"THE CONDITIONS OF THE COVENANT" "And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle." [1 Samuel 18:1-4] As I mentioned in last week's message, one of the greatest truths that you will ever learn, one of the greatest concepts that can ever come into your mind is the truth of the blood covenant and the concept of the blood covenant. Now, it is critical that we fully understand what it means to be in covenant relationship with God. Last week I gave a broad overview of this most important subject. This morning I would like to take more time to discuss in detail the various aspects of the covenant; or -- as the title of this message suggests -- we want to talk about the Conditions of the Covenant. In Biblical times, a blood covenant was an unbreakable partnership between 2 people who greatly loved and greatly trusted one another. With it there was a mutual mingling of lives. Last week we talked about the blood covenant cut between Jonathan [King Saul's son] and David. I want us to re-visit that passage again this morning, for in it we find pearls of promise which can be applied to our modern day relationship with God. Let me take a few moments to remind you what was happening. 1. Jonathan was Saul's son. Loved David dearly. Because of their mutual love, came into "covenant" with each other. [Hebrew BERITH "to cut until blood flows." A. Cut palms and shake hands. B. Cut wrists and mingle blood. 2. Because of covenant, Jonathan committed what some would think was a treasonous act in protecting David. [1 Samuel 19] 3. Saul and Jonathan slain in battle with Philistines. David comes to the throne. 4. David asks Ziba if there is ". . .any that is left in the house that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" [2 Sam 9:1] ["Conditions of the Covenant" -- Cont'd] 5. Mephibosheth. A. Enemy of the king by birth. B. Living in exile. LoDebar ["Place with no pastures"] 1. Dingy, dangerous place. Place of no pasture; no pleasure; no promise. C. Lame from the fall D. Under sentence of death. E. Thought king was enemy --- was really his friend. F. He was DEFORMED, DETHRONED, DOOMED & DECEIVED 6. Because of the covenant: [2 Sam 9] A. The King's forgiveness [v 7] ". .fear not for I will surely show you kindness. . ." That means you're forgiven. The sentence of death is no longer upon you. Remember, that word "kindness" or "loving-kindness" is a blood covenant word. B. The King's Fellowship. Look if you will in the last part of verse 7. "And thou shalt eat bread at my table continually" v 10 ". . .but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table." Verse 11 "As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons" Verse 13 "He did eat continually at the king's table." My friend, being saved is far more than having your sins forgiven. That's all some people think about. But you get your sins forgiven so you can have fellowship with the king. C. The King's Fortune. [Vv 9-10] D. The King's Family "As for Mephibosheth said the king he shall eat at my table as [what?] one of the king's sons." The king's family--now you can't get better than that. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called what? The sons of God -- the sons of God--sons of the Almighty God through the blood covenant and when God looks at us because of what Jesus Christ did upon that cross God sees us and sees in us what He sees in His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we sit at His table enjoying His fellowship as one of the King's sons. ["The Conditions of the Covenant" -- Cont'd] This was all because of the covenant! Had nothing to do with the worthiness of Mephibosheth -- listen to that: Had nothing to do with the worthiness of Mephibosheth! 7. Application: Now, it is critical that we fully understand what it means to be in covenant relationship with God. What does a seeming archaic practice per-formed in antiquity have to do with us this morning? A. Gal 3:24 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Lesson found in OT --- Application found in NT B. Luke 22:20 ""Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." It is just as appropriate to say "This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you." In this sublime act, Jesus was pointing toward the blood covenant which would be established at Calvary on an old rugged cross. C. 2000 years ago on the cross the Lord Jesus Christ entered into a blood covenant with God the Father on your behalf on the cross. When Jesus died upon that cross He entered into a blood covenant. It was on hill far away, on an old rugged cross that a blood covenant was cut between God and man. There was a mingling of the blood of God and the blood of man on that day. You see, we realize that Jesus Christ was both man and God as He walked on this earth. As His precious blood was spilled on that momentous day in antiquity, the requirement of the mingling of blood was satisfied! On that cross when Jesus died what He was doing was making an immutable unbreakable everlasting covenant between the sons of men and the Almighty God. CONDITIONS OF THE COVENANT: A sharing of possession. Sharing of garment. A sharing of protection. Trading of weapon of war. A sharing of personhood itself. Cutting covenant. I. Sharing of Possessions. A. Story of Dr. Livingston & Mr. Stanley in Africa B. Terms: What's yours is his -- What's His is yours. 1. We try to tenaciously hold onto the little we have. We ought to gladly surrender the little we have, to receive the rights to all He has! C. Supreme condition of the covenant: LOYALTY. When one entered into the covenant he was in it for life! Not a matter of "want to" -- matter of "have to". D. Look again at Mephibosheth. 1. Traded all he had [rundown shack on the back side of nowhere. In LoDebar -- exile -- discomfort -- dust -- famine. 2. For all the king had: Palace -- pleasure -- peace -- provisions E. What is ours? A little speck of real estate on a little planet called earth in the vast expanse of creation. And the funny thing is, we're trying to hold on to it! F. What's His?: Have you ever considered the immensity of the universe? We think our sun is an awesome display of power, but I read of a star in the universe that is 800 times larger than our sun! We are told that the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.2 million light years away. This translates into 117 Sextillion; 601 Quintillion; 176 Quadrillion miles away. This is 117 with 21 0's!! The Andromeda Galaxy alone contains over 300 billion stars. There are nearly 20 smaller galaxies, each containing 100 billion stars. This means that we know of more than 2.5 trillion stars!! "And these stars are but dewdrops on the lawn of the Father's house". Scripture records "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names". (Psa 147:4) "Behold, the Lord GOD ... hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance" (Isa 40:12) In astonishment and awe we say, with David: "Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth"! -- Psa 113:5-6 We look up at the great expanse of the universe -- God looks down upon it! We measure the distances between planets with our sophisticated scientific instruments -- God measures them with the span of His hand! We rely upon the heat and light of the sun for our very existence -- in antiquity, God set it ablaze and hung it in its place! Psalms 24:1 "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." He made it all -- He owns it all! And when we enter into covenant with Him, we are entering into covenant with One who has the wealth of a universe at His disposal!