The following is a sermon delivered at Lake Drive Baptist Church on Sunday morning August 2nd, 2015. You will find both the audio and sermon notes below.

Sermon Text: Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NASB)

³¹ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

³³ “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord,

“I will put My law within them
and on their heart I will write it;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
³⁴ “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor
and each man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’
for they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,”
declares the Lord,
“for I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more.”

Background:

Our salvation comes to us in the form of a covenant. [Pause] This may an be odd notion.

God’s purposes to save and restore his people and his creation are promised, planned, worked out, and achieved in human history beginning in the OT. And the covenants throughout the Bible structure, drive, and advance that salvation plan.

Covenant – a binding agreement involving promises and obligations.

The Biblical covenants aim at and pursue what God’s original intention was in creation. Think about the Garden of Eden – to have a people, in a land, under God’s rule, and amidst God’s presence.Covenant with Noah – After the flood, God expresses his commitment to creation despite human sin. He will not scratch this creation project, but he will redeem it and restore it to his original design.

Continue reading →

Introduction/broader context:

Series theme/theme of Philippians – To live a life consumed by the Gospel, i.e., the message of God’s saving activity in the person of Jesus.

Theme verse: 1:27 – “Live worthy the Gospel,” i.e., live a life consumed by and in keeping with the nature of the Gospel.

2:1-11 (esp. v.5) – To be so consumed by Christ that we reflect the very humility of Christ.

Paul’s motto in 1:21 – “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Corollary theme – To be consumed by the Gospel for the Gospel, i.e., for the cause of advancing the Gospel.

In 1:12-26, because Paul’s motto is, “to live is Christ” (i.e., his life is consumed with Christ), he views his imprisonment as an opportunity to advance the name of Christ. –Consumed for the Gospel.

In his opening prayer (1:3-11), Paul speaks of the Philippians as partners with Paul in advancing the Gospel (1:5-7). –Consumed for the Gospel.

And through the book, Paul identifies various ways in which the Philippians are to be consumed for the Gospel. E.g., …

1:27 – “Striving together for the faith of the gospel.” How? “Standing firm [i.e., steadfastness, persistence, perseverance] in one spirit, with one mind [i.e., unity, harmony].”
2:14ff – They are to be “lights in the world” [i.e., a people consumed for the Gospel” by (2:14) “doing all things without grumbling or disputing [i.e., in unity]” and (2:16) “holding fast to” the Gospel [perseverance, steadfastness].