From Bitterness to Sweetness II

Because of the life that we have in Jesus Christ, we are able to taste and see that the Lord is good!

Because of the life that we have in Jesus Christ, we are able to taste and see that the Lord is good

A. The Servant in Covenant with God

a.1. Who established the covenant?

a.2. What is expected in the covenant?

a.3. What are covenant promises/curses?

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Deuteronomy 4:1–2 KJV 1900

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Deuteronomy 4:12–13 KJV 1900

And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

Deuteronomy 4:23 KJV 1900

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV 1900

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Deuteronomy 8:1 KJV 1900

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

Deuteronomy 11:26–27 KJV 1900

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

Deuteronomy 29:9 KJV 1900

Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

Deuteronomy 29:12 KJV 1900

That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:

Deuteronomy 29:21–25 KJV 1900

And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

Deuteronomy 31:16 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

a.4. Why this servant alternates between affliction/hope

Relevance: It is good to be in relationship with God. But God is so holy and we are so sinful. The OT shows us this reality.

It is good to be in relationship with God. But God is so holy and we are so sinful. The OT shows us this reality.

B. The Servant and Covenant Response

b.1. Supplication

V. 81 - 88 - key words are those: fainteth, fail, consumed

(v. 81-82, 87) all emphasizing coming to an end or being wiped out.

John 15:7 KJV 1900

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

b.2. Affirmation

V. 89 - 96 - key words are those: Forever (v. 89) and exceeding broad (v. 96)

all emphasizing the eternal nature of the word, in sharp contrast to the temporary nature of the servant under pressure. ,

Hebrews 11:3 KJV 1900

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Colossians 1:17 KJV 1900

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

b.3. Affection

V. 97-104 - key words are those: “than” found in v. 98, 99, 100.

This relates to the affect that the commandments of the Lord have had upon the servant.

Luke 10:21 KJV 1900

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

b.4. Direction

V. 105-112 - key words seem to be light and pathway. In contrast to the false way, God’s word illumines the pathway. This is a word that assures the believer of the covenant relationship between the Lord and man (“heritage”).

Proverbs 6:23 KJV 1900

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Relevance: It is good to understand our obligations in relationship.

C. The Servant and Covenant Need

c.1 A need for life (salvation) because of results of initial curse - (, , )

c.2. A need magnified by covenant document - , , , ,

Leviticus 18:5 KJV 1900

Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.

Deuteronomy 27:26 KJV 1900

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Ezekiel 20:7–11 KJV 1900

Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 KJV 1900

A new heart also will I give you, and 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 an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Ezekiel 37:26 KJV 1900

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

c.3. A need to see God do what his word promised

Galatians 3:10–12 KJV 1900

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

c.4. A need for salvation by someone (1) living in the law (2) dying as a curse

Galatians 3:13 KJV 1900

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

c.5. A need for new covenant

Point: Because of the life that we have in Jesus Christ, we are able to taste and see that the Lord is good!

B. The Christ & the Christian in Relationship - ,

Galatians 3:14 KJV 1900

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 4:4–5 KJV 1900

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

b.1. Supplication -

Galatians 4:6 KJV 1900

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

b.2. Affirmation - , , “law”

Galatians 5:13–14 KJV 1900

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Galatians 5:16–18 KJV 1900

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Galatians 5:24 KJV 1900

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

b.3. Affection

b.4. Direction -

Galatians 5:25 KJV 1900

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

A. The Christ and the Christian in Contemporary Life

a.1. Pray the Word more: devoted times

a.2. Affirm the eternal nature of the word more through meditation (in context of your life)

a.3. Set your affections on things above through the word. (Do a love test)

a.4. Obey what the word says. Commit to accountable, transparent, community-oriented obedience.

Because of the life that we have in Jesus Christ, we are able to taste and see that the Lord is good!

(1) the servant in covenant with God

(2) the servant and his covenant response

(3) the servant and his covenant need fulfilled in Christ

(4) the Christ and the Christian in relationship

(5) the Christ and the Christian in contemporary life

Questions:

Are you in relationship with God?

How are you relating to God through his word?