The CHRISTMAS COVENANT-I—Jeremiah 31:31-34
God informed Jeremiah & Jeremiah the people, of the promise of a new covenant to supplant/fulfill/uphold/empower the ineffective covenant.
God’s people have the promise of an effective covenant.
What is the Christmas Covenant?
Why is the promise of a differing covenant encouraging to God’s people?
5 elements/encouragements concerning the covenant people of God.
The covenant people of God are promised...
Heb. 10:12-23—“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, & in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins & their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new & living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, & 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 & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
1—The Christmas Covenant is...
A PROMISED Covenant(:31a)
Explanation:(:31a; :33a)Anticipated
:31—“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel & with the house of Judah--”
:33—“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, & write it on their hearts; & I will be their God, & they shall be My people.”
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when”-&-“after those days.”
Bkgd.—At the writing of this prophecy, Israel & Judah are separate entities. Both Israel & Judah had been under the same covenant, which will be considered “old”(antiquated in some sense) in relation to that which is yet future. This “new covenant” is a promise from the God of Israel, the need for which was amplified by Israel & Judah’s division(brought about after Solomon’s death between Rehoboam & Jeroboam—1Kgs. 12:1-33).
The LORD God promises that there will come a future occurrence of great spiritual significance for Israel. There will be “a new covenant” to effectively replace the ‘old’ covenant? This new covenant will be made with “the house of Israel” as well as with “the house of Judah.”
The LORD God promises that there will come a future occurrence of great spiritual significance for Israel.
“Coming”—awb bow’—Qal Participle Active—1) To go in, enter, come, go, come in; 1a) (Qal)--1a1) To enter, come in, 1a2) To come—1a2a) To come with, 1a2b) To come upon, fall or light upon, attack(enemy), 1a2c) To come to pass, 1a3) To attain to, 1a4) To be enumerated, 1a5) To go. Strong—a primitive root; To go or come(in a wide variety of applications).
“After”—rxa akh-ar' OR--yrxa—Adverb/Preposition/ Conjunction/Substantive—1) After the following part, behind(of place), hinder, afterwards(of time)—1a) as an Adverb--1a1) Behind(of place), 1a2) Afterwards(of time); 1b) as a Preposition--1b1) Behind, after(of place), 1b2) After(of time), 1b3) Besides; 1c) as a Conjunction--1c) After that; 1d) as a Substantive--1d1) Hinder part; 1e) with other prepositions--1e1) From behind, 1e2) From following after. Strong—properly—The hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction--After(in various senses).?From—rxa aw-khar'—a primitive root; to loiter(i.e. be behind); by implication--To procrastinate.
Argumentation:
Lk. 1:67-75—“Now his[John the baptist] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, & prophesied, saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited & redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness & righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”
The ‘mystery’ of the Messiah(Christ) was ‘promised’ to Israel.
The ‘certainty’ of the Cross-work of Christ(Messiah) is held by faith.
Gen. 22:15-18—“Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, & said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, & have not withheld your son, your only son--“blessing I will bless you, & multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven & as the sand which is on the seashore; & your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.””
Gen. 28:13-15—“And behold, the LORD stood above it & said[to Jacob]: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father & the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you & your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west & the east, to the north & the south; & in you & in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you & will keep you wherever you go, & will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.””
Lk. 12:35-36—“Let your waist be girded & your lamps burning; & you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes & knocks they may open to him immediately.”
The response to the promise should be that we...
Song—African-American Spiritual—‘Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burnin’——
'?Well mother don't you stop prayin'
?Father keep right on prayin'?
Don't you stop prayin' for this old world is almost done.
??Keep your lamps trimmed & burning,?
Keep your lamps trimmed & burning,
?Keep your lamps trimmed & burning,
?For the time is almost done[drawing nigh]??
Brother don't you stop prayin'?
Sister keep right on prayin'
?Don't you stop prayin' for this old world is almost done.??
Keep your lamps trimmed & burning?Keep your lamps trimmed & burning?Keep your lamps trimmed & burning
?For this old world is almost done.
2Cor. 1:20—“For all the promises of God in Him[Christ Jesus] are Yes, & in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
Acts 1:1-5—“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do & teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days & speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
That “promise of the Father” upon which the disciples were to wait, is none other than the precious Holy Spirit of God, who upon His arrival would inhabit/indwell every believer & thus be their personal guarantee of God’s salvation!
Heb. 6:9-20—“But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work & labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, & do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith & patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, & multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, & an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure & steadfast, & which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
1Pet. 1:3-5—“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible & undefiled & that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Heb. 11:1-16—“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; & through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “& was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, & that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world & became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac & Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder & maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, & she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, & him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them & confessed that they were strangers & pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Illustration:
That “Promised” Covenant is ordained, ratified & sealed in & thru the birth/arrival/advent of Jesus(Savior), who is the Christ(Anointed) of God!
•The lights in our pastorium windows recall the Jews waiting for the Consolation of Israel, summed up in Simeon’s prophecy(Lk. 2:25-35).
•They also are reminders that Jesus is the Light...the Light by which we determine God’s standard or right & wrong...the true Light which represents God’s truth.
*Thereby lights play heavily into the Christmas celebrations of Christians.
Attending a Christmas party at a venue/A Valet service is there to ensure you car is parked properly/An attendant takes the keys to your car/You surrender control of your fine automobile to some ‘young buck’ who may take it for a joy-ride(for all you know) or mistreat it in other ways/A PROMISED Covenant
Tell someone that ‘Jesus is the answer’ to all their ills is sometimes met with contempt, mockery & derision/A PROMISED Covenant
One of our daughters needed the water pump replaced on her car/She & her mother called various car-repair shops where she then lived/She found one that would replace it for much less than some of the other shops/The ‘covenant’ undertaken between her & the shop is that her water pump will be replaced giving her car a longer life/Sometimes those ‘promises’ are not so wonderful when we read the fine print!/A PROMISED Covenant
Application:
?Is The Christmas Covenant your PROMISED Covenant?
?You living in Covenant with God thru His only-begotten Son?
CONCLUSION:
The Christmas Covenant is...
1. A PROMISED Covenant(:31a)
Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of these promises!
Pt.# 1 only! Presented 12/09/2018am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 2-5 Presented 12/05/2004pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
