The sermon explores the covenant of works and its brokenness due to sin. It focuses on the revelation of the promise of Christ in the gospel and its effectiveness in the conversion and salvation of sinners. The speaker emphasizes the singularity of salvation through God's word, the control of its dissemination by God, and the necessity of the Holy Spirit's work in conversion. The sermon highlights the initial revelation of the gospel promise in Genesis 3:15 and its progressive revelation in the Old Testament. It emphasizes that salvation has always been by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. The sermon concludes with the assurance of God's plan of redemption and the effectual call of the elect.

The covenant of works being broken by sin and made unprofitable unto life, God was pleased to give forth the promise of Christ, the seed of the woman, as the means of calling the elect and begetting in them faith and repentance. In this promise, the gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed. And is there ineffectual for the conversion and salvation of sinners? We start a new chapter today on the gospel. We start with the initial revelation of the gospel and the promise of a savior in subsequent weeks.

We will look at the singularity of the promise of Christ and salvation coming only from God's word, God's control of its dissemination and the necessity of the effectual work of the Holy Spirit for conversion. Last week, we finished studying the law of God. And I gave some brief explanations of the covenants and the covenant of works, covenant of grace, the mosaic covenant, and the new covenant. Today, the confession begins with the covenant of works. Recall Dr.

Sproul's explanation. The covenant of works refers to the covenant that God made with Adam and Eve in their pristine purity before the fall, in which God promised them blessedness contingent upon their obedience to His command. Adam was unable to satisfy the conditions of the covenant of works and thus sin entered into the world. We call this the fall. And through Adam, as the federal head of mankind, we're all born with a sin nature.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me from Psalm 51, verse 5. This talks of original sin, not sin from our parents or anything they did. Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned," Romans 512. Before the fall, in the state of innocence, Adam was both able to sin and able not to sin. After the fall, Adam, along with all mankind, was still able to sin, but now was not able to not sin.

As the Confession states, the covenant of works was made unprofitable unto life, meaning we're no longer able to meet the conditions of the covenant of works to gain redemption or to earn our salvation. Our salvation must come from somewhere else, from someone else. After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, God comes to them and announces the curses upon the serpent, upon Eve, and upon Adam. Along with the curses for the serpent, God declares, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 315.

Matthew Henry comments, God passed a sentence And he begins where the sin began with the serpent. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil is sentenced to be degraded and accursed of God, detested and abhorred of all mankind, also to be destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head. War is proclaimed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. It is the fruit of this enmity that there is a continual warfare between grace and corruption in the hearts of God's people. Also, there is a continual struggle between the wicked and the godly in this world.

A gracious promise is here made of Christ as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the dawn of the gospel day. No sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed. This gracious revelation of a Savior came unasked and unlooked for. Without a revelation of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness, the convinced sinner would sink into despair and be hardened.

By faith in this promise, our first parents and the patriarchs before the flood were justified and saved. Again immediately at the breaking of the covenant of works God offers a promise of redemption a promise through the seed of the woman, the promise of the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, as prophesied in Isaiah 7, 14. Hereby in Genesis 3, 15, we see the first revelation of the gospel promise. This gospel promise, the covenant of grace, continued to be progressively revealed through the Old Testament until the coming of Christ. It's difficult to speculate how much those early believers fully understood all the parts of the gospel as we understand it today, but it is certain that they understood that salvation would come only by the grace of God through a promised Savior, a Messiah, from the seed of a woman who would crush the serpent's head.

We have examples of those holding onto this promise. There is Simeon in Luke 2, 25 through 35, who is waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit revealed to him that he should not die before seeing the Lord's Christ. When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple to do for him after the custom of the law, Simeon beheld Jesus and declared, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen the glory of thy people Israel. Simeon had looked forward to the coming of Christ, his Savior.

There's also Anna in Luke 2, 36 through 38, a widow for 84 years, served God with fastings and prayers night and day. As she saw Jesus, she gave thanks and spake of Him to all them that looked for the redemption in Jerusalem. She looked forward to the promised Messiah and gave thanks upon seeing Him, her Redeemer. Salvation comes precisely in the same way for those believers in the Old Testament as for those coming after Christ. Salvation has always been by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.

In the book of Hebrews, we read of the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Hebrews 11 13. Again, the point of our paragraph today is that at the very beginning immediately after the fall, after the entrance of sin and death into the world, God tells us of a promised Savior, one who would conquer death, who would take away our sin, both consequences of the work of that serpent whose head will be bruised or crushed by the seed of woman. Paul tells us how this plays out in his letter to the Galatians.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons, Galatians 4, 4 through 5. Paul further explains, but now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a proclamation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed. For their demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, Romans 3, 21 through 26. God was pleased to give forth the promise of Christ as the means of calling the elect, those he foreknew, those he predestinated.

To those chosen before the foundation of the world, he would, by the counsel of his goodwill, give faith and repentance so they would be saved that this call would be effectual. Paul explains this in that very familiar passage from Romans 8 and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed in the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified." Romans 8, 28 through 30.

Well, praise the Lord for his great mercies and grace, and praise the Lord for his plan of redemption. Amen.