0:01 We want to talk today about the new covenant. We've often spoken about it in CFC churches for the last more than 50 years. It's not a subject that many churches speak about 0:19 because you know in one place Jesus said even after after drinking the old wine they say the old wine is better. That's amazing. They don't want the new wine. 0:36 So I wonder why it is like that. partly because they don't realize what the new covenant is all about. It's not being explained to them properly. And that's why you know I I think of in 0:55 India the days before 1947 when we were under the British and then in 1947 we became independent. And if you were to ask any Indian today, would you like to go back to the pre-1947 days 1:15 when the British ruled us or would you like to be an independent now? Everybody will say we want to be independent. And so it's the same. I can't understand how people don't are not eager to know the 1:33 new covenant. In my observation when I I'll come to this to explain the new covenant but [clears throat] I have traveled by God's grace to many countries around the world and I have to admit that [clears throat] 1:53 95% of all the churches I see are following old covenant practices. They preach about being born again. Many, many people preach that. Praise the Lord for that. But then after that, 2:12 it's back to the old covenant in the way they live. [clears throat] For example, there is one word uh let me make this very clear. There's one word we can say describes the old covenant and that's the word law. 2:31 L A W people under the old covenant were under law. The word grace is never found in the Old Testament in its New Testament meaning never. So let me turn to that verse first of 2:50 all. Please turn with me to John's Gospel and chapter 1. There's some amazing words here. Whenever we read God's word, we must meditate and never just read. If 3:10 you can't understand, we must wait. Ask the Holy Spirit to explain to us. I used to tell my children when they go to school when they were young. I said, "If there's something you don't understand, your teachers are good 3:27 teachers." you explain say miss I can't understand that can you just explain that once more and I said if you still don't understand please come home and tell me I'll explain it to you even something like multiplication or long division or some 3:42 of these things may be a little tough when you first learn them but don't if you can't understand it don't just stop there and go on to the next subject no you must learn that subject before you go to the next one otherwise you'll not 4:01 get an education. So [clears throat] even though we talk about New Testament, testament is just another word for covenant. So when you talk about old testament we refer to books and new testament books but basically it's referring to a 4:17 covenant and that covenant in the old old testament days was called under being under law. Now we come to John 1. And Jesus is called a word. So why is he called the word? In the beginning was the word and the word was 4:36 with God and the word was God. And then in verse 14 it says the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory. So what I learned from that is we cannot see the glory of God. It's too bright for us to see. It'll 4:55 blind us. And the few Old Testament examples of there seeing some type of light. Ezekiel saw a bright light. It was not enough to blind him. It was sort of a very dimmed 1% version of God's glory or 0001% version of God's glory. 5:11 That's why they could see it. But the full glory of God came in Jesus Christ. And if he had come with all that glory, we'd have been blinded like you know the disciples on the mount of transfiguration when they saw Jesus, 5:27 they fell on their faces blinded by the light. But then that light was subdued and the real glory of God was not a light. It's not a bright light. Why is Jesus called the word? Because 5:46 the word when we speak a word that is the expression of an invisible thought in my mind. If I have a thought in my mind and I want to communicate that to you. If I want to tell a brother I love you in Christ and I keep it in my mind 6:03 he'll never know it. I have to express it in words. That words are the expression of the invisible thought. And so Jesus is called the word because he is the outward expression of the invisible God. A perfect expression. So 6:21 if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. When I speak words, you know what's in my mind. Exactly. I speak the truth. My words express what's in my mind. And look at Jesus. That is the perfect 6:38 expression of what God is like. That's why we need to study the life of Jesus and not just read about his miracles. I mean many people children read the stories in the gospels but we must go beyond that. We must go beyond that and 6:53 try and understand what was the spirit of Christ in everything he did. Do you read the gospels like that? That is the way we should read it. [clears throat] Otherwise we are mechanically just reading it like a story book. And I'm sorry to say many 7:08 Christians read it like a story book. Now for a 10-year-old child that's okay. He can read the gospels like a story book. But if we are born again Christians, we should go beyond that and try to meditate. The Bible says in Psalm 7:23 1, blessed is the man who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. He doesn't read the Bible day and night because in those days in when the Psalms was written, nobody had a Bible to in their home. In any case, they had to 7:37 meditate on what they heard in the synagogue and that they could do 24 hours anytime they want. They heard something, keep it in the mind and meditate on it. That is the best way to understand scripture. That's what I've 7:51 sought to do for many, many years. And there's an amazing promise in Psalm 1 which says, it's a wonderful psalm. Blessed is a man who meditates on the law of the Lord, turns away from the ways of the wicked. It says in Psalm 1:3, "Whatever he does 8:07 will prosper." If you don't know that reference, note it down. Psalm 1:3, "Whatever he does will prosper." I remember when I read that, I said, "I want a life like that where whatever I do will prosper." And I was not thinking of financial 8:27 prosperity. By the grace of God, when I got converted, I was radically converted in the area of money. And I said, I will never live for money because I read in the Bible that money and God are two alternative masters. Luke 16:13, 8:44 there are two masters, God and money. And it's like an idol. Jesus Christ or Krishna or Allah or something else. God and money are exactly like that. And for a person to think that he can worship Jesus Christ and Krishna at the same time, he's got 9:02 to be crazy. But there are a lot of believers who worship God and money. Money is as important to them as God. In some cases, more important than God because they willing to tell a lie to make a little more money even though 9:21 they knew that'll displease God. or they're willing to cheat a little on the taxes to make more money. That shows that their God is money. If you cheat on your taxes, I tell you in Jesus name, your God is money, not Jesus Christ. 9:38 If you tell a lie to make money, your God is money. And in any situation in your life, if you put money more important than God, that is your God, money. Now why do I give this as an introduction? Because in 9:57 the old covenant that there was no such teaching of God and money. Is Jesus who brought that teaching in the old covenant people could live for wealth because they didn't have a knowledge of God. So it's completely different in the new 10:15 covenant. And Jesus demonstrated in the old covenant, people like Abraham were fantastically rich. Noah was so rich, he could build a ship all by himself. He never borrowed money from anybody to build that ark. He used his own property and sold his 10:34 property and built the ark. Abraham was fantastically rich. He had 318 servants. How many people have so many servants today? He was a fantastically wealthy man. And Job, one of the earliest godly people, fantastically wealthy. 10:50 But then comes Jesus. He doesn't have a place to lay his head. Poor. And the disciples, Paul, struggling to earn his living by making tents. It's completely different in the New Testament. 11:09 I'm not saying you got to be poor. I'm all I'm saying is money was not the god of people in the New Testament. And so Jesus manifested in his life, not just in his words. The word became flesh. John 1:14. 11:27 And we beheld his glory. The glory of the father full of grace and truth. See that's the word grace comes here. And verse 16, of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. This is the 11:44 new covenant word to replace law. If there's one word that represents the old covenant, it is law. And if it is one word that represents the new covenant, it is grace. And he says the law was verse 13 was 12:01 given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. So this is the big difference. Law versus grace. In other words, in the new covenant, law was full of rules. Somebody calculated 12:18 that there are 613 commandments that Moses gave to Israel in the Exodus to Deuteronomy. 613. We know the ten commandments are some of the important ones, but there were 603 others. 12:35 that Jesus came not with commandments but with grace and truth. And the word truth here just means reality. Not that I say 2 plus 2 is four. Not that type of truth. But truth as opposed to lying. In other words, when a 12:54 person's life is a lie, he's a hypocrite. So when you say the person's person's life is the truth, it means there's no pretense in him. There's no acting. There's no hypocrisy. That is the sense in which truth is here. In other words, in the old 13:11 covenant, a lot of people were hypocrites. A lot of them they acted very holy. Take a man like David. He acted pretty holy, but he was thoroughly immoral in his life. And whereas in the new covenant, 13:29 grace comes with reality. Truth is reality. That means what you see me is what I am inside. That's reality. If people who see you, that's not what you really are inside. You're not in the new covenant. 13:48 You're a hypocrite. Truth is not there in your life. Truth means whatever impression I give to people about my spirituality is absolutely true inside my in my private life and in my thought life. Now let's stop it there and think 14:04 about that all of you dear brothers sisters can you say honestly that the impression you are giving to others in your local church is exactly what you are in your home. That's exactly what your wife sees you 14:21 to be. That's exactly what your children see you to be. That's exactly what your husband sees you to be. And that's exactly what even what they don't see. That's what your thoughts are like. Your husband and wife can't even see your 14:34 thoughts. But truth means if you could open up my thoughts, you'll see everything that you see me live for on the outside. You'll find it's exactly the same in my thought life. I don't have a different thought life from what I impression I'm giving to 14:52 others. If I'm giving others the impression that I'm seeking God's kingdom with all my heart, that is what I'm doing in my thought life, that is what I'm doing in my private life. By seeking God's kingdom doesn't doesn't mean you give up 15:06 your job and uh go and do full-time work. I think God calls only one in 10,000 people to do full-time work. So 9,999 people are not called for full-time work. So that's not the thing. But 15:24 we must be real. That's the point. What I the impression I give to others is what I'm inside. That is meaning of truth, reality. So that was not possible in the old covenant. Even the greatest saints who are had to 15:42 be some degree of hypocrisy. There you take a man like John the Baptist whom Jesus said was the greatest man, the greatest human being since Adam of all human beings. Jesus said that in Matthew chapter 10, read it sometime. 16:00 Matthew chapter 11. And yet when John the Baptist was in prison, he sent a message to Jesus saying, "Are you really the Messiah?" I mean, this is the man who saw heaven open and a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved 16:19 son." He saw that and yet because he was not released from prison, he says, "How can this be Messiah if I'm sitting in prison?" He could not understand the new covenant. He was introducing the new covenant. He had just begun. He was the 16:34 forerunner. And so he could not enter the new covenant. The greatest man right up to Jesus time could not enter the new covenant. He was thinking of his own comfort to be released from prison. 16:52 But in the last 20 centuries, hundreds and thousands of Christians have been in prison and they rejoiced in that. They didn't complain to God that they were imprisoned for Christ's sake. So if you realize law is the great word 17:06 of the old covenant and grace is the great word of the new covenant, then look at let's look at Romans chapter 6 and verse 14. Romans chapter 6 and verse 14. I want you to look at this verse is a a fundamental law of the new covenant or 17:22 fundamental verse that teaches the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. Romans 6:14. I think even a 10-year-old can answer this question. How do you know whether you're under grace 17:42 or under law? How do you know whether you have come into the new covenant or you're still under the old covenant? I'll ask a 10-year-old, "Son, can you read Romans 6:14 and tell me what is the 17:59 mark of a man under the law?" You say, "A man under the law is mastered by sin." And son, tell me, "What is the mark of a person under grace? He's not mastered by sin." That simple. So every one of us can know right now 18:22 without before we go further in our study whether you're under the old covenant or the new covenant. You can know right now are you under law or under grace. In the 18:42 King James version of that verse, it says, "Sin shall not have dominion over you. Shall not have be the master over you." And I think that's a better meaning. 19:00 Sin shall not have the mastery in your life. That's also here in NSB the master who's the master in your life. Is it sin? Is it sin or Christ? 19:23 So if sin is the master over me, whatever I may speak or confess or sing, I am under law. I am under the old covenant. And that is why I say the vast majority of Christians I met in my life who say 19:42 they are born again are under the old covenant. And some of you listening to me today, you may have imagined that you're under the new covenant. But you discover now according to Romans 6:14, you are under the old covenant. You're 19:58 under law. One who is under grace. There is one mark for person under grace. Sin cannot be master over him. Sin does not rule him. I'm not saying it 20:18 never slips up and falls, but it does not rule him. The one who wrote this was the Apostle Paul. Towards the end of his life, he once yelled at a high priest who was 20:37 a judge and said, "God will smite you, you whitewashed wall." That's in the acts of the apostles. But as as soon as he knew who who this was a judge, he immediately repented and withdrew his remarks and apologized immediately. 20:53 So even the great apostle Paul who said, "Stall will not be master you did slip up, but he repented and got over it immediately. So if you are you know it's like you know it's like let me put it like this 21:08 a fivemonth old child cannot walk a 5-year-old child can walk you and I can walk but can you say that you'll never slip and fall anywhere? Can you say for the rest of your life 21:25 you'll never slip and fall anywhere? No. Even though you've learned to walk, you may slip and fall, but you're not slipping and falling all the time. If you're slipping and falling all the time, then of course you have not 21:37 learned to walk. That's a child. But the strongest man may still slip and fall sometimes. So that's what I mean by being under grace. It's not that you're perfect in the sense if you never sin, you never 21:54 slip and fall. But it's so rare. I mean, if I were to ask you when was the last time you slipped and fell. I mean, even if you ask an older person like me, I'm nearly 87. A lot of people slip and fall at that age. And you ask me when was the last 22:10 time you slipped and fell. I say I can't remember because I'm not slipping and falling every day. I I I walk. So you it should be like that in relation to sin. that okay we may slip and fall but it's 22:30 not going to be a regular feature. If you're losing your temper every day at your wife or husband or anyone, I want to humbly ask you, please consider 22:50 whether you have entered the new covenant at all, whether you're under grace. I'm not saying if you slipped and fell some day, but if you're slipping and falling every day, you need to ask yourself, Lord, am I 23:10 deceiving myself by any chance? I don't want to deceive myself. I want to come into the new covenant completely. Who was the first person who came under 23:26 grace? Do you know that? Let's turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke's gospel chapter 2. I want you to turn there. It speaks 23:42 about when Jesus was taken to the temple and as a baby and uh that is from verse 27 onwards he was taken to the temple and Simeon took up the baby in his arms and prayed for him and then it says he came back home and 24:02 the child Jesus one year old Luke 2:40 the child Jesus continued contined to grow and become strong increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon 24:20 him. The first person in the Bible about whom it is written he was under grace. When you say the grace was upon him means he was under grace. And what happens when you're under grace? 24:38 Back to Romans 6:14. When you're under grace, sin cannot rule over you. Not should not, will not, will not. 24:57 It's like saying when I sit under this roof, the rain cannot fall on me. Not one drop of rain will fall on me if I'm under this roof. But when I go outside this roof, the rain will fall on me. 25:14 So when I'm under grace, sin cannot conquer me. When I when sin conquers me, it is an indication that I've gone outside the roof. Maybe I once went outside only temporarily for five minutes, but I got 25:33 defeated during those five minutes. Then I repent and come back. Now, a lot of Christians are living like that. They're under the roof. Sin does not rule over them under grace. And then they occasionally slip out and the rain falls on them. They sin. 25:51 And then they come back and dry themselves again, confess their sin. And then next day again, they go out for a trip outside. I wonder why. Why do people go why do people want to go out in the rain when they can sit under the roof? 26:08 Why do people want to go out and sin when they can be under grace? I can say definitely if you sit under a roof, no rain will fall on you. I can say according to Romans 6:14, if 26:25 you're under grace, sin cannot rule you. Impossible. So every time sin conquered you, it is because you slipped out under grace. You went away from grace. Then you can't say you're under grace at that time. 26:44 Then what you need to do is come back to God for mercy. Do you know the difference between mercy and grace? Mercy is an old covenant word. You read sometimes in the Psalms, mercy, mercy, his mercy endures forever. and uh Lord 27:01 have mercy on me and all that. It's an old covenant prayer and we can also we also need it because when we slip up and fall, we need mercy. But if you turn to Hebrews in chapter [snorts] 4, please turn with me. Hebrews, by the 27:18 way, is the great chapter of the new covenant. Explains the new covenant more than any other book. Romans and Hebrews And here it says in Romans, sorry, Hebrews chapter 4 27:36 and verse 16. Hebrews 4:16. Let us come with great confidence, no hesitation to the throne of grace. God's throne is a throne of grace. But 27:54 when we come there, we get mercy and grace. Not only grace. It says there when we come to the throne of grace, first we receive mercy and then we find grace to help in time of need. So think of this verse. Let us draw near with 28:11 great boldness to God's throne of grace and first of all say Lord give me mercy. Mercy is forgiveness for our past sins. And you will need that till the end of your life on earth. 28:29 Because even if you don't consciously sin, you unconsciously sin. I'll come to that later. There's nobody who is free from unconscious sin. Jesus was free from unconscious sin, but none of us are 28:47 free. We will be free from it one day when we become like him. The only victory we are promised on earth is victory over conscious sin. That means what you know to be wrong. I'll come to that in a moment. 29:06 But we that's that's why we need mercy always. You come to the throne of grace. You say Lord please forgive me. Jesus taught us to pray. Our father who art in heaven you know the Lord's prayer. Psalm Matthew 6:14 onwards. Hallowed be thy 29:22 name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as in heaven. How do we know this is a prayer that we need to pray daily. I don't mean the actual words. Jesus didn't ask us to repeat it like a parrot. But the spirit of that prayer is 29:38 something we need to pray daily. I'll tell you why. Because in that prayer, he said, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us this day our daily food or bread daily. 29:56 So even though we don't repeat that prayer every day like parrots the spirit of that prayer must be with us every day. They could not pray that in the old old an old testament person cannot pray that prayer. He cannot call God his father 30:10 for example or father. You go through that prayer in Matthew 6:14 sometime. It's only a very spiritual man who can pray that prayer. Let me explain it to you. Our father who art in heaven. Only one who's born again can call him 30:25 father. My number one request is not heal my sicknesses and give me promotion or any such thing. My number one request is let your name be hallowed and glorified. I'll tell you this. Only a spiritually minded man or woman 30:42 can say that this is my number one desire in life. Nothing for myself that God's name must be glorified and hallowed and kept holy. I mean you can repeat that prayer. Any idiot can repeat that prayer. But to mean it from the heart 31:01 that Lord my father my number one request is not that I need money or I need healing or I need anything on this earth but that your name must be hallowed. Can you say that? That is your number one request in prayer. That's the 31:16 mark of a spiritual man. And Lord my number two request is still not my healing or my promotion. Thy kingdom come, Lord. This rotten earth ruled by the devil. I want your kingdom to come on this earth. And that's why we go around 31:33 preaching and bringing people to Christ because we want God's kingdom to come on this earth. If that's not your passion, you can't pray that prayer. You can repeat it like a parrot. Only a truly new covenant person can repeat that prayer. 31:50 Okay. Now, is it time for my request? No. No. No. Not yet time for my my request. Third request is thy will be done in my life as it is done in heaven. See the first three requests in that prayer is hallowed be thy name, thy 32:06 kingdom come, thy will be done. Nothing for myself. Is that the way you pray? Can you honestly say deep down in your heart that is your primary desire? I'll tell you this honestly my brothers and sisters, 32:24 it took me some while to get there, but the Holy Spirit brought me there. If you have a passion to get there, you'll get there. But your passion in life becomes that God's name must be glorified, God's kingdom must come, and God's will must 32:39 be done. Even if I get none of my prayers answered for my personal needs, that is a spiritually minded person. And when such spiritually minded people get together, it becomes a spiritual church. Otherwise, it's just like any other dead 32:57 denomination. Even if they call themselves Baptist or Brethren or Pentecostal or whatever it is or you can call it CFC also makes no difference. The mark of spiritually of a spiritually minded church is it has people at least 33:13 among the top leadership and others a number of people there in the most prominent members of that church the old primary desire is that God's name should be hallowed and respected God's kingdom must come and god's will must be done 33:30 period that's it and then of course we can pray for our own needs give us this day our daily bread Lord I need that means Please give me a job so that I can earn my living. Very good prayer to pray. Otherwise, how can I get my daily bread? In the prayer 33:44 for daily bread is Lord give me a job. Are some of you in danger of losing your jobs or you haven't got a secure one? Give us this daily day. Our daily bread is something Jesus taught us to pray. So there's nothing wrong in asking God 34:00 to give you a job or to secure you in your job if your job is insecure. Lord, I want my daily bread. I want to feed my family. Nothing wrong in it. But make sure your prayer starts not with daily bread. [clears throat] That is request 34:13 number four. Keep it as request number four and you'll be a spiritually minded person. Give us this day our daily bread. And then another new covenant thing, 34:29 forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Now, David was a man after God's own heart, but he could not pray that prayer. You know that. You know what David said on his deathbed to Solomon? 34:48 When you get time, read that in one Kings and chapter 2. When you get time, not now. He told Solomon, Solomon, you're going to be the king. I have made all the things necessary for building the temple, given it to you and uh please 35:05 [snorts] keep God's word and obey it and all that. But then he said his last words, famous last words before a man dies. You read that in one Kings chapter 2, David's last words. And Solomon, don't forget some years ago 35:23 there was a guy called Shimi who cursed me. I told him I will not kill him. But you never made that promise Solomon, so you better kill him. And then what the next verse is? David died. Famous last words 35:42 just before you die to say, "Don't spare that man who cursed me. He didn't harm me. He just cursed me. Kill him. Don't let him go without his blood being shed into the grave. and Solomon, you're my son. Make sure that is done. 35:59 Who is this? David. King David. Jesus is called a son of David, but he was under the old covenant. No new covenant person can pray that prayer. 36:17 Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins exactly like we have forgiven others who have sinned against us. If Shimi cursed me, I forgiven him immediately, Lord. And please forgive me like that. Did somebody curse you? Did somebody 36:35 hurt you? Did somebody do harm to you? Have you forgiven him? Otherwise, you can't pray that prayer. You're not in the new covenant. In the new covenant, we forgive everybody no matter what they did. Even if they murdered your son, 36:51 forgive. This is new covenant standard. Otherwise, you're like David in the old covenant. I don't blame David. He was not in the new covenant. He did not have the Holy Spirit resting inside him. He had the Holy Spirit upon him to write 37:06 the psalms and do so many things to kill enemies and all that. But the Holy Spirit was not inside him. I'm not better than David but because the Holy Spirit has come inside me, he changes me on the inside. If the Holy Spirit came inside David, he would have 37:19 changed him also. But that could not happen till the day of Pentecost. So the new covenant is fantastic. Forgive us as we forgive others. And Lord, lead us not into temptation. Thereby, I am acknowledging that I'm so 37:37 weak that I'll fall if you don't help me. Lord, please don't let me face temptation. Too strong for me. That's the meaning. Not that I should never be tempted. No, that's not a prayer. The very first thing written in the Bible, 37:50 as soon as God made Adam and Eve, he sent them to face the devil. Have you heard of something like that? A father and mother, first thing he did their children, go and face the enemy. Go and face Goliath. That's the first thing. 38:10 Go and face the enemy. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Why did God make Adam and Eve as soon as they get into the garden to face the enemy? Because that's like going to the gymnasium 38:29 to subject my muscles to resistance so that my muscles and my arms and chest and stomach and legs can become strong. Why do people go to the gym? So facing the devil is our gymnasium. Who's going to resist us? God is not 38:48 resisting us. He supports us. But the devil will resist us. And the devil's got plenty of agents in the world to resist us. Praise God for all of them. Lord, but don't let me face too much. Even if they go to a gym, they say, 39:03 "Don't start off with the very heavy weights. Start little by little and build up." So, so also God does not lead us to temptation that we cannot bear. Little by little, he makes the temptation stronger and stronger and 39:15 stronger. Exactly like people in a gymnasium. The trainer in a gymnasium will say, "Okay, lift this weight now. Not that one. That's too heavy for you. Lift this one." Next month he'll say, "Now you can lift something heavier." Next year he says, 39:29 "Something heavier." And after 10 years, that guy is full of muscles all over the body. That's exactly what God wanted Adam and Eve to be. Face the devil. Little by little, I allow you to be tempted more and more and more. Lead us not into 39:42 temptation that is true, strong for us, Lord. But when I do face it, deliver me from evil. This is new covenant. That prayer is only a new covenant prayer. And when I am delivered, Lord, thine is the glory. I won't take the 39:59 credit for myself. I won't go around boasting that I conquered. Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. That's a wonderful prayer to pray. It's only a new covenant prayer. At the end of it, I don't take any 40:10 credit for myself for having overcome sin. Sin shall not rule over you. Dear brothers and sisters, that is through grace. When you're under grace, sin will not rule over you. That's what you read in Romans 6:14. Now, let's go 40:27 to 1 Peter and chapter 5. To whom does God give grace? That's an important question. 1 Peter 5 and he tells particularly younger men, 40:45 but all of you, he says in verse 5, in the middle of verse 5, all of you, young or old, clothe yourself with humility toward one another and towards God because God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. So if I 41:02 want to be under grace like Jesus was as we read in Luke chapter 2 the first person under grace Jesus how did he come under grace here's the answer God gives grace to the humble how can you live under this roof called grace that sin 41:18 will never touch you or fall on you sin shall not rule you because you are under grace how to be under grace here it is he gives grace to the humble So I know before I understood these things but when I began to understand it 41:38 anytime I slipped up and fell whether it was anger or anything in the early days particularly I remember 50 years ago I was so defeated in my life as a Christian I was born again but I was defeated I'd go to God and say why didn't I fall 41:56 then I come to understand from this verse I don't have to ask why I fell. So once I began to understand 1 Peter 5:5, anytime I slipped up in thought, word, action, attitude, 42:13 motive, anything in any area have I slipped up in my thought and my word and my actions or attitudes. Lord, I slipped up here. I stopped asking the Lord, why did I slip up? I knew the answer. I did not get grace. 42:31 Because if I got grace, Romans 6:14, I I would have conquered. I did not even ask why I did not get grace. 1 Peter 5:5 gives me the answer. So I put Romans 6:14 and 1 Peter 5:5 together. Romans 6:14, sin will not rule over you. 42:48 You're under grace. 1 Peter 5:5, God always gives grace to the humble. Ah, so why did I fall? because I didn't get grace. Why didn't I get grace? 1 Peter 5:5. Somewhere I became proud. So every time I slipped up, I'd go to the Lord and say 43:04 only one thing. Lord, tell me where was I proud? I don't need to ask you why I fell. I know why I fell. I became proud somewhere. And the Lord would point out to me something that happened a few days earlier where I became puffed up with something that I 43:19 did or something that others somebody said to me and then that swelled my head and I thought that I accomplished it or I did that or I did something and I took credit for it or I overcame something and I took credit for it and the Lord 43:33 said that's why you slipped up cuz the laws are God are like that you know like water always flows to the lowest place. Sometimes I've seen in a up and down road that the whole road is wet but the water is all accumulating in the lowest 43:50 part of the of the road. Water always flows to the lowest place and God's grace always flows down to the humblest person always. It's a law of God. So whenever you see water falling going to the lowest place remember God's grace is 44:07 like that. It goes to the humble person. that man will become godly means that man will overcome sin. So I used to pray Lord where did I slip up and the Lord would show me last week in s and such a situation when you did this fantastic thing you 44:24 become a bit proud or in relation talking to that other person you acted superior to him who made you superior you did not treat that brother as an equal you did not humble yourself you became proud because you knew so 44:43 much of the Bible or you had overcome something or you had accomplished something for God and that puffed you up and I said Lord forgive me and so I've learned from all these failures and they were not external failures some 44:58 sometimes just in my thought life or one word I said Lord I don't want to slip up once in my thought life I don't want to slip up with even one word I'm pressing on to perfection and the solution is always humble yourself 45:14 and the way to be humble is I'll tell you very simple looking unto Jesus in every situation let us run the race looking unto Jesus Hebrews 12:2 he didn't give us commandments he gave 45:32 the heavenly father gave us a forerunner isn't it better to have an example than an exhortation God didn't God gave only exaltations in the old covenant. 613 commandments, exhortations. But in the new covenant, he's given us 45:51 an example. Jesus didn't say, "Do as I did." He said, "Follow me. Follow me." That was his most famous words. Rarely he said, "Believe in me." That's also true. But most of the time, you see, he was telling people, "Follow me. 46:07 Follow me." Have you heard that word? My brother, sister, have you heard the word of Jesus saying to you personally, my dear son, my dear daughter, follow me. I heard it from the Bible. I say, Lord, I want to follow. 46:26 Follow me where? Read Matthew 11:29. Wonderful verse. Always remember Matthew 11:29. Learn from me, Jesus says, for I am gentle and humble in heart, not outwardly. It's in the heart. 46:46 Learn gentleness and humility from me. There are two things we need to learn. It's not addition and subtraction. It's not mathematics and science. It's not physics and chemistry. It is gentleness 47:04 and humility. Husbands, be gentle and humble with your wives. Wives, be gentle and humble with your husbands. Even with children, be gentle and humble. That doesn't mean you let them do what they like. 47:23 You're firm, but you're gentle and humble. It's a tre. We don't get that overnight. You will not get that. You know, you hear this today, you're not going to be gentle and humble tomorrow. But if you start on that path, 47:37 you will get there one day. But if you don't start on that path today, even next year, you'll be listening to this message and you'll still be in the same defeated condition. So I want to encourage you to keep Matthew 11:29 always in front of you. 47:52 Jesus said, "Learn from me, not how to preach." So many people want to learn from Jesus how to preach. That's all for honor. Learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in your and heart and you will find rest for your souls. No, that's the full 48:09 verse. If you don't know Matthew 11:29, memorize it. Learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest in your inner being. So much of unrest people have in their mind and inner being. Why? I'll tell you why. 48:24 It's not because insecurity in the world. It's not because there are bombs falling here and there. Nothing to do with that. It's because you're not gentle and humble in your heart. You're not learning from Jesus. I [clears throat] don't believe I should 48:37 I should ever live in panic. I don't believe that I should have a restless night anytime. That I should be able to sleep peacefully every night. I don't have to live in fear and anxiety at any time. Even if I'm living in 48:50 Afghanistan, if God calls me to live in Afghanistan, I will go there and I believe I'll be at rest. It doesn't matter if somebody kills me for preaching the gospel. But I will not be in unrest because if I'm in the will 49:03 of God, I can always be at rest wherever I am because I will seek to learn gentleness and humility. Jesus said, "You learn gentleness and humility from me, you will find rest in your inner soul." I tell you one of the greatest needs 49:20 among all believers today is gentleness and humility. It's very rare. People are so harsh and so proud. Even believers, even elders, and everywhere I've seen it. To be strict is one thing, but to be 49:38 hard is another thing. To be harsh, Jesus said, "Learn it from me." You can't learn it from anybody else. Learn it from Jesus. Gentleness and humility. I'm not disturbed when people leave our 49:55 church. I'm disturbed when people in the church don't grow spiritually. I'll tell you honestly, many elders are disturbed. Oh, so and so left our church. I couldn't care less if people leave our church. But I'm really disturbed when the people 50:13 sitting in our church are not growing in gentleness and humility. How is it with you, my brother, sister? Have you learned gentleness and humility from Jesus? That's the most important thing to 50:30 learn. Gentleness and humility. Because God gives his grace to such people and they will overcome sin. Okay. Now, let me go to Hebrews 4:15. Hebrews 4 50:51 and verse 15 says, it's talking about Jesus as our high priest. We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us. Thank God we've got a high priest who can completely sympathize with our weakness. Weakness 51:10 means what? Not physical weakness. The weakness that we fall into sin so often. We fall into sin so often because we are so weak. And high priest can sympathize with that. The Lord says, "I understand why you fall so frequently." 51:28 So he was also tempted exactly like this is one of the most amazing verses. Hebrews 4:15. 50 years ago it changed my life. I'll tell you my testimony. When I understood this about 51 years ago, it changed my life completely. 51:45 Baptism in the Holy Spirit was one thing and the other was there are two things that changed my life. One is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire 51 years ago when God met with me and the second was when this truth became 51:58 real to me that Jesus was tempted exactly like me but he did not sin. And that's why he tells me to take up the cross and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Come under grace and I also will not sin. That became more and more true in my 52:19 life from that time onwards. And I want it to be true in all of your lives. Ask God to show you how Jesus was tempted exactly like you. You take any temptation 52:37 Any temptation that any man is tempted with, Jesus was tempted with. Any temptation that any woman is tempted with, Jesus was tempted with. But he never sinned because he received grace. We saw that in Luke 2:40. The grace of God was upon 52:55 him. It was always upon him. Luke 2:40 talks about the time when he was as a child, new baby. The grace of God was upon him. But look at Hebrews chapter 2. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2. 53:17 Hebrews and chapter 2. How we saw how he began his earthly life with the grace of God. How did he die? Luke 2:40 speaks about how he began his 53:35 life as a baby with the grace of God upon him. Hebrews 2 and verse9 says that when he died also it was through the grace of God. See the last part Jesus crowned with glory and honor by the grace of God. Hebrews 2:9 he tasted death for 53:53 everyone. So at birth he had the grace of God. When he died he needed the grace of God. So Jesus lived by the grace of God from birth to death. and says to us follow me from birth to death you need the grace of God and that is given to the humble if you 54:12 didn't get it brother sister only one reason you are not humble you thought too much of yourself you compared yourself with others and you said you're better than them okay then you have yourself to blame for not getting the 54:27 grace of God okay now let me go to Hebrews chapter eight and we'll conclude with this section beautiful section on Hebrews and Hebrews 54:46 chapter 8 just a minute and we can go to verse 8. Hebrews 8:8, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I'll make a new covenant that happened on the day of Pentecost. 55:06 And it will not be like the old covenant. Verse 9, but this is the covenant. Listen to this. Verse 10 to 12 describes the new covenant. Three things. Verses 10 to 12, the three terms of the new covenant. 55:24 And the most the foundation is verse 12. So we'll start there. Where does a new covenant begin? Blotting out our past life. Verse 12. I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will not remember their sins anymore. 55:42 We have to begin there. Thank God. The new covenant begins with a blotting out of our entire past life. Not only a blotting out, but the Lord says, "I won't even remember it. Do you get tormented by the things you did in your unconverted days? No need to 56:00 be. And your father says he doesn't remember it. Why do you want to remember it? I'll tell you who remembers your past life. The devil. And he's the one who will keep on reminding you of your past sins which you which you've been forgiven. And God 56:14 says, "I [clears throat] will not remember." But the devil says, "Ah, I remember." And the devil says, "I'll keep on reminding you of the things you did 20 years ago and the things you did last year and the things you did last 56:24 week and the things you did yesterday." The devil's got a good memory. But God says, "I will not remember. You choose either the devil's word or God's word. I have chosen God's word. He does not remember my past failures. 56:41 Everything confessed is gone. Not only forgiven but forgotten. Praise God. That's the first step of the new covenant. Second step of the new covenant, verse 11. They shall not teach each person his fellow citizens, saying, "No, the Lord. 56:58 All will know me from their little child to the most mature. I can know God as my father, and I don't need anyone else to introduce the father to me. Even if I'm a little child, new believer, I can know the father myself." 57:14 A 2-year-old can look up at his daddy and say, "Daddy." It's not only the 20-year-old who can say that. I remember when I used to sit at the dining table when my children were small and my youngest son would be about 2 years old. My oldest son would be about 57:31 11 and the other two were in between. Four of us sitting at the table. And all of them want to talk to me. Daddy, daddy. I say, "All of you keep quiet. I'm going to listen to the 2-year-old first. I think you will do that too. 57:46 The others wait. The 2-year-old has priority. So what does he say here? All shall know me. Beginning with whom? Read verse 11. Don't miss any word there. Who who does God begin with? Whom does he reveal himself to first? 58:05 The least. The two-year-old. Are you are you a new believer, brother, sister? You have an advantage over me. God will listen to you first. From the least to the greatest. Take that privilege and go to God and say, 58:24 "Lord, I'm one of the least. I want to know you." You can know him. To know him is eternal life. Jesus said John 17:3, "To know God is eternal life. The more you know him, the more you have eternal life in you. To me the greatest joy in my life is to 58:41 get to know God my heavenly father more and more and more and more and more. You know the most intimate relationship in humanity is the physical relationship between man and woman husband and wife. And do you know how that is described in 58:57 the Old Testament? You know it a man knew his wife. That's called knowing your wife. The most intimate relationship in the Old Testament is called knowing spiritually. That's the word God says 59:15 here. You will know me spiritually. An intimate spiritual not physical. An intimate spiritual relationship with God. So intimate I will know him. I praise God for that. I've come to know him better and better and better because 59:34 I keep myself as the least. I want to remain small Lord. I want to know you better and better. Third blessing of the new covenant. Verse 10. I will write my law. In the old testament it was on two tablets of stone on the outside. 59:53 Now the two tablets are inside. Mind and heart. Those are the two tablets. Now the two tablets in the Old Testament was a picture of the two inward tablets. Today I'll write my law in their mind. I'll write them in the heart. What does 1:00:07 that mean? That means I will first give them an understanding of my law. That's the the mind. And then I'll give them strength in the heart to do it. That is the meaning of mind and heart. Understanding his word and strength to 1:00:24 do it. Okay. In conclusion, Philippians chapter 2, please remember all that I told you just now. Philippians 2 1:00:44 and verse 13. God is at work in you to will his good pleasure and to do his good pleasure. Understood it? That means to understand his will and to 1:01:03 do his will. That's exactly what we read in Hebrews. In the mind, in the heart, in the mind, I understand God's will, I desire to do it. And in the heart, I have strength to do it. God is at work inside me through the Holy Spirit in my 1:01:18 mind that I desire and understand his will and in the heart to strength to do it. And so it says in Philippians 2:12, in the last part, in the light of God's new covenant, work out your own salvation from all sin, you can live a life free from sin with 1:01:36 fear and trembling. I believe some of you got a new Bible today. Some of you got a new New Testament. Praise the Lord. Live according to it. Listen to this message again until it sinks into you 1:01:56 and you absorb it. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that everyone here, the least to the greatest, will know you. For to knowing God is eternal life, to know you more and more. 1:02:15 Don't let anyone miss out on this, Father. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
