In Eric Bechler's sermon on the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession, Chapter 7, Paragraph 2, he explores the covenant of grace—a divine agreement God made to offer salvation through Jesus Christ, requiring faith from the elect. This covenant, distinct from the covenant of works, does not negate God's law but fulfills it through Christ's perfect obedience, serving as the second Adam. The sermon highlights the consequences of Adam's fall, which brought sin and death into the world, leaving humanity in despair. However, God initiated the covenant of grace to redeem the elect from eternal condemnation. The covenant involves universal and particular elements, offering salvation to all types of people, yet ensuring only the elect, through the Holy Spirit's work, receive the effectual call to faith. The sermon emphasizes the necessity of faith in Christ's atoning work, acknowledging salvation as a gift from God, not earned by human effort. It calls believers to remember God's mercy and grace, urging them to live in gratitude and love, reflecting Christ's love to others.

Our reading today from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 comes from chapter 7 paragraph 2. Moreover, man having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant, a covenant of grace wherein he freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved and promising to give unto all those that are ordained into eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe. We continue our study in chapter 7 of God's covenant. To remind you of what I said last week, a covenant is a binding agreement, a contract between two or more parties. Furthermore, there are three basic elements of a covenant.

There are promises, there are conditions, and there are penalties. Our focus today will be on the essential character of the covenant of grace including a universal part and a particular part but let's start with understanding who are the parties included from the classical Reformed perspective the covenant of grace is between God and Christ with the elect in him. God is the initiator, the author, and the guarantor of the covenant. Christ stands as the mediator and surety, the covenant head, the second Adam, and believers are included in Christ because he is the representative head of the elect. Our paragraph today begins with the consequences of the fall.

God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden. Adam disobeyed God's command and thus fell under the curse of the law and received the penalty, death. As a consequence of this fateful choice, Paul tells us, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sin. Romans 512. And for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.

Romans 519. Adam was the federal head, a representative for all mankind. Thus, his corrupted nature was passed on to all of his descendants of ordinary generation. This leaves mankind in a state of hopelessness, incapacity, and with the sole outlook of eternity in hell do our sins. However, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace to offer a means out of the wrath to come into a state of grace.

Dr. Sproul offers some explanation. The covenant of grace is not so called because God no longer requires obedience and now negotiates His holiness and righteousness. God does not repudiate the covenant of works or his own righteousness. He does not change the standards.

In the covenant of grace it pleased the Lord to provide a substitute, a champion to obey his law perfectly and personally for us. God loved the world enough to send his only begotten son and to place him under the law, having him do for us what Adam failed to do. The Son performed the terms of the covenant of works perfectly. God will accept us on the basis of what His Son has done on the condition that now in the covenant of grace we put our faith in him. The covenant of grace does not annul the covenant of works.

The covenant of grace is what God does to ensure that under the covenant of works we do not perish but are redeemed by Jesus Christ's fulfillment of this covenant. In the final judgment, we will be judged by the law, the law of God, and we will stand there on the grounds of either our works or Christ's work. We see the contrast between the failure of Adam to keep the law and the perfect obedience of Christ, our mediator and surety, in his atoning work in Paul's letter to the Romans. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.

Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5, 17-21. Back to our paragraph, we get to the universal part. In the covenant of grace, God freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved.

Paul tells Timothy that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1st Timothy 2, 4. John Calvin interpreted this to mean that salvation is offered to all types, ranks, and conditions of people rather than every single individual without exception. He argued that all in this vein refers to the universality of the offer. John MacArthur comments, when God desires all men to be saved, he is being consistent with who he is.

In Isaiah 45 22 God said turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth. Isaiah 55 1 invites everyone who thirsts to come to the waters of salvation. Again in Ezekiel 18 23 and 37 God states very clearly that he does not desire that the wicked should perish, but that they would sincerely repent. In the New Testament, Peter writes, the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance, 2 Peter 3, 9. Jesus in Mark 16, 15 tells his disciples to go into the world all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

What a joy and blessing it would be if each member of our own family were saved and even those of our extended family. What a joy it would and a blessing it would be that everyone here in Burnett Bible Church would be saved. Everyone in the city of Burnett and Burnett County and so on. Yet God the Father has chosen before the beginning of time those he will save. Only some, not all the people across all time, only the elect.

This brings us to the last part of our paragraph, the particular part. Within this covenant of grace the Lord promises to give his Holy Spirit to all who are ordained to eternal life to make them willing and able to believe. Jesus tells us that no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written to the prophets in the prophets and they will be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

John 6 44 through 45. Only those who are ordained by God to eternal life will be saved. Many will hear the outward call of the gospel but not all will respond. Only those who hear the effectual call will respond and this can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Ezekiel 36, verses 26 through 27.

A new heart also I will give you, a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Ultimately, it is by faith and only by faith in Christ that any will be saved. It is not earned. It is not deserved. It has nothing to do with you or me.

Paul makes this very clear, for by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2 8. Without this gift of faith in Christ we would not be able to believe in Christ. We wouldn't really even care about it. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that we become willing and able to believe.

Praise God that we have a God who loves us and is merciful and in his perfect wisdom he set in place a means of salvation for the salvation of his people and escape from the wrath to come. It's easy for us to forget or to take for granted what God has done. Think about what God did. Think about the incarnation of the Son of God, His taking on flesh, being born of a woman, and living a perfect life. Think about His experiencing firsthand the temptations and the struggles in life and the extreme suffering he endured and finally dying on the cross.

Why would he do this? Why would he do it? I'm not worth it, not in a million years. But it pleased God to do this. It brought God glory.

Are you thankful? Do you even care? Do you even think about this on a regular basis? I for one am humbled and I'm thankful and I hope you are too. And I hope that there is evidence in your life that this is true.

Jesus tells us for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. And Paul tells us that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Romans 10 9. Do you believe? If you're not sure, ask him, cry out to him, cry out to him today to save you and then trust him.

Trust in his atoning work. Well, praise God for his grace and mercy. I would encourage you to thank him regularly for all that he has done to strive to be more like Christ every day, each and every day. Don't take Him for granted but think about how much He has loved you and likewise go out and love others just as He first loved you. Amen.

Thank you.