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Amazing Facts

Two Covenants

Joe Crews

Two Covenants Part 1

Junked agreements between governments is commonplace.

Broken promises in politics are almost taken for granted.

But 2 great covenants have been made outside of politics.

The second still in operation concerns you.

Stay tuned for the amazing facts about the promises which fail.

Hello, this is Joe Cruz from the Amazing Facts Broadcast, facts which affect you.

You know, some time ago I stepped off the platform at the close of an evangelistic message and hurried toward the front door to greet the people.

Suddenly my path was blocked by 3 young men, 1 of whom addressed me in quite a loud voice.

He said, Brother Joe, we were disappointed tonight with the way you put us back under the Old Covenant by preaching that seventh-day Sabbath.

Don't you realize we are living under the New covenant now and we ought to keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath?" Now that young man was simply voicing the conviction of many thousands of Christians today who sincerely believe that the 10 Commandments constitutes the Old Covenant and that that has disappeared and gone away at the cross, that it was blotted out at the cross.

They say that there is no present application to grace-saved Christians as far as the 10 Commandments are concerned.

Now friends, if this is so, we certainly need to be clearly appraised of that doctrine in order to avoid the pitfalls of deadly legalism.

On the other hand, if the 10 Commandments are still binding, it would be the most tragic mistake to discount even 1 of those great moral precepts.

Now nobody can deny, of course, that there are Old Testament statements that refer to the 10 Commandments as a covenant.

However, it will be my purpose today to show that the 10 Commandment law was not the old covenant which was abolished.

But before we get into this fascinating subject, we need to define what a covenant really is.

Now there are many types and forms, but basically a covenant is an agreement between 2 parties based on mutual promises.

All through the centuries, of course, God has dealt with His people on the basis of covenants.

He is a very reasonable God, and He invites, Come now, let us reason together.

And sometimes God established those pacts with individuals like Moses, and David, and Abraham, and sometimes He made covenants with the nation of Israel.

Now the most important covenant of all, I believe, was set up long before this world came into existence.

It was a covenant between the Father and the Son, and had to do with the eventuality of sin.

You see, Jesus actually offered Himself way back there in that vast eternity of the past as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

That is the way it is described in Revelation 13.

Jesus agreed to become the atoning sacrifice to redeem man should Adam and Eve choose to sin.

Now the terms of that eternal covenant have never been changed or superseded.

Although many other covenants have been established through the years, the simple provision of salvation through faith has remained in effect through all ages for all mankind.

Now the covenant which has caused the most misunderstanding, perhaps, is designated as the Old Covenant by the writer of the book of Hebrews.

He also describes the institution of a New Covenant which has some very important advantages over the old.

Now here is the way he describes the 2 covenants.

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

For finding fault with them, he saith, behold the days come, saith the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, and the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the LORD.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my laws unto their mind, and write them in their hearts.

And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

And that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old.

Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8, 6-13.

Now this description leaves no room for doubt concerning the fate of the Old Covenant.

It was definitely set aside in favor of a new 1 which had better promises in it.

Now naturally we are interested to know all about that new covenant which will place God's Law in the heart and in the mind according to what we just read.

But we also need to understand the nature of the covenant that disappeared.

Millions have been taught that it was the 10 Commandment law, and they boast about being delivered from the law, and claim to walk in a glorious freedom from the Old Testament covenant of works.

It is just as important to understand what the Old Covenant was not as to know what it was.

So right now let's look at 3 absolute proofs that the covenant which disappeared was not the 10 Commandments, and then we'll determine by comparing Scripture with Scripture just what the Old Covenant really was.

First of all, we notice that the Old Covenant had some poor promises in it.

The New Covenant, we are told, was established upon better promises.

Now tell me, has anybody ever been able to point out any poor promises in the 10 Commandments?

On the contrary, Paul declares that they were very good.

In Ephesians 6, 1-3, Paul said, Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right.

Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment, with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Now notice this declaration alone is sufficient to show that the writer of Hebrews was not charging the moral law with any weak promises.

The Old Covenant, however, and whatever it might have been, could never, never, never be the 10 Commandments.

The second thing wrong with the Old Covenant was that it was faulty.

The Bible says, for if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

Now again I want to ask you, has any man ever been able to find a fault or a flaw in the handwriting of God?

The psalmist declared, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Paul wrote, Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Now does that sound like something weak or imperfect, friends?

No law could be perfect and folly at the same time.

It becomes more and more apparent that the Old Covenant could not have been the 10 Commandments.

Finally though, we read the most dramatic thing about the Old Covenant.

In Hebrews 8, 13, it says, And that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Now we can ask a very serious question that should settle every doubt on this matter.

Did the great moral law of 10 Commandments vanish away?

Anybody who has read the New Testament must answer, Absolutely not.

Paul affirms the exact opposite about the law.

In Romans 3 31 he asks this question, Do we then make void the law through faith?

Now does the Bible contradict itself, friends?

Can something vanish away and be established at the same time?

Did the same writer say opposite things about the same law?

Now, just to be certain that Paul was not saying that the Old Covenant was the law, let's insert the words Old Covenant instead of the word law into this text of Romans 3.31, and let's notice how it would read then.

Do we then make void the Old Covenant through faith?

God forbid, yea, we establish the Old Covenant.

Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right at all, does it?

We know that the Old Covenant had vanished away and could never be spoken of in that way.

Very clearly then we can see that the covenant that came to an end could not have been the 10 Commandments.

All right, having found what the Old Covenant was not, we are now ready to identify specifically from the Bible.

To do so, we must go back in the Bible to the book of Exodus.

Many people have failed to see that there was more than 1 covenant involved at Mount Sinai.

God called Moses up into the mountain before He gave the law, and proposed a covenant between Him and His people.

And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.

For all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me an holy nation.

These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." Exodus 19, 3-6.

Now notice how God asked Moses to present His offer to the people.

Here are all the elements of a true covenant.

Conditions and promises are laid down on both sides.

If the children of Israel accept God's proposal, a covenant will be established.

Now listen, how did they respond to this divine offer?

Let's read on now in verses 7 and 8, And Moses came, and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.

And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.

And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.

Now just as soon as that answer went back to God, the basis for the old covenant was set up.

Two Covenants Part 2

Almost 2, 000 years ago a very strange thing happened.

I'll be back in a moment with the amazing facts.

Hello, this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts broadcast, facts which affect you.

In our last broadcast we learned that the Old Covenant which vanished away was not the 10 Commandments as so many people have believed.

It was an agreement whereby the nation of Israel promised to faithfully obey every 1 of God's commandments.

When they failed in doing so because they were seeking to do it in their own strength, God set up a new covenant based on His promises to help them obey.

That new covenant was ratified by the shedding of His own blood at the time He was crucified.

Now since a new covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, it obviously could not have gone into effect until after Jesus died on the cross.

Now this crucial fact must never be overlooked, friends.

Eternal life or death could hinge upon the proper understanding of this key point.

Paul wrote in Hebrews 9, 16, 17, For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

For a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Now please keep in mind, friends, that the word testament is exactly the same as the word covenant.

Only after a man's last will and testament has been ratified by his death can the provisions be carried out.

In the same way, Christ's covenant or testament would begin to operate just as soon as He had confirmed the covenant by His death at Calvary.

Now another text leaves no question on this issue.

We find it in Galatians 3.15, "...brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disanulleth or addeth thereto.

Now here Paul is simply saying that after a man's death, his will or covenant cannot be changed.

Not 1 addition can be made after the death of the testator.

The covenant stands forever, exactly as it stood when that man died.

Now after the death of Christ, no change whatsoever could be made in His provisions to save mankind.

The conditions were all sealed and ratified by the shedding of His blood.

Every requirement had been laid down clearly by the perfect pattern of His sinless life, and provision had been made for the writing of His magnified law by the Holy Spirit upon the minds of all true believers.

Now under the terms of that new covenant, not 1 soul would be left to struggle helplessly against the powerful urges of a fallen nature.

Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, Romans 5.20.

Eternal promises rooted in the changeless nature of God Himself would provide power to overcome every inherited and cultivated weakness.

No wonder the Bible emphasizes the better promises of this glorious new agreement.

Now it is easy to understand some of the things Jesus did just before He died.

For example, why did He institute the Lord's Supper before His body had been broken?

On that Thursday night before His agonizing death on Friday, Jesus met with His disciples in that upper room.

And holding the cup in His hands, He said, This is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Now isn't it curious that Christ would say those words before His blood had actually been shed, He was commanding a memorial for an event which had not even happened yet.

Because it had to be introduced before His death in order to come under the New Covenant.

You see, nothing could be added after His death, after the death of the testator.

But now let me come back to the story that I started to tell at the beginning of this series.

I had just finished preaching on the subject of the Sabbath in 1 of my evangelistic meetings.

As I stepped off the platform to go to the rear to greet the people as they left, 3 young men blocked my way in the aisle.

1 of them addressed me in quite a loud voice, loud enough to cause about 50 people near the front of the auditorium to stop and listen, and he said, Brother Joe, we were disappointed tonight with the way you put us back under the Old Covenant.

Don't you realize we are living under the New Covenant now and should keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath?

Well, now even though most of the congregation were leaving the building, the group near the front gathered closer to hear all that the young men were saying.

It was obvious that I would have to take the time to answer this trio's challenging question.

As I suspected, they turned out to be young seminarians in training at some local Bible college and they eagerly held their Bibles in their hands and waited triumphantly for me to answer.

Now usually I don't like to debate controversial matters in a public forum for fear of stirring combative natures, but there seemed no way of avoiding this matter of dealing with these ministerial students.

Anyway, they had my path completely blocked, and the circle of listeners looked at me expectantly for some explanation.

Well, I suggested, it seems as though you have studied the subject of the covenants very deeply.

Oh, they said, we know all about the covenants.

We have studied it very, very much." I said, Good, you undoubtedly know what the old covenant was and when it was instituted.

And without a moment's hesitation 1 of them answered and said, By the sprinkling of the blood of an ox.

"'Very good, ' I said, and how was the new covenant ratified?' And all 3 of them answered at once and said, By the blood of Jesus on the cross.

Well I commended the young men for their knowledge of the scriptures and asked them to read me then 2 verses out of their own Bibles, Hebrews 9, 16, and Galatians 3, 15.

Well they responded eagerly to the invitation and read the verses, commenting on each 1 after reading.

He said, We agree that the new covenant did not go into effect until after Jesus died, and nothing can be added or taken away after He was crucified on the cross, because that ratified it.

And all of them nodded their heads emphatically agreeing on that point.

I said, All right, now you must answer 2 more questions for me.

Here is the first 1, and you must think carefully to give me the correct answer.

Well there was a moment of shock silence and then another and another moment of silence, and then the boys looked at each other, and then they looked down at their feet, and then back at me, and I sort of gently prodded them for the answer.

I said, Now, surely you can tell me the answer to this question.

You've known all the others, and you've answered correctly.

When and why do you think people began keeping Sunday?

Well, finally 1 of them said, Well, we keep Sunday in honor of the resurrection of Jesus.

And I said, Then I must ask you my last question.

How could Sunday keeping be a part of the New Covenant?

You just stated that nothing could be added after the death of Jesus.

Jesus died Friday, and He rose on Sunday.

If Sunday was added after Jesus died, it could never be a part of the new covenant, could it?

Well, the 3 young men shuffled their feet and looked helplessly around, and 1 of them said, Well, we'll study into that and talk to you later.

And then they fled from that auditorium as fast as they could go.

And I can assure you also that they never returned to talk further about the covenants.

Listen friends, the fact is that Sunday keeping, even if it had started on the day of the resurrection, would have been 3 days too late to get into the New Covenant.

Both Bible and history prove that Sunday was never observed by the Apostolic Church.

It was added much, much later as a result of the gradual apostasy which developed in the early centuries of the Church and which culminated in the pagan accommodation of Constantine in 330 A.D.

Millions of modern Church members regard Sunday as a sacred day which memorializes the resurrection of Christ.

Now it is certainly true that Jesus rose on the first day of the week, but nowhere in the Bible Are we commanded to keep that day holy?

Events such as the crucifixion and resurrection should mean much to every Christian, but not 1 intimation is given in the Bible for observing either Friday the day of His crucifixion or Sunday the day of His resurrection.

The only day ever commanded for weekly worship is the seventh day of the week, the same Sabbath Jesus kept during Creation Week, and the same 1 that He kept while He was here on the earth, and the same 1 that He will keep with His people throughout all eternity, according to Isaiah 66.

Well, the very strongest reason for rejecting Sunday worship is that it was not included in the New Covenant requirements which were ratified by the death of Jesus.

If Christ had desired His resurrection to be memorialized by Sunday keeping, He could have introduced it on that same Thursday night of the Last Supper.

Then it would have become a part of the new covenant, along with the communion service and foot washing.

Jesus did not hesitate to command the observance of His death, even though it had not yet taken place.

And just as easily he could have commanded the observance of his resurrection, which was still future, in order that it might become a new covenant requirement.

But he did not, and no 1 else ever did since that time either.

And Paul's prophecy began to be fulfilled about that apostasy that was going to take place and the departure that would take place after he left the scene.

He spoke also of a falling away that would lead to the enthronement of Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 4.

But true it is that no hint of any change of the law is given in the Scriptures.

The unchangeable moral law was preserved in both the Old and the new covenants as the perfect revelation of God's will.

Now friends, with this background we are now prepared to examine Galatians 4.

Many people have been confused over the allegory Paul used here to illustrate the Old and the New Covenants.

Here is the way he described it, For it is written that Abraham had 2 sons, the 1 by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman.

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.

For these are the 2 covenants, The 1 from the mount Sinai, which genereth the bondage, which is Hagar, for this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children." That is in Galatians 4, 22-25.

Now notice here Paul portrays Isaac and Ishmael, the 2 sons of Abraham, as representing the Old and the New Covenants.

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