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May I turn in your Bibles to 
Jeremiah chapter 31? While you are turning there, 
I'll just remind you of the stanza we just sang, stanza number three. When I stand before the throne, 
dressed in beauty not my own. What a glorious depiction of 
that last day. When I see thee as thou art, 
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know, 
not till then, how much I owe. that indescribable gift of his 
beloved son, through whom we have pardon and the imputation 
of righteousness. and to keep us well-grounded 
in God's covenantal dealings with us. Jeremiah 31, beginning 
at 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, and 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 all shall 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. Amen. Well, let us again 
ask the Lord's blessing as we consider His Word. Father, fill 
us now with Your Spirit. We thank You that He is our guide, 
He is our teacher, our instructor. We pray for illumination and 
we pray for help as we look at this passage of Holy Scripture. 
We thank You that You are a God who is faithful, a God who engages 
in covenant, and a God who does not relent, a God who blesses 
His people. Father, we just praise you for 
the fulfillment of these prophecies in the life and ministry of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. May we stand in awe, Lord God, 
of what you've done. May we stand in awe of the benefits 
that you have conferred upon us. And may we indeed worship 
you aright and accordingly. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, I basically want 
to do three things this evening as we consider the New Covenant. 
The first is to look at the announcement of the New Covenant. Secondly, 
look at some essential features of the New Covenant. And then 
thirdly, the fulfillment of the New Covenant. This is a significant 
prophecy. It's the only place in the Old 
Testament where the language New Covenant is used. Now, the 
concepts are present elsewhere in Isaiah, in Jeremiah, and in 
Ezekiel, to be sure, but this is the sole place where the prophet 
Jeremiah highlights the fact that God is indeed going to make 
a new covenant with the house of Israel. and with the house 
of Judah. So, let's first of all look at 
the announcement here. The way that we want to do this 
is by considering the larger context. You can go back to Jeremiah 
chapter 1. The larger context. I think as 
we appreciate what is going on in Judah's history at this particular 
time, the announcement of this new covenant is that much more 
glorious. The New Covenant is given, or 
this promise is given, and the backdrop, or the background, 
is sin among the people of Judah. Now, Jeremiah prophesied from 
627 to 582 BC. of Biblical history, you'll know 
that something significant took place in 586. That was when God 
sent Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon to Judah to close them down, 
to destroy their temple, to destroy their city, and to take a band 
of exiles back into Babylon. And thus began the Babylonian 
exile. So Jeremiah lived right on the 
brink of that. and during that, and through 
that. He ends up going to Egypt, he 
is told basically that he has to do that by lawless men, and 
as far as we know, he died there. But there are, to use Robertson's 
words here, in Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 10. Robertson identifies 
these as the six key words in the prophet Jeremiah. See, I 
have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms 
to root out, to pull down, to destroy, and to throw down. to 
build and to plan, and what this envisages is the destruction, 
the exile. But it looks beyond that exile 
to that time where there would be building and where there would 
be planting. So even in the midst of a prophecy 
of destruction upon the nation of Israel, God is giving hope, 
God is giving consolation, God is providing for the faithful 
more promises concerning their future. As we consider the larger 
context, note with me Jeremiah chapter 2. This is where the 
Prophet comes to indict the people, to indicate to them why it is 
they're going to suffer, why they are going to be chastised, 
why they're going into the Babylonian captivity. We don't have time 
to rehearse all of chapter 2, but let's just look at some of 
the verses. Notice in chapter 2, verse 5, thus says the Lord. What injustice have your fathers 
found in me that they have gone far from me and have followed 
idols and become idolaters? I mean, at the outset, we are 
greeted with this picture of idolatry in the rank and file 
of Judah, God's covenant community. Notice in chapter two at verse 
eleven, has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods, 
but my people have changed their glory for what does not profit. Don't miss the significance of 
this. God, through the prophet, is 
saying the pagans are more faithful than the covenant children of 
Israel. The heathen are more in solidarity with their idols 
than Israel is with their God. This is a high crime, it is an 
offense to the Lord, and it provides the framework for our understanding 
why they went into exile. So that when we reflect on the 
new covenant, it ought to, may I say, blow our minds that God 
visits them with such a promise of such great blessing to a people 
who are not deserving. Isn't that what grace is all 
about? to a people who are not deserving. Verse twelve, be astonished, 
O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says 
the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have 
forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves 
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. They've rejected 
the God of Israel. They have sought out the gods 
of the heathen or the pagans around them. Notice, in chapter 
2, verse 17, have you not brought this on yourself, in that you 
have forsaken the Lord your God when he led you in the way? And 
now why take the road to Egypt to drink the waters of Sior? 
Or why take the road to Assyria to drink the waters of the river? 
Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will 
rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it 
is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your 
God, and the fear of me is not in you. It says the Lord God 
of hosts. There was a baptismal service 
here at three thirty. Another church, Pastor Reed Fowler, 
brought in some of the flock and they baptized three people. 
Not because ours is a holy baptistry or, you know, the preferred one 
in Chilliwack. I just don't think they had access 
to one in their present situation. We sang John Newton's hymn. I 
don't want to say unfortunately, but unfortunately, we didn't 
sing the second stanza. What does Newton write? Twas 
grace that taught my heart to fear. Look at what happened here. You have forsaken the Lord your 
God. The fear of me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts. 
After the announcement of Jeremiah 31, after the proclamation that 
there is a new covenant coming, God then tells Jeremiah, in good 
faith, to go buy property. You might wonder, why is that 
in there? Why is Jeremiah the prophet instructed 
to buy land? Well, brethren, the real estate 
market wasn't looking very good in Judah at the time. Who wants 
to buy property when God the Lord has said that Babylon and 
Nebuchadnezzar are going to come in and devastate everything. 
So God tells Jeremiah, buy this property, buy this land. It is 
a token. It is a symbol. It is a sign 
that Judah will be reconvened, that they will return to their 
land post-exilic under Haggai and Zechariah. We see that return 
of the exiles. And then, toward the end of Jeremiah 
32, as God reiterates new covenant blessing, he says, I will put 
the fear of me in their hearts. It was absent among the people 
here, but it is an essential feature of new covenant religion 
that the people of God fear God, because grace taught our hearts 
to fear. Brethren, this is the contest. Notice in verse 20, chapter 2, 
for of old, I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds. And 
you said, I will not transgress when on every high hill and under 
every green tree you laid down playing the harlot. The idea 
here is idolatry, sinfulness, wickedness, abomination. They 
say to a tree, verse 27, you are my father, and to a stone, 
you gave birth to me. For they have turned their back 
to me and not their face. It's a great indictment. They've turned their back to 
me and not their face. Sounds like Paul in Romans 1. 
They did not even like to retain the knowledge of God. They say 
no to God. That's precisely what the community 
is doing. Verse twenty nine. I'm sorry. 
Verse twenty eight. But where are your gods that 
you have made for yourselves? Let them arise if they can save 
you in the time of your trouble. For according to the number of 
your cities are your gods. Oh, Judah, it's a horrible situation, 
isn't it? Everybody with me. Everybody 
tracking. But I understand if God doesn't break in graciously 
with the promise of a new covenant, we're all hell bent. It's easy 
for us to read Jeremiah 2 and say, those dirty, rotten Jews, 
those horrible Judahites, those wretched Israelites, how in the 
world did they do that? If you know your heart but a 
little, and you know the Bible at all, you will realize that 
you are in this passage, that you are guilty. Verse thirty 
one generation, see the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness 
to Israel or a land of darkness? Why do my people say we are lords? 
We will come no more to you. Can a virgin forget her ornaments 
or a bride or attire? Yet my people have forgotten 
me days without number. You see, God through the prophet 
appeals to something that we would call a no brainer. There 
is no woman on the face of the earth that would come to the 
wedding altar, having forgotten to get herself out. There is 
absolutely no way she wouldn't put on her dress, she wouldn't 
do her hair, she wouldn't put on her ornaments. That is a special 
day, and she wants to look good. She wants to look good for her 
man, and she wants this to go well. God uses that analogy. He says, can a virgin forget 
her ornaments or a bride her attire? Well, no, they can't. Yet my people have forgotten 
me days without number. You see, that's the larger context. The immediate context. Turn to 
Jeremiah 30. Jeremiah chapter 30, this is 
the book of consolation or the book of hope. There is a promise 
of restoration. Jeremiah 30 verses 1 to 3, the 
promise of the new covenant, Jeremiah 31, which we'll unpack 
in more detail. And then, as I mentioned, an 
illustration of God's faithfulness, specifically when Jeremiah is 
instructed to go and purchase this field. Jeremiah 32, just 
pick up reading at verse 36. Now, therefore, God says the 
Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say it 
shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the 
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. Behold, I will 
gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in my 
anger, in my fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back 
to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall 
be my people, and I will be their God. Then I will give them one 
heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good 
of them and their children after them, and I will make an everlasting 
covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them 
good, but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they 
will not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them 
to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with 
all my heart and with all my soul. So that, brethren, is the 
immediate context. It is the book of consolation. Let's look at the essential features 
of the New Covenant. First, it is unbreakable. This 
is good news. Isn't it? You want to be in a 
covenant with God that you can break and end up in hell? Notice 
the language in Jeremiah 31, 31. Behold, the days are coming, 
says Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house 
of Israel and with the house of Judah. Hebrews 8 and 10 tells 
us this is the church. It is the church. That's whom 
the prophet is speaking of. Again, Hebrews 8, Hebrews 10, 
leave us in no suspense who this finds application in. It is the 
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to understand that. We'll 
look at that a bit later. But notice, I will make this 
covenant, 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. It was a viable covenant. That means they broke that covenant. You can read about that in Deuteronomy 
chapter twenty nine. The new covenant is not like 
that. God brings us into this position 
and we enjoy eternal, blessed security. We might refer to this 
as perseverance of the saints, but we need to make sure we underline 
its preservation by God, the Lord, as he enters into this 
new covenant. Christ is the covenant that he 
is the one with whom this covenant is made, and all the elect in 
him, according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which I think 
rightly understands biblical covenant theology. This is an 
unbreakable covenant. The old covenant was breakable. The idea that one can enter into 
the new covenant, be a genuine possessor of all of the other 
benefits indicated here, and then lose his or her salvation 
has no warrant in the scripture whatsoever. Remember years ago, 
I think Steve Lawson and I talked about this once, the I found 
it sticker and then the I lost it sticker. Bumper stickers on 
your car. I think I found it was salvation 
in Christ. And then they came out with these 
stickers that say, I lost it. Is that accurate? Anyone? Everybody with me? You don't 
lose salvation in Christ. Why? Because God says, I'm making 
a new covenant, not like the one I made before, which they 
broke. The implication is that the new 
covenant is inviolable. It is unbreakable and it's because 
of Jesus Christ. He satisfied all the requirements, 
all of the obligations. He fulfilled perfectly the entirety 
of God's law. He dies as a substitute and sacrifice 
in our place. He rises again so that Paul can 
say, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who 
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ. Paul can write in Philippians 
1, I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good 
work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ. Jesus 
says that when you are in the hand of the Father, in the hand 
of the Son, there is no one who can strip you out of God's hand. There is no one who can pluck 
you out of God's hand. Paul celebrates this reality 
in the last portion of Romans chapter 8, when he says, I'm 
convinced nothing can separate us from the love of God, which 
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We saw that in the promise of 
Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32 at verse 40, I will 
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn 
away from doing them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts 
so that they will not depart from me. When you believe on 
the Lord Jesus, when you repent from your sins by the grace of 
God, you are saved to the utter most. You can hang your life, 
your soul, your comfort, your everything on that reality. The fact that Christ will never 
let you go if he has secured your salvation. It is an unbreakable 
covenant. A second essential feature is 
the internalization of God's holy law. Notice in Jeremiah 
31 at verse 33. 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 heart. Now, this was not a foolish audience. They may have been a sinful audience, 
but they were certainly conscious of what law God the Lord was 
speaking of here. He uses this phrase, my law, 
in several other places in the prophet Jeremiah, highlighting 
the fact that they had broken it, highlighting the fact that 
they had rejected it, highlighting the fact that they had heard 
it and yet rebelled. The Israelite would remember 
as well from Exodus 24 and Exodus 31 and Deuteronomy chapter 9 
that the finger of God himself wrote this particular law. As we have seen in our studies 
in Matthew, Jesus is not giving us some new law, rather he is 
clearing away the misinterpretation of this moral law, this Decalogue, 
these Ten Commandments given by God to his people. Now, this 
was not absent from Old Covenant believers. David could say, Oh, 
how I love thy law. Men of God could rejoice in the 
law, but it was not an essential feature of Old Covenant religion. Within that Old Covenant community, 
you had Jacob's who loved the law, who had it internalized, 
but you had Esau's who God hated. They did not love the law. It 
was not internalized. In that old covenant, you had 
Isaac, who was faithful and who had the law on his heart. But 
then you had Ishmael, who was faithless and did not have the 
law on his heart. But you see what God through 
the prophet is saying, the new covenant will not be like that. 
You see, everybody in the new covenant has this law written 
on their hearts. You see, in the new covenant, 
you really shouldn't be an antinomian. In the new covenant, you shouldn't 
reject the law of God. In the New Covenant, you shouldn't 
despise those things that Jesus says, do not even begin to think 
that I have come to destroy the law. I belong the prophets. I 
have not come to destroy, but rather to fulfill. And then he 
pronounces that penalty upon those who break and those who 
teach others to break the least of these commandments. What the 
prophet envisions here is God taking that finger that he wrote 
on the tablets of stone and writing them into our hearts, internalizing 
them, putting them in that place that is most intimate in a person, 
within his mind, within his heart. The law of God is a blessing. It is a necessary feature. Again, 
not unto salvation, for by the law, or therefore by the deeds 
of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. But when 
we have come to Christ, when we have believed the gospel, 
God puts this law in our hearts, and hopefully we say with David, 
oh, how I love your law. Doesn't John say this in 1 John? 
He says the commandments are not grievous. They're not burdensome. You need somebody who rails against 
the Word of God, the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue. Oh, that's not 
for us. I can't stand that. They make it sound like it's 
this heavy burden. No, the burden is our sin. The 
law is holy and good. The law is right. We had an internalized, 
we ought to say with the psalmist, oh, how I love it, how it is 
my meditation day and night. This is an essential feature 
of New Covenant Christianity. Jesus said, if you love me, you 
will keep my commandments. Paul in Romans 3, after discussing 
justification by faith alone, he says, what then? Do we nullify 
the law? May it never be. Rather, we establish 
the law in Romans chapter 3 at verse 31. Our confession of faith 
says that the gospel does not militate against the law, but 
rather Christ in the gospel strengthens our obligation to it. Again, 
the idea being now that it's internalized, it's in our minds, 
it's in our hearts, and we have been empowered and enabled by 
His Spirit to actually walk in the law. It's a good thing. Shun, reject, despise and forsake 
antinomianism. Doctrinal and practical. It's not biblical. A third essential 
feature, the knowledge of God. I will put my law on their minds 
and write it on their hearts, and 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 all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest 
of them, says the Lord." Again, think back to that big circle, 
Old Covenant community. You had knowers and non-knowers. 
You had Isaac and Ishmael. You had Jacob and Esau. You had 
David and not David. So the idea here is what the 
prophet is saying is that within that new covenant community, 
we don't have to do evangelism with one another. We have to 
come to our brother who's a New Covenant member and say, well, 
brother, you need to really know the Lord. Now, if we suspect 
they're unsaved, we suspect they're unconverted, perhaps their fruit, 
their evidence, all those things are not present. We need to encourage 
them and call them to examine themselves. But the idea being 
that within this New Covenant community, those whom the Lord 
God has called out of darkness into marvelous light, put his 
law in their minds and in their hearts, they don't need to be 
evangelized. They know the Lord. Again, this was not absent from 
the Old Testament. Believers there knew the Lord, 
but you could be an Old Covenant member and not know the Lord. You could even be a priest in 
the Old Covenant and not know the Lord. There were two sons 
of a man by the name of Eli. And Eli's sons engaged in gross 
sin. They engaged in wickedness. They 
lied with temple prostitutes, and they stole offerings. They 
stole meat that people brought to offer before the Lord. Well, 
the crux of the matter is identified in 1 Samuel 2, 12. Their problem 
was that they did not know the Lord. Certainly, catechetically, 
they understood who God was. They knew that Yahweh was the 
King of Israel. They knew about the sacrificial system, they 
had some of that head knowledge, but they didn't know the Lord. 
They didn't walk in his ways, they couldn't call him Father. 
An essential feature of New Covenant Christianity is that we know 
the Lord. Look back to Jeremiah chapter 
9 for just a moment. Jeremiah chapter nine, verse 
twenty three, thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in 
his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let 
the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory 
in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, 
exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, 
for in these I delight, says the Lord. What a feature, an 
essential feature of New Covenant Christianity. How does Jesus 
define eternal life in John 17, 3? He says, for this is eternal 
life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom thou hast sent. That's everything. You see, theology 
matters for Jesus. Theology is important for Jesus. Theology ought to matter and 
be important for Jesus' people as well. I mean, it's interesting. 
Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and 
knows me. Let's just know of a conception 
of a God out there. He not only knows this God, but 
he understands him. And then there's particulars, 
what we call attributes or perfections of God. You see, there is an 
imperative here. There are an illustration here 
of what we should be learning. That I am the Lord, exercising 
loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For 
in these I delight, says the Lord. The child of God, the new 
covenant believer, wants to know his God. He wants to understand 
his God. He wants to learn of Christ. 
He wants to understand redemption. He wants to know what sanctification 
is. He wants to know what justification is. He wants to know what glorification 
is. You see, the child of God in 
the New Covenant knows the Lord. This is his chief blessing. This 
is his everything. The psalmist says, great are 
the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight 
in them. If you're a New Covenant believer 
and you don't study the works of the Lord, repent. Forsake 
that. Study God, study Christ, study 
the system of redemption set forth in the Bible. Study these 
beautiful things because they teach us more about the God we 
know and the God that we love. The knowledge of God is an essential 
feature in New Covenant Christianity. And then the fourth essential 
feature is the forgiveness of sin. For I will forgive their 
iniquity and their sin, I will remember no more." Don't you 
just want to jump up and do a flip at this point? I mean, these 
essential features are beautiful, aren't they? It's unbreakable. 
I mean, what means when God saves me, he saves me to the uttermost. The essential feature of the 
internalizing of his law, the fact that what was once a burden 
is now a joy and a pleasure. The burden isn't the law. The 
burden is God, enable me. God, fill me with the Spirit. 
God, give me the zeal. Give me the desire to pursue 
holiness without which no one will see the Lord. The knowledge 
of God, knowing God. That's what He created us for. 
To worship Him, to glorify Him, to please Him, to honor Him. 
Well, in redemption, as new men and women in Christ, we get that 
privilege. And then look at this essential 
feature. will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember 
no more. Again, this was not absent from 
Old Covenant believers. After David falls into gross 
sin, to grievous sin, Nathan, the prophet, reproves him. David 
says, I have sinned against the Lord. I have sinned against the 
Lord. What does God do? God forgives 
him. God provides atonement. God cleanses him. Isaiah the 
prophet, when he's confronted with the glory of Jesus in the 
throne room, says, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of 
unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for 
my eyes have seen the king. What happens? God dispatches 
an angel to deal with the sin of his lips. Forgiveness was 
not foreign in the Old Covenant, but again, it wasn't an essential 
feature. You could be an Esau, you could 
be an Ishmael and not have the forgiveness of sins. The New 
Covenant is not like that. When you are in the New Covenant, 
these essential features are yours. You see why it's by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We don't have the 
ability to establish and maintain an inviolable covenant. We don't 
have the ability to internalize the law of God. We don't have 
the ability to know God apart from his first knowing us, and 
we certainly cannot forgive ourselves. This is an essential feature 
that ought to make a skip, sing and praise to God Almighty from 
now until the Lord of Glory returns. Psalm 51. David understood. Romans 
chapter 4 appeals to Psalm 32, and the example of the illustration 
of David. Again, it wasn't foreign and 
absent in the Old Covenant, but in the New Covenant. What's Peter's 
words of instruction on that day of Pentecost? Repent and 
be baptized for the remission of sins. Paul the Apostle is 
in Pisidian Antioch, and he's preaching the Gospel to Jews. 
And at the very end, he says, therefore, let it be known to 
you, brethren, that through this man, Christ Jesus, the Lord is 
preached to you, the forgiveness of sins. This is what defined 
Jesus mission in many of his statements. He says, the son 
of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his 
life a ransom for many. Why? Because we're sinners. Jesus 
said he came to seek and to save that which was lost. Reverend, this is an essential 
feature of the new covenant that we ought to rejoice in. Not that 
we shouldn't with the other elements, but when we see ourselves rightly, 
when we reflect upon Jeremiah 2, when we reflect upon what 
we are apart from the saving grace of God, when we reflect 
upon where we were before God reached down and saved our souls, 
We ought to praise, concern how much sin we have been forgiven 
of. The Lord truly is good. The Lord has dealt with our sins 
decisively. I love the picture in the prophet 
Micah. Micah chapter 7. Micah uses his own name. His 
name means, who is a God like you? Micah asks that very question. He says, who is a God like you? 
And then he doesn't say, because you destroy people or because 
you send wrath on people. That ought not to surprise us 
when we're sinners living in God's world. What surprises the 
prophet? And when he says, who is a God 
like you? He then says, pardoning and equity. That's what's mind blowing. That's 
what's amazing. That's what ought to cause us 
to raise our arms and say, who is a God like you? And then he 
says, you will subdue our iniquities, and he will pass that into the 
depths of the sea. Beautiful picture of our sin 
getting sent out, getting taken away. Remember that day of atonement, 
Yom Kippur, according to Leviticus 16, the children of Israel had 
a visible representation of expiation or the removal of guilt from 
the camp. After the high priest laid his hands upon that goat 
and confessed the sins of Israel, what did they do? They drove 
it out into the wilderness. It's a great illustration. That's 
a great way for the faithful in Israel to see their sin going 
into the wilderness where it won't haunt them anymore. Well, 
the prophet Micah foretelling new covenant reality says that 
very thing. God will subdue our iniquities. 
He will cast our sins into the depths of the sea. The forgiveness 
of sin is a blessing, and we have been made participants by 
virtue of Christ's life, death, and resurrection in being the 
surety of a better covenant. So we've seen the announcement, 
the essential features, thirdly, and finally, the fulfillment. 
Matthew 26, 28. We can't forget that. Matthew 
chapter 26, Jesus at the Last Supper institutes or inaugurates 
the Lord's Supper, and in so doing, he highlights this reality 
of Jeremiah's covenant prophecy. Then he took the cup, and gave 
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of 
you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed 
for many for the remission of sin." That's the fulfillment. That's the realization. That's 
what the types and shadows pointed forward to. That's what the ceremonies 
looked at. That is everything right there. Christ is saying to the people 
of God that I am the one of whom Jeremiah prophesied. And it is 
in my blood that this covenant is ratified. Remember that ceremony 
in Exodus chapter 24, after going through the 10 commandments, 
after opening up the specific case laws for Israel as a body 
politic. Then Moses and the people, or 
the leaders, the priests, they inaugurated, or they ratified, 
rather, this covenant, and they did it with blood. They took 
blood and they sprinkled it on the people there. And remember 
the confession of the people, this law we will do. This law 
we will do. Well, there's the failure in 
old covenant religion. Man couldn't do it. New covenant, 
blood of Christ, this law I have done, Jesus says. This sacrifice, 
I will render. It is Christ who is head. It 
is Christ who is mediator. It is Christ who is surety. It 
is Christ who ratifies this covenant and he brings it to fruition. 
The book of Hebrews, chapter eight. And there's several other 
texts we could use to illustrate this reality. I just want to 
point to one more Hebrews, chapter eight, as we begin to close our 
study here this evening, Hebrews chapter eight. Well, just pick 
up in verse seven, just look at a few things here. Notice 
concerning the new covenant. Now, these statements don't mean 
the old covenant was a horrible, bad thing. No, it served God's 
purposes. It was ordained by God. It was 
instituted by God for a very specific reason. However, the 
new covenant surpasses. We see that the new covenant 
affords a better hope. Chapter seven, verse 19. The 
New Covenant affords a better, a glorious surety, and therefore 
it is a better covenant. Hebrews 7.22, by so much more, 
Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. In Hebrews 
chapter 8, verse 6, 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. You see, the New Testament, 
the book of Hebrews highlights the temporary nature of old covenant 
religion and that it pointed forward to and that it finds 
its fulfillment in the covenant mediator, Jesus Christ. In him, 
the new covenant is ratified. In him, the new covenant is not 
inaugurated. And then notice in verse seven 
of chapter eight, 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 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. 
Let me just try to amplify verse 13 for you just a little bit. 
He has made the first obsolete at the cross. It is finished. The veil was rent in two. The 
old covenant is now obsolete. The law transcends it because 
it reflects the moral nature of God and what he demands trans-covenantally. But notice, the old covenant 
as a system is now obsolete. Now, when the apostle says, now 
what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish 
away, I think what he is speaking of here is that the temple was 
still standing. I believe that he wrote prior 
to AD 70, the temple was still standing. People were still offering 
up sacrifices. But what is becoming obsolete 
and growing old is ready to vanish away. when the Roman army surround 
Jerusalem and destroy the temple. That would be the public significant 
piece of evidence that it was gone forever, never to return. Brethren, we are in the new covenant 
because of the surety of a better covenant. I just want to close 
the exposition with a quote from O. Palmer Robertson, his little 
book, The Christ of the Covenants. He says, because of its unique 
role in gathering together the various strands of covenantal 
promise throughout history, This last of God's covenants, appropriately, 
may be designated as the covenant of consummation. This covenant 
supersedes God's previous covenantal administrations. At the same 
time, it brings to focal realization the essence of the various covenants 
experienced by Israel throughout their history. Consummation characterizes 
the substance of this final covenant throughout. The heart of this 
consummative realization consists of a single person. As fulfiller 
of all the messianic promises, he achieves in himself the essence 
of the covenantal principle, I shall be your God and you shall 
be my people. Jesus, or he therefore, may be 
seen as the Christ who consummates the covenant." I thought Robertson 
said it quite well there. In conclusion, we learn a couple 
of things and then we close. The first, the members of the 
new covenant. This is why we're Reformed Baptists. 
We believe that Reformed Theology necessarily implies Believer's 
Baptism. We believe that Reformed Theology, 
Covenant Theology, understanding God's dealings through his covenantal 
arrangements, necessarily leads to Believer's Baptism. You see, 
in the Old Covenant, Jacob and Esau both got the sign. In the 
Old Covenant, Isaac and Ishmael both got the sign, but Jeremiah 
makes a fundamental distinction. The New Covenant community is 
marked by people who have these four essential elements. It is 
marked by those who are brought in graciously and savingly, never 
to be lost. It is marked by those who know 
or who have the law of God internalized. It is marked by those who know 
the Lord and who have received the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, 
covenant theology implies believers baptism. Now, I realize our Pato 
Baptist brethren would want to debate that, and that's OK. We can debate that. But this 
is one of the reasons why we do what we do. We hold to reform 
theology, covenant theology. And I hope it's a robust one 
and a very biblical one and a very confessional and most excellent 
one. But understanding Jeremiah 31, an old covenant prophecy 
concerning new covenant membership, necessarily implies believers' 
baptism. A second thing we learn in this 
section, the finality of the new covenant. Again, Robertson 
says, it is not only the new covenant, it is the last covenant. We're not to be looking for something 
else. were not to be like the modern 
church that always wants the latest fad, were not to be like 
the people who are never content with what they have. It doesn't 
get any better than this. Are you with me? There is nothing in earth, nothing 
in heaven that gets better than what Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 specifies. Can you tell me something that 
exceeds the forgiveness of sins? Can you tell me something that 
is better than a place that is open for sin and uncleanness? 
When Zechariah 13, when he prophesied, behold, in that day there will 
be a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Is there anything 
better than that? I mean, we're sinners, brethren. 
As Christians, we're redeemed, but we're sinners. Isn't it wonderful 
to have a fount that we can go to? Isn't 1 John 1, 9 precious? Isn't Psalm 130 verse 4 precious? Isn't the reality of the remission 
of sins by Jesus Christ the best thing in your life? Is there 
anything that surpasses this? Is there anything that surpasses 
the knowledge of God? There isn't. We're not looking 
for another covenant. We have the final. It is not 
only the new covenant. Robertson says it is the last 
covenant because it shall bring to full fruition that which God 
intends in redemption. It never shall be superseded 
by a subsequent covenant. It is as good as it gets. You cannot exceed these essential 
elements of covenant blessing. We have everything in Jesus. And thirdly, and finally, if 
you don't know Jesus tonight, I want you to reflect upon at 
least some of the things that I've said tonight. It's God who 
teaches men to fear. It is God who is gracious. It 
is God who puts the fear of God in hearts. It is God through 
Jesus Christ. He is the one that you desperately 
need tonight. You don't need moral reform. 
You don't need to fix your life a little bit. You don't need 
to stop this and start that. You need to bow to the Lord of 
glory. You need to believe the gospel 
of Christ. You need to repent of your sin. Now, when you, by 
the grace, do that, there will be fruit. There will be benefit. 
There will be evidences. All those things will follow 
in sanctification. But right now, you need that 
fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness. You need to 
go to Christ. You need to understand that it's 
him alone that grants forgiveness. It's him alone that causes men, 
women, boys and girls to be clothed in a righteousness, not their 
own, fit to enter in to the presence of God Almighty. Believe on Jesus 
and you will be saved. That is a promise from the scriptures. 
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for covenant 
theology. We thank you for this announcement 
of the new covenant. and for the blessed features 
that we have received by your grace through faith in Christ 
Jesus. We thank you for the surety of 
a better covenant. We thank you for our mediator. 
We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and his work on behalf 
of sinners. And I pray God this gospel would 
be proclaimed, his life, his death, his resurrection would 
be proclaimed throughout the earth and men from every tribe 
and tongue and people and nation would believe on him and know 
the joy of everlasting life. Go with your people now, Father. 
Cause your face to shine upon us. May we know your peace and 
may we walk in a manner that is consistent with our calling 
as Christians. And we pray through Christ Jesus, 
our Lord. Amen.