THE COVENANT OF GRACE Tune to: “THERE IS A FOUNTAIN” CM/DOUBLE Words by JIM BYRD
1. Before the heav’n and earth were made, Back in eternity; In boundless wisdom there convened The holy Trinity. O precious covenant of grace, Revealing love divine; When God chose out a multitude, By His own great design.
2. The Son became the first Elect, He would the Savior be; A multitude was then reserved To save eternally. The blood that Jesus shed for us, When debt for sin was due; Has satisfied the law of God, And sealed the cov’nant too.
3. O praise the Holy Spirit who The gospel has revealed; Who taught us that our Savior has That covenant fulfilled. The Father, Son and Spirit too, Shall be forever blessed; For that great covenant of grace, Wherein our souls find rest.
SCRIPTURE READINGS: MORNING: PSALM 138 EVENING: JOHN 15:1-17
“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:10-11)
EMMANUEL “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) Consider the blessedness of the name itself of Emanuel, God with us. Sweet consideration to the heart of the believer! For as God, it is evident, that all He did when upon earth, and all that He is doing now in heaven, was, and is effectual to all the purposes of salvation. The infinite dignity of His person gives an infinite merit to His work, and cannot fail, both in His blood and righteousness, to justify His people, and render them truly acceptable in the sight of God their Father, and fully secure to them the everlasting blessedness and glory of heaven. And as He is man and God in our nature, so does His nearness and dearness give an interest to His people in all that belongs to Him; yea, all the blessings come home with a tenfold sweetness to our hearts, because He is Emmanuel, God with us. God in our nature, and we the “members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Ephesians 5:30). –Robert Hawker
CHRIST AND HIS DOCTRINE Salvation is found only in Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). We must not think, however, that salvation is in believing Christ to the exclusion of believing His doctrine. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). What is “the doctrine of Christ?” The doctrine of Christ is the teaching which the Lord gave to His apostles of which He is the sum and substance and concerns who He is and the work He did. He is truly God and Man, the Surety and Mediator of the everlasting Covenant; He is our Prophet, Priest and King. His work was that of substitution, satisfaction, reconciliation and redemption. He suffered, died and arose in the stead of His sinful people to make reparation to divine justice which demanded death for sin thereby restoring us to God. He paid the redemptive price owed to divine law which held us for ransom. There is no separating believing Christ from believing the doctrine of His finished work on the cross by which He justified and established righteousness for all those the Father gave Him. He who is the Savior of sinners is now enthroned in heaven where He appears at the Father’s right hand on the behalf of His brethren and carries on His work of advocacy and intercession. He sends His Spirit to regenerate those He redeemed and bring us to believe Christ and His doctrine. As our Advocate, He presents our worship and works to the Father which are made acceptable through His person and perfections. “The doctrine of Christ” is also called “good doctrine” (Pro 4:2; 1 Tim 4:6), “the doctrine of the Lord” (Acts 13:12), “sound doctrine” (1 Tim 1:10; 2 Tim 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1), “the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10) and “the doctrine which is according to godliness” (1 Tim 6:3). Notice that in each of these passages “doctrine” is singular, whereas “doctrines” is used five times in the Word of God (Mat 15:9; Mark 7:7; Col 2:22; 1 Tim 4:1; Heb 13:9) and always in association with error. “Doctrine” points to one body of truth which is found in one glorious person, the Lord Christ Jesus. You cannot and must not divorce Christ and His doctrine. –Pastor Jim Byrd
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