FOUNDATION STATEMENT: The hesed/agape covenant love of the Father must be received by believers and it’s received by faith.-Deuteronomy 7:8
I. The character of God is Hesed covenant love
A. “Love” is in the verb form and it is the Greek word Agapeo
1. Agapao – to totally give yourself to
a. It’s what we bind ourselves with and become one with (1 Corinthians 6:17)
b. It’s total commitment and consumption
c. It is in every sense of the word fanaticism
d. It’s what we put first in our lives
e. It’s a commitment love
2. Hebrews 13:5 – I will never leave you nor forsake you
B. Psalm 86:15 – Full of compassion
1. Every molecule of his make up is full of compassion
C. Exodus 34:5-7 – God is describing Himself is to Moses
1. Merciful (Rahum) – compassionate, full of compassion
2. Gracious (Hannun) – compassionate
3. Longsuffering (Arek) – slow to anger, patient
4. Abundant (Rab) – Great, enough, plenteous, suffice, too much, abundantly, exceedingly, increased, full, great multitude
5. Goodness (Hesed) – Hesed/Agape, loving-kindness, goodness, tender-mercy
6. Truth (Met) – faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness, the book of truth is a reliable book
II. The Hesed Love of God in action (Isaiah 54:7-17)
A. When Jesus died on the cross and God turned his back on Jesus that’s when God turned his face (7)
1. The wrath of the curse of the covenant came down and there was only one sacrifice to bear it and it was Jesus
B. The moment it was over with he said this is as the waters of Noah with me, my wrath will never come again (9)
1. Genesis 8:21- And the mark of the covenant was the rainbow that went 360 degrees around the throne of God
2. Wroth (qasap) – provoked to wrath, enraged, angry
3. Rebuked – reprimand, scolding
C. God corrects us teaches us and trains us with covenant hesed/agape
1. Hebrews 12:5 – The chastisement of the Lord
a. Isaiah 53:5 – The price for my peace was upon him
1) Chastisement (musar) – instruction, correction, discipline, rebuker, check, bond, chasten
2. My hesed/agape, loving-kindness, and goodness shall not depart from you (10)
a. Shall not – Covenant talk – there isn’t anything else that is going to happen here besides what I have said
3. The three tools God uses to instruct the New Testament Believer
a. His Spirit is for our instruction, training (John 14:26)
b. His word is for our instruction and training (2 Tim 3:16-17)
1) The word is what perfects me and equips me (John 15:3)
c. His called and anointed people were given to the body to instruct and train (Ephesians 4:12-15)
D. 10-Covenant of Peace This is a covenant that promises you everything
1. 14-You’re right with me because Jesus is right with me and when you came into covenant with him through faith you were made right with his righteousness
a. In right-standing with me you are established
b. You go talking covenant and you won’t have any fear
2. 15-The terror, fear, and the oppression are not coming from him
3. 17-No weapon-That’s covenant talk brother There’s no hesitation
a. Romans 8:37 – We are more than conquerors through him that hesed/agapes me
E. 17- You get your inheritance because you were born into the right family
1. Do you have to earn your inheritance?
III. Through hesed/loving-kindness/tender-mercy I will not be moved (Psalm 21:7)
A. The Most High (Elyon) – Name of God that focuses on supremacy and power – It is a name that says there is no existing thing or god that is higher than the Most High – It is a name that is untouchable in quality, and incomprehensible in dominion and might
1. Through the hesed/agape, loving-kindness, and tender-mercies or El Elyon, the Most High God, who has incomprehensible dominion and might towards me I will not be moved
2. Moved (mot) – fall, be shaken, toppled, stagger
B. 8-The psalmist calls them your enemies
1. Whoever comes against me is your enemy
C. 9-12-The back side of hesed/agape, loving-kindness, goodness, tender-mercies has some serious teeth
D. Psalm 63:3 – Your hesed/agape is better than life
IV. Receiving Hesed
A. 8-God is a covenant keeping God
B. 9-The Lord who you’re in covenant with is God
1. He is God – Elohim – describes God’s greatness and glory; it displays God’s power, total power and might and complete creativity
a. The almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth who is faithful and keeps His covenant is showing hesed/agape, loving-kindness, goodness, tender-mercies to those that keep the covenant
C. 12-You have to exercise your covenant by standing on it and doing it
1. It didn’t say that God’s covenant hesed might show up if you do what he said to do – It said, “It shall, it will come to pass”
2. There’s no other outcome in “It will”. This isn’t leaving any room for anything else to happen, but what it says is going to happen. This is covenant talk, this is guaranteed, fully persuaded, beyond a doubt that if I do this, then this will happen
D. 12-15-Hesed in motion
1. If you want to see hesed in motion then keep the terms of the covenant by doing what I tell you to do
2. “IF YE” – that didn’t say “IF GOD”, that said “IF YOU”
a. Who’s determining whether or not the hesed covenant shows up? Not God…We are
3. If you hearken – If you hear my words and do them
a. You have to do what the word of the covenant says to do if you want to see the hesed/agape, loving-kindness, goodness and tender mercy of the covenant show up in your life
4. How much hesed you’re experiencing in your life right now is based on how diligently you’re exercising in your covenant?
a. In every situation the question is, “What did God tell me to do?” Then the answer is do it
5. There’s no other thing that can come to pass if I do what he told me to do
a. Hesed is looking for a people that will hold onto his word and hear it and do it and refuse to do anything else but what he said. Hesed is just waiting on you to grab hold of that word and refuse to do or say or think or compromise on one inch of it so that it can come to pass in the area of your life that you need
E. 15-19-Hesed/agape, loving-kindness, tender-mercy, goodness is a parental type of love that has teeth if you mess with its children
F. Psalm 32:10 – Faith is the bridge that hesed crosses to come into and overflow your life
1. When you refuse to doubt and waver and compromise the flood gates of hesed will open up and flood your life totally overwhelming you from every angle
a. Hesed/agape, loving-kindness, goodness, tender-mercies will go before you, stand behind you, rest above you and settle under you, it will be to your right and left
G. Psalm 147:11 God gets pleasure when He sees His children standing on the covenant trusting in his hesed/agape, loving-kindness, tender-mercy
1. Pleasure (rasa) – delight, enjoy, pleased
2. Hope (yachal) – trust, stay, hope, wait
V. When Hesed, Remember, and I’ll never leave you nor forsake you burns down in your guts until you begin to smell the covenant blood, you don’t have to make faith happen when you know about the covenant of blood
A. Psalm 26:1-3
1. 3-I am ever conscious of your marvelous hesed/agape, loving-kindness, tender-mercies, goodness
B. Psalm 27 – This attitude come because he kept God’s covenant hesed before his eyes
1. 1,3,5 6 – There’s a full persuasion, no hesitation, convinced beyond doubt, faith in what he says in these verses
2. Where is this attitude coming from?
a. This only comes from understanding hesed/agape, covenant, love and being conscious of it at all times
b. God’s hesed was ever before his eyes
VI. Standing in covenant faith (Hebrews 10:16)
A. We enter into the presence of God boldly like sin never existed
1. If He has the ability to remember the smallest detail then what makes you think that He doesn’t have the ability to forget every detail
2. Sin has been removed out of God’s sight and remembrance forever
a. In Heaven’s eyes, you’re not a forgiven sinner. In Heaven’s eyes you never sinned!
b. Remission – send away
3. Romans 1:17 –Ro 1:17 For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.
a. The righteousness of God come from faith, but then arouses & leads to more faith
1) Matthew 9
B. The way of the blood
1. We enter into his presence through the blood of Jesus
2. We walk down that path of blood
C. True heart-Soft, unwavering, faith-believing (22)
1. I come from the heart not the head (mental ascent)
2. You come to God in FULL ASSURANCE of faith (22)
a. Not in full assurance of reasoning, feeling, and natural knowledge
D. 23-Covenant standing faith
1. Hebrews 4:14-16 – Hold Fast (Katecho) – Keep in memory, posses, retain, seize
2. Without wavering – Fully persuaded, with no flinching or blinking
3. I stand ankle deep in the blood of Jesus holding fast to my confession of faith – I don’t care what has to happen here for this to happen. Whatever has to happen, has to happen because I got a blood covenant with God (Eph 6 – Having done all to stand)
4. I can come in fully assurance of faith without wavering because He is faithful that promised and to prove to me how faithful He is He swore by Himself standing in blood