How New Is The New Covenant?

Today's sermon text is Jeremiah 31, starting at verse 29.

As a point of reference, many of you are familiar with the story of Daniel and the Hebrews who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

When they were growing up and still living in Jerusalem, they would have heard the warnings that God gave to national Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.

But most in Israel would have rejected Jeremiah. They considered him a madman.

And he was bringing only bad news that their kings did not want to hear.

Because Israel did not repent, national Israel suffered the consequences of breaking God's law.

And they were carried off into exile in Babylon.

In this ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into a muddy pit and left for dead.

He was rejected by his own people, being a prophet of God.

Some have said that Jeremiah suffered more at the hands of the rulers of Israel and Jerusalem than any other prophet, except for the Lord Jesus Christ.

So this word in this heavy, dark book of Jeremiah brings us some of the most glorious promises of God's enduring covenant faithfulness.

How even though these people are so rebellious and they're trying to kill even the messenger, Jeremiah, that God will bring a new covenant.

He will be faithful to his people.

And let's hear this promise from Jeremiah 31, beginning at verse 29.

This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word.

I'll say this is the word of the Lord. You can respond. Thanks be to God.

Jeremiah 31, starting at verse 29.

In those days they shall say no more.

The fathers have eaten our sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.

But everyone shall die for his own iniquity.

Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Verse 31.

Verse 31.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant, which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God and they shall be my people.

No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,

Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.

I will remember no more.

Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day in the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,

who disturbs the scene and its waves roar.

The Lord of hosts is his name.

If these ordinances depart from before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before me.

Verse 37.

Thus says the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,

I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.

This is the word of the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, we believe that your word is powerful.

Your word is alive.

It's active and it's sharp.

The word is the sword of the spirit.

The word is the sword of the spirit.

We pray that your Holy Spirit will take the word that you revealed and that you will pierce us, Lord, to the heart.

Pray that you'll cut away our wrong understanding of you.

And that with your word, Lord, you will prune us.

You will make us to bear fruit that keeps with the covenant that Jesus cut in his blood.

We know that on our own.

We know that on our own.

We have no strength, Lord.

I confess that as the one standing before your people to minister your word, I have no strength, no words of my own.

I pray for your help.

I pray that you'll guard my lips.

That what I preach to your people, Lord, will be edifying.

That it will exalt Christ as the Lord of your people.

We pray this for his sake alone.

Amen.

If a child gets adopted into a new family,

one of the first things they need to figure out is how is this family the same or how is this family different from what I'm used to?

In our training to be foster parents, completing all those courses for certification,

it's heartbreaking to learn the different types of backgrounds and families that children in the foster care system come out of.

One of the common mistakes the new foster families make is that when a child arrives with their black trash bag full of all their belongings in life,

the family wants right away to take all the belongings out of that black trash bag and put them away

and then throw that old ugly black trash bag away because you're home now.

But it's it's very comforting to the child to know these are all of my possessions.

And if I have to run away from this home, I have everything I need right here in this black bag.

So the counsel to the families receiving a child out of the foster care system is be respectful and understanding of that.

Let the child keep their belongings in this trash bag.

Let them keep everything right where they have it, where they're used to it,

because they've had such bad experiences before this.

Let them just feel safe in your home.

All of us who are born as a human being from the line of Adam and Eve,

we are under the curse of Adam, the federal head.

We have a baggage, trash that we inherited.

And if Jesus has saved you and by the power of his spirit has transferred you from the domain of darkness into his kingdom of light,

and he's baptized you with the name of the triune God, you belong to him.

We're sorting that out.

How new is it to belong to God?

How much baggage do I bring with me?

Am I really at home here?

Or will God have a mood and want to kick me out of his family?

Well, my message for you today is about the new covenant that Jesus says he cut in his own blood.

And the question I want to walk through is how new is the new covenant?

That's the title of today's sermon.

How new is the new covenant?

This is part one of two.

So next week we'll be approaching this new covenant from the New Testament.

But we want to understand what God had promised leading up to the finished work of Christ.

And so the prophecy of the new covenant, it comes in the old covenant in many places,

but nowhere more clearly than in Jeremiah 31.

What we just read is our sermon text.

To the people of God is promised a new covenant.

And I want to see now, what does God say to the people of Israel in Jeremiah 31 about this new covenant

that should set their expectation for how new it will be?

The first observation in verse 29 is that the children of believers will stand on their own in the new covenant.

In the new covenant, the children of believers will stand on their own.

Let's understand this first in the context of Israel.

Israel as a nation was in a covenant with God, but it was a covenant based on works.

Moses gave the law from Sinai.

And if national Israel, a sufficient number in national Israel, obeyed God's law,

the whole nation would enjoy blessings in the land.

The iniquities of the fathers was upon the children in this covenant of works,

but also were the blessings.

In other words, if your parents were part of a generation that feared God,

the next generation could be very spoiled, take it for granted,

and still get to enjoy living in the land.

And that was the pattern for national Israel.

In verse 29, we're told,

In those days, referring to a future day that will come,

the fathers have eaten sour grapes,

but now the principle is going to change.

In the old covenant, when the parents sin,

the children's teeth get set on edge.

But in the new, he says,

In those days, in verse 30,

Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.

Every man who eats sour grapes,

his teeth shall be set on edge.

So he's creating a distinction relating to the children of believers.

He's using some Hebrew prophetic idioms here that we need to explain

to even be able to interpret this correctly.

What does it mean for your tooth to be set on edge

or to eat a sour grape?

A sour grape refers to the vineyard of God

and the vineyard being the people of God

not bearing the fruit that is pleasing to the owner of the vineyard.

To eat a sour grape is to take something that is displeasing to God

and receive it for yourself,

grab it for yourself as a sweet morsel.

It's to see a grape that you know is not pleasing to God

and to consume it.

Sin is treason against God.

Sin is a sour grape.

John Gill applied this to the church.

He said,

Sin, though it may be esteemed a sweet morsel,

is always a sour grape

because it's always committing treason

against the owner of the vineyard.

What does it mean for your teeth to be set on edge?

I had to do a little study on this one.

So think of your tooth like this.

If you put your hand out like this

and you've got the top of your arm

with your fingers being your tooth like this,

if you hit the top of your arm,

it's a sharp edge.

But if your tooth were set on edge

and you try to cut something,

it won't cut.

It's blunt.

So for your teeth to be set on edge,

it means that your teeth are worn down.

It's the dull side of the tooth that's blunt.

It means that you have been gnashing your teeth so much

that your teeth are now flat.

So he says in the Old Covenant,

the parents' sin

and the children's teeth are set on edge.

The sins of the parents in national Israel

are going to bring curses

and a miserable life for the children.

So the generation in Israel

that won't listen to the prophet Jeremiah

is bringing curses on the next generation.

They're going to get carried away into exile

because of the sins of their fathers.

That's the pattern in the Old Covenant.

But notice the change.

He says in those days,

in a future covenant,

the New Covenant,

your standing will not be based

on your parents' works or obedience,

blessing or curse.

It will be based on your own standing,

your own obedience

or rebellion against God.

Look at verse 30 one more time.

Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.

If you have gnashing of the teeth

and your teeth are blunt

and grinded down from the misery of your sin,

you don't get to turn

and blame it on your parents.

You stand on your own.

This is a big change.

Children of believers in those days

will stand on their own.

In John chapter 8 verse 24,

John 8:24

Jesus says,

I told you that you would die in your sins

if you do not believe in me.

You will indeed die in your sins.

In those days,

each one within national Israel

must believe for themselves in Jesus Christ

if they are to be part of the people of God

and receive the blessings of Christ.

So in the new covenant,

in those days that he's describing

as a future time,

your blessing or curse

is not based on whether you're a Jew or a Gentile,

whether you're in the land

or you're in exile like Daniel,

or whether your parents are pagans or believers.

You must believe in Jesus Christ,

your God and Savior personally.

That's the first observation.

Children of believers stand on their own

in the new covenant.

Do you see what I see in that?

Are you with me still?

Second observation.

The terms of the new covenant

are not according to those of the old.

The terms of the new covenant

are not according to those of the old.

Let's read verses 31 and 32 together.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah,

not according to the covenant

that I made with their fathers.

In that day, I took them by the hand

to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant, which they broke,

though I was a husband to them,

says the Lord.

The old covenant was made

according to a certain pattern and principle.

But he says in the new covenant,

my covenant with my people in the new covenant

will not be according to that same principle.

Well, what was the principle of the old

before we see the contrast with the new?

The pattern of the old covenant,

we get in Genesis 17, verses 10 through 12.

Genesis 17:10–12

God says to Abraham,

this is my covenant with you

and your descendants after you,

the covenant you are to keep.

Every male among you shall be circumcised,

the sign of my covenant.

So the fact that you are related to Abraham by blood

means that you're going to receive the sign of the covenant.

It had nothing to do in the person receiving the sign,

nothing in them in the old covenant.

It was simply from here.

You're from the line of Abraham.

Ethnically, biologically, you're of Abraham.

You get the sign of the covenant.

That was the principle in the old covenant.

But he said in verse 22,

the new covenant will not be

according to the covenant that I made.

It'll be different.

It'll work on a different principle.

He says he will establish a covenant,

the covenant that national Israel broke,

and it will be according to other terms

based on a different principle.

What is that principle?

Well, that's what he's going to explain

in the rest of the verses of our sermon text.

He says in verse 33,

this is the covenant that I will make

with the house of Israel after those days.

God kept his word.

National Israel received Jesus Christ.

And God says, I make this covenant with Israel

that everyone who will receive Jesus Christ

as the promised seed,

promised to Abraham.

And if you believe in him from national Israel,

this promise is for you.

In Romans 1 16,

Paul calls this the gospel,

the power of God for salvation,

for everyone who believes,

for the Jew first,

and also for the Greek.

So God is true to his word.

This new covenant is given to Israel first,

and all who are appointed to eternal life in Israel

will receive Christ as the fulfillment of this promise.

It's much better than the old covenant.

And it's not based on who your parents are.

It's based on whether you receive Jesus Christ for yourself.

So the terms of the new covenant are not according to those of the old.

Third observation.

You belong to the old covenant externally.

If you're born in national Israel,

your dad,

being a male Israelite,

would have received the sign of that covenant.

He would have been circumcised.

So you could belong to national Israel,

being covenant with God,

and have that sign of the covenant,

the circumcision in the old covenant.

But he says in the new covenant,

you can't belong externally.

You will belong to the new covenant

only by what God does in your mind and in your heart.

Look at verse 33.

Thus says the Lord,

I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

It's not an external sign any longer.

The new covenant is put to the inner man.

God writes it on your mind,

puts it on your heart.

Romans 2.25 says,

If you are a breaker of the law,

your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

If you claim to be in God's covenant

in the church,

and you pretend like you're a believer,

that you're saved,

but you live a life of sin,

of treason to God,

just eating sour grapes,

it doesn't matter who your parents were.

It doesn't matter if you're a Jew.

It doesn't matter if you're circumcised or not,

because that's what the early church was trying to decide.

How new is the new covenant?

What matters is if you are united to Christ,

because if you are united to Christ,

you are a new creation.

The old has gone away.

If you are a breaker of the law,

your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

The external sign does not dictate

whether you're truly in the covenant.

If by God's grace,

you were born to parents that God saved,

you do have many blessings.

If you're born into a household that loves the Lord

and fears the Lord,

if even one of your parents can say,

I'm a saved sinner,

you have so many blessings.

These are the parents who will bring you to church.

These are the parents who will forgive you

as God forgave them.

These are parents who will read God's word to you

and pray for you

and teach you to hide God's word in your heart

that you may not sin against God.

And through these parents,

God can minister the saving gospel.

But having Christian parents

does not put you in covenant with God.

There is no grace mediated through parents.

Ultimately,

Christ is the only mediator between God and man.

So we have many blessings

of being in a Christian household.

No one can be born into the covenant of grace.

You need to be transferred from Adam to Christ.

You need to be taken as a slave under Satan and darkness

and made a citizen under King Jesus and the new covenant.

Martin Luther continued that practice

of the Roman Catholic Church

of baptizing infant children of believers.

But his theology was correct

that he called his children little heathens.

This is not a sermon against children.

We love children very much.

We love them so much.

We don't want to give them false assurance.

We want to preach the full gospel.

You need Christ.

You and I were born as heathens.

And just like being baptized in the Roman Empire

didn't make you any less pagan

or citizen of the Roman Empire,

we don't want our children to have the idea

that because my parents love God and fear him,

I got a ticket.

You stand on your own.

You cannot belong to the covenant externally only.

It must be a work God does in your heart

and in your mind.

Colossians 1.13

All the little heathens as we're born

need to be delivered from the power of darkness

and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God's love.

When the New Testament talks to children in the church

and saying,

Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

These are letters to the church.

Yes, children are part of the gathered congregation.

But if you're not in Christ for yourself,

you receive that as the law.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

And you think,

I didn't obey my mom just this morning.

I'm a sinner.

I need a savior.

So it's a blessing that you can hear the law of God

within the congregation.

Just like we remind ourselves of God's moral law every week

because it drives us back to the cross.

The covenant of grace is made between God the Father

and God the Son.

And with all of God's elect in Christ

as his seed.

If you are in Christ,

you are the seed of Christ.

And if you are in Christ,

you receive all the blessings that God gave

to the church through Christ.

But the only souls in the covenant of grace

are those to whom

the redemption that Christ purchased

has applied by the Holy Spirit.

You cannot be in the covenant of grace

unless God the Holy Spirit

applies redemption to you.

because you belong to the old covenant externally,

but to the new covenant,

you can only belong

by the work God does in your mind

and in your heart.

Fourth observation about the new covenant

is that God mediated the old covenant

by sinful men,

but the new by God,

the Son himself.

The old covenant God mediated.

He had someone stand in between God and man,

which was Moses.

In Deuteronomy,

the people begged,

please don't let God give us the law directly.

It's terrifying.

We will die

if we have to hear the law from God directly.

So God rose up Moses

as a mediator

to stand between God

and the people

to give them the law.

But in the new covenant,

there's no other mediator

except Jesus Christ himself.

Our sermon text was written

to national Israel,

Jeremiah 31.

In the non-Jews

in the church era,

1 Corinthians 10, 11,

are told this,

that the history of God

redeeming Israel

happened as an example for you.

They were written for our admonition

upon whom the ends of the ages has come.

In 1 Corinthians 10,

Paul's telling the church,

when you read about what God did

with national Israel,

that is for you,

for your good.

God made promises

and a covenant

to national Israel.

And God has kept his word

and he will keep his word.

But those promises

are also for you

to learn from,

to admonish the church,

which includes Gentiles.

And so what is it

that the church needs to learn

about this promise

in Jeremiah 31?

Let's look at verse 34.

In this new covenant,

God says,

No more shall every man

teach his neighbor

and every man his brother,

saying,

Know the Lord,

for they all shall know me,

from the least of them

to the greatest,

says the Lord.

How can sinners know God?

God says,

For I will forgive

their iniquity

and their sin,

I will remember no more.

They shall all know me

in the new covenant,

from the least

to the greatest.

You don't need a priest.

You don't need Moses.

You don't need a pastor

mediating God to you.

In the new covenant,

you will know God directly.

Christ is the great high priest.

He is the mediator.

And you know God.

You know God himself

when you know Jesus Christ

in the new covenant.

Some of you might be thinking,

What does this passage

in Jeremiah 31

have to do with me

or with the church?

How do you know

this is referring

to the new covenant

that Jesus cut?

And some of you

maybe have

Hebrews 8 memorized,

but if you don't

or if you want to see it

with your own eyes,

turn to Hebrews chapter 8.

Hebrews 8 · chapter mention

You just need to know

it's not a pastor

up here trying to

twist something

from the Old Testament

and make it be

about the church.

Well, Hebrews 8

is most likely

Timothy's sermon notes

of the sermons

preached by Paul.

And in Hebrews 8,

starting at verse 7,

he writes,

For if that first covenant

had been faultless,

then no place would have

been sought for a second,

because finding fault

with them,

he says.

Put another way,

the covenant God made

through Moses

and national Israel

found fault

in the people of God.

it exposed their ability

to keep God's law

by their own flesh

and by their own strength.

So having exposed

their need for a savior,

he says,

this is Hebrews 8,

Hebrews 8:8

verse 8,

Behold,

the days are coming,

says the Lord,

when I will make

a new covenant.

And if you notice,

this entire passage

all the way

to the end of verse 12

is word for word

Jeremiah 31.

The application

of the new covenant

to the church

is given in Hebrews 8.

All that the apostle

has to say next

is verse 13.

In what he says,

a new covenant

he has made

the first obsolete

and what is becoming

obsolete

and growing old

is ready

to vanish away.

With the finished

work of Christ,

there is no more

mediator.

Church received

this promise

of Jeremiah 31

as fulfilled

in Christ.

And this new covenant

that fulfills

what God told Abraham,

through you

all the nations

will be blessed.

How can that be?

Well,

from the line

of Abraham

and David

comes Jesus Christ

and he is truly God,

truly man,

the mediator

of the new covenant.

Now the ceremonial law,

the judicial law,

they're obsolete.

They've faded away.

They have no more

bearing on God's people

to bring a curse

on them,

to expose

how they are

covenant breakers.

No longer.

Instead,

Christ is the only

mediator

and this covenant

is not a covenant

of works,

it's a covenant

of grace.

To be very specific,

parents,

you may not

mediate

the covenant

of grace

in Christ's place

to your children.

Some of you are saying,

well,

hold on,

didn't Peter say

in Acts 2,

39,

this promise

is for you

and your children.

Yes.

In fact,

let's turn there.

Let's turn to

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

If you can turn

in your Bible

to the New Testament

after the Gospels,

the book of Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

and let's read

exactly what Peter

says to the church

about the promise.

Acts 2,

Acts 2:39

verse 39.

Verse 39.

Peter preached,

repent,

and let every one

of you

be baptized

in the name

of Jesus Christ

for the remission

of sins,

and you shall

receive

the gift

of the Holy Spirit,

for the promise

is for you

and to your children,

to all who are

afar off,

as many

as the Lord

our God

will call.

So parents,

you can preach

the Gospel

to your children,

and you can

encourage them.

The promise

of salvation

is for you.

It's for you

who will receive

the gracious

offer of Christ

to save you

by His blood.

And it's not

only for you

who are

children of believers

or who are

ethnic Jews,

it's also for those

who are far off

to the islands

and the coastlands,

as many

as the Lord

our God

will call.

That's who

will receive.

That's who

will respond

in repentance.

And the church

affirms that

and praises the Lord

and celebrates

that with baptism.

So the gracious

promise of salvation

in Christ

is offered

freely,

genuinely

to all.

And it will

be received

by as many

as the Lord

our God

will call

by the application

of that promise

to their heart

by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 27, 25

is a connection

I hadn't seen

until this week.

Peter is saying

the promise

is for you

and your children.

And think about

who Peter's audience

was.

These were the same

Jews,

the great crowd

that had cried

crucify him.

And Pilate said

I wash my hand

this man's innocent.

And in Matthew

Matthew 27:25

27, verse 25

listen to what

the Jewish crowd

says.

May his,

Jesus' blood

be on us

and our children.

They brought on

a curse on themselves

and their children.

They're eating

these sour grapes

saying crucify him.

And it's their children

who they're cursing

by rejecting

the very son of God.

And Peter stands

and tells them

no,

this promise

is for you

and your children.

Turn to the Savior

Jesus Christ

and be washed

of your sin.

Your children too

can be blessed.

And as many

as are far off

through you

national Israel

will all nations

be blessed

and all those

that are regenerated

or engrafted in

they are the seed

of Jesus Christ.

who is in

the new covenant?

It's all those

who receive

the promise

of grace

through faith

in Christ

who repent

of unbelief

because the spirit

regenerated them

and they are united

to Jesus.

That's what's symbolized

in baptism.

You're forgiven

of your sins.

You've received

the Holy Spirit.

It's not based

on whether

you're in the land.

It's also for you

who are far off.

It's not based

on being born

into a Christian home

or being part

of the church

or being considered

a citizen

of the Roman Empire.

That's not what

makes you

in the new covenant.

It's as many

as the Lord

will call

because no one

can mediate

the new covenant

of grace

except Christ

himself.

Well, the fifth

observation is that

man could break

the old covenant

but the promised

seed himself

secures the new.

Man could break

the old covenant.

It says it right there

in our sermon text.

The covenant

which you broke.

But the promised

seed himself

is the one

who secures

the new covenant.

Let's look at

verse 35

through 37.

Thus says the Lord

who gives the sun

for a light

by day

the ordinances

of the moon

and the stars

for a light

by night

who disturbs

the sea

and its waters

roar.

The Lord of hosts

is his name.

If those ordinances

the sun

the moon

the tides

if those ordinances

were to depart

from before me

says the Lord

in other words

if God were no longer

sovereign over all

his creation

then the seed of Israel

shall also cease

from being a nation

before me.

It's not going to happen.

God will never

stop being sovereign

over his creation

and never will

the seed of Israel

cease from being

a nation

before him.

Thus says the Lord

of heaven above

if heaven above

can be measured

and the foundations

of the earth

searched out beneath

only then

would I cast off

all the seed of Israel

for all that they

have done

says the Lord.

He's saying

you want to know

how much better

the new covenant is

how gracious

how secure you are

if you're in the new covenant

no matter how bad

national Israel

has been

this new covenant

will be secured

just as I secure

the orderliness

of my creation

just as you can't

measure the expanse

or the depths

of the ocean

that's how unfathomable

my covenant

faithfulness

is to you.

He's saying

I could cast off

or throw away

or break ties with

and banish forever

the Israelites

of Jeremiah's generation

for all the sins

that they have committed

against me.

God has every right

to do that.

They are covenant breakers

but God says

I won't do that

just like you can't

understand

how deep the earth is

and how to measure

the distance

between an expanding

galaxy

so you can't

understand

my covenant

faithfulness

that I will

I will be faithful

to the seed

of Israel.

Well now we need

to understand

who is this seed

to whom God

will be so faithful.

We have three options.

One it's the biological

seed of Abraham

through Isaac

and Jacob

ethnic Israelites

today.

You can be a Christian

and believe this.

Second option

is that

this refers

to the Christians

now

and their children

today.

If you think

that the church

has replaced

national Israel

then it's the children

of believers

who are seeds

the seed promises

are fulfilled

ultimately in Christ

but also then

to biological children

or third

that Jesus Christ

is the capital

promised seed.

Let's let the Bible

interpret the Bible

for us

and would you please

turn to Galatians 3

New Testament

Galatians chapter 3

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

who is the promised seed?

Galatians chapter 3

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

and verse 16

Galatians 3

16

Paul is writing

to the church

which was disputing

this very thing

should Gentiles

be circumcised

because that's the sign

of the old covenant?

who are God's promises

for?

By the inspiration

of the Spirit

Paul writes

now to Abraham

and his seed

where the promise

is made

he does not say

and to seeds

as of many

but as of one

and to your seed

here it is

underline this

if you haven't already

your seed

who is Christ

in this Abrahamic covenant

God is promising

blessings

to Christ

and through Christ

to all of Christ's seed

man could break

the old covenant

but this promise

seed

Jesus Christ

he himself

secures

the new covenant

well for today

the last thing

I want to

encourage you with

is this

you are secure

if you are in Christ

in the new covenant

how secure?

how secure are you

if you are in Christ's

new covenant?

I just have four

for today

in the new covenant

Christ himself

holds you

secure

because Jesus Christ

undid

the curse

of Adam

Romans 5 17

since by one man

Adam's offense

death reigned

over all

much more

you who receive

abundance of grace

and of the gift

of righteousness

have life

through the one

Jesus Christ

because Jesus Christ

undid

the curse

of Adam

for all those

who are in his

covenant of grace

how secure are you

in his new covenant?

well Christ

holds you fast

because he signed

your adoption papers

with his blood

John 1 12

says as many

as received

Jesus Christ

to them

he gave the right

to be children

of God

to those who believe

in his name

1 John 3 1

behold

what manner

of love is this

the father

has bestowed

on us

that we should

be called

children of God

the seed promises

fulfilled in Christ

extend

to all those

who believe

in Christ

first through Israel

then for the nations

how secure are you

in Christ's new covenant?

Christ holds you fast

in his covenant

of grace

because the Holy Spirit

of God

lives inside of you

who believe

Romans 8 15

you have received

the spirit

of adoption

by whom we cry out

Abba Father

the spirit

himself

bears witness

with our spirit

that we are

children of God

and if children

then heirs

heirs of God

and joint

heirs

with Christ

how secure

are you

in Christ's new covenant?

God promised

in Jeremiah 31

Jeremiah 31:35

verses 35

and 36

as stable

as I have made

the course of the sun

the cycle

of the moon

the placement

of the stars

the movement

of the waters

of the oceans

so stable

is my promise

to you

just as I show you

my sovereignty

over all creation

so I will sovereignly

keep you

by my power

in my covenant

of grace

through Jesus Christ

you shall never

depart from me

says the Lord

my promised seed

God the son

who took on flesh

to be your mediator

Jesus Christ

has secured you

for himself

you belong to him

and if you belong

to Christ

you shall never

cease

from being

his people

you are the people

of God

before you

in Christ

God has a kingdom

a nation

and you are firm

secure

in his hand

he says

just as heaven

cannot be measured

nor the foundations

of the earth

searched out beneath

so you

Christian

can trust

that God

will never

cast off any

who are his children

through Jesus Christ

that's how secure

you are

in the new covenant

well for many of you

I hope this is comforting

you are not

in a covenant

of works

you are not

that orphaned

foster child

that needs to fear

being kicked out

of the home

or having to grab

all your belongings

and run

one more time

you're in a covenant

of grace

the principle

is different

it's not based

on your works

or the works

of your family

you are secured

by Jesus Christ

himself

he came under

the law

his own law

and he fulfilled

all of it

on your behalf

so that you could

be a co-heir

with him

in his father's home

you are secure

in Jesus Christ

praise him

for his new covenant

of grace

and every time

we come to the

Lord's Supper

you remember

your adoption papers

are signed

with his own blood

let's spend some time

praying

in response

to the gospel

you've heard today

good

thank you

my God

let's have a

approximately

stop

pom

amazing

God

哲学

joins