Glorious Truth About God's New Covenant from Charles Spurgeon

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:31-32)

The New Covenant. The Covenant of Grace You have heard of these terms. Scripture addresses them. We speak of God's covenants regularly when we gather to hear the Word of Christ preached, read, sung and prayed. And Lord willing this Sunday as we gather we will celebrate and partake of the Lord's Supper. As we gather full of gratitude in our hearts to God for His grace in Jesus Christ we will hear these familiar words:

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:20)

Jesus our Lord willingly shed His blood for rebel sinners like us. Christ's death was an essential part of the plan and purpose of our worthy and holy God.  In our place Jesus was condemned and drank the cup of God's righteous and holy wrath against our wicked sins. The righteous Lord Jesus for the unrighteous us that He might bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). Glory be to God. May no man or woman who has tasted and seen that the Lord is good and gracious to sinners skip past this without saying thank you Lord! On the Covenant of Grace, The Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon helpfully wrote these words I pray bless and encourage you:

"Many never catch the true idea of the covenant of grace; they do not understand a compact of pure promise. They talk about grace, but they regard itas dependent upon merit. They speak about God’s mercy, and then combine with it conditions which make it rather justice than grace. Distinguish between things which differ. If salvation be of grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace; and if it be of works, it is not of grace, otherwise work is no more work. The new covenant is all of grace, from its first letter to its closing word;...the Surety of the new covenant is our Lord Jesus Christ; and He is not faulty, but perfect. The Lord Jesus is the federal head of His chosen, and He stands for them. They are regarded as members of His body, and He is their head, their mouthpiece, their representative. The Lord Jesus, as the second Adam, entered into covenant with God on the behalf of His people; and because He cannot fail—for in Him there is no infirmity or sin—therefore the covenant of which He is the Surety must stand. He abideth forever in His Melchizedek priesthood, and in the power of an endless life. He is, both in His nature and in His work, eternally qualified to stand before the living God. He stands in absolute perfectness under every strain, and, therefore, the covenant stands in Him...the covenant cannot fail because the human side of it has been fulfilled. The human side might be regarded as the weak side of it; but when Jesus became the representative of man that side was sure. He has at this hour fulfilled to the letter every stipulation upon that side of which He was the Surety. He has magnified the Law, and made it honourable by His own obedience to it. He has met the demands of moral government, and made amends to holiness for man’s offences. The Law is more glorified by His atoning death than it was dishonoured by man’s sin. This Man hath offered one sacrifice for sins forever, and that is so effectual for the fulfillment of the covenant that He sits down at the right hand of God. Since, then, that side of the covenant has been fulfilled which appertains to man, there remaineth only God’s side of it to befulfilled, which consists of promises—unconditional promises, full of grace and truth, such as these—“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Eze 36:25-27). Will not God be true to His engagements? Yes, verily. When He makes a covenant, and on man’s part the compact has been fulfilled, depend upon it, on the Lord’s side no word will fall to the ground. Even to the jots and tittles, all shall be carried out."

Amen! Take heart and be encouraged dear brothers and sisters in Christ. As we often say: Never ever forget that God is more committed to your salvation than you are!

Read the rest of Spurgeon's helpful meditations here (also some copies of this are on our free book stalls in the church building lobby). See you Sunday God willing as we partake of the Lord's Supper calling to mind the death of our Lord. Our Lord who promised to shed His blood and did, defeating death and ushering in the awesome goodness of God's mercies. Soli Deo Gloria.