The ordinance of covenanting, we're up to the 16th part. This is part one, covenanting provided for in the everlasting covenant. We're talking about the social, the exercise of public social covenanting. The fourth term of our communion begins by saying public social covenanting is an ordinance of God obligatory on churches and nations under the New Testament. So what we're going to be looking at particularly is how social covenanting is grounded or how it has its basis in what we call the covenant of redemption, that everlasting covenant between the Father and the Son, where the Father has given the elect people of God, the Church, to Christ. Christ has agreed to come and die for them. We're going to talk a little bit about the ordinance of covenanting under the law versus under grace, or what we might, when I say law, under the natural revelation versus the special revelation, or the law and the gospel. There are different ways we can parse this, but generally what I want you to understand when we go over that is, the ordinance of covenanting was provided for in natural revelation. And that would mean it was provided for under what we call the covenant of works, which was made with Adam. And therefore, it's for this very reason that the heathen, who don't have special revelation, people who have not had access to a Bible, they still understand that it's ethical and appropriate, ethically, to swear to God that something is or is not true, for example, to take oaths and to make vows and to enter into covenants of various and sundry sorts. We sometimes call them contracts, but they're covenants. And that's a matter of light of nature. Everyone has some sense of that by nature. But for our purposes, that's really not enough. Because man has fallen into sin, because his thinking has been so disrupted by the effects of the fall into sin, there's need of a special revelation. And this ordinance of covenanting is in fact provided for in and through special revelation. Now, the importance of recognizing that it exists under both forms of revelation, natural and special revelation, is this. The fact that God has chosen to deal in a way of covenanting both via the natural revelation as well as special revelation tells us that there is something about the architecture of the creation that covenanting provides, as chapter 7 of our confession teaches, covenant is the bridge that traverses that infinite gap between the Creator and the creation. If it wasn't for covenant, man would be created and we would be looking back at God from a very disadvantageous point of view. We would be infinitely separate from the Creator and unable to look in that direction at all. But God provides a window and, through the covenant of works, a potential bridge between the Creator and the creation. That is maintained under the covenant of grace, where the Redeemer, Christ, is that bridge. We don't need to get into it all, but the doctrine of the Church historically is there are two natures in Jesus. There's a divine nature and a human nature. He is the eternal Son of God incarnate, and the divine nature and the human nature, they meet not by reason of what we would call a natural union, because the Creator and the creature are separated by this infinite gulf, and then when we add sin to it, there's a second infinite gulf that arises not only between the nature of being, created and uncreated being, but now between the supreme holiness or otherness of God and the sinfulness of mankind. And so this is bridged in the person of our Redeemer, Christ. He's the eternal Son of God who's taken upon Himself our nature. In His person, divine person, He, by taking our nature, creates this bridge for us, for this covenant. So we're going to talk about that. in a couple of different ways first. Then, I just want to clear the proposition, our main proposition tonight, which is that covenanting, public social covenanting, is provided for in the covenant of redemption. So when we talk about covenanting, particularly in our sinful fallen state, It's founded and provided for in the covenant of redemption. And then finally, we're going to look at five reasons why we have confidence that that eternal or everlasting covenant between the Father and the Son is the ultimate basis upon which we are to engage in covenanting, both with one another and with God. So, that's all we're going to cover tonight. It's a lot, but we're going to move next time, Lord willing, we're going to look at how this unfolds in the various dispensations that we find in the Bible, the various administrations. Whether we're talking about Noah or Moses or Abraham or Christ, we're going to look at that. And so we'll make it a little bit more specific next time. So think of what we're doing tonight as setting up the theoretical scaffolding. And then next time we're going to try to fill it in a little bit more for you. All right. So with that out of the way, let's begin looking specifically now at our questions. Question one. What difference ought we to perceive in the ordinance of covenanting under the law versus under grace? And again, we could say under natural revelation versus under the gospel or special revelation. And the answer is first to consider that the duty of covenanting is founded on the law of nature. So let's look at Jonah 1, 16. Jonah 1, verse 16. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. Then these men feared the Lord exceedingly, they vowed. Who are these men? We know from the account they're heathen mariners. These are not people favored with special revelation, but what do they do anyway? They're in trouble. They make vows. The most common thing you will hear from people is this idea, there are no atheists in foxholes. When the going gets tough, very often people start pledging to God, you know, get me out of this and I will either not do this or I will do that. By the way, I've probably mentioned it before, that's exactly how Luther ended up a monk. He found himself in a very bad storm and pledged that if God got him out of it, he would become a monk. And the rest is history, because that led directly eventuated and brought about the Protestant Reformation. But anyhow, the duty of covenanting man is founded on the law of nature, but it also stands among the arrangements of divine mercy made from everlasting. So look at Genesis 17, 7. Genesis 17, verse 7, And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and I see it after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee until they see it after thee. So we have to say this, and I'm going to make this point again, when we see the term everlasting covenant, the Hebrew very often has a phrase that is equally translatable in this way. We could say the days of eternity. The covenant of the days of eternity. Keep in mind time and eternity signify two different types of duration. Time is chronological, eternity is logical. There's no chronos there, there's no time. And that's important for a number of reasons to keep that in mind. But anyhow, covenanting When we read or hear in the Bible of this everlasting covenant, we have to understand that this is an idea, this is an exercise, a divine thought, a divine, as the Greeks would say, a divine logos, that has always been. God has always thought this way forever. So that when he creates, he's creating, he is decreed to create, he is inextricably wound up in this idea of covenant, both the thought and the exercise of it. Now that becomes important. when we talk about, and we have talked about, the covenant of works made with Adam or the covenant of grace made with Christ. The promulgation of the law and joining it on man in innocence as a duty was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of His power. Job 22, 2 and 3. Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous, or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect? Yeah, and these are rhetorical questions. The answer is no. There is no prophet, P-R-O-F-I-T, prophet, for God to create, for example. There's no prophet. Man doesn't really benefit God. You may have heard this theory that people seem to be putting out a lot in the last, I don't know, few decades. The idea, and I've mentioned this on different occasions, God is lonely and therefore he created because he was He was feeling lonely, he wanted someone to interact with him, and so on. People who talk like that don't understand the doctrine of the Trinity. There's perfect communion between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost from eternity. Nothing lacking there. God's purposes in creating are not because He needed to, but simply because He wanted to. It's a matter of His will. So, what does this mean? Well, when he creates, by reason of his creation, there is inherent in that, from where we sit, there is a debt incurred. And God enjoins law upon man as the due, that's why it's called duty, duty is doing what's due, it's due to God, simply by reason of the fact He created. So it's part of His natural dominion. In other words, if God did not, if He created without imposing this demand, there would be no assertion of dominion. then the deists, like some of the founding fathers, their view would be more in line with that idea that God just sort of wound up the universe and walked away and lets it go at its own pace. That's deism. It's not really theism. The theism is There is a relation between the Creator and creation. So there's a necessary dominion over the creatures of His power. Not necessary for Him, but it is for us. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in the state of sin arose from his unmerited grace." Look at Galatians 3.21. So the law is not contrary to the promise of God, nor is the promise of God contrary to the law. People who try to pick the law against the gospel or the gospel against the law don't really understand the complementary nature of what's going on. And one reason they are complementary is both have this, what I would call, an architecture that is covenantal. They're both constructed relations that are covenantal. So when man falls, the revelation that this duty of covenanting with God, that that remains a duty, that is, in fact, something which not only remains as an intuition grounded in the natural revelation, but it also arises now in relation to man in the state of sin as a matter of the unmerited grace of God, that man can still have this relation with God. In other words, when the covenant of works, when Adam breaks the covenant of works, man might have concluded, might have concluded, There's no longer any possible covenant avenue and therefore the possibility of having union and communion with God has been forever destroyed. But that's not the way God proceeded when man fell. So the revelation of another way in Christ, that covenant in Christ, that arises from unmerited grace. And even the revelation of it is a matter of unmerited grace. So in one display, that is in terms of the natural revelation, we contemplate the authority of the righteous and moral governor of the universe. See Galatians 3, verse 10. Galatians 3, verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. The law and that imposition of the law on humanity That is an assertion of the authority of God as his righteous, moral governor of the universe. But in the other, that is, this covenanting as done under grace and in terms of special revelation rather than the natural revelation in law, we see that the claims of that law, which cannot be abrogated, are put forth along with manifestations of sovereign goodwill to men." In other words, the claims of grace come in, and grace comes in not to undermine the law, but in fact to establish the law, which is something you'll see the apostles say. Look at Romans 3.21. Romans 3.21, "...but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." The righteousness without or apart from the law is manifest in the grace of God in Christ. That is not, however, to say that this is some other obligation, if you will. The claims of the law are not abrogated. They can't be. If God were to relinquish the claims of the law just because man fell and no longer can keep it, he would be relinquishing all assertions regarding his universal dominion over the creation. He's not doing that. So grace comes in in order to rectify that breach that was made when man fell into sin and re-enable man to keep the law in that way which is acceptable. The only way of keeping the law acceptable to God is going to be in a way of covenant. Simply keeping the law you're only doing what you're supposed to do. And as Jesus said, when you've done everything you were supposed to do, guess what? You're still an unprofitable servant. Unprofitable. When you move beyond that, in order to move beyond that, for that service to be profitable, you need a covenantal context. And think about this, just in terms of the covenant of works, we've talked about this in different applications, but okay, so God puts man in the garden. And the man is, the man falls. But before he falls, he's told, keep and guard the garden. Dress and keep the garden. And not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because in the day you eat, you're gonna die. The implication from that, which we have to draw out, and I've discussed why it's in the negative in other cases, but the implication is this. If you obey, there is a promise of eternal life at some point here. Well, there's no proportionality between individual acts of obedience, like not eating the forbidden fruit, and eternal life? How could a series of finite acts of obedience lead to this reward of eternal life? And the answer is, the reward is not simply by reason of a proportionality to natural obedience, it arises from this covenant relation, which spans the gap, that infinite gap between creator and creation. Because even when Christ came, he was fulfilling the law of the covenant. Yes. And without that covenant, even the perfection of obedience. Yes. Yeah, the perfection of his obedience is important, but the... There's no merit without the covenant, right? The merit is... Well, there's a two-fold merit, but the meriting that is to his people, the application to his people, arises through this covenant relation, which we're gonna talk about. He's in a peculiar covenant relation with all of the elect. And that's an important thing. Without that, yeah, there wouldn't be, there wouldn't be, anything to apply. So the obedience is not simply natural obedience, although he does give that, but it is covenantal obedience. And that gives to disobedience that character of bridging the gap, if you will. Yeah, I guess even if Adam, under covenant, had kept the covenant of works, he still wouldn't be atoning for a whole group of other people. So maybe Christ's perfectionism... Yeah, he's not going to be... Adam wouldn't be atoning, but he would be obedient for all these other people. Right. But that's where you're saying Christ's ability to apply it to all the other people would have been different than Adam's? Christ is in a different situation. Adam is not starting out behind this onus of sin. He's created perfect and upright as is Christ. He is sinless, but he's coming into a world that's full of sin, whereas Adam is placed in a sinless paradise. Had God dealt with men according to their iniquities, that law which in the first of men they had violated would have demanded their final punishment." Let's look at Romans 3, 19 and 20. Romans 3, verses 19 and 20. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, is saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. In other words, if God dealt with man, even at the first, with that strict justice, as strictly as a matter of justice, that would have been it. They violated the law, it would have demanded a final punishment. However, because this law-keeping was not simply set in a natural context, but in a covenantal context. That provides the basis upon which there can be a change of covenant. There's not a change of law that would require God ceding dominion. He's not ceding dominion over the creation. But there can be a change of covenant arrangement so that the surety of one covenant is made to give way to the surety of the second. In other words, old Adam, he's out of the way, and then there's Christ. So, if God had dealt with men according to their iniquities, boom, that would have been the final punishment. Then they, unable, because unwilling to give obedience, and unprovided with means of deliverance, had fallen to ruin. If that had been left, they would have just fallen into ruin. Look at Romans 4.15. Romans 4.15, because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. Yeah, the law does what? Paul says what the law does is works wrath. Where's coming back from that? There'd be no respite from that. If man had simply been in a natural relation and broken that law, like a natural relation, which would be, it's the same thing as saying he would have been in an immediate relation to the law. When he broke the law, that would have demanded an immediate response. But man was not set in what we would call a natural or immediate relation to the law. It was mediated to him in this covenantal manner. There's a mediation. Now the problem is in the covenant of works, who's the mediator? Adam. And he fails. But in the covenant of grace, who's the mediator? Christ. And he doesn't fail. So there's a mediation going on in both cases because that's part of this covenant relation. In order that His mercy might be manifested, the Lord from the days of eternity secured the sinners a fitness for duty to stand as a substitute for that spiritual strength which they should lose by transgression and acceptance through a great meteor, which else had not been enjoyed." Look at Romans 8, verse 3. Romans 8, verse 3, "...for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." So what happens? Well, now we have man falls, that mediation with the covenant of works failed. because Adam failed. And the law can't, and this is what Adam discovers, the law does not have the power to enable its own keeping. The law is unable to give you the ability to keep it. It commands you and demands you keep it. But it doesn't have the power or ability to keep it. And, by the way, there's nothing in that Covenant of Works that is going to supply that need. Adam doesn't have what's needed as a mediator. Christ does. On man then in a state of innocence and also in a state of sin, the duty of covenanting was enjoined. Deuteronomy 6.13. Deuteronomy 6, verse 13. Deuteronomy 6. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Yeah, that's a command of natural moral law, which means it's a command which stands whether man had remained in a state of innocence We're now in a state of sin. The natural moral obligation is not in any way loosened. This is why, you know, whether you're a saint or a sinner, the Ten Commandments are binding. Whether you're in a state of grace or a state of sin, it doesn't really matter. The law of God is telling you whatever you are, believer or unbeliever, it's telling you the same thing. And again, frankly, most societies have recognized the natural moral principles that are embodied in the Ten Commandments. Most societies throughout history, for example, have really frowned on blasphemy, or worshipping false gods. Now that doesn't mean that they had a clear idea of who the true God is or the proper way of worshipping God, but they had a notion that it would be a bad idea to worship the wrong God or even to worship in the wrong manner. So they have these intuitions because they have access to the natural moral law, and the natural moral law on these points is actually quite clear. It's not, frankly, until we get into what we might call post-modern, post-Christian Western cultures, where these very fundamental principles of human morality are actually called into question. So that's why, for example, if you go to some of these heathen nations, traditional nations in, say, un-evangelized parts of Africa or Asia. They are not on board with, say, the sodomite agenda that's being propagated all over Western post-Christian cultures now. They reject that because they're still dealing with light of nature, a natural revelation, they haven't rejected the special revelation they have like modern European and European descended nations. And generally, isn't it nations that are favored with the lay of the gospel having rejected it that end up having themselves blinded when it comes to those more natural law issues? Yeah, and this is why, I mean, you'll see that they have much more traditional, what we would now call traditional notions of family, for example. They tend to frown upon certain things pretty uniformly. And there are other things that they tend to promote, again, in a relatively uniform manner. Things that people now look at it and say, well, that's backward, that's unenlightened, and so on. But they're actually the ones who are making better use of the Revelation. So by reason of sin, strength given to him at first to perform it was forfeited forever. That is, for the man. Romans 5, 12. Romans 5, verse 12. Prayer for, that by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But to many, by wonder scheme of divine love, It's given to enjoy from engaging in it benefits which cannot be lost. Galatians 3, 13. Galatians 3, verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. You know, there are a lot of people in churches today who say things They misquote the Bible. They misinterpret. Christ didn't redeem us from the law, but from the curse of the law. He didn't come to save us from simply the consequences of sin, but from sin. That is, to make us holy. And we're going to get into that more. That's an important point. This shift in arrangement, then, does not in any way, and this is important to understand, does not in any way, any manner, any fashion, loosen or lessen the obligations of mankind to the divine law. The relation to that law and the the mediation vis-a-vis that law changes as we move from a broken covenant of works to the covenant of grace. But the law, just because we've gone into the covenant of grace doesn't mean that the law has been abrogated. It has not. It's not all of a sudden okay for people to go out and murder and commit adultery and to steal and blaspheme and so on. All right, let's move on to question two. Is the exercise of covenanting in regard to sinners provided for in the covenant of redemption? The answer is yes, because the covenant of redemption was made from the days of eternity, meaning it must be conceived to extend from eternity Blood of the Everlasting Covenant is that everlasting covenant of redemption. It's the covenant between the Father and the Son. And it is from everlasting. There is, in other words, when we contemplate again the creation, you cannot contemplate the creation apart from this covenant. Because everything that we can contemplate that has been revealed of God from eternity has bearing on the creation. It's the creation which all of a sudden becomes a theater of what we call God's declarative glory. His essential glory is static, it is not capable, it does not able to be augmented or diminished in any fashion. It is what it is. God's essential glory is infinite. There's nothing to add to it. There's nothing you can take away from it. But His declarative glory, the display of His glory to others, well, that's a different story. That can be increased or diminished. So when we talk about the everlasting covenant, we're talking now in terms of declarative glory, we're talking in terms of the creation. And so covenant of redemption, we have to think of it in terms of, as the Bible says, the everlasting covenant. It's the everlasting covenant. from the days of eternity, from eternity to eternity, however you want to try to think about that, but it's really a way of saying this is outside of time, but it is in fact a feature of eternity which is projected into time. In adoration of the Lord, made known as a covenant God, this idea of everlasting covenant, covenant redemption, is confirmed. Let me get to Psalm 90 verse 2. Psalm 90 verse 2. Before the mountains were brought forth, for even thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. And so, too, the mediator was set up for everlasting, necessarily by entering into covenant. Proverbs 8.23. Proverbs 8.23, I was set up for everlasting from the beginning wherever the earth was. Set up for everlasting. This is the eternal Son of God talking, but talking in the character of His mediatorial office. And this is important. Again, the mediatorial office does not have bearing upon the essential glory of God. But it has tremendous bearing on the question of the declarative glory of God. That projection of eternal verities into the creation. The mediator is from everlasting to everlasting. He's set up from eternity. How is he set up from eternity or established in eternity? By covenant. We're going to see that more clearly in a few minutes, but that's the assertion here. He's been set up by covenant from eternity. That is simply the point at which what has being in God finds its way into the creation. It's again projecting that eternal verity, that eternal light, that eternal truth. So the mediator There was, and this is important, let me just try to, I want you to try to understand this, what we're getting at is this. God, when God decrees to create, there is a logical order, but there's no chronological order. So we can't say that he thought first about creation and then about mediator, or first about mediator, then creation. What we're saying is there was never a decree to create which was not also a decree establishing the mediator. And this means there was also then never a decree to create that did not comprehensively involve this idea of covenant. how this creation would be related to God in a state of innocence versus in a fallen state. Thus the goings forth of Christ are described as from the days of eternity. Look at Micah 5, verse 2. Micah 5, verse 2. Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting." He's talking about the Messiah. His goings forth have been of old from everlasting. Again, there is no decree regarding the creation. that does not also include as one decree, the mediator. And the mediator, the idea of the mediator carries with it this, again, I'm gonna use that term, arctic tonic, this arctic tonic idea of covenant. that God would stand the creation in a relation to himself that would bear a relation to himself by way of covenant. So there's never In a consideration to create, there's never, like the thought of the deist, that God would simply create and go off and leave the creation. Because the decree to create has bound up in it, from what the Bible's telling us, this idea of mediator, Christ, covenant, and so on. This everlasting covenant wherein the concerns of sinners are taken in is declared to be from eternity. Look at Psalm 89, verses 3 and 28. Psalm 89, verses 3 and 28. Verse 3, I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant. And verse 28, my mercy will I keep for him forevermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him. So again, this covenant, this everlasting covenant, is decreed to be from eternity. So God is never, ever, ever to be thought of as creating without being thought of as in tandem with that creation, placing the creation in a covenantal relation to himself. He's orienting the creation to himself in a proper manner. His law is an assertion of dominion. His covenant is an assertion of his mercy. So from the very nature of the creation, we know that God is both just and merciful. So even the heathen can know that. They may not understand how all this stuff fits together, but they have some sense that God is both just and merciful. Clearly then, the father's servant, the mediator Christ, is covenanted from eternity, and the conditions and promises of that covenant are recorded. So look at Isaiah 53, 10 to 12. This is really talking about Isaiah 53, 10 to 12. Isaiah 53, verses 10 through 12. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong Because he hath poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors And he bared the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors So Christ is Covenanted with the Father from eternity He he's brought there's a relation between Therefore, because of him being the mediator of this new covenant, this covenant of grace, there is a relationship established between the elect and God from eternity. Everything is from eternity. Moreover, the mutual with the conditions and fulfillment of the covenant is also revealed as we've seen in Isaiah 42, 21. Isaiah 42, verse 21. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make it honorable. Yeah, think about that. He will magnify the law and make it honorable. What does Christ do? Not only does he re-establish this covenant relation in a covenant of grace, but in doing so, he brings a man into a situation where the law itself is being magnified. In other words, Christ does what he does as mediator, and doing what he does magnifies this proposition that God has dominion over his creation. There's no lessening of the claim of dominion over the creature in what Christ has done in the covenant of grace. He's actually strengthened that. He's actually strengthened the bonds. Okay? So, let's move on now to the third question where we're going to talk about these five different things that indicate this exercise of covenanting is provided for in the covenant of redemption. So question three, how is the exercise of covenanting provided for in the covenant of redemption? The answer is, there are several things indicating this exercise is provided for in the covenant of redemption. In the covenant of redemption, Christ represented all of the elect. Look at Isaiah 42, 1 and 6. Isaiah 42, verses 1 and 6, verse 1, Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And verse 6, I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. Christ, in this covenant of redemption, Christ represents all of the elect of mankind. all those elected from eternity. So Adam represents all mankind who descend from him by an ordinary generation. Christ represents all mankind who descend from him by a spiritual regeneration. So did Christ die for everyone? Short answer, no. He died for the elect. He came into the world. There are a certain number of people who have been chosen by God for eternity. Those are the people for whom he's come, and he dies. Those are the people he's calling out of darkness. And those are the people through whom he is activating and moving his plan, his eternal plan. Even as the faithful descendants of Abram were comprehended in the covenant which God established with him, but in a far higher sense, the elect were included in that which was made with the Redeemer. Look at Hebrews 9, verse 15. Hebrews 9, verse 15. For this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, and by means of death for the redemption of the transgressors that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Yeah, so there we see that the elect are included in that covenant made with the Mediator Christ. He's the Mediator of a new covenant. The old covenant ultimately is that covenant of works. And the new covenant ultimately is the covenant of grace. All right. And as Adam was the representative of the human family, so Christ became the head of all who should be saved. So look at Romans 5, 15-19 and 1 Corinthians 15, 47-49. Romans 5, verses 15-19. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 47 through 49. The first man is of the earth, earthy, and the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earth, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. So, there is, and again, you've probably heard me say this on numerous occasions, but the Puritans used to say that there are really only two men, Adam and Jesus. And everyone is hanging on the coattails of one or the other. By nature, we're all born into this world hanging on Adam's coattails. By faith, some of us are moved from Adam's coattails to Christ's coattails, if you will. Those are the elect of God. So it's on account of the people who are given to him that the covenant was made. That is with Christ. Look at John 6.37. John 6.37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me. This is Jesus talking. So, what can we conclude from that? If somebody doesn't come to Christ, they hear about Jesus, they reject Christianity, What's the conclusion? Well, the conclusion is, at best, they are not regenerate or not converted now. Worse, they're not elect. And if they're not elect, they'll never believe. If they are elect, they will at some point believe. There's no middle ground. You're either elect or you're not. And God is going to either draw you to himself or not. But Jesus says all that have been given to him of the Father will come to him. When were they given to him of the Father? In this covenant of redemption from everlasting. The Father gave the Son a people, a seed. We're going to see this language more as we look at some of these verses. So by an electing decree they were chosen in him. Look at Ephesians 1 verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4. According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. God elected, and let me just say something at this point. When I talk about eternity and I say that all of these things like the decree to create and the decree of the meat-eater and the decree to elect some and to reprobate others, all these things are in this decree, the eternal decree of God. what we call the eternal decree of God. There's no temporal priority. In other words, we can't say that one thing was decreed before another. However, there is a logical order. And so, although there's not a temporal priority, we can speak of these things in an orderly manner. We can speak of them as having a logical priority even though it's not a chronological priority. So that we can talk about the election of God preceding the actual decree for the mediator to come into the world, for example. And this is a very complex topic, but I just want to be clear. I'm not saying that this is like a shotgun blast where the shot is just scattered and it's sort of this haphazard pattern. No, there's a logical orderliness to what we're talking about. So in systematic theologies, which is not what we're really doing here right now, but in a systematic theology, we would break this down and put it in a logical order and show that there is actually an ordering. Does that support that our ability to reason is divine? Reason and logic doesn't require time. It's not bound. No, in fact, I would argue that reasoning is apprehending what is unchangeable in the chronology, which is always changing. So that fact that we are always trying to latch on to the unchanging point is an argument for the fact that we are creating the image of God. That's the argument of the most staunch atheists, unreasonable. There are radical empiricists now who will tell you that perception, what perception really is, and it's very interesting, but if I made you close your eyes and I put something in your hand, and all I did was put it in your hand, you would have probably a relatively difficult time telling me a lot about it. But if I told you you could then move it around in your hand, you could begin to describe it to me. So by adding motion, what you're actually perceiving through that motion is what is in fact static, not moving. You actually get a better sense because we are limited creatures. Whereas God is infinite, we are limited. And chronology, this concatenation of time, allows us to perceive what is eternal better, probably, at least in a sinful state, it would seem, than if we didn't have that. We are able to have perceptions of the divine that we wouldn't have. How that changes with the introduction of us into eternity after Judgment Day is a different question. But as far as physical, sensate abilities, there seems to be something to that. I think that these radical empiricists have sort of backed into an interesting idea, and it explains some things. I'm not a radical empiricist, but I do think that we do perceived through our senses, but how we do it is probably very different than a lot of these people think. I mean, the answers they have are not satisfactory. So the covenant was entered into with him as their legal representative. Look at Isaiah 49.8. Isaiah 49 verse 8, Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages. So from eternity covenant was entered into with him as a legal representative and from eternity therefore by a legal, though not an actual union to Christ, they're a covenant people. Ephesians 1 verse 5. Ephesians 1 verse 5, having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. So the predestination gives Christ, the fact that we're given to Christ, gives Him a legal right. It's covenantal. Contractual, legal. It's from eternity. He has a legal right over all of his people. They're covenant people. They're not yet in actual union with Christ. When does that happen? When are you in union with Christ? When does that begin? When you believe. Even then, the blessings of the covenant were provided for them. Look at Romans 8, 30. Romans 8, verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. So, until they're joined to Christ, the elect are not entitled to the blessings provided for them. They're elect, but they're not entitled to the blessings until they're actually joined to Christ. That actual union. Look at Galatians 2, verse 16. Galatians 2, verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So what is Paul talking about there? He's saying, look, to give you an idea of what's going on, the way people think. Because all mankind, all mankind stands in this relation to God naturally that is immediately taken up in the Covenant of Works with Adam. Okay? That covenant being broken, you can't ever go back. But in the Covenant of Works, who is the mediator? Adam. And who's going to be the mediator if you're going to try to reestablish a broken Covenant of Works? Who do you think you're gonna try to make to be the mediator? Yourself. That's right. So the reason every other religion, major religion in the world, is works-oriented, only Christianity is talking about grace. Every other religion is works-oriented because the intuitions of fallen men are following the contours of the natural revelation. And fallen men reason, but they misapprehend that about which they're reasoning, because they're fallen. And they conclude that the way to get to heaven is to be a good person. to do good works. Good according to their standard. Well, that's another adjustment that they have to make because once they start trying, guess what happens? They realize that their works really aren't as good as they first thought they could maybe strike out and accomplish. And so they also come up with works of supererogation, right? They make up things that are good works. That's where you get these pilgrimages and things like that because you have to come up with some other category of good works to make up for the the evil stuff that they're really doing and they know they're doing it. All right? So every other religion is a religion based upon the idea that we can somehow resuscitate, restart, kickstart that covenant of works. Which the Bible tells us, by the way, is impossible. Can't do it. So if you're gonna be the mediator of this covenant, the covenant has been broken and you are in a state of death. This is why the Bible says people who don't believe in Jesus, don't put their trust in him, are in a state of death. They're in a state of sin and misery. The alternative to you being the mediator of this broken covenant of works with God is then to look to another to be the mediator, and that mediator is Christ. And that's the covenant of grace. He's keeping the covenant of works for you, as it were. He keeps that law, he fulfills that law in the fullness of its intention. So when we're joined to Christ, we're justified when we believe. When we're joined to him, then we're entitled to the blessings provided for in this covenant of grace. Nevertheless, even before that, the elect are contemplated in the covenant, which gave them the privilege of being joined to the Redeemer. You're still contemplated as if you're elect, you're still contemplated even before you believe. Look at John 1.12. So God, the Father, made with Christ, for each of his people, an everlasting covenant. So the Father makes for each one of the elect people of God, in Christ, he makes with them an everlasting covenant. Look at Jeremiah 32, 38, and 40. Jeremiah 32 verses 38 and 40. Verse 38, and they shall be my people and I will be their God. Verse 40, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. So the idea of the covenant of redemption, which is the basis for the covenant of grace, is that God is going to make this people in time, he's going to bring them into a state of belief. They're going to believe. So Adam was commanded to do this and live, but in Jesus, we're commanded to believe this and live. And once we live, then Jesus says, as he does in the Sermon on the Mount, now that you live, now do this. You're not doing it in order to live, you live now in order to do this. It's very different. All these other religions are trying to get you to do these things in order to have life. Christianity is saying, no, you can't do these things until you have life. When you believe in Jesus, you'll have life, and then Jesus would like you to do these things. Why? Because this is, in fact, testifying that you acquiesce in God's sovereign claims upon the world. Not because you're doing it in order to be saved, you're already saved. So just as the deeds of our ancestors bind us to enter into covenant, look at, for example, Psalm 105, 9 and 10. Psalm 105, verses 9 and 10. This deed, this covenant, binds all of his people to covenant. So the everlasting covenant is binding men to covenant with him. It's a call to the exercise of social covenanting. Look at Isaiah 56, four and six. Isaiah 56, four and six. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my covenant. Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants. Everyone that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it and take his hold of my covenant. So the elect were all taken into the covenant. Look at Isaiah 59, 21. Isaiah 59 verse 21, As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord. My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed-seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. And it's in their name, in the name of the elect of the surety Christ, engaged that they should enter into covenant. In other words, he covenants, promising the Father that his people would covenant themselves. that they would take hold of the covenant as we saw. Look at Jeremiah 31, 33. Jeremiah 31, verse 33, And so on their behalf that he promised an obedience which none other than himself could give. Galatians 4, 4-6. Galatians 4 verses 4 through 6, but when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth a son made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons And because he our sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba father But he promises also the obedience that they should render not necessary nor required for fulfilling the conditions of the covenant in other words are not They're not obeying in order to be saved, but they're Doing so to show to the glory of God the certainty of the fulfillment of these, and the Father accepted this offer. That the people would obey, not as a term of them being maintained in the covenant, but in order for them to testify to the glory of God. Remember, we're talking about the declarative glory of God. So your obedience as a believer is augmenting the declarative glory of God. So look at Psalm 119, 33-36. Psalm 119, verses 33-36. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law. Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. So, covenanting, then, according to God's immutable law, covenanting is included in the promised obedience. Christ promises the elect will be obedient. Part of the promise is that they will covenant. Look at Psalm 119, 106. Psalm 119, 156, I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments. So we see the psalmist is swearing, he's covenanting, he's taking or he's making a vow, right? Taking oath, making a vow, whatever. He's entering in or engaging in covenanting. And that is in response. Response. Not in anticipation of being saved, but in response to being saved. Very important to understand. By the way, that covenanting, and this is really the problem with the Covenant of Works, Adam is placed in the Covenant of Works in anticipation of obtaining the promise. If you try to remain in this broken covenant of works situation, you do so without having any anticipation of promise, and without any anticipation of promise, there really isn't any covenant. You can't resurrect that covenant which has been broken. It's gone. Second, all the promises accepted in covenanting were made to the surety, that is to Christ, in the covenant of redemption. Look at 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him are amen, and to the glory of God by us. All the promises of God are in Him yea and amen. What does that mean? It means that all of them are made sure to the surety. They're accepted in His covenanting. In other words, when Christ undertakes on behalf of His people in His covenant of redemption, He is undertaking on behalf of all these promises, for himself and for his people. In a promise, including that of every benefit which those should enjoy through him, a seed was presented to him. So one of the promises here is he's going to receive a seed. So look at Psalm 22, 30. Psalm 22, verse 30. A seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. He's promised that there's going to be a seed that will serve him. And yet, as we know from elsewhere, he is the seed that was promised to Abraham. So there is this identification of the head with the body. Christ is the head, the Church is the body. They're both seed. Christ is the seed, the Church, the body is the seed to Him. The promise of the Spirit and all His glorious effects through the Word was made not merely to the Church, but to Christ Himself, and therefore to Him in the everlasting covenant. Again, look at Isaiah 59-21. Isaiah 59, verse 21. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon them, upon me, and my words which I have put in my mouth shall not depart of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed seed, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever. So to Noah, to Abraham, to Israel under Moses, to the church in all succeeding ages, the Lord gave the promise that he would establish his covenant with his people. So, for example, Genesis 6.18, Genesis 17.7, Leviticus 26.9, Ezekiel 16.62. Genesis 6.18, But with thee will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee. Genesis 17.7, And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Leviticus 26 verse 9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. Ezekiel 16 verse 62 And I will establish My covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. So the language of establishing is covenant. So there's a promise, an equivalent promise to this he made when he engaged to establish his called and chosen as a holy people unto himself. We'll look at Deuteronomy 28.9 and 29.13. Deuteronomy 28 verse 9. The Lord shall establish the unholy people unto himself as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in his ways. Deuteronomy 29, verse 13. that he may establish thee today for a people unto himself, that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Okay, so the promise, now I want you to think about this, the promise accepted in the covenanting by Christ in the covenant of redemption is to establish his covenant with his people. And he's going to establish his covenant with his people which is the same as establishing His called and chosen people as a holy people to Himself. How does He establish His called and chosen people to Himself? By way of covenant. We're going to see that in just a moment here. So, a promise, including each of these, was given to Christ as seen in a passage where the very same verb used here to establish, is the Hebrew verb, is grounded upon himself, upon Christ, and his everlasting covenant. So let's go back and look at Isaiah 49.8 again. And remember, this verb established, to establish whom, is what's being used here in Isaiah 49.8, and it's the same used in all these other verses we just read about him establishing his covenant with his people, establishing his people as a holy people. Isaiah 49, verse eight. Thus saith the Lord in an acceptable time, have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee and give thee to our covenant of the people to establish the earth and cause to inherit the desolate heritages. To establish the earth. I'm gonna give you a covenant to the people, why? To establish the earth. How is God establishing his holy people? By covenant. How is he establishing the earth? by covenant. Now that's important, established on the earth by covenant, because we're going to see in a moment that that is talking about the Gentiles. When Christ comes, he's not just concerned about Jews, he's going to be concerned about Gentiles. And it's all about expanding this idea of covenanting which is provided for in the covenant of redemption, the duty of covenanting expands beyond Israel to all nations of the earth. So elsewhere, different Hebrew verb, kun, from a different origin is used meaning to establish in Psalm 89, three and four. Psalm 89, verses three and four. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David, my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever and build up So God has made a covenant with David his servant, with Messiah, with Christ, that he will establish this people. How's he gonna establish them? Covenant as well. They're gonna be taken into that covenant with Christ. How are they taken into it? That covenant is offered to them. They take hold of it. They take hold of it by covenanting. So public social covenanting is taking hold of that covenant. That's why we say it's just taking public social covenanting, really, when we boil it all down, it's simply taking hold of the covenant of grace. It's doing so in a peculiar way, peculiar manner, but ultimately that's what it's doing. So it's a promise of God that is laid hold on in covenanting. Look at Isaiah 55, verse 3. Isaiah 55, verse 3. Incline your ear and come unto me, here your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David, the Messiah. He's talking about the Messiah there, Christ. So he commands to draw near in covenanting. He's prescribed the matter of the vows, which he will accept. But in order to give encouragement to perform the duty and fulfill its engagements, he's also made promises of good to those who covenant. Look at 2 Samuel 23 5. 2 Samuel 23 5, Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. God, He doesn't have to do this, does He? To add good to that. He could simply tell you to do it. But He actually continues to add more carrots. The covenant is not about the stick, it's about carrots. The law, that's one big stick that's beating you. It's proclaiming wrath. Outside of Christ, it's just screaming judgment. Which is why, again, I've said on a number of occasions, to unbelievers, unbelievers who hear what I'm saying, it's going to sound like that, to them, it's going to sound like I'm giving you a list of do's and don'ts. It always sounds like that. Like I'm telling you, you have to do this, you can't do that, you should do this, you shouldn't do that. They hear it that way because they're still thinking they need to do something in order to be saved. To believers, what they're hearing is a prescription of how I can better glorify God. If you love me, Jesus says, you'll keep my commandments. So to the sinner, these could not otherwise come in through Christ. These promises of good. There are no promises of good outside of Christ. So we know that this covenant has to be with Christ's mediator. John 15, verses 4-6. John 15, verses 4-6. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. So we're either a vine engrafted into Christ, or we're a dead branch that's going to be burned in the fire. Again, there's no middle ground. And this is a problem when people say, well, that's true for you. No. Jesus isn't saying that reality or truth that they intersect on where you as an individual are standing. Truth and reality intersect in Christ and in Adam. And you're either in one or the other. So the truth and reality is you're either fallen in Adam or you're redeemed in Christ. And there's nothing in between. Because there's no other point at which truth and reality intersect than those two. And you're either hanging, remember, you're hanging on the coattails of one or the other. Either old Adam or new Adam. Either Adam or Jesus. That's it. So if there's any good to come to you through covenanting, it has to come through Christ. Because everything you're getting from Adam is cursed. broken covenant of works. It's only going to be cursing you. All right, let's move on to the third point. This exercise of covenanting is on the ground of the righteousness of Christ by which he fulfilled the obligations of the everlasting covenant contracted by him, that his people covenant with God." So it's the righteousness of Christ fulfilling the obligations of the everlasting covenant that are the basis for the people of God covenanting with God, or the people of Christ, the church, covenanting with God. Look at Jeremiah 50 verse 5. Jeremiah 50 verse 5, They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. This idea then can be seen in a careful reading of the scriptures in several places. And what I want to look at though is Jeremiah 30 verses 20 to 22. Jeremiah 30 verses 20 through 22. their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me. For who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me, saith the Lord? And he shall be my people, and I will be your God. So I want to point out something. In the Hebrew, their nobles, I think verse 21, is actually their noble one. Right? It's actually in the singular. Hebrews in the singular. And the reason is that the noble one mentioned is Christ. He's also the governor who's mentioned as coming forth there and proceeding out of the midst of Israel. That's Christ. Psalm 22, 28. Psalm 22, verse 28. For the kingdom is the Lord's and he is the governor among the nations. He's the governor among the nations. He is the noble one coming out of them. It's important to understand that the description given of him is not applicable to any earthly ruler of the house of Jacob. It corresponds to him alone who is denominated as the Messiah, the Servant, David, and so on. All that messianic language that we find. So look at Ezekiel 34-24 and Ezekiel 37-24-25. Ezekiel 34, verse 24. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. Ezekiel 37, verses 24 and 25. And David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob, my servant. whereon your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever. So, in fulfilling all righteousness, obeying the law of God, suffering and dying for his people, making intercession for them, Christ approached unto God. In all of this, he's approaching unto God as our representative. What's the problem with man? Well, we've got a two-fold problem, right? First, we're creatures separated from the Creator, but by reason of the fall, we're sinful creatures. And so, as I've said on a number of occasions, it's like having two infinities, two infinite gaps that we have to leap over in order to get back to God. Well, Jesus comes into this world, takes upon himself our nature, and he is approaching God on our behalf. And he, because he is the eternal son of God, he can make that leap. He's taken our nature into union with this person, and he's able to walk that back and make that approach to God. Look at Psalm 24, three and seven. Psalm 24 verses 3 and 7, who shall send into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? Lift up your heads, O ye yeasts, and be ye lift up. The everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in. The psalmist is asking, after he declares the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and all of that, he says, who is it who's able to approach unto the Lord? And the answer implied is, I don't know. And then the psalmist says, ah, look, here's the Lord, the King of glory, the mediator. He is able to approach unto the Lord. So he's doing it in all these different ways. He's approaching. And it's by faith in him that the saints in early times, while they offered sacrifices by covenanting, Covenanting. Acknowledge the Lord to be their God. Psalm 50 verse 5. Psalm 50 verse 5. Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. So they're covenanting when they sacrifice. They sacrifice when they're covenanting. They covenant when they sacrifice. This is something that is very common under the Old Testament. What do those sacrifices represent? Christ and His sacrifice. When that typical and shadowy observance of sacrifice, when Christ comes into the world, that goes away. But is there something typical and shadowy about the covenanting part of it? No. Remember, covenanting ultimately is covered by that third commandment, right? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. That is controlling your speech, and in particular with reference to God. So it's by faith in Him that all to succeed them should in this manner avouch the Lord. We avouch Him by faith in Him. Look at Deuteronomy 26, 17, and 18. Deuteronomy 26, 17, and 18. Thou hast to vouch the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath to vouch thee this day to be his peculiar people as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments. It's faith. Faith. You're covenanting by faith. avouching, covenanting by faith. But that's not typical or shadowing. That's moral. Remember, it's a matter of natural moral law. It's a matter of natural revelation, if you will. This isn't something which is going to change with the coming of Christ. But it's something which is, in fact, because it's an inherently religious service, It is just like worship. We're commanded how to do it. When to do it, how to do it, and all of that. We talked about some of that. And we'll be talking about it more in the future. He's the way unto the Father, Christ. John 14, six. John 14, verse six. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Again, a lot of people are put off by this, but you need to remember Jesus is the one who made the exclusive claims. People who think, I like Jesus, but I don't like the church, don't understand what Jesus actually said about himself. He didn't say, I am a way. He said, I am the way, the truth, the life. There is no other way, there is no other truth, there is no other life. Christianity, according to Jesus, is exclusive. If you want to dispute the exclusive claims of Christianity, ultimately you are disputing with Jesus. So this idea that I like Jesus, I just don't like the church, that is something which has arisen, a notion which has arisen because people don't really understand what Jesus said. They have an imaginary Jesus, we can call it a false Christ. They like to believe in a false Christ, probably because they have false notions of God. They worship false gods. They believe in false Christs. But the true Jesus says it's exclusive. By Him, His people have access unto the grace wherein they stand. Look at Ephesians 2, verse 18. Ephesians 2, verse 18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. And while they profess faith in Him, by him they draw nigh in the full assurance of faith Hebrews 10 19 to 23 here's ten verses nineteen through twenty-three having therefore rather boldness to answer to the holiest by the blood of jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of god let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised Fourth point. Believers as a people who would covenant and fulfill their obligations were given the mediator in the everlasting covenant. In other words, when God gives believers, a people, to the mediator, he's giving them as a people who would covenant and would fulfill their obligations. He's not giving Christ a people who will not fulfill obligations. Again, the idea that you can be a Christian and be disobedient to God is oxymoronic. And people say, well, I'm not under the law, I'm under grace. So it doesn't really matter what I do, I'm under grace. That is not what the Bible's teaching. If you think that you can sin in order that grace may abound, Paul says, God forbid, that's not the case, it can't be. Those two things don't go together. Look at John 17, 6. John 17, verse 6, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world, thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Yeah, so, as a covenant people then, Not only do we have a number of the Jews, and not all of them, because not all Israel is of Israel, but there are elect, a remnant according to election, which are saved. As a covenant people to heathen, we're also given to Him for an inheritance, as we see in Psalm 28 compared with Deuteronomy 32.9. Psalm 2 verse 8. ask of me and I shall give thee even for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Deuteronomy 32 verse 9, for the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. So, remember he, in Isaiah 49.8, he was given his covenant for people to establish the earth. And how's he going to establish the earth? Well, it turns out he has been given the heathen for his inheritance. So not only when Christ comes, when he came into the world, not only did he come, although he went to the Jew first, he came also for the Gentiles. So the gospel is spread at that time outside of that narrow strip of land called Israel into all of the earth. It's going to the Gentile nations. If you're a Gentile, you have this declaration, you have as much right to the grace of God in Christ as any Jew. So the Apostles' interpretation of the prophet confirms this idea. Look at and compare Isaiah 8.18 with Hebrews 2.13. Isaiah 8, verse 18. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion. Hebrews 2, verse 13. And again, I will put my trust in Him, and again, behold, I and the children which God hath given me. I and the children which God hath given me. The Apostle in Hebrews says this passage from Isaiah is talking about Christ and the inheritance given him. The heathen are given him for this inheritance, or his children. The central promises of people who should discharge the duty of covenanting and other engagements of the covenant appear, for example, in Jeremiah 3.19. Jeremiah 319, but I said, how shall I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of the nations? And I said, thou shalt call me my father and shalt not turn away from me. Yeah, thou shalt call me thy father and not turn away from me. That's covenanting. Thou shalt call me thy father. It's taking hold of God by covenant. So how are they going to, these promised people, how are they going to be the seed and covenant people of God? They're going to take hold of the covenant. They're going to discharge this duty of covenanting and the other engagements. He received also the promise implying that a people in serving him should habitually take hold on him in covenanting. Again, it's Psalm 22, 30. Psalm 22, verse 30, a seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. So these passages then intimate that one of the reasons for which they were given to him was that they should obey God in taking hold of this covenant. Now, when I say that, let me be clear. They're not given to him because they would do this. They're given to him in order that they might do this, that they would take hold of God by way of covenant in Christ. Look at Hebrews 6, 17. Hebrews 6, verse 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. So God confirms everything by oath. Why? Because, again, what did I say earlier? The structure of that relation between creation and creature or excuse me, creation and creator, is covenantal. The arctic tonics of that relationship are covenant. It's covenantal. All right, so finally, the fifth point. The elect were chosen in Christ that in union to him they might perform this duty, including all that's implied in holiness. Look at Ephesians 1, 4 again. Ephesians 1 verse 4, according as He hath chosen us and Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. We're to be holy and without blame before Him in love. How are we to be holy? To be holy means to be separate. Separate from what? There's only one thing, ultimately, from which we can be separate in this world. And that is that old relation that was broken, that old covenant relation broken by Adam. We're gonna be separate from that. The only way to be separate from that is how? Take hold of the covenant of grace. There's only one of two places we can be standing. On Judgment Day, we're either in Christ or we're out of Him. We're either in Adam or we're in Christ. There's no other place. There's no middle ground. There's no halfway point. There are gonna be no maybes on Judgment Day. One or the other. It's binary. If you ever wondered why all of, in our digital age, one of the things that people have discovered is what? Transmission of all information is binary. Why? It's the way things really are. Ask some computer geek sometime why all transmission is binary. A very simple reason. Because they're mistaking. God isn't mistaking. It's not a joke. It's actually very clear. It's in the very fabric of the creation. Everything is telling them that they should return to God. That they've been alienated from Him by some fall. They may not call it the fall, but they know there's some catastrophe. They're in a state of alienation and they know it. They know it because they're having trouble understanding the clear, natural revelation. And the only way you would have trouble understanding something that's that clear is you have somehow fallen into some kind of distress. So it's in that spiritual union to Him, which was secured by their election and the gift of them in the everlasting covenant, that they discharge every duty. Look at Jeremiah 31.3. Jeremiah 31.3. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. So the spiritual union to Christ has been secured by their election. The election gives Christ a legal right and that legal right he exercises on their behalf. But they don't receive the benefit of what he's doing legally until they believe. Until there's been a shift in belief. They need to believe. Thus it was because of the sovereign love of God that his church was chosen and united to Christ in the character of his covenanted spouse. Look at Ephesians 5, 31 and 32. Ephesians, let's see, Ephesians 5, 31 and 32. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Speak concerning Christ and the church. Why? They're in covenant. There's a covenant. It's a covenant relation. The consequence of that love then, which is manifested even by the infliction of chastisement, being branches of him, he is the true vine. They are purged that they may bring forth more abundantly those fruits of righteousness among which stands the act of taking hold on God's covenant. Look again at John 15, verse 5. John 15, verse 5. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Without me ye can do nothing. What do you need to do? You need to take hold of that vine by faith. You need to be grafted in. You don't take hold of that vine physically, but spiritually. It's a spiritual reasoning. These fruits, by the way, These fruits of righteousness include not merely the obedience of the life, but the homage of the heart expressed by the lip. For by the lip, fruit is brought forth when God's name is called upon in vowing and swearing to Him. We'll look at Hebrews 13.15 and discuss that a little bit here. The fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name giving thanks the underlying Greek word is is a form of homologu which is from homologos which is is talking about oneness of mind right but this is the verbal expression of oneness of mind is giving thanks and i've talked about the importance of of joint confession why we have confessions and creeds and so on in the church it's really the result of this functioning of one mind there's really one mind at work It's the mind of Christ in the church, the work in the church. Giving thanks, then, this homologo, giving thanks or this confessing by the lip, we already saw earlier in one of our studies, this is another way of expressing the idea of covenanting. So there's this idea here, then, of covenanting. There's this objectification of this righteousness when we covenant. That internal disposition to obey is brought forth, it's made external, either personally or corporately. So the elect are chosen to salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth, consequently to covenanting, as well as to every other act in which faith is exercised. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. For we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Yeah, if God has chosen us to sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, and covenanting is in fact an act, an exercise of faith, then he's chosen us to that as well, right? He's chosen us to do that as well. At the same moment that the divine powers put forth in order to your conversion, both union to Christ and the faith which recognizes that union are at once vouchsafed. So when you believe, the moment you believe, you're converted, union to Christ and the faith to recognize that you're in union with Christ, that faith is exercised at that point. And so both things, there is this subjective, objective, recognition of what has happened. This is why people, by the way, when you're older and you're converted, this is why people tend to have what we call conversion experiences. You have a sense that there's been some shift. Not always, but a lot of times. It depends on how radical the disconnect. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, 12 and 13. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 and 13. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. So therefore the faith of the believer is exercised by him resting on Christ as the one foundation laid in his Zion. Look at 1 Peter 2, 6-10. 1 Peter 2 verses 6 through 10, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I land Zion, a cheap cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So when you believe, you're taking hold of that covenant which Christ has laid foundationally in the church. that everlasting covenant of redemption. And reposing on him, the believer habitually takes hold on the covenant of God instead of a refuge of lies. Everything changes, right? You take hold of the covenant of God. Prior to this, you were taking hold of a bunch of lies. When you believe in Christ, that stops. There's a change. You have a renewal of mind, metanoia, you repent, you have a change of mind. So instead of a refuge of lies, a covenant with death and hell, all of that is swept away. Isaiah 28, verses 15-18. Isaiah 28, verses 15-18. Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death and with hell, are we in agreement? When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. So by faith in Christ, there is a transference. When Adam breaks the covenant of works, all mankind, descending from him by an order of generation, now find themselves in a covenant with death and hell. When you believe in Christ, that changes. Everything changes. The ground shifts. All that comes to an end. You put away your idols, you turn away from the lies. Again, the Greek word for repentance, metanoia, is to have a change of mind, to turn your mind around. Because, again, the choice is binary. It's either Adam or Christ. You're either fallen in Adam or you are alive in Christ. There's no other choice. I know it seems that way when you look at the marketplace of ideas and religions and all of that, but you have to understand, really, everything other than Christianity, real Christianity, is one of many permutations on the religion of Adam. in broken covenant, by the way. Not the original covenant with Adam, but they're all attempts to reestablish what Adam lost without the mediator. That's why Jesus makes such a big deal about saying, I am the way, the truth, the life. So it's the glory of God, then, that Christ is confessed. And remember, to confess is to covenant. It's a word which has a connotation of covenanting. Look at Philippians 2 verse 11. So it's in union to Christ As a true foundation, this is done. Colossians 2, 6 and 7. Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. So I want to end on this note here, on this point. The glory of God as a strength is spoken of as being founded upon the confession or the covenant of his people. I want to look at Psalm 82 and also it's quoted in the New Testament, Matthew 21, 16. Excuse me. Read both of those. Psalm 8, verse 2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest distill the enemy and the avenger. Matthew 21 verse 16, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never read? Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. Yeah, and the Hebrew here, ordained strength, literally means, and the word is yasad, it means to lay a foundation of strength. So how is a foundation of strength laid? out of the mouth of babes and sucklings. It's out of the confession that a foundation is laid and the glory of God, the declarative glory of God is tied to this, which means if a foundation is laid through confession, it's laid in covenanting. The declarative glory of God is greatly augmented then through this public social covenanting of the church. That's where there's divine power and majesty, there's glory. It's Psalm 96.6. Psalm 96.6, honor and majesty are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Strength and beauty, beauty can also be translated glory, strength and glory. Again, what glory is in his sanctuary? It's the glory, the declarative glory, that arises from the confession of the people of God. It happens in praising God. It also happens in confessing the true religion. As with one voice, it also occurs in covenanting. All the ways we use our mouths to glorify God, including covenanting, oaths and vows. Those are laying foundations of strengthening the declarative glory of God. So resting on the one foundation as a temple to the glory of God, the church then engaging in the act of confessing Him and covenanting, and otherwise keeping His covenant, will therefore realize the promise. Look at Isaiah 46, verse 13. Isaiah 46, verse 13. I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. I will place salvation in Zion, that is in the church, for Israel my glory. God's declarative glory is being expanded through the confessing and or covenanting of the church and people of God. So when we believe, you believe in your heart, you do what? You confess with the mouth. Jesus is the Lord. What are we doing? Jesus is the Lord. What does that mean? We are affirming God's right to rule over his creation. We are confirming our subjection to his right to reign over us, and we're doing so in the context of his mercies. We know that we can't be saved through all of our acts of obedience, but we do know and understand, and we should understand, that our acts of obedience are all conducive to augmenting his declarative glory. the increase of His declarative glory. And formally, that is done best through the praises of the people of God, through their creeds and confessions, but especially through public social covenanting. the church or the nation covenants. We see this going on. Next time what we're going to do is we're going to look at this idea of public social covenanting then and we're going to look at the different administrations of the covenant of grace the Bible talks about and how this is tied in with them. and see what we can observe in all of that. See what changes and what remains the same. So we can learn a little bit more about public social covenant.