Israel's Everlasting Covenant #1

[00:00:00] I would like to say, first of all, how very glad I am again to be with you, to be able to share with you from the word of God. I am sorry that I think it was my mistake. [00:00:13] When I spoke originally to David and Ken Burnett, I said I was free for the last Saturday of March. [00:00:28] And I didn't think it was April Fool's day, so it made a slight. I'm sorry if it's made a lot of problem for PFI and for many of you. I'd like to read in the word of God in the prophecy of Jeremiah and chapter 31. [00:00:53] I will read just a few verses at the beginning and toward the end of this chapter, Jeremiah 31, from verse three. The Lord appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness will I draw thee again, will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, o virgin of Israel. [00:01:27] And then in verse 31, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 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 the 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, saith 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, and 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 of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. Will I remember no more. [00:02:41] Just a further word of prayer. Beloved Lord, we want to thank you that you make specific provision for the ministry of your word, both for the speaking of it and for the hearing of it. This day we come to you, Lord, in all our need. And we recognize that, that without that anointing we can do nothing of eternal value and worth. But you have provided us with that anointing, grace and power and wisdom, and into it by faith we stand for this time. [00:03:24] Fill our whole time together today with yourself. [00:03:31] Let your word come to you with all the living power and definition of the Holy Spirit. And grant, O Lord, that there may be some outcome, some consequence from our being found together in your presence. We ask this in the name of Jesus our Lord and Messiah. Amen. [00:04:03] I was thinking of speaking about another subject, but as I thought more and more about today, the Lord, I feel, put something very clearly on my heart and that I believe I have to discharge. Of course, it's too to do with the theme that has already been chosen by PFI, Israel's everlasting covenant. Israel's everlasting covenant. [00:04:37] I have read from the prophet Jeremiah about that new and eternal covenant that God promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I find it very, very interesting. And the more I looked about it, looked at it, the more it came clear to me that there are three covenants that to do with Israel and which are everlasting. There is the Davidic covenant. There is the Abrahamic covenant, and there is the new and eternal covenant. [00:05:18] There is a mosaic covenant too, but that was never meant to be everlasting. It was a schoolmaster to bring us to the Messiah. That mosaic covenant, pure in itself, holy in itself, is nevertheless a temporal covenant. The three eternal covenants, I find, are the davidic, the abrahamic, and the new and eternal. Now, I hope thats not too heavy, especially on an afternoon session, but I take it most of you have not had lunch, so maybe you wont sleep so well this afternoon. [00:06:08] This covenant I want to begin with is the covenant God made with David. [00:06:18] It is in some of the most beautiful words, I think, in the whole Bible. As King David lay dying, he prophesied. And we have the words recorded in the second book of Samuel, chapter 23 from verse two. [00:06:39] The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me and said, there shall come one that ruleth over men righteous, lastly, one that ruleth in the fear of the Lord. He shall be as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds. Somewhat unusual here in these islands, when the tender grass springs out of the earth through clear shining after rain. [00:07:27] Verily, my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for it is all my salvation and all my desire, although he maketh it not to grow. [00:07:53] Those are, I think, some of the most beautiful words in the old covenant uttered by the spirit of God through the dying King David. [00:08:06] He said, the Lord has made with me, weak as I am, sinful as I am, failing as I am, an everlasting covenant. [00:08:17] That covenant was that there would come one in the end that would be from the house of David from the royal house of the jewish people, who would reign righteously, one who would rule in the fear of the Lord. [00:08:43] It is a marvelous picture. And I think again, if you stay in the same second book of Samuel, chapter seven, you find it once more here earlier on in Davids life, chapter seven from verse eight. Now therefore thus shalt thou say, this is the prophet Nathan. Nathan unto my servant David. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I took you from the sheep coat, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people, over Israel. And I have been with you whithersoever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make you a great name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be moved no more. Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as at the first and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord tells you that the Lord will make you a house when your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers. I will set up your seed after you. That shall proceed out of your bowels. And I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [00:10:23] I will be his father, and he shall be be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. But my loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. [00:10:54] Those again the marvelous words. Of course, the lord was speaking partly through Nathan about Solomon, but there is something far more than Solomon. [00:11:07] There is a greater than Solomon that here is in view, whose throne would be forever and whose kingdom forever. If you turn to the 89th psalm, you have it again in the 89th psalm. Psalm, verse 34. My covenant, says the Lord, my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness. I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me, it shall be established forever as the moon and as the faithful witness in the sky. [00:12:00] Well, I dont know whether theres a need to say much more than that. Here you have the most marvelous prophecy concerning David and his house his throne. We are told it will last forever of course the interesting thing is that the house of David in one sense has disappeared. [00:12:26] We cannot find it there are various legends and myths in different jewish families that they are descended from the house of David but no one can establish it it is beyond the possibility to establish that there are today those who are of the seed of David but the Lord said in the covenant that he made with David your throne will be forever and your kingdom will be forever it was a marvelous covenant that God made with David which has been fulfilled in the Messiah Jesus he is the fulfillment of this amazing prophecy now you may wonder why I'm laboring on this thing but it will all come together I hope a little later the fact of the matter is that that God has said again and again and again in his word that he has made a covenant with David that is forever and one would come greater than David who would rule and reign forever that one is the Lord Jesus born of the seed David born of the royal house even the Talmud says speaking of Yeshua which isn't the nicest way of speaking of Jesus but says Yeshua who was of the royal seed this is so wonderful when I think about it I don't know whether it excites you it certainly does me but I think of the prophet Isaiah and I go to chapter eleven and verse one and two and there shall come forth the shoot out of the stock of Jesse and a branch out of his root shall bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither decide after the hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked and righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them and the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox and the unweaned child shall play on the whole of the cobra. [00:15:48] And the weaned child shall put his hand on the vipers den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse that stands for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations, or in Hebrew, the Gentiles seek. And his resting place shall be glorious. What a marvelous covenant God made with King David. And all of you who may not have a drop of jewish blood in you. [00:16:40] To this one you have come and been saved through his finished work. [00:16:48] It is a marvelous prophecy. This one at the end here in verse ten. It shall come to pass in that day. That the root of Jesse stands for an ensign. That is the banner that marks where the Lord is of the peoples. To him shall the gentiles seek. And his resting place shall be glorious. A little earlier, in chapter seven and verse 14. You will all know it very well from the Christmas story. But perhaps you never read verse 13. You see, verse 13 says. And he said, hear ye now, o house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men that you will weary my God also? In other words, the house of David had fallen on bad times. [00:17:42] They were lukewarm. They were backslidden. They were doing the things that were wrong. And then the Lord, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. [00:17:53] A virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. God with us. [00:18:07] Well, I don't know if it excites you or bores you to death. [00:18:15] But the fact of the matter is God has made a covenant with David. That is centered in the Lord Jesus. [00:18:25] And then you come to another marvellous prophecy that you will all know so well. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And his name shall be called wonderful counselor. The mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace, of his. [00:18:55] Of the increase of his government and of peace. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness. From henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. [00:19:19] I think that this is marvelous. [00:19:24] This word here. Obviously it's not the house of David as it was. Now we see it only in Jesus. And this davidic covenant is operative today. Jesus was born king of the Jews. He was acclaimed king of the Jews when he died. The only title written over his head was Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. And when he was raised from the dead on the third day, it was his messianic kingship that was vindicated by that powerful resurrection from the dead. And he ascended to the right hand of God as king of Israel, king of kings, and Lord of lords, as revelation puts it, ruler of the kings of the earth. Now Jesus comes when he is just before his ascension, and says, all power or all authority is given to me in earth and in heaven. [00:20:38] Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. [00:20:48] And so I am with you always to the end of the age. I find it very interesting that all power, all authority is in the hands of the Lord Jesus. This kingdom of his has moved into every single part of the earth. It has come into collision with the darkest forms of bondage and smashed them. [00:21:23] It has brought countless prisoners out of darkness into light, brought them into the salvation of God. This is God's covenant with David. It is an everlasting covenant. [00:21:42] Thank God that the Lord Jesus has all authority and all power over the European Union. [00:21:52] He also has all authority and all power over the united kingdom. [00:21:58] What a mess everything is in how everything is deteriorating, but still the Lord Jesus has in his hands all authority, all power, not only in heaven, but on this fallen earth. [00:22:18] In a situation where things are darker and darker, the Lord Jesus has all authority and power over the United States, and overall its machinations and all the rest of it, I wont go into it. It is not an exciting subject to talk about politics and all that goes on behind the scenes. But the fact of the matter is, that kingdom that came in with the Lord Jesus, the increase of it and of the peace of that kingdom has never ever stopped. This very hour, there are those who are being born into the kingdom of God. [00:23:07] It has never, never stopped. One day there will be the most glorious, public, literal manifestation of the power and authority of the Lord Jesus, David, great Davids greater son. It will be then the evidence that God will put before the nations, that when he makes a covenant which is everlasting, it is precisely ever lasting. [00:23:46] Let the Hitlers come and the Hitlers go. Let the Stalins come and the Stalins go. Let the mao zedongs come and go, and let the Clintons come and go, and let, for that matter, the blairs come and go. [00:24:08] Doesnt matter where we turn or where we look. Some are good, some are bad, some have done good things, some have done bad things. They all come and they all go. But the kingdom of God, that is forever and the throne of the Lord has upon it a king, king of kings and lord of lords in that book of revelation that speaks of so much suffering, so much darkness, so much failing, so much that is evil. The power of Satan, the power of those who belong to Satan, the beast, representing, as it were, all the nations of the earth in the last phase of world history and humanism, that philosophy that is and will take the whole known earth before the Lord finally returns. It doesnt matter. Jesus is revealed at the very beginning in the midst of seven very weak and very failing churches that represent the whole church of God in time on earth, as it were in locality. And he is the risen, glorified Messiah. And he says, don't be afraid. Don't fear what you will see in these visions of darkness and power of darkness, the influence of hell. Don't be afraid. [00:25:52] I was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and hell. [00:26:05] No wonder the Lord Jesus is called ruler of the kings of the earth. [00:26:11] No wonder he is called king of kings and Lord of Lords. Is it not marvelous? [00:26:18] I say Israels everlasting covenant. [00:26:24] This was a covenant God initially in the first place made with Israel. [00:26:34] It is Israels everlasting covenant, though she may not know it. [00:26:42] This covenant God made with the royal house of Israel, the seed of David. He made it with David. An everlasting covenant. Now I must watch myself on time. As you all well know. [00:27:08] I don't always think about it. [00:27:11] I think of those wonderful words of the apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit in the philippian letter and chapter two and verse nine to eleven. Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him and given unto him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, things on earth and things under the earth. That's pretty comprehensive. [00:27:41] Think again. [00:27:42] Every knee should bow of things in heaven, things on earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus the messiah is lord to the glory of God the Father. [00:27:56] Isn't that marvelous? I think it is. [00:28:00] I think of another wonderful word if you're ready for it in Ephesians chapter one and verse 21. Well, I'll read from 20 which God wrought in the messiah when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills everything in everyone. Now you couldn't get beyond that. What a lot of paupers we are. We live like beggars. When in fact he has everything's placed under the feet of the Lord Jesus. And he's been made head over all things to the church. Where is the body? The body is between the head and the feet. [00:29:10] Everything under his feet. Head over all things to the church. What a glorious position we have. [00:29:20] We have to suffer that. That is part of the way. [00:29:26] We have to experience that through many tribulations. We enter the kingdom of God in experience and in power. [00:29:38] But the fact still remains, this davidic covenant has tremendous practical meaning for every child of God. And for the jewish people, they may not know it. This davidic covenant that God has made, this everlasting covenant God has made with David, has tremendous meaning for Israel and for the jewish people. Because Israel thinks she is a republic, when she is actually a kingdom. [00:30:12] She has a king. She is the only nation in the world that has a king. Who died, was buried, and on the third day rose again, and has ascended to the the right hand of God, and has ruled and reigned ever since. [00:30:28] And he's coming back, the same Jesus. [00:30:33] And I don't wish to be a reverend, he hasn't got older, his hair has not got quayer, his skin is not more wrinkled. [00:30:45] He is the same Jesus. He has marks in his hands, in his side, in his feet. It is the same Jesus. Hes never had his coronation. [00:30:56] Hes coming back. [00:30:58] And I find this all very wonderful. I dont know about you, but I do. I think of revelation, chapter eleven and verse 15. Here we are back in the book of revelation, with all those fearful visions that some people get so upset about, feel they cant even. And here we hear the 7th angel sounded, and there followed great voices in heaven. I'd love to know what those voices said. Great voices in heaven. And no doubt some nutcase in person them will tell us what they did say. [00:31:33] And the 7th angel sounded, and there followed great voices. And they said, the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his messiah. And he shall reign forever and ever. [00:31:47] Oh, what a covenant God has made with what a covenant God made with David. An everlasting covenant concerning one who would be born of his seed. [00:32:03] It is a marvelous, wonderful picture, with tremendous import and consequence for the nations of the world and for the last phase of world history. But I can't leave this subject without going a little further. I do hope I'm not making it too difficult for you to understand, but in Ephesians, in that amazing letter that the spirit of God inspired Paul to write, which nobody has ever fully plumbed, in the phrases that fall out of the apostles mouth, I always think of his secretary. [00:32:52] It must have been unbelievable, as he was sort of saying all this. And you don't think you should make it a bit simpler? [00:33:02] You know, I mean, the phrases are so pregnant, they are so full, they are so comprehensive. They are so. [00:33:11] The depths are inexhaustible, fathomless. One wonders about the poor man writing it down, wondering, will anyone understand this? And when Paul says to him a bit later, do you think I should tell them what we're praying? I think he said, certainly. [00:33:28] And then he says, I want to tell you we're praying for you, those of you who are going to receive this letter. So this includes all of us. In the end, we prayed for you that the God and father of our Lord Jesus would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of your hearts being illumined, enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of your calling. [00:34:03] You may know everything about this Jesus directly yourself. [00:34:13] Well, in this wonderful letter in chapter one and verse nine, I'm going to read it. Making known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in him, that is, in Jesus, unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times. To sum up all things in the Messiah. Just think for a moment. Just wait. Go back again. Listen. Making known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Jesus, unto a dispensation of the fullness of the time. Surely we have nearly come there to sum up all things in the Messiah. Now listen. The things in the heavens and the things upon the earth in him. I say, now that seems to me to be simply amazing. It is the heart of this davidic covenant. [00:35:15] God has a purpose in the Lord Jesus. To sum up everything in him, all that has been divorced from him, all that has fallen away, to sum it all up in him. [00:35:31] You will find this once your eyes open. You will find it everywhere. This is the davidic covenant. [00:35:41] Beloved friends, when you come to the last book of the Bible, of the 66 books of the Bible, revelation, Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, in other words, listen carefully to me. [00:36:10] Devalue the Lord Jesus and you paralyze your spiritual growth. [00:36:21] Dethrone the Lord Jesus and the church ceases to function. It has to become a religious organization for simple good to God. [00:36:43] Our messianic brethren would also hear this. For there is a stream in the states that does not believe that Jesus is God the Son. In order to reach our people, make it easier for them to believe we have done colossal injury and harm to ourselves and to the whole work of God. [00:37:13] That the Trinity has sometimes been put in the most fortunate terms, that sometimes it almost seems as if the christians have three gods. [00:37:27] There's no question about that. I never even find the word Trinity in the word. I like myself of another word, triunity. [00:37:38] I find that a much better word because it gives much more the same. [00:37:44] We cannot understand God. All we know is that we meet Father and Son and Holy Spirit. [00:37:57] Demote the Lord Jesus and we have paralyzed ourselves. [00:38:07] For the apostle Paul says in colossians that I better read it, I think, lest I misquote it, colossians 127, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. Well now, have we gone too far? Now where are we? [00:38:40] Well now I want to talk about another covenant. This, by the way, I started with this one deliberately. If I were to take it chronologically, I should have started with the abrahamic covenant. But I have deliberately taken the davidic covenant first. Why? Because everything is summed up in the Lord Jesus. He is the key of David. He is the one who opens everything. Without that key, or all kinds of things remain secret there, you cannot understand them. [00:39:09] When you come to the abrahamic covenant, you have come to yet another everlasting covenant that God made with this time with Abraham, still operative today. You go right the way back to Genesis and chapter 17 and verse seven and eight. I will read it to you. And I, that is the Lord, will establish my covenant between me and thee, that is, Abraham and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. Now will you please notice you have three things here that are stated absolutely clearly, so clearly that a child in kindergarten should be able to understand it throughout their generations, one, an everlasting covenant, two for an everlasting possession, three. [00:40:25] Now, I find it extraordinary when people tell me that this everlasting covenant was only made till Jesus came. And when Jesus came, it was cancelled. [00:40:39] In other words, the church has basically taken the place. Not that she will get the land or the land of Canaan, but that's all spiritualized. You see, we don't bother our little heads about the promised land anymore. That's all. In past history, it was a stage in God's redemptive purposes. It has nothing to do with today. Today it is all politics, that's all. It has nothing to do with the purpose of God in our day and generations. [00:41:16] But surely the Lord doesn't use the word eternal if it doesn't mean eternal. [00:41:30] I mean, what is the opposite of eternal? Temporal, I suppose, isn't that right? [00:41:37] Well, if it was temporal, in other words, it had a limit, a time limit. Why in the world didn't the Lord say to I am making a temporal covenant with you, Abraham, and with your seed after you and I will honor this covenant. Although it is a temporal covenant, I will honour it? No, but the Lord never said that. He said, I will make this everlasting covenant with you. Now here is something very interesting. [00:42:19] Some very clever people tell me that the word everlasting in both Hebrew and in Greek only means age lasting. [00:42:32] It's a very interesting thing. These normally liberal theologians tell us this age lasting. Aha. Well that explains everything, of course. [00:42:41] See, the Lord said, I am making with you an age lasting covenant that went out when the new age came in. [00:42:53] The age of law has lasted until the coming of the Messiah. And now we are in the age of grace. So when the age of law finished, so did the abrahamic covenant. [00:43:06] But just wait, that means the salvation with which you have been saved is only age lasting. [00:43:16] Think you might be hanging yourself on the same gallows you're hanging Israel. [00:43:28] Think, has God made with you a new and eternal covenant? Oh, I'm not sure it is. [00:43:36] He may get tired of you, as I've often said, and may say, I'm tired with the lot of you. [00:43:46] I think we'll call it a day, because eternal life is only age lasting life. You see, that means the Lord might come to point when he says, im putting it very irreverently, drop dead, im finished with you, im no longer interested in you, youre too much trouble. [00:44:13] Eternal life. But eternal life must be eternal life, and eternal salvation must be eternal salvation. And the new and eternal covenant must surely be new and eternal. [00:44:30] Otherwise it is making a mockery of language. And if God is revealing himself to the nations through Israel, surely he must use a language in a way that has meaning. And if he says, I am making a covenant with you which is everlasting, surely it has to mean that it is everlasting. [00:45:01] INTERestinglY, the lord says here throughout their generations. [00:45:11] So whilst there is a physical seed of Abraham on the face of the earth, this Abrahamic covenant is operative. [00:45:24] Now, have you followed me so far? Yes, and many of you will have heard me say about this before, so it's not so fresh. But I mean, it's important for us to understand this because we come to the second thing. Of COurse the people say, yes, but of course it's all to do with the land of CaNAAN. He says, I will give you all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. This is the covenant God made with Abraham. It was, of course, a covenant that he would be God of Abraham and of his seed after him throughout their generations. Whether they did good or bad, whether they were faithful or faithless, unfaithful, he would still be God. [00:46:14] And that is the explanation of jewish history. [00:46:21] You come back to this and someone will come to me and say, well, this land of Canaan, I mean, I've had two or three letters from people, surprisingly, some of them PFI supporters, which I find a little strange to tell me that they see that there is a binational state, they reckon in the word of God, Palestine and Israel existing side by side. Now, of course, there's not too many have written to me, but I must say I was a bit surprised that I even got a couple of such letters. [00:46:58] I can't find it. [00:47:00] People make this mistake that Ishmael is the seed of Abraham. So they say he's as much the seed of Abraham as Isaac. He may have been a mistake, but he's still the seed of Abraham. In fact, it's quite possible that Ishmael look more like Abraham than Isaac. [00:47:23] Anyone see, seeing him would have said immediately, thats Abrahams son. [00:47:27] But the Lord was very clear. Abraham actually said to the Lord in this chapter 17, look, take Ishmael. [00:47:38] Let your covenant with me be fulfilled in Ishmael. And the Lord said, no, but in Isaac shall this covenant be established. And then the Lord said, as ive often said to you, said a whole lot of things about Ishmael. He made a pact with Ishmael, with Hagar, and he has kept that pact and covenant with the seed of Ishmael to the letter. So that two thirds of the oil of this world is in the hands of the seed of Ishmael. And with it has come all the wealth and power and influence in world affairs. God has kept to the letter the pact he made with Ishmael, but he said to Abraham, no, but in Isaac shall your seed be gone. So this seed throughout of Abraham, throughout their generations, is the seed that is through Isaac, not Ishmael and Jacob, not Esau, that God will save the seed of Esau and save the seed of Ishmael. There is no question about it. That God loves the seed of Ishmael and loves the seed of Esau and so on. There is no question about that. Jesus died when he died for the seed of Ishmael as much as for the seed of Isaac. There is no question, no question at all. The fact of the matter is that the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham is through Isaac and through Jacob. Now, if you followed me so far, now I can come to our problem. Do we still have a little bit of time? Yes, now we come to the problem. [00:49:35] I'm asked again and again wherever I go, ah, especially those from the reformed. I don't know what it is about. I myself am a calvinist, so I have no problem here. But I'm asked again and again by people of the reformed faith, whatever you like to call it, Huguenot, Swiss Reformed, Dutch Reformed Church of Scotland, may they be blessed. And all these folks, they always say to me, what about Galatians three? [00:50:13] Galatians three. They say this covenant was all to do with the Messiah. So ill just read to you Galatians three, because its very important for some people. It may not be important for you, but for some it is. [00:50:33] Galatians three from verse 15. Now im reading in the old version. It may not be so easy for you to understand. Ill try to put feeling into it so that we can help you understand it. Brothers, I speak after the manner of Men, though it be but a mans covenant. Yet when it has been confirmed, that is a human covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it. [00:51:04] Now, to AbrAHAm were the promises spoken, and to his seed he says not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, which is MEssiah. [00:51:18] Now this I say, a covenant confirmed beforehand by God. The law which came 430 years after does not disannow so as to make it so as to make the promise of non effect. [00:51:34] Now the argument goes like this. This Land of CanAAn that was an everlasting possession, for the seed of AbrAHAM was actually the seed in question is Christ. [00:51:52] So it has nothing to do with the jewish people. [00:51:57] Are you following me? [00:51:59] I don't know whether many of you have come up against this problem, but there are those who make a very big thing about it. [00:52:05] There are three ways this word is used in, at least in Hebrew. [00:52:12] It's very much like when we say sheep. Those whose mother tongue is not English often speak of sheeps. [00:52:24] Sheep can be. I say, I saw a sheep in the field. It's obvious it's singular. But sheep can also be plural, just like fish style of plural or singular. So it is with the Hebrew word for seed. It can be plural. When it was put into the greek translation, they put it into the singular and they did it with meaning. Now, don't try to get out of this, because so many people get into sort of theological acrobatics. [00:52:58] Everybody sort of tries to make it work their way. The fact of the matter is that you have three ways this word seed is used in this connection with Abraham. First, it was his actual heir, Isaac. [00:53:15] Secondly, it was his descendants through Isaac and through JaCob, the seed of Abraham. [00:53:25] Thirdly, it is clear that it is the messiah. [00:53:32] Does have I got you all mystified? [00:53:39] What is the argument Paul uses? He says, once a covenant has been made and ratified, you cannot disannul it or add further qualifications. [00:53:58] If we go back to the covenant that God made with Abraham, it is perfectly clear it is to do with the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. [00:54:10] Is that clear? That's the first thing we get. Absolutely. It is to do with the land of Canaan. God will be the God of the seed of Abraham and he has made a covenant concerning all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. [00:54:38] You cannot disannow that in any way. So what does it mean? [00:54:48] Do we have evidence that this covenant with Abraham is operative today? I think so. [00:54:56] I've often Given you The List. Here are eight. The exiles are being re gathered, the fertility is being recreated, the ecology is being restored, the cities are being rebuilt, the state has been recreated, the national institutions have been reinstated, the capital has been regained, the language has been reborn. [00:55:26] To this I have to add the preservation of Israel in six wars in 52 years now, I would have thought that that adds up to some very concrete evidence that the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed after him throughout their generations is still operative from the ends of the earth. The Lord is bringing back this people. And thats why the aliyah, which some people despise as something just, merely political, merely human, merely something to do with the nation, why the aliyah is so important to the Lord, and why the whole of hell is mobilized one way or another to destroy that regathering of the exile. [00:56:37] Yet the Lord will turn upside down the Soviet Union just to bring back the jewish remnant within that area. [00:56:53] He will turn other empires upside down, the Ottoman, the British, and I don't know what else. [00:57:01] And if, God forbid, the European Union and the United States meddle with this same thing, they also will be on a collision course with God. [00:57:17] The interesting thing is that you have all this evidence that is so clear and so strong. [00:57:28] But I add something more, take far too long to go through even a few of them. There are multitudinous prophecies in the old covenant, all exactly, precisely predicting that these things would happen not in just one place, but Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, all speaking of cities being rebuilt, all speaking of fertility being recreated, all speaking of the ecology being restored, all speaking of exiles being regathered. It is amazing. You mean to tell me it's all coincidence that the whole thing is somehow or other a million miles away from the hand of God? [00:58:23] I cannot accept it. [00:58:28] But to finish this, finally, Jesus returns to Jerusalem. [00:58:45] Now, doesn't that speak volumes? [00:58:51] This land, this land which the Lord speaks of as his land, my land he returns to. Now, why, if God has finished with the jewish people, if all this thats happening in Israel is a sort of whole number of extraordinary coincidences, why does he return to Jerusalem? At present, there are fewer christians in Jerusalem than most capital cities in the world. [00:59:27] Riyadh is probably the only one that has left. [00:59:32] Why in the world has Jesus returned to Jerusalem? There's no point in his returning Jerusalem. Why doesn't he come back to some other place? I've always said it. Why not to Washington? Oh, tomorrow? What about Moscow? No. London? No. [00:59:47] Well, where? [00:59:49] Berlin? No. [00:59:54] Well, what about Rome? Oh, you've got the wrong denomination there. [01:00:00] Well, all right, then. Geneva. That's a good international kind of city. No, no, no, we don't do it in Geneva. Well, why doesn't the Lord come back to some uninhabited part of the earth and set up his kingdom there then? It has no connection with anything past. It's a spiritual kingdom. It's quite clear it's not to do with the Jews. [01:00:22] I mean, you could set it up in the outback of Australia, where the queen has just been visiting, or somewhere in Patagonia or somewhere in Alaska or better still, northern Canada, because Alaska's got quite a few people living there. [01:00:39] But northern Canada has so few. [01:00:42] I mean, you could set up the kingdom there and then the kingdom goes over the whole of. Then it is absolutely, this is a spiritual kingdom. It has nothing whatsoever to do with past history, nothing whatsoever to do with the Jews. [01:00:59] It doesn't have anything to do with the british empire or the superpower, the United States or whatever else. It's absolutely standing on its own. [01:01:12] But he returns to Jerusalem, those pierced feet will stand again upon the dust of Jerusalem. [01:01:25] Why, of course, this promise God made to Abraham is centered in the Messiah. Have you got it? [01:01:39] And he is king of the Jews, as well as king of kings and lord of lords and head of the church. [01:01:46] So he is coming back to Jerusalem because this land is his. It is the fulfillment. Of course, the whole earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof. [01:01:58] As the father said to the Son in psalm two, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the outermost parts of the earth for your possession, of course. But this land is peculiarly his. So he is returning to it, because, in fact, Abrahams covenant is gloriously centered in the Messiah, Jesus. [01:02:29] Do you know what that means? [01:02:31] You look back into your Bible and you will find that in Isaiah particularly, it speaks about first the Lord saving the Gentiles, and then talks about him bringing back the exiles. [01:02:48] And then you wonder, what's this got to do with him being a light to the Gentiles and the salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth. But then it says, and he will call, caused the desolate heritages to be inherited and to be reclaimed and rebuilt, and the cities. This is strange. It's almost as if Jesus is in charge of the whole thing, to do with the regathering of exiles, the rebuilding of the cities, the rebirth of the language, the recreation of the state, and so on and so on. Of course it's true. [01:03:30] I think it's marvellous to me. Did you notice? To sum up all things in heaven and on earth. This is one of the things that's going to be summed up. [01:03:45] Well, here are two covenants, both of them everlasting. I hope I haven't bored you too much this afternoon. [01:04:01] Is it any wonder that the Lord's anger has risen to boiling point over what the nations are trying to do with the land dividing it? Is it any wonder that the Lord is bringing catastrophe, catastrophe after catastrophe upon the earth, economic instability and more to come. Far, far more. Were only at the very beginning of this. Derek Quince once said, and I think hes absolutely right, he said, when God begins judgment, he always does it very gently first to see if people will take note of it, if they will listen, if they will draw back. If they dont, then something far fiercer comes and if they still don't hear, far more fierce and far more fierce until the whole world will be in turmoil. People are always saying to me, is it safe to go to Israel? Is it safe to go anywhere? [01:04:56] You can go to this place and you get floods, you go to that place, you get a freeze up, you go over here and there's so many people die in a heat wave. Everything is upside down. It's almost as if the Lord says, I'll make Israel the safest place place to be beloved friends. [01:05:19] These are two covenants God made with our forefathers, with Abraham and with David. They are both everlasting. [01:05:34] Both are centered in the person of the Lord Jesus. Us both will be fulfilled through him. [01:05:42] What a wonderful thing it is to know the Lord.