because we were conceived in
sin: from Adam to his children, to their children, to their children, right on
down to you and me.
Romans 5: 12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned:
Be sure to get this: Every man failed to keep the covenant of works when we
sinned in Adam. In Adam all died. Still,
sadly, most religious sinners do not understand this. Most are attempting to
come to God by the covenant of works. If they need Christ at all, most think
they only need Christ to make up where they fail; they only need some
help. That is works salvation, not
salvation by grace!
Covenant at Mt Sinai
Someone
might ask, “What about the law God gave at Mt. Sinai?” That was a covenant of
works, too. The rich young ruler wanted to come to God by that covenant of
works, by the law of Moses, so he asked Christ
Matthew 19: 16: 16: what good thing shall I do, that I
may have eternal life?
Christ
told him what is required of every sinner who would attempt to come to God by
the covenant of works, by his own deeds,
Matthew 19: 17: And he said unto him,…if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. 18: He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said,
Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal,
Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19: Honour thy father and thy mother:
and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The
covenant of works requires every sinner to keep the commandments—not only the
moral law but the whole law of God: not try—keep the commandments, not be
sincere though you fail now and then—keep the commandments, not merely
outwardly—but in thought, word and deed—from a pure heart. There can be no sin
in us by conception, o sin in our heart, no sin in our thoughts, no sin in our
words, no sin in our deeds, not one deviation from the law ever
Be sure to get this: all men became sinners
in Adam. Since all were already guilty of breaking
God’s law in the garden, that means when God gave the law on Mt. Sinai, there
would never be one sinner on this earth who could keep that covenant of
works. Would God give a law man could
not keep? Yes! Then there must some other reason why God gave the law at Mt.
Sinai? God tells us plainly—so incline your ear, come unto God and hear…
Romans 3: 19: Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. 20: Therefore by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is
the knowledge of sin.
Romans 5: 20: Moreover the law entered, that the offence
might abound.
Romans 7: 7: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God
forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet….12: Wherefore the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13: Was then that which is good made
death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in
me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding
sinful.
This is
the reason the law of Sinai entered, that God might use the law to make his
people see our sin. But if God made the everlasting covenant in eternity, made
all these promises to Christ which Christ fulfilled, what happened when the law
entered and we died? Here is good news:
though God’s people sinned and died, it did not alter the everlasting covenant
God made with himself in Christ before the foundation of the world. God made
this promise first, with Christ, so Christ stood as the Surety of his people
from everlasting. The covenant of works could not change that. God shows us
this in that God made this same promise to Abraham in Christ 430 years before
the law at Sinai was given. But the covenant of works, did not and could change
God’s everlasting covenant.
Galatians 3: 15: Brethren,
I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it
be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16: Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as
of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17: And this I say, that the
covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four
hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise
of none effect. 18: For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of
promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19: Wherefore then serveth the
law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom
the promise was made; [till Christ should come to whom the promise was made,
till each child is born-again to whom the promise is made]…21: Is the
law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law
given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the
law. 22: But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by
faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23: But before faith
came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed. 24: Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring
us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25: But after that
faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26: For ye [who believe] are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27: For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28: There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus. 29: And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Be sure to get this: God never gave the law at Mt. Sinai for any sinner to
come to God by the deeds of the law, not before conversion, not after
conversion. We had already come under the curse by breaking God’s covenant of
works in the garden! God gave the law at Mt. Sinai to show his people our sins,
to drive us to Christ, to bring us to cast our eternal care into Christ’s hands
that we might be saved through faith in Christ. Once brought to faith in Christ
we are no longer under the law! Christ has redeemed us from the law. Believers
are under the everlasting covenant of grace.
Here is the first question: Has God used his law to shut your mouth? To show you that
you are guilty before God? To give you a
knowledge of your sins? Has God used his law to show you there is no use in
trying to pretend any longer, you cannot come to God by your law-keeping—you
have never kept the law of God, only transgressed?
Here is the next question: Has God used his law to show you your need for Christ
to justify you and make you righteous before God? Has he drawn you to cast all
your care on Christ? God says,
Isaiah 55: 3: Incline your ear, and come unto
me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting
covenant, even the sure mercies of David.
Amen!