WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.460 If you're visiting with us, this is sermon number two in a series paired up with Sunday School on the biblical church. 00:00:10.540 --> 00:00:12.599 What does the Bible say about church? 00:00:13.620 --> 00:00:19.620 And for this series, we're using a different portion of scripture for each lesson based on the focus, 00:00:19.620 --> 00:00:23.719 kind of following through the Constitution that we're proposing for the church to adopt. 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:31.679 After this, we'll continue back in our series, which is going through the book of John, the Gospel of John, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:37.320 So today's sermon text is Hebrews chapter 8, starting at verse 6. 00:00:39.019 --> 00:00:41.299 I'll read this out loud and you can follow along. 00:00:42.579 --> 00:00:48.560 We believe this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word. 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:51.780 It's God's very own word for you who are his people. 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:57.800 So when I'm done reading the scripture for today, I'll say this is the word of God and you can all respond, thanks be to God. 00:00:59.620 --> 00:01:02.500 Hebrews chapter 8, starting at verse 6. 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:08.840 But now Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry. 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:17.219 By how much more also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which he has established on better promises. 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:18.519 Verse 7. 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:26.379 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then there should be no place to be sought for a second. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:27.680 Verse 8. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.659 For finding fault with them, he said, 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:38.120 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:39.460 Verse 9. 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:47.660 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, 00:01:47.820 --> 00:01:53.420 because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 00:01:54.020 --> 00:01:54.880 Verse 10. 00:01:55.580 --> 00:02:01.260 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:11.780 I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be my people. 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:13.340 Verse 11. 00:02:14.060 --> 00:02:18.200 And they shall not teach everyone his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:23.379 Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:29.960 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities. 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:32.300 I will remember no more. 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:39.159 In that he saith the new covenant, he has made the old obsolete. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:45.080 And that which is now decaying and perishing away is ready to vanish. 00:02:45.640 --> 00:02:47.200 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:48.780 Thanks be to God. 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:49.860 Thanks be to God indeed. 00:02:49.980 --> 00:02:50.520 You may be seated. 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:57.100 Isaiah 40 says that the grass withers and the flowers fade, 00:02:57.099 --> 00:03:00.680 But the word of the Lord endures forever. 00:03:01.579 --> 00:03:02.780 Would you pray with me? 00:03:02.780 --> 00:03:20.819 Oh Lord, you are the covenant-keeping God. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.259 You keep your covenant to your people. 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:30.639 And your covenant people know you through Christ. 00:03:32.239 --> 00:03:40.799 Lord, you promise to feed and to nourish everyone who belongs to you through Jesus Christ. 00:03:41.239 --> 00:03:44.659 We pray that by your power, your spirit will do that today. 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:46.659 For your glory we ask. 00:03:47.239 --> 00:03:47.560 Amen. 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:47.620 Amen. 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:52.379 Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.560 The question I invite you to decide for yourself today is this. 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:01.000 Is church membership for you? 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:04.719 Is church membership for you? 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:11.319 Church membership is not for everyone. 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:14.659 Members belong to a body. 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:17.759 And each part of the body is very important. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:23.480 If one part is missing, then the whole part, the whole body suffers for that one part not being there. 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:29.159 I read of a marine sergeant, Sergeant Jones, 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:34.779 and his job in the Marines was to be an explosive ordinance disposal tech. 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:37.839 That means that if there's a bomb that's going to go off, 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.120 it's his job to go in there wearing the full suit and disarm it. 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:42.659 Before someone is killed. 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:47.199 He told the story about how one time he was serving in Afghanistan, 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:55.100 and a local person gave them a clue that there might have been an improvised explosive device, 00:04:55.219 --> 00:04:56.980 an IED a few miles south. 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:01.560 So he set off and he invited others to come along with him as opportunity to train them. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:03.800 Things went bad on this mission. 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:05.699 There was an explosion. 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.779 And when the dust settled, there was so much shrapnel in his legs. 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:15.079 With the infection and the complications on the field, both of his legs had to be amputated. 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:20.560 So he's now missing these important parts of his body, his two legs. 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:25.819 And the pain was so great, even years later after having amputation, 00:05:26.419 --> 00:05:31.139 he reported that phantom pain that where his feet and shins should have been. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:36.060 He said it felt like someone was crunching his toes or twisting his foot so badly it was going to pop off. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.579 He said sometimes it feels like someone's trying to run my feet through a grinder. 00:05:40.579 --> 00:05:45.939 He looks down, there's no feet there, there's no pain, but those members are missing. 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:52.819 Medical professionals explain that each part of the body is interconnected to the rest of the body 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:54.579 through a number of complex systems. 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:57.979 Think about several involved with amputation. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:03.560 Circulatory system, muscular, skeletal, and in this case the nervous system. 00:06:04.299 --> 00:06:06.719 Our bodies are all interconnected, aren't they? 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:14.360 If one part of the body is gone or injured, a healthy body feels it. 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:20.880 Well, this book of Hebrews, it was written to the church. 00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:24.740 And it's written to the church who had a mixed congregation. 00:06:25.440 --> 00:06:28.460 And there were many who had given up on meeting together. 00:06:28.880 --> 00:06:33.540 And others who had returned to the Jewish practices, keeping with the tradition of their ethnicity. 00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:38.000 Instead of the new covenant that they were belonging to if they're part of the church. 00:06:39.020 --> 00:06:43.540 And the author of Hebrews, I think it's Paul's sermons taken down as Luke's sermon notes. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:44.879 That's what we're reading in Hebrews. 00:06:45.900 --> 00:06:47.120 He says, hold on. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:52.520 That same covenant language that where God says, I will be your God and you will be my people. 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:54.720 That's repeated for you, church. 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:56.860 Look in our sermon text today. 00:06:56.939 --> 00:06:59.900 Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 12. 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:03.500 The message is this. 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:10.919 If you truly are united to Christ, if you belong to the body of Jesus Christ, God is your God. 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:11.759 You are his people. 00:07:12.219 --> 00:07:13.839 You are in his covenant. 00:07:14.299 --> 00:07:16.179 There's no going back to anything else. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.859 And if you belong to Christ, you belong to his body on earth. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.799 Some were in the habit of no longer meeting with the rest of the body. 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:35.639 Others had taken the Lord's Supper, been in the fellowship, experienced what it is to belong, physically at least. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.319 And they had abandoned the faith. 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:40.439 And he says of those, they were never of us. 00:07:42.020 --> 00:07:43.920 Do you know anyone like that in your life? 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:50.259 Maybe they were fervent at one point in life and they haven't been to church for years now. 00:07:50.960 --> 00:07:52.680 You should be very concerned for their soul. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.680 Do they truly belong to Christ? 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:56.800 Or did they never know him? 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:01.639 Ephesians 4 builds off the same metaphor. 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:02.920 Christ is the head. 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:04.500 The church is his body. 00:08:05.840 --> 00:08:09.019 So to truly belong as the member of a church. 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:11.079 Disciples beware. 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:12.840 Cost the count of discipleship. 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:15.000 To truly belong to a church body. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:20.579 It will expose you like Sergeant Jones and the Marines to great pain. 00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:25.159 When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. 00:08:25.859 --> 00:08:26.839 Count the cost. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:34.819 But it also is the only way to experience the great joys of heaven right now on this earth while we're still alive. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.840 Romans 12, 4 and 5 build on this same metaphor. 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:40.419 The church as a body. 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:42.340 Paul wrote to the church in Rome, 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:46.879 As in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.280 So we, though many, are one body in Christ. 00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:54.379 And we are individually members one of another. 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:57.820 So is church membership for you? 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:04.360 I want to walk you through today's sermon text with six points of reflection. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:05.700 Search yourself. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:07.720 Number one. 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:15.300 Church membership is for you if you are blessed by Christ's ministry. 00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:16.680 Look at verse six. 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.360 We read that Christ has obtained a ministry. 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:24.640 Christ has obtained. 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:26.180 He has accomplished. 00:09:26.179 --> 00:09:27.299 He owns. 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:29.779 He possesses a ministry. 00:09:30.859 --> 00:09:32.179 What is it about this ministry? 00:09:32.319 --> 00:09:43.579 This ministry in verse six, we're told it is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises. 00:09:45.319 --> 00:09:55.799 So the contrast here to the church, it's between the Mosaic covenant, the covenant that God made from Mount Sinai for the people of Israel through Moses as the mediator. 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:59.759 That's in contrast with this new covenant, the second covenant. 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:03.379 And the mediator of this covenant is Christ himself. 00:10:03.859 --> 00:10:05.599 God who took on flesh. 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:08.179 Christ obtained this ministry. 00:10:08.359 --> 00:10:10.120 It will never be taken out of his hands. 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:14.100 There is a great contrast between these two. 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:21.019 One of the contrasts I want to pull from the bookend of this passage. 00:10:21.139 --> 00:10:22.759 Look all the way down at verse 13. 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:30.440 See, this whole chapter, Hebrews 8, it's the apostle quoting from the Old Testament. 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.340 And he's quoting from Jeremiah chapter 31. 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:39.400 Jeremiah was writing to a rebellious nation of Israel who had not kept God's covenant. 00:10:39.560 --> 00:10:40.160 They had rebelled. 00:10:40.260 --> 00:10:44.920 They had turned to idols to the point that Nebuchadnezzar and his army were marching to capture Babylon. 00:10:46.040 --> 00:10:52.040 And yet that prophet Jeremiah bringing this great judgment of the Lord, prosecuting the covenant of works to them. 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.620 And through Jeremiah comes this glorious prophecy. 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:56.259 God will be faithful still. 00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:59.259 There will be a remnant preserved through Daniel. 00:11:00.099 --> 00:11:02.259 Through those who have taken into exile, the Jews. 00:11:02.839 --> 00:11:04.879 God will be faithful to you too. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:09.659 And through national Israel will come the one who will mediate the new covenant. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.079 So the contrast is there, but now look at verse 13. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:20.879 He says, like the first covenant, this new covenant is different. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:24.900 See, the first covenant is now going to be obsolete. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.379 It's becoming obsolete and is growing old and is ready to vanish away. 00:11:30.660 --> 00:11:37.879 So God was mediating grace to national Israel under the Mosaic administration, the ceremonial law, the civil law. 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:42.040 And his moral law says, this is how my people live. 00:11:42.420 --> 00:11:43.680 I ransomed you out of Egypt. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:44.599 This is who you are. 00:11:46.479 --> 00:11:49.559 Well, the new covenant will never be obsolete. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:51.859 The new covenant will never vanish away. 00:11:52.979 --> 00:11:54.379 In Hebrews, he's already made the case. 00:11:54.479 --> 00:11:57.559 Jesus Christ is the high priest forever. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.659 I think for many, we even need to make sure we're not skipping ahead in the story here. 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:09.159 We need to catch up with where this congregation would already be familiar. 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:16.899 Do you know that you need a mediator between your soul and God, the creator, the holy God? 00:12:18.459 --> 00:12:23.600 Ancient Job before Moses, well before Christ. 00:12:23.839 --> 00:12:24.819 Ancient Job knew this. 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:28.940 Listen to what Job said in Job 9 verse 32 and 33. 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:32.520 God is not a man as I am. 00:12:32.660 --> 00:12:36.020 I can't go to trial as if I were his equal. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.560 Job said there is no arbiter between me and God. 00:12:40.780 --> 00:12:46.780 There's no mediator who can take my hand as a man and God's hand and bring peace to us. 00:12:47.400 --> 00:12:48.360 Job recognized that. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:49.460 I need a mediator. 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:53.500 I need someone to mediate between me and my creator. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:55.680 I can't approach him on my own. 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:01.879 Now look back at verse 6 of our sermon text here. 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:05.600 Christ obtained a ministry. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.740 Christ became that mediator. 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:17.720 And what was only in shadows with the Mosaic commands, the ceremonial law, the shedding of blood, 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:23.259 the priest giving a blessing after sins had been pardoned according to what God ordained, 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.740 the moral law over the people that would lead them to repentance, 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.100 what was only in shadow form is now here in substance. 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:32.840 Christ has obtained this ministry. 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:36.620 The civil laws over the nation of Israel. 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:40.700 Those civil laws now were enacted by the king himself. 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.500 King Jesus rules over the new covenant church. 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:47.320 How did he obtain this ministry? 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:51.179 He became the lamb of heaven. 00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:53.179 He poured out his blood. 00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:56.740 He obtained this ministry. 00:13:59.419 --> 00:14:06.060 Now he says in verse 6 that this new covenant is better because it's enacted on better promises. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:12.580 See, for national Israel, the promise was peace in this land against all the other nations. 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:17.100 But through Jesus Christ, you have peace with God himself. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.419 Under Moses, you would have prosperity in Israel. 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:25.159 Under Christ, you have the riches of heaven. 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:33.419 Under Moses, you have the best that Israel could hope for were clear borders established in this desert piece of land. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:40.799 Well, through Jesus Christ, those in his kingdom, they inherit the new heavens and the new earth. 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:43.719 You see how much better the ministry of Christ is. 00:14:44.439 --> 00:14:47.939 Why would you turn back to a covenant of works for yourself? 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:51.880 And he says it's enacted on better promises. 00:14:52.880 --> 00:14:59.420 Without even drawing from the New Testament, listen to how Christ's ministry was enacted on Old Testament promises. 00:15:00.560 --> 00:15:02.440 And if you're in Christ, this is for you. 00:15:03.260 --> 00:15:04.780 You belong to Christ's church. 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:11.459 If God has put enmity in your heart against Satan, sin, and the world. 00:15:11.459 --> 00:15:15.059 As he promised he would do in Genesis 3.15. 00:15:15.819 --> 00:15:22.519 You belong to Christ's church if he has removed your heart of stone and replaced it with a soft heart. 00:15:22.939 --> 00:15:25.559 As he promised he would do in Ezekiel 36. 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:33.519 You belong to Christ's church if you are one of his sheep who know the shepherd's voice. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:37.539 As he promised, and what we heard this morning in Ezekiel 34. 00:15:38.259 --> 00:15:43.720 God promised, I myself will search for my sheep and I will seek you out. 00:15:44.199 --> 00:15:48.620 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.799 so I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.799 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. 00:15:57.220 --> 00:16:00.399 And I myself will make them to lie down. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:13.000 As one Puritan commentator wrote, 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:17.620 It's the resurrection, the fact that Jesus Christ lives today. 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:23.679 The resurrection, it is the amen of all of God's promises. 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:28.960 So you are blessed by Christ's ministry, aren't you? 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.480 If you are blessed in Christ's ministry, 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.559 then you belong to his church. 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:43.139 He obtained every one of God's promises for you, for his glory. 00:16:44.239 --> 00:16:46.159 Is church membership for you? 00:16:49.059 --> 00:16:55.779 The second point of reflection, church membership is different than Old Covenant membership. 00:16:56.779 --> 00:17:00.959 Church membership is different than Old Covenant membership. 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:02.939 Look at verse 7. 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:07.960 For if that first covenant had been faultless, 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.559 there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:14.960 For he finds fault with them when he says, 00:17:15.320 --> 00:17:16.940 now he quotes Jeremiah 31, 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:19.620 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:25.240 when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:32.880 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:37.120 For they did not continue in my covenant. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.640 And so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:47.980 This quote from Jeremiah is describing the covenant that God made under Moses. 00:17:48.360 --> 00:17:49.700 He delivered them out of slavery. 00:17:49.840 --> 00:17:52.440 He's showing them grace, giving them his moral law. 00:17:53.180 --> 00:17:54.280 Yet they rebel. 00:17:54.540 --> 00:17:55.680 They turn their back on God. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.780 They turn to all the other idols of their nation. 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:01.560 And so they bring on the curses of that old covenant. 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:07.159 I want to make a couple observations. 00:18:07.419 --> 00:18:11.059 First, in verse 8, look at what he says. 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.759 The first covenant found fault with what? 00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:18.440 What did the first covenant find fault with in verse 8? 00:18:20.139 --> 00:18:22.000 Found fault with them. 00:18:23.159 --> 00:18:29.819 This means personally, every individual under the old covenant was exposed by the moral law of God. 00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:33.599 And it exposed that their hearts were the problem. 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:35.399 Their hearts were made of stone. 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:38.659 Now look at verse 9. 00:18:39.439 --> 00:18:43.039 Because their hearts were of stone, on the whole nationally, 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:48.139 they could not live for the glory of God. 00:18:50.159 --> 00:18:52.240 Notice what he says is not at fault. 00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:57.939 He says the law of God, which is a reflection of God's essence, who God is, 00:18:57.940 --> 00:18:59.960 is the law found fault in them. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.140 Does he say the law was at fault? 00:19:03.820 --> 00:19:06.640 No, the law is not what's at fault here. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.080 It's our hearts that are at fault. 00:19:10.360 --> 00:19:14.000 We want to bring the goalpost a little bit closer, don't we? 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:18.620 We want to try to just change God's standard so that we can achieve it by our own works. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.900 He says, no, my law is not what we're moving here. 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:24.780 It's your hearts that need to be moved toward me. 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:28.740 I was trying to think of a good picture for this. 00:19:29.540 --> 00:19:32.600 Let me ask you this as an open question, maybe a trick question, okay? 00:19:33.580 --> 00:19:37.860 Is it right for parents to expect their children to help wash dirty dishes? 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:40.259 Yes or no? 00:19:40.259 --> 00:19:48.900 I see some of the parents here that have kids of a wide range of ages are hesitant to answer 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:50.619 because they're thinking of every single one of them. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:55.599 If your child is a three-year-old, that's probably a wrong expectation. 00:19:56.220 --> 00:20:00.039 If your child is a 30-year-old, that's a good expectation, right? 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:04.119 So is it right for us to expect that as parents? 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:06.160 Well, think about Israel. 00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:08.180 He says the law was like a tutor. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:12.980 It wasn't wrong for him to want his covenant people to please him. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.480 That wasn't wrong at all. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.400 Of course, if you're in his covenant, how could you not want that? 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:20.039 Well, the fault that this law shows is your heart. 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:23.700 You never will love him unless he draws you to himself. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:29.500 What needs to change is not God's law. 00:20:30.060 --> 00:20:32.320 It's the heart of God's true people. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:38.179 Is church membership for you? 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:42.399 If you are still living under Adam's curse of the law, 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.899 you are still trying to approach God under this principle of works 00:20:46.899 --> 00:20:50.899 where I can do more and more and more and I can be closer to God by my own good behavior, 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.460 church membership is not for you. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:56.079 I told you it's not for everyone. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:01.619 If you're still under the curse of Adam, you get death. 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:05.339 But if you are under the ministry of Jesus Christ, you get life. 00:21:06.159 --> 00:21:10.740 If you're under this covenant of works, your thoughts of God are begrudging. 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:14.659 It's complaining about being in his presence or serving him. 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:17.400 If you're in the covenant of grace through Christ, 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:21.120 your thoughts of God and belonging to his covenant are joyful. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.900 Under the covenant of works, you're passive. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.640 Under the covenant of grace, you are active. 00:21:28.120 --> 00:21:32.740 Under the covenant of works, you are stagnant like a pool of stale mud. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.040 But under the covenant of grace, you are alive in Christ. 00:21:36.340 --> 00:21:37.040 You are growing. 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:41.940 I love how Don Whitney pointed this out. 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:49.500 He says, just as every organ of every cell is God created to be an active member of the human body, 00:21:49.840 --> 00:21:58.120 so every true Christian is God created to be an active member of a local body of Christ's church. 00:21:58.279 --> 00:21:58.519 Amen? 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.519 So is church membership for you? 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:05.920 Third point of reflection. 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:09.600 Church membership is for you. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:14.099 If God is transforming your desires. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:20.659 God transforms new covenant members from the inside out. 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:22.339 Not the outside in. 00:22:23.419 --> 00:22:24.480 Look at verse 10. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:26.759 God says, 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:32.819 For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. 00:22:33.179 --> 00:22:37.599 I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.259 I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 00:22:42.959 --> 00:22:46.259 As we saw in Sunday school, Austin did a great job pointing out. 00:22:47.459 --> 00:22:50.419 You don't change your attitudes, your desires, your heart, your thinking. 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:52.899 That's back to covenant of works. 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:55.179 You're trying to make yourself good enough again. 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.279 But you see that God has truly transformed what you want. 00:22:59.419 --> 00:23:01.099 He's transformed what you desire. 00:23:02.139 --> 00:23:04.359 God makes a new covenant. 00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:06.559 Now I need to clarify something that is confusing. 00:23:06.699 --> 00:23:07.019 He says, 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:10.219 I will make a covenant with the house of Israel after those days. 00:23:10.619 --> 00:23:13.359 Now remember, this is a quotation of Jeremiah 31. 00:23:14.659 --> 00:23:17.199 God is showing here, I believe he's showing the continuity. 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:22.079 Does that mean that everything that God said to Israel just goes away? 00:23:22.479 --> 00:23:24.479 Was that all even like relevant at any point? 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:30.839 No, God is saying that this people of Israel, this house of Israel and Judah, it's through them. 00:23:31.259 --> 00:23:32.740 And Paul clarifies this in Galatians. 00:23:32.839 --> 00:23:34.360 It's the seed of Abraham singular. 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:38.920 It's Christ through Adam's line, through Israel, through Judah. 00:23:39.860 --> 00:23:41.539 It's through him that I will do this. 00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:51.920 What is in view in this future prophecy through Isaiah, I'm sorry, through Jeremiah, is the true Israel. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:53.779 And Paul clarifies this. 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:56.640 Well, did all the promises to national Israel go away? 00:23:56.740 --> 00:23:56.900 No. 00:23:57.340 --> 00:24:00.120 All the promises find their yes and amen in Christ. 00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:03.500 It's fulfilled to the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:07.779 And it's applied so that there's no longer Jew or Gentile. 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.980 There's no longer Israelite and all the rest of us. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.860 God is fulfilling his plan to redeem all people. 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:17.500 And he doesn't do it in a vacuum. 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:20.420 He does it over covenant redemptive history. 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:26.420 He gave all of the Old Testament shadows and types in sundry ways through all these different prophets. 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:32.779 All of them pointing and testifying that when God takes on flesh from this line, under this law, 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:36.940 it is to accomplish his plan for all the nations. 00:24:37.460 --> 00:24:39.200 That's what God promised all along. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:46.259 God did not find any fault with his own moral law. 00:24:47.340 --> 00:24:52.420 But he knew in order to draw sinners into his covenant through Christ, 00:24:53.059 --> 00:24:59.340 he would need to work powerfully inside of them, in their minds, in their hearts, is the language. 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:05.159 See, the new covenant is God transforming you on the inside. 00:25:06.419 --> 00:25:09.339 We know this so much more fully now with the new covenant revelation. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:17.959 It's the Holy Spirit who applies in your soul what Christ accomplished and what God had promised. 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:22.799 I will put my laws into your minds, God says. 00:25:23.620 --> 00:25:26.620 My people will know what pleases me. 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:27.400 You will know it. 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:28.340 It's in your mind. 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:32.860 It is not a guessing game with God. 00:25:35.100 --> 00:25:39.059 Some have taken that principle of grace, that it's not by our works, 00:25:39.120 --> 00:25:41.299 and they've turned it into licentiousness. 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:43.860 This is as old as the Reformation. 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:46.859 Oh, you say that people are saved by grace alone, not by works? 00:25:47.159 --> 00:25:48.859 Well, they're just going to go live however they want. 00:25:49.179 --> 00:25:50.839 It's going to be antinomianism. 00:25:50.939 --> 00:25:52.679 There's no law over the church. 00:25:53.299 --> 00:25:56.779 Well, listen to what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3, 4. 00:25:57.139 --> 00:26:01.619 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:03.779 Sin is lawlessness. 00:26:05.659 --> 00:26:09.759 John is saying church membership is not for those who are lawless 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.439 because they're not in the covenant of grace. 00:26:11.439 --> 00:26:12.419 They don't know God. 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:17.240 He says, I will write my law on your hearts. 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:19.539 I will change your desires. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.419 Isn't that what you need God to change in you most? 00:26:23.159 --> 00:26:24.159 It is for me. 00:26:24.659 --> 00:26:26.740 I need God to change me on the inside. 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:29.639 They will want to please me. 00:26:31.159 --> 00:26:36.059 We read in 2 Corinthians 3, 3 that with the Holy Spirit of the living God, 00:26:36.679 --> 00:26:41.019 He puts His law inside of you, not on tablets of stone, 00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:43.759 but on the tablets of your human heart. 00:26:43.859 --> 00:26:47.799 The stone tablets over the people, 00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:52.839 that's an external law on people who need to be transformed first. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:54.179 They are spiritually dead. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:55.759 They need to be made alive by grace. 00:26:56.879 --> 00:26:58.379 Galatians 5, 24 says, 00:26:58.379 --> 00:27:02.459 Those who belong to Christ have been crucified in the flesh, 00:27:02.699 --> 00:27:05.939 along with the passions and desires of the sin. 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:13.519 Praise God that He doesn't just give us these promises and leave us to try to work for them again. 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:16.279 He actually changes our desire. 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:21.339 I want to illustrate this with a true story. 00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:24.299 I'll use the first name, Christiana. 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:29.539 As a toddler, Christiana hated to eat broccoli. 00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:32.460 If her parents tried to make her eat broccoli, 00:27:33.099 --> 00:27:35.879 she would gag and almost throw up at the dinner table. 00:27:36.980 --> 00:27:41.339 As she became an adult, Christiana got a master of science in nutrition. 00:27:41.339 --> 00:27:44.980 No one has to make her eat broccoli. 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:47.599 She knows that broccoli is full of nutrients. 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:48.679 It's fresh. 00:27:48.779 --> 00:27:49.279 It's crunchy. 00:27:49.439 --> 00:27:50.799 It's so yummy to her now. 00:27:51.399 --> 00:27:52.240 Do you see the difference? 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:57.799 She used to be getting broccoli externally pushed onto her and hated it. 00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:01.440 Well, now she appreciates it. 00:28:01.619 --> 00:28:02.440 She loves it. 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:04.379 Her desire has changed. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:07.039 Is church membership for you? 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:14.460 If God is transforming your life from the inside out for His glory and for your good, 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:16.519 then church membership is for you. 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:19.099 Fourth point of reflection. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:22.819 If you are in Christ's new covenant, 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:27.399 the law He writes on your heart and in your mind is clear. 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:31.220 Look at verse 10. 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:36.279 And really 10 taking into account what we've seen up to this point. 00:28:36.419 --> 00:28:43.659 In verse 10, He simply repeats that refrain that's so familiar to God's covenant people over every century. 00:28:44.419 --> 00:28:46.379 I will be your God. 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:48.980 By grace, I approach you. 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:50.740 And you belong to me. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:51.480 You are my people. 00:28:51.940 --> 00:28:55.180 He repeats that refrain now, applying it to the church. 00:28:55.180 --> 00:29:00.940 I'm trying to appreciate that the continuity of God. 00:29:01.060 --> 00:29:02.000 God doesn't change. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.759 So yes, the new covenant mediated by Christ is so much better. 00:29:06.100 --> 00:29:07.420 But God doesn't change. 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:10.140 God makes Himself the God of His people. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:12.640 And God draws His people to Himself. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:17.100 You've got to answer this question. 00:29:17.259 --> 00:29:21.860 What is the law that God puts into the minds and the hearts of those who He says, 00:29:22.060 --> 00:29:23.360 I am your God and you are my people? 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:23.920 What law? 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.040 Put your eyes back on those verses. 00:29:28.540 --> 00:29:31.420 What law is it that He puts inside of His people? 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:45.580 Well, one of our principles of understanding the Bible correctly is that we take a more difficult passage 00:29:45.580 --> 00:29:48.380 and we try to shed light from all the other parts in the Bible. 00:29:48.800 --> 00:29:51.920 The more difficult part is clarified by the parts that are more clear. 00:29:52.539 --> 00:29:54.580 I think this is an appropriate case to do that. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:57.740 Could it be the ceremonial law? 00:29:57.740 --> 00:30:02.279 Could it be the law for national Israel that said they couldn't eat shellfish and things like that? 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:03.120 Unclean animals? 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:05.720 Knowing from the book of Acts what we know? 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:06.779 The answer has to be no. 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:08.440 It cannot be the ceremonial law. 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:11.519 Remember the vision that the Lord gave Peter? 00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:13.680 There's no unclean animals. 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:14.539 I've created them all. 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:15.599 You're in Christ now. 00:30:15.740 --> 00:30:17.940 There's no more ceremonial law over my church. 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:20.500 Okay, what about the civil law? 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:24.599 Could it be that this was a judicial law for ruling a kingdom? 00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:28.719 Well, isn't that exactly what the zealots expected of Jesus? 00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:30.879 That He would be a political revolutionary? 00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:35.379 They could get behind Him and finally He would carry out all the civil law of God over Israel? 00:30:36.939 --> 00:30:37.819 Jesus said, 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:40.980 My kingdom is not of this earth. 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:43.319 My kingdom is a spiritual kingdom of heaven. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:46.039 Paul wrote, 00:30:46.039 --> 00:31:03.819 Now, does that mean that those two types of laws, ceremonial and civil, are irrelevant to us? 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:09.500 We can still gain deep appreciation for the finished work of Christ as the Lamb of heaven 00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:11.539 by studying the ceremonial law. 00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:14.440 It's useful for us, for our instruction, for our growth. 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:18.839 There are still principles in the civil law that God gave to the theocracy of Israel 00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:20.200 that we can learn from. 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:24.420 We can do our best to apply them in our different areas of work and industry in the world. 00:31:25.379 --> 00:31:27.519 But what is the law that He says here in verse 10? 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:30.119 He puts into the minds and hearts of His people. 00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:35.480 Is it possible for a new covenant believer to know what pleases God? 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:41.180 Has God given us anything to indicate what pleases Him? 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:45.700 What was it that the Lord wrote with His own finger? 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:52.240 Not just commanding through Moses, but with His own finger, the Lord gave us the Ten Commandments, 00:31:52.620 --> 00:31:57.960 what we call the moral law, as a special revelation for those who belong to God. 00:31:58.019 --> 00:31:59.460 I am your God, you are my people. 00:32:00.700 --> 00:32:02.240 This is how you shall live. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:07.779 So if you're in Christ's new covenant with God's help, 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:11.200 out of gratitude for Christ, not as a principle of works, 00:32:11.799 --> 00:32:15.240 you will be joyfully ruled by King Jesus, 00:32:15.819 --> 00:32:17.279 and every king has a law. 00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:20.480 And He has made His law very clear to us. 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:23.740 Matthew 22. 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:26.440 Jesus said, 00:32:27.099 --> 00:32:29.599 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, 00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:32.039 and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:32:32.900 --> 00:32:34.039 Notice what He said next. 00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:38.059 On these two commandments hangs all the law and the prophets. 00:32:40.059 --> 00:32:44.859 God always has and still rules graciously over His covenant people. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:49.200 And He does this through His moral law. 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.039 Not from the outside, like a covenant of works, 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.680 but changing the inside of a believer, changing your desires. 00:32:55.680 --> 00:33:02.160 You've probably heard teaching that says that Christians are governed only by a, quote, 00:33:02.259 --> 00:33:03.299 law of Christ. 00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:04.860 And this is true. 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:06.740 We are governed by the law of Christ. 00:33:06.820 --> 00:33:11.299 In other words, there is no law for the Christian unless it's from the hand of Christ. 00:33:12.320 --> 00:33:16.519 There's no relationship between a Christian to God through the law without Christ. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:18.740 Because Christ fulfilled all the law. 00:33:18.740 --> 00:33:22.120 He loved God perfectly, loved His neighbor as Himself. 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:26.460 He mediates, and then He gradually puts into us His righteousness. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:28.380 What He perfectly fulfilled. 00:33:28.819 --> 00:33:33.039 He changes your heart with that same moral law. 00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:38.399 Did Christ abolish the moral law, the Ten Commandments? 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:44.220 I believe Christ answers this directly in the negative in Matthew 5.13. 00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:45.339 Jesus said, 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:49.419 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 00:33:49.779 --> 00:33:54.099 I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:55.679 And He has fulfilled them. 00:33:55.879 --> 00:33:58.199 And He has obtained a better ministry. 00:33:59.139 --> 00:34:01.299 The reference to the law and the prophets. 00:34:02.179 --> 00:34:04.039 The law are the books that Moses wrote. 00:34:04.859 --> 00:34:09.639 The prophets are God's inspired men prosecuting that very covenant. 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:15.319 They're holding the nation of Israel accountable to that covenant relationship 00:34:15.319 --> 00:34:18.920 under the principle of works for the nation of Israel. 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:20.420 Jesus said, 00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:22.179 I did not come to abolish it. 00:34:22.279 --> 00:34:24.079 See, my people will relate to me. 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:26.539 I will rule over my people with my law. 00:34:26.739 --> 00:34:29.400 But it will be my law written inside of them. 00:34:31.259 --> 00:34:35.259 The principle under the old covenant was do this and live. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:39.400 The principle now under Christ's new covenant is live. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:42.420 By living in me, you will do this. 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:46.440 A king is always clear. 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:52.779 A loving, benevolent king is always clear to his people about what pleases him. 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:57.460 I thought of a couple in their marriage. 00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:01.039 And I pictured the young wife saying, 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:02.179 I thought you loved me. 00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:03.139 Almost to cry. 00:35:03.659 --> 00:35:05.699 And the young husband's trying his really hardest. 00:35:06.339 --> 00:35:06.940 And he says, 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:07.719 Of course I love you. 00:35:07.739 --> 00:35:08.659 I folded all the laundry. 00:35:08.759 --> 00:35:09.299 I made the dinner. 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:10.480 I took out the trash. 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:11.720 I mowed the lawn. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:12.920 Of course I love you. 00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:14.160 And she says, 00:35:14.220 --> 00:35:16.440 But you didn't write me a note to say you love me. 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:18.180 She's looking for words of encouragement. 00:35:18.560 --> 00:35:20.080 And he's doing all these acts of service. 00:35:21.240 --> 00:35:24.940 Well, our Lord is better than any marriage like that. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:26.019 He's so clear to us. 00:35:26.120 --> 00:35:27.620 And lovingly, he tells us, 00:35:27.820 --> 00:35:29.220 This is what pleases me. 00:35:29.640 --> 00:35:32.740 You don't need to be left searching for all these other ways. 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:34.940 Because what will happen is we will become legalists. 00:35:34.940 --> 00:35:39.599 We will start piling on all these things we think we need to do to please our King Jesus. 00:35:40.099 --> 00:35:41.380 And he makes it really clear. 00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:48.260 Here's one more thing you need to hear from Psalm 119. 00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:53.860 For those who say that the moral law has vanished away and has become obsolete. 00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:59.780 Psalm 119 says that the sum of God's word is truth. 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:00.600 Listen to this. 00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:07.360 Every one of your righteous rules endures forever. 00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:12.360 Every one of God's righteous rules endures forever. 00:36:13.299 --> 00:36:15.619 God's word never contradicts itself. 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:18.559 Let scripture interpret scripture for us. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:25.779 So if God is growing in you a desire out of joy and gratitude. 00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:30.079 To obey the Ten Commandments out of love for your King. 00:36:31.779 --> 00:36:32.920 Then you're in his covenant. 00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:34.259 Church membership is for you. 00:36:35.719 --> 00:36:36.400 Number five. 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:39.920 Church membership is for you who personally know God. 00:36:40.500 --> 00:36:42.360 Because of Christ's work. 00:36:42.619 --> 00:36:44.340 That's exactly what he says in verse 11. 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:45.840 I hardly need to make any comments. 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:46.699 Look at verse 11. 00:36:46.699 --> 00:36:52.419 In this new covenant, they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying, 00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:53.099 Know the Lord. 00:36:53.659 --> 00:36:56.419 For they shall all know me. 00:36:56.739 --> 00:36:58.379 From the least of them to the greatest. 00:36:58.899 --> 00:37:01.199 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities. 00:37:01.439 --> 00:37:04.960 And I will remember their sins no more. 00:37:05.819 --> 00:37:06.779 Look at verse 11. 00:37:07.219 --> 00:37:09.199 They shall all know me. 00:37:10.439 --> 00:37:13.739 Do you remember in John 3 when Nicodemus came at night. 00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:16.439 Ashamed to be associated with Christ. 00:37:16.699 --> 00:37:20.599 What was the picture that Christ gave him of regeneration? 00:37:21.719 --> 00:37:23.980 He said, You must be born again. 00:37:24.739 --> 00:37:26.859 You must be born again to know God. 00:37:27.839 --> 00:37:30.759 Nicodemus knew the law, but he did not know God. 00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:35.419 Initially, when God saved him, Nicodemus knew God. 00:37:36.099 --> 00:37:37.519 And he followed Christ. 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:41.579 Does a baby know who the parents are? 00:37:42.940 --> 00:37:45.679 For some reason, I've taken babies in our congregation. 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:46.980 They immediately start crying. 00:37:47.820 --> 00:37:50.539 Because a baby knows who their parents are. 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:53.420 And in this new covenant, it will be like that. 00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:57.280 Internally, a baby can't explain anything with their words. 00:37:57.340 --> 00:37:58.019 But you know. 00:37:58.340 --> 00:37:59.179 You know God. 00:37:59.179 --> 00:38:02.899 They shall all know me, he said. 00:38:03.159 --> 00:38:04.879 Well, who is it that will know him? 00:38:05.219 --> 00:38:06.179 Look at verse 12. 00:38:07.099 --> 00:38:09.699 God says, I will remember their sins no more. 00:38:11.819 --> 00:38:18.019 Those who know God in the new covenant are those who are forgiven of their sins by the work of Christ. 00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:21.719 This has big implications. 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:30.500 Those in the new covenant are not those who are on the rolls of attending a church gathering every week. 00:38:33.340 --> 00:38:37.460 The children of believers are not automatically in the new covenant. 00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:38.940 They need evangelism. 00:38:39.239 --> 00:38:40.239 They need to hear the gospel. 00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:46.880 They need to have God's law show them their sin so they can approach Christ and receive his free grace. 00:38:48.019 --> 00:38:52.539 Those who know God are those who have been forgiven by him. 00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:57.900 Whose sins have been washed away through the ministry that Christ obtained. 00:39:00.179 --> 00:39:10.679 There is our Lord Jesus Christ, the high priest from heaven now, ministering over his congregation, every little church, every congregation over the earth. 00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:13.860 He is the great high priest. 00:39:13.860 --> 00:39:22.680 And in Hebrews 7, verse 3, just a chapter before this, the author says that the Son of God continues a priest forever. 00:39:24.220 --> 00:39:25.519 Do you see what this means? 00:39:25.940 --> 00:39:30.360 If Christ is your high priest, your sins are forgiven by him forever. 00:39:31.420 --> 00:39:33.440 And you know God forever. 00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:35.099 You will not fall away. 00:39:35.200 --> 00:39:36.140 You belong to him. 00:39:36.139 --> 00:39:38.980 Your sins are atoned for. 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:44.940 And his righteousness is yours for as long as Christ is priest. 00:39:45.299 --> 00:39:47.940 As long as Christ is the ruler over the new covenant. 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:49.379 And that's forever. 00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:52.279 So whose sins are forgiven? 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:55.400 Only those who are in Christ's covenant. 00:39:55.400 --> 00:40:04.119 Now, I'll just make one brief point because I have so much love and respect for our other brothers of have a different view of covenant theology. 00:40:04.220 --> 00:40:06.340 I'll just say this simple truth right here. 00:40:06.780 --> 00:40:07.900 Who should take the Lord's Supper? 00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:12.039 Those who know the Lord and whose sins are forgiven. 00:40:13.680 --> 00:40:14.780 Who should be baptized? 00:40:15.460 --> 00:40:17.860 Those who know the Lord and whose sins are forgiven. 00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:19.039 It's that simple. 00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:24.360 I was thinking of sibling rivalry. 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:27.779 They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest. 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:35.159 And if we're in the family of God, our flesh is going to want to tap into those things that we did as kids, right? 00:40:35.900 --> 00:40:40.179 Because of sin, siblings are wired to compete with one another. 00:40:40.440 --> 00:40:41.000 Isn't that true? 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:42.860 It's because of sin. 00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:45.960 Siblings are wired to compete against one another. 00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:48.920 Who is the greatest? 00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:49.840 Just at this. 00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:54.400 Well, anything you can do, big brothers, I can do better, says the little sister. 00:40:56.259 --> 00:40:59.159 But remember that baby in the parents' arms? 00:41:01.019 --> 00:41:02.860 The baby knows who her parents are. 00:41:03.980 --> 00:41:06.380 And they shall all know me in the new covenant. 00:41:06.380 --> 00:41:16.940 There is a direct bond between every believer, not in comparison to one another, but a direct bond with God through Jesus Christ. 00:41:16.940 --> 00:41:22.820 He mediates God to you directly, not in comparison to each other. 00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:23.599 Praise the Lord. 00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:33.119 So if you, when you sin, run straight to Christ, then church membership is for you. 00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:43.460 If God reveals more and more of himself to you every time you read the Bible, you know God more, then church membership is for you. 00:41:43.460 --> 00:41:49.400 Well, the sixth point of reflection for you today is this. 00:41:51.539 --> 00:41:53.079 It's not even a point of reflection. 00:41:53.240 --> 00:41:54.720 It's just a word of encouragement. 00:41:55.880 --> 00:42:04.800 That church membership, reflecting true membership into the covenant of Christ in heaven, it never becomes obsolete. 00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:06.620 You see that in verse 13. 00:42:07.080 --> 00:42:08.019 Here's the contrast. 00:42:08.140 --> 00:42:10.800 The old covenant, it vanishes away, it becomes obsolete. 00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:18.380 But the new covenant, adopted by Christ, his church is your forever home. 00:42:20.560 --> 00:42:27.640 When God took on flesh in Jesus Christ, the God-man, the mediator, Jesus fulfilled what Zechariah prophesied. 00:42:27.740 --> 00:42:29.300 Remember when his parents took him to the temple? 00:42:30.019 --> 00:42:32.560 Zechariah prophesied this in Luke 1, 33. 00:42:32.559 --> 00:42:37.259 He will reign forever and ever. 00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:41.739 And of his kingdom, there will be no end. 00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:51.000 So your citizenship in the kingdom of heaven is as good as long as Christ is king. 00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:54.440 Church membership needs to do our best. 00:42:54.719 --> 00:42:57.599 Though none of us are perfect, I'm sure every church makes mistakes. 00:42:57.799 --> 00:42:59.219 Our goal is always that. 00:42:59.219 --> 00:43:06.059 May the church on earth, may the kingdom on earth reflect to the best of our ability what we believe is the reality. 00:43:06.519 --> 00:43:11.500 So we don't want to ever give a false assurance to someone who's not forgiven by Christ and that knows God. 00:43:11.959 --> 00:43:15.500 We also never want to disparage those who truly are forgiven and know the Lord. 00:43:16.459 --> 00:43:17.839 And may the Lord give us wisdom. 00:43:18.419 --> 00:43:20.099 But that's our mission as a church. 00:43:20.179 --> 00:43:20.819 It's that simple. 00:43:20.820 --> 00:43:25.539 Whatever the church binds on earth, it's as if it's being bound in heaven. 00:43:26.120 --> 00:43:31.320 So if someone strays away or stops meeting and pastorally is called to return, 00:43:32.160 --> 00:43:35.140 the desire is that it would be out of love for their soul. 00:43:35.460 --> 00:43:38.240 Return to the Lord while there is time for you. 00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:46.679 To truly belong as a member of such a body, I said at the beginning, it sets you up for potentially a lot of pain, doesn't it? 00:43:47.859 --> 00:43:54.039 But it also is the only way to experience on earth some of the greatest joys of belonging to the kingdom of heaven. 00:43:55.779 --> 00:43:59.399 Remember Sergeant Jones, the Marine with the explosion? 00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:06.960 Based on Hebrews 8, every part of the body is connected to the rest. 00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:12.200 And if one part of the body is missing, the whole body suffers. 00:44:13.380 --> 00:44:22.260 So to be a Christian, but not a member of a biblical church, that is just as unnatural as amputation. 00:44:23.880 --> 00:44:26.680 You're saying, I belong to the body of Christ. 00:44:26.679 --> 00:44:30.500 Christ is my head in heaven, but I'm disjointed on earth. 00:44:31.039 --> 00:44:32.339 I'm going to do it on my own on earth. 00:44:32.659 --> 00:44:35.719 That is as unnatural as an amputation. 00:44:36.019 --> 00:44:37.299 And the body is feeling it. 00:44:38.839 --> 00:44:46.079 In 1 Corinthians 12, 24, we read that God has so composed the body that there may be no division in the body, 00:44:46.419 --> 00:44:49.960 but that the members may have the same care for one another. 00:44:50.379 --> 00:44:54.039 If one member suffers, all suffer together. 00:44:54.039 --> 00:44:58.679 If one member is honored, all rejoice together. 00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:06.159 I love how Martin Lloyd-Jones, that medical doctor turned preacher in London, he said, 00:45:06.539 --> 00:45:13.759 we must grasp once again the idea of church membership being members of the body of Christ 00:45:13.759 --> 00:45:20.340 as our biggest honor, which any person can come to in this world. 00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:29.280 So if Christ is your head, you belong to his body, then church membership is for you. 00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:36.360 If you desire to serve him as an important part of his body, then church membership is for you. 00:45:37.180 --> 00:45:45.380 If your soul needs the care that only a Christ-ruled church can provide, then church membership is for you. 00:45:45.380 --> 00:45:51.539 If you don't like to see division in the true body of Christ, then church membership is for you. 00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:58.619 If you are ready to suffer when another member suffers, then church membership is for you. 00:45:59.160 --> 00:46:08.260 And if you want to rejoice with his body on earth as he prepares each one of us to join that great cloud of witnesses, 00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:12.039 then church membership is for you. 00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:13.519 Let's pray. 00:46:13.519 --> 00:46:27.119 Oh Lord, your word is so clear. 00:46:28.980 --> 00:46:33.199 Help us to apply what your spirit is teaching. 00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:33.320 Amen. 00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:33.380 Amen.