The Consummation of the Everlasting Covenant Study 1
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The word consummation, it is an important word. A question, what does it mean? Where does it come from?
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The consummation being determined. There is a point in time that is already sealed for the time appointed determined for the consummation. What does it mean? The meaning of the word consummation is completion. Gaining a desired end or perfection, gaining that perfect thing. When Adam and Eve fell, all believers from that point on to this point in time have yearned for that desired end that was promised in Genesis. What was it? The fall had taken place and God stepped in to take away from Satan his prey right there where he says to the serpent.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
That promise released Adam and Eve and all who would follow thereafter in anticipated hope of that great consummation. The parallel to this statement is in Romans. There is reference to this in its grand final consummation.
Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
The serpent’s seed will receive a fatal bruising to the head and the scope of this prophecy of gen takes us right through to the consummation where it said, that being determined will deal with the desolator. Who was the desolator? The serpent that caused the fall of Adam and Eve and all that were his seed. At the end the desolator will be desolated. That is the consummation. In all ages the fruition of this event has been looked to and the disciples in Matthew 24 made a direct reference to this desired end.
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
This was their throbbing question. What does Jesus say?
Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Now he makes a reference;
Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Those words put shudder down my spine. What is Jesus trying to say? There are a lot of people that won’t understand. He points to Daniel 9:27. He uses this as the answer to the question of the disciples.
Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
The consummation that is determined, that day only the Father knows. He is speaking as a man as Jesus knows as the Father knows now. In our theme we are seeking this very same answer that was given to the disciples which they poorly understood.
How Is it Spelt Out by the Apostle Paul?
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [the same] in hope,
8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
8:23 And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.
8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].
The consummation, we can’t see it but we are hoping for it. All creation is groaning for that expected end. The redemption of the children of God that even the creature that is subjected to the inroads of man’s fall is yearning for that. The creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. All creation is throbbing in anticipation oh to be released from this terrible condition. This covenant and it’s consummation are ours to be occupied with for the next 24 sermons. The vast dimensions encapsulated in that one text of Daniel 9:27 is the theme of this conference. If you read it in your own time, and just appreciate what is actually encapsulated in that one text. As divinity has inspired of the writers was inspired, one stroke of the pen covers a huge field of meditation. Jesus said let him who reads understand.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The period of prophecy of the 2300 days starts in 457BC and out of those 457 years there was seventy weeks that were for the Jews. The history of the Jews to the time of Christ and then for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate even unto the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolator. We are seeking to comprehend it. For now, for this moment we want to explore the everlasting covenant. We want to visualise its vast panorama and we want to focus on each detail of this covenant, the everlasting covenant in Genesis 3:15.
In that first promise spoken to our fallen race in Eden, Christ was sowing the gospel seed.. {COL 37.1}
Take this language into focus – seed. God is a God of seeding and harvest and this is an extremely important word to embrace, the gospel seed. It was in Genesis 3:15 when first spoke to the fallen race. I will put enmity between you Satan and the woman. There was a seed planted that would bear a harvest. God is not mocked, what he sows he will reap. When man sowed something he would reap, God also sowed something.
The Gospel Seed
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
How would you like to be addressed like that? The almighty God is speaking to him and he says now you walk before me perfect. He says that to people today and they say it is not possible, we can never be perfect but God says so.
17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
The land of Canaan is given to the seed of Abraham for everlasting because where will the city, the new Jerusalem settle down? Right there on the great earth movement on the mount of olives. This is a true statement as God has spoken it.
17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.
It is very important to believe every word that God says. Those who do not read and understand will miss out. We read by the psalmist these important words. We are to seek the Lord with all our heart and strength.
Psalms 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
105:5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
105:6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
105:7 He [is] the LORD our God: his judgments [are] in all the earth.
105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word [which] he commanded to a thousand generations.
105:9 Which [covenant] he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an everlasting covenant:
Are you picking up our theme? The everlasting covenant and its consummation. God repeats the word covenant again and again under inspiration to the psalmist that he will not forget his covenant. He made it to Abraham and confirmed it to his seed.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
3:29 And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed (SINGULAR), and heirs according to the promise.
Let him that reads understand. The seed singular is going to bruise the serpents head singular. If you are in Christ you are part of that seed that will bruise the serpents head. We are one in Christ. In reference to this in 1 Chronicles who is he speaking to?
1 Chronicles 16:13 O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
16:14 He [is] the LORD our God; his judgments [are] in all the earth.
16:15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word [which] he commanded to a thousand generations;
16:16 [Even of the covenant] which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;
16:17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, [and] to Israel [for] an everlasting covenant,
We are to grasp this reality not just in words but that we may be of that seed and understand the activity of that seed. This everlasting covenant, what in reality is the everlasting covenant? If you followed it carefully you will know what it is, it is the seed. It is the seed that excited in the mind of God before he created any living thing in the universe. It is profound understanding. This everlasting covenant is none other than the everlasting gospel. To benefit entirely by it plunge into its provision. In Abraham lies the appreciation of it. To understand it was the everlasting covenant that he made with Abraham for an everlasting covenant. God made a covenant with him when he came forward and said I am the Lord and Abraham fell on his face. Have you ever fallen on your face when the Lord is talking to you? It is awesome. Abraham says but I have no child and I am 100 years old, impossible Lord. Because God had made a covenant and said this is going to happen, Abraham says but Lord I have not got a child, how can my seed be there? Under the influence of his wife what did he do? He was prepared to help God. This is important to understand, does God need your help? Does God want you to cooperate? What is the difference? This difference is not understood by Christianity today. They rely on the wonderful gift of the gospel and wait on a magical power to take over and do it. They don’t know there is to be a cooperation and those who know there is to be a cooperation want to start to help God and both are wrong.
Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Who is speaking? The one that overwhelmed him in the first place. He said it.
Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.
Isn’t this what man does all the time. Don’t’ believe you are any diff to Abraham. Watch very carefully this everlasting covenant to understand it. God said Sarah thy wife shall bear a son indeed.
Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Oh to believe what God says. They wanted to help God and the produced the seed alright but look at the problems of today because of that. What a man soweth he shall also reap. Sadly the offspring of Ishmael is one of the major sources of desolation of today, one of them. What is the lesson for us in reference to us helping God or cooperating with him. Did God Abraham want to cooperate with him? Believe me, cooperate with me on my terms.
Galatians 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
4:23 But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise.
4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now.
4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
All of a sudden this allegorical presentation puts you on a different train of thought. It is not merely the Arab world it is talking about it, it is talking about those born of the flesh of the line Isaac. They are the ones referred to in Mount Sinai who heard the ten commandments. They are the other covenant but it is the everlasting covenant that is only for those that are the seed which are as we read already those who are in Jesus Christ. We know the Jews rejected Jesus Christ. Only those among the Jews and gentiles who accepted and were born in Jesus Christ were the seed. Those that thought they could help God were not of the seed. These are the two covenants. One was in Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai
Exodus 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put [it] in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
When God gave the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai, what did the people say? All that the Lord had said we will do. Is that the covenant according to the flesh? It was. But it sounded so good. It was not part of the seed. Doesn’t the Lord want us to say yes I promise to keep all your commandments? He does. It depends from what mentality you are saying that. The Lord judges the heart not the words. This is the old covenant, it is Abraham helping God with Ishmael. Then comes the everlasting covenant.
The Everlasting Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31 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:
31:32 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:
31:33 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.
It is not the same covenant they made in Sinai.
Hebrews 8:6 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.
8:7 For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8:8 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:
The first covenant was a faulty covenant. Why? The people that promised that were part of that equation failed. Man cannot save himself by his self-motivated to obey. That is what is contained in it. Abraham exercised an effort to produce Ishmael. What a strange contortion took place. Try to imagine this, they were trying to help God by given birth to a son for the conception of that to be done on the lap of Sarah with Sarah’s servant. What a ridiculous thing. That allegoric picture is exactly the same as when we try to keep Gods commandments from our self-motivated obedience. It is a contortion. Haven’t you ever experienced this in your life? That is the reason why so many have turned away from even thinking they will keep the commandants as the contortion is so bizarre. The flesh and the spirit are in constant conflict. If the flesh wants to help, the spirit says yuck. Anyone who tries to do that will become a Pharisee or a liberalist. That is what we are experiencing in the world today. Man can’t save himself by his self-motivated efforts to obey.
The Second Covenant
In the second covenant, what is the motivation? God’s motivation is in the second covenant.
2 Corinthians 3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.
3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;
Your motivation is not sufficient. We in our natural state and man like in our wonderful sense that I can do it. I want this feeling of self-worth that I can promise God that everything he has said I can do and be obedient. Yes you do, I hear this amongst us, oh we have to take care of self-worth. That is an interesting study. The only worth you will feel is your undone condition and the mercy of God on your soul. It is this sufficiency of God that is contained in the everlasting covenant. God knew that when evil would arise no individual would have the power to cancel it out. It is an impossibility and God knew that. In the seed of his eternal mind as he created all living creatures, angels and planetarians and all the universe, he knew that there would be a danger of the arising of evil and that seed would be generated to do that. We are here to contemplate the seed of his own self in Jesus Christ. This is what God meant in Ezekiel 36. The people that were in need would need to be brought into such experience.
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
If I don’t cooperate with Jesus nothing magical will happen. God is not a magician. He says I will cause you to walk in my statutes.
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.
These were the words of Jesus in John 6 when he said so clearly, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. If you do not do this you will have no life in you. You and I if we are going to be part of the everlasting covenant must cooperate with God but not from our own motivation. God will bring Jesus into our proximity through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will take of Jesus and show it unto us and if we will eat and if we will partake of that, if we would enter into the experience together with Jesus, the whole subject of the beautiful everlasting gospel, if we will make this our participation with him in the atonement, then and then only will the everlasting covenant take root within us. For those who embrace this covenant;
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
What was it? That was Daniel 9:27, the consummation. While those that reject this covenant, Arabia, Ishmaelite’s, Jews and all that were born of the flesh and want to help God from their perspective, they are rejecting the real covenant. The consummation will be poured out upon the desolators. All those who are born of the flesh do what to the spirit? The beasts are the predators. Do you want to have a lion’s heart or do you want to have the heart of the lamb? The desolation of Isaiah is upon those who have broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
God is not a predator person. What has caused their destruction? The very earth that was yearning for its redemption, has within it the everlasting principles. What has man done with this planet? The earth is defiled under the inhabitants therefore. The very principles of Gods everlasting covenant are written in nature. What has man done with the laws of nature? Broken the everlasting covenant. That is what will be the over pouring of the desolation. Man’s treatment of nature is the breaking of the everlasting covenant. It is the breaking of the everlasting gospel. They are not listening to God. There are people in the pagan nations who worship god as they learnt of him in nature.
All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ. {Ed 27.1}
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness and holiness of truth.” Ephesians 4:24, margin. Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope. {Ed 27.2}
The everlasting gospel is taught us in nature and what has man done to this cycle of rejuvenation. If you were to travel to the north of Russia you will see a devastation. Nature isn’t able to recuperate itself there because of their attack upon environment with all their complicated technological things. You can see this in other parts of the planet and it is getting worse as the everlasting covenant has been broken in nature by man and that will finally desolate them. Follow carefully the display of the Holy Spirit the teacher of righteousness according to righteousness, as the connected subjects paint the picture for us during this conference. The lead up and developments to the consummation of the everlasting covenant. This is what we are here to absorb. May none of us miss out.
Amen.
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