Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
HomeSermonsCovenant Renewal

Covenant Renewal

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Opening Scripture: The New Covenant

Open your Bibles. We’re going to look at three scriptures. I want to read three scriptures and then we will talk about… Do I need to dismiss anybody? I do. Well, you know, it might be good if the kids hear that. We’re talking about the Supper, it’s important. Hebrews 8. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry. He, of course, is Jesus, inasmuch as he is also a mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises. Now you know the book of Hebrews, the whole design is to show the superiority of Christ to the old priesthood, the superiority, of the new covenant to the old covenant, right? The superiority of his sacrifice to the old animal sacrifices. So, new covenant, better covenant. Why a new covenant? He tells us here. For if the first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, he says, behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant. By the way, you see the word Lord there? It’s all caps, right? Adam McCartney, what does that mean? You know it, we talked about it in class. Do I remember? Who knows? Who in my Bible class knows? You’re not in my Bible class. Where’s Adam Vaughn?

Where’s Jasmine? Jasmine, what is… Where are you? Bible class. I get it. Okay, Lord all caps. I don’t have my notes. Okay, anybody else in Bible class? Allison? No, no, no. Yes. Yahweh or Jehovah. Very good. Give it up But for our Bible scholar over there. So when you see Lord all caps, it is a way that we say Jehovah.

Or Yahweh is probably the way that Hebrews said it. Okay. Got that? I thought you don’t know that. Okay. Okay, behold, the days are coming says Jehovah, what I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Judah. Why am I going to make a new covenant? He says, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them says the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says Jehovah. I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, No, Jehovah, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. In that he says a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Second Corinthians chapter 6.

Starting in verse 14, Paul says, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness. And what accord is Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you, or some translations, we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. And I will father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now go to the book of Luke. Let’s see, chapter 22.

Luke chapter 22. This is what’s called the Last Supper, the Last Passover, the first communion, we call it. It says in chapter 22 of Luke verse 19, and he took bread and he gave thanks and he broke and gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. So when we take the Lord’s supper, Jesus tells us to do this in remembrance of him, and we’ve talked over the past few months at different times when we’ve taken the supper about what are we remembering? We remember God’s love, we remember Christ’s Atonement, we remember a lot of things, because the Supper is the gospel, in a way, acted out.

And the central message of the Supper, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his work. But when we take the supper, we are engaging in a covenantal, and I stress that word, a covenantal ritual.

And so today I want to speak briefly about the covenant, about the new covenant and what it means.

And here’s why. One author said this. He said, the design of this solemn ordinance is to cherish and cultivate the graces of the Christian.

God would have us grow better by the ordinances he has established and become stronger in faith and more meek and holy and happy by being at his table. Amen.

But then he says, it’s very unfortunate for us if we do not gain these benefits. It is a sad discovery which the Christian makes when he finds himself no stronger in grace year after year. How mournfully the thought comes over his heart when he reflects time after time, I have been at the Lord’s table and it is all lost upon me. Communion season after communion season has passed away and I have made no advances.

My dear friends, these seasons ought not to be lost upon us. They ought to increase our Christian virtues and prepare us for more fidelity and delight in the service of our Master, and more composure and joy when our Master calls us home. Probably the great reason why we are not more profited by these solemn occasions is our inadequate ideas of the ordinance we celebrate. We are apt to have very imperfect conceptions of the nature of this sacrament, and therefore it does not hold over us the strong influence it might do. Hence to correct this evil, we must correct our conceptions. We must enter into the nature of the ordinance. We must put it into our hearts what we are doing when we come to the table of the Lord.

Good word, amen.

What We Are Doing at the Table

what are we doing when we come to the table of the Lord? Well, let’s talk about the nature of the covenant. First, the meaning of the word covenant, it literally means to cut or to divide.

And this is why it’s not uncommon to talk about people striking a covenant or cutting a covenant because it alludes to the practice that when a covenant was made in the ancient world, an animal of some kind was sacrificed, was struck, was cut, literally, and those pieces were divided. so you would lay the part of the carcass on one, [audio unclear] a covenant. Let it be done to me if I break the covenant. This is why we talk about entering into a covenant. Because as the pieces were laid side by side, you would enter, if you will, and you would walk through the pieces, and so you entered the covenant. So we know that the slain victim of our covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ, amen?

And we enter into covenant with God through the sacrifice of the Son.

But in every covenant there are parties and there are privileges and there are obligations.

The parties of this covenant are clearly God on the one side and his people on the other.

Very simple. But what are the provisions? What are the obligations? When we enter into a covenant, we’re making an agreement. What has God agreed to do? And what are we agreeing to do? What have we agreed to do? Now, this could take us weeks and weeks to unfold the fullness of the meaning of the covenant. So today I can only give you a very cursory overview . But I hope it’s helpful as we take the Lord’s Supper today.

God’s Part: Provision and Presence

First of all, what is God’s part in the Covenant? Two words sum up God’s pledge in the Covenant.

You ready? Two words. Remember these words. provision and presence. Provision and presence. God has pledged himself to provide for his people. Okay.

And what does he provide? He provides atonement. He provides forgiveness. Back in Hebrews, our first text we looked at, if you want to turn back there for a moment we’re going to look at a couple again. Back in Hebrews it says in chapter 8 verse 12 as one of the terms of the covenant, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. So on his part God has covenanted to forgive our sins and to remember them no more. Amen.

This is what we call justification, where God justifies us and He gives us, He not only forgives and pardons our sins, but even better than that, He gives us, we learned from Romans and elsewhere, the very righteousness of His Son is imputed to His people.

So we now stand righteous before God. I didn’t say sinless, I said righteous. And standing in righteousness means that you stand before God, not condemned. Not condemned. Because your sins and lawless deeds have been remembered by Him no more. There’s no judicial punishment for the Christian sins because He has been justified.

God writes His laws into our heart. This is regeneration. Look here, we’re still in Hebrews 8, in verse 10, He says, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts.

What makes the new covenant so glorious is that God gives us His Holy Spirit, and the things that God requires of us, He actually puts into our minds and our hearts to do them. That is, through His Holy Spirit, He changes our inner disposition, He changes our will, He enlightens our mind, He inflames our affections, and so He turns us toward obedience and holiness through the work of His Spirit inside of us. This he has promised to do. He works in a, says Paul, says, to will and to do of his good pleasure. Thirdly, God gives us relationship. Relationship. Notice he says here in verse 10 of the same chapter, after saying he’ll write his law in our hearts and minds, that I will be their God, and they will be my people. Or as it says in 2 Corinthians 6, I will be their father and they will be my sons and daughters.

So God permits us and not only permits, but promises that on his part, if we enter into covenant with him, that we can enter into a personal relationship with him. We can, he will then be our God And we will be his people. We will know him. Or as it says in. Second Corinthians, which we read, that he will walk among us. He will be in our midst. And we know from John 14 that the Lord is not only among us and around us, which he is, but he is sent the comforter, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in us. And there is no more intimate relationship that one can have with another than that the believer has with God through Jesus Christ.

And of course this relationship results in the knowledge of God. And this is the ultimate blessing of the covenant. So he says in verse 11, None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord. Why? For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. How will they know me? Because I have put my spirit in them. I have written my law in their minds and the hearts, so they will all know me. You know, there are not two kinds of Christians, those that know the Lord and those that don’t. I mean if you’re saved and you’re really saved, you know the Lord. And if you’re not saved, you don’t know the Lord. It’s really that simple. If you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God in you because you must have His Spirit. Because the Word of God says that if we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of His. We don’t belong to Him. We have to be born again or regenerated by His Holy Spirit, or otherwise we’re not in His family. We’re not His children. We’re His creation. He cares about us. He might love us, but we’re not in His family. He is not our Father, and we cannot say, I am His child, unless we are born again of His Holy Spirit. Amen? So, God on His part will forgive us all of our sins, He will justify us so we stand in grace, He’ll give us new life, He’ll write His law into our hearts, He will give us a relationship with Him so that we can have the knowledge of God which is the ultimate blessing that anyone could receive because in His presence the fullness of joy. the fullness of joy is knowing God. And I have to say, we evangelicals talk very glibly about having a relationship with God, very glibly. And I think often do not appreciate what God has offered us in allowing us to know Him, to truly know Him. Because knowing Him is the source of all the joy, the peace, the security, and the love that every human heart is looking for. It’s found in Him.

Our Part: Faith and Obedience

What is our part? Now, you know, if you unpack what I just said about God’s part, there’s a whole bunch more there that we could talk about. But time doesn’t permit. But what is our part? We can sum up our covenantal part in two words. Faith and obedience. Faith and obedience. God’s is what? Provision and presence. Ours is faith and obedience. Go to Hebrews 10 for a moment. So after the author of Hebrews talks about of the New Covenant, he, before the end of Hebrews then, begins to talk about the application, the practical application. So he says in chapter 10, verse 19, which is really the beginning of the conclusion of this book in terms of application, after laying out the superiority of Christ, the superiority of his priesthood, the superiority of his sacrifice, the superiority of the new covenant. Now he says in verse 19, therefore, now we’re going to, what’s the application? What do we do? Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is 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 confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. The fundamental response in the New Covenant is one of faith and dependence on God.

Everything is based upon the response of faith. All that I’ve said about the blessings of the covenant, of God’s part, of his forgiveness, justification, regeneration, relationship, knowledge of God. All of this is only accessible to you if you believe. If you do not believe, none of this benefits you. None of it. It It doesn’t make it not true. It just means it’s not real in your life. Faith is the key that unlocks the treasures of heaven. Faith is the means by which we embrace the promises of God. Faith is the means by which we walk with the invisible God. Faith is the means by which we know Him. And apart from faith, it is impossible to please Him. So faith is the fundamental response. When God promises to us He will be our God. When God promises to us that He will forgive our sins, the response is one of faith. We must believe and embrace the promises. [audio unclear] He supports us here in 10.22 to draw near, to enter in to the relationship that God has offered to us in the covenant.

God has through the work of Jesus Christ, He has made the way, His sacrifice has atoned for our sins.

And when we take the element, we’re recognizing that because we break the bread, His broken body, the wine is poured out, His shed blood. We’re saying, this is the way in. This is the way to know God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ because He has removed the barrier of our sin. He has removed the barrier of our guilt. So now we can enter in. And this is not simply figurative language. This is a real entering in to relationship, and a real entering in to communion with God as your Father.

Amen?

Community: Bound Together to the Father

A third aspect of our covenantal response is community. Notice here that the author, after he exhorts us to enter in to the Holiest, which really means to enter into relationship and communion with God. He then immediately talks about our relationship with one another. And he says in 24, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. In the new covenant, we are bound to the Father, but we are bound together to the Father, the Son, because we are the church and we are the bride of Christ.

And so we are not just bound as individuals to Him, but we are bound as a community to Him. And so we need to realize that our relationship with God and our relationship with our brothers and sisters are bound up together. Okay? Jesus, the word of God says, is in the midst of his church, walking in the midst of his church. Jesus’ spirit is in his people. And Jesus says, as I do to the least of his brother and I do to him. Those are very profound words if you pause and think about it, that how we treat others, how we treat our fellow Christians of the reflection of how we treat the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 6, which you read earlier, let’s go there for a moment. Paul highlights the Lord’s presence in his church, and he says in verse 16, 2 Corinthians 6, 16, what agreement has the temple of God with idols for you or we are the temple of God? What is a temple for? A temple is a place where the presence of God dwelt. He is saying we are the place where God dwells. Now isn’t God everywhere? Yes. But God manifests His presence in His church. Are you hearing this? I mean, think about this. He manifests His presence in His church because we’re the temple of the living God. And he says, I will dwell in them and walk among them. And I will be their God and they will be my people. I will dwell in them and walk among them. And in Revelation 2, Jesus says, I am the one who walks in the midst of the golden lampstands.

And we know the lampstands are his church, the various churches. So Jesus is walking in this church. Jesus is present in this church. Jesus is here today. Why is this so important? Because God is in our midst. On his part, that is part of the covenantal promise and provision that he will give us his presence. On our part, we need to value that presence, amen?

Recognize that presence, not grieve that presence.

And we need to understand that the Lord is not just in the midst of His people, He’s in His people. And thus, this gives us a very high view of the church. And we need to stop saying, I love Jesus, but not the church. Jesus is in His church. No more going to church and not being the church. Amen? I believe that if we truly saw with the eyes of faith, we would transform our relationships.

Separation, Holiness, and Self-Examination

If we truly believed what the Word of God says, if we truly believe that Jesus dwells in my fellow Christian, And as I treat them, I treat him. But part of our new covenant obligation to God is that. It’s how we treat one another because he is walking in the midst of his people. He is in his people. And his people are his temple, his sons and daughters. Lastly, on our part, the last thing we need to do is separation and holiness.

Here in 2 Corinthians 6 it says in verse 17, Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear or reverence of God. Come out from among them. This is a call to separation from compromise. from compromising with the world, from fellowshipping with the world, from living like the world. Now it doesn’t mean you come out in the sense that you can’t go to work tomorrow, although you probably wish you couldn’t. I mean, you’re never around unbelievers. They work sometimes on the ball field, excuse me, various community events. Some of your siblings are not saved, some of your other relatives are not saved, and so you have fellowship, you have some form of community with the unbeliever. That’s not what Paul is talking about. Paul is talking about the need to come out from living like a pagan. Don’t live like the world. If you’re a Christian, we are called to be separate from the world. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We are called to be separate from the mindset of the world, separate from the customs of the world, separate from the values of the world, because we are We are a people set apart for God, a place where God can dwell and [audio unclear] we sing about a lot, but we don’t hear it talked about much. Holiness is not preached much these days. Success is. Prosperity is. Happiness is. Victory is. What about holiness?

We’re told in Peter, Be ye holy. Why? Says the Lord. Because I am holy. If you’re going enter into relationship with me, then my goal is to transform you. So that you and I are alike. God wants to make us. And if we’re truly saved and have his spirit, he’s in the process of making us like himself, making us holy. But that’s not something that’s simply done We have to engage. We have to labor. This is why Paul says, cleanse yourselves. Well, can you really cleanse yourself from sin? Well, yes and no. In one sense, no, because apart from the Holy Spirit, you cannot get victory over sin, right? But if you’re a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit. You have the Word. You have the Church. God has given us all of the means of grace by which we can have victory in our lives. I mean victory in a sense of holiness. Victory over sin. And so we’re called to cleanse ourselves. This means being in the Word, being in prayer. It means being discerning about relationships. It means cutting off, maybe sometimes cutting off relationships. It means breaking certain habits. It means getting victory in your life, not living like the world. As we take the supper today, what we are doing, what we are doing is we are re-ratifying the covenant. Every time that we take it, we’re pledging anew to our terms of the covenant. We’re saying we believe that that God has entered into covenant with us, and God is offering us his provision and his presence. That God is offering us forgiveness and justification, sanctification, his Holy Spirit, relationship, all of these things we’ve talked about. That God is offering these to us in the covenant, and we’re saying, by taking the bread and the wine, we’re saying, I will receive these things from God by faith. I believe these things. I believe that God did the work of Jesus on the cross. I believe that Jesus atoned for my sins. I believe that I am justified before God. I believe that I have a relationship, a true relationship with God because this Holy Spirit dwells in me. I believe this. I have faith in God’s promises. But faith is only part of it. We’re ratifying our obedience. We’re saying I will separate myself from the world. I will not live like the world, but I will live as God’s child. I will seek to be holy in my life. You know, it is much better. It is much better for you if you have uncertainty about your covenantal standing before God.

It is much better for you to not take the supper than to take the supper falsely.

It is better for you, if you know in your heart that you’re not a Christian really, it is better for you to say, I’m not a Christian, than to take the supper unworthily.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting you are not fit to take the Lord’s Supper. But there’s certainly something wrong to take it unworthily.

And so, this is why we’re exhorted in Corinthians to examine ourselves as we take the supper, whether we are in the faith. And the way you examine yourselves is not to remember you prayed a sinner’s prayer ten years ago. The way you examine yourself is to look at how you’re living. That’s how you examine yourself. And so if you’re living in such a way, which you don’t want to do that. Right? It’s better to work out your stuff, then when your heart’s right, Then you take the supper because you’re taking it sincerely. Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying you have to earn the right to take communion. This is not a works thing. This is an integrity thing. This is an honesty thing. You hearing me? It’s not, OK, when you’re good enough, you can take the Lord’s Supper. No, because on God’s part, the covenant is a covenant of grace. But the covenant goes both ways. It’s not just what God does for us, It’s what we also covenant back to him. And so if you are not sure that you’re saved, then don’t take the supper and no one’s gonna judge you for that. Don’t do it because everybody around you is doing it. Because if you’re not saved, the supper is not for you. It’s for those that have already entered into the covenant and they’re going to re-ratify the covenant when they take this supper. That’s what it’s for. It’s not for you. And if you’re living in such a way that your profession contradicts your lifestyle, then I would encourage you to consider not taking this supper either. Now if you determine in your heart today that you want to walk in the ways of the Lord, then you’re welcome. You’re more than welcome. And trust me, in ourselves, none of us are fit to take the supper, amen? So don’t hear this as legalism because that’s not what I’m saying. But I do think we need to be a little more circumspect in this matter because Paul tells us that if we take the supper unworthily, we are drinking damnation to ourselves. Okay? Pretty strong words. So as you examine yourselves and as you contemplate the covenant, the question is, will you receive what God offers you by faith?

And then will you also fulfill your obligations? That’s one of the things we are remembering today. Are you hearing me? I’m not preaching law. I’m preaching gospel. The gospel is free, but it’s not cheap. And we don’t want to cheapen it, do we? We don’t want to cheapen the blood of Jesus that we shed for us. So we need to, all of us evaluate ourselves, and I’m sure if you really take a few moments to reflect on your life, you’ll think of something, something is going to convict you. And you confess your sins before God, and He forgives you. That’s His part. The confession is our part, right? But if you’re not sure you’re saved, don’t take the supper. If you really know in your heart, you’re really not interested in walking in the covenant relationship with God. You have no intention of your life matching your profession, then don’t take the supper. And I’m saying that not because I’m shunning you, I’m saying that because I care about you. Because to take it unworthily is bad for you. It doesn’t hurt me. It hurts you though. So it’s out of concern for you.

Closing Prayer

So let’s stand together. Thank the Lord for His Spirit. Take a few moments to reflect. We can in our hearts renew our covenant with the Lord. Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your shed blood and broken body. We thank you you’ve made a way to the Father, that we can enter into the holiest of all through your work on Calvary and through the work of your spirit in our hearts.

I pray for all of us, Lord, as we take a moment, we ask that you would examine our hearts, help us to properly repent, move us, Lord, to solemnly renew our commitment to you, [audio unclear] To embrace your promises and to obey your commands.

To love you, to walk in your ways, to be separate from the world.

We thank you for your part that you condescend to dwell with us and in us.

Thank you, Lord, that you are here today. Bless the elements to our souls. We ask in your name.