Glorifying and Enjoying Our Covenant God
March 15, 2006
Pastor Matt Black
Midweek Service
1 Chronicles 16:15-17; 23-29
Discipleship: Let’s review our discipleship questions… (For our purposes you do not need to memorize the references.)
Q. What is the first commandment of God’s moral Law?
A. Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).
Q. What is the second commandment?
A. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (Exodus 20:4).
Q. What is the third commandment?
A. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain (Exodus 20:7).
Q. What is the fourth commandment?
A. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).
Q. What is the fifth commandment?
A. Honor thy father and thy mother (Exodus 20:12).
Q. What is the sixth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13).
Q. What is the seventh commandment?
A. Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).
Q. What is the eighth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not steal (Exodus 20:15).
Q. What is the ninth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not bear false witness (Exodus 20:16).
And now this week’s questions …
Q. What is the tenth commandment?
A. Thou shalt not covet (Exodus 20:17).
Catechism Question #1.
Q. Who is the first and best of beings?
A. God is the first and best of beings.
Catechism Question #2.
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. To glorify God and to love Him forever.
Introduction: Open your Bibles tonight to 1 Chronicles 16 and verse 15. Last week we learned that in order to glorify God, we must first enter into a covenant relationship with God. This one theme that runs through the Bible is the Everlasting Covenant that we have ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We cannot glorify or enjoy God until we have entered into that everlasting covenant with Him. So let’s look at what the Bible calls the “everlasting covenant.”
Scripture Reading:
1 Chronicles 16:15-17
Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; 16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; 17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.
As we come to these verses, we need to understand what a covenant is, so let’s first look at the words that the Lord uses for “covenant” in the NT and then in the OT.
I. The Definition of the word “Covenant”.
A. Greek word diayhkh (diatheke) dee-ath-ay’-kay
· The word covenant and testament are one in the same in the Greek. The word used in the Greek is: diayhkh (diatheke) which means a covenant, a compact, or an agreement with obligations.
B. Hebrew word tyrb (beriyth) ber-eeth’
· The Hebrew word tyrb (beriyth) ber-eeth’ means a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word _ beriyth _ is derived from a root which means "to cut," and hence a covenant is a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant.
· What a beautiful picture this is of Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is the ultimate picture of the everlasting covenant. It speaks of Christ pouring out his life as a substitutionary sacrifice and of that sacrifice being raised from the dead to sit on the throne of David. Look at Isaiah 42.
Isaiah 42:5-8 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 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; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Psalm 89:3-4 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
Acts 2:25-32
For David speaketh concerning him [JESUS OF NAZARETH], I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath [DAVIDIC COVENANT] to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
So a covenant is a pact between two people. We see many covenants in the Bible, but the one that draws them all together is this everlasting covenant which was “cut” in the blood of Christ.
Now that we’ve looked at the Definition of the everlasting covenant, let’s look at the duration of this covenant
II. The Duration of the Everlasting Covenant: Forever.
In our text this evening, we read in verses 15-17:
“Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; 16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; 17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant”
God says it is for a thousand generations. This is a metaphor for saying forever. He could have just as well have said a hundred generations or a million generations. The idea is that it is a covenant that is forever. It cannot be broken. But just so you see this is the case. If a generation is approximately 40 years, then God would be saying, this is a covenant for 40,000 years!
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Psalm 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Ezekiel 37:22-26 Speaking of God’s people, Ezekiel says:
24 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. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
III. The Distinctions of the Everlasting Covenant
It is clear that the old covenant that Hebrews speaks of is old, and the new covenant is new. One verse that clearly tells us this is
Hebrews 8:13, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away [BECOME OBSOLETE].”
What exactly is the Old Covenant here in Hebrews 8:13?
What is it that is vanishing away and becoming obsolete? Is it:
1. God’s covenant with Abraham? No. It cannot be. God’s covenant with Abraham is the everlasting covenant.
Look at Galatians 3:16
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
We see then that the Abrahamic Covenant was:
a) Made in Christ Not only was the promise regarding Christ but it was confirmed in him. But this covenant was confirmed in Christ. Certainly no one can alter this covenant. Man or God.
b) Made before the Sinai Covenant (the Law) Now notice the timing of this: it was confirmed in Christ 430 years before the giving of the law to Israel. Abraham obviously lived before Moses and the giving of the law.
c) Made to a thousand generations. So when the law came as it was revealed to Moses and Israel it could not and did not change God’s promise or covenant. And this is Paul’s argument. That is why this is the EVERLASTING covenant. It existed BEFORE Moses’ covenant, and indeed, existed before the world began!
Jesus Christ is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8 This is a covenant that was cut before eternity began!
Remember again the covenant God made with Abraham:
Genesis 26:4
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
And again:
Galatians 3:8-9
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
The everlasting covenant is that one made with Abraham.
Romans tells us what the old covenant was then,
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The thing that Hebrews tells us is obsolete is the LAW. No one is justified by the law, but by faith, just like Abraham.
Again
Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
How is Abraham “the father of us all” He is the patriarch of the everlasting covenant. The covenant to a thousand generations!
2. The Old Covenant is the Covenant made with Moses and the children of Israel at Sinai. This is the Covenant of the LAW. This is referring to all the ceremonial laws, and the cleansings and purifications. This is precisely what Hebrews chapter 9 tells us. Look at verse 1:
Hebrews 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
In fact, Hebrews 9:9 tells us that the Old Covenant: “was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
So we see that the everlasting covenant is the covenant of promise—made to a thousand generations. It is called the New Covenant because it is New in Jesus Christ. The old economy of forms and sacrifices and washings and ordinances has completely passed away. There is:
For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
IV. The Duties of the Everlasting Covenant
Look back at our text in 1 Chronicles 16:29
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Here we have our duties in Abraham’s covenant, the EVERLASTING COVENANT!
What are they?
29a Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name
1. Glorify God—this is man’s chief end. Every man must regulate his life. He has goals—he has an end. We are called to glorify God
I Pet 4:11. 'That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I
Cor 10:31 - 'Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'
Isaiah43:7b I have created him [man] for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
I Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
29c come before him; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness
2. Enjoy God
This is part of the glory we give to God, who counts himself glorified when he is loved.
LIVING IN HIS PRESENCE
To enjoy God is to live constantly before Him.
Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
LIVING IN HIS PASSION
Deuteronomy 4:5. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.
LIVING FOR HIS PURPOSES
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Conclusion: Are you in covenant with God? Is he your life? Are you enjoying Him and loving for ever? Are you among those who are the cloud of witnesses? We are in the same covenant with those of old. We come to the same conclusion as does Hebrews:
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Put aside sin, glorify God, and enjoy Him forever!
Closing Hymn: 9 I Love You Lord
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