If you'd turn in your confession tonight, back to chapter 7, and one more time, we will read the opening paragraph, which will be our business tonight. The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant." Now, brethren, we are told that if we are ever to understand how God reaches down to a depraved humanity, we must understand that God lowers himself. He condescends to do so. And he does this by expressing his sworn promises as covenants. So this is no academic topic. that is of interest only to ivory tower professionals and theologians. This is the very lifeblood of true religion. This is the very way that God remedies our broken relation with Him and lifts us out of the dunghill of depravity to reside on His holy hill. What could be of more interest to sinners than to understand these things? To understand what we call covenant theology, a term that causes us to shrink back and suppose it to be only for others. No, it's for us. It's our heritage. It is our Christian culture to be embraced. It's the heart and soul of what we profess to be. Now, a very brief summary of our lessons so far. Number one, as you will recall, God's covenants with man are but two, because God's understanding that man's moral condition has only and ever been in two possible states, a state of sinless perfection before the fall and a state of depravity after the fall. Therefore, there are only two covenants between God and man, an eternal covenant of works. And we underline the word eternal. That was an eye-opener for me to understand that the covenant of works lives on. It lives on in the form of the curse pronounced over Adam's head in the garden. An eternal covenant of works made with Adam, requiring the creature to provide a righteousness of his own, maintained by perfect obedience to the law. That's covenant number one. Covenant number two is an eternal covenant of grace, first revealed in Genesis 3.15, that promises the righteousness of another. to come and is wholly supported by the work of this promised mediator redeemer. That's our first bedrock truth to understand as we begin to understand covenant theology. The second is this. The covenant of grace, that second covenant, is progressively revealed in the holy scriptures with ever increasing clarity until its full substance is set before the world in history with the enfleshment, the advent of the God-man, Jesus Christ, nearly 2,000 years ago, or more than 2,000 years ago. With unchanging purpose through the ages, we find this progressively revealed new covenant, this covenant of grace, to be revealed in steps that become increasingly clear and with developing diversity of administration. One purpose, a multitude of administrations. A diversity that is introduced by actual historical covenants in the Old Testament. A diversity that clearly separates into two distinct parts. Those two distinct parts in the covenant of grace are the true substance and reality of the covenant, the true substance and reality of the redemption of sinners in Christ, and the other part is everything else that comes before, points to, leads up to, and frames the true reality. And those two divisions are so profound that our Scriptures are organized accordingly. We have the Scriptures of the Old Covenant and the Scriptures of the New Covenant. The Scriptures of the Old Covenant reveal, among other things, the covenant of works and progressively reveal the covenant of grace. The Old Testament Scriptures instruct the people of God in that administration of those historical covenants. It gives them instruction how to live in light of the historical covenant they're operating under. And it looks forward to the actual substance of the covenant of grace using types and shadows. And the new covenant scriptures perform the same basic function appropriate to the new covenant. They fully reveal the mediator of the new covenant. They instruct the people of God. as to the administration of the new covenant, and they look forward, not with types and shadows, but they look forward to what will be the final culmination of the covenant of grace, heaven and all its rewards. Now, our third principle, which is where we're going to spend our business tonight, is that these historical covenants of the Old Testament, illustrate God's saving purposes by example. We're going to look at three of them this evening. The first one very briefly, the second two in a little more detail. Three historical covenants revealed in the Old Testament. And our business tonight will be to gain some understanding how they model and typify the New Covenant. And what primarily are errors associated with that comparison? Covenant number one is the historical covenant with Noah, recorded in Genesis nine. Now, because time is short tonight, I'm not going to read the text that described these covenants. I will leave that to you. But we're all familiar with the historical account of a real man, Noah, in the midst of a real flood. and the promises given to that man and his family after the flood recorded in Genesis 9. Now there's not a lot of confusion in the minds of modern man in trying to sort out the comparisons between this doctrine and the covenant of grace simply because modern man chooses to regard this account as folly. He views it as a fairytale. So there's very little confusion involved. In mainstream religion today, looking at this covenant, this covenant with Noah involved the physical salvation of the race through favor given to Noah. It involved an arc of safety through which the world would be saved. It promised a stable, regular earth. Remember the promise of regular seed time, harvest, seasons? and that the world would no longer be destroyed by flood, but ever again. It promised an indispensable commodity to mankind, time, time in a stable environment, time to flourish, and time to repent. It describes in miniature. what God will do for the church in the end of the age. It is a very accurate model of the end of the world. And the New Testament gives us warrant to that comparison. The Savior was fond of saying they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. And he would say, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. It's one of the Savior's favorite descriptions of the judgment and one of the most sobering for our days. For if there was ever a generation that did not understand, ever a generation that seems rushing headlong to judgment and not even caring, it is this generation. It is the one in which we live. And if it fits the bill in Jesus' day, how much more in our day, where there is total oblivious thought, none at all, to the judgment that is coming, it will be as in the days of Noah, business as usual, until the floodwaters go over the head. And I suspect that even we ourselves don't understand it as we ought. But a day is coming when we will. And not only will we understand it, the whole world will understand. And for the vast sum of them, it will be far too late, just as in the days of Noah. Well, let's go on to where the real confusion lies. Those other covenants, primarily the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with Moses, that will be our business tonight. The historical covenant, first off, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This historical covenant, you can read about it in Genesis 15 and the chapters that follow, involved the departure of Abraham from pagan lands into the land of Canaan. It promised to exceedingly bless not only Abraham, but the entire world through Abraham's seed. And for the first time, it marked out a nation of people by a physical sign, the sign of circumcision. Now, we ought to note the confusion that lies with comparing this historical covenant with the covenant of grace. That'll be our model for preaching tonight, to consider the popular errors that spring out of putting these two covenants side by side, the historical covenant made with Abraham and the eternal covenant of grace that was designed for the elect of God and the church of God. In some ways, these covenants are remarkably alike. In other ways, they are startlingly different. And much confusion lies in their comparison. And our job tonight will be to look at some of the more flagrant errors and confusions that address this comparison. Here's number one. The common error that God's covenant with Abraham was a covenant that reconciled men to God, that made them, the covenant bearers, bona fide children of God. The Jews of Jesus' day thought of themselves as the children of God. That a blood tie to Abraham, particularly when accompanied by the sign of circumcision, joined them to God. All they needed to be regarded as the sons of God would be to present a birth certificate that could be traced back to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. And voila! They are sons of God by virtue of that blood tie. Well, the Son of Man corrected that false assumption many times. One of the most striking is recorded in Matthew chapter 3. Therefore, Jesus says to folks who are under the cloud of that assumption, therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance, he says, and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. The assumption is, what need do we have of repentance? What need do we have to be reconciled to God? We have Abraham as our father. Jesus warns them against such a saying, and then strikes them with this rebuke. For I say unto you, He said, God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And regarding circumcision, It's not the circumcision of the foreskin that God requires of man. The scriptures are very plain regarding this. Even in the Old Testament scriptures, we read that the requirement is in Deuteronomy 10 to circumcise the heart and stiffen your neck no longer. And in the brighter light of the New Testament, we read in Romans chapter two, for he is not a Jew. who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision one of the flesh outwardly, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. He is a true son of the Father of the faithful who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that which is of the heart. by the spirit, not by the letter. And his praise is not from men, but from God. What then is the proper comparison between these two covenants? It is to understand that a blood tie to Abraham guarantees the status, not of the perpetual kingdom, but of a temporal nation, an earthly kingdom, a promise of divine special attention paid to a nation, to Israel, a promise of prosperity and dominance among the nations, a place in the world as the jewel of nations among men in this present world. It is, as it were, a picture painted with nations to illustrate what God will do with the church in the covenant of grace. But with regard to the reconciliation with the Almighty, that's another matter. Jesus says, the Son of David says, that these circumcised sons of Abraham are as common as stones. Imagine hearing that as one of them. Well, there's a second error we should address. It is that God's covenant with Abraham was a covenant that guaranteed heaven. The Jews of Jesus' day thought themselves to be automatically selected for heaven. All they need do on the Judgment Day is present their pedigree to be able to certify that they descended in the bloodline through Isaac and Jacob. And having done so, heaven was a shoo-in. All they needed was their title. Again, the Son of Man powerfully refutes this empty hope. Luke 16. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. You ever wonder why Jesus chose Abraham's bosom as a metaphor for heaven? It was to ring into their understanding that their pedigree as Abraham's son would do them no good. And the rich man also died and was buried In Hades, and you can read there, in hell, he lifted up his eyes and being in torment, saw Father Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus. so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." This unnamed rich man was doubtless a descendant of Abraham. He was a covenant member of the historical covenant made with Abraham. And it is no accident that Jesus framed this story in such a way. It is to emphasize that a blood tie to Abraham is a counterfeit ticket to heaven. It will not be accepted. It is folly to suppose that because I have my mother's eyes and my father's nose, that I shall have my parents' grace. But none of you young Folks, be deceived. Let none of you be deceived. This is why Jesus demands you must be born again. Your first birth qualifies you for hell. No more. We mustn't assume, and especially you dear young people, must not assume that you need no repentance simply because father and mother believe in the God of the Bible. You must bring forth deeds in keeping with repentance. You must believe and embrace the God in Christ of father and mother. And in a way that as a father, I cannot imagine on that day when you appear before God's throne of judgment, father and mother can and will be unwilling to do you any good. And that is horrifying. Unless you bring forth deeds in keeping with repentance, unless you become members of the new covenant, your blood tie will do you no good. No good at all. Do not be like this wicked man in Jesus' story. fretting over religion from hell. Fret over it today. Fret over it tonight. But not from hell. For it will do you no good. What then is the proper comparison to make Between Abraham's covenant and the covenant of grace, it is to understand that the blood tie with Abraham guaranteed Canaan, not heaven. The blood tie with Abraham promised the people of that covenant to enter into a land of milk and honey in this present world. It is, as earlier, A picture painted with nations to illustrate what God will do with the church in the eternal covenant of grace. That's all it is. Well, there's a third error. This is what we like to do, round up errors and back. This is the third. God's covenant with Abraham was a covenant that sanctified the covenant members. A popular error in Jesus's day. That their covenant with Abraham sanctified them. The Jews of Jesus's day supposed themselves to be especially holy. because of their blood tie with Abraham, and that all other men were hopelessly ignorant and wicked, slaves of sin. And particularly, they, and no others, were the special stewards of God's Word. Now, there is an exchange in John's Gospel in chapter 8, a particularly heated exchange, between the Lord Jesus and men who were under this very assumption. Turn in your Bibles to verse 33 of John 8 and follow along with me. I don't usually read long passages from the scripture, but this is an exception. John 8, 33. They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free?" Jesus answered them, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.'" Remember, they're thinking that the covenant sanctified them. "'The slave does not remain in the house forever. The Son does remain forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know, says Jesus, that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me because My Word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen from My Father, Therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." Now that sets the stage for Jesus' words to follow. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, You are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to him, now I don't know, but I suspect this is very well an insult to the Lord Jesus regarding the circumstances of his natural birth and what they supposed, how they supposed that came to be, I don't know. But they said to Him, we were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God. Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear My Word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. There it is, the full shotgun blast into their faces. Far from being sanctified, These sons of Abraham were clearly still tied irreparably to the sins of their father Adam. They were still dead in trespasses and sins. They were still the enemies of truth, the children, Jesus says, of Satan himself. Their extraordinary privilege left them enslaved and ignorant. willfully blind, hardened enemies of truth. And you know what the astonishing thing is? The astonishing thing is that they viewed themselves to be exactly the opposite. They viewed themselves to be righteous. They viewed themselves as sanctified men. They viewed themselves as stewards of truth. Brethren, let none of us be so confused over our moral condition. Let none of us privileged men and women be likewise deceived. The temporal blessings of stewardship of the Word, having it preached into our ears on a regular basis, having the extraordinary privilege of reading it in our native tongues, free from persecution, if those temporal blessings are not improved upon, they leave us no better than other men. Indeed, if they are not improved upon, they make us worse than other men. They make us under a cloud of deception where we think we are righteous. And all the while, we are most unrighteous. The blood tie with Abraham did not promise the power of the means of grace. It only promised exposure to the means of grace. And that is all the child of Abraham could look forward to, was being exposed to the oracles of God, as Paul writes in Romans 2. All the advantages of the system of worship that God initiated to be a picture of the true religion. All these advantages made them worse because they hardened their hearts. Regarding this covenant with Abraham, there are benefits of comparing the two. as long as we are very careful to avoid these kinds of errors of comparison. We must never be confused that the partakers of the historical covenant with Abraham are the very same people as those who are partakers of the eternal covenant of grace. That the chosen people of Israel are one and the same as the chosen elect of God. When we fall into that error, we are most confused. The comparisons are valid, yes, if we're careful with them. But if we must avoid these errors, we can save ourselves much dispensational confusion if we properly understand. Oh, yes, there were saints in the Old Covenant, to be sure. Amongst the covenant members of Abraham's covenant, there were saints, truly elect people of God, a goodly number of them. And it is also true that there were almost none among the heathen. That is also true. But it is certainly not true that every single member of the covenant with Abraham was also the elect of God. The Scripture regarding that point is Patently obvious. We read in Romans 9, it is not as though the Word of God has failed, Paul says. That the Word of God failed because it apparently is unable to bring every single Israelite into the covenant of grace. It's not the Word of God has failed. Here's the key. For not all Israel is Israel. And that seemingly circular sentence means, that not all of the covenant members with Abraham who are marked out with circumcision are members of the eternal covenant of grace, the elect of God. But through Isaac your descendants will be named, that is, not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of promise are regarded as descendants. And if we see that clearly, brethren, we should be able to avoid the errors of paedobaptism amongst our paedobaptistic brethren. A false connection made between Old Testament covenant members and New Testament covenant members. A conclusion that says if infants were circumcised in the Abrahamic covenant then infants ought be baptized in the covenant of grace, in the new covenant. Now, there'll be more treatment of this in chapter 28 if we live long enough. But suffice it to say now that that connection is a false connection because, at least for two reasons. The first is, circumcision of the foreskin is not the model for baptism. The model for baptism is the death, burial, and resurrection of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Circumcision of the foreskin is the model for circumcision of the heart. Old and New Testament make that plain, in spite of the fact that Calvin calls us madmen for embracing such a position. But even if that connection were allowed to our Presbyterian brethren, even if we will bow our heads and say we stipulate that that connection will be allowed for you to connect infant circumcision with infant baptism, even if that were so, we are only willing to baptize those who are born again. Because the first birth qualifies us for nothing more than hell. It is the second birth that fits us for the church and fits us for heaven. And if we're going to baptize infants, They must be infants in Christ Jesus, not infants in their mommies and daddies. Well, let's move on to the second covenant that we're going to consider tonight and the only other one, the historical covenant with Moses. The historical covenant with Moses. This covenant promised the temporal salvation of a nation out of slavery in Egypt and its final deliverance into the land of promise, a land of milk and honey. Also, the covenant with Moses codified or put in written form the moral law as a summary statement of God's righteous character. Also, covenant with Moses, because this is a progressively revealed covenant is much more complicated and full of truth than the Abrahamic covenant. We ought to expect more things. It also institutes a systematic religion that is brimming, brimming with examples and types of the Christ to come. And it also provides a wonderful framework for prophets to look ahead to the real thing. Now, what are some of the common errors associated when we seek to compare the covenant made with Moses and the covenant made with God's elect? Well, here's the first one. Keeping the letter of the law of Moses would make a man acceptable to God. Keeping the letter of the law of Moses would make a man acceptable to God. Listen to the boasting of this one particular law keeper recorded in Luke 18. Oh God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men. swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all I get. viewed himself as a strict follower of Moses. Not only did he revere the commandment, he viewed himself as a doer and not a mere hearer of Moses' commandment, and that he, among men, was a wonderful example of the kind of righteousness that following Moses would produce in a man. Jesus's conclusion about his justification would no doubt astonish him. And the Gospels are brimming with examples of meticulous law keepers who made a science out of rules and regulations for observance, who conveniently supplanted hard work with a checklist who cleaned the outside of the cup only, and as Jesus said, were like whitened sepulchers full of dead men's bones. Now, as we understand it, and I'm sure as Moses understood it, the timeless, eternal, moral law handed down through Moses was never given as a means of obtaining acceptance with God. It was provided to set a righteous standard. What's the connection? We must never think that there was ever an Old Testament saint who was ever saved by the keeping of the law of Moses. The testimony of the scriptures is plain. Paul argues in the beginning of the letter to the Romans that the Jewish nation had temporal advantages which were extraordinary. And he asks the question in Romans 3 verse 9, what then, are we better than they? And the answer, no, not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written. There is none righteous, not even one. And what folly it is to suppose that any person, whether he lives in Old Testament times or new, could follow some rule and be saved. What then is the proper comparison? Why was the law written on stone tablets? Certainly to reveal it, that's the primary application, that the writing of the moral law on stone tablets symbolized what God would one day do in the heart of every churchman, write that same law on the tablets of their hearts. that the law-keeping would be inward and not outward only. If the law is kept inwardly, the outward law-keeping will take care of itself. But if it's kept outwardly only, that's the hypocritical leaven of the Pharisees that Jesus condemns. There's a second error, and we'll only look at two tonight regarding Moses' covenant. The error that says that observing the rituals of Judaism would cleanse a man from his sins. Observing the rituals of Judaism would cleanse a man from his sins. Now, if there is a forgivable error, perhaps this would be at the top of the list. Because as we casually read our Old Testament, if all we were to do was to blast through reading the Old Testament without careful thought and analysis, we might come to the conclusion that those who worshipped in the tabernacle and in the temple were having their sins forgiven solely on the basis of the religious rituals that they exercised in the tabernacle and in the temple. This was the assumption of the Jews of Jesus' day. And there are many today who suppose that even the Old Testament saints, and by that I mean an Old Testament true believer, someone like David, or Joshua, or Caleb, or Moses, that those Old Testament saints were actually saved by what they did in the tabernacle. There is a vast section of so-called Christianity today that actually believes that. That they were saved in a different manner than we are in the New Covenant. And that is why you'll find statements later on in our very own chapter that spell this out clearly, under the illusion that by keeping the laws of Moses and observing the rituals of Moses, that a man could be saved. You know, that's exactly the topic of the letter conceived in Acts chapter 15, written to the churches, that they did not have to follow the prescriptions of Moses to be saved. Now, that notion could not be more wrong. Why is it wrong to think that the actions in the tabernacle and in the temple were not effective in themselves to produce salvation? Well, the primary reason is these things are infinitely cheap compared with the blood of the Savior. What a crime! to crush the Son of God if men were being saved quite readily with the status quo. What a waste! What an awful crime against the Son for the Father to do. Why introduce a Savior at all if men could be saved any other way? Especially a way that's established in practice. Well, the book of Hebrews goes to town over this error. It spells out a lot of powerful text to refute this. Hebrews 9, accordingly, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings and regulations for the body, imposed until a time of reformation, But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood. He entered the holy place once for all and obtained eternal redemption. That's one reason why that cannot be, because the blood of goats, the rituals of the temple, are incredibly cheap compared with the blood of Christ. But it also cannot be more wrong, because it is logically false. Ask yourself, how can totally depraved men even approximate true law-keeping? How could that be? How could it be that the horrible effects of the fall are reduced by a ritual? You're kidding yourself. How could the blood of a bull be of any value to the Almighty? For the law since it was only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very form of them, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have a consciousness of sin. Now, here's the real reason why they were established. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. Do you ever wonder why such errors were rampant in Christ's day? And why the children of those errors are rampant in our day? It is because depraved men will always rather partake in a checklist and a ritual than in doing the real hard work of true religion. The thinking that perpetuated the religion of the Pharisees is the same thinking that perpetuates man-made religion in our day. The issues are the same. The thinking that embraces checklists and rituals It's the thinking that makes men and women, boys and girls, content with an outward show of religion, an outward orthodoxy, while being inwardly unsanctified. If we're trusting, brethren, in a regular Sunday ritual, if we are content with an outward observable righteousness, a checklist of do this and don't do that, What better are we than Pharisees? How worthless is that religion? It's as worthless as the blood of a bull or a goat. It's not how you appear before men. Young people, it's not about how submissively and patiently you sit here tonight. It's not about your behavior. It's not about some ritual you may perform. It's about what you are in here, in your heart, what you are inside. And the heart is the exclusive theater. of the new covenant. That's its workbench. That's where it impacts you and affects you, not in your outward behavior alone. If the new covenant gets hold of your heart, your outward behavior will follow. And if all we see is the outward behavior and there's nothing real on the inside, it's only a matter of time before you go down the drain of life. Wreck yourself. We must not be content with the kind of notion that would suppose that ritual and regulations will make me okay on the day of judgment. Now, clearly, These historical covenants have a purpose. They have a purpose to prefigure the actual reality of the new covenant. That's why they're called old, because they expire when the reality comes upon the scenes. Hebrews 8.8. The old covenant administration of the covenant of grace is a picture. Before computers came along, and automotive engineers wanted to design a new vehicle, the first thing they would do would be to take a massive block of clay and spend weeks fashioning a clay model of the concept that's in their minds. And as they thought about it and viewed their model, it would be shaped and honed to the point where you would swear if you saw it, that's a real car. Its purpose is to communicate the thinking of the designer so that the designer can reveal his thoughts to others in a way they can grasp. If he simply used words, it would be ineffectual. And he's something they can see and feel because they're rational human beings. And the clay model, is most useful until the car is built. And the clay model is just a lump of clay. Imagine how upset you would be if you bought that new car and what showed up was a lump of clay. And you wanted to drive it around town and show its beauty. What a laughingstock you would be. No, the real value, the real beauty is in the reality of the vehicle. So it is. So it is. But the old historical covenants, they're lumps of clay. And if you're born in the time where that's all there is, they're indispensable. It would be wicked to ignore them. But now that the reality of the Redeemer is at hand, it's here, it's hindsight, it's history. He's the only thing that will do. The lump of clay is only useful to study the original thoughts of the designer, not to drive around town. Before the Messiah, The old covenant, its ceremonies, its ordinances, its circumcision, these things prescribed by God himself with Moses and the mediator were indispensable. But with the Messiah, all these things dim into the background. John the Baptist, who was the last of the Old Testament prophets, said it best, he must increase. but I must decrease." Jesus likened the new covenant, the kingdom of heaven, to a vast treasure hidden in a common field, or a pearl of incalculable value discovered in the ordinary transactions of business. He never encouraged us to consider our family lines. He never encouraged us to have a checklist of outward behavior. He never encouraged us to subscribe to some ritual religion. But He did encourage us to embrace Himself, to put your weight of trust and hope in Him He is the new covenant. His blood is the gold in the bank of the new covenant. That's the one thing you need to take away from a study of covenant theology. All the errors and thoughts that orbit our heads, There's only one thing important. Christ Jesus, His blood is the blood of the New Covenant. And it will do you absolutely no good whatsoever unless you embrace Him with your hearts. And all the conduct, all the practice of religion will follow on its own. When He had taken up a cup and given thanks, the Bible says, He gave it to them. Drink from it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Does that appeal to you? Let's speak to your conscience of your need. Christ Jesus implores us to embrace and trust in himself. If you're wise, you will settle that right here, right now. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for condescending to reach guilty and depraved sinners. Thank you for sending your Son into the world's sinners to save. Thank you for the rich heritage and history of all of your faithful promise-keeping throughout the ages. It gives us solid hope that You will keep Your promise to us in the New Covenant. Father, increase our flagging faith. Make us live this week as sanctified men and women of the New Covenant. Help us to live this week as those who are sanctified by Your truth and trusting in Your promises. Father, who knows? Who knows that this time next week, we may very well be at your footstool. Make us faithful. Even as Walter Beebe was faithful, make us so. We thank you for these excellent divine promises. In Jesus' name, amen.