OK, if you'll take your copy of the Westminster Confession, we're on chapter 7 of God's covenant with man. We looked at the covenant of works last time. Really important concept there, the covenant of works, that Adam and all of his posterity, all of us, were in Adam when he was there in the Garden of Eden. Condition was perfect, personal obedience to God's law. And if he had done that, if he had withstood that temptation and achieved that righteousness, he could have eaten from the tree of life and would have earned eternal life for all of us. But we all know he failed. And so eternal life is no longer possible by that covenant. So God makes a second covenant, the covenant of grace. And we looked at that last time, point number three. Let's just read it again. Man, by his fall, having made himself uncapable of life by that covenant, the covenant of works, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe. So I wanna just kind of emphasize one thing. I think it's not often emphasized the way it should be in our reform circles. And that is we should give Christ to people and say, this is a free gift that God will give you if you believe in him. Okay, that's the good news. We can tell that to people. If you believe in Jesus, God's promises, your sins are forgiven. And there's a wonderful video, we watched it when I was in seminary, it's actually on YouTube now, called Itau, about a tribe called the Moke tribe in the islands of Papua New Guinea, one of those obscure tribes. And the missionary that went there was actually a Mennonite who started reading his Bible and he got saved and he just, he wanted to go take the gospel where it had never gone before. And they took the gospel to this tribe and he learned their language and apparently, the whole village got saved the same day. And the people were deeply convicted of their sins. And you see them standing up and confessing their sins. And at one point, the tribal elder said, so are you saying that if we believe in the Savior that We have our sins forgiven and have eternal life. And he stood up and quoted John 6, 47. Jesus said, he who believes in me has everlasting life. And if you believe in Jesus, the word of God says your sins are forgiven. And the whole village jumped on the guy and picked him up on their shoulders and carried him around for two hours, cheering and singing and just praising God that they were all forgiven of their sins. And then they started taking the gospel to other tribes and other places, and it was just extraordinary. I just thought, that's the way it should be done. You give Christ to people. If you believe in him, he will save you. Now, repentance, that's the jumping off point of our sanctification, and the good works will follow, but you shouldn't put anything between. the sinner and the Lord Jesus, you simply offer him. I love the way the Westminster Divines put that. Covenant of Grace, he freely offers to sinners salvation by Jesus Christ. It requires faith in him that they may be saved and promises to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe. Okay, and so that's what we do. We just offer the Lord Jesus to people. Okay, point number four. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in scripture by the name of a testament in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance with all things belonging to it therein bequeathed. Okay. So it's often called a testament. What do we call the left side of our Bible? Usually it's the Old Testament. And then the right side is the New Testament. Okay. The term Testament really just means covenant. So you have the Old Covenant, New Covenant, but really the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are just administrations of this one covenant of grace. Okay, there's one covenant of grace from the beginning to the end of Scripture, just like there's one covenant of works. So one thing to get out of your mind is the idea Old Testament covenant of works, New Testament covenant of grace. Okay, that's not the proper way to think about it. Covenant of Works and Covenant of Grace are parallel concepts that run all the way through the Old Testament, all the way through the New Testament together, okay? Because there's grace all the way through the Old Testament. What are some examples of that? We're going to look at it here in point five, but what are some examples of how grace and the gospel were revealed in the Old Testament? Noah and his family, yeah. Noah found grace in the eyes of God. How else? Yeah, Abraham, God simply calls Abraham. The call of Abraham is one of the greatest examples of just pure grace, because who was Abraham before God talked to him? He was a pagan idolater. I mean, it even says that at the end of the book of Joshua. Our forefathers, Terah, remember Terah was Abraham's father. They worshiped idols in this other place. And then God, I just love Genesis 12. It's just all of a sudden God breaks the silence. You, go out of your father's house to a land I will show you, and I'm going to bless the whole world through you. And we know from Jesus's comments in John eight, Abraham understood that that was about the Messiah, that that was about the seed of Abraham. This future descendant of his was going to bring blessing to him and to the whole world. And he looked forward to the coming of Jesus. So Abraham believed the gospel. Remember Galatians chapter three. In fact, I want you to see this. Look at Galatians chapter three there in your Bible, if you would please. Galatians chapter three. Because for the longest time, growing up in more dispensationalist circles, I wondered very often, what did Abraham believe in? How was he saved? How was David saved? How were any of these guys saved? I mean, they didn't have the gospel and the fullness that we do, but what was it that they believed? So look at Galatians 3, verse 6, 7, and 8. Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith, meaning those who are only believing in Jesus, not working, who are the sons of Abraham. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, all the nations will be blessed in you. Okay, so what was preached to Abraham way back in Genesis 12? The gospel, the gospel, the good news. Saying in you all the nations will be blessed as opposed to cursed. Remember God pronounced curses on Adam and on the ground and on the world after the fall. But here with Abraham, he's saying now I'm gonna bless you. All the nations of the world are gonna be blessed through you. And what does the opening verse of the New Testament say? The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David and the son of Abraham. Both of them knew it's going to be one of our descendants. One of our descendants is going to bring this blessing to the world. So they believed in it from afar. They believed that one day it would come. And of course, for us, we look back because he has come. But it's the same gospel. It's the same way of salvation that it's always been. Yes, sir. So when you say that that might be a holdover from a dispensational kind of background, how would somebody that we would really That's an excellent, that's a great question. John MacArthur really was not an old school dispensationalist. Like the old school, like the, you know, C.I. Schofield and J.N. Darby, the original guys, they would have said, yeah, everyone back then was saved by law keeping, but MacArthur does not, did not teach that. And if you listen, I've actually listened to some of his sermons about Israel in the future, because I always thought this guy knows the Bible so well, there's no way he actually holds that real old school dispensationalism, and he really didn't. If you even look at the study notes in his study Bible, he does understand that Abraham believed in the coming of Jesus and that David did too. So it's right there. So what's often called dispensationalism Dispensationalism has been criticized for so long by covenant theologians that they really have come very close to where we are in modern times and are not like their old school counterparts anymore. So good question. Yes, sir. A leaky dispensationalist? Yeah, that sounds like something he would say. Yeah, I actually listened, there's a lengthy series on Israel in the future. And I thought, okay, this will really show where he's coming from. It's like six sermons on sermon audio. And there was very little that I thought he got wrong. He does look at the way the New Testament quotes the old and he seems to believe it. So I don't know why he continued using that label. So, but yes, sir. Who called himself that? Oh, a vertical dispensational? Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, yeah. Yes, Amanda. I think MacArthur was all about the land for him. But in the Southern Baptist group and many of the other Armenian groups, they do still, I mean, before I was born, I essentially thought it was by works in the Old Testament. I mean, it's just not taught. I mean, that was one of the huge eye openings for me. Yeah, that's a good point many many like Southern Baptist are more influenced by guys that are not reformed Yeah. Where MacArthur, you know, if you listen to him talk about his theological development, he was reading the Puritans, who were anything but dispensationalists, you know, and he was best friends with guys that were reformed, like R.C. Sproul. My biggest thing I was listening for, I remember listening to him thinking, okay, Does he think that Jews have hope or have promises outside of the gospel? And he did not seem to think that at all, which was really encouraging to me because some of the old school people are like, yeah, they don't even need Christ. They're going to live on the West Bank and in the eternal state, whether they knew the Lord or not. And that's dangerous right there because they. Yeah, right. Yes. Yeah, they're influenced by people who do hold that position. The thing is that the Jews, just like us, just like anybody, needs Christ because we're all descendants of Adam. We're all under the same, you know, death sentence, eternal death sentence, if we don't come to know Christ. So Jews and Gentiles both need the gospel. That's the main thing. So, okay, very good. Let's look at point number five there. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law and in the time of the gospel. Under the law, that's the Old Testament, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the Passover lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all for signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and efficacious through the operation of the spirit to instruct and build up the elect in faith, in the promised Messiah by whom they had full remission of sins and eternal salvation and is called the Old Testament. Okay, now before we unpack that a little bit more, I want you to turn to Genesis 15 and see What really amounts to one of the Apostle Paul's favorite Bible verses, because he quotes it frequently in the New Testament, really is his main defense of how we're saved and how we're justified before God. Genesis 15, let's look at verses one through six. This is a really dramatic passage here. Because remember, Abraham still doesn't have a son yet. Isaac has not been born yet. And he's still, you know, him and Sarah are still barren. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, do not fear Abram, I am a shield to you, your reward shall be very great. Abram said, oh Lord God, what will you give me since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus? And Abram said, since you have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir. Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, this man will not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body, he shall be your heir. And he took him outside and said, now look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Now, does anyone here remember that phrase, so shall your descendants be? Does anyone remember where that's quoted in the New Testament? It's in Romans four. And that is fulfilled every single time a person becomes a Christian, Jew or Gentile. which is why we're called the children of who? Abraham, Jew or Gentile. Okay, so the physical descendants of Ishmael, if they believe in Christ, they're the spiritual descendants of Abraham. Okay, and Abraham's physical descendants, the Jews, if they reject the gospel, are the spiritual descendants of who? Ishmael. Okay, I mean, it's pretty offensive the way Paul says that, but the ultimate fulfillment The stars of the heavens. I remember like understanding that for the first time and going, so that's us. We're the church. Those that believe the gospel, we are those innumerable stars in the heavens. That's us. That's all believers, Jew or Gentile, no matter where they're from or what they look like. Okay, and look at verse six. Here's the key verse. Then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. And this is Paul's, the verse he quotes constantly as his ultimate defense of grace. Because where does this passage come in relationship to the giving of the Ten Commandments? It's long before it. So the law obviously has no role here in saving or justifying Abraham. When does this passage come in relationship to the institution of circumcision? Before or after? Before it. So that can't play a role in saving or justifying us either. And Paul uses that as an argument in Romans 4, pointing out it's by faith alone. It's not by our works, not by our obedience to commands. It's not by ordinances or circumcision or any of this stuff. Abraham simply believed and God accounted it to him as righteousness. And Paul quotes that again and again in Romans 4 and Galatians 3. That's his ultimate defense of the gospel there. Okay, so what are some of the other promises, prophecies, sacrifices, and things like that in the Old Testament, that pointed people to the coming of Jesus. Just name some. Yes, sir. I mean, you got the beginning of the book of Leviticus. It talks about the burnt offerings and how you were to bring a male without defect, as you like, was to place its hand upon him, signifying the transferring of the guilt to that animal that was sacrificed for them. That was obviously foreshadowing Christ, His taking away of our sins. Yes. Yep. Very good. And anything else? Passover, yeah, the Passover. You know, the lamb that's without blemish. I mean, how does John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, how does he identify Jesus in public? The Lamb of God, here he is. Here's the one that is the fulfillment of the Passover. During what feast is Jesus sacrificed? Passover, that's when he institutes the Lord's Supper. I mean, so the Old Testament, anything else in the Old Testament? There's a lot more. What was that? The Day of Atonement, yes. Yes? Yeah, the sacrifice of Isaac is a foreshadowing of his only son. Take your son, Abraham, your only son, the son whom you love. How does the father identify Jesus? Same kinds of terms, right? That itself is a foreshadowing. Yes, the scapegoat going out into the wilderness, just like Jesus died outside the camp. Anything else? Yes, sir. Yes. After they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves of their own making, God provides the covering. There you have a foreshadowing of the gospel. So it's all over the place. It's kind of veiled and it's a little bit shadowy, but it's made much more full once you see the New Testament. But the gospel is there all the way through. But one thing, remember we preached through the Gospel of Luke and looking at the Pharisees and the scribes and the lawyers who knew the Old Testament so well and knew that passage in Leviticus that there was a transference of guilt when you laid your hands on the head of the animal and yet they did not see that they themselves needed a sacrifice. They didn't put themselves in the category of sinners. So that shows you can know this stuff really well, but not believe it. You can know all this stuff, but still your heart not really understand or be resting upon it. Okay, so let's look at point number six there. So that was the gospel during the time of the law. Point number six, under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments of baptism in the Lord's supper, which though fewer in number and administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, Yet in them it is held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, and is called the New Testament. There are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations. I remember hearing a good theologian say, The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, it's not a difference in kind, but a difference in degree. We know more about it than they do. Even it says in 1 Peter, in fact, I want you to see this passage. Look at 1 Peter 1, verses eight and following. 1 Peter 1, verses eight and following. Or excuse me, verse 10. 1 Peter 1, verse 10. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels desire to look. So you see that in verse 10. What does that tell us about like Ezekiel and Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah? What did they themselves look at and wonder about? Yeah, they read their own prophecies and wondered what for sure what all of it meant, like what the details meant, you know. You know, Micah says in Bethlehem, Ephrathah, out of you will come forth a ruler whose goings forth are from of old, from eternity. So he knew, okay, there's the Messiah's coming, gonna be born there or something. I mean, but they didn't know all the details that we know now. But they saw those prophecies, they saw their own books, and searched them. And we remember talking about that when I was in seminary. We talked about that at some length. They did understand the gospel, but they didn't know all the details of how everything was going to happen. So that's why we're blessed. We're really privileged to have it all in our New Testament, to be able to see it. Yes, ma'am? It seems that Jesus expected that they would understand a little more of it. A sign of rebuke is Nicodemus. but the Spirit did give grace and understanding to those who truly sought. I mean, obviously I know that it didn't happen the way we do, but the Lord did reveal a great deal to those. Yeah. Jesus even rebuked his own disciples. He didn't just rebuke the Pharisees, he rebuked them. And he says, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. You should have known this. You should have known. Yeah. Just saying. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we can be thankful. God never has to say that to us, thankfully. Okay, so remember that last line there, that's a big one. There are not two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations. So it's the same gospel administered in two different ways. Okay, let's move on to chapter eight of Christ the Mediator. It pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten son, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest, and king, the head and savior of his church. the heir of all things and judge of the world, unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. Okay, so after the chapter about covenants, you have Christ the mediator. He's gonna be the one who's the mediator of the new covenant, okay? And he's chosen to do this. He's the prophet, priest, and king. And what does that refer to? What does it mean that Jesus is our prophet? What does that mean? He declares God's plan for us in salvation. Yes, he declares the will of God for us for our salvation. He's our priest. What does that mean? In terms of he's the mediator, he goes with us in God and Father. Yes, he's the priest, but he's the priest forever, because he can never die again, and he's gonna be in the presence of God. Not in an earthly tabernacle or temple, but in the presence of God itself, so that he can actually be our priest. And he's the king, what does that mean? He's reigning right now. So the reign of Christ is not reserved for a future millennial kingdom. He's reigning right now. And he will reign from heaven until all of his enemies are made his footstool and he's accomplished his mission. Okay, that's a real important one. Yes, sir, go ahead. Can you explain the relationship between Christ's current office, prophet, priest, and king, especially the king aspect, and how the scripture directs us to pray to especially God the Father, not necessarily to Jesus, but, and help me understand. Certainly with those offices, you know, the Father, we pray to him, but still, Jesus has this kingship role, so how do we, Yeah, there's the line I believe it's in John 16 if you ask anything in my name And that's where like historically Christians have always closed their prayers how? In Jesus name amen because he specifically said that but then but you see examples of people Praying to Jesus directly like when Stephen was martyred He addresses Lord Jesus. He doesn't say, Father, in the name of Jesus, receive my spirit. So we can worship and pray and speak to each of the persons. But yeah, there's definitely, it's important to bear in mind, each one of them has a distinct role in the economy of redemption. The father did not become incarnate. The father is not the mediator between God and man, but because we have access to the whole trinity, we can address each of the three persons. John Owen has a, I think it's a 900-page book on how to commune with each person of the Trinity individually, which, yeah. And his main thing, as I understand, I've not read the whole 900-page book. I think that guy didn't do anything but right from morning to night. But basically just praising each of them for their distinct roles in our salvation, you know. praising the Father for choosing us, the Son for being our mediator and dying for us, the Holy Spirit for sealing that redemption to us and dwelling us and convicting us, sanctifying us. But yeah, that's a really good question. How do we direct our prayers right? I think Christians are not They're not as particular and careful about us as we might expect them to be, because they do speak directly to Jesus in their prayers, too. But we would never say, Jesus, in the name of the Father, I come to you, or something like that. But that's a very good question. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, and there's a sense in which I always think of myself as clothed in Christ's righteousness. That's why I have access to the Father. Even Owen, Owen says that in, I can't remember if it's in Communion with God or someplace else. But he says, there is within God an infinite ocean of love, but not one drop of it can reach us apart from the mediatorship of Christ. So he understood he has that unique role. And so I need to bear that in mind as I'm addressing God. All of my whole access to God is in Christ alone. And so that's an important one. But yeah, that's what he said. No one comes to the Father but through me. So yes. yes yeah and that could the veil that's tearing apart of the veil and the fact that we don't have priests on earth anymore and the tearing of the veil wait we're told in Hebrews we can go in there with boldness and confidence into the holiest of all in the Holy of Holies because we're clothed in the righteousness of Christ and Luther described every believer as their own priest before God. Not because we actually have a real earthly priesthood, but because we're in Christ, the one true priest, who is in the presence of God. And so we're seated in the heavenly places in Christ ourselves, it says in Ephesians and Colossians 3, it says that we're seated there ourselves because we're in him. Yes, Amanda. As important as it would be to address things correctly, we also have Our Lord is so gracious to tell us through the Holy Spirit that even our groanings, even when we don't know how to pray, the Spirit and the mediator who prays for us consistently prays on our behalf. So always we should try to do things properly that we can have. Yeah, right. Yeah, that's very, very good. Yes, sir. Our father, yeah. Yeah, he could have. Yeah. Yep. So yeah, it's hard to know. We should begin our prayers that way. But it's clear that not all Christians did that, though, even in the New Testament. But yes, Liz, did you have a question? Three years ago. It was an article. I cannot remember where I came across it. or maybe even if you're trying to lead a prayer, or if you're just trying to organize your own thoughts, like how do I use this time? I don't say efficiently, but how do you use this well? And the article was saying it goes to the verse about with thanksgiving and supplication, going before the Lord, and kind of to touch on what you were saying about Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes, yeah. Yeah, that's why I used to think, why would John Owen write such a huge book on something like that? Is he a bored theologian? But the thing is, when you do look at scripture, you do see, like you're saying, each of the distinct roles that the three persons pray, and that should saturate our prayers, thanking God, the Father for his role, the Son for his role, the Spirit for his role. And yeah, recognize there's one true God, but there are three distinct persons within the nature of the one true God. And so yeah, that should, as we grow in our understanding of scripture, that should characterize our prayers more too. So, yes. I'd just like to take a moment to officially nominate Sam to ask all our discussion questions. Yeah, I'm thinking, I'm gonna be really nervous for my pastoral prayer today, like, more than I've ever been. Like, I better get this right. But yeah, those are very good questions. Those are excellent questions. Okay, let's look at point number two there. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very an eternal God of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary of her substance so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. So there, this chapter being of Crite about Jesus, the mediator, here you have a statement of the incarnation. And it's very thorough and it takes into account the whole history of Christology and all the different councils and all the different groups that met over the centuries early on in church history. Does anyone know what council that phrase without conversion, composition, or confusion comes from? Chalcedon, that's right, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 because they were dealing with all the different Christological eras that mingled the two natures together. Why is it so important to keep the natures together but distinct from each other? Why is that essential? Why is it bad though? Why is it heretical? Why is it so serious if you get that wrong? I grew up in civilianism, monarchianism, totalistic monarchianism. Confused on this. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. It makes Jesus save us. Because he's either not like us, but he's not perfect, but he's not infinite. He can't take the full graphic ops of all the work. That's right. Yeah, if Jesus is not exactly like me, in terms of his humanity in every way except sin, obviously he's sinless, but he's got to be like us, exactly like us, a full human nature and a reasonable soul, just like we are. Because if he's not fully that, then he can't be our substitute. He can't be the mediator between God and man. He can't enter into that broken covenant of works. And if his humanity is divinized by the deity, then he's something other than what I am. And that's what the early church kept seeing. People keep making mistakes on this stuff, and that's why they published those creeds to clear up that confusion, to make it real clear. Yes, he's one person, but there are two fully intact, distinct natures. There's the divinity and the humanity. Because if he's less than fully God, he can't save me. If he's something other than fully man, he can't be my substitute. Okay, so that's really the key to everything there. And remember, we talked about that. How do we know he's fully man? What do you see in the gospels that tells you that? He got tired, okay. What else? He died, yeah. He wept, okay. He ate. He what? He was born, yeah. Laid in a major, yeah. He was actually in the womb of the Virgin Mary. I mean, there was a baby in there. It was a real baby, okay. So all that stuff, he got thirsty, remember on the cross, I'm thirsty, just like we get thirsty. Okay, he slept, remember he was asleep in the boat. But his anger was never capricious, it was always based on the truth of God. That's right. Okay, and we also know he's fully God, how do we see that in the New Testament? Fully God. He raised people from the dead. He raised people from the dead, okay. He did things that only God could do. Yeah, he commanded demons, and they all obeyed him. He what? He was perfect, morally sinless. Yep. Only God is good. He even said that. Why do you call me good? No one's good but God. In other words, it's an indirect way of saying, that's who I am. He made claims to be the I am. In the New Testament, it says that he's the creator of the universe. He holds the whole universe together, it says. So you see both fully intact. You never see them mingled together, but you see both natures fully intact. Yes, sir. Yes. Yep. Very good. Okay. Let's see what time is it? It's about time to knock off here. Any, any final comments or thoughts, questions? I appreciate you guys. It's good to have discussion. It's always a good thing. I appreciate your doing that. Let's go ahead and close in prayer, then. Father, we thank you for this day again. Thank you for the Sabbath, and we thank you for the rain and how you replenish the earth. Be with us, Lord, as we worship you now here in our service of worship this morning and this evening. and pray that in our hearts we would put aside the struggles and the hardships that we have and these prayer requests, the burdens that we have in our hearts, and just focus on loving and worshiping you in spirit and in truth as we engage your word and sing your praises. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.