THE TWO COVENANTS by John G. Matteson

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 15, 1880

THE TWO COVENANTS.

By John G. Matteson

BY ELD. J. G. MATTESON.

(Continued.)

1. Points wherein the new covenant is like and unlike the old. We can now compare the two covenants, and will present some points wherein they are alike, and some things wherein they differ from each other:-

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND THE SECOND COVENANT.

THE OLD COVENANT.	THE NEW COVENANT.
The old covenant was established by the Lord.	The new covenant is also established by the great God.
It was made voluntarily, without compulsion.	It is a voluntary agreement.
It was made with the house of Israel.	It was also established with the house of Israel.
It was brought about by a mediator.	It cannot be entered into without a mediator.
It was founded upon obedience to the commandments of God.	It is also made on the condition of loving the law of the Lord.
It brought great advantages to all its members.	It brings great blessings to all who enter it.
It was sealed with blood, and was thenceforth of force, until the shadow reached the reality.	It was sealed with blood, and is of force ever since.
It could not be changed after it was sealed.	It cannot be changed, nor anything added thereto after it is confirmed. Gal. 3:15; Heb. 9:17.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FIRST AND THE SECOND COVENANT.

THE OLD COVENANT.	THE NEW COVENANT.
The old covenant was made with the believing and unbelieving Jews, without any distinction.	The new covenant is made with those alone out of the house of Israel who have the law of God written in their hearts, and know the Lord.
It demanded outward circumcision in the flesh and outward obedience.	It demands the circumcision of the heart, insomuch that the individual is made a new creature in Christ Jesus. Col. 2:11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.
It gendered to bondage, and embraced only the old Jerusalem. Gal. 4:24, 25.	It begets a spirit of adoption, and embraces the heavenly Jerusalem with her children. Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:26.
It was brought about by a human mediator.	It has a divine Mediator, the only begotten Son of God. 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6.
It could never take away sins. Heb. 10:11.	It cleanses from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:7.
It was sealed with the blood of goats and calves. Heb. 9:12.	It is ratified by Christ's own blood. Heb. 9:12.
It had many priests. Heb. 7:23.	It has only one priest, Christ. Heb. 7:24; 8:1.

To the old covenant, and to that only, belonged a whole law of "commandments contained in ordinances" (Eph. 2:15) which contained nothing but a "shadow of good things to come." Heb. 10:1. In the place of the sacrifices and ministration which belonged to this law, we have obtained the more excellent sacrifice of Christ and his high-priestly ministration. "He taketh away the first that he may establish the second." Heb. 10:9.

We want to notice this closely, for it is a question which is continually agitated, What is it which is taken away? and what is established in the place of it? Let the word of God answer:-

THE FIRST, WHICH IS TAKEN AWAY.	THE SECOND, WHICH IS ESTABLISHED.
"Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law." Heb. 10:8.	"Then said he [Christ], Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Heb. 10:9, 10.
"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." Verse 11.	"But now hath he [Christ] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant." Heb. 8:6.

Thus we have in the new covenant a divine sacrifice which can take away sin, and "a high priest over the house of God" (Heb. 10:21), Jesus Christ. And he is the only true priest in the new covenant.

Then the old covenant, with its sacrifices, its priestly ministration, and that law which ordained all these services, is taken away, and the sacrifice and ministration of Christ has been established in the place of it.

The law of sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, and of the Levitical priesthood, was, consequently, the same as "the middle wall of partition," "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Eph. 2:14, 15), which was abolished. And to this belong also the annual sabbaths, which were appointed for days of offerings and atonement, and were "a shadow of things to come." Col. 2:16, 17; Lev. 23:24, 27, 28, 32.

But the Sabbath of the Lord, which is weekly, is no part of "the law of commandments contained in ordinances;" for it originated in Eden before the fall, and does not point to the sacrifice and ministration of Christ, but to God's creation and his holy rest. Gen. 2:2, 3. And it is a part of the law of God, which also in the new covenant convinces all men of sin. Rom. 3:19; Ex. 20:8-11.

The law regulating sacrifices and everything pertaining to the Levitical priesthood is "the first," which is taken away. The divine sacrifice of Christ and his heavenly priesthood is "the second," which is established in the place of it.

2. How the new covenant was made and ratified: Christ was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is not the mediator of the old, but of the new covenant. Heb. 8:6. He confirmed the new covenant with many during one prophetic week. Dan. 9:27. Seven prophetic days symbolize seven years. Eze. 4:6, "I have appointed thee each day for a year." Christ established the new covenant with many of the house of Israel in Palestine, first by his own labor during the three years and a half in which he preached, and afterward by his apostles during the following three and a half years. After that time his disciples commenced to labor among the Gentiles, as they suffered "great persecution" and were "scattered abroad." Acts 8:1, 5, 14.

That night when Christ was betrayed, the new covenant was especially entered into in the most solemn manner by the apostles, who were present as representatives for all the believers of the house of Israel.

Jesus took bread, and gave it unto them saying, "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19. All partook of this, and showed thereby that they were members of the new covenant and partakers of "the communion of the body of Christ." 1 Cor. 10:16. Then he gave the cup to them, saying, "This cup is the new testament [or covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22:20. They all partook of the cup, and thus entered into the new covenant.

On the next day the new covenant was ratified, or sealed, as Christ died on the cross, and poured out his own precious blood for the sins of men. And from that day the new covenant is of force, and it is not in the power of man to add anything or to change that covenant, or testament, which our Saviour thus sealed with his own blood. Heb. 9:16, 17; Gal. 3:15. Please notice that the words testament and covenant are translated from one word in the original (diatheke). They denote one and the same thing.

Ponder well this great truth. Those principles, laws, ordinances, and promises which our divine Mediator has introduced, or recognized in the new covenant, are necessary to salvation, and those only. When the covenant was sealed, it could not be moved or changed by the apostles, neither by any other man. It is therefore a great mistake to set aside the testimony of our Saviour, his example and ordinance, under the pretense that he lived under the old covenant. His ministration on earth did not have reference to the old, but to the new covenant. Our Saviour came to this earth as the mediator of the new covenant. Heb. 8:6. And he that tries to set aside this great truth, resists the word of God. Christ prepared the believing children of the house of Israel in three years and a half to become worthy members of the new covenant, and then he sealed it with his own blood at his death. And the third day he rose from the tomb, thus proving his divine mission.

After that the apostles gained more believers who entered into the covenant. This was done in the following manner: They preached the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ; they exhorted the people to repent and believe on the Son of God. Those who believed and obeyed the good news, were baptized and added to the church. Afterward they were instructed in keeping all the commandments of God. And the power of God was with them. Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 36-39; 10:40-48.

(Concluded next week.)