Covenant of Redemption (Part 2)

No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

Dr. Mike Evendroff. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

God by himself, for himself, to please himself, chose us in eternity past.

Which now I'm getting in the head of myself, let's go to point number two. Firstly the what of the covenant, the what of the promise, now secondly the when.

I've already said it but I couldn't help myself. When did this all happen? When did this agreement, pact, arrangement, covenant happen?

Turn to Titus chapter one, you're going to want to put a big crease in your Bible so your Bible just naturally folds open to Titus one.

Titus one when it comes to the eternal counsels of God. By the way, this is not just stuff for, well you know, this is when

I go to seminary I'll learn this. This is for you in the pew. If you can't read, you need to know this. Paul is writing to Titus at Crete, a lot of people couldn't even read.

But they needed to know this. You go, well you know, the whole election thing, chosen, predestination, we talk about that on a

Wednesday night study but not Sunday morning. Paul said you need to know this.

If you don't know this, there's something in your life that's lacking. And look at Titus chapter one, it's the same here.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, why are you in ministry

Paul? For the sake of the faith of God's elect. I'm in ministry because there are people who are not born again but have been chosen by God.

And I know like James chapter one verse 18, I preach the gospel and God saves through the preaching of the gospel. I'm in ministry for justification and their knowledge of the truth which accords to godliness.

I'm also in ministry not just for justification but for sanctification. So people learn about God and His truth and they become more godly in their practice.

In hope of eternal life, I'm also in ministry not just for justification, not just for sanctification but for glorification to make sure they are, through the gospel promises, faithful to the end.

And then he says something wild right here. See it in verse two, in hope of eternal life which

God who never lies promised before the ages began.

Before the ages began, who was there for Him to promise? To whom did

He make the promise? Angels? No. People? No.

The only person who existed in eternity past was the triune God, the Father, Son and the

Spirit and before time began there was a promise made from one to another to another, a promise.

Now what does he say here, the God who can't lie? Why does he say that? Well look down at verse 12, because Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.

You know what the word Crete means? Cretidzo? It means to lie.

I've been to Madagascar, I've been to Sri Lanka and I've been to Lyre, the island of liars.

That's what Crete means, lie. Everything about Cretans, they were liars.

I'm not talking about the Christians there, but the unbelievers. That's all they did was lie. They worshiped

Zeus and Zeus had to lie to sleep with some other kind of goddess. The Cretans lied about Zeus was actually buried there.

History says he wasn't buried there, but they're always saying, you know what, Zeus, he was buried here. Everything about the Cretans was lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

And so Paul's writing to Titus in the middle of a bunch of liars. I've got some news for you. God made a promise before time.

And you know something about God? Let me tell you about God. He doesn't what? He doesn't Cretidzo.

He's not a liar. He's talking about his nature there. How meaningful that is in this

Cretan context. But I have you look at the passage again in verse two.

Promise before ages began. Before time began,

God decided to come up with a redemptive plan for humanity. People were chosen.

Names were written down. The exact same language is used in second chapter, second book of Timothy.

Listen to this. God saved us and called us with the holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Let me show you another passage. Go to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one is the same kind of language.

You ask yourself the question, when did this happen? What's salvation plan B? Did God, was he taken off guard when it comes to sin and Adam?

When did the plan of salvation start? We always talk about that, the plan of salvation. It started in the triune

Godhead before time began. You say, well, you know, that's just not that big a deal for me.

It just doesn't really rev me up. Well, friend, that's why I'm trying to preach to you today. Because this is supposed to motivate ministry.

You're with a bunch of Cretans. You're on the Titus. You're on this island.

You're with all these people. Ministry's hard. Life's hard. Let me tell you something that will be good for your soul.

Think about the eternal Godhead. And Ephesians one does the same thing. Look at verse three.

Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him, better underline these words, before the foundation of the world.

Not that we were holy, but that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

What gives God the most praise in choosing, choosing after we choose our choosing before time begins?

And the answer is, according to Paul, before the foundation of the world, free election, his own choice.

Revelation 13 from the foundation of the world. Revelation 17 from the foundation of the world.

And think beloved, if God does look down the quarters of time and eternity passed and says, let's pick certain people.

They're all going to be depraved. They're all going to be sinful. I don't know where we got this.

Let's look down the quarters of time slogan. I was on the radio. I'd say probably from Satan is where we got it because it robs

God glory. God never chooses anybody because of who they are, because that would be works based.

I heard on the radio yesterday when someone said, you know, but when I believed in Jesus, all my sins were forgiven past, present and future.

Then the radio host said, now that's kind of presumptuous. If you think that when you got saved, you got saved from all your past sins, fine.

Present sins, fine. But future sins, now we have to disagree with that. God's going to take a look at your entire work and judge you on the pattern of your lifestyle.

And I thought, I hope not. Or I am damned if God looks at my life and judges my life based on what

I have done. I am undone. I need for Christ to step in front of me and say,

Father, you've given me this child to redeem and I have redeemed him. And you could look at my life from baptism, from birth to baptism, to transfiguration, to resurrection, to ascension.

You look at that perfect righteousness and based on my life, then judge him. He chose us before the foundation of the world.

Father, Son, and the Spirit met in a conference, as it were, Lloyd -Jones says. Listen to this.

Jesus said, I have authority to lay down my life and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment

I receive from my father. When did he receive that commandment from his father?

Birth, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection, ascension.

When did he receive it? In eternity past. That is amazing to me. In eternity past.

Number three, the what of the covenant? God would redeem some for his glory.

The when of the covenant? In eternity past. The who of the covenant?

We've already discussed it, but I'll make the implicit now explicit. The who of the covenant? The Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Father, Son, and the Spirit, equal in essence, equal in nature, but a kind of a division of labor.

Father is the originator, Son the executive, Spirit the applier. Look at Ephesians chapter one. We see that, don't we?

God is to be praised. And you see the different emphasis of the

Trinity in salvation. The Father chooses, verse four of Ephesians one, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

So God's to be praised because of predestination. Secondly, look at the Son's work.

Again, they're equal, yet they had different roles in the economy of salvation. Jesus, verse seven, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.

So the Father chooses, he's the originator. The Son redeems, he executes the plan, the covenant.

And then down in verses 13 and 14, you have the Spirit. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promise,

Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

Divide it up perfectly. And lastly, number four, the why of the covenant.

The what of the covenant? The Father, Son, and the Spirit make this arrangement. The when in eternity past, the who, we've already talked about that, and now the why.

Why the covenant? Why would God do this? Charlie picked the right song to sing before we got up here.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, Psalm 115.

True or false? God is jealous. God by nature is jealous.

God is very jealous. And we're afraid to say he's jealous, aren't we?

Because every time we think of jealousy, we think about, you know, somebody talked to my wife in a public place, and I become sinfully jealous.

The Lord, Exodus 34, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4,

God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Joshua 24, he is a jealous God.

God is so jealous for his glory, he's going to construct a plan of salvation in eternity past, so only he receives that glory.

Not some kind of creature, not some kind of fallible creature, frail creature, finite creature, sinful creature, but only

God. And Paul begins to do what when it comes to Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 and following?

He praises God. By the way, Paul, would you please calm down? You've been a

Christian now for 25 years since you saw Jesus on the Damascus Road, and the new Christians get really excited.

They're the ones who are always, Jesus is great. He's coming back. I got to tell other people about Jesus. I can't believe he picked me.

We just pat people on the forehead and say, you'll get over that. Tusk, tusk. Paul, 25 years later, he's just shouting.

He's doing what Lloyd -Jones talked about later, standing on his tiptoes saying, God is to be praised. And who gets the praise here?

Who's the one to be extolled? And if you look at verse 6, verse 12, and verse 14, you'll see a little refrain.

And here's the refrain. The main word is blessed in verse 3, but there's a refrain to this nice little song.

Actually, it's one sentence, verse 3 to 14 in the Greek. You see the little refrain, verse 6, to the praise of his free will, man's free will.

Verse 12, to the praise of man's free will. Verse 14, to the praise of man's free will.

Friends, if you had free will before you were saved, you wouldn't need a savior. But since Adam fell, we're in bondage.

Our wills are affected, and we need someone else to come along to save us. No, what does it say here?

To the praise of His glorious grace. When it comes to election, God is to be praised because He chose us freely.

When it comes to redemption, were we there? Was your faith at Calvary? Did your faith die on a cross?

Did your free will die on a cross? No, Jesus died on the cross, so it's to the praise of His glory.

And then down to verse 14, to the praise of His glory. Did your faith regenerate you? Did your free will regenerate you?

Did your faith seal you? No, God did all that, and our response, of course, we have a visitor today.

I probably should just say it so we see that when God saves us, of course, He doesn't repent for you.

He doesn't believe for you. You, with your own nature that has been changed, now freely say,

I worship you, I adore you, I believe in you. I'm trying to say, though, that that comes secondarily, not primarily.

When you get to heaven, whose praise will you sing? You'll be singing God's praise. And you say, well, you know what?

But this is all kind of esoteric. Let me put it this way. How about losing your salvation?

If you gain your salvation, you can lose your salvation. But if in the counsels of eternity past, the

Father, Son, and the Spirit, the Father as originator said, here's a group of people I want you to go redeem.

The Son says, I'll go redeem them. The Spirit says, in time, I'll gladly quicken them.

If you can lose your salvation, it is a blight upon not you.

It defames and muddies and sullies the eternal nature of God, who cannot act like an evil beast, lazy glutton, or a liar.

So, well, I'm really struggling with eternal security. I'm really struggling with, can I lose my salvation?

Then your struggle needs to be pointing back to eternity past. Because that's where you'll get your eternal security.

And you'll say, in light of what he's done, of course, I should persevere to the end. What does

Paul do? Paul says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about him.

Salvation, as I said last week, is not primarily about us. I'm glad I'm an object of his faith, but it's about him.

God's glory is at stake. And of course, we are recipients. But that's not what's driving

God. I've got a crazy love for these people. I'm just so crazy about them. They're the apple of my eye.

Secondarily, that is true. Primarily, I'm a jealous God, and I receive the glory.

I'm the creator. I'm the sustainer. I'm the savior. I'm the judge. I'm eternal. I'm eternal.

And I want to receive glory. And as I make myself manifest in the world with this plan of salvation, nothing else can give me more glory than to have a group of people who have a federal head under Adam.

And when Adam fell, they all fell. How are we going to redeem this people? Then we'll have someone called, as 1

Corinthians 15 calls him, the last Adam, who will come and obey where Adam, the first one, could not.

And then he'll redeem his people. And then the father who gave the son those elect people before eternity passed, the son will redeem them.

He'll conform them to his image, Romans chapter 8. And then at the end of time, he will give back those redeemed elect saints to the father.

Because as MacArthur says rightly, true love expresses itself in giving. The father says to the son,

I give you the elect, go die for them. The son says gladly. Then at the end, the son has died for them.

The spirit has quickened them. The son, an eternity future, hands back us to the son, to the father rather.

And you think it's not about us, it's about God. MacArthur, love must find an expression.

True love always seeks ways to give. And in a demonstration of his perfect love for his son, the father made a pledge to the son.

And what was that pledge? He promised the son to redeem people, justified, sanctified, glorified.

He promised to bring the redeemed ones to glory, that they might dwell in the very place where the son and the father have dwelt since before time began, in the very realm of God.

This leads me to another thought. The church is invincible. We can't lose our salvation.

I mean, maybe the practical thing should be one, praise. Two, you can't lose your salvation if God originated it, applied it, executed it.

But the church wins. Every person that the father has chosen before the foundation of the world will come to faith.

Now, if you didn't believe that, and you're hoping you're the person you're married to that's not a believer, your children that aren't believers, your parents that aren't believers, your friends that aren't believers, your neighbors who aren't believers, it's going to depend on the goodness in them, which they have none.

It's going to depend on how great of an evangelist you are. And I speak collectively for you all. You're not.

I'm not. No one can talk someone into real saving faith. So you need hope. And here's the hope.

The hope would be that God chose some to believe. The eternal promise of God glorifies

Him because it was a reciprocal promise. Son, I give you these to die for. The son says, I'll gladly do it.

And then the son says, I'll gladly redeem them, conform them to my image. And as you love me, I'll make them look like me because of my sanctifying work through the

Spirit. And now we'll have a whole church that looks just like me, as close as finite creatures who are redeemed can look like Christ.

And the son now reciprocally gives the church back to the father. This helps me too, because too often in my mind,

God's a God of wrath and holiness. The son's a God of love. And that poor son had to go.

The father, go out there. I'm going to pour my wrath on you. When the father said, son,

I love you. Go redeem this people that I give you. The son says, father, I love you.

I'll gladly go do it. We're just incidental. It's all about God's glory.

To the praise of His glory. That's why the angels sing praise when one person repents.

True or false? Theology is boring. I don't know about you, but I look at this.

I'll tell you what's boring. Another how -to sermon from the pulpit on January 2nd or 3rd or whatever day this is.

Just go out and get them. Let's go turn the world upside down for Jesus. We got to sweat more, pray more, try more, exert more.

Well, those things all are fine as long as they flow out of who you are in Christ.

Here's who God is. Here's what He's done for you. And in response to that, then we're like the Hebrews in Hebrews 13.

I want to love other people. I want to have a pure marriage. I want to follow the leaders. I want to evangelize.

Disinterested in theology? I think that's more an indictment on the person who says it, not God. Not just for life, this is important.

How about for death? So when you're laying there, you're thinking, you know, I'm not getting any better.

I'm not getting any better. I'm not getting any better. And I'm mortal. What gets you through the night?

Well, I was really good this last year. I had a lot of good devotions. I really kept up with my faith. And other people noticed that.

And no devos, no breakfast. Made sure I had my devotions.

Devotions are good. Remember when

John DeBruyne was here 14 years ago? He said, I was having a heart attack. I thought I was going to die. And, you know,

DeBruyne is always into music and songs and song time. John DeBruyne on VNE. And he said,

I'll never forget it. He said, when I was laying there, thought I was going to die. And DeBruyne said, when

I was laying there, thought I was going to die. I wasn't singing shine, Jesus shine. He said, what does that mean?

Kind of sounds nice, doesn't it? I actually kind of like the song, except it's abysmal theology.

Shine, Jesus shine. You're like, okay, maybe shine forth his excellencies, 1

Peter 2 and 9. That's right. But DeBruyne said, when I was laying there, going to die, I thought to myself, my hope is found, what?

In nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. John Knox, he's dying, the

Scottish reformer. He's on his deathbed. Do you deny your faith because of your illness? Or do you believe what you taught?

That Jesus Christ's perfect life, death confirmed by the resurrection, is your only hope?

Raise your hand if you believe it. Three times, Knox raises his hands.

J. Gresham Machen, the lion of the Christian faith in the last century, is dying in South Dakota because he's exhausted.

He's got pneumonia. Preaching to small little churches. He verbally dictates a telegram to John Murray at Westminster Seminary.

What are you going to write in your deathbed? I'm telling you, you should be thinking about the eternal counsels of God because that's where your hope is.

Machen wrote, I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ.

No hope without it. I'm going to trust that in eternity past, the father sent the son not just to die for his people, but also to live a perfect life as a perfect sacrifice for them.

And God is going to take that perfect righteousness, perfect obedience to the law, and credit it to my spiritual bank account.

Because he says if you look to him with faith, that's what he'll do. I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ.

No hope without it. I don't know what blows your mind.

I don't know what motivates you. But I think

S. Lewis Johnson had it right when he said, you know, the problem with Christians in America, they just don't read their

Bibles enough. And so may I encourage you at the beginning of this year to read your

Bibles. And when you read your Bible, you will see it's not about me. It's not about other people.

I'm glad that we're recipients of this great salvation. But everything about this is about God and his glory.

That's why I exist. Why do I exist? What is the purpose of my life?

I have a purpose to make the gospel shine so that God gets glory. People say, well, you know what?

I don't like all this eternity past stuff. I don't like all this reform talk, doctrines of grace, sovereignty over God, eternal counsels.

I don't like it. Friends, the only thing that is, I guess it could be A, ignorance or B, pride.

But you shouldn't just like it. You should love it. To sit and contemplate the triune

God is what you'll do forever and eternity in heaven. It's a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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