It's wonderful to see everyone tonight. I just want to sort of forewarn you this is going to be a little bit more of like a Bible study or even a theological study, more than a straight exegetical review of Malachi, but I would invite you to turn with me to Malachi chapter 3, verses 1 to 7. I'm also going to do something that I don't usually do. I'm going to quote quite a bit from some different theological sources. as we're going to look tonight from Malachi 3.1 at the messenger of the covenant, the messenger of the covenant. I want to spend some time tonight talking to you about something that is called covenant theology. Covenant theology. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1. I'm actually going to read in just a moment from verses 1 down to 7. Let me just also begin by recommending a couple of books to you. This one is Covenant Theology from Adam to Christ, written by Nehemiah Cox, and there's also a commentary in here from Hebrews 8 by John Owen. Nehemiah Cox is the son, I believe, of one of the authors of the 1689 London Baptist Confession. I highly recommend this book as far as touching on what we're going to be talking about tonight. And a second book, which is a more recent book, is called The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology, and that's by Pascal Denault, D-E-N-A-U-L-T. If you're interested in looking at those, you can come view those following our time of study this evening. But I think they are well worth reading. Again, we're turning now back to our study on the Old Testament book of Malachi after we've had a brief break last week as we looked at the birth of Jesus Christ, both from Matthew and Luke. We've been making good progress through Malachi. We're already beginning chapter 3, but we've slowed down here just a little bit in order to explore more thoroughly some very important truths that the Lord was revealing through Malachi regarding the coming of Messiah and his forerunner, whom we know as John the Baptist. Because of the revelation now that we have today in Jesus Christ, a revelation that was not still yet fully unveiled at the time of Malachi, we are now able in our day to see a richness and a fullness both of meaning and content in all that the Lord was revealing through Malachi regarding Messiah, in a way far better than Malachi could have ever even imagined. And so I don't want us to miss some very important implications, some very significant truths of what Malachi is seeming here only to hint at, truths not only important, but most importantly, critical for our understanding of the Bible, for our understanding of the person and work of Messiah. And so let's read verses 1 to 7 of Malachi 3, but we're really going to be branching off from verse 1 tonight. First of all, the Lord speaks of Messiah's forerunner at the beginning of verse 1, just a brief but significant statement of the one whom we know as John, John the Baptist. Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me." We spend a whole sermon looking at the forerunner of Messiah. But then the Lord speaks of his own arrival and incarnational mission. He talks about when he will come to dwell among his people. When he says of himself in the next statement, and the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple. And we devoted another entire sermon to looking at what it means for God to dwell among his people. How the tabernacle and the temple are mere shadows and images of the fullness of God's dwelling and habitation among his people." But then we read this very critical statement, a statement which we might miss because it is so brief, but a statement nevertheless whose meaning is of the deepest theological and biblical importance. The Lord says here in verse 1, the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Now, the significance of that statement may not be apparent at first glance, but my prayer is, by the end of our time together tonight, the significance of that statement will take on a richness of meaning far beyond what we might have ever imagined. We're going to focus on this messenger of the covenant. We're going to look at who that is, and we're going to look at the doctrine of the covenants of Scripture themselves. But just to get the full context, let's continue reading from verse 2 down to verse 7, talking about Messiah. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. And he will sit as a smelter and a purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. And then the Lord, excuse me, then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, as in former years. And then I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner and his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien. And do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts, for I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes. and have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? Well, let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his favor and blessing on our time of study tonight. Heavenly Father, as we come to explore this brief phrase regarding the messenger of the covenant, as we seek to traverse and range about the full context of scripture and looking at the covenants in your word, help us to understand how you have indeed structured redemptive history according to your covenantal purpose. For many of us, we've heard the word covenant many times. We may even be familiar with covenant theology. It may be very foreign to us. And so I pray, Lord, that through our study tonight, both theologically and also biblically, that the significance of the covenants of your word would take on a new and a deeper and a richer meaning as we seek to understand your purpose for covenant in the word and what this means when Malachi tells us that the messenger of the covenant is coming. And we do ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now again, let me just say up front, this is going to be a little bit of a different study. It's going to be largely theological. During parts of our study tonight, I'm going to be spending more time quoting from theologians than immediately from the Word of God. But it's all going to work toward the end to several passages I want to show you at the end of our time together tonight. And I hope what we're going to talk about will become increasingly clear. Now again, for our study tonight, I want to draw your attention to the last half of Malachi chapter 3 verse 1, where we read this phrase, and the messenger of the covenant. in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." And in particular, I want to zero in on this phrase, the messenger of the covenant, because there is much more here than meets the eye. This is but one point of contact, one marker in one of the most significant theological themes running throughout the entire Bible, and that is this principle of covenant. and the significance of Jesus coming to dwell among his people, to tabernacle among his people, to establish his eternal throne in the new heavens and the new earth, where literally we look and through John's revelation we see that There is no temple, there is no stone temple, but what he sees is Christ and he identifies Jesus Christ as being the temple and we are the pillars in his temple and he will tabernacle amongst us and he will cast his tent over us. This is the language used in scripture to describe the Lord coming to dwell among his people. and the one who is coming to dwell among his people is the same one who is the messenger or the instigator or the initiator of the covenant. And I think the significance of what Malachi is saying here when he speaks of the coming of the messenger of the covenant can only become clearer and more profound in our understanding if we will take the time tonight to explore this principle of covenant in Scripture. and how it directly is related to what the Lord is here revealing through Malachi. Now, there really is so much that we could say on this subject that time simply will not permit anything other than a cursory introduction on the subject of covenant. But let me just begin by saying this, that covenant is the framework by which and in which God has chosen in the Bible and in redemptive history to relate to all people down throughout history. Everything God has done, is doing, and will yet do on into eternity future in relationship to his creatures is all by covenant. the concept, and the idea of covenant is foundational for a proper understanding, not only of the structure of the Bible, but in all that God is doing in redemptive history. Now, the word itself, the word covenant, is a very familiar term in the Bible. It appears some 316 times in Scripture and over 295 verses. Covenant, for example, is mentioned 26 times in Genesis, 13 times in Exodus, 10 times in Leviticus, 5 times in Numbers, 27 times in Deuteronomy, 22 times in Joshua, 4 times in Judges, 16 times in 1 and 2 Samuel, 25 times in 1 and 2 Kings, 30 times in 1 and 2 Chronicles. It is mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, Job, 23 times in the Psalms, It's mentioned in Proverbs, 12 times in Isaiah, 24 times in Jeremiah, 17 times in Ezekiel, 7 in Daniel, 4 in Hosea, it's mentioned in Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Revelation, and 21 times in the book of Hebrews alone. So shame on preachers for not letting you know about this. This is a critical theological theme running throughout the Word of God. And even when the word covenant is not used specifically in the Bible, in speaking of God's dealings with man, the components and the principles which comprise a covenant are found generously distributed throughout the entire Bible. God deals with mankind throughout history, throughout scripture, by way of covenant. And the theology, or the doctrine, which recognizes that God has dealt with man according to covenant, and by way of covenant, is called covenant theology. And since the 1600s, Baptists were defined by a very careful, very biblically defined covenant theology, which I believe is the most accurate reflection of the system of covenants found in the Bible. Now let me give you a brief definition of what a covenant is, and there's a lot of different ways we could describe a covenant. What is that definition, by the way, that we looked at earlier, Anthony? It's even briefer than what I'm going to give you. What now? A bond in blood, sovereignly administered, okay? Or a bond in death, sovereignly administered. In other words, God agrees to enter into a bond. It is a covenant that He establishes, that He seals by death and by sovereignty. Let me give you a couple of other descriptions or definitions of covenant as it is found in the Bible. Not only so that you might understand what this idea and principle of covenant actually is, but so that you might also recognize the presence of a covenant whenever you encounter it in the Bible, even when the word covenant is not specifically mentioned, just as you would perhaps recognize the doctrine of the Trinity within the biblical text, even though the word Trinity itself is not even used in the Bible. Now there are various kinds of covenant found in the Word of God with various stipulations or conditions or requirements given by God to men for different reasons and at different times in redemptive history so that no one definition of covenant can perfectly fit every covenant. But let me basically give you an overall description or definition of covenant. A covenant is God's sovereignly determining to enter into some kind of relationship with a particular people for a particular reason, accompanied by particular stipulations or requirements. Basically, these are the terms of relationship sovereignly imposed by God for a particular reason, often accompanied by either promises of blessings or warnings of judgment. The word covenant in English comes from the Latin word convenire and the word itself, those two words in Latin, literally refers to two parties coming together or being bound together in agreement. The Hebrew word for covenant, berit, refers to an agreement or an alliance and was often accompanied by some kind of sign or sacrifice. In fact, the word berit literally refers to the cutting of an animal. So it was often related to death or the shedding of blood as a sign or a seal of the covenant. So basically it is God determining to enter into relationship with someone and God establishing the terms of that relationship, promising blessing or warning of judgment. Basically we could describe the covenant as the terms of relationship imposed by a sovereign God. And we see these all throughout the Bible, although the various components of the different covenants really might differ from one another. But this is the basic framework or structure around which God has built his plan of redemption. We see covenant from eternity past into eternity future. We find covenant all throughout the Bible. This is how God establishes relationships with men. This is how God determines the terms of his relationships with men. And there are basically two kinds of covenants in the Bible. There are covenants of works and covenants of grace, or a covenant of grace. Let me quote from one pastor, Samuel Renahan. He says this, quote, God commits himself to mankind and he determines what the nature of that commitment or that relationship will be by saying, I promise you this and you must give something in order to earn that. That would be a covenant of what? Works. Or God might give a covenant by saying, I promise this and you must receive it. That would be grace, the covenant of grace, which basically gives us more or less two basic kinds of covenants, two basic kinds of commitments in God's relationship to men. one based on works where a reward has to be earned, one based on grace where the reward is simply given and needs to be received. Now let me say up front that covenants of works are not given to men by which they might earn salvation. Just so you have that in the back of your mind. So for example though, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were functioning within a covenant of what? Think about it. Works, right? Tend the garden, be fruitful, multiply, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you'll live. If you don't, you'll what? Die. That's pure works. That's not grace. However, in the gospel, that's pure grace, right? Let's consider for a moment some of the main covenants in the Bible. Now, as one studies the various covenants of the Bible, that framework and the proper relationship between these various covenants begins to appear. And they are all of them, all of the covenants, ultimately related either to the salvation or to the judgment of men. But the great overarching theme of covenant in the Bible is ultimately that of redemption. In other words, the great overarching movement of the covenants in the Bible is toward the redemption of a people. And so all of the covenants in some way are working toward that goal, toward the end of redeeming a people for God's glory. And as one studies the covenants of the Bible, all of the covenants seem to be structured around three major covenants, covenants which theologians have given a very specific name to. Let me describe these three main covenants to you. There's the covenant of redemption, there's the covenant of works, and there's the covenant of grace. And all of the other covenants are subsumed in some way under these three main covenants. First of all, there is the Covenant of Redemption. Even though the Bible doesn't use the phrase Covenant of Redemption, its presence in the Word of God is abundantly obvious. Let me describe what this is. It's a little bit like the Doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible never says Trinity, but the principles and the doctrine that create or result in the Doctrine of the Trinity are abundantly clear in the Word of God, and so too is what theologians call the Covenant of Redemption. Here's what this is. The covenant of redemption is basically the inter-trinitarian eternal covenant or agreement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to redeem a fallen people. through the saving work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, in love, sends the Son to die in order to redeem a people. The Son takes upon Himself human flesh. He lives an obedient life. He shows us the Father. He reveals the Father's will. He dies a substitutionary death. He is raised again and ever lives to make intercession for us. He does all of this to redeem a people. The Spirit likewise empowered the work of the Son and applies the work of the Son to each believing person throughout history in order to bring them unto redemption. And what we have to realize is that God is not making this all up as He goes along. Clearly, God has an eternal plan. Clearly, there is a covenant agreement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from all eternity, a covenant to save a people and to bring them into eternal fellowship with Himself according to His will, His purpose, and His predestined plan. And we see the fact of that covenant revealed all throughout Scripture. Anytime you see a mention of God's promise through the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to save a people, this is a reference to this eternal decree or covenant made between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But let me just draw your attention to one particular text that I think very clearly indicates the reality of this eternal purpose. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 starting in verse 3, Ephesians 1, starting in verse 3. Here the Apostle Paul is speaking of our redemption and I want us to note how he ties our redemption, our salvation, to the eternal will, intention, and purpose of God from all eternity. This is the design of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And then here it is, when did God plan to do this? Look at verse 4. Just as He chose us in Him, from when? before the foundation of the world. This was God's choice. This is what He chose. Not only whom He would save, but that we, whom He saved, would be holy and blameless before Him. in love he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will and so there is this eternal predestining will the purpose of God from all eternity and the goal verse 6 is to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight he made known to us the mystery of his will. according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him." You see all of this will language on the part of God. He is choosing, He is predestining, He is willing. This is His intention, this is His purpose. With a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been a predestined according to his what? Purpose. Who works all things according to the counsel of his will. So all of this is taking place because God is working out His counsel, verse 12, to the end. Here's the goal of this eternal counsel, that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. So this is a redemptive, eternal covenant or decree or purpose. God has determined from all eternity to save a people. This is what theologians refer to as the Covenant of Redemption. And so there are so many scriptures we could look at, but basically again anything that indicates that this is God's eternal plan unfolding in history bears testimony to the reality of this eternal agreement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to redeem a people. Again, that's the Covenant of Redemption. Next we have in Scripture the Covenant of Works. And even though this is not called the Covenant of Works, we again see the presence in the garden with Adam and Eve of God establishing with them that they could live and remain in the garden so long as they obeyed, but if they disobeyed they would die and they would be kicked out of the garden. And so the Covenant of Works then establishes for us in real human history the need for redemption, right? Because Adam and Eve did what? They violated that covenant of works. And so if you have the eternal plan, the covenant of God, to redeem from eternity past, the covenant of works which Adam and Eve broke set up the need for redemption. This was the covenant, of course, which God made with Adam and Eve in the garden. And Adam was God's chosen representative, the head of the entire race. This is why sometimes Adam is called the federal head of the human race. He is our representative. And God gave to Adam and Eve a covenant. He told them in Genesis 1 to be fruitful, to multiply, fill the earth, to subdue it, to rule over the creation. God gave to them every plant yielding seed on the surface of the earth, and so on. And then He gave this requirement, this stipulation, in Genesis chapter 2 and verses 16 and 17. Remember how we said covenant involves blessing and or cursing? And what was the blessing? If you obey me and you don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will what? Live. And if you disobey me, what is the cursing? What is the judgment? Well, the Lord says, from any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. This is a covenant of pure works, is it not? Obedience results in life. Disobedience, you die. And Adam is the federal head of the entire human race. It means that what he did in the garden was representative of what we would all do. God chose a perfect representative on our behalf in the garden. And so, the Bible tells us, in Adam we have all sinned. We have all, from Adam, received a sin nature and we will all die. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15.22, if you're taking notes, for as in Adam, all die. So there is the eternal covenant of redemption between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that inter-trinitarian covenant to redeem a people in history. Then the covenant of works in the garden sets up the need for redemption. But then finally, the third of the major covenants, under which all the other covenants are basically subsumed or pointing to, is the covenant of grace. This is the actual covenant which redeems. So you have the plan of redemption, the covenant of redemption, you have the plan to redeem, you have the need to redeem, and you have the actual redemption itself. The covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, and now what we call the covenant of grace, and now a term which will be probably much more familiar to you, the new covenant. The New Covenant. This is the third great covenant in the Bible. It's what, again, theologians call either the Covenant of Grace, which is basically synonymous with the New Covenant. The New Covenant, or the Covenant of Grace, was the fulfilling in history of the eternal covenant of redemption. In other words, God's saving work through Jesus Christ in real time and space is the carrying out of that eternal plan to save. And whereas the eternal covenant of redemption was the eternal covenant between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to redeem a people, the covenant of grace, or the new covenant, is the actual accomplishing and applying of that eternal covenant through the work of Christ in history, through His blood, in the actual saving of God's people in time and space. Now this covenant This covenant of grace, or the new covenant, was promised and foreshadowed in the Old Testament throughout the Old Testament. But it was not until the actual shedding of Christ's blood that this new covenant was formalized, realized, and sealed. This new covenant was verbally, first of all, confirmed by Jesus himself in Luke 22, 20 during the Last Supper when he announces to his disciples during the Last Supper, quote, this cup which is poured out for you is the what? Is the new covenant in my blood. And it was sealed on the cross by the blood of Christ. It was formalized. It was brought to pass. as the author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus and his work in Hebrews 12 24 he said this quote and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkling of blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel the blood of Jesus Christ sealed and secured and finalized that new covenant the covenant of grace so we have the eternal covenant of redemption, the inter-trinitarian agreement between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to redeem a people. We have the covenant of works in the garden wherein Adam and Eve fell, and there resulted the need for redemption. Then we have the new covenant, or the covenant of grace, wherein the Lord secured, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, actual redemption for his people. Now, these are not the only covenants in the Bible. And again, the word covenant isn't always used, but the principles that make up a covenant are present in these other covenants. Real quickly, what are some of the other major covenants in the Bible? What are they? What are they there for? Well, first of all, let me just mention a few of them for you. There is, for example, the Noahic Covenant. That's the covenant that God made with Noah and his sons after the flood. You can read that in Genesis 9, verses 1 to 17. If you want to focus on that in a study time, maybe write that down in your notes. Genesis 9, 1 to 17. God sets down terms for life and for relationship following the flood. But in particular, I want to draw your attention to the next four covenants. Which four covenants, and this is critical, the next four covenants that we all find in the Old Testament, the next four covenants are designed to prepare a nation through whom God would send Messiah. The next four covenants prepare the nation of Israel through whom God would send a Savior. There is first of all the covenant with Abraham. This is the Abrahamic covenant which is revealed in stages to Abraham himself. We see this first of all in Genesis chapter 12 where God says to Abraham that through him, in him, one of his descendants would be the seed, singular, through whom the nations of the earth would be blessed. And we learn in the New Testament that this seed, this descendant of Abraham, through whom the nations would be blessed, is Jesus Christ himself. So the Abrahamic Covenant establishes a people through whom Messiah would come. And then there is the Mosaic Covenant, sometimes known as the Sinaitic Covenant from the word Sinai, because God gave the law through Moses at Mount Sinai to the people of Israel, and sometimes it is referred to as the Old Covenant. To show how important this is, folks, your Bible is divided this way. Old Testament, New Testament. That's the idea. Old Covenant, New Covenant. And so God gives to the people of Israel through Moses at Sinai this mosaic covenant, this covenant at Sinai, this old covenant. And again, if you're doing a little bit of study, you can see the old covenant in Exodus 19 and 20, Deuteronomy 28. Leviticus 26, particularly I would draw your attention to Deuteronomy 28, where God talks to the people of Israel before they enter the land. And basically he says this, if you are faithful and you continue, I will bless you in the land and you will continue in the land. If you are disobedient to me and you violate my command and you go after foreign gods, I will discipline you, I will judge you, and I will remove you from the land. that's Deuteronomy 28, and that's restated in not the exact same terms in Leviticus 26. Then there is the Aaronic Covenant, A-A-R-O-N-I-C, which God made with Aaron and the sons of Levi in order to establish a priesthood before the Lord. We see that in Exodus 29 verses 44 to 46. then there is the Davidic Covenant where God promised to set a king upon David's throne forever. You can read of this in 2 Samuel 7. Feel free to see me afterward if you want to get any of these references again, but let me just re-mention them to you, okay? The Noahic Covenant, Genesis 9, 1-17. The Abrahamic Covenant, Genesis 12. You can see it, I think it's in Chapter 17 and elsewhere. It's repeated several times and expanded as God continues to reveal His covenant to Abraham. There is the covenant God makes with the people of Israel through Moses at Sinai, the Old Testament or the Old Covenant, Exodus 19, 20, Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26, and other passages. There's the covenant that God makes with the sons of Levi, Exodus 29 verses 44 to 46, and then the covenant that God makes with David that he would establish on David's throne a king who would rule forever, that's 2 Samuel 7. But each of these covenants played a critical role in preparing a nation through whom would come the Messiah in the fullness of time, in order to bring grace and salvation and redemption. And so in the Abrahamic covenant, a people and a land were promised. In the Mosaic covenant, a law was given to this people. In the Aaronic covenant, a priesthood was given to this people. In the Davidic covenant, an eternal throne was prepared for the king. And so you have, in preparation for Messiah, a people, a land, a law, a priesthood, and a king. All of this foreshadowing and preparing for the arrival of the work of Messiah and for the arrival of the future covenant of grace or the New Covenant. All of these covenants, therefore, were covenants of promise, pointing forward to the covenant of grace, or the New Covenant. Interestingly also, in each of these covenants that I've just mentioned to you, specifically, especially the ones to Abraham, and to Moses, and to David, all of these had two elements to them. There were the temporal, earthly, temporary elements that have been fulfilled in the past in preparation for the arrival of Messiah, but also in each of these covenants there is the element of promise, even prophetically pointing forward to that work of Messiah who would come in order to establish and seal the covenant of grace or the new covenant with His blood. And so each of these covenants, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses, the covenant with David, all of these are pointing forward to the covenant of grace, toward the new covenant, toward the work of Jesus Christ and what he would do upon the cross. But none of these covenants of promise And in these covenants of promise, in none of them was the grace for the salvation of a single soul. In other words, the grace for salvation does not come through the Abrahamic covenant. It does not come through the Mosaic covenant. It does not come through the Davidic covenant. Abraham was not saved by keeping the Abrahamic covenant. The people of Israel weren't saved by keeping the old covenant. These covenants were not designed to save. These covenants do not produce grace. It is gracious that God gave them, and they announce or foretell the coming of grace in Messiah, but within themselves they do not produce saving grace. That comes through Jesus Christ alone. Because redemption and saving grace come through only one covenant, and that is the new covenant, or the covenant of grace. And because saving grace comes through the blood of Jesus Christ and through the blood of Jesus Christ alone, that covenant alone can save. And therefore every believer, even in the Old Testament, who is saved, was saved not through the law, not through the keeping of the law by offering up sacrifices or anything else in the Old Covenant, not by circumcision or anything like that. Every believer in the Old Testament was saved by the application of Jesus Christ's blood across history to their own lives. Again, to quote Samuel Renahan here, he says this quote, what is unique about these Old Testament covenants of promise that we've just looked at is that they declared that the New Covenant is the covenant of grace. It was revealed in the Abrahamic Covenant and in the Mosaic Covenant and in the Davidic Covenant without those covenants ever being the covenants of grace. In other words, salvation grace doesn't come through those covenants. because it is the New Covenant, the New Testament, the covenant of grace alone through which comes saving grace. The Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant are not the covenant of grace. They are substantially different from it. And so believers in the Old Testament were saved, but they were not saved through any of the old covenants. For example, let me quote from Jim Rennihan, which is the father of Samuel Rennihan. He says, quote, at its best, the Old Covenant had types and shadows that pointed forward to the coming of Christ. But really, if we define the Old Covenant, if we're really talking just about the Mosaic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant was about a covenant that God came and imposed on the nation of Israel, in which He promised to bless them in the land so long as they were devoted only to Him. And as they gave themselves up to idols, followed after paganism, all of the judgments of that covenant were brought down upon the nation of Israel." So it really was a covenant of works, the old covenant, in terms of Israel's place in the land. It was a covenant of works, not for salvation. Some people misunderstand that. When we're talking about the old covenant, we call it a covenant of works, some people will say, well, wait a minute, do you mean that anybody could be saved by keeping the law? The answer is no, not in any sense. No one is ever saved by their own efforts. But in terms of Israel maintaining its own status in the land as a unique nation that was blessed by God, absolutely it was a covenant of works. They had to keep the law or else they would be liable. But for the Old Testament believer, they were all of them saved through the future work of Jesus Christ alone. Again, circumcision couldn't save them. Keeping the ceremonial law couldn't save them. Keeping the Mosaic law couldn't save them. Keeping the Ten Commandments couldn't save them. It couldn't even help to save them. Thus, God was not administering grace, get this, through the Old Covenant system. It anticipated grace, it spoke of grace, it promised grace, but grace does not come to save through those systems. Rather, God administered saving grace only by applying to the Old Testament saints the future work of Jesus Christ, who alone brings saving grace. That's the distinctive of Baptist Covenant theology, which I believe is the theology of the Bible. What saved the Old Testament saints was the same thing that saves us today. By grace alone, through faith alone, and in their case, in the future work of Jesus Christ alone. Now, to be sure, they did not understand the fullness of His work. and exactly what he would do to secure their salvation. But it's only through the work of Christ, only through the New Testament or the New Covenant, only through that covenant of grace, that salvation can be procured for all of the saints throughout all history. Listen to Hebrews 9.15, okay? Quote, for this reason, he, that is Jesus Christ, is the mediator of a new covenant. So that, since the death has taken place, remember how we define covenant as that agreement between God based on death? The author of Hebrews says, since the death has taken place, listen to this, for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant. Isn't that interesting? It's what the Bible says. The Bible says, through Jesus Christ, through the mediator of a new covenant, through His death, His death was the redemption for the sins that were committed under the old covenant. Hebrews 9.15, that's why I said we're going to come back to Scripture, because I wanted to set the theology down for you, so that when I read the Scriptures, you would hear the impact of what is being said. So that, the author of Hebrews says, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, and that's the Old Testament saints. So how are the Old Testament saints saved? Through the death of Jesus Christ, who died for their transgressions, which were committed under the Old Covenant. Abraham wasn't saved keeping the Abrahamic Covenant. Moses wasn't saved through the Mosaic Covenant. All believers of all times are saved by the New Covenant and the New Covenant alone, which is the covenant which alone brings saving grace. A grace that was secured by the blood of Jesus Christ and none other. So in keeping with Hebrews 9.15 as we just read, Richard Barcellas A good friend of mine said this, he said, quote, the Abrahamic Covenant carried that promise, the promise of the work of Messiah and the New Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant carried that promise in types and shadows. The Davidic Covenant carried that promise. But they did not deliver the benefits of redemption. or justification, or sanctification, or glorification. They spoke about it. They said it would come. They said that any and all that believed in the Promised One would receive it, but it is the Promised One Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, that procured those things and delivers them to all believers throughout all the ages. And so all of the previous covenants were therefore a precursor, an indication of the promise of the coming of the covenant of grace, the New Covenant, when it came into historical reality by and through Jesus Christ. So the new covenant is the covenant of grace brought into historical reality. Again, so the covenant, the eternal covenant of redemption was God's plan to redeem a people from eternity past. The covenant of works in the garden established the need for redemption. The other covenants of promise, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic, created a land and a people and a law and a king through whom Messiah would come and He is the one who would come in order to secure and seal and accomplish saving grace through His blood and through His work in real time and in real history through His righteous obedience, through His shed blood on the cross. This is the covenant of grace which is then applied by God to all believers throughout all of history, thus redeeming them and securing their salvation. not through any of the old covenants, but by the new covenant and the work of Christ alone is salvation. But think about this. While Adam's breaking of the covenant of works in the garden plunged men, plunged the human race into sin, think about this. It was Jesus' perfect keeping of the covenant of works that procured our salvation along with his death, right? To put it another way, again to quote Samuel Renahan, quote, the covenant of grace, that new covenant that Christ secured, the covenant of grace is the covenant of works kept for us by Christ. In the case of works, something must be earned, right? In the case of grace, something is received, it is given. So in the covenant of grace, Christ's perfect righteousness, in other words, His perfect work, as well as his suffering for our violation of the Covenant of Works. Think of it this way, okay? On the cross, Jesus paid for our violation of the Covenant of Works, and in his life, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Covenant of Works. So that his satisfaction of God's law and his payment for our violation of the law is then credited to all who believe. That's glorious truth. And again, to summarize, the eternal covenant of redemption is the foundation, it is the model, it is the paradigm for the future covenant of grace. The covenant of redemption is where God the Father, commissioned from all eternity, God the Son, to take on human flesh, to keep the law perfectly, to offer himself sacrificially, to bear the penalty of sin for a particular people who are promised to the Son, and to offer positive righteousness on their behalf in order to justify them. And that was what God required of the Son. But he also promised the Son that if he fulfilled that office, and if he fulfilled that commission, that he would be raised from the dead, that he would receive a people that he had purchased, that he would be exalted above all things, that he would inherit all creation, that he would be the judge of the living and the dead, that he would be the king of consummation, the consummation. So through the covenant of redemption, God the Father also commissioned the Spirit and called the Spirit to uphold and sustain and empower and assist God the Son in the completion of His redemptive work. And the Spirit then applies that redemptive work of the Son to all believers throughout all history. so that everyone who is saved prior to the coming of Christ is saved on the same basis. They're saved by means of faith in the promise that God would send a Redeemer to forgive sins. And so they also enter into the covenant of grace only by way of New Covenant prospectively. See what I'm saying? In other words, they enter into a relationship with God via salvation, by God's grace through faith, in the future promised work of Jesus Christ. So we're all saved, ultimately, on the same basis. In other words, everybody is saved by the work of Jesus Christ who saved. To put it another way, there's no one who's going to be saved who will not be saved apart from the work of Jesus Christ. To put it another way, the work of Christ is retroactively applied to the saints in the Old Testament who were saved not by the blood of bulls or goats upon the altar, but by the blood of Christ on the cross. Right? Isn't that what the Bible teaches? The question then arises, how can God do this? If Jesus hasn't actually died yet in real time in history, how is it that God can apply the work of His Son even before it has taken place? Well, here's how He does it. Because the promise of the Gospel was guaranteed by divine decree and oath and providence, believers in the Old Testament could truly apprehend and gain the promises of the gospel and the benefits of Christ that he had yet to win in time. These were nevertheless applied to them even then, because of God's promise, because of God's oath, backed by God's glorious perfections and providence, so that they were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit, they were regenerated, they were justified, they were sanctified in all the ways that we experience today. They may not have fully understood them with the clarity that we do now post-death and resurrection of Christ, They may not have understood the fullness of the working of the Spirit as he took the glory of the work of Christ and works that out through the giftedness in the church. But they experience the same basic salvation that we do today through the retroactivity of the new covenant. By virtue of the Mediator's work yet to come, in other words, those that lived before the Mediator's incarnational life and his death and his resurrection actually received the benefits of that which he would yet do. So it was by virtue of that new covenant of grace, through the guaranteed future shed blood of the Mediator and the new covenant, that better covenant, that everyone prior to the coming of Christ was saved. It's retroactive intrusion. as Samuel Renahan says, and though the work of redemption was not procured until the incarnation, the sufferings and the glory of Christ, the benefits were given to all believers of all time. Now, a helpful way then of thinking about the relationship of Israel to the Church is through the analogy of scaffolding into a building that's constructed. And this is an illustration I get from, again, Samuel Renahan. Scaffolding serves a very real purpose in the building of a building, right? For a time. It has a real function. It has real effect on the final product. Nevertheless, the actual scaffolding is distinct from the building. And at the appointed time, when the building is complete, the scaffolding will be taken down. The difference is that a normal construction job, in a normal construction job, you send the workers home when their job is done. Whereas with Israel, they were always invited to be a part of the final building through faith, through the final work of Christ, who is the cornerstone, right? That's a good way to view Israel. Remember we mentioned Hebrews about how God was building and creating one new people. This is the building that he is building. Ephesians chapter 2, for through him, that is through Jesus Christ, we both, believing Jews and believing Gentiles of all ages, have our access in one spirit to the Father, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens." In other words, Gentiles are no longer strangers and aliens to this nation of Israel. You are God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. This is the one building that God, this is the one people that God is building. He's creating one people of God. Believing Jews of the Old Testament, believing Gentiles of the Old Testament, believing Jews in the New, believing Gentiles in the New, all saved by the work of Christ, by the New Covenant. He is building up that people, that eternal people. And the unbelieving scaffolding and the Old Covenant with Israel is taken down. as this new building is being constructed. This is what God is doing in redemptive history. So there is one true Israel consisting of all believing Jews and Gentiles throughout all history. In fact, when you look at a number of the promises in the Old Testament that are specifically addressed to Israel and to Judah, and you come to the New Testament, you find those exact promises and prophecies quoted again and again and again, and they are applied to the Church. The Church doesn't replace Israel. It's not replacement theology. The Church is the fulfillment of what God was doing through Israel. And believing Jews in the Old Testament are a part of that same building. They're not excluded, they're a part of the same building. So we all participate, Paul says in Ephesians, we all participate, there in chapter 2, he says, in the covenants of promise. Both Jew and Gentile. We're one group. We're one new man. We're one body. We have one spirit through Christ. We are fellow citizens. We are the one household of God. We are the one building. We are the one holy temple being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Now, do you understand, going back to Malachi, we're about to wrap it up in Malachi 3.1, why it is so significant that Malachi says in verse 1 of chapter 3, first about John, Behold, I am sending my messenger, he will clear the way before me. And then about the Lord, about himself, he says, And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And what's that? God coming to dwell with his people. And this individual who's coming, this Messiah who's coming to dwell with his people, is also, he says, the messenger of the covenant. He is the one who seals and secures this new covenant, the one who said at the last supper, this is the covenant of my blood, this is the new covenant. You understand the significance, then, of what God is saying through Malachi. He's going to come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant. Now, one more section I want us to look at, one more passage, and then we'll wrap it up. And let's keep in mind, turn over to Hebrews 8. This will be the last, I think, the last section we'll look at. Keep in mind what God has said through Malachi, and remember our studies on the temple, the tabernacle, and now on the covenant. And look at verse one. The author of Hebrews says this, now he says, the main point in what has been said is this, we have such a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the what? The true tabernacle. which the Lord pitched and not man." Remember we looked at that? How the tabernacle and the temple, the tabernacle made of cloth and animal skins and the temple made of stones, foreshadows and pictures the dwelling of God among his people. Jesus Christ is the true tabernacle. He has pitched his tent among men. And then in verse 6, In speaking of Christ we read this, but now he, Jesus Christ, has obtained a more excellent ministry. But as much as he is the mediator of a better covenant, which he has enacted on better promises, for if that first covenant had been faultless, In other words, if the Old Covenant could save, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he says, behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And that's a quote directly from Jeremiah chapter 31. And here's what is magnificent, is that the author of Hebrews takes that promise of the New Covenant, first mentioned, by the way, in Jeremiah 31, 31 and following, and that covenant is given specifically by name to Israel and to Judah and then the author of Hebrews under the guidance of the Holy Spirit says that promise to Israel and to Judah is to all of God's people to all time it is applied to the church. Verse 10 Verse 9 actually, "...not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them up by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant and I did not care for them says the Lord." Verse 10, in other words he just said here what we talked about a little while ago, the scaffolding has been taken down because the people of Israel did not continue in my covenant. You see that in verse 9. Hebrews 8 and 9. "...for this is the covenant," now here's the new covenant, "...that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord." I will put my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." When he said a new covenant, what's that? Jesus at the Last Supper. This is the new covenant in my blood. That's what he sealed by his blood on the cross. When he says a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear." There's the taking down of the scaffolding, right? You understand now what Malachi is saying when he says, "...the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." He has come, and he is coming again. And He has secured the New Covenant. He has fulfilled the promise of Jeremiah 31, 31 and following for His people for all time. So that He might, through the application and the securing of the New Covenant through His blood, live and tabernacle with His people forever. Because John said, in the new heavens and new earth, I looked in the new Jerusalem and I saw no temple, but there is Jesus Christ. He is the temple. We are the temple. We are the pillars. He is tabernacling among us, and He spreads His tent over us. And folks, listen, that future picture in which John says, I looked and behold, and I saw people from every nation, tribe, and tongue around the throne. They are covenanted with God. in eternal fellowship, eternally tabernacling with God. God has come to His temple. He has come to His people. That reality of our dwelling with God forever was secured by the covenant that He sealed in His blood. We will be in His presence because He died on the cross to purchase a people. You see, Malachi says, behold, the Lord is coming. to His temple, the messenger of the covenant in whom you hope that you love. Behold, He is coming. And so Malachi has in just a few words laid out for us God's plan of redemption through the person and work of Jesus. Jesus Christ, to create a people who have eternal fellowship with Him, one people, one nation, one priesthood, redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ and Christ alone. Amen? Let's pray and give thanks to God. Father in heaven, thank you for this time in your Word as we've contemplated some important theological truths, as we've literally journeyed from eternity past into eternity future. as we've considered a number of key texts and several covenants in the Word, as we've seen your plan of redemptive history, I confess, we confess, Father, that Christ and Christ alone and his shed blood on the cross is our hope for redemption, for salvation. Through his work alone comes grace, and that is the hope of every believer of all time, even among believers in the Old Testament who understood very little about what Messiah would do. They knew that a promised one was coming. They knew they needed grace for salvation. They knew they needed forgiveness. And it is by grace through the work of the Spirit and by faith that everyone believes and the work of the Son is applied to them and they are redeemed. For as we saw in Hebrews, it is the death of Christ even that secured and paid for the sins committed under the first covenant. Certainly it's applied to those who are living after his death. So Father, we thank you for your eternal plan. We thank you for your gracious covenants that you have determined to enter into relationship and that you have done so by your sovereign grace and your redeeming power through Christ. Father, may we be people that proclaim the grace, the new covenant that has been secured by our Savior through his death on the cross. This is the gospel we preach, that men might be reconciled to the living God by faith in the one who gave his life to pay the price for our violation of the covenant of works and who fulfilled in his life of obedience all that was required in the covenant of works. And to him we praise, give praise. We glorify you now and forever for your great eternal plan. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.