"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that 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 in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." - Jeremiah 31:31-34
God will renew his covenant with them, so that all these blessings they shall have, not by providence only, but by promise, and thereby they shall be both sweetened and secured. But this covenant refers to gospel times, the latter days that 'shall come'; for of gospel grace the apostle understands it (Heb. viii. 8, 9, &c.), where this whole passage is quoted as a summary of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus Christ. Observe, 1. Who the persons are with whom this covenant is made - 'with the house of Israel and Judah', with the gospel church, 'the Israel of God' on which 'peace shall be' (Gal. vi. 16), with the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. Judah and Israel had been two separate kingdoms, but were united after their return, in the joint favours God bestowed upon them; so Jews and Gentiles were in the gospel church and covenant. 2. What is the nature of this covenant in general: it is 'a new covenant' and not 'according to the covenant made with them when they came out of Egypt'; not as if that made with them at Mount Sinai were a covenant of nature and innocency, such as was made with Adam in the day he was created; no, that was, for substance, a covenant of grace, but it was a dark dispensation of that covenant in comparison with this in gospel times. Sinners were saved by that covenant upon their repentance, and faith in a Messiah to come, whose blood, confirming that covenant, was typified by that of the legal sacrifices, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8. Yet this may upon many accounts be called new, in comparison with that; the ordinances and promises are more spiritual and heavenly, and the discoveries much more clear. That covenant God made with them when he 'took them by the hand', as they had been blind, or lame, or weak, 'to lead them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant they broke'. Observe, It was God that made this covenant, but it was the people that broke it; for our salvation is of God, but our sin and ruin are of ourselves. It was an aggravation of their breach of it that 'God was a husband to them', that he had espoused them to himself; it was a marriage-covenant that was between him and them, which they broke by idolatry, that spiritual adultery. It is a great aggravation of our treacherous departures from God that he has been a husband to us, a loving, tender, careful husband, faithful to us, and yet we false to him. 3. What are the particular articles of his covenant. They all contain spiritual blessings; not, "I will give them the land of Canaan and a numerous issue," but, "I will give them pardon, and peace, and grace, good heads and good hearts." He promises, (1.) That he will incline them to their duty; 'I will put my law in their inward part and write it in their heart'; not, I will give them a new law (as Mr. Gataker well observes), for Christ came 'not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it'; but the law shall be written in their hearts by the finger of the Spirit as formerly it was written in the tables of stone. God writes his law in the hearts of all believers, makes it ready and familiar to them, at hand when they have occasion to use it, as that which is 'written in the heart', Prov. iii. 3. He makes them in care to observe it, for that which we are solicitous about is said to lie near our hearts. He works in them a disposition to obedience, a conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine law, as that of the copy to the original. This is here promised, and ought to be prayed for, that our duty may be done conscientiously and with delight. (2.) That he will take them into relation to himself: 'I will be their God', a God all-sufficient to them, 'and they shall be my people', a loyal obedient people to me. God's being to us a God is the summary of all happiness; heaven itself is no more, Heb. xi. 16; Rev. xxi. 3. Our being to him a people may be taken either as the condition on our part (those and those only shall have God to be to them a God that are truly willing to engage themselves to be to him a people) or as a further branch of the promise that God will by his grace make us his people, a 'willing people, in the day of his power'; and, whoever are his people, it is his grace that makes them so. (3.) That there shall be an abundance of the knowledge of God among all sorts of people, and this will have an influence upon all good: for those that rightly know God's name will seek him, and serve him, and put their trust in him (v. 34): 'All shall know me'; all shall be welcome to the knowledge of God and shall have the means of that knowledge; 'his ways shall be known upon earth', whereas, for many ages, 'in Judah only was God known'. Many more shall know God than did in the Old Testament times, which among the Gentiles were times of ignorance, the true God being to them an unknown God. The things of God shall in gospel times be made more plain and intelligible, and level to the capacities of the meanest, than they were while Moses had 'a veil upon his face'. There shall be such a general knowledge of God that there shall not be so much need as had formerly been of teaching. Some take it as a hyperbolical expression (and the dulness of the Jews needed such expressions to awaken them), designed only to show that the knowledge of God in gospel times should vastly exceed that knowledge of him which they had under the law. Or perhaps it intimates that in gospel times there shall be such great plenty of public preaching, statedly and constantly, by men authorized and appointed to 'preach the word in season and out of season', much beyond what was under the law, that there shall be less need than there was then of fraternal teaching, by a neighbour and a brother. The priests preached but now and then, and in the temple, and to a few in comparison; but now all shall or may know God by frequenting the assemblies of Christians, wherein, through all parts of the church, the good knowledge of God shall be taught. Some give this sense of it (Mr. Gataker mentions it), That many shall have such clearness of understanding in the things of God that they may seem rather to have been taught by some immediate irradiation than by any means of instruction. In short, the things of God shall by the gospel of Christ be brought to a clearer light than ever (2 Tim. i. 10), and the people of God shall by the grace of Christ be brought to a clearer sight of those things than ever, Eph. i. 17, 18. (4.) That, in order to all these blessings, sin shall be pardoned. This is made the reason of all the rest: 'For I will forgive their iniquity', will not impute that to them, nor deal with them according to the desert of that, 'will forgive' and forget: 'I will remember their sin no more'. It is sin that keeps good things from us, that stops the current of God's favours; let sin betaken away by pardoning mercy, and the obstruction is removed, and divine grace runs down like a river, like a mighty stream.
"The promise of my Father's love
To this dear covenant of thy word
Thy light, and strength, and pardoning grace,
I call that legacy my own
Sweet is the memory of his name
Shall stand for ever good,"
He said; and gave his soul to death,
And sealed the grace with blood.
I set my worthless name;
I seal the engagement to my Lord,
And make my humble claim.
And glory, shall be mine
My life and soul, my heart and flesh,
And all my powers, are thine.
Which Jesus did bequeath;
'Twas purchased with a dying groan,
And ratified in death.
Who blessed us in his will,
And to his testament of love
Made his own life the seal.
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." - Matthew 26:-28
The blood of Christ is signified and represented by the wine; to make it a complete feast, here is not only bread to strengthen, but wine to 'make glad the heart' (v. 27, 28); 'He took the cup', the grace-cup, which was set ready to be drank, after thanks returned, according to the custom of the Jews at the passover; this Christ took, and made the sacramental-cup, and so altered the property. It was intended for 'a cup of blessing' (so the Jews called it), and therefore St. Paul studiously distinguished between the cup of blessing which we bless, and that which they bless. 'He gave thanks', to teach us, not only in every ordinance, but in every part of the ordinance, to have our eyes up to God.This cup he gave to the disciples,
(1.) With a command; 'Drink ye all of it'. Thus he welcomes his guests to his table, obliges them all to drink of his cup. Why should he so expressly command them all to drink, and to see that none let it pass them, and press that more expressly in this than in the other part of the ordinance? Surely it was because he foresaw how in after-ages this ordinance would be dismembered by the prohibition of the cup to the laity, with an express non obstante - 'notwithstanding' to the command.
(2.) With an explication; 'For this is my blood of the New Testament'. Therefore drink it with appetite, delight, because it is so rich a cordial. Hitherto the blood of Christ had been represented by the blood of beasts, real blood: but, after it was actually shed, it was represented by the blood of grapes, metaphorical blood; so wine is called in an Old-Testament prophecy of Christ, Gen. xlix. 10, 11.
Now observe what Christ saith of his blood represented in the sacrament.
[1.] 'It is my blood of the New Testament'. The Old Testament was confirmed by 'the blood of bulls and goats' (Heb. ix. 19, 20; Exod. xxiv. 8); but the New Testament with the blood of Christ, which is here distinguished from that; 'It is my blood of the New Testament'. The covenant God is pleased to make with us, and all the benefits and privileges of it, are owing to the merits of Christ's death.
[2.] 'It is shed'; it was not shed till next day, but it was now upon the point of being shed, it is as good as done. "Before you come to repeat this ordinance yourselves, it will be shed." He was 'now ready to be offered', and his blood to be poured out, as the blood of the sacrifices which made atonement.
[3.] 'It is shed for many.' Christ came to confirm 'a covenant with many' (Dan. ix. 27), and the intent of his death agreed. The blood of the Old Testament was shed for a few: it confirmed a covenant, which (saith Moses) the Lord has 'made with you,' Exod. xxiv. 8. The atonement was made only 'for the children of Israel' (Lev. xvi. 34): but Jesus Christ is a propitiation 'for the sins of the whole world', 1 John ii. 2.
[4.] It is shed 'for the remission of sins', that is, to purchase remission of sins for us. The redemption which we have through his blood, is 'the remission of sins', Eph. i. 7. The new covenant which is procured and ratified by the blood of Christ, is a charter of pardon, an act of indemnity, in order to a reconciliation between God and man; for sin was the only thing that made the quarrel, and 'without shedding of blood is no remission', Heb. ix. 22. The pardon of sin is that great blessing which is, in the Lord's supper, conferred upon all true believers; it is the foundation of all other blessings, and the spring of everlasting comfort, ch. ix. 2,
According to Thy gracious word,
Thy body, broken for my sake,
Gethsemane can I forget?
When to the cross I turn mine eyes,
Remember Thee, and all Thy pains
And when these failing lips grow dumb
In meek humility,
This will I do, my dying Lord,
I will remember Thee.
My bread from Heaven shall be;
The testamental cup I take,
And thus remember Thee.
Or there Thy conflict see,
Thine agony, and bloody sweat,
And not remember Thee?
And rest on Calvary,
O Lamb of God, my sacrifice,
I must remember Thee;
And all Thy love to me;
Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains,
Will I remember Thee.
And mind and memory flee,
When Thou shalt in Thy kingdom come,
Jesus, remember me.
In the New International Version...
We also warmly recommend these superb writings, "Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." by John Charles Ryle, "Bible Reading" by John Charles Ryle, and "A Call To Prayer" by John Charles Ryle, to our readers.You'll find a selection of J.C. Ryle's books below them, on the same pages. They make for some of the most profitable, edifying, encouraging and uplifting Christian books available, and are classics which have stood the test of time!
If you appreciate the writings of the godly Bishop Ryle, you'll certainly delight in those of the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon, whose sermons were flashed around the world by telegraph and reprinted in full the following day in newspapers from New York City to Sydney, Australia! We particularly recommend "All of Grace", "Justification by Faith", "The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit", and "A Revival Sermon".
And how could we adequately describe the preaching of the incomparable Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, whose pulpit ministry in Britain had an effect felt around the world! We warmly recommend his sermons, "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", "God and Mammon", "The Light of the World", "The Salt of the Earth", "Jesus on Prayer". "The Call to Battle", and "A Living Hope of the Hereafter".
And for a moving witness to steadfast Christian faith under persecution, see "The Scottish Covenanters".
Click here for more Classic Christian Sermons and Writings
Looking for a church in Mimico, Mimico-by-the-Lake, or Etobicoke?
Click here for a select listing of Christian churches in this area.
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We have provided in the box below a live, continually-updated listing of the current bestselling books on this topic at Amazon.com. Please click on any of these titles to read extracts from, or reviews of, these books. You can also place an order for any of themt at the same time with Amazon.Com, if you wish, and enjoy speedy delivery plus the low Amazon.Com price!
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