The CHRISTMAS COVENANT-VI—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.
*OR beyond the Christmas season--‘The covenant people of God are encouraged with...’
We had found earlier that The Covenant People Of God Are Encouraged With(The Christmas Covenant is)...
1. A PROMISED Covenant(:31)
2. A NEW Covenant(:31)
3. A UNITING Covenant(:31)
4. An INVIOLABLE Covenant(:32)
5. A COLLECTIVE Covenant(:33)
6—The Covenant People Of God Are Encouraged With(The Christmas Covenant is)...A RELATIONAL Covenant(:34)
Explanation/Argumentation:(:34) Personal/Communicative
:34—“No more shall every man teach his neighbor, & every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, & their sin I will remember no more.””
“No more shall every man teach his neighbor”
This tells us that the old covenant—in place at the time of Jeremiah’s writing—required that “every man teach his neighbor, & every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’”
Israel’s relationship to God was not so much experiential & conversational as is that of Christians thru the Holy Spirit....
...Israel’s relationship to God was largely limited to ‘mental’ agreement & committal. And that ‘solely mental’ agreement was & is(if unaccepting of Christ) limited in it’s scope, to decisions of the flesh...flesh that was/is unguarded/uncountered/untempered/unbalanced by the Holy Spirit!
*Without the Holy Spirit’s leading, you are merely ‘playing games of religion’ with yourself & others! In such games there is no certainty, security or comfort!
1Thess. 4:9-12—“But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; & indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more & more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, & to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, & that you may lack nothing.”
That was & is written to the Church...To those who have the Holy Spirit indwelling them & never leaving them throughout their lives. The promise...The anticipation, prior to Christ’s coming, is that we will no longer need to be taught by anyone other than God Himself. Yet the mere presence of Paul’s statement in 1Thess. is a teaching moment is it not?! He is ‘reminding’ the Church about what they already know. he is also reminding them that knowledge of God is ever available thru relationship with God!
“No More”—al lo’, awl low’, hl loh(De 3:11) or wl—Adverb—1) Not, no—1a) Not(with verb - absolute prohibition), 1b) Not(with modifier - negation), 1c) Nothing(substantive), 1d) without(with particle), 1e) Before(of time). Strong—a primitive particle; Not(the simple or absolute negation); by implication--No; often used with other particles.
“Teach”—dml law-mad'—Piel Imperfect—1) To learn. teach, exercise in—1b) (Piel)--To teach. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To goad, i.e. by implication--To teach(the rod being an Oriental incentive).
“Neighbor”—er ray'-ah OR--eyr ray’-ah—Noun Masc.—1) Friend, companion, fellow, another person—1a) Friend, intimate, 1b) Fellow, fellow-citizen, another person(weaker sense), 1c) Other, another(reciprocal phrase). Strong—An associate(more or less close).?From—her raw-aw'; a primitive root; To tend a flock; i.e. Pasture it; intransitively--To graze(literally or figuratively); generally--To rule; by extension--To associate with(as a friend).
“Brother”—xa awkh—Brother. Strong—a primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship & metaphorical affinity or resemblance [like ba awb(Father)]).
“ ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me,”
*The New Covenant promises something vastly greater than a mere rational grasp of God’s existence....It promises involvement in a relationship with God. NOT a knowledge about God but rather a knowledge of God! An expanded degree of partnership based on personal intimacy.
This new covenant clarifies ‘heart’ assent/agreement rather than mere ‘mental’ assent alone.
As God’s law becomes centered & settled within the minds & hearts of God’s people, at least one requirement under the old covenant will cease. Namely that here will be no need to “teach” one’s “neighbor” & “brother” to “Know the LORD.”
This is because “all” who are included as ‘new’ covenant keepers, will “know” YaHWeH. This knowledge speaks of a personal & individual walk with the covenant-cutting God... a personal & individual walk which is largely missing by the old covenant.
The New Covenant supplants that former aspect of ‘outward’ teaching & knowing about or of God, & replaces it with ‘internal’ teaching & knowledge of God.
Jn. 14:26-27—““But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, & bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
There is great & constant peace which remains thru one’s personal relationship with God.
This ‘mystery’ of God is unfolded in Christ!
With the New Covenant God’s ways are not so much ‘learned’ as ‘experienced’ thru direct communion/interaction/socialization with God Himself. It is not so much ‘doing’ as it is ‘living.’
If you are currently comfortable with an ‘action only’ or ‘appearance only’ relationship with God, then you will always sense a personal weight of guiltiness that will never go away. Your reasons for doing what you do are simply worked by your physical ability to ease your comfort, attempting to keep the guilt at bay.
*That personal weight of guiltiness will NEVER go away, UNTIL you trust Jesus absolutely/completely/totally!
Keeping the Law provided for man a learned, mental, & thus somewhat distant relationship with God. “This horizontal relationship was performed by the mediation of the priest & by the proclamation of the prophets. It was designed around certain people who were ordained to represent the rest of the people in the presence of God. There was no lasting representation of one before the LORD on a personal basis.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
“With Christ one has individually been given the power to present himself before God because Jesus intercedes for us on a permanently continual basis. A participant in the New Covenant can therefore, approach God with confidence & boldness because [Jesus is] his eternal High Priest.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
The New Covenant has its focus on an immediate spiritual knowledge. For the participants in the covenant, there will no longer be the need to teach each other to “know the LORD” as in the Old Covenant. With those on whom He placed His Spirit, the relationship was a more sporadic event, i.e., the Holy Spirit could be taken away at any time & the intimacy with the Lord broken. They did not have a heart to know God [collectively]. There was no intimate union with God as we have in Christ. The present participants are, instead, taught directly by God on a continuous basis which cannot be changed. One can still refuse to listen to the teaching of the Holy Spirit but, once one becomes a participant in the covenant, he immediately has the access at any time to an intimate knowledge of God’s will. Along with this immediate, intimate knowledge, the covenant participant is immediately & simultaneously under the Lordship of Christ.— BS JerE.#2, C21-52
The New Covenant specifies “the manner in which God’s guiding directions would be mediated.” “Fallen human nature rebels against bowing to external demands or threats to obey. Those under the New Covenant will obey God, not out of duty or fear, but out of a [relational] God-given desire & ability to do so.” “the Mosaic law required the people to teach the law to their children.” “Having the law written on one’s heart is” “a matter of” “transformed attitudes & behavior.” Such results in “not just the knowledge of the law but the knowledge of the Lord” Himself by faith.—NAC
“The knowledge spoken of here is not a mere “theoretical knowledge” or mental assent attained thru “religious instruction.” “It is rather [a personal]knowledge of God based on a heart experience of divine grace & imparted by the Holy Spirit with assurance that the believer has been received into the family of God thru the forgiveness of sins.” “It affords a clear apprehension of God & His will by believers without human mediation. God will be known instinctively & his will performed spontaneously.” “This [new]knowledge Does not militate against or render unnecessary religious instruction.” “All will have their own experience with God without resort to others.”—EBC
“Know”2X—edy yaw-dah'—Qal Imperative—To know, perceive, discriminate, etc. 1a) (Qal)—1a1) To know—1a1a) To know, learn to know, 1a1b) To perceive, 1a1c) To perceive & see, find out & discern, 1a1d) To discriminate, distinguish, 1a1e) To know by experience, 1a1f) To recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, 1a1g) To consider——1a2) To know, be acquainted with, 1a3) To know (a person carnally), 1a4) To know how, be skillful in, 1a5) To have knowledge, be wise. Strong—a primitive root; To know(properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically & inferentially(including observation, care, recognition; & causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.).
“from the least of them to the greatest of them,”
“The New Covenant cannot be misused in the way that the Old was because it is not dependent upon a specific geographical location & outward tradition & ritual. It will be an everlasting covenant for all people who align themselves with the LORD. This alignment comes in true repentance & a faith in the LORD. The New Covenant was given in Christ Jesus for all who will align themselves with Him in trust & faith.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
“The New Covenant cannot be twisted” as with the old covenant “because the Lordship of Christ is an immediate action. In the Old covenant, God’s word was manifested externally but with the New Covenant, everything is internalized [& individualized].”
“God’s Law will issue forth out of Zion but that same Law will be incorporated in the New Covenant participant’s very being, so that he must still acknowledge Christ’s Lordship.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
God’s Law is promised to & now has been, written on the hearts of ALL God’s people.
God’s ‘law’—His word or revelation(written, oral, heart, or conscience driven)—is thus a pivotal & crucial means of knowing about Him & is thereby inherent to our knowing Him personally & following His desire.
This new relationship with God will cut across all lines of separation(societal, status, class, gender, geography, language, etc.).
Jn. 6:45—““It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard & learned from the Father comes to Me.”
Mat. 11:27—““All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, & no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, & the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Jn. 17:3—““And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, & Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
1Jn. 2:27-28—“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, & you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, & is true, & is not a lie, & just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence & not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
“Least”—Njq kaw-tawn'—1) Young, small, insignificant, unimportant. Strong—Abbreviated, i.e. Diminutive, literally(in quantity, size or number) or figuratively(in age or importance).
“Greatest”—lwdg gaw-dowl'—Adj.—1) Great—1a) Large(in magnitude & extent)---1b) in number, 1c) in intensity, 1d) Lou (in sound), 1e) Older(in age)---1f) in importance. Substantive—1g) Great things, 1h) Haughty things, 1i) Greatness. Strong—from ldg [gaw-dal']; Great(in any sense); hence, Older; also--Insolent.
“For I will forgive their iniquity, & their sin I will remember no more.””
The New Covenant will manifest itself “in an immediate forgiveness of sin. The Old Covenant required sacrifices which were done on specific times of the day & year. The sacrifices themselves were specified for specific sins & if they were not performed in the correct manner, the sins they were designed to cover, went unforgiven. Sin in general could not be atoned for except once per year by the designated high priest.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
“The offering of sacrifices could never accomplish the actual cleansing from sin” & so they became a constant ‘reminder’ of the sin.—BS JerE.#2, C21-52
“The New Covenant participant has immediate access to the forgiveness of sin through prayer. This forgiveness occurs by means of the Holy Spirit & through the mediation of Jesus Christ. Combined with the intimate knowledge of God’s will, the participant has at his/her disposal, the ability to fully realize his/her sins & to be forgiven them immediately upon their confession.”—BS JerE.#2, C21-52 That confession is accomplished either inwardly or outwardly in response to Jesus our High Priest.
If you come from a Catholic persuasion, there is no need for confession being something you bring to the priest. Such action does the very same as the Old Covenant! Nor does one pray to or thru the virgin Mary the ‘mother of God.’ Christians have direct access to the Father in & thru Christ!
The forgiveness needed & received is that required for personal “iniquity”(twisting truth). Not only will our perversions of God’s truth be covered(“forgiven”) but “sin” in general will also be forgotten by the LORD.--(When one “remembers” something, He pays special attention to it, reacting to the remembrance appropriately).
Regardless of status, all people stand in need of forgiveness. Having iniquity forgiven & sin forever forgotten will be the determining & distinguishing factor for partakers of the New Covenant & thus the new ‘nation.’
In the New Covenant, “sin” will no longer be capable of condemning the child of God!
Col. 2:9-15—“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; & you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality & power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses & the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities & powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Jer. 33:8—“‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, & I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned & by which they have transgressed against Me.”
Jer. 50:20—“In those days & in that time,” says the LORD, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.”
Acts 13:3:38-39—““Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man[Jesus] is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; & by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.””
Eph. 1:3-10—“Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom & prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven & which are on earth--in Him.”
Heb. 10:15-23—“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.”
Ps. 103:8-14—“The LORD is merciful & gracious, Slow to anger, & abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
Rom. 6:13-14—“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, & your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Gal. 3:13-14—“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Rom. 9:6-8—“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”
Rom. 11:26-27—“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.””
“Forgive”—xlo saw-lakh'—Qal Imperfect—1) To forgive, pardon—1a) (Qal)--To forgive, pardon. Strong—a primitive root; To forgive.
“Iniquity/Wickedness/Wrongdoing”—Nwe aw-vown'—Perversity, depravity, guilt or punishment of iniquity. Strong—Perversity, i.e. (moral)Evil. From—hwe aw-vaw'—a primitive root; To crook, literally or figuratively.
“Sin/Sins”—hajx khat-taw-aw'—1) Sin, sinful; 2) Sin, sin offering—2a) Sin, 2b) Condition of sin, guilt of sin, 2c) Punishment for sin, 2d) Sin-offering, 2e) Purification from sins of ceremonial uncleanness Strong—An offense(sometimes habitual sinfulness), & its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also concretely--An offender.
“Remember”—rkz zaw-kar'—To remember, recall, call to mind. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To mark(so as to be recognized), i.e. To remember; by implication--To mention; also(as denominative from rkz zaw-kawr')--To be male.
Illustration:
A child who does his father’s will has a close, intimate, personal relationship with his father/That relationship grows & matures as the child grows/Our relationship with God our Father grows & matures as we grow in knowledge & intimacy with God thru faith that is settled in Christ Jesus/RELATIONAL Covenant
You can know what your child(ren) really desire for Christmas only IF, you have a loving, growing, conversational relationship with them/It works the other way around as well/RELATIONAL Covenant
I can tell you about my Daddy & you can learn about him from me/But you did not & cannot know my Daddy/I knew Him in a way that you did not because I lived with him, spoke & listened directly to him, & first-hand experienced his responses to me & others of various relationships to him/I ‘knew his heartbeat’ as it were/RELATIONAL Covenant
“It was very hard to accept the fact that my individual known sins had been forgiven but I knew they would be if I confessed them. There was, however, an immediate removal of the burden of my sins. I had felt the burden of my sins prior to salvation. I recognized the problem of the sin itself because I was not able to remove the guilt of those sins on my own. The New Covenant holds tremendous power in its immediacy that makes me certain of my standing before God.”—B. Sherman JerE.#2, C21-52
Application:
?Are The Covenant People Of God Encouraged With(The Christmas Covenant is)...your RELATIONAL Covenant?
?You living in Covenant with God thru His only-begotten Son?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
The Christmas Covenant is...
6. A RELATIONAL Covenant(:34)
1. A PROMISED Covenant(:31a)
2. A NEW Covenant(:31)
3. A UNITING Covenant(:31)All In
4. An INVIOLABLE Covenant(:32)
5. A COLLECTIVE Covenant(:33)
The arrival of the Christ Child(Christmas) anticipates the fulfillment of these aspects of the New Covenant!
Pt# 6 only! Presented 01/13/2019pm 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
