The Last Passover, Part 2

[0:00] The message this morning is the last Passover part two. And keep in mind in a couple weeks we'll have Resurrection Sunday.

[0:16] I would like you to please turn to the book of Romans. And this morning we'll be in Romans chapter 9.

[0:30] And in chapter 9 we'll be looking at the first five verses. I am telling the truth in Christ.

[0:44] I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit. That I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

[0:58] For I could wish that I myself were accursed. Separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren. My kinsmen according to the flesh.

[1:12] Who are Israelites. To whom belongs the adoption of sons. And the glory and the covenants. And the giving of the law.

[1:24] And the temple service. And the promises. Whose are the fathers. And from whom is the Christ.

[1:36] According to the flesh. Who is over all. God blessed forever. Amen. Amen. It's very apparent from the passage just read.

[1:52] That there are special. Covenantal provisions. That God made. For and with. The nation of Israel. That he never made with anyone else.

[2:04] And it is. This service. Not only to Israel. But to those in the body of Christ. To commingle these. And attempt to make.

[2:15] Believers in the body of Christ. As though we are covenantal. There is a sense in which we do. Very gladly. Take part.

[2:26] Of the first provision. Or the first aspect of the provision. That Jesus Christ made for us. When he died on that cross. And he indicated that.

[2:38] The cup from which he was to drink. Represented. His blood. That was established. And being the basis for the new covenant. And some have thought. That that means.

[2:49] That we are part of that covenant relationship. But when we get to that. I think we will be able to see differently. Actually I have ordered this message. From what I intended.

[3:00] As a result of the studies. That we've been doing. At the nine o'clock hour. And this morning. For those of you who are with us. You know what an incredible. Array of scripture.

[3:12] Is represented there. In the book of Judges. It is one of the most. Gruesome. One of the most difficult. One of the most. What shall I say.

[3:25] Irregular kinds of passages. Of scripture. That you will find. Anywhere in the Bible. People. But as we were eager to point out. And important to point out. The Bible. Tells it like it is.

[3:37] It does not sugar coat anything. The Bible has us pegged. All of us. And the Bible reveals. What the true situation. Really is. And essentially.

[3:49] It has provided a record. Of the fact that. Man and his basic nature. And makeup. Hasn't really changed at all. We still have the same fears. The same problems. The same ego situations.

[4:00] The same desires. Same fears. Same everything. As our ancient forebears had. That lived a long time ago. So while the Bible. Does not attempt. To address issues.

[4:11] Of modernity. And we don't find computers. And jet planes. And space shots. And all of that. In the Bible. We do find it to be a book. That addresses the human condition. And that has never changed.

[4:22] And what I should like. To provide for you now. Is a consideration. Of something. That is a little bit. Different vein. Than what I have considered. In the past. And it might be. A little different for you too.

[4:34] I've got some propositions. To put on the table. And then we will look. At some scriptural. Passages. That support the proposition. And we'll better explain.

[4:44] What I'm talking about. I don't want to be pessimistic. Used to have a history teacher. At Cedarville. His name was Dr. Paul Weiland. And he said.

[4:55] Christians ought to be. Pessimistic optimists. And of course. We question. Well what in the world. Is a pessimistic optimist. And he said.

[5:06] A pessimistic optimist. Is one who is pessimistic. About the abilities of man. And optimistic. About the faithfulness of God. I thought that was probably.

[5:16] A pretty good way of putting it. And if history. Has demonstrated anything. Time and time again. It has shown that. That's the way it works. So here we go.

[5:26] With proposition number one. The entire human race. Has been one. Grand. Failed. Experiment.

[5:44] Now let that settle in a little bit. The entire human race. Has been one. Grand. Failed.

[5:54] Experiment. In order to salvage it. The very interposition. Of the creator. Became necessary.

[6:11] Now because we're using some big unfamiliar words. I'm thinking especially the young people. Who may be with us this morning. Let's look at that word. Interposition.

[6:23] Interposition. To interpose. And the way it is used. Is in order to salvage. The failed experiment.

[6:33] Of humanity. The very interposition. Of the creator. Became necessary. And I've got my. Loyal Webster's.

[6:45] Dictionary here. To interpose. Interposition. Interpose. To interfere. Intervene.

[6:58] Mediate. Intercede. Mean to come or go between. Interpose. Often implies no more than this. Means to place in an intervening position.

[7:13] To put oneself between. To put forth by way of interference. Or intervention. To introduce. Or throw in between.

[7:24] The parts of a conversation. Or argument. In essence. Jesus Christ came to. Interfere. With humanity.

[7:36] And that is precisely. What he did. He was an intervener. An intercessor. And. An interforce.

[7:48] Why? Because humanity. Had demonstrated. It was incapable. Of dwelling together. Without hostility. And brutality.

[8:00] Toward one another. We see this surface. In so many places. In so many ways. All throughout history. And as we read this morning.

[8:11] In connection with our nine o'clock study. About the tribe of Benjamin. And the other tribes. Here they are. All Jews. All descendants of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob.

[8:23] And they are engaging. In a kind of civil war. What is that all about? I mean. These are all Jews. They aren't Jews. Versus Gentiles.

[8:33] They are Jews. Versus. Jews. And as you read. The book of Judges. And some of the very. Ugly. Ugly. Scenes. That take place there.

[8:44] It makes you wonder. Just how far. How low. Humanity can go. And there's some pretty low pictures. In that book. And as I told the class.

[8:56] This morning. If I wanted to write a book. That would be popular. For humanity. A lot of things in the Bible. Like that. I'd just leave out. I wouldn't include them. But that's the beauty.

[9:07] Of this book. It is very forthright. And very truth telling. It doesn't sugar coat anything. It tells it like it is. And sometimes. It gets very. Very ugly.

[9:19] Not too long ago. Probably. When. 1980s. Maybe 1990s. There was this. Huge. And I do mean. Huge.

[9:29] Conflict in Africa. Between the Hutus. And the Tutsus. And between those two tribes. Now these are all Africans. All the same color.

[9:41] All the same origins. If you will. And between those two tribes. They managed to kill. One million. Of their number. Now this is an ancient history.

[9:54] This is modern. In reading the book. About the Lewis and Clark expeditions. I was absolutely fascinated. Sacagawea was of course there.

[10:06] She wasn't what a lot of people think. And as you read the book. You understand that. Sacagawea was not a guide. She didn't show them exactly how to go. Or otherwise they would have been lost.

[10:17] That wasn't the issue at all. Her great value. Was in her ability to communicate. With the Indian tribes. That they encountered along the way. And the thing that I found so fascinating.

[10:28] Now you might as well say that. Apart from Lewis and Clark. And that expedition that they led. Prior to them. There were virtually no. White people. There at all. Period.

[10:39] They were all Indian. And as they journeyed across the country. She came to the rescue more than once. And a couple of times. Actually saved their lives. Because she was able to communicate.

[10:49] With the Indians. Close enough dialect. That she could communicate with them. And one time. They were planning a massacre. They were going to. They were going to slay them all. In the middle of the night. She intervened.

[11:00] And saved them. But the thing that I found so remarkable. Is that all the way across the country. As they made their way. Clear out from. From Missouri. Where they started. To the Pacific Ocean.

[11:12] They encountered. Several Indian tribes. And virtually all of them. Were at war. One with another. What was that all about? Why were they fighting?

[11:23] Why were they killing each other? There were no white men there. To blame anything for. It is systemic to humanity. This conflict thing. This idea of conquer. It's fueled by jealousy.

[11:34] It's fueled by a quest for land. It's fueled by a quest for wealth. All kinds of things like that. Come into play. It is that which is born and bred. In the human heart. That causes us.

[11:45] To want to dominate. And control one another. And we all know that our own nation. Was born. In a violent revolution.

[11:58] People rose up because they resented the taxation. They resented all of the rules and regulations. They resented the crown. And we finally said. We're not going to take it anymore.

[12:08] And we rebelled. And voila. The United States of America was born. And now that we're all here. And we're all Americans. And we're not fighting for our liberty any longer.

[12:21] We have nothing but peace and prosperity among us. Well what is wrong with that picture? We can't even keep our law enforcement personnel from being murdered on the job.

[12:40] Shot by people they are pledged to protect and serve. Amazing. What is going on? What's wrong with the world? Humanity remains a failed experiment.

[12:56] Humanity remains a failed experiment. Genesis chapter 6. Let's go there if we may please. Genesis chapter 6. Just to get a couple of things on the table.

[13:10] Don't want to take anything for granted. And we'll begin reading with verse 5. Genesis 6.5 And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth.

[13:21] That every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth.

[13:32] And he was grieved in his heart. The Lord said. Now I realize that some of this is what we refer to as a. What shall I say?

[13:44] It's a literary tool that is used to attribute human personality and features of human personalities to the deity. Which in effect he does not have.

[13:56] In other words. God has. For lack of a better term. I'll put it this way. God has something that we call a capacity to grieve. But it obviously isn't human grief.

[14:09] It is grief on a level that corresponds to deity. Which we probably can never really understand. But there is something that is commensurate with God's ability to experience emotions.

[14:23] As opposed to human beings. And we might think that he is apart from them. And he obviously is not. It's the same thing as an anthropomorphism.

[14:36] Which is attributing human body parts to God. Talking about God's eyes and God's arms and so on. God does not have arms and eyes. God is spirit. But in order to communicate with those who do have arms and eyes and etc.

[14:50] These things are assigned to God. And it's called a literary tool of anthropomorphism. And when you reduce that. Or make it down even further to emotions and feelings. Then it's called anthropopathism.

[15:03] And it means that God is able on his level to experience something similar to what humans do. By way of grief, joy, sadness, etc.

[15:16] And it's difficult for us to think in terms of God having human emotions. So we would just say that he does it. But he has something whatever the equivalent of that is for deity. Is something that he obviously experiences as well.

[15:31] So when the text says that God was grieved. In his heart. That's the same thing we're talking about. And the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land.

[15:44] From man to animals to creeping things. And to birds of the sky. For I am sorry that I have made them. Now didn't God know well in advance exactly what was going to happen?

[15:56] Was he somehow taken by surprise at man's evil and sinfulness? Of course not. What's going on here? If we are going to assign what we commonly refer to as omniscience of God.

[16:11] So that he knows everything. Let me ask it this way. If you were considering a course of action. And you knew that the results of it were going to be disastrous.

[16:22] Would you still pursue that? The likelihood is you wouldn't. If you could see around the corner what was coming. You say, well I don't want to go that way. I'm going to do something else.

[16:33] But God didn't do that. And yet. He being God could not have been surprised by what happened. Adam and Eve did not blindside God.

[16:45] Neither did Lucifer. Neither did those who lived on the face of the earth. When the Lord decided to call a halt to it. Noah found favor.

[16:57] In the eyes of the Lord. The first experiment. Or experience of humans. Created with a volition. Failed.

[17:08] And here we're talking about multiple humans. Actually there was a failure even before this. And that's found in Genesis chapter 3. Where our first two parents fail. So the creator commits to experiment number two.

[17:21] And we today are part of this experiment. Now. What is an experiment? Well. Let's get it again. Make it as factual. And as.

[17:32] Legitimate as we possibly can. With an experiment. Here's what we have. It is a tentative procedure or policy.

[17:45] An operation carried out under controlled conditions. Now remember that. Controlled conditions. In order to discover an unknown effect or law.

[17:58] To test or establish a hypothesis. Or to illustrate a known law. A new procedure. A new procedure. Try out a new procedure.

[18:10] That's an experiment. Okay. So. An operation carried out under controlled conditions. In order to discover an unknown.

[18:22] Or unproven effect or law. Now of course it wasn't unknown or unproven to God. But it certainly was to those who are going to be the subjects of it. It is to test. Or establish.

[18:34] Establish a hypothesis. Or to illustrate a known law. What was. Here's a question. What was the known law.

[18:45] That was in place. Before the creator created anything. Whether angels. Or humans. What was the known fact.

[18:55] Or the known law. That was in existence. And I'm not sure that it can be reduced to one. But for the sake of the subject. That we are engaging. And the overall theme of it.

[19:07] It has to do. With the absolute. Unadulterated. Perfect. Holiness. Of a righteous creator.

[19:17] None of us here. None of us here. Have any idea. Of what it is like. To be holy. All of us. All of us.

[19:30] Possess something called. Relative righteousness. Now I realize that in Christ. We have a standing. That gives us a perfect righteousness.

[19:41] That's because of the finished work of Christ. And apart from that. Doctrinal. Legal position. Forensic position. That we enjoy in Christ. We are all flawed human beings.

[19:53] Living out various degrees. Of righteousness. And unrighteousness. But with God. It is absolute righteousness. And holiness. Should he not then.

[20:06] Have been content with that knowledge. Rather than having to prove the hypothesis. Think of that. Why should God. Involve those.

[20:16] Whom he knows. Is going to fail. Why should he do that. When he has. The option. Obviously. Of not doing it.

[20:27] Just leaving things. As they were. And how were they? Well the way they were. Was nothing more than the father. And the son.

[20:38] And the spirit of God. Existing together. In eternity past. Where there was no heavens. And no earth. And no cosmos. No creation.

[20:49] No anything. Just those. Beings. How long was it that way? Well.

[20:59] How old is God? You cannot put an age on him. He is the eternal God. He does not have an age. You cannot say. Anything.

[21:10] In connection with time. When you apply it to God. He is the one. Referred to as. He. Inhabits. Eternity. And don't think of eternity. As time.

[21:21] Stacked on top of time. Because it isn't. Eternity. Is timeless. It is without time. So we automatically.

[21:31] Because we are creatures of space and time. We want to know. How long was it that God existed before he decided to create anything? Well you can't even ask that question. Because when you say how long.

[21:42] What are you talking about? You're talking about time. Time. Time is completely irrelevant to this. So. Before the beginning began. There was God.

[21:53] He subsisted in three persons. Father. Son. And Holy Spirit. As one person. Dwelling in eternity. In perfect unity. Perfect joy. Perfect love between them. And then.

[22:05] At some point. He decided to create. And the first of his creations. To the best of our knowledge. Was angelic.

[22:16] And man. Is made a little lower than the angels. Angels. Constitute a higher created order of being. Than humans. And out of those that he created.

[22:28] Lucifer is regarded as the chiefest of those. That involves a number of things. Found in. Isaiah chapter. 14.

[22:39] I believe it is. And Ezekiel. And. There he is described as the crowning achievement. Of God's creation. And he rebelled against God.

[22:49] And the reason he did. Was because God gave him something. That enabled him to do so. And we've talked about this before. It is the will. The volition. The power to make choices. That was given to.

[23:01] The angels. And one third of the angels. Apparently. Exercised their ability. In following. Lucifer. Who was called the son of the morning. They rebelled against the most high.

[23:13] And became. So far as we know. The demonic forces. That are found. Particularly in the four gospels. And other parts of scripture. Sometime after that.

[23:24] And we do not know how long. Sometime after that. God created. Human beings. Now he didn't need. Didn't need time and space.

[23:35] For angels. Because angels are spirit beings also. They don't occupy time and space. But now he's going to create. Human beings. Physical beings. And we need.

[23:46] Time and space. In which to operate. So God accommodated us. By creating. The heavens. And the earth. He brought these into existence. Because we need them. And they contribute.

[23:58] To the balance. That we enjoy. On planet earth. And so on. And we are here. At his pleasure. And we too. Have been created. With this thing. Called. Evolution.

[24:08] A capacity. To exercise. Our will. We are not made automatons. We are not robotic. We have the ability. To obey. Or to disobey. We have the ability.

[24:19] To love. Or not to love. And that's what makes these things. So dramatic. Knowing full well. That God was. Creating something. That was going to.

[24:30] Turn against him. He nonetheless. Did so. Anyway. And we all wonder. Same thing. Why?

[24:42] A question has been asked. In fact. I think there's a book. On the table. Back there. Written by Phil Yancey. Called. The question. That won't go away. Why? Why this?

[24:53] Why me? Why now? And we've all got those questions. Don't we? Well. Why did God create. As he chose to create. Knowing full well.

[25:04] What was going to come from it? The only answer. That is given. That I've been able to find. Is located. In one place. In the Bible. And it's Revelation.

[25:14] Chapter 4. And verse 11. And it has to do. With the 4 and 20 angels. Or 4 and 20 elders. Who fall down before God. And ascribe. Worthy art thou.

[25:26] O Lord. To receive. Praise and honor. And glory. Dominion. Majesty. And power. For. Or because. Thou has created all things. And for thy pleasure.

[25:39] They were created. That's all you can say. God was pleased. To do so. He didn't have to do so. And don't. Please don't come around. With this idea.

[25:50] That God was so lonely. That he created. Human beings. Well. You and I both know. That he could have done. Much better than that. If that was the first problem. But. God has no needs.

[26:01] That he cannot satisfy. Within his own character. And nature. He does not have to go. Outside himself. To meet any of the needs. That he has. So God. Simply because.

[26:11] He was pleased. Simply because. He chose to create. Knowing full well. That it was going to turn against him. He chose to do so anyway. And in the midst of all of that.

[26:22] He also chose to do something else. And that was provide. A redemption. For what he knew. Would be. Our fall.

[26:33] And that is precisely. What he has done. All of these. Failed. Previous experiments. Including. As of now. Our own. Ongoing. Failed experiment.

[26:44] Conclusively demonstrate. There is no possibility. Of absolute holiness. Apart from the creator. Alone. To salvage. The failed experiments.

[26:56] The creator himself. Would have to be. Interposed. As a redeemer. Or mediator. This is why. Jesus came. And this is why. The word. Was made flesh.

[27:07] Every experiment. Needs controls. An environment. Needs to be put in place. To provide.

[27:17] Optimum opportunity. For the experiment. To succeed. So in the beginning. God created the heavens. And the earth. An idyllic garden. A spot.

[27:28] Where the human creatures. Could thrive. You know the outcome. With that segment. Of experiment. Having failed. Lapsing into the corrupted.

[27:39] Original creation. It was destroyed. Salvaging. The only apparently. Uncorrupted element. In Noah. And his family. Out of Noah.

[27:51] Came Shem. Ham. And Japheth. And out of Shem. Eventually arrived. Abraham. Isaac. And Jacob.

[28:02] These. And their descendants. Will comprise. The next. Great. Failed. Experiment. And that experiment. Will center upon.

[28:13] The Jewish nation. That will be provided. With a new set. Of controlled elements. Under which. They will function. This too. Will fail.

[28:25] The covenant. Provided them. Consisted of the laws. Given from the creator. To the man. Moses. These. Formed the basis. Of another. Controlled experiment.

[28:37] And it too. Would fail miserably. As you read. The Exodus. Beginning particularly. With chapter 20. And the giving of the law. And then repeated.

[28:49] In Deuteronomy. Chapter 5. You find. You find. Very precise. Codification. Of all of the laws. Requirements. Statutes. Ordinances. Just. Judgments.

[28:59] Etc. That God. Required. Of the nation. Of Israel. And their response. To all of them. Was. All. That the Lord. Has said. Will we do.

[29:11] And then they proceeded. To fail. And fail miserably. And what was the very first one. Right out of the gate. What was the very. Thou shalt have.

[29:21] No other gods. Before me. What was Israel's. Besetting problem. That was the very thing. They didn't get past. The first.

[29:32] Controlled element. Thou shalt have. No other gods. Beside me. And you are not to make. Any graven image. Or any likeness. And what did they do.

[29:43] They consistently. Violated that. Why? Was it that difficult. To obey? What was the big attraction.

[29:54] About idolatry anyway? We know that man. Reasons with a fallen. And warped intellect. That's how we reach. Some of the harebrained.

[30:05] Conclusions that we do. About all kinds of things. And some of them. Are pretty. Well I've. I've had a few of my own. Would you admit to it? Do any? Probably all of us do.

[30:19] What in the world. Could compel someone. To make an item. With their own hands. Out of wood. Or stone. And then say to it.

[30:32] You are my God. And bow down to that. And worship it. Doesn't that sound like. Being right on the edge. Of some kind of insanity. How could people do something like that?

[30:47] What. What. What possesses us to do that? It is our skewed. Thinking process. And as I've tried to make plain before.

[30:58] This is precisely why. Among other reasons. A principle reason. Why God has given us his word. Is designed to straighten out our thinking. Our thinking goes cuckoo.

[31:11] We just come up with some of the most bizarre things. And the chiefest of which. Listen. There has never been a people on the face of the earth. That has had the interaction.

[31:23] With the one true God. As the nation Israel. You can recount the miracles that God performed on their behalf. One after another. As they came out of Egypt.

[31:37] Look at all of those miracles in the wilderness. The water. The manna. The quail. On and on it goes. The pillar of cloud by day. And the pillar of fire by night. Miraculous deliverances.

[31:47] Water out of the rock. Crossing of the Red Sea. Crossing of the Jordan. Priests put their feet in. Dry land. The whole nine yards. One after another. And what in the world was there besetting sin?

[32:00] Idolatry. Give me a break. Amazing. As you go through the Old Testament. You see.

[32:11] The pagans. Worshipping. Dagon. That's. That's the fish God. The Philistines. This is the one before whom. The Ark of the Covenant was situated.

[32:23] They had this. Stupid big statue. Called. Dagon. God of the Philistines. And they put the Ark of the Covenant down there in front of it. And the next morning.

[32:37] When the Philistines arose. Dagon was. Falling flat on his face. They couldn't figure out. What in the world happened there? So.

[32:48] What did they do? They put him back up. Stupid also. Isn't it? And the next time. What happened? He's on his face again.

[33:00] Did they get the message from that? Dagon. Befalling. Before the Ark. Did they pick up on it? Apparently not. And you can understand.

[33:12] Dagon. And Molech. These were the people from whom. Ruth came. And Ruth. Is going to be.

[33:23] In the ancestral line. Of the Savior. Ruth was a Moabitess. And the Moabites were famous. For scriptures called. Making their children pass through the fire.

[33:36] And they had this big. Massive. Thing. They called. A god. Molech. It's like a big Buddha. And in his lap.

[33:48] They would place. Their babies. Children. Children. This is child sacrifice. And they would sacrifice. Their children.

[34:00] To Molech. Now every mother. Here. Would wonder. How in the world. Could anybody do that? What kind of thinking.

[34:14] Is taking place. In the minds of these people. That would enable them. To do something like that. And I suspect. That there probably was. Some demonic activity. Because. Paul made that quite clear. When he wrote to the.

[34:25] Corinthians. That. That demons. Were behind the idols. That people worshipped. Even though they did not. Recognize that. And this kind of thing. Goes on all throughout.

[34:35] The Old Testament. But when we come to the New Testament. We're free of it. Really? Because. They've gotten really sophisticated. Then. Oh yeah. Right. Stop by Athens. Athens.

[34:48] Athens. Athens was the brain center. Of the world. At that time. This is where the philosophers lived. This is. Where on Mars Hill. They would go up to.

[34:59] Discuss. Deep. Deep. Problems. Every day. And what did they have. All throughout their city. Statuary. They even had a. Even had a statue.

[35:10] Erected to the unknown God. They were afraid. That if they left a God out. He would get ticked. And might. Zap them some way. So. We're going to put a. Statue here. And we'll call it.

[35:20] To the unknown God. Don't want anybody to be offended. You know. They were. In the. Political correctness. Back then. Didn't want to offend the deity. To the unknown God.

[35:32] Preposterous. What. What is. What is this all about anyway? This is what. The unregenerate human mind. Is capable of. And let me say something.

[35:42] That you're not going to like. And you won't believe. But apart from the truth. You have in Jesus Christ. And that which is provided. In the word of God. Your mind.

[35:53] And my mind. Unaided by the truth of God. Is capable of the very same stuff. How do you like that? It's not very flattering. Is it? It's not supposed to be.

[36:06] But it is true. All of these things. Go together. To provide. One. After another. Grand.

[36:17] Failed. Experiments. And if it were not. For the son of God. Interposing himself. Into this failed experiment. And literally. Bailing us out.

[36:28] There would be. No hope. And no help. And I want you to turn. To the last reference. That will consider. And it's found. In Luke's gospel. Would you go there please?

[36:59] Luke's gospel. chapter 23. Chapter 23. I'm sorry.

[37:22] Chapter 22. Chapter 22. And verse 20. The night Jesus was betrayed. In verse 17. Having taken a cup.

[37:33] When he had given thanks. He said. Take this. And share it among yourselves. For I say to you. I will not drink of the fruit of the vine. From now on. Until the kingdom of God comes. Having taken some bread.

[37:45] When he had given thanks. He broke it. And gave it to them. Saying. This is my body. Which is given for you. Do this. In remembrance of me. And in the same way.

[37:56] He took the cup. After they had eaten. Saying. This cup. Which is poured out for you. Is the new covenant. In my blood.

[38:08] And I am totally convinced. They didn't have the slightest idea. What he was talking about. He's talking about his death. They didn't believe he was going to die. They believed he was going to Jerusalem.

[38:20] To reign. To establish the kingdom. To set it up. To chase out the Romans. And when Jesus told them earlier. That he was going to Jerusalem. And there. Be subjected to.

[38:34] Crucifixion. Peter. Peter had the brass. To take him aside. And rebuke him. And tell him. Don't you talk that way. That's not going to happen to you. And Jesus responded.

[38:46] By saying. Get thee behind me. Satan. For you. Are thinking. Just like. Men think. Just like.

[38:56] Satan thinks. And when he. Addresses the disciples. On the Emmaus road. He said. Oh foolish ones. And slow of heart. To believe all that the prophets.

[39:07] Have spoken. Ought. Not. The Messiah. To have. Suffered these things. And enter. Into his glory.

[39:19] What they wanted. Was the same thing. We all want. We want the glory. Without the suffering. Leave out the suffering. If you will. Just give me the glory.

[39:30] That's what they thought. Jesus was going to do. But do you realize. That when the son of God. Went to the cross. And died for the sins. Of the world. That was his paying. For what he was entitled.

[39:41] To claim. He shelled out. His own. Life. He died spiritually. And he died physically. That we might have.

[39:53] Eternal life. He interposed. Himself. Into our. Failed. Experiment. And this.

[40:04] Is what. Bailed us out. And. It's the only thing. That has bailed us out. Think about this. As we close. In essence.

[40:17] The new covenant. Will result. In man. Possessing. A will. Or volition. That will no longer. Challenge. The will. Of the creator.

[40:29] As man. Has always done. In the past. This is that passage. In Jeremiah 31. It's repeated again. In. Hebrews.

[40:40] Chapter 8 and 9. Where God says. I. Will. Make. A new covenant. With. The house of Israel. And the house of Judah. Not like the covenant.

[40:51] Which I made with them before. Which they broke. Consistently. Constantly. And that was the Mosaic covenant. The old covenant of the law. But he said. I will put.

[41:02] My law. In their heart. And on their mind. And they will obey me. That's the opposite. Of the deceitful heart.

[41:14] Of Jeremiah 17. That is wicked. And beyond finding out. That is the new heart. And what this literally means.

[41:24] And this is the only way. It can happen. Is that. That ability. For us. To exercise. Our volition.

[41:35] In a way. That opposes God. Is obviously. No longer. Going to be available. We will have. A heart. And mind.

[41:46] That is attuned. To God's heart. And mind. And rebellion. Will not be able. To break forth. And I want you. To think about this.

[41:57] Because it is. It is. Something to really consider. I've been trying. To get my brain around it. God cannot. Create. An equal.

[42:07] To himself. I think. We can agree. With that. Can't we? God cannot. Create. An equal. To himself.

[42:19] And any. Less than himself. Must of necessity. Lack. The pure. Holiness. He possesses. The covenants.

[42:32] Provided for man. Including the Abrahamic. The Mosaic. The Davidic. Were all. Environmental controls. For their experiments. And every one of them.

[42:44] Would fail. The new. Will also provide. A control. That man. Will not. Be able. To violate. For the simple reason. That our volition.

[42:56] And our will. Will be so closely. Attuned to his. That deviation. Will not be available. This is why. Heaven. Is going to be heaven.

[43:07] This is why. Believers. Who are living. In that kingdom. Age. Are going to experience. What they are. Because that capacity. For rebellion. That is.

[43:17] Born into man. As he was created. Will no longer be there. I will put. My law. Into their hearts. And into their minds. And there will not be anyone.

[43:29] Who will be saying. Know the Lord. For they will all. Know. Me. So our failed experiment. Is going to be bailed out.

[43:40] In fact. It already has been bailed out. The application. Has not been fully made. And with this. I want to conclude. The idea. Of that new covenant.

[43:50] I pointed out before. That we are not recipients. Of the new covenant. The new covenant. Is made with Israel. And with Judah. And when Jesus Christ. Died on that cross.

[44:02] He provided the basis. For the establishment. Of the new covenant. It gave him the basis. For offering it. To Israel. And he did. Peter did. In Acts 2.

[44:13] In Acts 3. And each time. The nation said. Thanks. But no thanks. We will not have this man. To reign over us. They rejected.

[44:24] The new covenant. And it was offered. Through Peter. This is Peter. Using the keys. Remember Jesus said. I'll give you the keys. Of the kingdom. Well Peter's using them. Keys are authority. They are for opening.

[44:35] And unopening. For locking. And unlocking. And Peter used them. When he offered this. To Israel. And he told them. In chapter 3. God has done his part. Now Israel.

[44:46] It's up to you. What do you say? And they said. No. This is what Paul means. When he said. Blindness in part. Has happened to Israel.

[44:57] Until the fullness. Of the Gentiles. Become in. You know what Israel's problem is? They think. With the same. Stupid. Skewed. Logic. That everybody else does.

[45:09] They too. Are part of our fallenness. And a special. Judicial blindness. Has come upon Israel. Until the fullness. Of the Gentiles.

[45:20] That's us. Comes in. And when that time comes. Then Israel. Will be enlightened. And they will be that. Remnant. That will be holed up. I think. In Petra. During the tribulation period.

[45:31] And when Jesus Christ comes. In Revelation chapter 19. We are told. Zechariah makes this clear. In chapter 14. Of his book.

[45:42] That this little remnant. Hold up there. Holding. Holding out. For their life. As the Antichrist. Tries to destroy them. And Christ returns.

[45:53] Revelation 19. And they will look upon him. Whom they pierced. And they will mourn. Jesus came to interpose himself.

[46:05] The first time. When he paid the price. For establishing that kingdom. And when he fulfills it. That will be the actual. Establishment of the kingdom. So where is the new covenant now?

[46:18] Isn't anywhere. Doesn't exist. There is no new covenant. There will be. But there isn't now. And the reason there isn't.

[46:29] Is because. The signatory. Has not signed on. When a covenant. Is established. It requires. The party of the first part. And the party of the second part.

[46:39] And they have to agree. To the terms. The party of the first part. Laid down his life. To establish. His part. And that was offered. To Israel.

[46:50] Israel. Israel. Israel. Israel. Israel. Israel. Has never signed on. And when they do. The new covenant. Will then be fulfilled. And Jesus. Will sit down.

[47:01] In the kingdom. And fulfill the promise. That he made. When he said. I will not drink. Of the fruit of the vine. With you. Again. Until I do so.

[47:13] In the kingdom. And then. Israel. Will be on board. Wow. That's coming.

[47:25] And you. And I. Are going to witness it. When it happens. Think of that. Now the question is. Have you availed yourself. Personally. Of that first aspect.

[47:37] Of the new covenant. That Christ provided. When he died. On that cross. Because he did it for you. Did it for me. What's your response to that? What do you think about that?

[47:50] What do you make of that? Do you see yourself. As some kind of a detached individual. Two thousand years later. Who can't understand. What in the world. A man dying on a cross. Two thousand years ago.

[48:01] Has anything to do with you. Is that where you're coming from? This is the central. Core issue. Of the universe. It was. Jesus. Being. Made.

[48:11] Sin. For. You. Have you appropriated that? Makes all the difference. In the world. And it brings out the truth. Of those wonderful hymns. That we sang this morning.

[48:22] Would you pray with me please? Our father. Remember there's so much about this. That we've been talking about. That we still fail to understand. But we understand enough. To be all by it.

[48:33] We understand enough. To see your. Gracious hand. Of benevolence. And love. Working on behalf. Of a failed experiment. In humanity. Time and time again.

[48:44] And still you keep. Right on loving us. Even to the point. Of sending your son. To do for us. What we could never do. For ourselves. Thank you so much.

[48:56] For this. Great redemption. That we enjoy. In Christ. Our goal. Here. At this place. Is that we might. Understand this better. So that we can.

[49:08] Serve you more faithfully. And love you more fully. This. Is our desire. Thank you for the presence. Of each one here this morning.

[49:20] And for any who may not have. Realized. Their apartness from you. We simply ask. That the spirit of God. Will weigh heavily upon them. And cause them to know.

[49:30] That apart from. Jesus Christ. As their savior. There is no hope. And no help for them. As a failed experiment. But you stand ready.

[49:40] To lift them. Out of that miry clay. And set their feet upon a rock. And give them. A purity. And a forgiveness.

[49:52] That the world knows not of. We thank you for that truth. And we pray you will. Press it upon the hearts and minds. Of each of us. In Christ's name. Amen.

[50:02] Amen. Word. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[50:24] Amen.