Johnson's Sermons on the Two Covenants
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(Click here for table of contents) JOHNSON'S SERMONS ON THE TWO COVENANTS BY ASHLEY S. JOHNSON Stenographically Reported (First Printed in 1899) DEDICATION TO JESUS, THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, AND TO MY SONS IN THE GOSPEL IN THE SCHOOL OF THE EVANGELISTS, WHO BY GOD'S GRACE ARE WORKING WITH THEIR HANDS TO EARN AN EDUCATION IN ORDER TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S LOVE, AND TO ALL WHO MAY BECOME MEMBERS OF OUR FAMILY HEREAFTER, THIS BOOK—ALL IT MAY BRING TOWARD THE WORK—IS REVERENTLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click on chapter title for text) Table of Contents by Bennie Johns Sermon No.: Title: Page 1. THE FIRST COVENANT (PART 1)...........................7 2. THE FIRST COVENANT (PART II)..........................25 3. THE TABERNACLE AND WORSHIP UNDER THE FIRST COVENANT............................................39 4. THE WEAKNESS OF THE FIRST COVENANT................55 5. THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE FIRST COVENANT (PART I).....73 6. THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE FIRST COVENANT (PART II)....89 7. THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE FIRST COVENANT (PART III)...103 8. THE NEW COVENANT (PART I)..........................123 9. THE NEW COVENANT (PART II) .........................141 10. THE TWO COVENANTS AND THE PRIESTHOOD...........157 11. THE COVENANTS ILLUSTRATED BY THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON .......................................177 12. THE PROVISIONS OF THE NEW COVENANT...............197 13. THE TWO COVENANTS AND THE OBSERVANCE OF SABBATHS............................................219 INTRODUCTION To Fiftieth Anniversary Edition The author, Ashley S. Johnson, said that this book was born under peculiar circumstances. It was further his judgment that this book was the best one he had ever put in print and he was a prolific writer, this being his twelfth book. Time has proven the wisdom of his choice of subjects and leads us to believe that providence guided his selection at that time. We say this because in this year of 1949, fifty years after the original writing of the book the subject discussed is a live one about which more questions are asked that any other. We are therefore glad to give this worthy book a further circulation among those who earnestly seek the will of the Lord today. The author was especially well prepared to deal with this subject as he was with most religious subjects. He was president of the College of the Evangelists at Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee and thus was constantly in work that called for detailed knowledge on all Bible subjects. Further he had held a debate upon this subject twenty years before the issuance of this book and for the intervening years had continued to study the subject. Therefore we give this book to the public of this generation with the assurance that it is a worthwhile work upon a living topic and commend it to all for the closest of study. SERMONS ON THE TWO COVENANTS Friday, February 10, 1899; 10:30 a. m. SERMON No. 1—THE FIRST COVENANT (PART I). Text: "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away (Heb. 9:13)." I believe you will agree with me that these are very remarkable words: and when we duly weigh the last half of this statement they appear more remarkable, and in the light of other scriptures more remarkable still. We should bear in mind that Paul is speaking, and that he has in his mind's eye something that has done its work, filled its mission, and is now passing. In the ninth chapter of Hebrews and first verse he brings out the same thought by declaring that the First Covenant had ordinances of a divine service and a worldly sanctuary. The ordinary reader of the Bible who reads with any degree of care and with the spirit of prayerfulness desiring to find out the will of God that he may do it, will come to this conclusion: Either there are two rival law-givers, Moses on the one hand, and Christ on the other, or else that these law-givers are harmonious, or else that the lawgiver Christ has fully superceded the law-giver Moses. With these thoughts before us we are prepared to see another thing, and that is the name of Moses is associated with a covenant; also that the name of Jesus is associated with a covenant; and that the name of Moses is associated with a law, that the name of Jesus is associated with a law. That the name of Moses is associated with the Old Covenant, or the First Covenant; that the name of Jesus is associated with the New Covenant or the Second Covenant; that the name of Moses is associated with the law or the Law of Moses; that the name of Jesus is associated with the law of the spirit of life in Him, or the Law of Liberty, or the Perfect Law of Liberty. It is my intention in this series of sermons to give all honor to Moses in his place and all honor and glory and power and dominion to Jesus, not only as Lord and Master, but as Law-Giver and 8 SERMON NO. ONE King. But standing on the threshold of this investigation, let us for a moment determine one thing. We have in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, two words, the meaning of which will determine largely the results of this investigation. In the passage here we have the word "covenant." In other passages we have the word "testament." And we have also the phrase "everlasting covenant." What is the meaning of these two words? I will say simply this in general terms as I expect to be more specific as I advance, that the words have the same meaning. Indeed they are translated from the same Greek word and we might with propriety and without violence to the word of God have "testament" all the time or "covenant" all the time and so use the words as synonyms, as interchangeable, throughout this entire investigation. When I say "covenant, " therefore, I shall mean "testament"; when I say "testament" I shall mean "covenant." When I use "covenant" and "testament" I shall mean, in everyday usage "will"; God's testament; God's covenant; God's will concerning us; and I want you to understand that I shall feel at liberty to use them interchangeably because they are so used in the word of God. Allow me further to add that the word "covenant" is used in the Bible exactly as it is used in ordinary literature. We make a very serious blunder when we give to the words of the Bible extraordinary significance, that is when we lift them out of the place that they would occupy in history, in literature or anywhere else, When I say "covenant" I shall simply mean a contract: a contract between God and a man, or between God and a tribe of men, or a nation of men, or between God and all men. And I shall give this word "covenant" all of the sanctity, all of the seriousness that will be given to it in the ordinary courts of justice, and I will say that when a covenant is made that each party to that covenant is obligated up to the limit of that to which he places his name. If there are two covenants, and it is positively asserted so in the word of God, in the ordinary line of thought and investigation, it will be right to investigate the First Covenant first. Therefore I address myself to the task of determining what Paul had in mind when he declared that a certain covenant or the First Covenant was then ready to vanish away. That is to say, that it had finished its work, that it was no more considered obligatory on any who understood its principles, precepts and provisions, and that it was vanishing even then and there from the hearts, from the lives, from the thoughts and from the experiences of men. In order that we may have a knowledge of this subject in detail it will be necessary for us to go back to the beginning and trace THE FIRST COVENANT 9 the hand of God from the time that man sinned, through all of the ages, naming each step and principle as best we can, the power of God, the desire of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God and the will of God. I now turn to the testimony of Moses and read it to you word for word. In passing sentence upon the serpent the Lord said; "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15)." A careful survey of this statement will convince anybody that it is very general. God only intimated in this sentence of doom what he intended ultimately to do unto the serpent and his seed. There is nothing exclusive about it. I should say rather that it is inclusive and all-embracing. That like the arms of God in tenderness and love it is big enough to take in the whole human family. And for century after century the only assurance that any human being had that God would ever bring man back to his primeval state was in this sentence. Some people call this a promise but it was not even that. However, after many centuries had passed, after man had been experimenting I may say with sin and with himself and with his own possibilities, God called Abraham, called him out of Ur of Chaldees and gave him a promise, yes, He gave him two promises.