New Covenant - Superior to the Law - Part 3

For example, just take the 10th commandment. You can keep all the nine commandments. They're all listed in Exodus 20.

You know about don't worship idols. That's easy, external idols and don't honor, I mean, honor your father and mother, don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery, etc. And don't bear false witness in court.

You know, by the way, there's no commandment in the 10th commandment that says you shouldn't tell lies. Because God knew everybody tells lies. But what he said was, don't, you know, go to court and tell a lie.

That's about the limit. But in the New Covenant, of course, the command is that we shouldn't tell lies at all. Your yes must be yes, and your no must be no.

But when it came to the 10th, all those nine commandments you can keep, but when it came to the 10th, the 10th was you shall not lust in your heart after anything that doesn't belong to you. Your neighbor's wife, your neighbor's daughter, and everybody in the world is either your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's daughter. Every woman in the world is your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's daughter.

So you should never lust with your eyes after that sin. The 10th commandment. And Jesus spoke about it.

He just got it out of the 10th commandment. But people in the Old Testament never meditated on the 10th commandment sufficiently to know what that meant. Jesus spent years meditating on it, and he spoke.

He said you shouldn't lust with your eyes. That's sin. That was in the 10th commandment.

You shall not desire anything that belongs to your neighbor. If God has given you something, that's yours. But you should not desire something that somebody else has.

And yet, you know the number of Christians was supposed to be in the New Covenant who are disobeying it every day. They look at things and people that God has not given to them, and they lust for it. They want what other people have.

Do you want what other people have? Do you want someone who is not your wife? Many things like this. Paul was very honest in Romans 7, and he said, boy, he said in Romans 7, when I came to the commandments, I kept all of them. But when I came to the 10th commandment, which said you shall not covet, you shall not lust, I found all types of lusting in my heart.

You know, that person, Paul, that fellow was really honest. That's why God led him into the New Covenant. And I'll tell you one of the first requirements to come into the New Covenant is to be absolutely honest about the 10th commandment, and to say I can't keep it.

Lord, I lusted after that girl who was somebody else's daughter, and that other one who was somebody else's wife, and Lord, I wanted that sari which that other sister was wearing. I liked it so much. Are you a New Covenant Christian? And you, I'm not saying you went and stole it.

I'm saying you desired it, you wanted it. Do you know how people can sit in this church for 25 years and never get over these things? We heard it, but we haven't found the way. Few there be that find it.

It's really true. Because number one, they are not honest like Paul was in Romans 7 about their own sin. Now I'll tell you how the devil keeps you from being honest about your own sin.

He will show you the faults in other people. You'll be so observant about the faults in other people. It says about the Pharisees, they observed even Jesus carefully.

And they observed everybody else carefully, not to help anybody, but just to covet something which they had or to find fault. So I want to recommend to you if you are serious about entering the New Covenant at least now after some of you being here 20, 30 years, at least now if you want to enter in before it's too late, my first step I would recommend to you is stop looking at the faults of other people. You heard me say that for 30 years.

I'm just asking you to take it seriously from today. Just stop it. Just like if you're a chain cigarette smoker, and I say stop it from today.

Or if you're a regular pickpocket to say please stop picking pockets from today. Is that a serious? Is that a difficult command? I'm just saying take it seriously that I am going to spend the rest of my life judging myself. Full stop.

That's it. And you believe me to come and see me after six months and tell me if your whole life doesn't take a leap upwards that you've never experienced in all your life so far just because you practiced one habit. I'll tell you something even tomorrow the devil will tempt you to break that decision you made this evening.

It's such a terrific lust. Few there be that find it. It's there.

We understand it. I'm sure what I'm saying right now you understand right now, but you know it's like an addiction. You tell a drug addict.

You know this drug addiction is bad for you. They say I know it. You want to give it up.

Yeah, I want to give it up. Will you decide now I want to give it up. Yes, I decide right now.

I want to give it up. Give him two three days and he's back looking for drugs. It's an addiction.

It's like that you know because he spent so many years injecting himself taking it. It's like that so many years you spent finding fault with others looking at their faults criticizing them talking gossiping to your wife and your husband about it all the time. It's an addiction.

You can't live a day without this drug. It's a drug to find fault with others and now you say today. I want to give up this just like that drug addict.

I think you're quite sincere. You want to give it up. Yes, I want to give it up.

It'll last about two or three days and the craving for that drug will come back. You want to indulge in it again. I'll tell you something.

The people who've been delivered from drugs and alcoholism they really sought God's help. They were honest. You know there's a group called Alcoholics Anonymous.

It's a group which helps people to be free from alcoholism, from drinking alcohol and I suppose there are similar things for Narcotics Anonymous and various things and the first thing when they go to this meeting each person has to get up and say I am an alcoholic and I want to be free. The drug addict has to get up and say I am a drug addict and I want to be free. You know what you need to do? You need to get up and say I am a gossiper and I want to be free.

I am a backbiter. We can have a Backbiter's Anonymous class, you know where people get up and say that but it's so difficult to say it because it's so shameful to say I'm a drug addict. It's so shameful to say I'm an alcoholic.

It's so shameful to say I'm a sexual addict. Or I'm an internet pornography addict. Or I'm a gossiper or a backbiter, and I'll tell you this We'll never be free until we're honest.

God loves honest people. I wrote a little tract for our website called 16 things that I have learned in life. It's in one of my books.

It's a chapter in one of my books. Some things I've learned in life. Well, the first thing I mentioned there is God loves honest people.

I'm absolutely convinced about this. Dear brothers and sisters, if you're serious, really serious about finding this way to life, I urge you to be honest. Absolutely ruthlessly honest and acknowledge that just like drug addiction, you cannot deliver yourself from some of these terrible habits murmuring or complaining or anger.

Anger is an addiction. You can't deliver yourself from it. You say my father was angry, my grandfather's angry.

That's what some drug addicts say. My dad used to take drugs, my grandfather used to take drugs, and I'm also taking it. We just grew up like that.

We thought drugs was normal, and in your home perhaps your own anger was normal. Okay, and you're continuing that tradition to the third generation. Fine.

The drug addict does the same thing. When is it going to finish? Is Jesus going to come and put an end to this or not? Or is this going to continue into the next generation, into your little children? And they're going to carry it on their generation too. It has to come to an end.

It can come to an end when you understand the new covenant, the new agreement. When you seek God earnestly. The Bible says you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.