The New Covenant

God, we come before you this morning and ask that you might still our hearts, might still our thoughts.

That God, we might avail ourselves to you. Let your spirits be truth to us.

God, may you convict us. May you turn us towards you.

May us, let us have a greater understanding of who you are.

God, let us be people who love you more and love those around us more.

We ask this in your name. Amen.

We're looking today at Jeremiah 30-31.

I'm specifically focusing on the New Covenant when the Scripture reading was taking place.

That was just from Jeremiah 31, but we'll be looking at both chapters today.

As we begin today, I want to give you an illustration.

I want you to draw a picture in your mind.

Imagine that there is a mother and her child are walking towards a busy intersection.

And as they move towards the busy intersection, the cars are going by.

And the mother says to the child, stop. Stop. Stop.

And the child just keeps wandering into the road.

And then the mother grabs the child and she pulls the child back.

And then she says, what are you doing? You need to listen to me.

When I tell you to stop, you need to stop.

I love you so much. I just don't want you to get hurt.

You need to stop when I tell you to stop.

If we were to think of the book of Jeremiah, as we look at chapters 30-34 and that illustration,

today we are looking at the kiss on the forehead.

The I love you so much.

Chapters 30-34 in Jeremiah are called the book of consolation.

It's because the book of Jeremiah takes a respite from the message that it has been provided

to move towards a message of hope.

A message that God says, I'm with you.

There may be judgment coming, but I am still with you.

I will rescue you.

And we're going to be looking at that today.

One of the first things we see out of Jeremiah 30, in the first three verses,

is that restoration is going to be for all God's people.

Let me read the first part of Jeremiah 30 for us.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.

Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.

For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore my fortunes of my people,

Israel and Judah, says the Lord.

This message is to Israel and Judah.

And what is important about that is that this is a message for the entire nation.

The Israel to whom this message is provided, they were previously destroyed.

They were part of the northern tribes that were destroyed before this.

At the time of Jeremiah's writing, only two of the 12 tribes remain, Judah and Benjamin.

But when Jeremiah comes and says this is a message for Israel, he's saying it's for all of them.

Even those who have been sent away.

God says to Israel and Judah,

I will bring them back to the land that I gave their fathers,

and they shall take possession of it.

God promises restoration for his people.

He promises a return to their land.

As we go through the message today,

what we're going to see is we have three things that we're looking at.

The first is we're going to be looking at discipline.

A tool for training.

The second will be hope.

Love with an everlasting love.

And the third will be a new covenant.

A fulfillment of the old.

First, let's look at discipline.

A tool for training.

It begins with God acknowledging the woes of his people.

In verse 5 it says,

We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and no peace.

The following verses provide imagery for their condition.

The people are described as showing the anguish of childbirth.

They're described as having a yoke on their neck.

They're being guided like a farm animal.

They are experiencing fear.

And discipline will come.

Verse 11 says,

For I am with you to save you, declares the Lord.

I will make a full end of all the nations, among whom I scattered you.

But of you I will not make a full end.

I will discipline you in just measure.

And I will by no means leave you unpunished.

There's two promises that come out of this passage.

The first promise is that I am with you.

God is saying to his people, I am with you.

The second promise, I, that is God, I will discipline you in just measure.

Discipline is coming.

Before we talk about that, let me just make a difference between discipline and vengeance.

Discipline and vengeance can sometimes look the same.

Something's done wrong and someone else does something back.

Someone responds to the wrong that has been done.

The difference is this, is that discipline seeks the betterment of the person.

Discipline is a tool for training.

It's a tool for building people up.

Vengeance, however, seeks harm towards the other person.

Vengeance is a tool of retribution.

God to his people is saying, I am sending punishment to you.

But I am with you to save you.

God seeks the betterment of his people.

God disciplines his people.

But God seeks vengeance on his enemy.

So in today's message, if you are part of God's people, this message is very hopeful.

If you are not part of God's people, this message might be quite discouraging.

It might feel quite hopeless.

If you are not part of God's people, you are his enemy.

But if you are the enemy of God, there is hope.

The door to God's house is always open.

And Jesus stands ready to welcome all who would come.

The reason for the discipline.

And we know that discipline is always warranted when it comes from God.

The reason for the discipline is that their guilt is great.

And their sins are flagrant.

And their disobedience is significant.

Let me read from verse 14, starting part of the way through that.

I have dealt you the blow of an enemy.

The punishment of a merciless foe.

Because your guilt is great.

Because your sins are flagrant.

Why do you cry out over your hurt?

Your pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great.

Because your sins are flagrant.

I have done these things to you.

There is a purpose for this discipline.

It is a training tool.

It shows the consequences of flagrant sin.

And as a result of their flagrant sin and their disobedience, the people will be sent into exile.

One of the things that we see from that is that sin destroys God's relationship with his people.

Through discipline, God reveals that truth.

When people sin, they are separated from God's goodness.

The goal that God has for us is that we would be in a perfect relationship with him.

That there would be a perfect relationship between God and his people.

Verse 22 says,

You shall be my people.

And I will be your God.

And the purpose of discipline is to restore that relationship.

Through punishment, God seeks to restore the relationship.

The betterment of his people.

We see that once again from verse 11 when he says,

I am with you to save you.

Now, question of reflection for us.

Have you experienced the discipline that comes from God?

Have your personal sins resulted in harm?

More harm perhaps than seemed warranted?

More harm than it seems came to others who did the same things?

Be reminded that God disciplines those who he loves.

Sometimes we are like that foolish child who wanders into danger.

God is there to protect us.

God says to us,

I am with you to save you.

One of the things that we see here in Jeremiah 30

is also the destruction of the neighboring nations.

God has used these neighboring nations to Judah

to punish his people.

To that end,

these nations have experienced victory.

They have experienced the spoils that come from victories.

As for these victorious nations,

God proclaims in verse 11,

I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you.

These propersering nations will face judgment

after their temporary victory.

Their victory did result from God's intervention.

Their victory did not result from God's approval of them.

So while they have experienced victory,

it wasn't because God said that they were righteous

or they had done the right thing.

God was simply using them for his greater purposes.

As we reflect upon this with ourselves,

my encouragement for all of us

is that we would be people

who avoid situational theology.

And what I mean by that

is that we would be people

who avoid looking at the circumstances of our life

to see what that tells us about God.

Life's success does not mean you are blessed by God,

nor does life's difficulty mean that you are cursed by God.

Our circumstances, our present situation

does not necessitate a response from God.

A fundamental problem with situational theology

is it puts the individual at the center of our relationship with God.

Our behavior becomes the determining action for God's favor.

From this passage, an important point is iterated.

God's plans are beyond our understanding.

That's a good thing.

What might situational theology look like in our life?

It's like when you have a big exam coming up,

or you have a big job interview,

or you have that project to do at work,

and you want it to go well.

And you say to yourself,

I haven't read my Bible so much today.

I haven't read it yesterday.

Actually, this week has been bad.

Well, before I go to that job interview,

I'm reading my Bible this morning.

Not because you want to spend time with God,

but because you want that job interview to go better.

God is not there to be manipulated

by our decisions.

God is not there to be manipulated by our decisions.

Next big thing that we see,

our second point that we are looking at is hope.

And that is that we are loved with an everlasting love.

We're going to be in chapter 31 now.

Chapter 31 begins with the repeated goal.

In verse 1 it says,

I will be the God of all the clans of Israel.

They shall be my people.

The goal of the promise provides the theme for the following verses.

It begins with the assurance of deliverance.

Let me read that for us in verse 2.

The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness.

When Israel sought for rest,

the Lord appeared to him from far away.

The passage uses the imagery of the wilderness as a place of rescue.

We've seen that before in the scripture.

In the fleeing from Egypt,

where wilderness is a place of respite.

We'll see that in Revelation,

where the wilderness once again is described as a place of rest.

And God's motivation through all of that is love.

His love for his people.

We know God's goal.

That's perfect relationship with us.

I am your God.

You are my people.

We now know God's motivation.

Everlasting love for us.

The second part of verse 3 says,

I have loved you with an everlasting love.

And because of that love,

the passage continues on.

Therefore,

I have continued my faithfulness to you.

God is faithful to us because of his love.

No other reason.

I want us to reflect on that for a moment.

That we are the recipients of God's unconditional love.

Many people think God's love is conditional.

Much like that situational theology of which I spoke.

When we act one way,

we think God's love is abounding.

When we act another,

we think God's love is waning.

People who especially struggle with this unconditional love

that we have from God

are those who have experienced friends or families

using love as a tool of manipulation.

Knowing only conditional love.

These people struggle to believe that God's love might be boundless.

The problem is that when we view God's love as conditional,

as something to be earned,

is that it leads to guilt.

We can never live up to God's standard.

When we are constantly failing,

we are left feeling guilty for being a failure.

It's especially troubling.

When we act like God's love is conditional.

We act like God is a vending machine.

We put in the right combination of coins

and push the right buttons

and then we will receive the desired product.

God says to us,

go and experience the fullness

of that unfaltering love that I have for you.

Live with the freedom of knowing you are loved

by a perfect love,

no matter how you act.

Experience the overwhelming abundance of love that I have.

Stop spending your life searching for loose change.

God's saying to us,

stop searching for the love that I've already given you.

Stop believing the lies.

Start living in the freedom

of God's everlasting love.

Maybe you're asking,

I don't know where to start.

We're going to get there.

We're going to get there.

The next thing we see

out of the chapter 31

is that God intervenes for his people.

He builds, he saves, and he restores.

We see God building.

Verse 4.

He says,

Again, I will build you

and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel.

With building comes much favor.

They dance the dance of merrymakers.

They plant fruitful vineyards.

The people of Ephraim,

Ephraim is a reference to the ten tribes

that had previously been lost.

Ephraim was the largest of those ten tribes.

And so sometimes those ten tribes are called Israel.

Sometimes they're called Ephraim.

Ephraim, the people of Ephraim,

will go down to Zion,

which is Jerusalem,

to worship God.

Next we see that God saves.

The people are instructed in verse 7

to implore,

O Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.

And God will save them.

God will send them home.

Verse 9, it says,

I will make them walk by brooks of water

in a straight path

in which they shall not stumble.

For anyone who has ever hiked

a lengthy trail,

you know the value of a path

that is along a stream,

straight,

and smooth.

We also see that God restores.

He brings His people back.

Not by their power,

but by God's power.

Let me read verse 10 for us.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away.

Say,

He who scattered Israel

will gather him

and will keep him

as a shepherd keeps his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob.

He has redeemed him

from hands too strong for him.

And the coming exile,

God will scatter His people.

But the promise is given.

God will also gather them,

ransom them,

and redeem them.

We also see that the people

will return.

We have a section here

which might be described

as Rachel's lament.

And to understand that section,

we need to know

that Jacob is the father

of the twelve tribes of Israel.

And his beloved wife

and mother of two of the sons

who would become those tribes

is Rachel.

Rachel, as such,

is considered here

the de facto mother

of the tribes.

And verse 15 says,

Thus says the Lord,

A voice is heard in Ramah,

which is near the location

of Rachel's burial site.

Lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping

for her children.

She refuses to be comforted

for her children

because they are no more.

The image that is being drawn here

is that Rachel

is weeping from her grave

over the exile

of her descendants.

Verse 16 continues,

Thus says the Lord,

Keep your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for there is a reward

for your work,

declares the Lord.

And they shall come back

from the land of the enemy.

There is hope for your future,

declares the Lord.

And your children

shall come back

to their own country.

The message here is of hope.

This is a message to Rachel

saying,

Stop weeping.

Your children are coming home.

It's a powerful image

of her mother thinking

her children have been lost forever.

that God declares otherwise.

Can you imagine

a mother grieving

the death of her children?

And God intervenes

and says,

Stop weeping.

Your children are saved.

That is the image

that is being drawn here

as God reflects

upon His people

eventually returning from exile

and reestablishing themselves.

And reestablishing themselves.

This verse

out of Jeremiah

is also used

in the book of Matthew.

But

not in a happy sense.

In a sense of understanding

the loss of life.

There is

a part of Matthew

in the story

of Jesus' birth

that is referred to as

the massacre

of the innocents.

What takes place

is that

Herod,

who is the ruler

of the land,

learns of Jesus' birth.

And he seeks

to have Him

killed.

So he sends

the wise men

on his behalf

to ascertain

the location

of Jesus.

And these wise men

do ascertain

Jesus' location.

But being warned

not to return to Herod,

they do not.

Herod,

upon realizing

he has been tricked

by these wise men,

begins the execution

of the children

in the land

in an effort

to wipe out

the true king.

The king

who he knew

would eventually

take his place.

Let me read for you

from Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

Then Herod,

when he saw

that he had been

tricked by the wise men,

became furious.

And he sent

and killed

all the male children

in Bethlehem

and all that region

who were two years

old or under,

according to the time

that had been ascertained

from the wise men.

This was fulfilled

with what was spoken

by the prophet Jeremiah.

A voice was heard

in Ramah,

weeping

and loud lamentation.

Rachel,

weeping for her children.

She refused

to be comforted

because they are

no more.

In Matthew,

it only quotes

this part,

the prophecy,

because those children

were indeed lost.

it is a reminder

to us

that Jesus

is contentious.

Even as an infant,

people realized

he is powerful.

He is the one

who God said

inherit,

tried to put an end

to Jesus' life

before it could even

get started.

But God's plans

would go for it.

Jesus and his family

would escape away

before Herod's wrath

was felt

upon the innocent children.

As we move back

into Jeremiah 31,

the next thing

that we see

is Ephraim's repentance.

And this section

is written

like Ephraim,

the Tim tribes,

is speaking.

And in verse 19,

it says,

For I have turned away.

I relented

after I was instructed.

I struck my thigh.

I was ashamed.

And I was confounded.

The use here

of I struck my thigh

that is translated

by the New Living Translation

as I kicked myself

for my stupidity.

Which is a good feel

of what that striking

of the thigh

is supposed to mean.

It's kicking yourself

for your own stupidity.

It is Ephraim's repentance.

And we see that

restoration will take place.

God promises

to restore the nations.

And he tells them,

he says,

Make road signs

so that you can remember

the way back.

In this message

of restoration,

an unusual expression

is used.

There in verse 22,

it says,

For the Lord

has created

a new thing on earth,

a woman

encircles a man.

The imagery

that is being used here

is that the women

will guard the men.

That idea

is novel

and unprecedented.

For God,

the establishment,

the reestablishment

of Judah

and Israel

is novel

and unprecedented.

In verse 28,

God promises

to Israel and Judah.

He says,

I will watch

over them

to build

and to plant.

This is followed

perhaps by

an unknown expression

to us.

In verse 29,

it says,

In those days,

they shall no longer

say,

The fathers

have eaten

sour grapes

and the children's

teeth

are set

on edge.

So the expression

of children's,

of teeth

being set on edge

is an expression

to convey

the physical reaction

to a sour taste.

I don't actually

know the English word

for that

other than squinty face.

But we can imagine

a sour taste

and then the physical

response

that you have

to that,

that is what this passage

is speaking to.

And the proverb

that was presented here

is the idea

that children

receive the punishment

for their parents' actions.

And it's actually

mentioned again

in Ezekiel 18.

So this expression

is something

that the people

of that day knew.

So what would happen

is the father

would eat the sour grapes,

but the children

experience the unpleasant taste.

The idea for Israel

and Judas,

they are both

being punished

for generational

disobedience.

They are being punished

not for their sins,

but the sins

that their predecessors

committed.

A good example

for us might come

from financial debt.

Imagine someone

has inherited

significant financial debt.

And they are experiencing

the burden

and the consequences

that go with that debt.

Someday,

they would be unburdened

by another's debt.

They would experience

debt forgiveness.

This idea of

debt forgiveness

is a great segue

into our final section.

As we look at

the new covenant,

a fulfillment

of the old.

In verse 31,

it begins,

Behold,

the days are coming,

declares the Lord,

when I will make

a new covenant

with the house of Israel

and the house of Judah.

Once again,

this is for all tribes

of Israel.

Not like the covenant

I made with their fathers

on the day

when I took them

by the hand

to bring them

out of the land

of Egypt.

My covenant,

so God is speaking here

of the Mosaic covenant,

which is given

in the first five books

of the Bible,

also known as the law.

My covenant

that they broke.

So the people

broke covenant

with God.

God did not break

covenant with them.

The people broke

covenant with God.

Though I was their husband,

declares the Lord.

And the imagery

that's being used

is the imagery

of adultery,

of breaking the covenant.

like breaking

the marriage vow.

Now we need to stop

for a moment

and understand

a little bit

about this Mosaic covenant.

This covenant

that is being replaced

here in the prophecy

of Jeremiah 31.

To give us an understanding

on the Mosaic covenant,

we're going to look

in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 6

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 1.

This is a section

of scripture

that is an introduction

to the Ten Commandments.

So what would follow

this passage

in Deuteronomy

would be the Ten Commandments.

And one of the things

I want you to see

in this introduction

to the Ten Commandments

is that

the connection

that is made.

The connection

is that

the people need

to keep the commands

of God

and then they will

live long

in the land.

They will be prosperous.

This is a repeated theme

through the old scripture.

That in being faithful

to God,

in being obedient

to God,

the people then

would experience

the blessings

that comes

from God.

Jeremiah,

as a prophet

thus far in the book,

would say there's been

a lack of obedience.

There's been a lack

of obedience

for an extended

period of time.

In fact,

there's been such

a lack of obedience

that their land

has been whittled down.

That the number

of tribes,

once,

twelve,

has been reduced

to two.

And now they are

going to be losing

the very final,

last remnants

of their nation

because of their

lack of obedience.

As we look at

this Mosaic covenant,

I want you to see

two things that come

from that.

First,

I want you to see

the importance

of obedience.

And as I read

through it,

and you'll see it

on the screen,

you're going to see

words that have to do

with obedience

in blue.

And I want you to see

their connection

to the land.

And as I read that,

you'll see connections

to the land.

And there's three

of those.

And they are going

to be in bold

italicized.

Now this is the

commandment,

the statues

and the rules

that the Lord

your God

commanded me

to teach you,

that you may

do them

in the land

to which you

are going over

to possess it,

that you may

fear the Lord

your God,

you and your son

and your son's sons,

by keeping

all his statutes

and his commandments,

which I commanded

you all the days

of your life.

And that your days

may be long.

Hear therefore,

O Israel,

and be careful

to do them,

that it may go

well with you,

and that you may

multiply greatly,

as the Lord,

the God of your

fathers,

has promised you,

in a land

flowing with milk

and honey.

Milk and honey

is a reference

to fertile land.

The people,

however,

God's people,

have broke covenant.

covenant.

Verse 32,

a reminder,

it says,

my covenant

that they broke.

That covenant,

that they would

keep the commands

of God,

live long in the land.

It's perhaps

an oversimplification

of that covenant,

but it's somewhat

accurate,

I think an accurate

representation of that.

The people broke

covenant with God

through their

generational disobedience.

But there is a new

covenant coming.

This is going to be

God's solution

to this problem.

The breaking of the

covenant,

God says,

I've got a solution.

In verse 31,

he says,

I will make a new

covenant with the

house of Israel

and the house

of Judah.

This is an

unprecedented idea.

The Mosaic

covenant has been

in place for a

thousand years.

This new covenant

idea of which

Jeremiah is speaking,

does not appear

in scripture

until the time

of Jesus.

Actually,

though,

after Jesus,

about 650 years

later,

Jeremiah's

proclamation

of a new

covenant,

his prophecy

of things

to come.

The two focal

points of this

new covenant

is that the law

will be written

on people's

hearts

and that there

will be the

permanent

forgiveness

of sin.

Let me read

for us

from verses

beginning

in verse 33.

For this

is the covenant

that I will

make with the

house of Israel

after those

days,

declares the

Lord.

I will put

my law

within them

and I will

write it

on their

hearts

and I

shall be

their God

and they

shall be

my people

and no

longer

shall each

teach his

neighbor

and each

his brother

saying,

know the

Lord,

for they

shall all

know me

from the

least of

them

to the

greatest,

declares the

Lord.

For I

will forgive

their

iniquity

and I

will remember

their sin

no more.

So the two

significant aspects

of this new

covenant.

first,

God saying,

I will put

my law

within them

and I

will write

it on

their hearts.

No longer

is the law

written on

stone tablets.

Rather,

the law

is written

on people's

hearts.

The implication

being that

their hearts

are no longer

stained by

sin.

This

implication

is asserted

as the

verse continues.

It says,

I will

remember

their sins

no more.

The

Mosaic

covenant

brought

forgiveness.

But forgiveness

was continually

needed.

There was

no

lasting

forgiveness.

Permanent

forgetting

that is

mentioned

here in

Jeremiah 31

is a

new

thing.

This

new

covenant

addresses

the fundamental

problem.

And that

is that

sin,

that sin

is the

barrier

to God.

So this

new covenant

will address

that fundamental

problem of

sin.

And one

person finally

resolves that

sin barrier.

That person

is Jesus

Christ.

And he is

able to do

that because

he lives a

sinful life.

He dies a

substitutionary

death,

meaning that

Jesus died

for other

people and

took their

punishment.

This new

covenant

promised here

in Jeremiah

31 is

explained

more in

the book

of Hebrews.

The book

of Hebrews

is a

New Testament

book written

about 30

years after

Jesus'

resurrection.

This book

is written

about 650

years after

Jeremiah.

Let's take

a look at

Hebrews so

we can get

an idea of

how this

new covenant

idea mentioned

in Jeremiah

centuries before

the time of

Jesus is

then applied

to him.

We're going

to be in

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

beginning in

verse 11.

What we're

going to see

is that

Jesus,

or Christ

as he is

called in

this passage,

that Jesus'

sacrifices

once for

all time.

And every

priest stands

daily at his

service offering

repeatedly the

same sacrifices

which can

never take

away sins.

So the

Mosaic

covenant

required many

sacrifices which

were continually

repeated.

These sacrifices

acknowledged but

did not resolve

the problem of

sin.

They were like

bailing water

out of a

leaking boat.

The sacrifices

help but they

don't solve

the fundamental

problem.

But when

Christ had

offered for

all time a

single sacrifice

for sins,

so Jesus

gave himself

as a

sacrifice,

dying on

the cross

for our

sin,

his sacrifice

was for

all time,

having eternal

efficacy.

He, that

being Jesus,

he sat down

at the right

hand of God

waiting for

that time

until his

enemy should

be made a

footstool for

his feet.

For by a

single offering

he has

perfected for

all time

those who

are being

sanctified.

So through

the sacrificial

death and

resurrection of

Jesus, the

permanent

dismantling of

sin occurs.

We're going to

continue on in

the book of

Hebrews.

This section

quotes exactly

from Jeremiah

31.

And the

Holy Spirit

also bears

witness to

us for

after saying

this is the

covenant that

I will make

with them and

after those

days declares

the Lord,

I will put

my law on

their hearts

and write

them on

their minds.

And then he

adds, I

will remember

their sins

and their

lawless deeds

no more.

We continue

on in the

book of

Hebrews as

now looks at

the issue of

people's hearts.

This brings

clarity from

the first aspect

of the new

covenant that

the law will

be written on

people's hearts

with the sin

barrier removed

through the

work of Jesus

Christ.

New hearts

unstained by

sin.

are available.

Where there

is forgiveness

of these,

that being

sins,

there is no

longer any

offering for

sin.

Therefore,

brothers,

since we have

confidence to

enter the

holy places

by the blood

of Jesus,

by the new

and living

way that he

opened for

us through

the curtain,

that is his

flesh.

So the

passage speaks

about the

temple area,

which was

restricted to

everyone but

the high

piece.

But through

the work of

Jesus,

this restricted

area is now

accessible.

So the idea

of being opened

for us through

a curtain,

this is a

physical example

that provides a

figurative

illustration to

play,

to explain this

new reality,

that God and

his people are

no longer

separated.

we continue

on.

And since we

have a great

priest over

the house of

God, let us

draw near with

a true heart

in full assurance

of faith,

with our hearts

beacled clean

from an evil

conscience,

and our bodies

washed with

pure water.

True hearts,

clean hearts,

washed with

pure water.

one of the

things I want

us to think

about is

that many

people struggle

with accepting

the reality

of sin.

They believe

in the innate

goodness of

people.

This might be

especially true

for parents with

young children

who see their

innocent child

before them.

They can't

imagine that

that child might

be a sinner.

sinner.

But one of the

things that

scripture teaches

us is that

we are all

by nature

children of

wrath.

We are all

by nature's

sinner.

And Jesus

serves to

come and

take away

the effect of

sin upon us.

He relieves

us from the

curse that has

come through

creation and

has come upon

us through

the effects

of our

own sin.

When we

fail to

account for

sin, when we

fail to see

the reality

of sin,

then we

dismiss the

work that

Jesus Christ

has done for

us.

We fail to

see the

great love

that he

showed and

his

sacrificial

and substitutionary

debt on

our behalf.

God.

As we

continue

looking into

Jeremiah,

one of the

questions that

may arise is

this Mosaic

covenant and

its connection

to the new

covenant.

A question that

could come to

us is, why

didn't God

just skip the

Mosaic covenant

and go right to

this new

covenant?

Why did we

have to go

through that

process?

And by

way of

analogy, I

might ask

this.

So Apple

just released

their latest

phone, the

XS.

We might

ask, why

didn't they

just start

with that

one?

Why did

they have to

go through

these previous

iterations of

Apple phones

in order to

get to this

one?

But one of

the things we

see is that

those previous

designs helped

them reach the

one that they

have now.

In the same

way, the

Mosaic covenant

sets the

course towards

the new

covenant.

The Mosaic

covenant sets

the course

towards the

redeeming work

of Jesus

Christ.

But unlike

the 10S, this

new covenant

through Jesus

Christ will

not be replaced

in 18 months.

The Mosaic

covenant, we're

going to look

at how it is

a law

fulfilled.

So the

Mosaic covenant

establishes the

law and the

purpose is to

provide the path

to God.

But to

follow that

path, we

would need to

be perfect.

We would need

to have

perfection.

No one

could keep

this, though.

No one is

perfect.

Each of us

faces the

stain of sin,

the separation

from God.

It affects us

all, except

one, that

be Jesus.

Jesus, the

Son of God,

lacks sin, so

he follows the

law perfectly.

as such, Jesus

is able to

fulfill the

law.

He experiences

the perfect

relationship with

God.

We see this as

Jesus says,

do not think I

have come to

abolish the law

or the prophets.

I have not

come to

abolish them,

but to

fulfill them.

And since

Jesus has

fulfilled the

law, he has

followed it

perfectly.

He provides

the way for

his followers

to do

likewise, to

experience the

perfect relationship

with God the

Father.

Jesus provides

the way through

his sacrificial

death and

resurrection.

So we must

ask ourselves,

have we made

that decision

to follow

Jesus and

say, Jesus,

I want that

perfect relationship

with God the

Father.

I want to

follow you.

I want to

receive what

you are

offering.

Well, to

receive what

Jesus is

offering, we

must accept

our sinful

nature.

We must

accept that

we are

flawed and

at our very

best, we

are still

stained by

sin.

And we

must repent,

we must

turn of that

sin.

And we

must say to

Jesus, Jesus,

I trust you.

I believe that

you are the

way to God

the Father.

I believe that

you have the

solution to

the sin that

separates me

from God.

If that's a

decision that

you're considering,

if that's a

decision that

you haven't

made, take

this day to

give consideration.

At the end of

our time together,

we always have

people available

here at the

front to

speak with

you, to

counsel you,

to answer

questions that

you might

have.

We continue

on in

Jeremiah 31.

And we see

that the

promise is

indeed assured.

Verse 35

refers to the

fixed order of

the moon and

the stars.

And just as

this fixed order

remains, so

God's people

remain his

people.

Verse 37

proclaims that

if the heavens

can be measured,

which they

cannot, then

God will

dispose of

his people,

which he will

not.

Verse 38

through 40

continues in

this idea of

assuring us.

It promises the

rebuilding of

Jerusalem.

And specific

places are

mentioned.

But no,

Jerusalem is

indeed going

to be

destroyed.

God's

discipline will

come.

The people

will experience

God's wrath,

but only for a

season.

Only for a

season.

It's

interesting of the

places that are

noted there in

Jeremiah, of

places that

would be

destroyed in

the city.

The book of

Nehemiah tells

of the

reconstruction of

part of

Jerusalem.

And it

includes a

couple of

these places,

the Tower of

Hanel and

the Hors gate.

The promise is

assured.

God's plan is

not changing.

Destruction is

coming for the

people.

The days of

warning are

Jerusalem will

be destroyed.

But

Jeremiah brings

a message of

hope.

He says a

new covenant

is coming.

This new

covenant is

good news for

us.

Because this new

covenant is about

the work of

Jesus.

And through

Jesus we have a

relationship with

God.

God.

And that

each Sunday

we remember

Jesus'

forging of

this relationship.

In communion

as we partake

together we

take from the

cup of the

new covenant.

Let's take a

moment now.

Give you a

chance to

reflect upon the

message today and

the worship time

today.

And avail

yourself to God

to see how

he is speaking

to you.

Let us take a

moment now of

silent reflection

before God.

Thank you.