Covenant Theology

Introduction to the Pre-Membership Class and Covenant Theology

0:03 The following message was delivered on Sunday, March 29, 1992, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. This is lecture number seven in the pre-membership class.

0:18 Now, for the sake of any who may be visiting with us for the first time this morning, we are conducting, in these days, a pre-membership class. And we are doing a little bit of pretending. We are pretending that everyone who is sitting here this morning is in the process of applying for membership to Trinity Baptist Church. And we are conducting the class with that end in view, to the end that we might all together benefit from considering those things which are essential to people who are contemplating joining the church.

1:00 And with reference to this membership class, we are considering various topics. The first was the subject of true conversion. The second, Christian baptism. And we are now engaged in the midst of considering the third topic, which is the distinctives of our church.

1:18 Because if someone is going to join the church, since we are a confessional church, then this person needs to know where we stand. And what are our distinctives, so they can intelligently and conscientiously, make a commitment to identify themselves with this congregation. Now, with reference to these distinctives, our church is distinguished by the fact that we adhere to the 1689 London Confession of Faith. And therefore, in five classes, we are considering the doctrinal distinctives of the 1689 Confession.

1:57 We considered the first last week, which said it stands confessionally committed to Orthodox Christianity. And we come to consider the second this morning, that we stand confessionally committed to covenant theology. Now, just a word as well.

2:17 In conjunction with this, there's a handout sheet entitled The Doctrinal Distinctives of the 1689. And if you're here this morning visiting, you would like to have a copy of this. They are available at the back and you may pick it up after the service this morning. Now, before we consider them this morning, we would like to have a copy of this. They are available at the back and you may pick it up after the service this morning. Now, before we consider them this morning, we would like to have a copy of this. They are available at the back and you may pick it up after the service this morning. The subject of covenant theology. Let us pray and ask for God's blessing upon our study.

2:42 Our father, we thank you for the privilege that is ours of studying your holy word together. We pray as we contemplate those distinctives of the Bible, which unite us as a congregation, that you would be pleased to send the Holy Spirit upon us and enlighten our minds and come in power and write the word afresh upon our hearts. To the end, our father, that we may be, more united as a church and more committed to those wonderful truths which are surely believed here in this place and that Jesus Christ would receive all of the honor and praise and glory as we grow in unity and knowledge and grace and we pray that these things that we learn would never be used as a means of puffing us up to think ourselves superior to others, but rather that they may be used unto edification and for your glory. For we. Ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

Reformed Baptists and the Structure of the Bible

3:44 Now, it has sometimes been said that there is no such thing as a reformed Baptist, and that's not possible. You're either a Baptist or you're reformed. You're either dispensational or you're covenantal. But there's no such thing as a reformed Baptist.

4:14 Well, to some, it is true. The concept of a reformed Baptist is inconceivable. It is a contradiction in terms. But our 1689 London Confession, a wonderful historic document, is proof that there is such a thing as a reformed Baptist.

4:36 It might seem strange or contradictory, but indeed we do exist. And we exist. Having a rich heritage from our forefathers and much could be said about this. And I assure you, I wrestled with what to say.

4:54 This is not a Sunday school class taught to the members of this church on God's covenant. It's not a Sunday school class taught to the members of this church on the 1689 confession. And it's not an academy class taught to the students of the academy. And I wrestled much with what to say, what not to say.

5:15 How to take these materials and present them to people who are just newly considering joining the church. And here you are, you're thinking about joining the church, and someone stands up and talks about covenant theology. And you wonder, what in the world is this man talking about? What possible relevance could such things as these have for me, who am a new Christian or have just never heard about all this theological stuff?

5:41 And you're just going to get me all confused. Well, it may be that. You're already all confused. And I hope not.

5:49 But my point is this morning, I'm going to attempt to be basic and fundamental. I have no intention of getting into deep theological details if I can at all possibly avoid it. And that is not going to be an easy thing to do with reference to this subject. So this morning, and I think here's another little bit of the pretense of the thing.

6:14 If, probably if I were really teaching a little group of people in a room somewhere applying for membership, I would throw away my notes, and I would simply let the people ask questions of things that confuse them. That's probably what I would actually really do. But I can't do that this morning, can I? So we'll teach the class, I trust, as simply as possible.

6:39 And I just want to say one thing. It is that the issue. Is the very structure. And the content.

6:51 Of the Bible. What unifies the Bible and makes the Bible. One. Whole.

6:59 Unitary disclosure from God to men. Well, it's evident, is it not, that you have one Bible. And yet the Bible is divided into two parts. Now, there's got to be some reason for that.

7:15 There's got to be some reason that we have. One Bible divided into two parts. Something must be regulating the structure of the Bible. There must be some concept or some idea or some set of concepts and ideas which explains why we have one Bible given to us in two parts.

7:32 That's a reality. Anyone that picks up the Bible has to live with it and face it. Why is it so? Well, I submit to you that we stand confessionally committed to the idea that the primary explanation for the fact that we have one Bible divided.

7:46 Into two parts, the Old Testament, the New Testament is to be found in the notion of divine covenant and that the covenants which God makes with his people are that which form the organizing principle of Scripture. And it is in that belief that you have the very essence and heart of covenant theology. Now, therefore, I want to talk about two things this morning to you. The first thing I want to do is I want to.

Fundamentals of Covenant Theology: Unity and Diversity

8:18 We open up the fundamentals of covenant theology. This is ABC. This is multiply, divide. This is not calculus, but this is ABC of covenant theology.

8:31 This is the ABCs, the fundamentals, the basis, the basic things. And then secondly, I want to show you, if I can, Roman numeral to some of the basic applications of covenant theology, covenant theology. Well, so what? What possible?

8:48 What possible difference does all this make? Well, I suggest to you that it makes a very important and profound difference. And it makes a difference with reference to the Bible, with reference to the church and with reference to the gospel. Now, that's where I want to go.

9:05 God willing, this morning, Roman numeral one, the fundamentals of covenant theology and Roman numeral two, the application of covenant theology. Now, with regard to the fundamentals of covenant theology, they are two. A, unity, and B, diversity. There is a unity.

9:24 You have one Bible with one fundamental theme, idea, and message. God gave us a Bible for a reason.

9:32 He gave us a Bible in order to teach us how to be saved from our sins. There may be many other things that are addressed by way of an ancillary concern or peripheral concerns for which the Bible was given to us. But there's one basic concern. There's one fundamental concern.

9:51 And that fundamental concern is to teach sinners how to be saved. That is the basic, central, unifying concern of the Bible. And that is what makes the Bible a unitary whole. And with reference to that, we may say this.

10:07 That there is only one way. There is only one method whereby sinners may be saved from their sins. That has always been true since the fall. It was true in the days.

10:19 It was true in the days of Noah and true in the days of Abraham and true under the Jewish law and true now when Jesus Christ has come and has founded the Christian church. From the beginning until now and unto the end when Jesus comes again, there has been only one way and method of salvation from sin. There is now only one way and method of salvation from sin. And there shall always be only one way and method of salvation from sin.

10:47 And the unfolding and disclosure. And proclamation and blessing of that one way and method of salvation. That's what the Bible, the one Bible, is all about. That's it.

11:03 And recognizing this basic truth which unifies the Bible, theologians have given a name. And we can debate till the cows come home whether we could find a better name. But theologians have given a name to this one way and method. Of salvation from sin.

11:25 And they have called it the covenant of grace.

11:31 They have given it a name. And they have called it the covenant of grace. Well, that's unity. With reference to diversity, you can see as well that the Bible is divided into two parts.

11:48 Why is that? Well, the reason is that God has in history, space and time. Made two distinct, but related, but two distinct covenants with his people. God in history, space and time has made two distinct, but related covenants with his people.

12:16 And these two distinct, but related covenants are the old covenant and the new. Covenant. The old covenant and the new covenant. And in association with God making the old covenant with his people, God has given us an entire body of revelation.

12:38 And that entire body of revelation from Genesis to Malachi is called the Old Testament. And in association with making this new covenant with his people, God has given us an additional body of revelation. From Matthew to the book of Revelation. From Matthew to the book of Revelation.

12:55 And this additional body of revelation joined to the old one is called the New Testament. And there are only two bodies of revelation. Not seven or any other number. Only two.

13:12 Why is that? That is because God has made in history, space and time two distinct covenants. There's not just one covenant with the people of God. That's wrong.

13:27 There are two distinct covenants made with the people of God. Divine covenants. Related, yes. But two.

13:38 Now, in that, you have the explanation for the progression, progress and diversity that is found in the Bible.

13:50 And it has been a difficult thing for theologians and for the church to be able to piece together this unity and diversity. There's a. Tendency to err on pressing the unity at the expense of the diversity or on the other hand, the tendency to err by pressing the diversity at the expense of the unity that we as reformed Baptists stand in a confessional commitment to uphold and to proclaim and defend both the unity and the diversity that is found in the word of God. There's the unity of what is called the covenant of grace.

14:26 That is that there is only one way. And one method of salvation since the fall. And there can only be one way. And there is the diversity of divine covenants.

14:35 That is that there are two distinct covenants made with the people of God, the old covenant and the new covenant. And that we do not live under the old covenant, but we live under the new covenant.

14:52 And so then there is the unity and the diversity. Now, what I would like to do this morning is to show you. Not only from. From our confession of faith, but also from the scriptures that we as reformed Baptists and as a reformed Baptist church stand committed both to this unity and also diversity.

The Unity: The Covenant of Grace (Universal and Particular Aspects)

15:13 OK, well, let's look, first of all, at the unity that there is only one way and method of salvation from sin. I'm going to read from the 1689 Confession of Faith, the 1689 Confession of Faith, Chapter seven. Now, if you have a hymn book. You take out the hymn book and it is a kind providence that here in the 1689 Confession of Faith, Chapter seven, the reformed Baptist copied almost word for word from the from the Westminster Presbyterian.

15:50 So if you look on page six hundred and seventy six and six hundred and seventy seven, you'll find the distinctions and also you'll find the places where the reformed Baptist copied from. The Presbyterian, so it's not exact, but for the most part, on page six hundred and seventy six and six hundred seventy seven, you can see essentially what the London Confession of Faith says. Now, in terms of opening up this one way of salvation, the first thing that I want to address is I want to open up the substance of the one way or method of salvation. What is this one way or method of salvation from sin, which has existed since the fall? And if you look at page six. Six hundred and seventy seven in the Westminster Confession, Roman numeral three, man by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second commonly called the covenant of grace, wherein he freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved and promising to give unto all those that are ordained. And.

17:13 To eternal life, his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe everybody have that in the back of your handbook. You do most of you. Yes. All right.

17:23 OK, now let me read you that. That was written by the Presbyterians of the Westminster Assembly. Now, let me read you what the reformed Baptist wrote in sixteen seventy seven and then published in sixteen eighty nine.

17:37 Moreover, man having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall. It pleased. The Lord to make a covenant of grace, wherein he freely offer it unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe verbatim free close. There's only one different little difference in punctuation.

18:16 But. Other than that, it's the same. The same in terms of the substance of the one way and the one method of salvation. Now, the reformed Baptists also take this this view on the covenant of grace, that there is no other way and there never has been any other way that a person can be saved, except through this one way and method of being saved from sin.

18:45 The. The reformed Baptists say, now, this is not found in the Westminster Confession. I'm going to read to you what they say about this in the next paragraph of the London Confession. This covenant of grace or this way of salvation is revealed in the gospel first to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman and afterward by further steps until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament.

19:15 And. It is alone by the grace of this covenant that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality, man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in the state of inocency. In other words, there is no other way to be saved and no one was ever saved any other way except by the grace of. This way and method of salvation.

19:51 Now, let me then open up what this method is. And basically, this method of salvation can be seen to have two aspects or two parts or two dimensions. First of all, you can see in this a universal aspect or a universal dimension. And then secondly, you can see in this a particular aspect or a particular dimension.

20:17 First of all, there is a universal aspect and see how this is put. It says that the Lord was pleased to make a covenant of grace wherein he freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved. This has been called the free and indiscriminate offer of the gospel wherein he freely offers. To.

20:47 Sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, who are the recipients, the recipients are sinners indiscriminately. He freely offers unto sinners men who are lost men who need to be saved. They are freely offered what they are freely offered salvation and life. And what is the condition or what is required of them?

21:16 They are required. To believe and their understanding of belief would indicate that it's not possible to believe without repenting, even as it's not possible to repent without believing. But their emphasis is upon the requirement of faith. There's an indiscriminate call.

21:35 The message goes out. Repent and believe the gospel. Come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you.

21:43 I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Jesus said to the Pharisees, these things have I spoken to you that you might be saved. The Lord said to Israel, why will you die?

21:59 Oh, House of Israel, for I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he turn and live. Turn ye turn ye. Why will you die? And him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out and whosoever is willing, let him come and take me.

22:19 Take the water of life freely. Whosoever is willing, let him come and take the water of life freely. Isaiah says, look unto me all the ends of the earth and be saved for I am God. And there is none else.

22:37 In the text, I was quoted Matthew 11, 28, John 5, 34, Isaiah 45, 22, Ezekiel 33, 11. And. Other passages, some from the book of Revelation, I think it's 22, 17 and other passages that are so abundant and filled with the free offer of the gospel. Matthew 11, 28, John 5, 34, Isaiah 45, 22, Ezekiel 33, 11, John 6, 37, Revelation 22, 17.

23:17 You see, if I took the time, look all these passage up that we wouldn't go any further this one. I can't do it. That's why I just I quote them to you because I don't I want you to understand that our faith does not stand in the words of men, even in the words of the 1689 confession. But it stands in the word of God.

23:37 And even this teaching of the free and indiscriminate offer of the gospel, though it may be something we like, yet we don't believe it because we like it. We believe it because the Bible says it.

23:47 And therefore, I quote those passages from Scripture. I don't turn. And this morning, but also notice this, that there is here in this method of salvation, there is also a particular dimension. If anyone believes this gospel and turns from his sins and embraces the free offer of the gospel, who gets the credit?

24:11 Is it man who gets the credit? Is it the church who gets the credit or is it God who gets the credit? Well, according to the Bible, the answer to that is very simple. It is God who gets.

24:22 It is God who gets all the credit. It is God who shares that credit with no one, not with the church and not with the sinner who believes.

24:34 If someone embraces this gospel and receives this free offer, it is because of God making the difference. Who make it the different God and God only. It is all of God and it is all of grace. And therefore, to God be all of the glory.

24:54 And notice. Notice that the writers here also stress this in the particular dimension or a particular aspect to God's way of saving sinners. Notice it says not only after the phrase requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved. Then the confession goes on to say and promising to give to all those that are ordained to eternal life, his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe.

25:25 He. Doesn't give his Holy Spirit to everyone. To make them willing and able to believe this is not universal. It is particular.

25:34 Well, to whom does he give his Holy Spirit? He gives his Holy Spirit to all those that are ordained to eternal life. The writers quote Psalm 110 in verse three. Thy people shall be made willing in the day of thy power.

25:50 And the writers quote John six in verse forty four. No man can come to me. Except the father which sent me. Draw him.

26:02 And it's implied very clearly in Romans eight and verse seven, which says on the carnal mind is enmity. Did I say that right? Enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God. Neither can it be so that they that are in the flesh and not please God.

26:24 You're in the flesh. You cannot please. God. There is enmity between you and the law of God and between you and God and for you to be saved.

26:39 It must be God who takes the initiative and who takes out the heart of stone and who replaces it with a heart of flesh. See, this is implied even in the initial promise of salvation given in Genesis three and verse fifty. It was absolutely standing now. Where he says, I will put an enmity between the and the woman and between thy seed and her seed and he shall crush the head and thou shall bruise his.

27:19 If anyone comes to be at odds and enmity with the Devil. It is God who put it there. It is not man fallen man who made the difference. It is God who created it.

27:36 And God must take the initiative. If anyone is to be delivered by the devil through Christ and his work, it is because God is at work putting enmity between the devil and men and between the devil's children and God's children. It is God who creates that division because only God could create it because men could not do it themselves. And God even says in the text that he will not do it for every human being because he says he will put enmity between the devil and the woman and between the devil's seed, Cain, and all of the other wicked, and the woman's seed, Abel, and all of the other righteous. And it's implied in this that there will be some human beings who continue to be in a state of sin and aligned with the devil as long as the world continues. And other human beings who will come to be in a state of grace. And who's going to make the distinction?

28:39 Who's going to decide? God. It's God's decision. He is the author of this division.

28:48 And if it were not for God, everyone would continue in their sins.

28:54 And so you see these two aspects. The first, universal, the free offer of the gospel. And the second, particular, the sovereign, regenerating work of the Lord, by which men come to embrace the gospel. And this is the only way that people are ever saved.

29:16 And this is called the covenant of grace. The free offer of the gospel and the secret, sovereign, regenerating work of the spirit which enables people to believe that gospel. That's called the covenant of grace. That's the only way of salvation.

29:29 It's the only way that will ever exist. And it's that which is progressively revealed. It's implied even in Genesis 3. And then Paul says, The gospel.

29:39 It was preached afterward to Abraham. He makes that statement in Galatians 3a. And then, you know, Isaiah preached it very clearly. And then, you see, it came to the apostles to unfold it in its most clear and full expression and disclosure.

29:56 But there is yet only one way, only one method of being saved. And it is called the covenant of grace. You say, you keep saying this over and over. And over and over.

30:13 Yes. Indulge me this repetition this morning. Have I been tediously repetitious in the other classes? No.

30:21 Why are you doing it this morning? Because, if I'm wrong, forgive me. But because this is a subject of more confusion than perhaps any other topic considered among the people of God.

30:37 But it really is very simple. If you say it over and over and over. Do you think you could say that if you had to? That there is only one way and method of salvation.

30:49 And what is that one way and method called? The covenant of grace. And what does that one way and method include? It includes a free offer of the gospel and the sovereign regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

31:01 And it's important. You don't have to be a theologian to know that. In fact, you ought to know that. You ought to understand that basic unifying thread and theme of the whole Bible.

31:11 You say, well, you're talking. To us, like, we're pre-membership. And we don't even know. Well, what can I say?

31:19 You're right. I am. But I'm supposed to.

The Diversity: Two Distinct Covenants (Old and New)

31:24 Now, let's talk about diversity. I must move quickly. I must move quickly.

31:30 Jeremiah chapter 31. Beginning in verse 31.

31:39 There's also diversity. Diversity is found in the fact that there are two distinct covenants made with God's people.

31:50 One way of salvation. Progressively unfolded. Indispensable. Indispensable for salvation.

32:00 And yet, two distinct, though related, covenants made with the people of God.

32:08 Now, although these distinct covenants are not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the 1689 Confessions that I can find. I've gone through it a number of times trying to find it. The closest thing that I can find to this subject is found in chapter 19. Now, it's implied everywhere, but it's never explicitly stated.

32:30 The closest thing is in this section where they're speaking about the law and the gospel. It's another very important part of the confession. The transition from God's people being under the law to God's people being under the gospel. And it speaks about the moral law given in the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.

32:49 And then we read this in chapter 19 in paragraph three. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws. Then he describes the importance and the purpose of the ceremonial laws. All which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation.

33:15 The people of God undergo a time of reformation.

33:24 And it says these ceremonial laws are by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and only lawgiver. Abrogated and taken away to them. Now, it speaks about the judicial or civil laws to them. He also gave sundry judicial laws which expired together with the state of that people.

33:52 Now, there's a time of reformation, a time of reformation in which the ceremonies and the civil statutes written in the book of the law expire. Together with the state. The state of that people, the people of God undergo a fundamental change in history, space and time in conjunction with the coming and ministry of Jesus Christ. But what is that change?

34:17 Well, that change is exactly the transition from being under the old covenant to being under the new covenant. And what is at the very heart of that reformation and change is that God, in conjunction with the person and work of Jesus, reforms his people. And what is at the very heart of that reformation and change is that God, in conjunction with the person and work of Jesus, reforms his people. By making a new covenant with them.

34:40 Now, they are distinct and yet they are also related. Let me show you the basis for this from the word of God. Turn please to Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah chapter 31.

35:00 We read beginning in verse 31. Behold, the days come, Seth Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant. 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.

35:41 Seth, the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts and in their heart will I write it. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them, saith Jehovah.

35:59 For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin will I remember no more. Hebrews 8 and in Hebrews 10, this passage is quoted by the writer to Hebrews, indicating that the time of the new covenant had come. But notice that there is a distinction between the old covenant and the new covenant. They are not the same covenant, are they?

36:23 Can you conceive that they are the same covenant based upon this text? Does it not say a new covenant? Does it not say not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers? Notice when was the old covenant made?

36:37 It was made with their fathers in the day that he brought them. He brought them out of the land of Egypt. That's when it was made. When is the new covenant made?

36:46 He says it will be made after those days. It can't be the same covenant. It wasn't even made at the same time. The old covenant was made in conjunction with redemption from Egypt accomplished and giving them of the land of Canaan.

37:01 Redemption and inheritance. The new covenant is made in conjunction with redemption accomplished, yes, but not redemption from Egypt. Redemption from sin accomplished. And inheritance given, yes, but not Canaan, but the inheritance of the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the down payment of heaven, which is given to the people in conjunction with the accomplishment of redemption from sin.

37:28 Now notice that Jesus taught that the new covenant was brought to pass and fulfilled in conjunction with his life and ministry is abundantly clear. If you turn with me, please, to the...

37:42 Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 25.

37:59 1 Corinthians 11, 25. In like manner also the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. The Lord's Supper is the token or sign or emblem of the new covenant.

38:24 It was instituted when? In conjunction with the accomplishment of redemption from sin when he went to the cross. So you have a new covenant instituted. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

38:42 In conjunction with the coming of Christ, the new covenant is instituted and the sign of that new covenant, the token of that new covenant is the Lord's Supper. Now, here I have about 12 minutes left wrestling back and forth. I'm going to do it. I'm going to try it.

The Reformation of God's People: Pruning, Re-covenanting, Engrafting

39:04 I'm going to erase these things. I'm going to try to show you because it says this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. How can it be made with the house of Israel and yet you have the Lord's Supper associated with it? Those people in Corinth that were eating the Lord's Supper, they weren't Jews, were they?

39:27 Well, how could that be? Well, I told you there's a relationship between the old covenant and the new covenant. There's a time of reformation, a reformation of the people of God and this reformation takes place in three distinct phases. First, you have pruning,

39:45 the first phase. The second phase, you have re-covenanting and then in the final phase, you have engrafting.

40:01 Before, you have Israel under the old covenant. Jewish Israel under the old covenant. What happens? Here comes John and Jesus and they preach and a community is formed and the apostle says that every soul that did not in Acts chapter 3 and verse 23, Luke records that every soul that does not hearken to that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.

40:36 There's a pruning. Apostle Paul, Romans 11, verse 17, speaks about them being cut off.

40:44 They were cut off.

40:49 There's a pruning.

40:53 Everyone who does not believe is cut off and you have the remnant of Israel which remains. Everyone who rejects Christ and rejects his message, the whole unbelieving Jewish nation is cut off from the people of God. Jesus said this in Matthew 21 and verse 43, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Matthew 21 and verse 43.

41:25 John comes and preaches baptism and repentance. Jesus comes and preaches baptism and faith and all the faithful, all the faithful come and are identified with John and Jesus and the unbelieving are cut off from the people of God. The reformation involves pruning. But then with this pruned Israel he makes a new covenant.

41:48 There is the Lord's Supper.

41:51 There is his death, his resurrection, the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There is the Lord's Supper. There is the Lord's Day.

42:02 There is the gift of the Holy Spirit. All of this given to Israel when the new covenant is formed with the house of Israel. Pruned Israel. Prepared Israel.

42:16 But nevertheless Israel, the people of God. They are given a new covenant. They are given a new inheritance.

42:25 The Lord's Supper is instituted among the people of God. But then something else happens. There is an engrafting. And it is this third phase.

42:38 There is an engrafting of Gentiles into Israel.

42:47 Apostle Paul writes of this. He says, you were once strangers without hope, without God. Strangers from the people. A covenant from the commonwealth of Israel.

42:58 Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 11 and following. And in Romans 11, 17 and following he talks about them being grafted into the people of God. And in 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 he says, you were no people. Now you are the people of God.

43:14 And what you have left after this engrafting is you have Christian Israel under the new covenant. So there is a unity. There is a connection. And you have these three phases.

43:31 You begin with Jewish Israel under the old covenant. You have the pruning, the re-covenanting, the engrafting. And then you wind up with Christian Israel under the new covenant. But it is the same people of God.

43:44 It is the people of God reformed

43:47 under a new covenant that God has made with his people.

43:54 Now I submit to you we could study this for quite some time. As far as the biblical basis for the pruning phase, look at Acts, Acts 3.23, Romans 11 and verse 17.

44:06 As far as the biblical basis for the covenanting phase, I could give you many passages, but if you look at 1 Corinthians 11, verse 25, look at Galatians 3 and verse 14 and other passages. The engrafting phase, Ephesians 2, 11 and following, 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10, Romans 11, 17 and following. You have in the person and work of Jesus Christ the mighty, wonderful, reformation of the people of God. So when it says this is the covenant I'll make with the house of Israel, recognize we are the house of Israel.

44:41 That we are the house of Israel, Christian Israel under the new covenant. We are the people of God.

Practical Implications for the Bible

44:50 Now let me then come to, quickly then, I have about six minutes remaining. Let me come to consider some of the practical implications of these things. Practical implications of these things. I've tried to show you today the fundamentalist, the fundamentals or the foundations of covenant theology.

45:08 The first, that there's only one way of salvation from sin. And the second, that there are two distinct covenants, related covenants, related in more ways than I've said here today. But two distinct and related covenants made with the people of God. The old covenant and the new covenant which determines the structure of our Bibles into two parts.

45:28 Now let me just show you that. The old covenant, you have the, the, the, the, the history of the old covenant community beginning in the book of Genesis. Then you have the experiential life of the old covenant community beginning in the book of Job. And then you have the outlook, the hope of the old covenant community beginning in the prophets and taking us all the way through the end of the Old Testament.

45:50 And that's, that's the substance of our, our Old Testament. The New Testament, you have the formation of the new covenant community in the, the Gospels and Acts. You have the apostolic oversight of the new covenant community. And the Pauline and Catholic epistles.

46:06 And finally, you have the hope of the new covenant community, the future expectation in the book of Revelation. And so indeed, this is the way our Bible is structured. But now, let me just say then with reference to this, regarding the Bible, the Church, and the Gospel. Regarding the Bible, this is the way our Bible is structured.

46:24 It's what, it's what causes our Bible to be structured the way it is. And if it is true that we are the people of God, then listen, the whole Bible is written for you. It's not just that the New Testament is for you. You're the people of God.

46:40 And there's a unity. You are Israel, but under the new covenant. And the whole Bible is written for you. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, that these things were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come.

46:57 He must recognize the tremendous value of the Old Testament. The tremendous value of the Decalogue. That the law of God is not done away with in the New Testament. The new covenant is not the doing away of the Ten Commandments, but the writing of the Ten Commandments on the heart.

47:14 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days. I'll throw the Ten Commandments out. No, I will write my law on their hearts. That's the new covenant.

47:26 That's the glory of it. There's a unity between the old and the new. They hated God by and large. And they hated God by and large.

47:34 And they hated God And they hated His commandments because they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears. But He's going to have an Israel, Israel under the new covenant, which won't hate Him and hate His commandments, but which will love Him and love His commandments as a people and do them from the heart.

47:52 So the Old Testament is of tremendous value for us. And we must recognize that in the book of Proverbs and in the prophets and in the Psalms, you find the experience of the people of God. You find the experience You find the practical wisdom of the people of God. You find the hope of the people of God.

48:10 And you find in the Pentateuch, you find wisdom and equity, integrity, and justice in the general principles articulated in those laws.

48:21 We may not be bound to keep the dietary laws of the Old Testament, but we sure can learn from them. We may not be bound to follow the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but we certainly can learn from it. All Scripture is given by inspiration and is profitable. And man, we shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, not just the New Testament.

48:43 And there will be something radically defective in your Christianity sooner or later if you despise and neglect the Old Testament.

48:52 Every word. And so you don't read the Bible thinking, well, this is for the Jews, this is for the church, this is for the kingdom age. You don't read the Bible that way. But there's a unity of the Bible.

Practical Implications for the Church

49:04 And the whole Bible is given for our benefit. But it's also teaches us something about the church as well. The purity of the church. The perpetuity of the church.

49:16 The place of the church with reference to the purpose of God. With regard to the purity of the church. They shall all know me. The church is Christian Israel under the New Covenant.

49:27 It's a very important part of it. It is the ecclesiastical kingdom of Christ on earth. He has his millennial kingdom in heaven, but he has his ecclesiastical kingdom here on earth. And that Israel or that New Jerusalem, it spans heaven, and earth.

49:40 We have the king in heaven and we have his spirit here on earth. And therefore, only believers ought to join this Israel of God. Only believers ought to be in it. For they shall all know me from the least to the greatest of them.

49:57 That's the distinction, the distinguishing trait of this community. And their law, I will write, my law, I will write upon their hearts. So no one has any right to be identified with Israel under the New Covenant unless he has the law written on his heart and unless he is a believer. And this will keep us committed to the purity of the church.

50:19 But it will also give us a view of something of the glory, a high churchmanship. It is not that the church is going to end in failure and be done away with. No. But under the New Covenant, God has ordained his glory through the church to all generations.

50:35 Therefore, we read in our confession that every Christian is responsible to join the church. And if you have difficulties in the church and you have problems in the church, you don't just become cynical and write the church off so that church is a failure and you have nothing to do with it and start some other organization. But you patiently try to work those things through because although we are not a glorified and perfect church, yet we are a church which God has written the law upon the hearts of his people under the New Covenant. And therefore, the basic fundamental path of the church is one of evangelical obedience and obedience.

51:11 And shall continue to be until Christ comes. And we need to approach our church life with that optimistic, realistic, but optimistic perspective. We must not become cynical or apathetic with reference to the church and think that, well, the church is just going to fail like Israel did and go back to ungodliness and write it off. Don't take that attitude.

51:37 If you're going to come into the church, you need to be committed to this kind of perspective, not a cynical one on church life.

51:47 Furthermore, with reference to the place of the church, you understand now the church is Israel. Well, you say, what about national Israel, the Jewish people? What are they? Well, I think of them, you look at this situation, you take this out, what's left?

52:06 But what you have is like a donut with a hole out of it. See that? That's missing. That's gone.

52:14 And what you got left is the outcome. It's the outer rim of that donut.

52:18 And that's not the people of God.

52:23 The people of God is right here.

52:27 The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation. Now, God's able to take these folks from the outer rim of the donut and graft them back in Him, back into the people of God. But we ought not to be preoccupied with Middle East politics, thinking that that's God's dealings with the people of God. We ought not be preoccupied with the charts and prophecy all associated with Israel after the flesh.

52:50 No, brethren, they were, they were broken off. They were broken off. Yes, God's able to graft them in again, but they were broken off. They were broken off.

53:01 And the kingdom of God has been taken away from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Whatever happens in Middle East politics has nothing to do with God's dealings with His people. God's dealings with His people has to do what happens in God's dealings with Israel now under the new covenant. God's people are not under the old covenant anymore.

53:24 God's people are now under the new covenant. And those that rejected that have been cut off. That's the reality. And that's a very important perspective with which we view all of life.

Practical Implications for the Gospel and Concluding Prayer

53:37 That's the so what. Finally, with reference to the gospel, I see that time has gone. Just mention this briefly. And that is, if we take these things to heart, that we will be concerned for all those that are lost, that there is no other message, no other hope for any who are under bondage to Islam or any other false religion.

53:57 There is no other way for anyone ever to be saved except through this gospel of Jesus Christ. And then we should recognize with reference to this both man's responsibility and God's sovereignty in the spread of this gospel. And we must seek to do whatever we can by God's grace and enabling to have part in the bringing and proclaiming of this gospel to all of the families of the earth. Yet recognizing that God is sovereign and giving the privilege of gospel light to whom he will and when he will.

54:33 Well, those are the implications, basic, brief implications concerning the Bible, the church, and the gospel. May God be pleased to write these things upon our hearts and keep us by his grace committed to them. Let us pray.

54:53 Our Father, we thank you for your holy word which you've given us. Thank you for the one way of salvation which you have opened our eyes to see and given us ears and a heart to embrace it. Thank you for the privilege of living in the days of the new covenant. The privilege of living not under the law of the Old Testament, but for the privilege of living as part of the church of Jesus Christ.

55:18 We pray that you would grant to us a delight in these privileges and help us also, our God, to work out these things in a way that would honor and glorify you and in a way that would be marked by the grace of your gospel in our dealings with others. Help us to take these things to heart in all of our thinking and practice, respecting your holy word, the Bible, and respecting our life and involvement in the church, respecting our efforts to spread and to bring the gospel to every creature. For we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.