The New Covenant, Part 3

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8. I know that many pastors all around the country are going to talk this week about the upcoming election to some degree, whether they emphasize the sovereignty of God, whether they emphasize the political spectrum. But I know that your needs that you have today are not political, nor are they social. Nor are they marital, nor are they financial. Because all your needs, even though physically there might be a need, your ultimate need is a spiritual need. And only the great king of the universe can meet that need.

And my job as a pastor is to promote the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to make sure you see only Jesus. Because if you see Jesus in all of his glory, how supreme he is, how sufficient he is, no matter what happens politically, physically, maritally, socially, relationally, you're going to be okay because you know Jesus, the all-sufficient God of the universe. And the right of Hebrews is all about the supremacy and the sufficiency of the Messiah. Once we come to understand who he is and what he's done, everything else pales in comparison to him.

And so in Hebrews chapter 8, we're looking at this great priesthood of the Messiah. We're looking at what is commonly called the new covenant. We're going look at it in chapter 9 and in chapter 10 because it is all-encompassing if you're a Jew. But the benefits of the new covenant, we are able to receive.

And so as we go through Hebrews chapter 8, a series of events that took place, really, in chapter 7, verse number 25, where we saw, first of all, as we outline the scripture, the magnificent extent of the ministry of Christ. And then when we came to chapter 8, verse number 1, and verse number 2, we saw the majestic exaltation of the ministry of Christ. And then in number three, in verses three to seven, we saw the monumental excellence of the ministry of Christ. And today, we're going to see the merciful expression of the ministry of Jesus Christ. In other words, we're going to see why there's a new covenant and why it's so important and why God promised a new covenant.

So Hebrews chapter 8, verse number 7 records these words: "For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. When he said, A new covenant he has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear."

What is it about the new covenant that makes it better? Number one is because of its sufficiency. Because of its sufficiency. We know that because the writer of Hebrews says if the first covenant was faultless, there'd be no need for a new covenant. In other words, if the old covenant was able to bring about what you need, that is, eternal redemption, access to the presence of God, there would be no need for a new covenant. But there is.

The old covenant accomplishes purpose. It was designed specifically to help remind you that you're a sinner, that you need a Savior. And that old covenant was designed to help restrain you from wickedness. But it could not accomplish that in all of its entirety. And the Lord knew that. But the Lord designed the old covenant for a specific purpose. So man would see his need, that he could not meet the law of God, he could not meet the standard of God.

And if I'm a listener in the synagogue and I'm being read this letter, I'm thinking, well, wait a minute. We've had this old covenant for years, and now you're telling me it's obsolete? In fact, he goes on to say in verse number 13: "a new covenant he has made the first obsolete." That is, it's null and void. You don't need it anymore. And if I'm a Jew, I'm saying, well, wait a minute, this is my system. It's when you talk to anybody who's a part of a legalistic system where they believe that they have to do something to get to heaven. They say, well, wait a minute. How can you say that? How can you tell me that what I've been doing all these years is not going to work? Because by nature, we think that we can gain God's favor. That somehow we can do enough that God will say, you know what, you're pretty good. Come on in. Doesn't work that way.

And when you tell somebody, you know, you know what, it doesn't really work that way because God has done something different. And the Hebrews would say, well, wait a minute. Who said? The writer says, God said. And he quotes Jeremiah 31. He quotes them the new covenant. Now remember, he doesn't tell them it's in Jeremiah because they already know they're Jews. They know the Old Testament. He doesn't tell them what verse it's in, where it's located, they know the new covenant as outlined in the book of Ezekiel, the 11th chapter, the 36th chapter, as well as Jeremiah chapter 31. He just happens to quote the book of Jeremiah. But they know about the new covenant.

So, someone comes to you and they say, "Well, wait a minute, you're telling me that my works-based system is not good enough, that I can't gain God's favor. Who said?" We say, "God said." God said. Because if God says it, that settles it. That's all there is. And so we go to them and say, well, God said so. The right of Hebrews says, listen, the old covenant was insufficient to do what you ultimately need. What do you need? Access into the presence of God, cleansing from your sin. The old covenant could cover your sin, but it couldn't cleanse your sin. The old covenant can remind you of your sin, but it doesn't remove your sin. The new covenant cleanses you, it removes your sin.

And I can't think of any better topic to cover as we partake of the Lord's table today, where the Lord would say, and he took that third cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." Because everything was pointing to the redemption of Israel. Everything was pointing to the seed that would come through Abraham. Everything was pointing to the coming Messiah. God didn't come along and say, you know, the old plan is not working very good. Let me think of a new plan, a new covenant. No, it was always the plan. The old covenant was designed to show Israel they can't do it on their own. They can't keep the law. They can't measure up to God's standards. As much as they tried, they couldn't.

And so they would go, and their priests would offer sacrifices for them, and those sacrifices would cover their sin, but it wouldn't remove their sin. And the stain of sin was always with them. Because it reminded them that there's coming a Messiah who will one day remove your sin. Until that day, you keep looking toward that and you keep crying out for mercy to your God because the new covenant is sufficient. Well, the old covenant was insufficient. So there's a better covenant because of its sufficiency.

There's a better covenant because of its quality. Its quality. It's called a new covenant. Kynos, new in quality. This new covenant is not an addition to the old covenant. In other words, it's not an adaptation. It's not something that you add to your existing covenant. Your old covenant's obsolete now. You don't need it anymore. It served its purpose. Its purpose now is over. And everything about the types and the shadows and all the rituals and all the ceremonies were all designed to point them to their coming Messiah. And we'll see this unfold more and more as we go through Hebrews 9 and Hebrews 10. But it was designed just to show them that there's coming a Messiah who fulfills everything that's been promised. And so he says the new covenant is better because of its efficiency, because of its quality. It is a new covenant.

Now listen carefully. The word for covenant is diatheke. Not soontay—soontay is a covenant that a man makes with another man, someone of his equal. Like a covenant of marriage, like a land covenant, a property covenant. A covenant made between two people who are equal partners. But diatheke is a covenant, a will made by one person. In other words, God says, "This is not an agreement I'm making between you and me. This is not something that you have to bargain with me about. You can't bargain with this. This is the way it's going to be. This is the new covenant. I'm making it. This is my will."

So, a better word for covenant would be will. This is a new will. This is going to happen because I'm going to give my life. And upon the giving of my life, the will will be yours. The relationship is dependent upon me. And not you. Because everything about salvation is about God. It's not about us. It's all about what God does and who He is, right? And so, this new covenant is a new will, is a new relationship that I'm going to have with you, and it's solely based on me, not you, because I'm making it without you being in agreement to it. I'm just doing it. I want to cleanse you from your sin. I want you to understand me. I want you to know me. For that to happen, I'm going to make a new covenant. And therefore, the quality of it far surpasses the quality of the old covenant. Because the old covenant was based on the Mosaic system, and whether or not I would keep the law of God.

That's very, very important as we begin to understand what God is doing. The Mosaic covenant was given at Sinai, right? The Abrahamic covenant was given to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. It's what we call the land covenant. The new covenant is the love covenant, and the Davidic covenant is the Lord covenant. There's going to be a land. And there's going to be a Lord who reigns in that land based on the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant. And you will be there based on the love of the new covenant.

The Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant that Israel agreed to at Mount Sinai. God gave the law, the Ten Commandments, right? And the people were to obey the law. In fact, they made an obligation to obey the law of God, but they couldn't do that, could they? They kept breaking the law over and over and over again. They could not obey the Mosaic law. The Ten Commandments that God had given. And the law was not designed to redeem you. The law was designed to remind you. That you fall short of the glory of God. You will always fall short. And the law was given to show you the personality, the character, the nature of God, because everything about the commandments is all about the character and nature of who God is. He is the supreme God of the universe. You're to bow and worship Him, you're to have no other gods before Him. But Israel kept breaking the law.

And so they never lost, listen, their calling. They only lost the blessing associated with the calling. The blessing was in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. And God put them in a land. He says, "If you obey me, if you follow me, I will bless you, I will give you prosperity." Great things were happening, but Israel did not. They took on other gods, they followed other gods, they disobeyed the Lord, and finally, the Lord led them into captivity because they would not obey him. Yet that Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of the blessing of the land, was still theirs. Because that was an unconditional covenant that God gave to Abraham. "I will bless you, and I will bless your seed, and I will bless all the nations who believe in that seed." It was an unconditional covenant.

But Israel had a hard time keeping the covenant. God says, "Here's the covenant I'm going to give you. Now, to receive the blessings of that covenant, you need to obey me." But they couldn't. And they didn't. Not only that, they wouldn't. They just wouldn't obey the covenant. Something else took priority in their lives. So God led them off into captivity. And the unique thing about that is that before that ever happened, there was what we call a divided kingdom.

So not only is the new covenant better because of its sufficiency, because of its quality, it's also better because of its unity. Its unity. Listen to what the text says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant," new in quality. It's a new will, it's my will. "This is what I'm going to do. It's totally dependent upon me. With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Wow. I'm going to bring you all together because they were divided.

When Jeremiah gave the prophecy, the kingdoms were divided. Why? It happened a thousand years earlier before the book of Hebrews. For a thousand years earlier, after Saul was king, and after David was king, and after Solomon was king, his son Rehoboam became the king over the southern tribes. And Jeroboam became the king over the ten northern tribes. And there was a divided kingdom: Israel in the north, Judah in the south. The new covenant is going to bring them all together again. They were never together, and they went off into captivity. And God would prophesy about their coming together and the unification of the tribes because they would be brought together. All those 12 tribes would be brought together in a unique and special way. God says the new covenant is a covenant of unity. "I will bring the house of Judah and the house of Israel together as one. I'm going to do that. The day is coming when that is going to happen," what a great promise God gave.

But remember, there's never been a covenant given to Gentiles. The covenant's only been given to Israel. Gentiles, you and me, are beneficiaries of the covenant. We're beneficiaries of the Abrahamic covenant. Remember over in Galatians chapter 3, it says these words in verse number 7: "Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed in you. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer."

In other words, we now become sons of Abraham. Verse number 14: "In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Then over in verse 29: "and if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise."

In other words, because we believe in the seed, the Messiah, the coming Messiah, who would come forth and bless the nations of the world, and we put our faith in that seed, we are descendants of Abraham spiritually. We are the spiritual sons of Abraham. Paul calls us true Jews. The true Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, not outwardly. Why? Because the old covenant was external, the new covenant is internal. And because we are beneficiaries of the new covenant, internally, we are spiritual sons of Abraham. So we are the beneficiaries of a covenant that God made to Abraham.

So in Romans 9, verse number 4, it says that all the promises and all the covenants and all the law was given to Israel. Because Israel was to be a light to the Gentile world, was to show the way of the law of God to the Gentile nations. They didn't do that. They failed miserably. And God sent them off into captivity. But with the promise and the fulfillment of the new covenant, listen. He's going to unite Judah and Israel. Listen carefully. And the book of Romans, the 11th chapter, 26th verse, says, "And all Israel will be saved. All Israel will be saved."

Now listen carefully. All Israel doesn't mean every Jew is going to be saved. How do we know that? Book of Zachariah. Zachariah chapter 13. Verse 7: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man, my associate, declares the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, the sheep may be scattered. And I will turn my hand against the little ones. And it will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, that two parts in it will be cut off and perish, but the third will be left in it, and I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, They are my people, and they will say, The Lord is my God."

When does that happen? That happens at the end of the tribulation. And two-thirds of Israel will be purged out. And one-third is the "all" of Romans 11. All of Israel is the one-third that's left in the land of Israel. They will be saved. And that will unite Judah and Israel together. Remember in the book of Revelation, the seventh chapter, that there are 12,000 Jews from every tribe. They have been won to Christ by two witnesses in the tribulation period. And those 12,000 from every tribe will then become a vehicle through which the gospel is presented to a lost world during the tribulation.

Remember, Jeremiah 31 comes after Jeremiah chapter 30. And in Jeremiah chapter 30, it tells us that there's coming a day called the time of Jacob's trouble. And the time of Jacob's trouble is the time of tribulation upon the earth. And it's during that time that God will purge out two-thirds of Israel. And they will look on him whom they have pierced, Zachariah chapter 12, and they will mourn for him as an only son, and they'll recognize that they killed their Messiah, and they will embrace him as their Messiah, and that one-third is all of Israel that will be saved. That's the unity of the new covenant. The coming together of Judah and Israel as one under the kingship of the Messiah. This is why the new covenant is so important.

And so the writer of Hebrews is saying, listen, the new covenant's better simply because God said so. God said it, I, my, 14 times. It's either I or my, because God is the author of the new covenant. And God said, "Look, this is the way it was, but this is what I'm going to do: the sufficiency of the old covenant was insufficient. But the new covenant is totally sufficient to redeem you, to cleanse you from your sin, that you might have a relationship with the living God because you'll have access into his presence."

And then not only that, the quality of that covenant. It's a new covenant. It's new in terms of the quality. It's different than the old. It's not an adaptation to the old. It's not something that you add to the old. It's completely new. It's brand new. It's a will that God makes with his people, Israel. And either you accept it or you reject it. There's no in-between. You either accept what he does or you reject what he does. If you accept it, then you embrace him as Messiah in the new covenant. Will come to life in you. How great is that?

And so, not only the sufficiency, not only the quality, but the unity of bringing together both Judah and Israel. Now remember, he's writing to a Jewish nation where the ten tribes of Israel have been scattered abroad, and no one knew where they were, and no one knew what tribe they would be of. And yet they would all be coming together as one under the new covenant, the blood that would be shed for the salvation of the world.

And not only that, look at this. Not only the sufficiency, the quality, and the unity, but the locality. The locality of the new covenant. It's internal. Versus the locality of the Mosaic covenant. It was external. It was a law on the outside. This will be a law written on the inside. Listen to what he says. He says this: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days," which days are those? Those are the days of the tribulation based on Jeremiah chapter 30. "After those days, at the end," he says, "I will put my law into their minds. I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

A new heart, a new mind, based on a new love. That will help them to no longer resist and rebel against God, but embrace Him because they've received Him as their God. Everything up to this point has been external, but I'm going to do something very unique. This is what it all depends upon me. I'm going to write my law upon your hearts. I'm going to give you a new heart. I'm going give you a new mind. Ezekiel chapter 36 says, "I'm going to put my spirit within you. I'm going to wash you clean, and my spirit will reside in you."

And the great thing about that is that that never happened before. That's why it's so new. That's why this is a mystery in the old, revealed in the new. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And that's the fulfillment of the new covenant. That's why Christ said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." That is, I'm ratifying right now that my blood shed confirms the new covenant, and that my blood will be the cleansing agent that removes all sin from your life. And you will have a relationship with me because of me. Not because of what you do, but because of what I will do. And when I do it, it will accomplish everything I desire. It will give you an eternal relationship with me, it'll give you eternal salvation, it'll give you access to my presence. Because that's what the new covenant does.

And everybody in the Old Testament, listen carefully. Everybody in the Old Testament was saved based on the promise of the coming seed. Way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, there was a promise of the seed that would crush the serpent's head. That was the gospel in Genesis chapter 3. And that gospel would be unveiled more and more as you go through the Old Testament. And in Genesis chapter 12, Abraham and the descendants of Abraham will have to believe in that one coming seed, the Messiah, who would redeem man's soul. And all throughout the Old Testament, they lived in anticipation.

That's why you had all these shadows and all these types and all these prefigurements in the covenants to show you, listen, everything is pointing to one who will accomplish all this. Why? Because Jesus Christ came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law and the prophets. Matthew 5, verse number 17. He came to fulfill them all. So he is the embodiment of the law. He is the embodiment of all that the prophets said. He is the fulfillment of all of that. Therefore, you can trust him and believe in him because he is the promise of the new covenant. He embodies it. And therefore, you need to embrace him.

And the unique thing about this is that it's all internal. You see, Israel had no internal motivation to keep the law of God. It was all external. Yeah, they were to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul mind, and strength, and they were to give everything they could to God, but they just couldn't do it. Why? Because there was no internal mechanism to make it happen, but with the new covenant comes the Spirit of God that cleanses you, that gives you the power and the energy to accomplish God's will that makes you love the law, makes you want to obey the law, wants to make you understand more of the law. You just can't wait to understand all that God has said. Because he's written his law in your hearts. He's put a new spirit within you. You've been cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. How great is that?

So the writer of Hebrews says, listen, it's better because of its sufficiency. The old covenant was insufficient to accomplish what you ultimately need. It's better because of its quality. It's brand new. It's completely different. It's based on the will of God and the will of God only. You either accept it or you reject it. It's better because of its unity. It brings Judah and Israel together. And we as Gentiles are beneficiaries of that covenant, and therefore it brings us together with them as one in the body of Christ, in terms of the family of God. It's better in terms of its locality because it's on the inside, not the outside. He's going to write his law on our hearts. He's going to put his spirit within us. He's going to cleanse us from the inside out. No longer will your sins be covered, sins will be cleansed. No longer will you have to be reminded of your sin because I'm going to remove your sin. That's what God's going to do. That's the promise of the new covenant.

And then, not just because of its locality, but because of its inclusivity. Look what it says: "And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizens," verse 11, "and everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all will know me from the least to the greatest of them." All will know it, includes everybody, the inclusivity of the new covenant. You're not going to have to teach people about who is Jesus because everybody's going to know who he is. Why? Because they would have looked on him whom they have pierced. They will have mourned for him as an only child. They will embrace him as their Messiah. And no longer will you have to go around saying, "know the Lord," because "all will know me." That's the promise of the new covenant.

The beauty when God brings his children of Israel into the kingdom of God and he rules from Jerusalem on the throne of his father David, and begins to reign supreme as king of Israel. It includes everybody. In Judaism, there were the elite people who said they knew the law of God, and there were the commoners who didn't know as much about the law of God. But in the new covenant, "everyone will know me. Everyone will experience a relationship with me because they're going to have the spirit within them."

That's why Jesus said in John 14 on the eve of the crucifixion, "I'm going send you another comforter. He will bring to remembrance everything that I've said to you. He will be your inner teacher," which was the fulfillment of the new covenant that God had promised to give to Israel. And you and I, as Gentiles, are the beneficiary of that covenant, the blessings of that covenant, because we've embraced the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So, not just because of its sufficiency, not just because of its quality, not just because of its unity, locality, and inclusivity, but because of its efficacy—it actually works. In other words, it is the only thing that forgives you of your sins. This is the merciful expression of the ministry of Christ. Verse 12: "for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." Wow, that is the efficacy of the new covenant. The old covenant couldn't do that, new covenant can. I'm going to be merciful to them. I'm going to forgive them of their sins. And you know what? I'm never going to remember them again.

Now, does that mean that God doesn't know that you're a sinner? No. That God doesn't know what you did in the past and are going to do in the future? No. God says, "You know what? I'm never going to bring them back up again to you. Because I've forgiven them. And because I've forgiven them, I'm never going to say, 'Yeah, but what did you do yesterday? What did you do last week? You're doing the same thing again.'" He's not going to bring it back up to us again. Why? Because he remembers our sins no more. He has cleansed us from our sin. That's the beauty of the new covenant. It actually works where nothing else does.

What does it work to do? It works to cleanse you from all of your sin. That's why we celebrate the Lord's table. That's why we're here today to partake of the Lord's table. Why? It's that constant reminder, I've been forgiven. And I want to celebrate that with my Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness and thank Him for His mercy and thank Him that He loved me enough to die on Calvary's cross for me. That's the new covenant of his love that says, "I will give my life for you. I will shed my blood for you. I will sacrifice all for you because I want you to receive the forgiveness of sins."

You know why he does this? He does it for his name's sake. It's all about his name. Way back in the book of Ezekiel, the 36th chapter, he says these words: "Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I'm about to act. I'm not doing this for you. It's not about you. It's all about me." He says, "but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went, I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned in their midst."

In other words, my holy name will be seen in how I forgive the unforgivable. My holy name will be seen. He goes on to say, "Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I prove myself holy among you in their sight, for I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your land." In other words, I'm going to bring you back together again. You're going to receive Abrahamic promise in the land. You're going to receive Davidic promise in the land. Because of the new covenant promise, and this is what he says: new covenant.

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers so that you will be my people, and I will be your God."

"I'm doing this for my sake. This is all about my holy name." How is God's holy name seen the best? In the forgiveness of the unforgivable. In the forgiveness of people's sins. And this whole covenant is based on what God wants to do Himself. And that's why Israel is called "my people, my people, my people." It's a covenant given to Israel, not to the church, not to the Gentiles. It's a covenant given only to Israel. And we now are the beneficiaries of that covenant. Because we believe in the Messiah that would come and do that, and we embrace all that, and we receive the benefits of that covenant. Because we, as Gentiles, become spiritual sons of Abraham. Because we believe in that one promised seed that would come from the loins of Abraham.

See, Israel rejected their Messiah. And everything about the Messiah, the Mosaic covenant pointed to the Messiah. He would come and fulfill all the law. We believe that. They reject that to this day. But one day God will save them. God will draw Judah and Israel together. They will be one. They will receive his spirit. Because he's going to write the law of God on their hearts. And they will follow him and they will serve him and they will glorify his name. And we, as Gentiles, were the beneficiaries of all that. And we rejoice in what God has done because we are, as the Bible says, true Jews.

Why? Because the law of God has been written on our hearts. Who is the true Jew? The one who believes in the new covenant given to Israel. That's the true Jew. Because we understand the cleansing blood of the Lamb. And we come together today to celebrate that. Thanking God that He has forgiven us all of our sin that we might rejoice in Him. Isn't that great? But what a blessing that is that God made this covenant to Israel, but allows us to partake of all the blessings. We still believe that God's not done with Israel. God's got a great—that's when we talk to you about what's happening in America today. It's all about the future. It's all about the salvation of Israel. It's all about the time of Jacob's trouble. It's all moving in that direction. So that the kings of the East will gather together to come against Jerusalem, so the Son of Man will return from glory and destroy them. And take his people Israel into that land that they might fulfill all Abrahamic Davidic promise based on new covenant promise.

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today the joy that we have in coming here to listen to your word. To realize, Lord, that you spoke these words years ago, and yet they are true today as if you spoke them today. Because you have spoken the living word to us, and we are grateful. And our prayer, Lord, is that every one of us who are in this room would be a recipient of your grace and your mercy. And as we celebrate the Lord's table. May it always be a reminder that we have always fallen short of the glory of God, but because of you, we are clothed in your righteousness. And for that, we are grateful. And thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.