0:07 One of the themes that we have majored on in all our CFC churches is that we have finished with the old covenant and are in a new covenant. And through the years I've seen that 0:27 even though we speak so much about it I would say most believers perhaps most of you sitting here have not entered into the full blessing of the new covenant. Most people are happy with 0:45 my sins are forgiven and I'm on my way to heaven. We must never be happy with that. Cuz that's what almost every other almost every other born again Christian 1:02 in the world is happy with. One of the great privileges that we have in this day is to be able to hear God speaking to us directly. Not through a prophet. All shall know me 1:22 is one of the great promises of the new covenant. And when you read in the Old Testament about the prophets one of the things I particularly in the book of Ezekiel he says on such and such a day of such and such a month the word of the Lord 1:40 came to me. Or on the fifth day of the seventh month the word of the Lord came to me. Or the eighth day of the 12th month the word of the Lord came to me. They clearly heard something from God. Do you hear God like that? 1:57 Or don't you? If not I want to tell you you're missing out on what Jesus Christ purchased for you. It's not just forgiveness of sins and assurance of salvation and going to heaven. It's to be able to hear God speak to you 2:15 every single day. And if you're not hearing God speak to you every single day in your heart you're missing out on something and you'll have a lot I believe this, you'll have a lot of regret when we go to heaven. 2:33 Many people have different concepts of heaven. Many people feel that once you go to heaven everything is forgotten and everybody's going to be equal and everybody's going to just enjoy themselves. And they feel that there will be no 2:50 regret in heaven. Nobody will ever regret. Now I'll tell you honestly I don't believe that. I don't believe it for myself. If I'm just had my sins forgiven on earth and I lived a fairly decent life in the presence of others but not 3:10 wholeheartedly for Christ every day of my life if I was not eager to hear God's word every day in my life I believe for myself I will have regret in heaven for all eternity. Not for one or two years. For thousands and thousands and thousands of years 3:29 I'll say Lord why in the world did I not live for you 100%? Why in the world was I not willing to sacrifice everything for you when you sacrificed everything for me? Why did I live so much for myself? Why did I love money so much? Why did I love 3:45 the honor of men so much? You think that I won't have such regret when I get to heaven? I will. I don't know about you. I'm absolutely sure because when I see in heaven how much Jesus loved me how he gave everything up and suffered separation from the Father 4:05 just to bring me into God's kingdom and he and he said in his word follow me and I didn't take it seriously. All I thought selfishly was I want to go to heaven when I die. I can't believe that I won't have any regret in heaven. 4:23 Now some people think that in heaven there'll be no regret. I want to say to you plainly you can believe what you like I don't believe it. And I'm not living because I don't want regret in heaven in a particular way. If I live 4:39 passionately for Christ it is not because oh I don't want to have regret in heaven. Even that can be a very selfish reason. Oh I don't want to have regret in eternity so I'll live more wholeheartedly. That's utterly selfish. 4:53 The only reason why we must live wholeheartedly is because Jesus loved me. No other reason. Christ loved me so much gave everything up for me. There is absolutely no excuse for me not to live wholeheartedly for him and not be bothered about what 5:11 people think about me. Dear brother sister ask yourself whether it's like that. It's possible that people sitting here are so concerned about what their relatives think about them. Relatives who are not born again. What will they think about me? What will 5:25 they say about me? Let me tell you lovingly you should hang your head in shame before the Lord. Lord I'm ashamed that I'm concerned what my unconverted worldly relatives think about me. When you were not concerned when you 5:40 hung on the cross what people thought about you and I claim to follow you. Shame on me that I'm bothered what my unconverted relatives think about me. What other people in my office think about me if I stand up for Christ. 5:56 I'm thankful for one thing that from a very young age I got gripped by one thing that I should never be ashamed of Christ at any time. Always I used to remind myself Lord when you hung on the cross what a shameful thing it is to hang 6:12 before hundreds of people watching you hanging in an underwear on that cross and it was all for me. Only for me. How in the world can I be ashamed of you? So that is one of the things that gripped me and that's why right from the time I was 6:29 baptized I said Lord and I was working in the navy where I said I will never be ashamed of you and I got into a lot of trouble with senior officers. I said it doesn't matter. They threatened to put me in jail. I said you can put me in jail if you like. 6:41 But I will not be ashamed of Christ. I'll stand up for him and I don't care what anybody else thinks about it. And I'll tell you today that's that happened 60 years ago. I have zero regret about the way I lived there in my 6:54 office. Many of you work in offices and with other colleagues. I hope when you come to the end of your life you will have no regret about the way you lived. I hope nobody when you stand before Christ and the unbelievers are there I 7:11 hope nobody will point to you and say you knew Jesus and I lived with you for so many years in that office and you never told me about him. You knew I was going to hell and you never told me about him. What sort of friend were you? You said 7:27 you were a good friend of mine. I never want anybody in anybody I work with or any of my relatives ever to tell me that at the judgment seat. I've tried my best by the grace of God by being seeking to be filled with the 7:42 Holy Spirit that I'll be a witness to every one of my relatives whom I come in touch with every place I worked in everybody knew what I stood for that Jesus Christ was my Lord and I was not ashamed of it. And I always used to think he was not 7:58 ashamed to hang for me on the cross I will not be ashamed of him. I want to recommend that to you my brother sister. And the reason why we are hesitant to do that is only one thing because we are not filled with the Holy 8:12 Spirit. We've accepted Christ. We want to go to heaven but we are not filled with the Holy Spirit and we're not eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It says in John chapter 7 there's only certain type of people who will be 8:26 filled with the Holy Spirit. And I mean continuously. I don't mean a once for all experience. We have a lot of people in the charismatic movement particularly in Pentecostal churches. I'm not against them. There are some wonderful brothers 8:38 there. But I'm sorry to say I don't agree with that theology which is just a once for all experience. And then many of them who have that once for all experience they live defeated by sin. That's not God's will. The fullness of the spirit is a 8:53 continuous experience to be filled with the spirit all the time. And John 7:37 says there are only two conditions to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Number one you must thirst. John 7:37 if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink. 9:11 And I don't mean thirsty like we all may be a thirsty for a little sip of water right now. I don't mean that. I believe it's like if I were walking in the desert for one week one whole week in a dry desert how I'll be thirsty then. 9:28 I'll be willing to pay any amount of money for a glass of water because I'm dying of thirst. What's the use of money if I'm going to die now? I'll pay any amount of water for a glass of water any amount of money for a glass of water. 9:43 That's thirst. And when I thirst like that for the power of the Holy Spirit Lord that's what I want in my life so that the presence of Christ will be real to me every day. In In my home, my work, 10:02 I'm traveling, the presence of Christ that the Holy Spirit seeks to bring the presence of Christ to me. My brother, sister, that is your birthright. Don't miss it. If I speak passionately, it's because I love you. And I don't want you, any of you sitting 10:17 here, to have any regret in the day you stand before the Lord. Your aim must be, Lord, when I stand before you, I must have zero regret about my life. I have a lot of regret about the years that I ignored you. I certainly have. The years that I 10:33 ignored the Lord and I backslid. But I want to make up for that by at least in the coming years to have no regret about the way I have chosen to live. And I hope it'll be like that for you. I'll tell you, if you take me seriously, 10:47 you will thank me in the day of judgment. You will. Because you'll be challenged to live in a way that when you stand before Jesus face to face, he'll be able to say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant." That's the 11:00 only thing we should live for on this earth. There should be no other ambition. I want to ask you plainly, please answer to yourself. Is your ambition, honestly, this? I want to the Lord Jesus to say to me, 11:17 "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in the days when you lived on the earth." Is that your only goal and aim in life, at least for the rest of your life? Even if all the past years you lived for 11:33 yourself to make money and to get honor and all the stupid things the world lives for. Maybe you lived like that in the past, but at least from today, will you say, "Lord, I only want to live for your approval. I want to hear your 11:46 well done in that final day." And if you're young, you're blessed because you've got your whole life ahead of you. Because a lot of older people have wasted so many years of their life. So, thank God if you're young, you 12:00 understand this. If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes, that's the second condition. When you come to him, if you don't believe that he will give it to you, well, you'll never receive. Faith is the hand 12:19 that reaches out and takes what God is giving. God doesn't shove things into our mouth. No. He doesn't push things on us because that'll be going against our free will. What is the Why does he ask us to have faith? Because he wants us to exercise 12:35 our free will and choose. Otherwise, he'll be forcing us into something, forcing us to be holy. And that's not what he That's like making us into a machine, a robot, programmed to do the right thing. And he doesn't want any robots in 12:50 heaven. That's why he wants us to Faith is our hand reaching out and saying, "Thank you, Lord. I want that. I want to take it. And I'm willing to pay any price for it." He who believes in me, he means he comes and takes this which I'm offering him. 13:05 He first of all, he thirsts for the power of the Holy Spirit. And he when the Lord offers it to him, he comes and takes it. Thank you, Lord. I believe you'll give this to me. And you'll see the result in your life transformed. 13:18 And one of the things you'll also be able to say like the prophet, "On such and such a day, in such and such a month, the word of the Lord came to me." You read the book of Ezekiel. So many times it comes. It challenges me. 13:31 He knew, "On such and such a day, in such and such a month, the word of the Lord came to me." You know that you can have that experience? You've missed it so many years in your life. Don't miss it anymore. Say, "Lord, I want this. 13:46 This life of walking in the Holy Spirit every day." Turn with me to Hebrews in chapter 8. This is one of my favorite passages. 50 years ago, God opened my eyes to the new covenant. And I've never stopped preaching on that 14:04 since that day. And we've seen the result now in so many thousands of believers around the world, in so many churches planted around the world, what the new covenant can do. My brother, sister, 14:23 God wants to use you, but not to plant churches, but to enter into this new covenant life. So, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 8. Do you know that the Bible says 14:42 that something God gave to man was faulty? Faulty in the sense that it was not God's final will for man in that way. It was a stage. Hebrews 8, 15:02 verse 7. "If the first covenant had been faultless, there would be no need for a second covenant." So, which means the first covenant was faulty. Does God give something faulty? 15:21 Read what Read that. "If that first covenant had been faultless, but not faulty in the way we understand that God made a mistake. It's like some company makes a product and then says, "Okay, we've improved on that product and we're 15:36 making a better product." That's not like that. It's not like that at all. Faulty in the sense it was not God's final plan for man. It was a stage in which God planned something finally, but God could not take man to that 15:55 second stage before he took him to that first step. He couldn't take man God could not take man two steps at a time. He had to take that first step and then the second step. And that's why the law was given. And the law was given not to make man 16:12 holy. It was to convict man of sin. Very important to understand that. God never intended that the Old Testament law would make anybody holy. The 10 Commandments are given to tell God man's standard, tell man God's standard, 16:31 but not to make people holy. God knew very well that even if they kept nine of the Commandments, none of them would ever be able to keep the 10th Commandment. That's why God put the 10th Commandment right at the bottom. 16:44 To see how many of you will be faithful to admit, "I couldn't keep the law because I couldn't keep the 10th Commandment." The rule was, if you can't keep the whole law, you've failed, even if you keep nine of them. And you read in Romans chapter 7, Paul 16:59 says, "I could keep nine Commandments. I could not keep the 10th." Because he was honest, God gave him the Holy Spirit to be able to keep the 10th Commandment. Do you know what the 10th Commandment is? The nine Commandments are fairly 17:14 easy. Don't worship idols. Don't kill. Don't uh uh don't commit adultery. Don't steal and things like that. Most of them we can keep. Even unbelievers keep it. But when it came to the 10th Commandment, "You shall not lust in your heart." 17:32 It is desire something God has not given you. Lusting with the eyes after women, or lusting for money, or desiring something that God has not given you. You look at somebody's clothes or his house and you desire that. You look at somebody's car and you 17:48 desire that. That's disobeying the 10th Commandment. Or anything that a desire comes in your heart which God has not been pleased to give you. Maybe some gift. Maybe you want to preach like somebody else. That's a lust. It's disobeying disobeying the 18:01 10th Commandment. Every time you look at a preacher and you say, "I wish I could preach like him." You're disobeying the 10th Commandment. You don't even realize it. That means you're not happy with the gift God's given you. You want somebody 18:14 else's. Because you want honor. So, all human beings have disobeyed the 10th Commandment. And Paul acknowledged that in Romans 7. He says, "I could keep all the Commandments." You read Romans 7. But when it came to the 10th, I failed. 18:32 And therefore, because he was honest with it and he went and sought God, "Lord, I want to keep that Commandment also." That's where the law was faulty. The law was faulty in that sense. It gave the Commandments, but never 18:47 gave the way they could keep it. There was no way to keep it. Nobody had the ability to keep it. So, that's why it says the first Commandment covenant was faulty. Hebrews 8, verse 7. But it was God's plan that man should see his inability to 19:06 keep God's Commandment. And I believe that's the reason why God allows us to fail and fail and fail and fail so many times to teach us one lesson. You cannot come up to my standard. And if that breaks me and I fall before 19:21 If that I mean, when I see that, I can't come up to God's standard. Okay. What do I do about it? For example, Jesus said that if you get angry with your brother, you're guilty. You get angry with your wife, you're guilty. 19:37 If you lust with your eyes after woman, you're guilty. And if you do that, and you sit back and say, "Okay, well, what to do? I'm weak in this area. I ask the Lord to forgive me." And year after year after year, and then after 20 19:52 years you still get angry with your wife and husband after being married so long and you still lust with your eyes 20 years after being a believer and you're happy with that. Then I'll tell you, I'm not saying God gives up on you 20:08 but he's terribly disappointed. That is a man living under the first covenant. He accepts the fact that he can't keep it. And he live 100 years and he doesn't keep it and he is not disturbed by it. But Paul was disturbed by it. 20:24 You read in Romans 7, he was disturbed that I can't keep it. And I'm not in the old covenant. In the new covenant, God has made provision for that. And that's what I want you to see here. The first covenant was faulty in what 20:39 way? It gave the commandment but did not give man the ability to keep it. That's where it was faulty. And that was to teach man a lesson that you try as hard as you like, you'll never be able to come up to my standard. Once you realize that and you want to 20:56 come to God's standard, you will have a thirst and a hunger to live that overcoming life. You'll have a thirst and a hunger never to get angry once in your life outside of God's will. You will get angry like Jesus got angry when people made money in the name 21:11 of religion. I always seek to get angry when I see people in the church coveting money. When preachers want money. When people send out a birth registry and wedding registry asking people for money money money money. I'm shocked that Christians do that type 21:31 of thing. They're following the customs of the world asking people for money. Jesus never did it and if Jesus never did it I don't think we should ever do it and yet I see that so many believers even in our CFC churches sometimes get 21:48 disturbed with me when I speak something like that. But I have continued speaking that for 50 years that begging for money and asking anybody for anything is absolutely contrary to spirit of Christ because he never did it. The Bible says 21:59 we must walk as Jesus walked. And how high is that standard? Do you want that standard or you seek to lower it? I urge you my brothers and sisters this is seeking to this church is seeking to be a new covenant church. Please stand up to that standard. Live 22:13 up to that standard. The first covenant was faulty. Now there's a second one. And therefore the Lord says that days are coming verse 8 when I will make a new covenant which will remove that lack which is in 22:31 the first covenant. And in this new covenant when it speaks about houses of Israel and Judah, it's the church. And this will not be like the covenant which I made with the father with the Old Testament people. In that day I took them out of the land 22:49 of Egypt and they did not continue in my covenant and I did not care for them. Is that true that when people don't take God seriously, he doesn't even care for them? You read the Old Testament. One of the great things I see in the Old 23:08 Testament which I encourage people to read is the number of times God punished them severely. If they went into idolatry, he sent them to be defeated for years by their enemies. You read the book of Judges. Whenever they disobeyed God, they would 23:23 suffer under defeated by the enemies for years. And then they would repent and come back. God would accept them, bless them. Again they would go worshiping idols and he would allow enemies to come and punish them for years. 23:37 He says, "I did not care for them." But now he says "I'm going to make a new covenant." Dear brothers and sisters, we are today the Israel of God, the church. That's the title given to us in Galatians. I and here it is. Let's There are three 23:57 things mentioned here from verse 10 to 12. And I want you to be gripped by them because this is the new covenant. He says that very clearly. This is the new covenant. The old is abolished and this is the new covenant. I remember in India we lived under the 24:16 British rule up to 1947. And then in 1950 really we became a republic completely free from the rule of Great Britain over us. We became an independent country. It's like here in the United States you were also under Great Britain this 24:33 country until until 1776 and you became liberated. And you want to In India they don't want to go back under Great Britain and you don't want to go back under Great Britain either. And we don't want to go back under the 24:46 old covenant. It's been abolished. The rule of the British has been abolished in India and abolished in America. We don't want to go back to that. God has abolished the old covenant in exactly the same way. And just like you enjoy your liberty in 25:04 this country with all the liberties given in the Constitution we should seek to live with that in terms of the new covenant that God's given us in Christ. Same freedom. So listen to these three things that God has said. There are three points in this 25:22 new covenant. It's good for us to always have them in our mind. You probably heard from me before but I want to repeat it. Many things in scripture we need to hear again and again. Number one "I will put my law into their mind 25:41 and write them in their heart." Mind and heart are two different things. I sin basically with my heart and that makes me sin in my mind. So let me put it like this. In God puts 26:00 it in my mind means he gives me a desire to do the will of God. He puts in my mind a desire to keep even that 10th commandment that I should never lust with my eyes. I should never uh 26:19 desire something God doesn't want me to have. Not even desire it. Not leave alone grab it. That I don't even want to desire them. Jesus said to desire something is a sin. What does it mean to lust with your eyes after a woman? You desire something. You 26:35 didn't touch her. You didn't go anywhere near her. The Lord says you have sinned sinned enough to go to hell. How many No unbeliever believes that. The sad thing is no Christian believes that and the sad thing is no born again Christian also 26:52 most of them don't believe it. I want to ask you honestly you men how many of you believe that lusting with your eyes is enough to send you to hell? Be honest before God. Is it right that lusting with the eyes is enough to 27:08 send you to hell? If you did, you take it more seriously. You see what to do? I keep falling. I keep falling. Well, you don't seem to have much desire to get victory over it. All men fall in it and then nobody gets victory over it unless they have a like 27:27 you know what you read in If any man thirst, let him come to me. If any have a passionate desire to be free from it. I never got free from it till I got a passionate desire to be free from it. And you have a passionate desire God 27:43 grants you that desire. The same with anger. If you don't have a passionate desire to be 100% free from it, I can give you a written guarantee you will never be free from anger in your whole life. You'll make decisions in a meeting. 28:02 The one week later it's gone and the reason is you don't have a passionate desire. Think of the passionate desire some of you who migrated to this country to get a visa here, to get a permanent residency here. Oh, what a passionate 28:17 desire and how much sacrifice you go to. I wish you had that to overcome sin, the same desire. The same desire you have for something to get a job. When you're out of a job for a long time, you're looking looking looking looking looking for a job. I 28:34 wish you had such a desire to overcome sin. You would have overcome sin long ago. The thing is we have a desire for so many things on this earth which we feel are essential. I can't live without a home. I need to have to get a home. I can't live without 28:53 a job. Absolutely right. I want to say my brother you must have that same desire. I can't live without seeking to please God in every area of my life. That is the standard that God expects in the new covenant and I tell you this 29:11 you'll be a very happy person if you come there. Your health will improve. You will sleep better at night. You'll have no grudges against anybody. And you live with less regret in your life about the things you do. You won't 29:27 slip up so often. It all depends on passionate desire. If any man thirsts. So I hope if I can produce even even if you don't understand everything I say if I can produce in all of you a passionate desire and thirst to please 29:46 God in every area of your life in your thoughts, the way you speak, in your attitudes to people, and in everything, I would have succeeded. That's all if I can produce that desire in you. That's what the Holy Spirit is seeking to do. 30:03 The Lord says, "I will do it. Will you allow me to do it in your life? I will put my law into your mind." God says, "I will give you that desire." Why hasn't he given it to the whole world? Cuz they don't want it. Why hasn't he given it to so many 30:19 so-called Christians? They don't want it. Why hasn't he given it to so many believers who sit in churches and hear God's word? They don't have a passionate desire. That's why. "I will put my laws into their mind." 30:38 That means I'll give them a desire to God says, "I'll give it to you if you're willing to open up to me. I will give that desire to you." "And then, I'll write them on their hearts." means I will give you the ability to do it as 30:52 well. So, let us first acknowledge, "Lord, I don't have this desire. But will you write that Give me that desire, Lord? And then give me the ability to live according to your standard that I never lust for something that you 31:10 don't want me to have. I never speak something that you don't want me to speak. Please help me and if I slip up I have a great sorrow." How do I How do you know whether you have 31:26 a real repentance for sin? I believe that if real repentance is that every single time you slip up and have a bad thought you'll have tremendous remorse. You know the meaning of remorse? It is to have a 31:44 tremendous sorrow and grief. "Oh, Lord, I let you down again. Again I let you down. Again I lusted with my Again I lost my temper. Again I couldn't control that word came out of my mouth towards my wife or my husband." Do you have a regret like that? 32:01 You go and weep over it. I cannot remember I cannot count the number of times I wept, literally wept before God because I slipped up and said a wrong word or had a bad thought and I wept at night on my bed. Days and days and days and God brought 32:17 me to a life of victory. "You shall seek me," the Lord said, "and find me when you search for me with all your heart." Why has God made it like that? God has made it like that because he wants to be the most important person in 32:36 your life. More than your husband and more than your wife. When you are so passionate, Lord "I'm so sorry I let you down." And that grieves you so much that you begin to weep that you let him down with a thought that was bad. 32:52 Nobody heard it. Nobody saw it. You never hurt anybody else, but you had a thought in your mind which was filthy and you grieved the heart of God and that brought such sorrow to your heart that you begin to weep. I tell you 33:05 you'll come to victory pretty soon. Very quickly. God God will then put that desire in your heart and give you the ability in your heart to keep it. That's number one. God says, "I will do it." And when he does it, be sure to give him 33:22 the glory. It says in Do you know the last I call this the last promise in the New Testament before the Book of Revelation. The last verse in the New Testament 33:40 before the Book of Revelation. The last promise in the New Testament before the Book of Revelation. Do you know what that is? The Book of Jude. It's a tremendous promise. The Book of Jude and verse 24. "Now to him 34:03 that is to God he is able to keep me from stumbling and he is able to make me stand in the presence of his glory blameless 34:21 with great joy. To the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now and forevermore." To me that is the ideal way the New Testament should end. You know, and that's the last letter 34:40 before the Book of Revelation. Lord, I acknowledge verse 24 only you can keep me from stumbling. Go through that verse slowly. Only you can keep me from falling. Only you can keep me from even stumbling. 35:00 And I know you can keep me even Leave alone from falling, you can even keep me from stumbling. And only you God can make me stand one day in your presence blameless, without any spot or wrinkle 35:19 in me, absolutely blameless before you with great joy. I want that. But I acknowledge that only you can make me stand like that. I want to depend upon you. That's very important to recognize. 35:38 Faith is that utter dependence upon God. Like you often heard me use the example of the branch in the tree. That's helped me so much, Lord. What do you expect from me? The Lord says, "I expect you to recognize you're a helpless branch. You 35:53 cannot produce any fruit in your life, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many resolutions you make, no matter how many meetings you go to, you will still be a helpless branch. Recognize that. I recognize that even 36:07 when I come up to speak, I say, "Lord, I don't know how to speak if you don't help me. You got to give me the words to speak. I want to be a helpless branch just depending on the tree for every bit of sap that'll produce the fruit." 36:22 God's made it so simple for us. "Without me, you can do zero." That's one of the first truths I need to recognize. Without me, you will be a zero. Without me, you can do zero. Isn't that great that God expects nothing from me 36:41 except to depend on him? Say, "Lord, I can't produce it. You want me to live a holy life? I can't do it. But I want to lean on you. I want to trust you. You put the desire in my heart and when you put the desire in my heart 36:55 I will give you the glory for it." So, if I look at another brother or sister or another human being who does not have a desire to live a holy life, I don't look down on him. Because I say, "Hey, I didn't have the desire either. God put it in my mind 37:10 a desire to please him. How can I look down on that man? God can put the same desire in his mind if only he will open up to him." And the God who puts the desire in my mind will also give me the ability in my heart. Turn back to Hebrews 8. I want to make 37:27 this so clear to you, that's why I'm repeating it that you'll never forget it for the rest of your life. God puts the desire in my mind and puts the ability in my heart. First of all, turn to Philippians chapter 2. The same thing is repeated there in 37:50 other words. Philippians chapter 2 verse 13. "God is at work inside you." That's New Covenant. In the Old Covenant, God was at work outside. All the miracles God did in the 38:09 Old Covenant were on the outside, on the outside, on the outside. Nothing inside man. Zero. That's one of the big differences between New Covenant and Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant, all the miracles were outside. And a person 38:24 who's looking for miracles outside, "Lord, heal me. Heal me. Do this. Do this miracle for me." on the outside he's and not worried bothered about God doing in the inside, he's really an Old Covenant person. Looking for outside miracles instead of 38:39 an inside one. In the New Covenant, God wants to work inside. God is at work inside you. The number one evidence of New Covenant and mark of the New Covenant, God is not at work outside you first of all. 38:58 Old Covenant is full of that. Split the Red Sea and cloud from heaven and enemies being defeated and manna from heaven and water coming out of the rock, all outside. In the New Covenant, it is God works inside you. I hope you've learned a few lessons 39:16 today. And what does he work inside? First of all, in your mind to will or to have a desire to do his will. And then in your heart to work to actually do it. So, you see the same thing written in 39:36 other words in Philippians 2:13. God works in in mind to will and in your heart to work his good pleasure or in other words, his perfect will. Now, turn back to Hebrews chapter 8. You'll begin to understand scripture. This is the covenant, Hebrews 8:10. I 39:57 will put my laws into their minds. Hebrews 8:10, give you a desire and then put write it in your heart, give you the ability. Now, if I have the desire if God gives me a desire to do his will and the ability to do his will, I'll always 40:14 succeed. I'll always please him. All I have to do is yield to it like the branch in the tree. That is faith. Faith is help-less dependence upon God to say to him, "Without you, I can do nothing." And to say, "With you, I can do 40:31 everything in your will." So, I will write them on their hearts. Okay, that's point number one. Okay, the second point in the new covenant. You got the first point? I will put my law in 40:48 give you a desire to do you my will and I'll give you the ability to do my will. That's number one. And number two verse 11, Hebrews 8:11. They shall not teach their fellow citizens saying, "Know the Lord." All will know me 41:08 from the least to the greatest of them. That means more than just knowing his will and doing his will, which is point number one. You will know me personally. It's one thing like if if I had a earthly father who tells me, "Son, I want you to do 41:27 this." And then he helps me to do it. That's great. That's point number one. But then he says "I want you to know me. I want you to be know what is my way of thinking." Which is more than that, that I can come into fellowship with God's way of 41:44 thinking. All shall know me personally. You see, if take for example of a person who's a girl who's newly married to a young man. He doesn't She does not know anything about his way of thinking or his way of life. 42:04 But she's totally submissive to him as a wife. And gradually over a period of time, you see that same girl who's grown up woman 30 years later. She knows everything about if she's having fellowship with her husband, she 42:17 knows everything about her husband's way of thinking and her husband will do things she knows that he do it all. That's the way we are supposed to get to know God. We're supposed to get to know God better and better and better and better and 42:29 better that over a period of time we know everything about how God thinks about a certain situation comes up and I I well, I know how God will think about that situation. I didn't know when I was first converted, but I do know. That's the 42:44 meaning all will know me from the least to the greatest of them. Not the most mature ones only, but even the young believer can know me the way I think. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to know how God thinks about 43:01 a certain situation. That is the ultimate in fellowship with God that I begin to know his mind. Nobody in the Old Testament could have that. See one example of it in Moses. I want you to turn to Numbers. In Numbers in chapter 12 43:29 I don't know whether you've noticed this. Moses was like a a person who had a little taste of the new covenant. Not in every area. But see this in Numbers 12:6 and 7 and 8. 43:46 Numbers 12:6, 7 and 8. He says, "Listen to me." He tells This is a time when Miriam and Aaron verse one criticized Moses. I'm absolutely amazed that these people who once led people to 44:03 worship idols like a golden calf they could criticize this man of God. It's amazing how sometimes believers who've done absolutely nothing for God who never come to an overcoming life can criticize a servant of God find fault 44:18 with him. He's not like this, he's not like that. That is the stupidity. I've seen that in so many believers. They haven't done 1% of what that man of God has done. But they'll criticize him. That is the arrogance I have found in 44:34 born again believers. I want to give you a little gentle bit of advice. Next time you are tempted to criticize somebody, ask yourself if you have done anything for God more than him. Keep your mouth shut. 44:51 Miriam and Aaron verse one spoke against Moses saying, "Why in the world did he marry a non-Israelite?" And the Lord and it's you see these serious words, very serious words. Four words. And the last part of verse two 45:13 the Lord heard it. Please remember that all your life the the Lord heard it. What you said about that other person the Lord heard it. And he did something about it. 45:33 He called them. And he said, "Come here." Verse four three of you. Let me tell you something. And the Lord stood there. He says, "How dare you speak against my servant?" Let me tell you something. If there is a 45:50 prophet verse six among you I will make myself known to him in a vision or in a dream. If you get a vision or a dream from God, real vision from God. A vision means when you're awake 46:09 and you see a vision of God trying to show you something. Dream is when you're asleep and God speaks to you. That itself you'd think, "Boy, God spoke to me in a vision." God spoke to me in a dream and God says, "That is old covenant." 46:25 Here is the new covenant. Verse seven "With my servant Moses he's faithful in all my household. I don't speak to him in visions and dreams. Do you know that visions and dreams are sort of second best? I speak to him face to face. 46:44 Mouth to mouth. Not in dark sayings and visions and dreams. He is my friend. I speak to him face to face. I don't have to give him a vision and a dream and he's asleep. I speak to him face to face. Do you realize in the new covenant that 47:00 God wants to speak to us face to face and getting dreams and visions is sort of second level? There's nothing wrong in it. He makes it very clear that dreams and visions are second level and yet I know believers who get so excited. Say, "God 47:14 gave me a dream. God gave me a vision." Wonderful, brother. You've come up to the old covenant. Let's move on to the new covenant where he can speak to you face to face. "With Moses, I will speak mouth to mouth face to face and he beholds my face." 47:34 "How dare you that you were not afraid to speak against my servant?" Verse eight, Moses. I tell you, God defends his servants in amazing ways. So, let's turn back to Hebrews chapter 8. I'm laboring this point because I feel 47:52 that God wants all of us to come to a much higher level. Hebrews 8:11. They shall not teach his fellow citizens saying, "Know the Lord." Brother, this is it. This is it. There is a place for that, but God wants us to grow up from 48:05 that where all will know me personally from the least to the greatest. That means from the new believer to the most mature one, everyone can know him personally. I want to say to every one of you, dear brothers and sisters if you have received Jesus 48:22 Christ as your savior into your life and you know your sins are forgiven, this is your birthright. This is your privilege. You find so many people today taking saying, "According to the first amendment of the Constitution, I have 48:37 the right to have freedom of speech." Don't you read that in the news? People came Nobody can stop me. I've got freedom of speech and the courts support them. Yeah, they got freedom of speech. That's part of their right under the 48:47 Constitution. Let me tell you part of your rights in the Constitution of God, you have the right to know God personally like Moses. Not just in visions and dreams, but to know him face to face. And as zealously as these people out in 49:02 the streets fight for the right to have exercise their first amendment to freedom of speech I want you, my brothers and sisters, to exercise your right to know Jesus Christ and the Father face to face. That's your birthright. 49:19 And the devil has robbed us so much of it by making us live a substandard life and making us happy with it. Do you know the thing is if you're satisfied with a certain level of life in the of your Christian life, you'll never go beyond 49:33 it. It's always I There must be a thirst. I'll stand before God and say, "Lord, I am not happy today with the level of life I have come to spiritually. I have such a thirst in my heart to go way beyond where I am now, to know God 49:49 much more than I know him now. And I hope that thirst will never die in me until I see the Lord face to face. I hope you have that passion. If you don't, please acquire it today. God cannot force you. He cannot force you to have a thirst. 50:08 But he says, "If any man thirst, come to me. I will put my law in your mind and in your heart. And I will help you to know me. All will know me, just like the Lord said about Moses. It's not in visions and dreams, they'll 50:24 know me personally. From the least to the greatest." So, that's the second thing, to know God as a father. Many Christians do not know God as a father, and the proof of it is they get anxious and worried. I've often used this illustration. 50:44 Supposing a person is living in a rented house and he's not paid his rent for many days. I've seen this happen in India sometimes. The owner of the house takes a court order and the police come 51:01 and clear out that person's stuff. And I've seen sometimes all the person's stuff out on the street in India. And the man's because he didn't pay his rent. Now, think if that happened in a home where they had he's given a 51:16 warning by tomorrow morning, you you'll be removed out of this house if you don't pay your rent. And supposing there's a 2-year-old child in that home, fast asleep. And the dad and mama panic, wake because they haven't paid the rent. They're 51:35 going to be turned out of the house tomorrow morning. And you go to that 2-year-old and say, "How are you sleeping so soundly? Don't you know that you're going to be turned out of the house tomorrow morning?" He said, "Don't disturb me. Go and tell 51:47 dad about it." That's what the 2-year-old will say. And that's how we are supposed to be. Go and tell dad about it. He'll take care of it. I got a father. I'm not without a father. I got a father in heaven. Whatever your problem, 52:05 I have a father in heaven. He will take care of it. That's what it means to be like a little child. All shall know me from the least. Jesus said, "Be like that little child who trusts the father. He leaves the problem with the father to 52:22 handle. All shall know me like that." Okay, that's point number two, to know God personally as a father who cares that a problem comes up, I can say, "Dad, please take care of it. If you want me to do something, I'll do it. 52:38 But I don't have the ability to handle every problem in the world, but I want you to take care of it." And you know, faith is something that grows more and more and more and more. So, you won't have that straight away, but if you exercise your faith little by 52:51 little, it's like they say in the gym. When you go to a gym, they say you got to develop certain muscles. You got to exercise and exercise, then it will become strong. It's the same way. God allows us to exercise our faith in little things and 53:04 little things. After some time, your faith becomes strong. You see a man strong in faith, he didn't get there overnight. You look at these picture of people standing with muscles in front of these gyms, picture of them. 53:15 They didn't get that in one day. They worked on it, worked on it, and that's so many muscles in their body. It's the same thing in the spiritual life. You will see a man or a woman of God who's got faith that nothing can 53:26 shake them. In every situation, they know how to handle it. There's a man who's exercised himself, who's gone to the gym regularly. And I want to encourage everyone here. I want every brother, sister in this church to be strong spiritually, to be 53:41 spiritually muscular. That's why God takes us through trials. You know, you go into that gym, and it's a strain when you exercise yourself against some machine. This muscle or the leg muscle or a stomach muscle being exercised. That's exactly how God 53:59 seeks to build our spiritual strength as well. But if you're lazy and laid-back, and you don't want to be you don't want to exercise your faith in different situations, you'll never have those spiritual muscles. And I'm sorry to say that most 54:13 believers I've met seem to be like that. They seem to be content to be fat and flabby spiritually. They're so concerned they should not be fat and flabby physically. They're so fat and flabby spiritually. I hope we'll be exercised. All shall 54:32 know me. And the third point, verse 12. The Lord says, "I will be merciful to their iniquities and remember their sins no more." This is something it's not just forgiveness. Forgiveness itself is great. That is an Old Testament promise, Psalm 54:51 103. Uh the "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, who forgives all your sins." Forgiveness of your sins, Psalm 103, is an Old Testament promise. All your sins, Psalm 103, verse 2. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, who 55:10 forgives all your sins." The New Testament promises more than that. Verse 12, "I will not remember their sins anymore." It's not just forgiven. 55:28 It's as if you never did it. Let me show you those in Psalm Psalm 32, where it speaks about forgiveness in the Old Testament. In the Old Covenant, the difference between that and the New Covenant. Psalm 32. "How blessed is the man 55:51 is he whose transgression or sin is forgiven, whose sin is covered?" You know the difference between covered and being blotted out? It was not blotted out in the Old Covenant. It was covered. That means 56:09 if you've written something on a board and you put a sheet over it, nobody sees it. It's covered. But if you lift the sheet, it's there. But if you get a damp cloth and wipe out what's on that board, then it's gone. That's an example of the difference 56:25 between Old Covenant and New Covenant. In the Old Covenant, God said, "Okay, I cover up your sin. You put that lamb or a goat on the altar, and your sin is covered up." Psalm 32. But in the New Covenant, it says it's blotted out. It's wiped out completely. 56:42 There is no record of it. It's as if there was nothing written on that board. That is forgiveness. Do you recognize forgiveness like that? Do you believe that when you can really sincerely repent and come to the Lord, you're sorry for 56:58 what you did, you take the blame 100% also. It's not enough to feel sorry. Supposing you did something wrong, and you're sorry for it. I also want to ask you, have you taken the blame 100%? Or you say, "Well, partly that was that 57:12 person to blame." Well, then I don't know what to say to you. But if you're willing to take the blame 100%, I'll tell you the good news. God will blot it out. And he won't hold it against you at all. If you say, "Well, part of the part of 57:26 the problem was his." Okay, then I don't know what the God will God do for you. You better find out. I don't have a promise for you. But take the blame 100%, God will blot it out 100%. It's not my wife's fault. It's my fault. 57:40 I don't want to blame my wife. I don't want to blame my husband. God will forgive you 100%. I will not remember it anymore. That means it's blotted out completely. It's as if nothing was written on that board at all. That's the meaning of being 57:56 justified. Justified means just as if I was righteous all my life. As if I've never committed a sin in all of my life. Nobody in the Old Testament could be justified. We are justified only by the blood of Christ. Many people know that they are cleansed 58:13 in the blood of Christ. But do you know this verse, 1 John 1:7, we are forgiven. 1 John 1:9, we know. Do you know Romans chapter 5 and verse nine. 58:33 Cleansed by the blood, forgiven by the blood, yes. But do you know Romans 5:9? Justified by the blood of Jesus. Many people don't know that. Justified means declared righteous as if you were righteous from day one of your 58:50 life by the blood of Christ. That's what we see the third condition. I will remember their sin no more. It's as if you never sinned in your life. How many of you believe that after your repentance, you've confessed a sin to the Lord, 59:08 the Lord looks at you as if you never did it. Is that really true? Yes. But there's one small condition. You have to forgive others. You remember the story of a man whose 59:27 entire $10 million debt was wiped out? Or 10-billion dollar debt was wiped out. And he went and caught another fellow by the throat because he that guy owed him $10. And the Lord called him back. Come here. 59:44 I forgave you 10 billion. And you couldn't forgive that fellow 10. Okay, I'm putting the 10 billion back on your head. Go to jail. Till you pay that back, you're not forgiven. That is called un-being unforgiven. Do you know that 1:00:01 God unforgives certain things? Have you heard that or read that story in the last part of Matthew 18? I don't have time to turn there right now. Unforgiving. Not in the sense of being not forgiving, but canceling the forgiveness. Let me 1:00:16 put it like that. Do you know that God can cancel a forgiveness that he gave you? That is the clearest teaching. Maybe I should show you that verse. Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18. You I I don't have time to show you 1:00:34 teach you the parable. The parable is from verse 21 to Matthew 18:21-35. Read it sometime. Matthew 18:21-35. Meditate on it. Cuz Peter was asking, "How many times shall I forgive a person?" And Jesus said, "Not just seven times, 1:00:49 but 70 * 7." That means indefinitely. That's the meaning of 70 * 7. You keep on forgiving, forgiving, forgiving. No matter how many times that fellow does evil against you, forgive him. Are you willing? And then he told this parable of a man 1:01:04 who owed 10,000 talents. Verse 24. That's a huge amount of money. In the margin of my Bible, it says it is 15 years' salary. 15 years' salary. Millions. That's what he owed. 1:01:23 And the master forgave him. And he goes out and catches a person. Verse 28. Who owed him 100 denarii. Which is 3 months' wages. And he caught him by the throat. And said, "Pay up." And when he didn't pay up, it says he threw him in prison. Verse 30. Took him 1:01:41 to the court, put him in prison. This guy owes me so much money. He didn't pay it. Put him in prison. And the king heard about it. And the king said, when he heard about it, he says they went and told the king in verse 31. 1:01:55 And the king called that man back. Hey, come here. I forgave you such a huge debt. You should have had mercy. Verse 33. On your fellow slave as well. And forgiven him for such a small debt. What I learned from that is the greatest 1:02:12 crime that anybody can commit against you is a very, very small thing compared to your debt to God. Did you get it? The greatest crime that anybody can commit against you or your children or your family. Some somebody did some 1:02:27 terrible things to your children. Okay. That's a terrible thing. Agreed. That's a very small thing compared to your debt to God. Remember that all your life. That's why you got to forgive them. Not one person. Every single person who has 1:02:44 done something against you. Forgive them. I want to ask you, my brother, do you live it? Not just have you done it, but do you live there? Where you're forgiven. Sometimes you forgive somebody and 3 months later you bring it back into 1:02:58 your mind. No, no, no. I can't let it go. It was a terrible thing that he did against me or my children or my family. I hope you will do a permanent job. Say, "Lord, I have forgiven my wife for what she did. I've forgiven that fellow for 1:03:10 what he did. I've forgiven my neighbor. I've forgiven my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law. Whoever it is. I have forgiven and I will not hold it against my mother-in-law ever. Or against my brother-in-law or somebody who cheated me of the family 1:03:26 property. I've got nothing against them. I've forgiven." Your life will be blessed. God says, "I will not remember your sin anymore." That's the condition. That's the third condition of the new covenant. Promise. But it is dependent on this. 1:03:44 But if you don't forgive, see what it says. The Lord took uh this man who did not forgive his fellow slave. The Lord was so angry with him. Do you believe your father can be angry with you? Just because you didn't forgive 1:03:59 somebody. Let me tell you this. If you don't forgive somebody, whether you like it or not, God is terribly angry with you. You can say, "Our Father who art in heaven." But this father is very angry with you for not having forgiven somebody. 1:04:15 I don't care who it is. Your husband, your brother, your brother-in-law, mother-in-law, wife, whatever it is. The Lord is moved with anger and handed this man over to the torturers. He didn't just put him in the jail. He says, "You go to jail. 1:04:30 And I'm got going to get the demons after you also. The demons will harass you until you repay all that you owe me." And what is the end of that illustration of the parable? Awesome words. Frightful words. 1:04:49 Verse 35. Handing them over to demons. Verse 35. My heavenly father will do the same to you. He's not talking about Doesn't say God will do the same to you. If he says God, it means unbelievers. When he says heavenly father, he's 1:05:06 talking about believers. Your heavenly father will do the same to you if you do not forgive your brother. Not externally, but from your heart. Not just saying to him, "I forgive you." And you keep it in your heart. You have 1:05:25 not forgiven him. You say to a brother, "I forgive you." And you keep it in your heart. I want to say to you in Jesus' name, you have not forgiven him. My heavenly will the brother father will do the same to you if you don't forgive him from your 1:05:39 heart. We've heard some tremendously blessed words today and some tremendously serious words. I hope you take them. This is how Jesus spoke. He spoke words of tremendous comfort. And words of tremendous challenge. Both 1:05:57 go together. They're two legs. Don't cut off one leg. There's comfort and challenge in all of God's teaching. And if I'm willing to respond, His Holy Spirit will come and help you. What did we read in the last verse in the book of 1:06:12 Jude? He is able to help you to keep you even from stumbling. And to present you without fault one day. Thank God for such a wonderful father we have. Let's pray. If the Lord has spoken to any of you 1:06:31 today, I urge you, please don't ignore it like you did on previous occasions. Please take it seriously. Go before God. Fast and pray if needed. And say, "Lord, I want to enter this life. I've had enough of just listening, 1:06:51 listening, listening. I want to enter into this new covenant life. Seriously. Please help me, Lord. You think God won't help you? There's a cry in your heart. If you weep at night on your bed in your pillow and say, "Lord, I want 1:07:07 this life at any cost." He will definitely hear your cry. And you'll be another person in a little while. Heavenly Father, please help us each one to take seriously what we have heard. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
