Introduction:

COVENANT MEANS WHAT? Best put:

“TO BIND TOGETHER” – “TO BE BOUND TOGETHER”

-Better still, THE REAL HEART OF COVENANT IS FOUND IN THOSE WORDS OF Jeremiah 31:33,

“AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

1. That means A MUTUAL OWNERSHIP, A MUTUAL PARTNERSHIP, A MUTUAL POSSESSIVENESS! COVENANT! Powerful! Stronger than we think.

2. THEIR GOD – that SIMPLY MEANS GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST IS ALL “OURS.” Do we hear that? OUR GOD! He gives Himself completely to us. All that GOD IS, HAS, IS – all OURS, for HE SAID IT – THEIR GOD – OUR GOD, we have Him – OUR VERY OWN! Magnificent! Wondrous! Covenant! Possessive!

 

b. And, all that WE ARE, HAVE, is all HIS, for HE SAID IT – MY PEOPLE. ALL HIS – ALL OURS! THAT’S COVENANT RELATIONSHIP MY FRIEND! Lots of people, even religious people, still want their space, “I want my space!” Some of you have been spaced out your whole life. NO SPACE IN COVENANT! NOTHING BETWEEN MY SOUL AND MY SAVIOR; JESUS IS MINE, THERE’S NOTHING BETWEEN. That includes space! BOUND TOGETHER!

-Covenant is found again and again in Scripture, like in Hosea 2:23,

“I WILL HAVE MERCY UPON HER THAT HAD NOT OBTAINED MERCY, AND I WILL

SAY TO THEM WHICH WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘THOU ART MY PEOPLE,’

AND THEY SHALL SAY, ‘THOU ART MY GOD.’” 

-None of us by nature were His people – NOT MY PEOPLE. If we were totally honest with the Bible and with ourselves:

“WE WERE THE N0T-HIS-PEOPLE PEOPLE.”

-Now believers in Jesus Christ are:

“THE HIS-PEOPLE PEOPLE.”

And notice that it is all rooted in COVENANT MERCY. God says,”I have mercy, I have mercied those who were NOT A PEOPLE and are  now MY PEOPLE. First of all, praise God for His covenant mercy. We need it every day real bad! GOD HAVE MERCY! LORD HAVE MERCY! MERCY! Mercy gives us good when we deserve the bad. Mercy gives us pardon when we deserve punishment.

Hear it:

“WHEN OUR SINS CALL OUT FOR JUSTICE, FOR THOSE IN COVENANT

WITH GOD, MERCY SHALL CRY OUT LOUDER – FORGIVE!”

And again:

“WHEN JUSTICE IS READY TO STRIKE, FOR THOSE IN COVENANT WITH

GOD, MERCY DIVERTS THE BLOW.”

Thank our Covenant God:

“THAT HIS MERCIES ARE NEW WITH EVERY MORNING (LAMENTATIONS 3:23),

FOR OUR SINS ARE NEW WITH EVERY DAY.”

-God has more mercy than we can possibly fathom. Man’s mercy is more often than not in short supply. God’s mercy always has a surplus. It never runs out! In fact, we are told in the Bible a whopping 41 times, “THAT HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER.” As in Psalm 136:2,

“Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER.”

-How doomed we would be without GOD’S COVENANT MERCY. What a mercy feast we have each day anew in Jesus Christ. A brand new daily feast. I tell you, I eat it down to the last crumb, and I even lick the plate every morning. COVENANT MERCY!

*******

-I will be THEIR GOD – they shall be MY PEOPLE. Strong stuff! Real strong! Covenant strong!

EXAMPLE OF COVENANT

-Of course, the #1 example and picture of GOD’S COVENANT WITH US in our lives on the human level is THE MARRIAGE COVENANT:

“HUSBAND AND WIFE BEING BOUND TOGETHER AS ONE IN COVENANT

LOVE AND COMMITMENT, I WILL BE HER HUSBAND AND SHE

SHALL BE MY WIFE.”

-If you will:

“ALL THAT THE HUSBAND IS AND HAS BELONGS TO HIS WIFE, AND ALL

THAT THE WIFE IS AND HAS BELONGS TO HER HUSBAND.” 

You see:

“CHRIST IN SCRIPTURE AFFIRMS HIMSELF TO BE THE HUSBAND OF HIS WIFE

THE CHURCH, AND THE CHURCH AFFIRMS HERSELF AS THE WIFE OF

HER HUSBAND JESUS.”

-So then:

“THE MARRIAGE COVENANT IS AN INDISSOLUBLE AND INSEPARABLE BOND OF

MUTUAL OWNERSHIP AND SACRIFICE. IF WE DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT

WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND MARRIAGE FROM DIRT.”

-Marriage is not:

“CHAMPAGNE HEART-SHAPED BATHTUBS IN THE POCONOS OF PENNSYLVANIA,

BUT COVENANT-SHAPED HEARTS THAT GIVE THEIR ALL TO

EACH OTHER FOREVER.”

-Marriage is not that sick, tacky, and weak sex-god-and-goddess thing today of “FEELING ROMANTIC” and “HITTING THE SACK” and “MAKING LOVE.” By itself outside of COVENANT LOVE, that is not marriage, that is nothing more than animal instinct like dogs in heat.

*******

-Hear me:

“ONCE YOU BEGIN TO GRASP THE COVENANT GOD OF THE OLD AND THE NEW

COVENANTS (TESTAMENTS),YOU WILL BE LIKE THE BABY WHOSE EYES ARE

OPENED FOR THE FIRST TIME. THEN YOU WILL SQUINT AT ITS

BEAUTY AND BRIGHTNESS, AND BEGIN TO TRUST OUR

AWESOME COVENANT GOD AS YOU HAVE NEVER

TRUSTED HIM BEFORE.”

-And:

“WHEN YOU BEGIN TO GRASP THE COVENANT, THAT IN REALITY THE ALMIGHTY

COVENANT GOD IS OURS AND WE ARE HIS, YOU WILL COME OUT OF YOUR

WOBBLY FAITH ORBIT INTO AN ORBIT OF STEADINESS AND STRENGTH.”

–So now:

“LEAVE YOUR LITTLE TOY TABLE AND CHAIRS AND CUPS, AND COME AND SIT

AT THE TABLE OF THE LORD, AND EAT THE BREAD AND DRINK THE

CUP OF GOD’S NEW COVENANT IN THE BODY AND

BLOOD OF CHRIST.”

-Then:

“YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WALK AWAY FROM YOUR HALF-BAKED, POORLY

CONCEIVED GOD, AND WALK WITH OUR AWESOME COVENANT

GOD IN GLORIOUS TRIUMPH.” 

*******

I. FROM NO PEOPLE TO GOD’S PEOPLE

We read about God’s Covenant with us in I Peter 2:10,

“WHICH IN TIME PAST WERE NOT A PEOPLE, BUT ARE NOW

THE PEOPLE OF GOD (GOD’S PEOPLE).”

1. Frankly, I am awed at that, when it says BEFORE WE MET CHRIST, WE WERE NOT A PEOPLE! (Nothing ). It is worse than I said before. Not only were we before Christ THE NOT-HIS-PEOPLE PEOPLE, but we were THE NO-PEOPLE-AT-ALL PEOPLE. NOT A PEOPLE! If you will:

“BEFORE WE BECAME BOUND TO CHRIST AND HE TO US, WE WERE AN

UNIDENTIFIED, UNDEFINED BLOB OF ANONYMITY, NOTHINGNESS,

AND NEUTEREDNESS.”

-NOT A  PEOPLE BEFORE WE BECAME BOUND TO JESUS IN AGAPE! Well then, what were we before Christ? NOT A PEOPLE! Frankly we didn’t know who in the diddly-wop we were. We may have thought we were really something , when in fact we were nothing. That is why when most people when asked, “Who are you really?,” they don’t know what to say.

-I have a dumb and haughty phrase in my background, “If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much.” What God tells us is really a kick in the butt with our own wooden shoes, and that is, “Apart from Him, we were not only not much of a people, we were NO PEOPLE.” Put that in your Dutch tulip garden and see the flowers wilt!

-It makes me laugh when athletes introduce themselves with bursting pride, and they say, “John Brown – THE Ohio State University.” I do it myself about my country, “THE United States of America.” Heavy emphasis on the definite article THE. Meaning, “THE ONE AND ONLY,” and all other universities and nations are inferior. We all do it, “THE British! THE French! THE Americans! THE Canadians!” On and on and on!

How does this grab you? Before we met Christ, not only were we not THE PEOPLE, dear Lord, we were not even A PEOPLE. We were not only not DEFINITE, we weren’t even INDEFINITE. I repeat, not only were we not THE PEOPLE, we were not even A PEOPLE. Not only were we not DEFINITELY DEFINED, we were not even INDEFINITELY DEFINED. I mean, if we were not the DEFINITE ARTICLE, but we were not even an INDEFINITE ARTICLE, what in the world were we? How much is 0 plus 0? 0!

That is exactly the point:

“APART FROM GOD IN JESUS CHRIST, LIFE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ENOUGH MEANING TO

DEFINE IT AS AN ‘A,’ LET ALONE AS A ‘THE.’ AND WHETHER WE USE THE DEFINITE

OR INDEFINITE ARTICLE, THE FACT REMAINS THAT APART FROM JESUS CHRIST,

WE WOULD BE FOREVER A NOTHING PEOPLE, EVEN THOUGH WE THINK

THAT WE ARE THE EVERYTHING PEOPLE.”

If you will:

“FOR THOSE WHO THINK THAT YOU ARE THE CAT’S MEOW, YOU ARE NOT EVEN

A CAT, LET ALONE HIS MEOW. PUT THAT IN YOUR LITTER BOX. “

 

2. But, hear it now:

“THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, WE BECAME SOMETHING AWESOME,  MORE THAN WE COULD

HAVE EVER DREAMED – GOD’S PEOPLE, HIS PEOPLE, THE LORD’S PEOPLE. I JUST

CAN’T SAY IT ENOUGH, ‘THE PEOPLE OF GOD.'”

3. From NO PEOPLE TO GOD’S PEOPLE, from NO ONES TO THE GOD’S ONES. I’LL TELL YOU, IT REALLY IS INCREDIBLE! IT IS FRANKLY OFF THE CHARTS! Put that on the People Magazine’s front cover, “CHRISTIANS – THE PEOPLE OF GOD.” Why my goodness, all the contents and pages would really then be filled with HALF-NUDE NON-PEOPLE. The People’s Magazine apart from Jesus should be called, “The No-People Magazine.”

EXAMPLE

Reminds me of the FAIRY TALE ABOUT A FROG:

“ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A FROG. A WICKED WITCH HAD CAST A SPELL ON HIM. ONLY THE KISS OF A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAIDEN COULD SAVE HIM. BUT SINCE WHEN DO CUTE CHICKS KISS FROGS? SO THERE HE SAT, AN UNKISSED FROG. BUT MIRACLES HAPPEN! ONE DAY A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN GRABBED HIM UP AND GAVE HIM A BIG SMACK IN BETWEEN HIS INFREQUENT LEAPS AND SLUGGISH CROAKS. CRASH – BOOM – ZAP. THERE HE WAS, A HANDSOME PRINCE, AND YOU KNOW THE REST, THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.”

-Now I know that this is a Fairytale. But, did you ever feel like a frog? You say, “How in the world would I know, I really don’t KNOW WHAT FROGS FEEL LIKE!” Well, they perhaps feel like they look:

“SLOW, LOW, UGLY, PUFFY, DROOPED, POOPED, SMALL, DULL, SLIMY, MUDDY!“

-How many of us know the feeling of those days, SLOW, LOW, UGLY, DROOPED, PUFFY, POOPED?

a. Oh, my, we WERE SO FROGGISH, SO PUFFY AND POOPED! SLOPPING AROUND IN THE MARSHES WHERE PEOPLE WORK FROM 9 TO 5, SIMPLY TO PROVE THAT THEY ARE ALIVE.

b. We floated AIMLESSLY ON OUR LILY PAD, CROAKING NOW AND AGAIN TO COVER OVER OUR EMPTINESS.

c. There we were, IN THE MUCK AND MIRE OF SELF-PITY AND SELF-DISPAIR, yet PUFFED UP WITH SELF- RIGHTEOUSNESS!

-But then Jesus Christ came INTO OUR LIVES, AND KISSED US WITH HIS LOVE:

a. And, from “BEING NO PEOPLE”, WE HAVE BECOME “GOD’S PEOPLE.”

b. From A FROG TO A PRINCE, from NO PEOPLE TO GOD’S PEOPLE, from nobody to somebody! That is the pinnacle, the top, the peak of PEOPLENESS – THE PEOPLE OF GOD. That makes bragging about being the president and CEO of a company sound LIKE – RIBBIT – RIBBIT – RIBBIT!

*******

-Let’s take it further still, and get a good load of this. From being A NO PEOPLE, THE BIBLE CALLS BELIEVERS IN I Peter 2:9,

“A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, GOD’S

OWN PEOPLE.” 

1. CHOSEN RACE! Why would God choose us who were the NOT-A-PEOPLE PEOPLE? What in the world did He see in us? What was there to choose? NOTHING! That is the point, for it was and is and always will be what is in Him – incredible covenantal grace – WE ARE HIS GRACE RACE! Call it racism if you want, but there is only one DIVINELY CHOSEN RACE in the world – HIS RACE. Not the WHITE RACE, not the BLACK RACE, not the YELLOW RACE. Not the RED RACE! GOD’S GRACE RACE! From every tribe, nation, and tongue – GOD’S GRACE RACE.

He chose us, we didn’t choose Him! That’s grace! He made us His FIRST CHOICE WHEN WE MADE HIM OUR LAST CHOICE, IN FACT, HE WAS OUR NON-CHOICE, WE REJECTED HIM, AND HE ACCEPTED US – THAT’S GRACE. THE GRACE RACE IS THE MOST HUMBLE RACE IN THE WORLD, for while we yet sinners, Christ died for us. Hear it

“GOD IN CHRIST BROUGHT US FROM BEING THE DISGRACE RACE TO BEING

THE GRACE RACE – AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND THAT

SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME.”

2. A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD! God has made his children ROYALTY when we were not only not royalty, but when we were NOT ANYTHING OR ANYONE.  ROYALTY, but of a totally different sort – ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. My, my, that gives a whole different meaning to ROYALTY. Hear it:

“A PRIEST IN CHRISTIANITY IS ONE WHO SACRIFICES HIS OWN INTERESTS

AND LIFE FOR THE INTERESTS AND LIVES OF OTHERS. REMEMBER,

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE PRIEST IS THE SACRIFICE.”

Hear it:

“IN THE WORLD, ROYALTY RULES OVER THE LIVES OF OTHERS. IN

CHRISTIANITY, ROYALTY LAYS DOWN ITS LIFE FOR OTHERS.“

-The mother of James and John wanted her sons to BE ROYALTY, but she had no concept of PRIESTLY ROYALTY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. She wanted her sons to sit down on Jesus’ right and left, not lay down their lives in sacrifice for Christ. Jesus in fact told Momma that she didn’t know what she was talking about. You might say that Jesus gave her THE ROYAL FLUSH. Welcome to CHRISTIAN PRIESTLY ROYALTY.

3. GOD’S OWN PEOPLE. God’s people are owned people, OWNED BY GOD and by no one else. We once belonged to Satan – Satan’s people. Jesus redeemed us. Now, we are not our own, but belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. And now, ALL THAT GOD IS – IS OURS, OUR OWN GOD. AND ALL THAT WE ARE IS HIS – HIS OWN PEOPLE!

*******

And you say, IS THERE ROOM FOR ONE MORE IN THE CHOSEN RACE in the ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, and in the GOD PEOPLE. Always, but before it goes to your head, read the following.

STORY

DID YOU EVER HEAR OF THE WOMAN WHO RAN OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH THE KITCHEN TRASH CAN AS SHE HEARD THE GARBAGE TRUCK COMING? SHE WAS IN HER BATHROBE, HER HAIR IN CURLERS, HER FACE WAS STILL COATED WITH CHALKY, WHITE, GREASY CREAM. A FRIGHT FOR ANY EYES. “AM I TOO LATE FOR THE GARBAGE,” SHE CALLED. “NO – HOP RIGHT IN,” WAS THE REPLY.

YES – HOP RIGHT INTO JESUS’ ARMS:

1. He will CHANGE YOUR SPIRITUAL UGLINESS INTO BEAUTY, your SINFUL SLIMYNESS INTO RIGHTEOUSNESS!

2. He will CHANGE YOUR PUFFY EMPTINESS INTO FULLNESS OF LIFE!

3. He will CHANGE YOUR HEAVY CROAKING INTO JOYFUL PRAISE OF HIS NAME!

4. He will CHANGE YOUR FROGGISH DROOPINESS INTO FERVENT DESIRE TO SERVE HIM!

5. He will CHANGE YOUR GARBAGE SMELL INTO THE FRAGRANCE OF THE ROSE OF SHARON AND THE LILY OF THE VALLEY.

-As we are by nature, we are all disfigured by sin and remind people of Satan. But by covenantal grace, we are refigured by righteousness and remind people of Jesus. Oh yes:

“LET THE BEAUTY OF JESUS BE SEEN IN ME,

ALL HIS WONDERFUL PASSION AND PURITY;

O THOU SPIRIT DIVINE, ALL MY NATURE REFINE,

TILL THE BEAUTY OF JESUS BE SEEN IN ME.”

6. I Peter 2:10,

“AND I WILL SAY UNTO THEM WHICH WERE NO PEOPLE, ‘THOU ART

MY PEOPLE,’ and they shall say ‘THOU ART MY GOD.’” 

What ecstasy it is for me to be able to say to Ruthie, “My Wife.” And what joy it is for me to hear her say to me or about me, “My Husband.” Mine, all mine! However, as wonderful as that is, it is still not the choicest cut or the meatiest bone. That is all small potatoes compared to being able to say the to and about the Holy God, “My God.”

*******

II. OUR NOTHING JOINED TO GOD’S EVERYTHING

-REALLY THINK OF IT, Jeremiah. 31:33,

“I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

1. That’s so INCREDIBLE, a Divine-human mutual ownership through the blood of Jesus Christ! It defies any words to convey it!

2. I can LOOK AT THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, AND SAY “MY GOD”, and HE LOOKS AT ME, YOU, AND SAYS, “MY PEOPLE!” Guess who gets the best end of that deal!

a. That means that ABSOLUTE EMPTINESS OF LIFE, IN COVENANT IS NOW BOUND WITH ABSOLUTE FULLNESS OF LIFE. No more foraging for food like a lost dog, finding only crumbs that never satisfy. No more like the dog returning to its vomit.

b. That means that ABSOLUTE WEAKNESS, IN COVENANT IS NOW BOUND WITH ABSOLUTE STRENGTH! No more being picked off by every demon trainee that Satan assigns to you.

c. That means that ABSOLUTE AIMLESSNESS, IN COVENANT IS NOW BOUND WITH ABSOLUTE GLORIOUS PURPOSEFULNESS. No more walking around in life in the dark just to kill more time.

d. That means that ABSOLUTE RETALIATION, IN COVENANT IS NOW BOUND TO ABSOLUTE RECONCILIATION. No more walking around trying to get even with scores to be settled.

d. Now then:

“ALL THAT GOD IS, IS EXPRESSED THROUGH ME, THE UNABLE ONE, BUT

NOW THE WONDERFULLY AND GRACIOUSLY ENABLED ONE!”

EXAMPLE

1. If I were “A MILLIONAIRE,” and Brother Don was a MAN ON THE STREET CORNER, BEGGING.

2. And I went up to Don, and said, “YOU KNOW, I WANT TO ENTER INTO COVENANT WITH YOU.”

3. That WOULD BE GRACE AND MERCY TO THE EXTREME:

a. Don HAD DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE IT!

b. And, ALL I HAD DONE WAS TO HAVE PITY ON THE BROTHER! (Gave him what he didn’t deserve – Bible language – grace and mercy)!

c. THE MAN ON THE STREET CORNER WHO OWNS NOTHING, and I WHO OWN MY MILLIONS!

d. Now, WHATEVER HE WANTS, HE CAN NOW RELY ON ME, FOR IT IS ALL HIS!

e. AND ALL THAT HE HAS AND NOW CAN DO, is really the REFLECTION OF MY WEALTH!

And so, POOR LITTLE WEAK, SPIRITUALLY AND MORALLY BANKRUPT SINNER/BEGGAR ON THE STREETS OF THIS WORLD:

1. I COME INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST!

-And, the LIFE I NOW LIVE, WILL BECOME AN EXPRESSION OF GOD’S SPIRITUAL AND MORAL RICHNESS!

-And, as Paul said in Phil. 4:13,

“I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!”

-It will be you and I, and yet not you and I,

“YOU AND I ARE WEAKNESS DRAWING UPON HIS STRENGTH!”

2. So that – No LONGER WILL WE ALWAYS HAVE TO STRUGGLE, AGAINST LIFE, TEMPTATIONS, SATAN and fail!

-Rather, we just RECOGNIZE CHRIST IS OUR LIFE TO WHOM WE ARE BOUND, AND WE SAY YES TO JESUS AND NO TO SATAN. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you, for he knows that to get to you, he has to go through Jesus to Whom we are bound.

-Christianity is “NO LONGER A STRUGGLE TO BECOME”, but “A CHOICE TO LET JESUS FULLY BE IN US.”

3. THINK OF IT, MY GOD, MY PEOPLE, YOU HAVE ALL THERE IS OF HIM, AND HE HAS ALL THERE IS OF YOU! Hear it:

“NO LONGER OBSTACLES, JUST OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIM TO SHOW

HIS GREATNESS!”

-Hear it:

“OURS IS NO LONGER THE LAST HOUSE ON A DEAD-END STREET, BUT

THE FIRST HOUSE ON CHRIST-LIFE AVENUE.”

*******

III. THE FOREVER COVENANT-KEEPING GOD

NOW TO THE MAIN POINT:

-I want to show YOU SOMETHING POWERFUL, THE MOST POWERFUL TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.

a. Namely, THAT WHEN GOD MAKES BLOOD COVENANT, GOD KEEPS THAT COVENANT!

b. And WHEN GOD says in Jesus’ BLOOD, “YOUR GOD – MY PEOPLE,” He won’t LET THAT GO, WON’T LET YOU GO! NOT EVER!

c. OUR GOD IS A COVENANT-KEEPING GOD, AND WILL NOT BREAK COVENANT. YOU MAY BREAK IT, BUT HE WON’T, NOT EVER! God is THE COVENANT KEEPER, but all too often MAN IS THE COVENANT BREAKER. Listen:

“FINDER KEEPER – BREAKER WEEPER.”

EXAMPLE

NOW WE SHALL SEE THE FOREVER-COVENANT GOD IN COVENANT WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE:

-TURN WITH ME TO JEREMIAH 33:25-26 which shows what it means to be God’s people,

“THUS SAITH THE LORD, IF MY COVENANT BE NOT WITH DAY AND NIGHT, AND

IF I HAVE NOT APPOINTED THE ORDINANCES OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.”

“THEN WILL I CAST AWAY THE SEED OF JACOB, AND DAVID MY

SERVANT,SO THAT I WILL NOT TAKE ANY OF HIS SEED TO

BE RULERS OVER THE SEED OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC,

AND JACOB, FOR I WILL CAUSE THEIR CAPTIVITY

TO RETURN, AND HAVE MERCY ON THEM.”

-Now then, let me put that for you in the MORE UNDERSTANDABLE MODERN VERNACULAR – Living Bible,

“I WOULD NO MORE REJECT MY PEOPLE, THAN I WOULD CHANGE MY LAWS OF

NIGHT AND DAY, OF EARTH AND SKY.”

“I WILL NEVER ABANDON THE JEWS, OR DAVID MY SERVANT, OR CHANGE THE PLAN

THAT HIS CHILD, THE SEED OF DAVID, SHALL ONE DAY RULE THESE DESCENDANTS

OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB. INSTEAD, I WILL RESTORE THEM

AND HAVE MERCY UPON THEM.”

(Note: I WILL “NEVER” ABANDON THEM)

-But why would He stick with me, let alone the Jewish people? I’ve forsook Him and hurt Him so often. Don’t take this wrong, but He is accustomed to that. You see, He chose you at your worst. What’s new? Remember what He says to the Jews in Deuteronomy 6:24,

“YOU HAVE BEEN REBELLIOUS AGAINST THE LORD FROM THE DAY THAT I KNEW YOU.”

(FROM THE DAY -which means continuousness in rebelliousness.)

Hey, listen:

“IF THERE WAS ANY MERIT IN OBSTINACY, ANY MERIT IN REBELLIOUSNESS, YOU

AND I WOULD WIN FIRST PRIZE HANDS DOWN.”

I can hear the faithful covenant God say:

“I KNEW ABOUT THIS WHEN I LOVED AND CHOSE YOU – I AM JUST NOT A FAIR-

WEATHER COVENANT GOD . RATHER FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, I AM

STUCK ON YOU THROUGH THICK AND THIN.”

-That by the way is why He says in Malachi 2:16,

“I HATE DIVORCE.”

-DIVORCE IS THE STRONGEST VIOLATION TO AND CONTRADICTION OF HIS COVENANT HEART on the face of the earth. Hear it:

“DIVORCE IS TOTALLY ANTI-COVENANT AND THEREFORE TOTALLY ANTI-GOD.”

*******

IV. COVENANT – THE IMPERISHABLE PEOPLE OF GOD

I hope you see it:

“YOU CAN’T GET RID OF GOD’S COVENANT PEOPLE!”

Like Commodus said to Maximus in “Gladiator”:

“YOU SIMPLY WON’T DIE.”

1. In the Word of God there is ABSOLUTELY NO ROOM FOR DEBATE!

2. God HAS DECLARED IT WITH AN ETERNAL COVENANTAL AMEN, AND WITH AN ETERNAL COVENANTAL EXCLAMATION MARK!

3. You WILL NOT FIND A MORE POINT-BLANK TRUTH IN ALL OF THE WORD OF GOD WHICH EXPLAINS WHY:

a. GOD’S COVENANT PEOPLE, THE JEWS, THOUGH THE MOST OBSCURE, INCONSPICUOUS, yet are the most conspicuous people IN ALL OF THE EARTH, AND IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND! A postage size nation and land that still dominates the headline to this day. Go figure!

b. A PEOPLE THAT SHOULD HAVE, by all LOGIC AND STATISTICAL PROBABILITY, VANISHED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH! But then, since when is covenant based on logic and statistics?

c. A PEOPLE WHO SHOULD HAVE LOST THEIR IDENTITY, LIKE ALL THE OTHER ANCIENT NATIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS THAT HAVE LONG SINCE GONE, SO SHOULD THEY!

4. No Way! WHY? BECAUSE THEY ARE GOD’S COVENANT PEOPLE, AND ALL THAT GOD IS, IS WITH THEM! (Their God – My People)

5. And THOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE PERISHED IN EGYPT UNDER PHARAOH:

a. And by EVERY SOCIOLOGICAL PROBABILITY, over the years, their IDENTITY SHOULD HAVE BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN THE CULTURES OF THIS WORLD (like all ancient cultures).

b. And YET IN 1948 we saw A MIRACLE, ISRAEL LIVED AGAIN:

-Jewish doctors and lawyers gave up their practices in America and other countries of the world!

-They came back to Palestine during THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, and since then A STEADY FLOW.

-Ask THEM WHY? And they will tell you why? Because I AM A JEW!

c. And, AS THE “UNION JACK” came down, and the “STAR OF DAVID” went up:

-The nations WATCHED INTENTLY, like DOGS GATHERED AROUND A BONE! Odds 1000 to 1!

-And yet, AGAINST INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS they CLAIMED AGAIN THAT NARROW STRIP OF LAND ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, AND SAID, “GOD GAVE IT TO US.”

d. WHY? Because of WORDS LIKE THESE WHICH GOD SPOKE TO HIS COVENANT PEOPLE IN Deut. 4:37-38,

vs. 37 – “AND BECAUSE HE LOVED THY FATHERS, THEREFORE HE CHOSE THY SEED

AFTER THEE AND BROUGHT THEE OUT IN HIS SIGHT, WITH HIS

MIGHTY POWER OUT OF EGYPT,”

vs. 38 – “TO DRIVE OUT NATIONS FROM BEFORE THEE GREATER AND MIGHTIER

THAN THOU, AND TO BRING THEE IN, TO GIVE THEE THEIR LAND

AS IT IS THIS DAY.” 

-Hear the COVENANT MIRACLES and see the COVENANT MUSCLE all the way through those verses. It is astounding! God doesn’t enter into AGREEMENTS – SETTLEMENTS – ARRANGEMENTS – CONTRACTS ETC., and then backs out when the going gets tough. No, no, no, nothing so flimsy and flaky. You see:

“GOD IS THE COVENANT GOD WHO ENTERS FOREVER-COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE,

AND THEN BACKS  UP THE COVENANT WITH HIS OMNIPOTENT POWER.”

-God’s Covenant is as fresh and potent today as the day he entered it with His people. Nothing has changed on His end, and it never will. He drove all the nations out before Israel then, and the day will soon be here that He will do it again. Count on it! If I was a betting man, which I am not, I would lay everything I have and own on the Jewish nation, and not a dime on the nations of the world. Israel’s victory is a COVENANT CINCH! Why?:

“BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THEIR COVENANT BREAD IS BUTTERED, AND I

KNOW WHO BUTTERED IT.”

*******

COVENANT GOD – GOODBYE TO DOUBT

Let me insert something right here. You must never doubt God’s Covenantal Word ever again. If Satan will cause doubt, it will always be about the Word of God. That is exactly what he did to Eve and to Adam. Too many of us, even pastors today, view Biblical prophecy like we are walking in our sleep. It never gets past being the language of a dream. It just doesn’t connect with reality.Tragic!

Listen:

“THERE IS NO WEARINESS IN LIFE LIKE THAT WHICH RISES FROM DOUBT, AND NO

EXHAUSTION LIKE THAT WHICH COMES FROM THE SHUFFLING BACK AND FORTH

OF AN UNFIXED MIND.”

You see:

“WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF DOUBTING BUT THE QUESTIONING AND IGNORANCE OF

THE TRUTH?”

There it is:

“HOW DOES THE MIND COME TO CONFUSION BUT BY BEING IN THE DARK.”

Let the Covenant Word of the Covenant God bring you out of the dark and destroy all doubt forever. Hear the words of Numbers 23:19,

“God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should

repent; hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken and

shall He not make it good?”

That Scripture doesn’t really say much good about man, now does it? So fickle is man, so untrustworthy, so false, that God almost makes it sound like if He was ESSENTIALLY HUMAN – ESSENTIALLY MAN, that He would then be expected to lie – HE THEN SHOULD LIE, FOR THAT’S WHAT HUMANS DO. Lying goes with the human territory! In other words, “WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU EXPECT FROM MAN?” 

I mean, think of it, look at all the broken promises in marriages that were actually veiled lies and ended in divorce! It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to pick up two sliced ends of a marriage rope to be able to say, “LOOK, THIS HAS BEEN CUT!” That is what mankind is good at, slicing and cutting promise-ropes, especially marriage-promise ropes.

For that matter, many marriage contracts today aren’t worth the paper they are written and signed on. So flimsy are people’s marriage ties today, that their marriage bonds can wear out in no time at all because of THE MOTES OF DUST DASHING AGAINST THEM – MARRIAGE THREAD FATIGUE. What a cruel joke people play on each other at the marriage altar!

The COVENANT GOD DECRIES AND ABHORS THE WHOLE MARRIAGE-DIVORCE SCENE TODAY. He is not like man whose promises bite the dust and make hash of his marriage and family. No, THE SCARLET, BLOOD SOAKED CORD OF GOD’S BLOOD COVENANT THAT RUNS THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY, GOD DOES NOT, WILL NOT, AND CANNOT SLICE AND DICE. Feel the omnipotent-covenant muscle in the words:

“WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO, AND WHAT HE SPEAKS HE ALWAYS MAKES

GOOD ON IT.”

*******

V. COVENANT – THE ETERNAL PEOPLE OF GOD

You see, God’s covenant is an eternal covenant:

“YOU CAN’T TERMINATE GOD’S PEOPLE!”

-God said to the first Jew – Abraham in Gen. 17:7 and 8,

“AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THEE, AND THY SEED AFTER

THEE IN 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 WHEREIN THOU

ART A STRANGER, ALL THE LAND OF CANAAN, FOR AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION,

AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.”

-What part of 2 plus 2 equals 4 don’t we understand? In other words:

“THEY ARE GOD’S DISTINCTIVE COVENANT PEOPLE, THEY ARE ETERNALLY DISTINCTIVE,

AND YOU CAN’T GET RID OF THEM! THEY WILL NOT GO AWAY – EVER!”

Remember:

“THEY WERE ON “SCHINDLER’S LIST” NOT FIRST OF ALL BECAUSE OF A MAN’S INCREDIBLE

COMPASSION, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE GOD’S COVENANT CHOSEN.”

-Think of it:

a. They remain DISTINCT, they HAVE THEIR OWN CULTURE, THEIR OWN HOLIDAYS, THEIR OWN CALENDAR, THEIR OWN FOOD, THEIR OWN RELIGION, THEIR OWN GOD, THEIR OWN LAND!

b. TRY AS YOU MAY, YOU CANNOT ASSIMILATE THEM, YOU CANNOT ABSORB THEM, they won’t change their I.D.

c. Whether AMERICANS, GERMANS, CANADIANS, or whatever culture, you cannot DISSOLVE THEIR JEWISH IDENTITY! They are the flip side of the Amish. Christians today often reflect the world’s culture, rather than stand out in the midst of it as a separate people – HIS PEOPLE.

d. There is something ETERNALLY DIFFERENT ABOUT THESE COVENANT PEOPLE, BECAUSE GOD’S MARK IS UPON THEM!

e. And that is WHY HELL WANTS TO DESTROY THEM, GAS THEM, HANG THEM, BURN THEM!

f. Because if hell can destroy God’s people, hell can destroy God, for God and His people are one!!

HEAR THIS:

“EVERY TIME WE LOOK AT A JEW, WE ARE REMINDED OF THE ETERNAL NATURE

OF GOD’S PEOPLE.”

-In the Old Covenant, God entered INTO COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE JEWS!

-In the New Covenant, through the blood of Jesus Christ, it is NOW WITH “WHOSOEVER WILL.”

-And I am reminded of the INDESTRUCTIBLE, ETERNAL NATURE OF GOD’S PEOPLE in John 3:16,

“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT

WHOSOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM, SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT

HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.”

a. Those often too-well-known words are VIBRATING AND PULSATING WITH COVENANT – THEY ARE COVENANT TOUGH. The word PERISH does not mean a crash of an airliner in which all of the people PERISHED – DIED – WERE KILLED. Rather, the word PERISH means LOOSENED FROM – SEPARATED FROM – CUT OFF FROM. Ergo:

“THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR WILL BE BOUND TO  HIM

FOREVER IN HEAVEN – NEVER PERISH. THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE

LORD JESUS AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR WILL SEPARATED FROM

HIM FOREVER IN HELL – FOREVER PERISH.”

b. Believers in Christ are INDESTRUCTIBLE. Even when Satan kills them, the dumb-head releases them into ETERNAL LIFE AND GLORY where he cannot ever get at them again. Everything the devil does to eradicate Christians and the Christian church is self-defeating. It all BACK-FIRES ON HIM IN HELL, if you will pardon the pun. He really is such an idiot! Every time he murders a Christian, he shoots himself in the head.

-Which more than answers the question:

“IN THE END, WHO WILL BE LEFT STANDING?”

-And John 10:28,

“I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER

SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND.”

-Let me tell you who believe in Jesus Christ:

“SATAN, HELL, AND DEATH CAN’T HAVE YOU, FOR YOU ARE BOUND TO GOD FOREVER!” 

Let me tell you who do not believe in Jesus Christ:

“GOD, HEAVEN, AND LIFE CAN’T HAVE YOU, FOR YOU ARE BOUND TO SATAN FOREVER.”

*******

VI. THOUGH THE NATIONS TAKE COUNSEL AGAINST THEM

-To show you this, turn with me to a couple of Scriptures:

a. Ps. 44:22,

“YEA, FOR THY SAKE. ARE WE KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG, WE ARE COUNTED AS

SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”

-Oh how often this has been quoted BY THEM OVER THE YEARS! Quoted by them as they WERE MARCHED TO THE GAS CHAMBERS, TO THE GAS OVENS!

b. Ps. 83:3-4,

“THEY HAVE TAKEN CRAFTY COUNSEL AGAINST THY PEOPLE, AND CONSULTED

AGAIN THY HIDDEN ONES, THEY HAVE SAID, COME, AND LET US CUT THEM

OFF FROM BEING A NATION,THAT THE NAME OF ISRAEL BE NO MORE

IN REMEMBRANCE.”

-Really, those words ARE PROPHETIC FORESHADOWINGS OF THE JEWS THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

-When it says the NATIONS have taken CRAFTY COUNSEL, it means “DIABOLICAL SCHEMES.”

-MASS SCATTERING, MASS EXTERMINATION of the Jews throughout History! Many times the world has beaten up Israel and left it for dead.

-THE ENORMITY OF THE DEVIL’S SCHEME, to eliminate AN ENTIRE RACE OF PEOPLE, at one time!

-And, 6 million of them IN ONE OF THOSE ATTEMPTS. Men don’t think of that by themselves, “without the devil’s help.”

-YET HELL CANNOT, because they ARE GOD’S DISTINCTIVE PLAN AND PEOPLE! (Can’t get rid of covenant people)!

c. And, church, IN THEM, SEE YOURSELVES:

-The devil can’t, won’t, NOT EVER, GET RID OF THE CHRISTIANS, the Church of Jesus Christ either!

-It’s amazing THE HARDER HE TRIES, THE MORE POWERFUL THE TRUE CHURCH BECOMES!

-Hear it:

“THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS HAS NEVER BEEN THE END OF THE CHURCH, BUT

ALWAYS THE SEED OF THE CHURCH – THE MORE YOU KILL THEM,

THE MORE THEY MULTIPLY.”

Hear it:

“AS SATAN’S COVENANT PEOPLE GROW DARKER, GOD’S BLOOD-COVENANT PEOPLE

IN CHRIST GROW BRIGHTER!”

-Satan CAN’T GET RID OF THE CHURCH, AND NEVER WILL! When he does his worst, the people of God, God’s people, will be at their best!

Hear it:

“LIKE THE WEDDING IN CANA, THE OLDER THE WORLD GETS, GOD KEEPS HIS BEST WINE FOR THE END OF THIS AGE!”

-And that’s why! MULTITUDES ARE DRINKING THAT NEW WINE OF CHRIST’S SPIRIT TODAY.

-That’s why Rev. 19:1 suggests MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN HEAVEN, like the cascading of A MILLION WATERFALLS!

-Their praise and worship is LIKE THE SOUND OF A MILLION THUNDERSTORMS!

-And THAT SOUND OF PRAISE IS WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS BRINGING TO THE EARTH TODAY!

-And ON EARTH, ABOVE THE VOICE OF HELL, WE ARE HEARING THE CRESCENDO of the VOICE OF HEAVEN!

*******

VII. GOD’S COVENANT PEOPLE – THEIR PERMANENT INHERITANCE

-The Jews “HAVE RETURNED TO THE LAND,” and that is still headline # 1 in this new century!

-There is a line in Is. 27:12 I WANT YOU TO HEAR, AND SELDOM SEEN OR OBSERVED. It reads:

“YE SHALL BE GATHERED ONE BY ONE, O YE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL!”

-That’s exactly how it’s happening, ONE BY ONE they have and been and still are coming HOME TO ISRAEL’S turf!

-It is remarkable that you and I have been and still are SO BLESSED TODAY TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT!

Then turn with me to Ezekiel 37:25,

“AND THEY SHALL DWELL IN THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN UNTO JACOB MY SERVANT,

WHEREIN YOUR FATHERS HAVE DWELT, AND THEY SHALL DWELL THEREIN,

EVEN THEY AND THEIR CHILDREN,AND THEIR CHILDREN’S

CHILDREN …FOREVER.”

-In verse 26 you HAVE IT STATED AS AN EVERLASTING COVENANT!

-In verse 27 you HAVE THE COVENANT RELATIONSHIP RESTATED:

“YEA, I SHALL BE THEIR GOD, THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

-This is a 133 years after the prophet Isaiah!

–Verse 21 calls it their “OWN LAND,” and verse 25 says, “THEY SHALL DWELL THERE FOREVER!”

-This is not SIMPLY THEIR RETURN FROM BABYLONIAN EXILE after 70 years!

-No, No, for they were again EXILED UNDER TITUS in 70 A.D.

-This PROMISE IS FOREVER, they are there to “STAY.”

– A PROMISE OF COVENANT GOD TO COVENANT PEOPLE!

LISTEN PEOPLE! How can we ever distrust God again? But we do because:

“WE CONFINE GOD TO THE TEMPORARINESS OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND

PROMISES, RATHER THAN ALLOWING HIS/STORY AND HIS WORD TO TAKE

US INTO THE ETERNALNESS OF HIS COVENANT HEART.”

Aren’t you THANKFUL FOR A COVENANT GOD, for the WAY HE IS, AND WHAT HE TEACHES us through Israel!

-I mean, you read THE BIBLE, AND THE MODERN NEWSPAPER, AND THEY READ THE VERY SAME!

–Jeremiah 11:4-5,

“…SO SHALL YE BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE YOUR GOD,”

“THAT I MAY PERFORM THE OATH, WHICH I HAVE SWORN

UNTO YOUR FATHERS, TO GIVE THEM A LAND FLOWING

WITH MILK AND HONEY, AS IT IS THIS DAY.” 

*******

FOOTNOTE

Hear it:

“NO ONE, NOT IRAQ’S TALABANI, NOR AMERICA’S OBAMA, WILL EVER BREAK UP

THE JEWISH PACK, NOR DRIVE THEM OUT OF THEIR TERRITORY

EVER AGAIN.”

More than that:

“IN FACT, IN THE AWESOME POWER OF THEIR COVENANT GOD, THE HUNTED

SHALL BECOME THE HUNTERS, THE ATTACKED SHALL BECOME THE

ATTACKERS, AND THE MINORITY SHALL BECOME THE MAJORITY.”

-Yes I know, such thoughts are not received warmly by the bad boys in Washington DC and Tehran. The nations of the world are gathering even now like a gang of nasty little mice around that which they think is but a tiny piece of cheese. And when they attack, they all shall be smooshed in the MOUSE TRAP OF THE COVENANT GOD. We have His word on it! IT WILL TAKE THE JEWS SEVEN MONTHS TO CLEAN UP THE MESS.

-Hear me:

“IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS, YOU WITH THE COVENANT GOD HAVE SOME

SERIOUS CATCHING UP TO DO. WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL COME OUT OF

YOUR PROPHETIC SOLITARY CONFINEMENT VERY QUICKLY.”

-Listen:

“SOME PEOPLE’S RELIGION IS SO SAFE AND STERILE, AND THEY ARE THE SAME

FOLKS WHO MAKE SURE THAT THE GAS THEY USE TO START A BARBEQUE

FIRE IS UNLEADED.”

-Wow:

“I CAN JUST HEAR GOD SAYING TO THE NATIONS AT ARMAGEDDON, ‘GET A

COVENANT LOAD OF THIS.’” 

*******

VIII. EMBRACED BY GOD – REJECTED BY MAN

-I WANT YOU TO CONSIDER THE STRONG EMBRACE OF THE COVENANT GOD, BY CONSIDERING WHAT REJECTION AND HATRED THE JEWS CAME BACK FROM:

1. A RESILIENCE THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO AN ENTIRE RACE, let alone to A HUMAN BEING!

2. Think of it:

a. In the year 1938 there was a world conference TO DISCUSS ASYLUM FOR THE JEWS!

b. All the MAJOR NATIONS WERE THERE, “MR. TAYLOR” WAS CHOSEN CHAIRMAN, one of Roosevelt’s men!

c. The convention LASTED FOR MANY DAYS, AND WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER:

-One nation offered to have any Jews – LITTLE COSTA RICA! In Central America!

-Canada with its VAST EXPANSE OF LAND SAID, “WE’LL TAKE SOME, IF THEY COME WITH $5,000.00 per family! (That’s when HITLER was saying, “We’ll release some, with a suitcase and $10.00 in pocket).

-BRAZIL said, “WE’LL TAKE YOU, IF YOU COME WITH A CERTIFICATE OF BAPTISM!” (Become Catholic)

-AMERICA WEPT TEARS, AND TURNED THEM OVER TO A POSSESSED MADMAN NAMED ADOLF HITLER! (The Nazi S.S. said, “WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT WITH THEM, WHO CARES.”

-And we WEPT AS WE FINALLY SAW THE TRAGEDY OF THE HOLOCAUST, nobody thought that something like this was possible.

-And the BONES PILED UP IN A RUBBISH HEAP, AND THE WORLD ASKED OUT LOUD:

“CAN THESE BONES LIVE” (can they ever come back?)

And now:

“THE FLAG – STAR OF DAVID – WAVES THE ANSWER, ‘YES, YES, YES, A THOUSAND

TIMES YES. GOD IS A COVENANT GOD, AND HIS WORD IS FROM

EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. HALLELUJAH!”

-Turn with ME TO ZEPHANIAH 3:14-15,

-Zephaniah is FOURTH FROM THE LAST PROPHET IN YOUR 0.T.!

-And there, in Zephaniah. 3:14-15, God, the Covenant God, makes A PROMISE TO ISRAEL. I BELIEVE WE ARE SEEING TODAY THE FULFILLMENT OF IT!

–Zephaniah. 3:14-15,

“SING 0 DAUGHTER OF ZION, SHOUT O ISRAEL, BE GLAD AND REJOICE WITH ALL

THY HEART, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM.”

“THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY THY JUDGMENTS, HE HATH CAST OUT THINE ENEMY,

THE KING OF ISRAEL, EVEN THE LORD IS IN THE MIDST OF THEE: THOU SHALT

NOT SEE EVIL ANY MORE.”

-And Amos adds to that in Amos 9:14-15,

“AND I WILL BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF MY PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AND THEY SHALL

BUILD THE WASTE CITIES, AND INHABIT THEM, AND THEY SHALL PLANT VINEYARDS,

AND DRINK THE WINE THEREOF, THEY SHALL ALSO MAKE GARDENS,

AND EAT THE FRUIT THEREOF.”

“AND I WILL PLANT THEM UPON THEIR LAND, AND THEY SHALL NO MORE BE PULLED

UP OUT OF THEIR LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN THEM, SAITH THE LORD THY GOD.” 

*******

IX. A COVENANT QUESTION

-I can answer affirmatively the QUESTION:

“WILL ISRAEL ON THIS EARTH ALWAYS BE A NATION?”

-The answer unequivocally is:

“YES, ON GOD’S COVENANT OATH! ON THE WORD OF THE COVENANT GOD.”

-It is like asking:

“WILL GOD ALWAYS BE GOD?”

Hear it:

a. GOD’S COVENANT WORD IS GIVEN WITH “PIN-POINT ACCURACY,” and WITH “UNSTOPPABLE AND OMNIPOTENT CERTAINTY!”

b. How can you doubt THE LORD OF THE WORD, AND WORD OF THE LORD any more in your life!

c. The Word of God will be standing, when “THE MOUNTAINS HAVE CRUMBLED INTO DUST.”

d. FAITH SHOULD COME BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD!

e. THIS BOOK ISN’T SYMBOLISM, FAIRY TALES, OR ALLEGORIES, THIS BIBLE IS THE BLOOD COVENANT WORD OF GOD TO MEN!

f. Let this word be a lamp unto our feet and a light upon our pathway! Hear it;

“HISTORY IS NOT HELD TOGETHER BY A RUBBER BAND AND A PAPER CLIP,

BUT BY THE UNFAILING WORD OF GOD.”

*******

X. LIFE WITH THE NEW COVENANT/NEW TESTAMENT GOD

1. THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUE, MY FRIEND, YOU CAN COUNT ON IT! FOREVER!

2. NOTHING WORSE THAN MODERN CHURCHES SHOOTING THE WORD FULL OF HOLES! DENYING THE SUPERNATURAL – THE CREATION, THE MIRACLES, VIRGIN BIRTH, LITTLE THINGS LIKE THAT!

3. Do you know why RELIGION IS SO BORING?

a. I mean there is nothing more boring than a Bible shot full of holes!

b. Rather, Christianity, BASED UPON THE TRUE WORD OF GOD “IS DOWNRIGHT EXCITING!” Glory to God!

c. The disciples NEVER ONCE COMPLAINED THAT LIFE WITH JESUS WAS BORING!

d. I mean, think ABOUT IT – JESUS STOPPING A FUNERAL PROCESSION AND RAISING THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE!

-The disciples WERE THERE WHEN HE DID THAT, wouldn’t YOU LIKE TO SEE JESUS DO THAT?

-A little bit exciting, WE MIGHT MAKE YOUR DAY, we might remember that for at least 48 hours!

-WOW! Can’t you see the MORTICIAN WHEN THE CORPSE ASKS FOR THE FAMILY’S MONEY BACK!

e. OR, WHAT ABOUT THE DAY WHEN JESUS BROUGHT THE FIRST ASTRONAUT BACK FROM OUTER SPACE ­Lazarus!!

-They HELPED HIM OUT OF HIS ASTRONAUT SUIT, AND PARADED HIM BEFORE MANKIND!

-Let ME TELL YOU, IN LAZARUS, you SEE WHAT GOD’S ULTIMATELY GOING TO DO TO EVIL, TO EVERY FUNERAL!

HEAR ME:

“JESUS HAS BEEN MORE EFFECTIVE IN CEMETERIES THAN IN SEMINARIES!”

f. Or, WHAT ABOUT THE DAY, HE TOOK 2 SARDINES AND A FEW BROWN AND SERVE ROLLS AND FED 5,000!

-McDonald’s, Long John Silvers, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, eat your heart out!!

-And, all of that and more, “JESUS IS RESTORING TO THE CHURCH AS THE END APPROACHES.

-Satan will NOT KEEP US FROM WHAT HE PROMISED, “GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL YE DO.”

-HEAR ME:

“HE GIVES ISRAEL THE PROMISED LAND, HE GIVES THE CHURCH “A LAND

OF PROMISES.”

-And, WE SHALL SEE IT – YOU HAVE GOD’S BLOOD COVENANT WORD ON THAT!

*******

XI. THE COVENANT GRAND FINALE                    

And, it is AN ETERNAL CONCLUSION, FOR THE COVENANT IS AN ETERNAL COVENANT!

-GOD HAS BEEN TRUE TO THAT COVENANT FOR 4,000 YEARS, AND HE WILL BE TRUE TO IT FOREVER! THAT’S COVENANT LOVE!

-But you say, the Jewish nation doesn’t KNOW GOD, DON’T LOVE JESUS, HOW SHALL THEY DWELL WITH HIM FOREVER?

-OH FRIEND, they not only have a distinctive history, they shall have a distinctive end to their covenant history, which shall USHER IN THE “GLORIOUS-COVENANT-FOREVER!”

-I read in Jeremiah 30:7 something which we must remember:

a. Jeremiah HAS JUST TALKED ABOUT THE JEWS RETURNING TO THEIR LAND!

b. And, now Jeremiah GOES TO THE END TIME, AND SAYS ABOUT ISRAEL IN A TIME OF GREAT TRIBULATION, vs 7,

“ALAS, FOR THAT DAY IS GREAT, SO THAT NONE IS LIKE IT (Awesome). IT IS

EVEN THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE, BUT HE SHALL BE SAVED

OUT OF IT.” (Hallelujah)

c. OUT OF THE GREATEST TRIBULATION, TROUBLE, THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN! OUT OF THE LAST GREAT CITY OF JERUSALEM, OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, THERE WILL BE SAVED A GREAT NUMBER OF ISRAEL! (Bible says 144,000 – figure for fullness)

d. BUT THOSE DAYS shall BE HORRIBLE FOR ISRAEL called by Jesus in Matt. 24:21,

“GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS WAS NOT SINCE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO

THIS TIME, NOR EVER SHALL BE.” (Exactly as “Jacob’s trouble,” A DAY

THAT THERE HAS BEEN NONE LIKE IT.)

-THOSE STATEMENTS ABOUT ISRAEL’S /JACOB’S TROUBLE, THE GREAT TRIBULATION:

a. Refer TO DAYS NOT ABOUT WHICH ONE ASKS, ARE WE IN IT OR NOT?

b. NO! NO! You’ll know! Israel will know it. It is cataclysmic, and worldwide in scope!

c. Isaiah knew about it in, Is. 34:2,

“FOR THE INDIGNATION OF THE LORD IS UPON ALL NATIONS, AND HIS FURY UPON

ALL THEIR ARMIES, HE HATH UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM, HE HATH DELIVERED

THEM TO SLAUGHTER.” (all nations, all armies that fight against Israel

in the Battle of Armageddon)

-All THE INHABITANTS, ARMIES, NATIONS OF THE EARTH SHALL FEEL THE INDIGNATION/or the WRATH OF GOD.

-Aren’t you thankful that I Thessalonians. 5:9 says,

“WE/CHRISTIANS ARE NOT APPOINTED UNTO WRATH!” (We are gone to

glory by this time.)

-We HAVE NEVER FELT THE WRATH OF GOD – CHASTENING YES, SPANKING YES, WRATH NO.

And in that day, Zechariah 12:10 tells us there shall BE A CHANGE TO THE JEWISH HEART:

a. It’s like the METAMORPHOSIS OF A “CATERPILLAR” into a beautiful “BUTTERFLY!”

b. Verse 10 tells us that the “PEOPLE WHO REJECTED THEIR MESSIAH”, just as prophets said they would, now turn their HEARTS TO JESUS:

“AND I WILL POUR UPON THE HOUSE OF DAVID, AND UPON THE INHABITANTS OF

JERUSALEM, THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AND SUPPLICATIONS.”

(God says by His Spirit, He will yet be gracious to them abundantly, pour forth the Spirit of grace, and they shall supplicate and cry unto me)

“AND THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED.”

(Who is that but Jesus about whom they said, “His blood be upon us and our children?)

“AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNETH FOR HIS ONLY SON,

AND SHALL WEEP BITTERLY.”

(As one that weepeth for his first born! WHO IS THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN, but Jesus Christ Himself?)

-Speaking about Israel and the Jewish people, God says in Romans 11:31, (New Living Testament),

“And now, in the same way, the Jews are rebels (like all of us by nature),

and God’s mercy has come to you. But someday, they too,

will share in God’s mercy.”

-Yes indeed, the Bible says that the Jesus-rejecting Jews are the rebels right now, but they are going to share one day in the mercies of God in Jesus Christ. One day soon, like all of us have had to do, they will knock off their rebellion and unbelief, and bow weeping before Jesus, their Messiah and ours.

-YOU SEE:

1. We serve a Covenant God, and GOD WHO KEEPS HIS WORD, IS A LOVE THAT WON’T LET US GO!

2. I’M NOT WORTHY OF IT, BUT IN CHRIST I RECEIVE IT, THE LOVE OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT! AMEN AND AMEN!