Covenant

[0:00] The New Covenant is my thing. God is in covenant relationship with man.

[0:19] ! And the covenant between a holy God and his people speaks of an unbreakable commitment.! An unbreakable commitment. Covenant.

[0:30] The Hebrew word we translate covenant means cutting. It relates to the cutting or dividing of animals in sacrifice. And the sprinkling of blood was a sign of covenant.

[0:43] Sometimes a meal marked a sign of covenant in Genesis 26 and 31. And we're coming to a meal of sorts today around the Lord's table.

[0:55] And God graciously makes and keeps covenant with us.

[1:29] The safety that is in Christ. The shelter that is in Christ. The deliverance that is in Christ. The ark for us is Christ. And the covenant God made with Noah following the ark had a token, a sign.

[1:47] And that sign is the rainbow. The rainbow. We see the rainbow. As God gave that sign of the covenant. The rainbow. The rainbow is a sign of that covenant.

[1:58] It's God's sign. And it's kind of sad these days how some God haters try and hijack the sign of the rainbow.

[2:09] To celebrate sin and abomination these days. And of course new ages use rainbows and what not. But the rainbow is a sign of God's covenant.

[2:20] As he gave it to Noah. That bow in the clouds. As we see in Genesis 8 verse 20. As soon as the ark rested on the dry ground, Noah builded an altar unto the Lord.

[2:33] And took of every clean beast, of every clean fowl. And offered burnt offerings on the altar that were sacrificed there. And then in Genesis 9 verse 13. I do set my bow in the cloud.

[2:45] God said. And it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. The rainbow serves as a visible promise.

[2:56] A reminder of God's eternal covenant promise. That he would not send a worldwide flood again. Now it's interesting when you think about it. It's a bow. Now when I was a boy growing up.

[3:08] I used to go and shoot arrows. I joined a little archery thing at school. And we shot some arrows. And I shot the bow and shot the arrow. And God uses the bow.

[3:22] And a bow is a battle weapon. A weapon of death and destruction. And God sent his bow in his holy wrath against sin at the time of the flood.

[3:35] When the flood came, it was God's judgment. But God says, I'm going to hang my bow. Now imagine that bow hung up in the clouds.

[3:46] The bow he hangs in the sky as a sign of his grace. And his grace over judgment. The world deserves judgment. But God shows mercy still.

[3:58] It was a covenant sign of a covenant promise to a covenant people. And the bow radiates God's mercy, grace and patience as a sign of that.

[4:12] Of his peace that we can know in him. So Noah had a covenant. Another example of a covenant is Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham.

[4:23] In Genesis 15 from verse 18 in part it says, The Lord made a covenant with Abram. Saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land.

[4:34] And the covenant signed with Abraham as he became known as. Was the torn flesh of a sacrifice. And a smoking vessel. And a flaming torch.

[4:45] So there was the sacrifice, the torn animal. In sacrifice. There was the smoking vessel and the flaming torch. As a sign of God's presence. And circumcision too was a sign with Abraham.

[4:59] As another sign of cutting. Of cut flesh. As witness of God's covenant with the children of Israel. In Genesis 17. And then we see the promises that in Abraham.

[5:12] Through Christ. All the families of the earth were to be blessed. So we see Noah. We see Abraham. We see Moses. Moses and the people of Israel. God said to them of covenant.

[5:24] He says in Exodus 19. From verse 5. Now therefore if you obey the voice. My voice indeed. And keep my covenant. Then you shall be a peculiar treasure.

[5:35] Unto me above all people. God called Israel. A special treasure. And this covenant again was marked by sacrifices. And the people had just seen God's deliverance.

[5:47] Just some time before. In the Passover. Through the blood again. And this covenant was marked with Moses by blood. Blood sprinkled on the book and on the people.

[6:00] In Genesis. Sorry. Exodus 24. And this covenant of the law under Moses. Was designed to lead the transgressor. Convicted by the law as a sinner.

[6:12] To Christ. That was the ultimate purpose of the covenant with Moses. As it was pre-figured. As it was foreshadowed. And then the tablets of the law.

[6:23] From the mount. Were placed in the ark of the covenant. Within the holy place. Where God's holy presence was manifest again. So we see covenant again.

[6:34] And then again we see God made a covenant with David. King David. God told David in 2 Samuel 7 verse 16. In part it says. Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever.

[6:48] Thy throne shall be established forever. So we see the covenant fulfilled for David. In the Lord Jesus Christ. In the royal line.

[6:59] In the royal scene of David's line. The son of David. As he's called in Matthew 1 verse 1. The Messiah King. Our Lord Jesus. Who will reign forever.

[7:10] So we see these various covenant dealings of God with man. Noah. Abraham. Moses. David. All leading up to the new covenant.

[7:23] Paul speaks in Galatians 4. 24 through 26. Of two covenants. Essentially two. The covenant of the law.

[7:35] We've brought condemnation and death. And the covenant which comes. Not from Mount Sinai. But from the Jerusalem above. The Jerusalem which is above. Which speaks of God's grace.

[7:46] So we see. The old and the new covenant. The covenant of promise. In contrast. To the Mosaic law. But in fulfilment of it. And friends.

[7:56] Today. We have that blessing. That joy. Of the new covenant. The new covenant. And under this new covenant. Between God and man. The new testament.

[8:07] We can receive God's grace and mercy. Because of the blood. Of Jesus Christ today. We. Acknowledge the new covenant. In his blood today.

[8:19] In Hebrews 9. 15. We read. Of Christ being the mediator. That intermediary. That communicator. Of the new testament. Or the new covenant.

[8:30] It's. The same word translated. Both ways. In our Bible. Testament. Covenant. By means of his death. In Hebrews 8. Verse 6. We read. How Christ has obtained a more.

[8:42] Excellent ministry. Being the mediator. Of a better covenant. Established. On better promises. So. Friends. Today. The new covenant. Is something that we.

[8:53] As believers in Christ. Can know. And know for sure. Know for a certainty. And know for an eternity. That we have a new covenant. That's better. That's new.

[9:04] And that's superior. Than any of those other covenants. God made. With men. In. The anticipation. Of it. In Hebrews 8. Verses 8. And 10.

[9:14] It says. Behold the days come. Saith the Lord. When I will make. A new covenant. A new covenant. I will put my laws.

[9:25] 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. Brothers and sisters. There's a great.

[9:36] Acknowledgement. That we can have this morning. When we think. Of the. New covenant. And what it means for us. What it truly means for us. In Hebrews 12. 24.

[9:47] It reads. Likewise. Jesus. The mediator. Of the new covenant. And the blood of sprinkling. Is spoken of there. The new covenant.

[9:59] Is based on grace. Isn't that? Isn't that a joy? That the new covenant. Is based on grace. On grace.

[10:09] It's based on the finished work. Of the cross. And it's irreversible. This covenant. There's no covenant. That will supersede it. There's no better. Or newer covenant.

[10:21] Than this one covenant. That was. Made complete. At the cross. The covenant. Of God's unconditional blessing. Is founded on that perfect. Sacrifice.

[10:32] Of the Lord Jesus Christ. There needs to be no more. Cutting of flesh. There needs to be no more. Sacrifices. Because that final. Fulfilled.

[10:43] And forever sacrifice. Is made for us now. It has been made for us now. And we're just reflecting on that. As we come around the Lord's table. As a reminder of that.

[10:55] As the Lord Jesus said. As he. Came to his people. At the table. At the supper time. He says. Luke 22. Verse 20. This cup. Is.

[11:06] The new testament. Or covenant. In my blood. Which is shed for you. You know. As I say. Testament. Covenant. It's. Translated either way.

[11:17] This is the new testament. This is the new covenant. In my blood. Which is shed for you. And Hebrews 13. Tells us of the blood. Of the everlasting covenant.

[11:28] The everlasting covenant. This covenant. Is everlasting. And. This morning. Believers. You're invited. To join with us. As we partake.

[11:39] In. Foreshadow. Of that time. When we'll eat with him. And drink with him. At the marriage supper. Of the lamb. And we reflect back. On that.

[11:50] Upper room. On that. Last supper. That he shared. With. His people. With his beloved. Followers. I'll ask the. Ashes.

[12:01] To come forward now. And. I know. We've got one. That's not. Well. To. Has excused himself. From helping. This morning. We've got. Moses.

[12:14] Moses. Moses. See. Maybe we can have the other Moses. Join us too. Have both Moses. We've been talking about Moses. So. Come. Yeah. And Moses Senior as well.

[12:24] Come forward too. You can help too. We've got two Moseses. We don't have any Abrahams or Noahs. We've got a few Davids this morning. Think of Moses.

[12:35] And we've got Joshua as well. It's on the list. He's outside. Ian? Joshua is coming. Joshua is coming. I think we've got four then.

[12:48] And we'll be waited on one another. The Bible says that this is a remembrance. A remembrance of what he has done for us.

[12:59] And if you believe him today, then you're invited and very welcome. And so I'll ask the brothers to feel free to help and pass the bread and cup.

[13:11] Thanks, Emmanuel. If you pass the bread and then the cup and hold together, go ahead, fellas. And let's be waited on as we just wait for one another and hold together.

[13:22] It's always good to be reminded and to prompt ourselves again to think of God's covenant. And, of course, that ultimate and absolute covenant.

[13:36] The everlasting covenant, as it's called. In Hebrews 13 it says, Now the God of peace that brought to go from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

[14:00] Amen. That great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, we can know his peace this morning. We remember the blood.

[14:13] The blood not of sacrifices of goats or sheep, but the blood of the Son of God. The blood shed to purchase his own church.

[14:24] As Noah found shelter, we can find shelter in Christ this morning. As in Noah's day there was judgment, yet there was grace.

[14:35] The bow in the heavens can remind us every time we see it. God's judgment, yet God's grace. That he hangs up his bow, as it were, in the sky.

[14:47] We see Abraham, the torn flesh, the sacrifice, and God's presence.

[14:58] We see in Moses, the Passover, the blood sprinkled. The law convicts us of sin, yet draws us to Christ as the only antidote for our sin.

[15:14] And we see in David, the covenant of the throne which will be established forever. David's royal line fulfilled in the Messiah King, our Lord Jesus Christ.

[15:27] And then we see Mount Sinai and Jerusalem. Two covenants. No longer we are under the law, now we're under grace. The fulfilment and the contrast of it.

[15:40] The covenant of promise. The covenant, the new covenant of his grace, of his mercy. As the mediator of the new covenant by means of his death.

[15:51] The better covenant, the better promises. A covenant where he places his laws in our mind and writes them in our hearts.

[16:03] The blood of sprinkling. It was sprinkled there, brothers and sisters. It was sprinkled there for you. It was sprinkled there for me. At that rugged hill. On that gruesome cross.

[16:16] That ugly cross. We see the vileness of our sin. The vileness of it. And yet the grace of God was there at the cross.

[16:31] And the finished work was there. For those who will receive it. Let's hold together and we'll pray as we meditate on the mediator of the new covenant.

[16:48] Let's hold together and we'll pray.ยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย