Sermon
#115 Series: Isaiah
Title: Christ's
Covenant Commission
Text: Isaiah 42:5-9
Subject: The Covenant of Grace
Date: Sunday Evening- May 3, 1992
Introduction:
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For
the Lord speaketh. “Thus saith God the
Lord, he that created… “Those words are found in Isaiah 42:5-9. That will be our text tonight. In the opening verses of this chapter the
Lord God calls for us to behold his elect Servant, whom he has from eternity
appointed to the work of redeeming and saving his people, the One in whom his
soul delights. The One of whom he
speaks is the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:15-21). In these first four verses the Lord God tells us four things about Christ as his Servant-
The
Lord Jesus Christ is an appointed Savior, a qualified Savior, a willing Savoir,
and an able, effectual, almighty Savior.
“He shall not fail!”
That
revelation is enough to flood our hearts with joy, praise, thanksgiving and
adoration. What a great Savior! What a great salvation! But in our text tonight we overhear the
Almighty Jehovah, the eternal Father addressing his co-equal, co-eternal
Son. The subject being discussed is the
work of Christ as our covenant Surety.
Ineffable mystery! What a
stupendous privilege! You and I are
here admitted into the council chamber of the Most High.
Surely,
if Moses was commanded to put off his shoes before the presence of God in the
bush, we must bow with profound reverence as we listen to the God of heaven
giving his commission to his only dear Son regarding the redemption and
salvation of his people.
When
we start to talk about the covenant of grace, some people close their minds,
thinking that we are intruding into hidden, speculative points of theology that
we are intruding into hidden, speculative points of theology which are of no
interest to them. I hope none of you
think like that. What can be more
interesting or edifying than contemplating the covenant offices and work of
Christ and his ability to perform them?
Would a blind man have no interest in one who could give him sight? Would a helpless, condemned prisoner have no
interest in one who has the right and power to pardon him and set him
free? Certainly not. How much more is that once blind man
interested in knowing about his sight giver, and that freed prisoner in knowing
about his great liberator?
All
our hope of life and grace arise from the covenant of redemption and grace and
Christ’s fulfilment of that blessed covenant.
Let us then acquaint ourselves with that covenant. Let us consider the contracting parties of
the covenant and their solemn engagements for our souls. Let us lay hold of that covenant, revealed
and fulfilled by Christ, and say with David, “this is all my salvation and all
my desire.”
Preposition: There is an everlasting covenant of grace by which
the Triune God arranged and secured the salvation of his people form eternity.
Divisions: In our text, Isaiah 42:5-9, the Lord God himself
answers every question we might ask about the everlasting covenant of grace.
I. Who Made This Covenant?
In verse
5 the Lord God makes himself known by several royal titles which distinguish
him from the gods of man’s making.
“Thus saith God the Lord.” And
who art thou Lord? He is the Fountain
of all being and the fountain of all power!
A.
He
created the heavens and stretched them out.
He sustained them!
B. He created the earth and all that comes of it. He rules it!
C. He gives the breath of life to all people.
D. He gives the spirit to them that walk therein.
II. For Whom Was This Covenant
Made?
Verses
5 and 6 are the words of God the Father to his Son in the covenant of
grace. But in these words we see a
description of the people for whom the covenant was made, the people for whom
all the blessings and benefits of the covenant were designed.
A. “The People”-
The
people of God’s love, choice and purpose (Rom. 8:29-30). (John 6:37-39; 10:16).
B. The People who are Blind and
Sit in Darkness.
Fallen, Depraved, and Lost!
C. Prisoners.
Condemned, Bound Under the
Just Sentence of death.
In a word, the people God has chosen to save, for whom God made the covenant, the people whom Christ came to save are men and women utterly lost, condemned, helpless and hopeless by nature.
III. What was Christ Commissioned
To Do In The Covenant of Grace?
Though
our Lord Jesus Christ is God, equal with the Father, as a Man he acts as
Jehovah’s Servant (Phil. 2:5-8), voluntarily assuming all responsibility as our
Representative, Surety and Mediator in the Covenant of grace (Isa. 50: 5-7); John
10:16-18; Heb. 10:5-14).
A. As Our Surety and Mediator in
the Covenant of Grace the Son of God received a Commission from His Father.
The first covenant which was revealed was the covenant God made with Adam. That covenant was quickly broken. But there was a covenant made in anticipation of Adam’s fall. That is the covenant we are talking about now- The Covenant of Grace. This covenant was made for us. But it was made with Christ, our Covenant Head and Representative.
1. Christ was commissioned to
undertake the work of salvation for his people (John 10:16-18).
The
terms of the covenant were simple- The Son of God must make his soul an
offering for sin and God the Father would give him the people he purchased for
his reward (Isa. 53: 10-12; John 17).
Christ our Surety agreed to:
When
God the Father said, “I will give thee for a covenant of the people,” he was
saying, “My Son, you alone can do this work, you alone can meet the conditions
of the covenant, and the only way fallen men can receive the blessings and
benefits of this covenant is in you.”
We cannot obtain any covenant blessing except by laying hold of Christ
by faith. Christ is the
covenant-God. Christ and you get all
the covenant blessings!
2. Christ, being our Surety,
became responsible to effectually save his people. (Heb. 8:6; 7:22).
The
bringing of light and liberty to his people is Christ’s work and his
responsibility.
A.
Christ
brings light and opens the blind eyes!
B.
Christ
brings liberty to the captives.
Illus: Peter- Acts 12:4-10
Note: “Salvation is of the Lord!” He planned it. He
performed it!
C.
Christ’s covenant engagements
are sure.
We are assured that “he shall not fail” to perform his covenant engagements by the fact that all the Godhead is engaged to bring it to pass.
1. God the Father called his Son to the work
and assisted him in it. “In
Righteousness”
2. God the Son performs the work of Grace.
3. God, by his Holy Spirit, gives Christ for a covenant to the people.
Illus: The Seal and the Earnest (Eph.
1:13-14).
IV. Why Does God Save Sinners The
Way He Does?
He saves by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, that “no flesh should glory in his presence” (v. 8).
V. What Assurance Do We Have That
The Lord God Will Perform Everything Promised In The Covenant? (v. 9).
A. His Past Performance.
B. His Everlasting Faithfulness and
Immutability.
D.
His
Gospel Revelations-“New Things Do I Declare!”