← Back to sermon library

We could turn with me in your 
Bibles to Hebrews chapter eight. Hebrews chapter eight. I'll begin reading in verse one. 
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying. We 
have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the 
throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary 
and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. 
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary that 
this one also have something to offer. For if he were on earth, 
he would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the 
gifts according to the law, who serve the copy and shadow of 
the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when 
he was about to make the tabernacle. For he said, see that you make 
all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. But 
now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is 
also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better 
promises. 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, 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 when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the 
land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, 
and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant 
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 
the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind 
and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and 
they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his 
neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all 
shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins, 
and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. In that, he 
says, a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now 
what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish 
away. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for your written word, and we pray now 
for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide us and to help 
us and to lead us as we consider this blessed passage of Scripture. 
We thank you for the priestly office of our Lord Jesus, that 
he is both priest and victim, that he is both the sacrificer 
and the one sacrificed. and that that sacrifice was in 
fact as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In 
this we greatly rejoice, Most High God, and we pray even now 
that you would help us to appreciate these things and to see the blessedness 
and the supremacy and the superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
the new covenant. And our Father, again, forgive 
us now for all sin and anything that would darken our understanding, 
and we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Well, remember 
that the book of Hebrews was written prior to the destruction 
of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. And as a result, there was 
still a temple, there was still a sacrificial system, it was 
apostate to be sure, but those things were extant. The people 
of Israel were continuing in these patterns, and yet there 
were those among Israelites that had believed the gospel of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Some of them were being pressured 
to go back to this sort of system of sacrifice and temple worship. 
And so the apostle writes this letter to steady them, to call 
them to perseverance, to call them to endurance, to call them 
to continued faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not to relinquish 
faith in Christ. And they go back to these mosaic 
ceremonies. So that's the broader context. 
And one of the ways that the Apostle argues that the people 
of God maintain fidelity to Christ is to show his superiority. And 
he does that throughout this book. The entirety of Hebrews 
is taken up with the superiority. superiority of Jesus Christ over 
angels, over prophets, over Moses, over Joshua, over all persons, 
and as well over that old covenant priesthood. In chapters 5 to 
7, the apostle indicates that Jesus is the high priest. Jesus Christ is the priest that 
God sent to save His people from their sins. That Old Testament 
system was typical. Those bulls and those sacrifices 
and those heifers and those various elements pointed forward typologically 
to that Lamb of God who would come to take away the sin of 
the world. Well, here in chapters 8 to 10, he wants to emphasize 
not only the greatness of Christ as High Priest, but he also wants 
to demonstrate the priest's sacrifice. It was in the giving of himself. Jesus is different than that 
Levitical priesthood. They took animals, they slaughtered 
those animals, and then they presented those unto Yahweh. 
Christ rather was not only the priest, but the victim as well. 
And he also wants to show here in chapter eight, the superiority 
of Christ's covenant, this new covenant, not that Christ was 
in no ways connected to the old covenant, but the superiority 
of the new covenant is developed here by the apostle in Hebrews 
chapter 8 at verses 7 to 12. So I want to look first at the 
minister of the true tabernacle in verses 1 and 2, secondly the 
ministry of the high priest in verses 3 to 6, and then finally 
we'll focus on the superiority of the new covenant in verses 
7 to 13. And I will try and make a few 
comments that are appropriate to the doctrine of baptism along 
the way. But with reference to the minister 
of the true tabernacle, notice what he says in verse one in 
chapter eight. Now, this is the main point of the things we are 
saying. We have such a high priest. He's not speaking in some sort 
of theoretical way. He's not just sort of saying, 
wouldn't it be great if we had this kind of a priest? He says, 
we have this kind of a priest. We have the Lord Jesus Christ. 
He is exalted. He is enthroned. He's at the 
right hand of God almighty. And he is in fact, the minister 
of the true tabernacle. This is the main point of the 
things we're saying. We have such a high priest who 
is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in 
the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle 
which the Lord erected and not man. Now there is a contrast 
here again between old covenant and new covenant. God commanded 
Moses. He gave him the plans and then 
gave him the execution order to build the tabernacle. And 
then under Solomon, the temple was built. And these served their 
purposes. They functioned appropriately 
in God's covenant and in God's timing. But they were destined 
for obsolescence. They were going to be done away. 
They were typical in nature. And when the fullness of the 
time comes, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under 
the law, to redeem those under the law. The tabernacle and then 
the temple pointed forward to the Lord Jesus, such that now 
that Jesus has come, the idea of constructing a tabernacle 
or a temple is absolutely contrary to the New Testament. We are 
not to go backward in redemptive history. We're not to look to 
a future temple wherein there will be animal sacrifices. This 
is simply inconsistent with the finished work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Over and over again in this book 
of Hebrews, the author emphasizes the once for all offering of 
the Savior. That one offering, Christ confesses 
on the cross, it is finished. And so he is now the minister 
of this true tabernacle. He is the reason for which it 
stood. One man says it is described 
as the true tent or true tabernacle because in contrast to the perishable 
tent or tabernacle which accompanied the Israelites in their wilderness 
wanderings, The heavenly reality into which the Ascended Lord 
has entered is the genuine sanctuary, the imperishable Holy of Holies. Remember that reality in Leviticus 
chapter 16. The one day out of the year the 
high priest actually went into the Holy of Holies, he was only 
in there for a brief amount of time. He was only in there to 
sprinkle blood for his sins, for the sins of the people, for 
the sins of the very tabernacle itself upon that mercy seat. But he got out. Later in chapter 
10, the book of Hebrews is gonna indicate that once Christ finished 
his redemptive work, he sat down. In fact, this text emphasizes 
that as well. He is seated at the right hand 
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. An Old Testament 
high priest never sat down in the Holy of Holies. An Old Testament 
high priest went in, did his business, and got out. Not so 
with Christ. He now occupies this place, the 
Holy of Holies. He is the true minister, or rather 
the minister of the true tabernacle. Now notice, secondly, the ministry 
of this high priest in verses 3 to 6. He says that there is 
a necessity for the offering of sacrifice. Again, he's already 
indicated that Christ gave himself in chapter 7, and he's going 
to develop this more so in chapters 9 and 10. But here, suffice to 
say, this is what marks a priest. We are to understand with reference 
to the priestly office, they both sacrifice and intercede. That's the task that the priest 
has. You can kind of look at the difference 
between a prophet and a priest this way. A prophet comes on 
behalf of God to declare the mind of God to the people. So 
he functions on behalf of God to the people. The priest goes 
to God on behalf of the people. And the priest goes to God on 
behalf of the people in prayer or intercession, and then as 
well with reference to sacrifice. And so the apostle, the apostle 
Paul is indicating that Christ is this high priest. Christ is 
this minister of the true tabernacle. And Christ did not become this 
without sacrifice, but rather he sacrificed himself. Notice 
in verse three, for every high priest is appointed to offer 
both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that 
this one also have something to offer. And he did. This is 
the significance of Golgotha. This is the significance of the 
passion narratives. Christ doesn't go to that cross 
simply as an example. Christ doesn't go to that cross 
simply as some sort of moral persuasion. Christ goes to that 
cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 
Christ goes to that cross as a substitute. Christ goes to 
that cross as a sacrifice, because as Paul will say in Hebrews chapter 
nine, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission 
for sins. And if you're not a believer 
here this morning, you need to take this to heart. Unless Jesus 
died and was raised the third day, there's no hope of heaven. 
The fact that Jesus has died, the fact that Jesus Christ was 
raised, the fact that Christ is now stationed at the right 
hand of the majesty on high means that there is hope. means that 
there is forgiveness to be had for sinners who come to God through 
this Jesus. In fact, look back for just a 
moment at chapter 7, at verse 23. Also, there were many priests 
because they were prevented by death from continuing. But he, 
because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 
Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who 
come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession 
for them. That's the good news of the gospel. 
Sometimes people preach the gospel as good advice. Sometimes people 
preach the gospel as some assistance. But the reality is that God is 
in the world, God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. 
The reality is 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him Christ who 
knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness 
of God in him. My point simply is this, if you're 
not a believer here this morning, listen, listen to what scripture 
says. May the spirit of the living 
God give you understanding to see this Christ, this one who 
is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, this one who is 
holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners. Well, 
why does the text indicate this? To show his fitness as a sacrifice. Remember in the prophet Malachi 
in chapter one, The people of God are indicted, the covenant 
people are indicted by the prophet, God through the prophet, for 
their having brought the worst in terms of sacrifice. They'd 
go out, you know, the night before the Sabbath and they'd find the 
worst animal in their flock. I mean, that is just pathetic. 
They'd find the mangy one, they'd find the lame one, they'd find 
the loser in any sort of barnyard scrap, and they would take that 
one to the very temple of God Almighty. And God indicts them. He says, would your governor 
be pleased with this? At this point, Israel was under 
Persia. God says, try to pay your taxes 
to the Persian pagan king with a mangy loser in a barnyard scrap. Try to pay your governor's taxes 
with a blind animal. And yet that's what the people 
of Israel were doing. So the fact is, is that Christ is wholly 
harmless and undefiled in accordance with the Levitical law that stipulated 
that the worshiper bring the best of his flock. When God comes 
to deal with men in our salvation, he doesn't do it half-heartedly. 
He doesn't do it haphazardly. He doesn't do it in a manner 
that's inconsistent with his dignity and his honor and his 
majesty, but he sends the son of his love. He sends the best. He sends the second person of 
the Trinity. and that one takes on our humanity 
in order to redeem our humanity. And you need to hear this and 
you need to understand that this is evidence that God is in the 
business of saving sinners. It never ceases to amaze me, 
living in our community, how many persons have this idea that 
God's really not a savior. God is a Savior. There will be 
a multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. We invoke that passage in Matthew 
22. Many are called, but few are 
chosen. Later in Matthew 26, Jesus says that he sheds his 
blood for the remission of sins of many. Maybe Matthew 22 doesn't 
mean that only a handful of people will be in heaven. I would argue 
that it doesn't. The reality is, is what we find 
in the book of Revelation, a great multitude that no man can number. 
So before you try to argue yourself out of being saved, listen. Listen to the word of God. Faith 
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's a beautiful 
thing. In fact, I would emphasize that 
as well. It's not just corporate worship and the public preaching 
of the gospel. You should take up and read every 
day. If you're not a believer in Christ, if you are a sinner, 
somebody still in their sins, you need Jesus. That's all I 
want to tell you is you need Jesus desperately. And the place 
to find Jesus is in the word that is all about Jesus. He says 
to the religious leaders of his day, you search the scriptures, 
for in them you think you have eternal life. But these are they 
which testify of me. You want Christ? Go to his word. 
Privately, family, publicly, in the corporate worship of the 
living and true God. This Christ offered up a perfect 
sacrifice, and that sacrifice was himself. For every high priest 
is appointed, eight three, to offer both gifts and sacrifices. 
Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something 
to offer. Now note this contrast. For if he were on earth, he would 
not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts 
according to the law, who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly 
things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about 
to make the tabernacle. The contrast is simple. The Old 
Covenant priests offered up sacrifice on a daily basis, except that 
one yearly Day of Atonement sacrifice that Leviticus 16 expounds upon. 
But what Christ has done is a once-for-all offering. He wouldn't be a priest 
in Old Covenant Israel prior to the destruction of AD 70 because 
he had already fulfilled that task. And yet the ones that were 
existing at the time that the apostle wrote were daily continuing 
to offer up these sacrifices to God, or as they thought, to 
God. And then notice, bringing this 
to bear, on the point in verses 1 to 6. Verse 6 he says, but 
now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also 
mediator of a better covenant which was established on better 
promises. That's a good statement, isn't 
it? Sometimes we're taught that the New Covenant is just like 
the Old Covenant, but that's not what the author is saying. 
He's saying it's a better covenant with better promises. It affords 
a better hope because it's got a better surety and a mediator, 
namely the Lord Jesus Christ. And then that moves us thirdly 
to consider the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old 
Covenant, and that's what verses 7 to 13 takes up. Before we look 
at that, I don't wanna not read what I've got from Owen. It's 
always a good thing to read John Owen. But when he comments about 
this, specifically about verse six, it says, now he has obtained 
a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator 
of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 
John Owen writes, he is in the new covenant, the mediator, the 
surety, the priest, the sacrifice, all in his own person. The ignorance 
and want of a due consideration hereof are the great evidence 
of the degeneracy of the Christian religion. Let me just unpack 
that for a moment before we move on. He first highlights the significance 
of Christ as priest in the New Covenant. The superiority of 
Christ as priest in the New Covenant. He is in the New Covenant the 
mediator. He is prophet, priest, and king. He is the surety. When the one that pays our debt 
is the Lord Christ, we have great confidence. If I paid your debt, 
I would come up short. If Christ pays your debt, He 
doesn't come up short. He says from the cross, it is 
finished. He goes on to say, the priest, the sacrifice, all 
in his own person, the ignorance and want of a due consideration 
hereof. In other words, the ignorance 
of who Jesus is. The ignorance and lack of concern 
for these realities about Jesus Christ are the evidence of the 
degeneracy of the Christian faith. In other words, what problems 
are the churches facing today? What problems are individual 
Christians facing today? Well, as I read Owen, I would 
surmise that he is saying a lack of understanding of who Jesus 
is. So we talk about church. How do we get people in? Thankfully, 
we don't do that. We just seek to be faithful. 
But you talk about church and problems with churches. What's 
lacking? What's absent? What does Owen 
indicate was the truth in the 17th century? It was a lack of 
an understanding of who Jesus Christ is. See, brethren, it's 
called Christianity. It's all about Jesus. We are 
to be consumed with and concerned for His glory, His honor. We're supposed to understand 
His person, His work. We're supposed to understand 
the sacrifice that He wrought out. We're supposed to understand 
His life of obedience, His sacrifice on the cross. We're supposed 
to get these things because this is defining for the Christian 
church and for Christian individuals. Laziness on this point is simply 
intolerable. We are not to be lazy with reference 
to Christ. Do you meet a man or a woman 
that you're going to eventually marry and show the attitude that, 
eh, I don't really need to know much about this person? You know, 
I know they breathe. That's pretty good for me. I 
know they can say my name. That's pretty good. No, you want 
to know that person. You want to understand that person. 
You want to know what they like. You want to know what they don't 
like. Well, for Christians, it's all about Jesus. There is in 
us this tendency to be lazy at this particular place, to be 
sort of bored or unenamored with doctrine about who Jesus Christ 
is. But read Scripture. The scope, 
the focus, the very thrust, the foremost champion in all of the 
Bible is our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think Owen's wrong, and 
I think Owen's probably even more right for our current situation 
concerning the degeneracy of Christian religion. See, church 
isn't supposed to be entertainment. Church isn't supposed to be fun 
and games. Church isn't supposed to be a 
rah-rah session among the people of God. It is a place of worship. We come to the Father through 
the Son, by the Spirit, and we need to know that God. As Jesus 
prayed in his high priestly prayer in John 17 3, and this is eternal 
life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom thou hast sent. See, it's the book of Hebrews 
and it's heavy emphasis on the superiority of Jesus Christ that 
all of us would do well to study in this coming year. Now let's 
get to the superiority of the new covenant in verses 7 to 13. 
There is first an introductory statement, and then there is 
secondly an appeal to the prophet Jeremiah. But notice this introductory 
statement. Verse 7, for if that first covenant 
had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a 
second. That's the reality. If the old 
covenant functioned in a way as to make the people of God 
the people of God, there'd be no need for a new covenant. Now, 
when we talk like this, we need to understand that God designed, 
God purposed, God decreed the existence of the old covenant. 
It was good. It served the purpose for which 
God intended it. In the last hour, we considered 
general revelation. God manifests his glory, his 
power, his eternal Godhead in the created order. The created 
order does its job. The problem is with the receptors. 
The problem is with us. We see that, and then we suppress 
that truth in unrighteousness. Same with the law of God. The 
law is good. The problem is us. We break that 
law. And in fact, if you look specifically 
at verse eight, he says, because finding fault with them, Not 
with the covenant, not with the law, not with the particular 
sort of elements and features of that covenant, but the problem 
was with them. The problem was Old Covenant 
Israel. The problem would be with us. God says, do this and 
live. We get, oh, about 30 seconds 
in, and then we have not done it, and then we decline. Remember 
that ratification ceremony in the Old Covenant at Exodus 24. All that the Lord has said, we 
will do. They promise fidelity to their 
covenant Lord. Chapter 32 comes and they're 
dancing before a golden calf, evidencing that they have not 
one whit of understanding what it is to obey the law of God 
Almighty. So the Old Covenant was purposed 
by God for a particular purpose. Hughes says, the fault of the 
Old Covenant lay not in its essence, which presented God's standard 
of righteousness and was propounded as an instrument of life to those 
who should keep it, but in its inability to justify and renew 
those who failed to keep it, namely, the totality of fallen 
mankind. The New Covenant went literally 
to the heart of the matter, promising as it did a new and obedient 
heart and the grace truly to love both God and His fellow 
men. That's a very important statement, 
and when we consider this contrast, we need to soak it in. The New 
Covenant is better. The New Covenant does have better 
promises. The New Covenant does afford 
a better hope. Again, that's no commentary on 
the Old Covenant being bad. It functioned for the purpose 
for which God had intended. And now, with the coming of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, that Old Covenant was done away with. Now, it was 
still, at least in terms of the people going to the temple, those 
still engaged in animal sacrifice, in their minds, it was still 
going. And that's why the apostle argues 
as he does here, and then specifically in verse 13 indicates something 
of the contours of Old Covenant to New Covenant. Before we get 
there, let's look secondly at his appeal to Jeremiah. Verses 
8 to 12 are a quotation from Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. It is the announcement of the 
new covenant. Now, just a little background, 
not a lot. I don't want to keep us all here. I notice our clock 
has stopped, so I guess I could keep all of us here. You start 
getting hungry in about three hours, you say, what's with that 
clock? It still says 923. I kind of like that. We can just forget it. Actually, 
I keep a watch so I don't punish the people of God. It's never 
my intention to punish the people of God. I really don't plan to 
do that ever. Sometimes it may happen, but 
it's never purposeful. But when it comes to this particular 
section, it is the announcement of the new covenant. And just 
to give you a little background, Judah was in sin. That shouldn't 
surprise any of us because that's what the prophets relate. The 
prophets functioned as if they were God's prosecuting attorneys. 
God would send the various prophets to the nation. The prophet would 
remind them of their sin, excuse me, and their rebellion against 
the terms of that old covenant. And then the prophet would call 
them to faith in and repent and store our great God and father. And when you look at specifically 
Jeremiah chapters two and three, you see the kinds of sin that 
Judah was engaged in. And one of the things that is 
obvious is idolatry. In fact, God through the prophet 
says, has a nation changed its gods? Yet my people have exchanged 
me. In other words, the pagans are 
consistent and at least show fidelity to Asherah, to Baal, 
and to the various deities that they subscribe. But the people 
who have the true and living God have departed. They have 
been wicked. They have been lawless. It's 
in the chapter 3 of the book of Jeremiah, where God, in the 
midst of indicting them for their gross sin, says five times, yet 
return to me, says the Lord. It's a beautiful thing. And even 
the last time, or the second to last time he says it, he says, 
return to me, backsliding Israel, and I will heal your backsliding. See, the thought, I think, among 
some is, I've got to stop doing these bad things and then I'll 
go to God. That's not biblical. The gospel 
isn't good advice, stop doing things and then God will accept 
you. The gospel is good news. Christ 
came to save his people from their sins. Now, when he saves 
you, you don't continue in sin, but rather he saves you from 
that sin. But there's nothing you and I 
can do to clean ourselves up. There's nothing any of us can 
do to pretty ourselves up, to make ourselves more lovely to 
the Lord God. We are lawbreakers. We are rebels. We are those who have taken every 
one of the Ten Commandments, and we have tossed it onto the 
ground, and we have stomped on it. The way of salvation is by 
grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. So the 
sin of Judah is the broader context, but then in Jeremiah 30-33, this 
is the book of hope, or the book of consolation. And essentially 
what you have there is you have the promise of restoration. God 
will restore Judah, according to Jeremiah 30. You have the 
promise concerning the New Covenant, which we have here in essence 
in Jeremiah 31. And then you have an illustration 
of God's faithfulness in Jeremiah 32. It's when the prophet is 
told to buy a piece of property. Now you've got to understand, 
he's being told to buy a piece of property in Judah. If you 
were halfway smart, you wouldn't have done that apart from supernatural 
revelation. Because what's going to happen 
to Judah in the prophet Jeremiah? Judah is going to be overrun 
by Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar is going to lead 
the hordes into Judah, and he is going to decimate their city, 
and he is going to destroy their temple. And yet God says to the 
prophet, I want you to buy this piece of property in Judah. Why? It's an expression of faith in 
the reality that God will restore, that this will in fact be a 70-year 
period of exile and desolation, but after that, they will return. After that, they will be reconvened 
in the land of Judah. After that, the Messiah will 
come and save his people from their sins. So that's the context 
of this book of hope in Jeremiah 31. Now let's look specifically 
at what the prophet and what the apostle indicate concerning 
these blessings of the new covenant. Notice in the first place, the 
new covenant is unbreakable. The new covenant is unbreakable. Look at what it says in verse 
eight. Because finding fault with them, he says, 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. Who's 
the house of Israel and the house of Judah? It's the church of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that because of the 
apostles invoking this prophecy and applying it to the church. 
This is not some future sort of unification between the 10 
Northern tribes and the two Southern tribes. That is to misread biblical 
prophecy. House of Judah, House of Israel 
is an Old Testament convention indicating the people of God. 
There will be this unification that transpires and it's in Christ, 
it's in the church. So this much we know. But then 
notice what it goes on to say. I will make this covenant. And 
then verse nine, 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, because they did not continue 
in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. See, this 
is an essential feature of New Covenant religion, is that it's 
unbreakable. I think it was John MacArthur 
who said, or probably famously popularized the reality, if we 
could lose our salvation, we would We would brethren, we would 
send ourselves right out of the new covenant as fast as God placed 
us into the new covenant. The old covenant was breakable. Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26, 
God says, when you go into the land, This is the way you're 
to function. If you don't function in this 
particular way, you will be ejected from the land. And that is precisely 
what happens in the old covenant. The Northern tribes in 722, the 
Southern tribes in 586, they are thrown out of the land because 
they broke God's covenant. One of the blessings of new covenant 
religion is that it's unbreakable. The reality is stipulated by 
the Apostle in Philippians 1. He says, I'm confident that he 
who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day 
of Christ. Or that bit at the very end of 
Romans chapter 8. There is nothing that shall separate 
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
It's a brand of theology out there that teaches this external 
connection to the new covenant. That is an old covenant construct 
that is not extant in the new covenant. When you're in by grace, 
you are kept in by the power of God. He puts His Spirit in 
you. He does everything else that's 
indicated in this particular section. Will you struggle? Will 
you have temptation? Will you have remaining corruption? 
Absolutely, positively. But actually sever yourself from 
the head? Positively not. This covenant 
is inviolable. That means it is unbreakable, 
and that is an essential feature of New Covenant religion. Notice, 
secondly, we have the law of God internalized. Notice in verse 
10. For this is the covenant that 
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 
the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind 
and write them on their hearts. The internalization of the law. This was available to Old Covenant 
believers. David says, oh how I love thy 
law, it is my meditation day and night. But it wasn't an essential 
feature or element of the Old Covenant. Does everybody understand 
that? At the time of the Old Covenant, 
you had Isaac and you had Ishmael. At the time of the Old Covenant, 
you had Jacob and you had Esau. Well, certainly Jacob and Isaac 
had the law of God written on their hearts in this way of obedience 
and a desire to do what's pleasing to God. The others didn't because 
that wasn't an essential element of Old Covenant religion. You 
could be in, just like Esau, just like Ishmael, just like 
the godless kings in the north, the many godless kings in the 
south. They were covenant members. They were part of the old covenant 
commonwealth. They were members of the theocratic 
nation. They were participants, and yet 
they did not have this law written on their hearts, which is an 
essential element in the new covenant. Think about this. The 
prophet Jeremiah is telling the people that in the days that 
are ahead there's this covenant coming that can't be breakable 
and there's this covenant coming where the law of God is written 
in your heart and you actually want to do it. And we live in 
the days of that covenant. What does Jesus say in John 14? 
The one who loves me keeps my commandments. What does John 
say in his first epistle? The commandments of God are not 
burdensome. They're not grievous. Don't we 
with David say, oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation 
day and night. Again, there's remaining corruption. 
There is a proneness to wander, a proneness to leave the God 
that we love. But we find that principle in us that we love 
God's law. We want to do what pleases the 
father. We want to honor him. We want to glorify him. That's 
not because we're good, it's not because we're virtuous, it's 
by virtue of this covenant wherein God has saved us and put this 
law in our hearts. It's a good and a blessed thing. Now notice thirdly, the persons 
in this covenant have the saving knowledge of God. Verse 10, this 
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after 
those days says the Lord, I will put my laws in their mind and 
write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. None of them shall teach his 
neighbor and none his brother saying, know the Lord for all 
shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them. 
See, again, in the Old Covenant, Esau was a member. He had been 
circumcised. Others were members that had 
been circumcised, but they didn't necessarily know the Lord. Remember 
those sons of Eli? They were great kids, weren't 
they? Just kidding. Trying to break it up a little 
bit. Everybody looks a bit heavy. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's 
the cold. I don't know what. But think about those sons of 
Eli. They were actually priests ministering. And these were the 
kind of priests that would be this way. When people would come 
and they would bring meat to offer up to the Lord. They take 
their fork and they put it in there, pull something out, and 
make sure they got theirs first. They had that, I, GM, I got mine, 
sort of a sentiment. And then they also lay with temple 
prostitutes. I mean, again, these were not 
wonderful human beings, not persons that you would say, hey, these 
are the best that we have to offer. But it tells us in 1 Samuel 2, 
12, they did not know Yahweh. You see, it wasn't an essential 
element to be in the Old Covenant and even function as a priest 
in the Old Covenant to knowing Yahweh. But that's not true in 
the New Covenant. Everybody in the New Covenant 
knows Yahweh. know about him, it's just not 
cognition, but it's experiential knowledge, it's the knowledge 
of God. It's the John 17 three, that they may know thee, the 
only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. It's the 
apostle Paul in Philippians chapter three, and to know him and the 
power of his resurrection. See, this knowledge of God that 
we have in the new covenant is an essential element. It is a 
necessary feature of the new covenant that wasn't so in the 
old. So do you start to see why the 
apostle calls it a better covenant with better promises that affords 
a better hope? Because when you're in this new 
covenant, the Bible tells us that you're a believer, you're 
a Christian, you're somebody who has been forgiven, which 
is that final feature we'll look at in just a moment. But back 
to verse 11, or the end of verse 10. I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. One has called this the Emmanuel 
principle. I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. Isn't this the pinnacle of covenant 
religion? Isn't this the pinnacle of our 
Christian experiences, the knowledge of God? We are His people. He is our God. That comes as 
a result of this blessed new covenant. You see this emphasized 
from the beginning of the Bible to the end. You see it in the 
book of Exodus, the book of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
Hosea, Zechariah, Corinthians in the New Testament, Revelation 
21.3. Revelation 21.3, that actual 
realization, God is our God and we are his people. That is an 
essential element of the new covenant that wasn't so in the 
old covenant. And that brings us fourthly to 
consider the forgiveness of sins. Notice in verse 12, for I will 
be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless 
deeds, I will remember no more. That's spoken in the manner of 
men. God doesn't forget. There's no way God forgets, right? That would... introduce confusion 
into who God is. Is there something he forgot? 
It's for us that he says this. I will remember them no more 
in terms of justice and righteousness and punishment. The prophet Micah 
uses the imagery in chapter 7 of God casting our iniquities into 
the depths of the sea. It's the same sort of a sentiment. 
It's the same sort of a reality. God is not going to continue 
to bring those things to bear upon us. He's not going to continue 
to bring it to us and say, well, remember back in 1985 when you 
did such and such? No! He says, I will remember 
them no more. This is covenant blessing, the forgiveness of 
sins. Brethren, I hope that you know 
this. I hope that you understand this. 
I hope that you revel in this. If you are not brethren, if you 
are sinner still, and hopefully friend, but if you are in your 
sins, the way is to God through Christ Jesus, because it's the 
blood of Jesus Christ his son that cleanses us from all sin. 
Again, David had the forgiveness of sins. Others in the Old Covenant 
had the forgiveness of sins. They enjoyed those blessings, 
but it wasn't by virtue of the Old Covenant. It wasn't an essential 
element of the Old Covenant, whereas in the New Covenant, 
it is essential. This is what makes up the people 
of God. This is what they all have in 
common. We come from different backgrounds. We have different 
ages represented here. We have different socioeconomic 
pasts. We have all this stuff, but these 
things are true. We're in a covenant that can't 
be broken. We're in a covenant that affords 
to us the internalization of the law. We are in a covenant 
wherein we are God's people and he is our God. And we're in a 
covenant where we can sing with the hymn writer, my sin, oh, 
the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the 
whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise 
the Lord, praise the Lord. Isn't the forgiveness of sins 
glorious and grand and most excellent? I want to provoke anyone here 
that doesn't know it to want it. There is nothing more reassuring 
than 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness. Nothing more assuring than Jesus' 
emphasis to Peter when Simon Peter comes to the master and 
says, Lord, if my brother sins against me seven times in a day, 
am I supposed to forgive him? I bet Peter thought he was being 
very generous. very benevolent, very kind, very 
large-hearted, very much the sort of Christian that you want 
to be. Jesus says, no, seven times 70. And I don't think Jesus' 
emphasis there is on counting how many times a day that person 
sinned. The emphasis is on, if God is 
profuse in his forgiveness toward us, we need to be profuse in 
our forgiveness to one another. In Ephesians and in Colossians, 
the apostle tells us we're to forgive one another, even as 
God in Christ forgave us. Why would we harbor grudges? 
Why would we engage in that sort of bitterness? Why would we have 
that sort of resentment when God has forgiven us of our sins? 
There is the blessedness afforded to us in this goodness of God. the forgiveness of sins from 
God Almighty. Again, David knew it, David reveled 
in it, David rejoiced in it, but it was not an essential element 
of old covenant religion. It is an essential element of 
new covenant religion. So those are the four blessings 
that bind us all together and hopefully encourages us. We're 
in a covenant that can't be broken, again because of God, not me. 
We're in a covenant where God has put the law in our hearts 
such that I actually want to do what he called me to do. I'm 
in a covenant where God is my God and I'm his people, and I'm 
in a covenant where God has forgiven me of my sins. That's Psalm 130 
reality. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? That's a powerful question, 
isn't it? If God should mark iniquities, 
who could stand? Is there anybody in this room 
that says, well, I'll take a stab at it. I'll stand before God. 
No righteousness of Christ. I'll try it on my own. That'll 
last for about a millisecond. If thou shouldst mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand? But he goes on to say, but there 
is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. This theology 
that tries to keep people in a place where they don't think 
they can ever go to God is an affront to the God of grace. 
This God says through His inspired prophet, there is forgiveness 
with you that you may be feared. It's a great joy and a privilege 
to be able to tell real sinners about a real Savior and a real 
forgiveness of sin. You say, well, what kind of sins? 
Ten Commandments sort of sins, bad sins, wretched sins, horrible 
sins, the Apostle Paul type sins, the King David type sins. The 
sorts of sins that we look at and say, wow, I cannot believe 
this. Well, it's the grace of almighty 
God. And in a few minutes, we're gonna 
sing of that grace, and we're gonna say, amazing grace, how 
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but 
now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Isn't that the glory 
of the Christian gospel? Well, that's essential to the 
new covenant, and that's why the apostle says it is superior. And then quickly and finally, 
notice in verse 13, he says, in that he says a new covenant, 
he has made the first obsolete. Where was the old covenant rendered 
obsolete? The cross. It is finished, Christ 
said. The law was given through Moses, 
but grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is 
the great sort of covenantal transition. In that, he says, 
a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. He speaks to 
the historical reality now. Now, what is becoming obsolete 
and growing old? See, at the cross, not everybody 
got the memo. At the cross, those who believed 
the gospel understood. The old covenant is gone. We're 
in the new covenant now. But those who rejected Jesus 
continued, as I said, to go to the temple, to go to the priesthood, 
to go and bring their sacrifices, they were still continuing in 
it, and this is what the Apostle recognizes. So it was made obsolete 
at the cross. Now, what is becoming obsolete 
and growing old, in terms of its external manifestation among 
Israel, is ready to vanish away. That is a reference, I would 
argue, to A.D. 70. When the Romans come in A.D. 70, they destroy the city of 
Jerusalem and the temple. That was the visible representation, 
the manifestation that the transition between Old Covenant and New 
had in fact occurred. And that's what the apostle speaks 
to there at verse 13. Well, in conclusion, a few thoughts. 
And then our brother and I will enter into the water together. 
In the first place, we need to appreciate the superiority of 
the new covenant. The new covenant is a better 
covenant. It really is. The attempts to flatten the two, 
the attempts to make the two into one, well, it's not that 
much better, it's not that much newer, it's not that much greater. 
The very argument of the apostle tells us it is that much better. 
It is that much greater. Of course, Jesus as the mediator 
of the new covenant isn't going to mediate something that is 
only a little bit better. It is glorious. It is wonderful. It's a better covenant. This 
is established in 722 and 8-6. It's established on better promises 
according to 8-6, namely the incarnation of the second person 
of the Trinity as the mediator of this new covenant who ratified 
the covenant through his own precious blood. In Exodus 24, 
I had mentioned, they say, all that the Lord has said, we will 
do. Well, Moses sprinkled the animal blood on them. That covenant 
was ratified in blood. So is the new covenant. This 
is the blood of the covenant. Jesus says, this is my blood, 
the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for the remission 
of sins of many. So this is the glorious truth 
that the scriptures tell us in this place concerning the New 
Covenant. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
who makes up the New Covenant, the members of the New Covenant. Notice what it tells us. In the 
first place, the members of the New Covenant are those who believe 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They believe the truth 
as it is in Jesus. Remember, saving faith believes 
everything that the Bible says, but the principal acts of saving 
faith have regard to Jesus Christ, receiving and resting upon him 
alone for salvation. So faith in Christ by the grace 
of God is absolutely imperative for New Covenant believers. Secondly, 
consistent with what we find here, they're the sorts of people 
that can't even break the covenant that they're in. They're the 
sorts of people that have the law of God written upon their 
hearts. They're the sorts of people that know God. They are 
God's people, and God is their God, and they are the people 
that have their sins forgiven. In fact, John Owen makes this 
observation. He says, the new covenant is 
made with them alone, who effectually and eventually are made partakers 
of the grace of it. Indeed, this is the excellency 
of this covenant. And so it is here declared that 
it does effectually communicate all the grace and mercy contained 
in it unto all and everyone with whom it is made. Whomever it 
is made with, his sins are parted." See what Owen is saying? Everybody 
in the New Covenant looks like this. See, there's no external 
non-saving relationship to the New Covenant like there was in 
the Old Covenant. This is why we baptize believers. This is why persons that have 
believed, persons who have by grace repented, persons who demonstrate 
evidences of the reception of these particular blessings, they 
and they alone are supposed to be baptized. Now, John Owen would 
say, and their children in other places. We do not believe that. We are a Baptist church. We give 
the covenant sign, which is baptism, to the covenant community, which 
are the persons described like they are in this passage. Now, 
as far as infants, as far as babies, as far as toddlers and 
children and young people, we love them. We preach to them. 
We catechize them. We teach them at home. We encourage 
them to flee to Jesus Christ. We don't treat them as heathen. 
We don't treat them as Gentile. We don't keep them out at family 
worship time. But we do not give them a covenant 
sign that the covenant mediator has given to those in the covenant. This is a most important reason 
why, from a covenantal perspective, we ought to baptize believers. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
seems to indicate this reality as well. Which, if you know anything 
about the Westminster Catechism and Confession of Faith, they 
practice believer's baptism. But listen to what they say in 
Larger Catechism 31. With whom was the covenant of 
grace made? The covenant of grace was made 
with Christ as the second Adam, and in him, with all the elect, 
as his seed. That's it. It's done. Amen. Praise God. That's a wonderful 
articulation of gospel truth. It's only those who believe, 
only those who have received these essential elements of New 
Covenant religion, it's only they that should go into the 
waters of baptism. Some have said we practice adult 
baptism. No, we practice believer's baptism. If a believer happens to not 
be an adult, we baptize them if they give evidences of faith 
and repentance. It's believer's baptism. It's 
the persons who manifest these things in their lives that are 
to go into the water of baptism. And those Members of the New 
Covenant, those who should reflect often on the significance of 
baptism. It's great to be able to refer 
to Pete as my brother today. It's great when he came to me, 
or called and said he wanted to be, he came actually, came 
and said he wanted to be baptized. What an encouraging thing, what 
a blessed thing. We pray for that, we ask God 
to attend the preaching of the word, we pray for the Holy Spirit 
to open eyes, open hearts, and to implant that faith and repentance 
so that sinners can close with Jesus Christ. What a blessed 
thing, and what a blessed time for all of us, Pete and every 
single one of us here who are members of the new covenant, 
to reflect upon the significance of water baptism. Our confession 
of faith is good here. Baptism is an ordinance of the 
New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, 
a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection, 
Romans 6. Death, resurrection. That's the 
significance. You go into a watery grave, a 
dead sinner, and you come out united to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Again, not because of the magic of the water, not because of 
the magic of anything, you know, mysterious in the water. This 
is an external, visible, symbolic representation of what God the 
Spirit has done in the brother's heart. goes on to say of his 
being engrafted into it, of remission of sins, and of his giving up 
unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of 
life. This is really how the Apostle 
Paul appeals to baptism in Romans 6. What shall we say then? Shall 
we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be! 
You died! You were buried! You've been 
raised again! You don't continue in sin, you 
seek by the grace of God to put sin to death. He's given you 
the resources, He's given you the power, He's given you the 
Holy Spirit in order to do that. The idea is, is reflect upon 
the significance of water baptism in your own Christian life and 
experience. It's not just a one-off, it's 
something that we as God's people ought to reflect on on a regular 
basis. Something big happened on that 
day. Again, wasn't that we were saved? 
It wasn't that there was magic conveyed through the waters into 
our pores or anything like that, but it was a public declaration 
that we are Christ's and he is ours. That is most glorious. And then the final thing I want 
to mention is the blood of the covenant. The old covenant as 
mentioned was ratified with blood, Exodus 24. The apostle will tell 
us in Hebrews 10, that blood could never take away sin. It 
was a reminder, it caused us to reflect upon our own sin and 
the need for blood atonement and that sort of thing, but it 
never did atone. It pointed forward to the one 
who would atone. The new covenant was ratified 
with the blood of Jesus Christ. You see that in Hebrews 7, 27, 
Hebrews 9, 11 to 14, Hebrews 9, 26 to 28, Hebrews 
10, 12 to 14. It's the blood of Jesus Christ, 
His Son, that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. And I want 
to quote a particular fellow in a commentary on 2 Samuel 21. You think, what does 2 Samuel 
21 have to do with blood atonement? Well, it's an instance of blood 
atonement. There needs to be a reckoning for the way that 
Saul dealt with the Gibeonites. Remember, Israel entered into 
a covenant with the Gibeonites, and they weren't supposed to 
slaughter them, and yet Saul did have them slaughtered. And 
so the remaining Gibeonites come, and David indicates, or David 
executes atonement. And Ralph Davis comments, and 
I think the lesson here should be graspable to all. He says the text, 2 Samuel 21, 
1 to 14, says atonement is horrible, it is gory. Now think about this 
for a moment. We talk about as Protestant Christians 
that salvation is free, salvation is grace. Well, it did cost the 
Son of God. It's free to us, right? He paid a debt He didn't owe, 
so we could be free. It cost Christ, according to 
his humanity, his life. He says, the text says atonement 
is horrible, it is gory. Atonement is never nice, but 
always gruesome. We need to see this for we easily 
fall into the trap of regarding atonement as merely a doctrine, 
a concept, an abstraction to be explained, a bit of theology 
to be analyzed, or little better, to view it as a moving story 
and to be replayed during Passion Week. But we should know better. 
Surely the Israelite worshiper realized this when he towed a 
young bull to the tabernacle and had to slit its throat, skin 
it, cut it in pieces, and wash the insides and legs. It was 
all mess and gore. From slicing the bull's throat 
in Leviticus 1 all the way to Calvary, God has always said 
atonement is nasty and repulsive. Christians must beware of becoming 
too refined, longing for a kinder, gentler faith. If we've grown 
too used to Golgotha, perhaps Gibeah can shock us back into 
truth. Atonement is a drippy, bloody, 
smelly business. The stench of death hangs heavy 
wherever the wrath of God has been quenched. Now I say all 
that to say this, we speak of the blood of the covenant, we 
speak of the blood by which God cleanses us, and we don't, as 
Davis calls upon us to reflect sufficiently on what really occurred. Jesus was a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief. Jesus, the very darling of heaven, 
comes into this world. He comes to his own, and his 
own receive him not. He is not welcomed. He is not 
bowed to. He is not worshipped. He is not 
glorified. He is, by the mass of men, rejected. When it comes time to Pilate's 
question, Barabbas or Jesus, they say, give us Barabbas. They 
want a terrorist. They want Solomony instead of 
the Lord Christ. It is absolutely horrific. So 
what do I do with him? Away with him, away with him, 
crucify him. They nail him to the cross, they 
mock him, they spit on him, why? It is for this reason, so that 
we might have everlasting life, so that we might have the forgiveness 
of sins, that we might have the internalization of God's law, 
that He might be our God and we might be His people. Brethren, 
we need to reflect upon this and rejoice in it, because what 
God has done for us is truly amazing and glorious and wondrous. And if God does that, it demonstrates 
His willingness to save sinners. If you are still in your sins 
today, quit playing games and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Believe on Him and you will be saved. Let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for your gospel. Thank 
you that you save sinners. Sinners, not people that deserve 
it, not people that are upright, not people that are a little 
bit better, but sinners. Sinners as you find us, transgressors 
of the law, those who lack conformity unto it, those who not only transgress 
but do so willfully and joyfully and happily. And yet, God, you 
cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You 
grant us the graces of faith and repentance. You give us all 
things necessary for eternal life. And this founded upon the 
blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom all the 
promises of God are yea and amen. We ask that you would encourage 
and strengthen our hearts. We ask that you would draw sinners 
unto yourself by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we pray 
these things in Jesus' holy name. Amen.