Watchman Radio Hour

David Schultz: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour, coming to you from Portland, Oregon here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Schultz, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker Alex Dodson to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: Our scripture reading for today is Jeremiah 31 verses 31 through 34. Let us hear the word of God. "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord.

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the Bible that you've given us. We thank you that it's your infallible word and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. And now, oh Father, we pray that you will be with us as we study your word today. We pray that you will send your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name, we pray, Amen.

The Israelites were being taken into captivity to Babylon because of their sins. God was bringing judgment upon them and their nation. Yet in the midst of his judgment, God offers them hope. As they go away into captivity, they should take notice of the route they take because one day they would come back.

In verses 21 and 22, it says, "Set up road signs, put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, oh virgin Israel, return to your towns. How long will you wander, oh unfaithful daughter? The Lord will create a new thing on earth, a woman will surround a man." God promises here that they will one day return and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. And so now he reinforces his promise as he promises a new covenant.

God makes a promise here in this chapter, and he promises a new covenant. Let us see in the first place, a future new covenant is coming. Verse 31 says, "The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." It's a promise. It's something that's coming in the future, and it was fulfilled in the New Testament in the Gospel age because the New Testament talks about this new covenant, and the New Testament says that this new covenant had already come.

In Hebrews 8:8 through 9 it says, "But God found fault with the people and said, 'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them,' declares the Lord."

Hebrews 10:16 and 17 says, "'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time,' says the Lord. 'I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.' Then he adds, 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'" And then we go on to another passage, and we see that the new covenant is found in Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews 8:6 it says, "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises." Hebrews 12:24 says, "To Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

In Hebrews 9:15 it says, "For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." And then in Mark 14:24 it says, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.

In Luke 22:20 it says, "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'" And then in 1 Corinthians 11:25 it says, "In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the New Testament in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.'"

Also can be translated 'new covenant' or 'New Testament' in my blood. Matthew Henry writes, "But this covenant refers to gospel times, the latter days that shall come. For of gospel grace the apostle understands it, where this whole passage is quoted as a summary of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus Christ in Hebrews 8:8 through 9."

Let us see in the second place that the old covenant will cease. Verse 32 says, "It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. The old covenant then would cease. They had been unfaithful during the time of the old covenant.

The old covenant consisted in sacrifices day after day. It consisted in a temple where the sacrifices were offered. It consisted in a day of atonement once a year when the great high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice. These were only types and shadows of the future. They could not take away sin. They could not really take away the sins of the people.

For we read in Hebrews 10:1 through 4, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered?

For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." They could not really take away the sins of the people. They only pointed ahead to Christ.

Again, it goes on in Hebrews 10 in verse 5, it says, "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said, 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. With burnt offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased.' Then I said, 'Here I am. It is written about me in the scroll. I have come to do your will, oh God.'

First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings, you do not desire, nor were you pleased with them,' although the law required them to be made. Then he said, 'Here I am. I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

In Romans 3:21 through 26 it says, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

And so, Jesus' death on the cross was for the sins of all these Old Testament believers who had offered the sacrifices. Those sacrifices could not take away their sins, but they pointed to Christ, who would come, and through his sacrifice on the cross, their sins were paid for.

It also takes away the sins and pays for the sins of those who trust in Jesus now in this time of the new covenant, in the time of the New Testament. And so all who put their faith in Christ, all who looked ahead to the Messiah in the Old Testament, were saved by Christ's death on the cross. And all who look to Christ today are saved by his death on the cross.

Do you know Christ? Are you looking to him for your salvation? Are you looking to him for forgiveness of sins? Do you believe that he died on the cross for you? Do you believe that he laid down his life on your behalf? It says in the Bible, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." And so we encourage you today to look to Christ, to know him, to follow him as your Lord and Savior.

And then we see in the third place, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Verse 33 says this: "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." And this is a future promise. It was talking about the coming of the time of the Holy Spirit.

In Ezekiel 36 verses 25 through 27, it says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

In John 14:15 through 18, it says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

In Revelation 21:3, it says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.'" And so if we know Christ, if we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord sends the Spirit to be with us at all times, to stand with us, to be by our side at all times. The gift of the Holy Spirit is for every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then let us see in the fourth place, the extensive nature of the new covenant in verse 34. It says, "No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

The new covenant is much more extensive than the old covenant. It speaks of the worldwide spread of the gospel. All will know me. All will know me. People from all over the world will come to know me. Not just the Jewish people, but people from all over the world will come to know the Lord.

Matthew Henry writes 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. All shall know me. All shall be welcomed to the knowledge of God and shall have the means of that knowledge. His way shall be known upon earth, whereas for many ages, in Judah only was God known.

And remember God's promise that he made to Abraham. In Genesis 15:5, it says he took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them." And then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

In Genesis 22:15, it says the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself," declares the Lord, "that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me." And so the Lord said to Abraham that his descendants would be as the stars in the heaven and as the sand on the seashore.

They would be innumerable. They would not be able to be numbered. So shall your offspring be, God says to Abraham. Now, we know from Galatians 3:29 that this was not just talking about the natural descendants or the biological descendants of Abraham, but was talking about his spiritual descendants.

In Galatians 3:29, it says, "If you belong to Christ, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." And so the prophecy here is that there would be an increase of the gospel knowledge all over the world.

Daniel 12:4 says, "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." Or many will go here and there to increase the knowledge. Now, this can be interpreted as the increase of the knowledge of the gospel, the increase of the knowledge of the gospel.

And this is exactly, this is exactly what is prophesied here in Jeremiah 31, that there would be an increase in the knowledge of God all over the world. Habakkuk 2:14 says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

And Isaiah 11:9 says, "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." And so we should be praying today for the furtherance of the gospel all over the world.

We should be praying today that the spread of the knowledge of the Lord would increase more and more and would the knowledge of the Lord will fill the world as the waters cover the sea. This year, I was in Nepal, and our coworker there took us on a trip both to east and west Nepal.

And as we were traveling, he came to a crossroads, and we got out of the car, and he said, "I want to show you something." And we went up to a road that led on up the mountain, and he said to me, "On up this road is a village of people. They have called into our as responding to our radio broadcast.

And they have said that we believe the message you have been preaching, the message of Jesus Christ. And we as a village want to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Would you come and visit us and tell us more?" And so there was a village in a remote area in Nepal who heard the gospel on the radio.

And when they heard it, they were interested. It was good news to them, and the whole village wanted to receive Christ. And so there are people out there waiting today to hear the gospel, and when they hear it, they will receive it with great joy.

On another day there in Nepal, we went to a high mountain. And the manager of the radio station took us there, and as we looked down from that mountain, we could see villages and houses. And he told us that through the survey that was taken by the government, they knew that over 70% of the people there were listening to the radio.

And many of them were listening to the gospel programs on his station, including the program that we were broadcasting. And so there were many people there that were listening, and many have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, and many have responded to receive Christ.

And so there are people out there all over who need to hear the gospel, and if they hear it, they will believe it. And so we must believe that this prophecy here in Jeremiah 31 was pointing ahead to a day when the gospel will spread all over the world.

And we, as God's church, as his people, should do all we can to get that gospel out, so that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And we have here in the last part of this passage, he says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

"I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." In the new covenant, there is forgiveness of sin. If we come to Christ and we put our trust in him, our sins will be forgiven, and we will be given eternal life.

In Ephesians 1:7, it says, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." In him, that is in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. Do you know Christ? Have you come to Christ?

Have you received Christ as your Lord and Savior? When you do, your sins will be forgiven. Makes no difference who you are. Maybe you're young, or maybe you're old. Maybe you're rich, or maybe you're poor. Maybe you're educated, very educated, or maybe you're not so educated.

Jesus Christ came to die on the cross for all people, and that includes you. And so we call upon you today to look to Christ, to put your faith in him, to know him as your Lord and Savior. When you receive Jesus Christ, your sins will be forgiven. Now is the day of the new covenant.

Now is the day when the gospel is being proclaimed all over the world to all people. And all who hear that gospel and put their faith in Jesus Christ will be saved. Their sins will be forgiven. And so we call upon you today to come to Christ, to believe on him, to trust in him, to accept him as your Lord and Savior.

Again, it says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." And so we call upon you right now, whoever you are. It says, "whosoever believeth on him shall have everlasting life."

I invite you today to come and pray this prayer of commitment with me. "Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. And I come to you right now, and I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I believe on you. I accept the forgiveness that you have offered. In Christ's name, Amen."

Now, if you've prayed that prayer today, we'd like to encourage you to follow Christ in your life, to grow in your faith by reading the Bible, studying the Bible, by praying each day, and by going to a Bible-believing church. You need the fellowship of other Christians. You need their encouragement. And so let us encourage you to do that and to continue on to follow Jesus Christ.

David Schultz: We hope this week's broadcast has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions about Mr. Dodson's message, please write us. You may email us at info@watchmanradio.org. Our mailing address is Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon, 97213.

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