The sermon, based on the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, discusses the concept of God's covenant, particularly focusing on the covenant of grace. It highlights the vast difference in being between humanity and God, emphasizing humanity's inherent sinfulness and inability to attain salvation without divine intervention. The London Baptist Confession differs from the Westminster and Savoy declarations by focusing solely on the covenant of grace, which is God's response to humanity's desperate need for redemption. The sermon explains the concept of a covenant, its elements, and provides biblical and historical examples, such as the covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses, and the new covenant through Jesus. Dr. Sproul's insights on covenant theology as a framework for understanding God's interactions with humanity are also discussed. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to examine their own sinfulness and strive to live in holiness, reflecting on their relationship with God and making intentional choices to honor Him.

Our reading today from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 comes today from chapter seven of God's covenant. We'll be covering paragraph one. The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience to Him as their creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant. Today we move on to the next chapter in the London Baptist Confession of God's covenant. This is an important topic, and I would encourage everyone to take some time to, some time that they can afford to read up on covenant theology.

It's important for us to have some understanding of that. This is also a place where we find a difference between the content and emphasis between the London Baptist Confession and the Westminster and Savoy declarations. The latter cover the progression of the covenant of works, the fall and the subsequent covenant of grace, including its administration in the Old and New Testament. The London Baptist Confession focuses solely on the need, character and features of the covenant of grace has progressively revealed. The paragraph today describes our need, our desperate need for redemption and God's response in terms of a covenant, a covenant of grace.

It starts in making it clear that there is an insurmountable distance between our sovereign Lord, King of the universe, the creator God and His creatures. This is not meaning spatial distance, but a difference in being. How can we describe ourselves? For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23. There is no one who does not sin, 2 Chronicles 6.36.

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Jeremiah 179. There is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. Romans 3, 10 through 12. In contrast, we find holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6-3. The psalmist asks, who is like unto the Lord, our God who dwells on high? Psalm 113-5. It is a picture of the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God. There is an insurmountable gap there between us.

In fact, we are not even able to fully comprehend who God truly is. Isaiah asks, who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? With whom took he counsel and instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledge and showed him in the way of understanding behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the snail, the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

Isaiah 40, 13 through 16. We can only see him as he has revealed himself to us in nature and in his holy word. We read next that all reasonable creatures owe obedience to him as their creator. Why do we owe him obedience? Because he's our creator.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with man's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he gives life to all and breath in all things, Acts 17, 24 through 25. He does all this and yet we find that we are unable to give Him the obedience He is due. Because of the fall, we, all of Adam's descendants, are doomed for eternal punishment. We're all in a place of inability and hopelessness. But God in His infinite wisdom and infinite compassion voluntarily condescended to covenant with His people to offer salvation to those whom He chose before eternity.

God didn't have to do anything. He could have just left us to receive the punishment we justly deserve, but it pleased Him to do this, to make a covenant, a covenant of grace to save us from our sins and eternity in hell. Our focus for the next three weeks is on this offer of salvation, this redemption, this covenant of grace. To prepare ourselves, let's make sure we understand what is meant by the word covenant. What is a covenant?

A covenant is a binding agreement, a contract between two or more parties. In general, there are three basic elements of a covenant. There are promises, there are conditions, and there are penalties. When God is making a covenant, it is God, not us making the covenant, and is therefore called a sovereign arrangement. Noah Webster gives some examples of different types of covenants in his dictionary.

The covenant of works, the promise of God to man that man's perfect obedience to the law and to his command should entitle him to happiness and life. Do this and live, do that and die. The covenant of redemption, the mutual agreement between the Father and the Son respecting the redemption of sinners by Christ. The covenant of grace, the promise of God to bestow salvation on man upon the condition that man shall believe in Christ and yield obedience to the terms of the gospel. Most of us are familiar with a couple of other examples of covenants, the marriage covenant in which a sacred lifelong commitment between a man and a woman before God, signifying a deeper bond than a mere legal contract involving promises of faithfulness, mutual love, honor, and support, often seen as reflecting Christ's love for the church and the church covenant, which is a solemn agreement between the members of a church that they will walk together according to the precepts of the gospel and brotherly affection.

Dr. Sproul comments, God's willingness to enter into a covenant with us is itself a matter of grace. Covenant theology provides the context within which God reveals Himself to us, ministers to us, and acts to redeem us. The language and idea of a covenant pervade redemptive history in the Bible. There are many covenants in the Bible.

There is the covenant with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses. There's others. Even Jesus speaks of a new covenant just preceding his death. In Dr. Sproul's commentary, he references George Mendenhall's work, Law and Covenant in the Ancient Near East and Meredith Klein's work by Oath Consigned to describe the format legal structure or framework of near ancient Near East societies including Israel.

He highlights seven parts. First was the preamble which identified the overlord or Sosran. We see this in the preamble of the Ten Commandments, I am the Lord your God, Exodus 22. The second was a historical prologue which summarizes the history of his relationship with his vassals or his people. Again, in the beginning of the Ten Commandments, we find, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, Exodus 20 verse 2.

Third, there are promises and stipulations. God promises in the covenants, you shall be my people and I will be your God. Jeremiah 30 22. But he also stipulates, you shall have no other God before me. Exodus 20 verse 3.

And if you love me, you will keep my commandments, John 14, 15. Fourth, there are sanctions, even double sanctions, benefits or blessings, punishments or curses. We see this with Adam and Eve, don't eat the fruit, live, disobey and eat the fruit and die. Also with Moses in Deuteronomy where God promises his people if they keep his commandments they will be blessed, but if they break the law there will be curses. Fifth, there is an oath, a sacred vow.

We find that in biblical covenants where we see God swearing by himself, by his very deity. Thankfully, God always keeps his promises. He never fails. Sixth is ratification of the covenant usually by some some cutting right, usually bloody. To ratify the covenant with Abraham, God required him to cut off the foreskin of flesh in Genesis 17.

The new covenant was ratified with a blood rite, Christ's death on the cross. And finally, duplicate copies were usually made, one for the king and one for the people, or the vassals, publicly displayed for referral, but put in a place of safe keeping. Martin Luther suggested referring to the two tablets given to Moses with the Ten Commandments that the first tablet referred to our relationship with God, the second tablet with our relationship with others. This is what I've always heard explained and never really thought more about it, but Meredith Klein suggests however based on ancient Near East practices that each tablet may have contained all ten commandments, one copy for God and one copy for His people, both being stored in the Ark of the Covenant under the mercy seat. I don't think we can ever confirm that one way or the other, but Either position seems pretty reasonable.

Our discussion today centers on the insurmountable gap that exists between us and God, a gap defined by our sinfulness and His holiness. This gap between us is too great. Good behavior is not going to get us to heaven. We must trust in Christ's righteousness and Him alone. We don't often contemplate how sinful we are or how holy God is.

But a holy God demands that we should take a sober view of our sin. Awareness of your sin should soften your heart towards others, especially when we remember how much God has forgiven each of us. Consider your own state before you condemn others. And when you find yourself in a place where you must correct someone, do it with gentleness. Pursue holiness.

Live with your eyes heavenward. Examine yourself. Do my actions or my lifestyle reflect a God who is holy? Do I realize that I will stand before a holy God? How do I respond?

Am I making intentional choices about entertainment, about my speech, about social media and habits that honor God? I would encourage you to strive each day to be more and more like Christ. Amen.